"This wave must not lead to a loss, for a loss here would be immense," Yang Hong muttered, wiping cold sweat from his brow.
"Rise—Yin Yang establishes, Immortals and Devils invert—"
As his words fell, the 999 Immortal Blossoms formed a formation and slowly shrank, transforming into a ping-pong ball sized orb radiating white light. It entered the rift of the Demon Realm and drifted forward.
*Hiss—hiss—*
Despite Yang Hong's extreme caution, the "ping-pong ball" only managed to advance thirty-eight breaths within the Demon Realm's rift before being struck by a bolt of black lightning.
The orb of light, the size of a ping-pong ball, immediately expanded to its original size, becoming a miniature planet with a diameter of 300 zhang, densely packed with 99 Immortal Blossoms. It became lodged in the middle of this spatial passage.
The rift of the Demon Realm, though called a rift, was in reality a vast and deep world passage, stretching straight into the sky from a height of ten thousand zhang. This passage was a thousand zhang long but only as wide as a palm, too narrow for any creature to pass through, though it allowed demonic energy to flow.
Deeper within, the passage widened, though its true breadth was indiscernible from the outside. For instance, the formation's light orb, with a diameter of 300 zhang that had fully deployed, was now completely stuck in the middle of the passage, neither advancing nor retreating, with neither side of the passage visible.
Although it had not penetrated as deeply as Yang Hong desired, the effect produced by the deployed formation achieved more than half of his expected outcome. The 300 zhang formation sphere intercepted all demonic energy within a 600 zhang radius, absorbing and converting it into immortal energy. Consequently, the demonic energy emanating from the Demon Realm rift was reduced by eighty percent.
"A pity," Yang Hong sighed wistfully. "If only the formation sphere could have gone a little deeper, it would have completely intercepted all the demonic energy within the entire rift."
Putting aside his regret, Yang Hong quickly collected himself and began to cast out numerous ninth-grade spiritual plants. He then established the "Yin Yang Two Forms Spirit Transformation Array" across the vast area below the Demon Realm rift. Through his movement techniques, he continuously transformed demonic energy into spiritual energy. With the 999 Immortal Blossoms intercepting and absorbing demonic energy, Yang Hong's demonic energy purification work proceeded much more smoothly.
...
*Plop—*
*Spit—spit—spit—*
In a shallow blue sea, Yang Hong spat out two mouthfuls of seawater and surfaced, gazing up at the sky. However, after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the space above shattering. Yet, he could sense that a part of that space was unstable, showing signs of imminent collapse.
"I left too early this time. This Grand Cavern Secret Realm's space has integrated numerous secret realms, making its spatial integrity even more robust and its heavenly and earthly origin more abundant. It's not so easily shattered."
"But if I were to use a World Breaking Stone to enter now, I wouldn't dare. If I were to enter and the secret realm were to collapse, I'd likely be exiled into the void's chaotic currents."
"Forget it, I'll just go home and face the tribulation to ascend."
Putting aside his regret over not obtaining the "World Breaking Stone," Yang Hong's mood immediately turned excited. Just moments ago, he had sensed the opportune moment for ascension. Now, all he needed to do was continuously release his aura to summon the Heavenly Tribulation for ascension, and then undergo it.
"Hmm, this isn't Grand Cavern Lake; it seems to be the sea. Where have I been teleported to now?"
As Yang Hong flew into the air, he discovered that the surrounding waters were excessively vast, nothing like the 360 li wide Grand Cavern Lake. In the vast expanse of water, within a radius of ten thousand li, there wasn't a single island!
*Water遁 (Water Escape)*
Following his intuition, Yang Hong performed seven consecutive Water Escapes and located a colossal island, spanning over ten thousand li in width. As Yang Hong, riding his flying sword, approached the giant island, he encountered numerous figures moving in and out. Some were humans, but more were demon races, primarily avian demons.
"Stranger, a human expert, pray tell, where do you hail from, and what brings you to my Fire Phoenix Island?"
As Yang Hong landed on a dock of this massive island, two sturdy bird-headed, human-bodied demon races approached him, asking. Both demons were fifth-order great demons. They were respectful towards Yang Hong, but not subservient.
Since they were polite, Yang Hong did not intentionally cause trouble. He nodded and directly stated his purpose.
"I am from the Taiyuan Continent. I am merely passing through and seek a teleportation array to leave."
"Human expert, you may be disappointed. Our Fire Phoenix Island does not possess a teleportation array. The nearest one is on Shuyang Island, tens of millions of li away."
The two great demons spoke very politely and even pointed out the path and direction for Yang Hong. However, their attitude was also clear: while Fire Phoenix Island did not reject human cultivators, it did not welcome them either. Their words clearly conveyed a desire for him to leave.
"Thank you for the directions. I will rest in the city for two days before departing. I will not enter your island, so you need not worry."
Yang Hong, who had intended to leave after asking for directions, now felt disinclined to depart upon being implicitly asked to leave. He walked directly towards the city within the dock.
As he walked, he saw various demon races, some clad in animal skins, others in silks and brocades. Tall buildings lined both sides of the street, with various shop signs and hawking sounds, giving Yang Hong the feeling of walking on the bustling streets of a human city on the Myriad Worlds Continent, rather than a demon island in the Myriad Demon Sea.
The Myriad Demon Sea of today was vastly different from its state over three hundred years ago. The biggest difference was that humans were no longer food, but rather a superior race with a higher status than demons. Along the way, several demons, either running or flying, proactively dodged him, even at the cost of crashing into demon shops. He even saw a few humans brazenly taking food and goods from demon shops without payment. When the Fire Phoenix Island's enforcement team appeared, they merely reprimanded the humans before letting them go. On one occasion, the human cultivators were allowed to leave without any compensation.
However, the number of humans who considered themselves superior was not large, and they were generally minor cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage. True powerhouses disdained acting arrogantly or bullying others by riding on the coattails of others.
"This inn is interesting: Solitary Wind Pavilion."
As Yang Hong walked, he suddenly stopped and entered an inn with great interest.
"Oh, honored guest, you have arrived. Will you be dining or staying, honored guest?"
As soon as he stepped into the inn, a Foundation Establishment stage attendant enthusiastically greeted him.
"Please arrange a window seat for me, and prepare a table of your signature dishes."
"Esteemed guest, please follow me."
The attendant led the way while shouting loudly, "An honored guest has arrived! The fifth-floor private room! A table of top-grade wine and dishes!"
This attendant was quite shrewd. Unable to discern Yang Hong's cultivation level, he decided to treat him with the highest respect. Upon hearing the attendant's shouts, a well-fed middle-aged man from the fifth floor hurried down to greet him.
"Please forgive me, honored guest. This little one's eyes are not as discerning as Mount Tai; I have been remiss. Please follow me."
"Esteemed guest, welcome. Please rest on the tenth floor."
Yang Hong merely nodded slightly and continued forward. This stout man, a seventh-order Integration stage cultivator, had likely guessed Yang Hong's cultivation level, hence his politeness. Subsequently, a distinguished and noble middle-aged woman came to receive Yang Hong. Her cultivation was already at the eighth-order Tribulation Crossing stage.
The owner of this "Solitary Wind Pavilion" inn was quite formidable, having so many experts working for them. As he just sat down on a balcony on the tenth floor with a fine view, several Nascent Soul female cultivators immediately began serving dishes of spiritual cuisine, demonstrating remarkable efficiency. Such efficiency and service, Yang Hong mused, he had never enjoyed even on the Taiyuan Continent, and yet he was experiencing it here in the Myriad Demon Sea.
"Please enjoy, honored guest. Should you require anything, simply press this bell, and this humble servant will immediately attend to you."
The noblewoman slightly bowed and was about to leave, but Yang Hong waved his hand, asking her to stay. The noblewoman's brow furrowed slightly, but she stopped as requested.