Witch Wind

Chapter 363 Stepping into the Abyss (Part 2)

The Tower of Creation slowly left the 'broken house' and flew towards the back of the dozen or so imprisoned suns.

Behind them, deep within the 'Ruined House', four strange magical energy fluctuations surged into the sky.

Four lucky gang leaders emptied their pockets and traded enough Primordial Qi with Xing Tianli. Having been stuck at the half-step Great Luo Realm for many years, they suddenly broke through their bottleneck with the help of this Primordial Qi.

Thus, the four underground spiritual energy wells naturally came into their possession.

A new order has been formed among the "impoverished".

Having made a considerable gain, Xing Tianli rode the shrunken Tower of Creation away slowly. Besides him and the three women, there were also Hei Lie and Zhong Nu—the strange creature who had obtained the semi-saintly codex, was surrounded by a sinister curse power, had the body of a stunning beauty, but the head of a large bronze bell.

Just before departure.

Blackie, carrying a spiked club he'd somehow acquired, ran breathlessly to Xing Tianli, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Master, I, Blackie, am willing to be your slave and servant, at your beck and call."

No matter what Xing Tianli said, this pig-headed man kept repeating the same sentence over and over.

So, Xing Tianli accepted him.

He's just a mere Celestial Immortal, not even at the pinnacle of Celestial Immortals, yet he has quite the keen eye and strong survival skills. With his Celestial Immortal cultivation, he's managed to survive for so many years in this 'down-and-out' place; he's quite fortunate, isn't he?
Keeping him to do odd jobs is fine, at least he can become a patrol general?
Xing Tianli smiled broadly. He directly used his "Creation Manipulation" supernatural power in the Tongtian Cauldron to create a radiant monk's robe, a monk's hat, and a pair of monk's shoes made of cloud brocade, making him dressed neatly. He also gave him a Dharma name - Ganglie.

Black Ganglie, how about this name?
As for Zhong Nu, she wasn't as lazy as Hei Lie. When Xing Tian Li announced that she was about to set off, she was still wandering and hesitating in the distance. It wasn't until the Tower of Creation was slowly activated that she withdrew all the curse power in her body, and suddenly her figure flashed and she was in front of Xing Tian Li.

Xing Tianli asked her why she wanted to come along.

Zhong Nu simply shook her head and remained silent. It wasn't until Liu Luan, Liu Xing, and Liu Jing replaced Xing Tianli and chattered incessantly around her, asking her questions, that she finally spoke, saying, "Following the True Lord brings good fortune... My future lies with the True Lord."

Xing Tianli looked at Zhong Nu with surprise, and after asking a couple more questions, he agreed to take her with him.

The woman, Zhong, was imbued with the power of curses, filled with misfortune and calamity. However, the balance of the heavens is an ultimate truth. Although her curse power had reached its peak, she unexpectedly possessed a great talent for seeking good fortune and averting disaster, as well as foreseeing future destinies.

This supernatural power works sometimes and doesn't.

However, once it comes true, she can sense even beings whose cultivation level is seven, eight, or ninety realms higher than hers—even those terrifying beings who have gathered all cause and effect, severed all destiny, formed their own Great Dao, and roam freely in time, she can sense them all with a flash of inspiration.

Such innate talent and supernatural abilities, wow!
Zhong Nu was very honest: "My mother told me that our clan's innate supernatural power would bring about the extermination of the clan, and sure enough, the clan was wiped out... So, having escaped, I dared not reveal anything... But you've been asking too many questions, and I suddenly had a flash of inspiration just now, realizing that speaking the truth to you would be beneficial and harmless to me, so I told you."

Xing Tianli raised an eyebrow. What an honest girl.

Hmm, because of a desire for good fortune and to avoid disaster, a flash of inspiration, and even the extraordinary talent to predict the movements of saints who transcend the Three Realms and are not within the Five Elements, their entire clan was wiped out? Cough, to be honest, with such a talent, the extinction of one's clan was almost inevitable.

The saying "possessing a treasure is a crime" is not uncommon.

The black-haired girl leaned in with a sly grin: "Hey girl, I heard that too, is it alright?"

Zhong Nu turned her head and gave Black Hyena a deep look: "My talent tells me that if you dare to reveal my information to the outside world, I will be safe with the protection of the True Lord, but you will be beaten into mincemeat and fed to the dogs."

Black Hyena tilted his head and gave a dry laugh.

The Tower of Creation thus gained two more passengers, and in the vast void, the Tower of Creation continued to accelerate.

They bypassed the dozen or so suns clustered together for warmth, and in the void ahead, in a place extremely far from the previous 'down-and-out' place—a place that even a Great Luo Golden Immortal would need to fly for months to reach—they encountered several more 'down-and-out' places.

Various strange and unusual races and all sorts of miscellaneous cultivators, for various reasons, drifted to the edge of the Black Abyss and ended up in this area. Due to the natural instinct of living beings to cluster together, they gathered together and built messy settlements using various natural terrains.

Xingtianli also witnessed many wondrous sights.

For example, he actually saw a strange race with fish heads and human bodies, numbering about a hundred thousand. They had encircled hundreds of meteorites with diameters ranging from a hundred to several hundred miles, hollowed out the inside of the stars, and poured in a huge amount of clear water from somewhere, scattering various aquatic plant seeds and raising a large number of fish inside.

Tsk, a fish farmer in the void.

The problem is, they themselves are all fish-headed and fish-brained, yet they actually set up a market in the void, selling fresh and salted fish, and their business is surprisingly doing very well.

Further on, Xing Tianli and his companions unexpectedly encountered a brothel in the void.

What's even more exciting is that the girls in this brothel are all ghosts... They come from at least thirty different mother worlds, and all of them are great worlds ruled by the Netherworld.

Whether the world is destroyed, or the world is invaded, or their homeland is destroyed, or their family is destroyed by the enemy... these ghost girls, for various reasons, have drifted here through various channels, yet they dare not step into the legendary, extremely dangerous Black Abyss.

A genius ghost mother, through coercion or enticement, recruited these ghost girls and built a brothel here that was extremely popular. Their business must be exceptionally good because even the weakest of the girls in the brothel had the highest level of cultivation, and there were even seven auras of the Great Luo Realm hidden inside!

Horrible, terrible.

Xing Tianli and Hei Li clicked their tongues in amazement. Running a brothel and being able to support seven Great Luo Immortals—how profitable were they?

Black Mane exclaimed in admiration, "Back when our grandfather was still alive, there was an uncle in the clan who, after drinking, boasted that he had been to this building... Ah, ah, it was truly intoxicating... However, not only were his pockets emptied, but his kidneys were also emptied... That uncle, before entering the building, was at the mid-stage of the Taiyi realm, but when he left, he had shrunk to the early stage of the Taiyi realm..."

"Poor thing, his grandfather broke both his legs and cut off his ears to make a cold dish."

Liu Jing suddenly shouted, "What? Your grandfather cut off your uncle's ear and ate it like a cold dish?"

Liu Luan, Liu Xing, and Liu Jing simultaneously stopped drinking, their gazes lingering on the black mane's fluttering ears. The black mane felt a sudden chill run down its spine and instinctively turned behind Xing Tian Li, daring not to utter another sound.

Along the way, Xing Tianli paused the Tower of Creation and climbed up to trade with these "down-and-out" people.

Those strange and unusual materials greatly enriched Xing Tianli's resources. With the supernatural power of 'manipulating creation' as a foundation, as long as he has a sample the size of a sesame seed or mung bean, he will have an endless supply of materials to squander in the future.

Some of the materials have exceptionally superior properties, even surpassing the highest-grade spirit ore on Yaksha Star.

These materials, when used on the combat puppets created by the Tower of Creation, are enough to increase their combat power by about 30%—this increase is terrifying.

The Daoist principles, cultivation techniques, and secret arts that Xing Tianli acquired through the trade greatly benefited Xing Tianli and the three women, including Liu Luan.

The length of the "Primitive Shamanic Texts" has more than doubled.

On the Tongtian Cauldron, the wisps of holy light had become much stronger. It seemed that Xing Tianli was collecting the 'wisdom crystals' of various worlds here, and this "Tongtian Sword Canon" had produced an extremely subtle reaction, causing the "Tongtian Sword Canon" to automatically transform and evolve.

This is a 'living' sword manual. Xing Tianli is feeding it more nutrients, and it will slowly become more and more powerful and terrifying.

During the transaction process, of course, some people will try to bully and monopolize the market, attempting to seize assets by trickery and force.

Well, haha, sorry about that.

Xing Tianli was not a merciful saint. With the surge of Pangu bloodline and the release of the God of War's killing intent, heads rolled and blood flowed like rivers. As a result, the accumulation of both raw materials and 'crystallization of wisdom' became increasingly abundant.

Incidentally, the Heavenly Spirit Banner also contains several hundred million qualified Great Yakshas, ​​which is truly wonderful.

Further on.

In the void, a small, drifting celestial body, whose origins are unknown, sparked a war between two impoverished forces. Seven Great Luo Immortals and nearly a thousand Taiyi Immortals from each side, along with an astonishing number of Golden Immortals and Celestial Immortals, clashed fiercely.

Various spells poured down like a torrential rain, and all sorts of strange magical artifacts shone with light, causing the void to twist and tear constantly.

The small meteor, which was about three hundred miles in diameter, had one corner shattered by a spell, revealing pieces of spirit crystals underneath that shone with magnificent flames and spewed out wisps of pure acquired spiritual energy.

Xing Tianli quickly compared the resources contained in this small meteor with the Primordial Qi he had transformed. Well, the total amount wasn't that large, and the grade and quality were far inferior to the Primordial Qi he had refined by tracing back to its origin. He really had no interest in it.

However, the Tower of Creation was too powerful and its design was too sinister.

Two impoverished settlements each dispatched a Grand Luo Immortal and dozens of Taiyi Immortals, charging menacingly towards this place. Xing Tianli was about to tell them that he had absolutely no interest in the small meteorite spirit crystal they were fighting over, but they wouldn't listen, and a barrage of spells rained down upon them. Beside the small meteorite, the Grand Luo Immortals, each in charge, roared and cursed: "Hurry up! Kill all these unlucky bastards! Bring back their flesh and blood to make pies, and after searching their immortal souls, use them to refine soul weapons! That strangely shaped tower looks good, hurry up and snatch it!"

Murder, cannibalism, soul searching, weapon forging, treasure hunting...

Wow, they're incredibly skilled at providing end-to-end services.

Xing Tianli was no stranger to murder and arson... With a wave of his sleeve, seventy-two great Yaksha ghost lords roared out from the Tongtian Yuling Banner, and the Wu Clan battle formation surged with boundless baleful energy, shaking the void.

Thus, the two dilapidated houses were destroyed, and Xing Tianli's harvest increased significantly.

Well, let's leave aside Xing Tianli and the three women, and talk about Hei Lie and Zhong Nu. They were just doing odd jobs, helping to scavenge for scraps on the battlefield. Xing Tianli rewarded them for their contributions and provided them with a set of Taiyi-level items.

From head to toe, the two of them wore hundreds of Taiyi-level treasures in bits and pieces.

Wow, how arrogant.

Zhong Nu remained silent as always. As for Hei Lie, he couldn't stop smiling for several days in a row. Every time he saw Xing Tian Li, he would kneel down and kowtow, calling him "the kind and benevolent master." When he saw Liu Jing and the three women, he would shower them with flattery, calling them "first wife, second wife, and third wife."

Xing Tianli didn't care about any of that.

He's not at a disadvantage.

On the contrary, he felt a little pleased... Mainly, the three women were young and beautiful, and all three were to his liking. He couldn't control Black Lizard's rants, so why should he?

The three women, Liu Luan, were enraged and used their fists to beat Black Hyena so badly that he fled in terror.

The "Small Six Ren Secret Demon Killing Array," composed of thirty-six precious pearls, was used on Black Hyena for the first time, leaving him bruised and battered, almost frozen solid...

And so, they continued onward.

Suddenly, the space ahead opened up.

The so-called emptiness is the ultimate cleanliness, the ultimate vacuum... There is an invisible barrier that separates the normal void behind from the boundless darkness in front.

As if sensing something, the Tower of Creation stopped at this dividing line.

Xing Tianli frowned and cautiously reached out his hand, probing forward—in the void behind him, there was the light of the sun, moon, and stars, countless stars surging, a large number of meteors, meteorites, and interstellar dust rolling around, acquired spiritual energy, and a chaotic Daoist aura that seemed to be tens of thousands of worlds boiled into a pot of thin porridge.

But it was just a hair's breadth away, and there was nothing in front of it.

There was a faint light, but its intensity was only one ten-thousandth of that in the void behind it. Without sufficient cultivation, one could not see anything clearly here.

That's all.

There is no sky.

There is no land.

There is no gas.

There is no spirit.

It was spotless, without even a speck of the finest interstellar dust.

The Black Abyss Jade Slip flew out from Xing Tianli's sleeve, and a wisp of extremely thin black light shot out from the jade slip, stretching for tens of miles, like a compass, pointing to a certain place in the endless darkness ahead.

"Wow, you popped out here! Did you go back to your hometown?"

Xing Tianli looked at the people standing around him one by one: Liuluan, Liuxing, Liujing, Heilie, Zhongnu... He stamped his foot, feeling the weight and solidity of the Tower of Creation, gripped the Heavenly Bamboo tightly in his right hand, held the Heavenly Spirit Banner in his left hand, and his purple robe returned to its original purple form, with wisps of purple energy faintly flowing on his body.

"Ha, let's go!" Xing Tianli laughed three times: "We've been dragging our feet all along. Since leaving the first 'down-and-out' place, we've actually been traveling for another twelve years... Actually, we're feeling guilty, aren't we?"

A loud clang resounded.

On the nine Heavenly Cauldrons of Destiny, strands of holy light flowed, and the unforged sword intent surged wildly. Xing Tianli's body was filled with powerful magic, his eyes spewed out azure divine light, his blood essence boiled, and his long hair moved without wind.

"What are you afraid of! Let's go!"

The Tower of Creation slowly accelerated, breaking through the invisible barrier and stepping into the abyss of darkness.

A faint light, an extremely faint light.

Apart from Xing Tianli, everyone else here has completely lost the power of their eyes and can't see anything at all—well, actually, Xing Tianli can't see anything either, except for the people around him and the Tower of Creation beneath his feet.

Because there was nothing for them to see.

Even when they turned around, they couldn't see the light coming from the starry sky behind them. It was as if an invisible barrier had swallowed up all the light and completely annihilated it.

Thus, following the direction indicated by the Black Abyss Jade Slip, they traveled forward at a leisurely pace.

Emptiness, stillness.

Even the concept of time disappeared. They didn't know how long they had traveled forward. All they knew was that the three women, Liu Jing and her companions, had drunk more than two thousand jars of old wine. Black Lizard was hungry, then his belly was full, then he was hungry again, then his belly was full again, and so on for more than three hundred times.

A faint light suddenly appeared ahead.

Xing Tianli let out a heavy breath. Even with his Great Luo Realm Immortal Soul, after traveling in this Black Abyss for so long, a layer of distracting thoughts had accumulated in his mind, making it impossible for him to have a clear mind.

This ray of light suddenly burned away all those distracting thoughts, and Xing Tianli let out a heavy breath, feeling refreshed all over.

The three women, along with Hei Lie and Zhong Nu, all gasped for breath. The five of them sat down on the ground, beads of cold sweat constantly seeping out. Hei Lie, in particular, was drenched in sweat, which flowed like a stream. He was kicked far away by the disgusted Liu Luan.

The Tower of Creation drew near to the fading light.

It was a head.

A head that made Xing Tianli's heart sink suddenly—it was a little monk's head, with red lips and white teeth, nine ordination scars on his forehead, two gouged-out eyeballs, and two lines of blood constantly flowing from his eye sockets.

A layer of dim, blood-red light enveloped the head, whose skin was white as jade and translucent, revealing the glassy skull beneath—jade skin and glassy bones. This was the appearance of a highly accomplished Buddhist monk, at least a Golden Immortal.

His head floated there all alone, the layer of bloody light on the outside being the faint light source that Xing Tianli and the others had just seen.

The little monk's head was solemn and sacred.

That layer of bloody light was chilling yet malevolent.

Xing Tianli swallowed hard. He looked into the distance, about a thousand miles away. In the void, a faint Buddhist light flickered. He could easily see that within that weak, seemingly fragile light, a blood-red broken sword was slowly pulsating.

The Buddha's light enveloped the blood-red blade, which was now only half intact. Occasionally, a tiny wisp of blood-red light would strike the outer Buddha's light, producing a very slight hissing sound. Clearly, it was trying to break free from the Buddha's light's restriction.

"Who is this senior? Why are you here? How did you get here? When did you arrive?"

Xing Tianli frowned, looking at the little monk's head, and subconsciously asked in a low voice.

The young monk suddenly spoke up: "Is this fellow Daoist from Kyushu? This humble monk Huineng greets you... The void is perilous, mercy is not an option... Fellow Daoist, remember this well, never show mercy."

Xing Tianli was taken aback.

(End of this chapter)