"Make a move, try it. It’s quite satisfying. Anyway, the breach is already open, even if we don’t act, the evil aura will keep seeping in, affecting the inside." She spoke with gusto as she encouraged the Moon God, who remained still.
"..." The Moon God calmly observed the interaction zone, where countless fires blazed across the ground, turning everything into a sea of flames.
It was just as he had imagined. Within the interaction zone, the powers of Zhaoyu Pavilion also released terrifying divine might, no less than his own, arguably enough to destroy the world.
"For those of us who possess power, we can only drift and wander outside. Why do those trash ants get to live safely and comfortably within the interaction zone?" Zhaoyu Pavilion remarked with a laugh.
"That’s why I enjoy this moment the most, burning away all their comfort and safety with a single flame! Destruction is the fairest existence in the universe!"
The Moon God sensed the implied meaning in her words.
"My interaction zone is already destroyed. I took all the accumulated resources with me before I left," he answered in a low voice.
"Destroyed?" Zhaoyu Pavilion raised an eyebrow. "An interaction zone capable of nurturing someone as powerful as you must have been a large one. How could such a large interaction zone be so easily destroyed? It’s fine if you deceive me, but don’t lie to the boss."
"Indeed, it’s destroyed," the Moon God replied without changing his expression. "To break through the celestial curtain and gain more self-preservation strength, I took all the resources. The loss was too great; the celestial curtain began to sink and has been utterly destroyed."
"I hope you’re telling the truth," Zhaoyu Pavilion stared at him for a while, "because if the boss finds out you lied, you’re dead."
"How strong is Laf?" The Moon God narrowed his eyes slightly.
"He hails from an immense interaction zone, a dark god of destruction and ruin that’s existed for over a thousand years,"
Zhaoyu Pavilion laughed, "When he came out, he tore through the celestial curtain with brute force rather than using the access permissions to automatically open a passage. Not like any of us."
"You don’t have a furnace; you can only rely purely on your fundamental qualities to fight, unable to grasp his strength. Only with a furnace can one greatly enhance their own qualities using the Martial Arts Atlas."
"You’ve talked with Rongxin before, right? A furnace can amplify basic qualities and add various special abilities."
Zhaoyu Pavilion raised her finger, a trace of red flame flickering at her fingertip.
"Hehe~~ My Heart-Burning Furnace is crafted according to the Red Sea Burning Heaven Skill from the Martial Arts Atlas, which lets me control fire within a certain temperature range. It also amplifies my fundamental qualities by two to five times."
"Two to five times, huh?" The Moon God only understood the true utility of the Heart-Burning Furnace today from these three people’s mouths.
"The evil aura in you is accumulating more and more; you must quickly find an atlas to forge your own furnace. Otherwise, you might soon transform into an evil spirit." Zhaoyu Pavilion said with a smile.
"Without a furnace, is there really no way to eliminate the evil aura?" The Moon God’s heart sank.
"Of course. That’s why only people like us can wander outside. Otherwise, why can’t ordinary people just come out willy-nilly?" Zhaoyu Pavilion answered. "By the way, your interaction zone is really gone? It was a particularly large one, you know. If you dare lie to the boss...."
"It really is destroyed," the Moon God’s face remained calm as he looked directly at her, his eyes clear and composed.
"Tsk tsk..." Zhaoyu Pavilion, being a merry personality, was annoyed by the Moon God’s dull and taciturn nature.
"One more thing. Within the interaction zone, can supernatural phenomena only arise from spiritual lines and divine might?" The Moon God asked solemnly.
"No kidding, what else could trigger the supernatural? Supernatural phenomena are man-made after all." Zhaoyu Pavilion replied.
"Then... is it possible for someone to manifest similar powers without using spiritual lines?" The Moon God couldn’t help but recall Zhang Rongfang’s situation.
"Well, aren’t evil spirits just like that?" Zhaoyu Pavilion replied nonchalantly, "The essence of evil spirits is a polluted sub-body split from the peak of Chana Tower. If it’s not us, it’s definitely an evil spirit~~"
"Evil spirits..." The Moon God fell silent for a moment.
"The essence of evil spirits comes from the mutated cellular consciousness sub-bodies of the strongest physical form, Long.
So they act according to very primitive instincts, preying on whatever they need. Anyway, if you encounter evil spirits within the interaction zone, it means that zone is finished and thoroughly polluted. Retreat as soon as possible."
*
*
*
Inside the Human Immortal Cave.
Hongye coiled, his elongated centipede body, reporting on recent surrounding changes to Zhang Rongfang.
"From the comprehensive observation of more than thirty places last month, the effects of bloodline transformation have become evident. The descent of the celestial curtain has also been curbed."
"What about those remaining divines? Any still hiding and not reporting?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Most have appeared. Only a few like the Celestial Venerables of the Great Dao Teaching, who inherently have multiple identities, haven’t responded. Our preliminary judgment is that Celestial Venerable Yujing is likely the Moon God in disguise." Hongye answered.
"That’s good. The descent of the celestial curtain being curbed means our basic situation can stabilize. Next, we need to explore what unknown processes exist in exiting the celestial curtain."
Previously, Zhang Rongfang’s self-separated sub-bodies could not restore their main bodies upon leaving the celestial curtain, which means, for him to venture out, perhaps the best way is for his entire main body to leave intact.
"Perhaps the answer lies in Taoyuan. Whether it’s the Sea of Oblivion or the relic platform you mentioned higher up, there could be information in these areas." Hongye replied.
Finding a way out without damaging the celestial curtain is a predicament Zhang Rongfang currently faces.
"The Sea of Oblivion?" he pondered for a moment, "It seems time to investigate that last mysterious place in Taoyuan..."
Having resolved the immediate problem of the celestial curtain’s descent, his next task is to discover the truth about the past of the outside world.
"What about White Scales? Sir, she hasn’t been seen lately, and I’m not sure..." Hongye hesitantly asked.
"She’s attending to some matters and won’t be appearing for a while. Just consider her in secluded practice."
Zhang Rongfang felt trapped in this world and needed a way for his entire being to leave completely and normally.
"Open your Void; I need it as a transfer point." He instructed.
"Uh..." Hongye awkwardly covered his chest, gently raising his hand.
Instantly, a red circular hole appeared between them.
Zhang Rongfang stood up and took a step, instantly disappearing into the hole.
Taoyuan.
Zhang Rongfang once again arrived at the ninth layer, encountering Deepa, who was still dozing off.
"You’re here again?" Deepa shook its head, sleepily facing him.
"I wish to go out but don’t want to break the celestial curtain. Do you have any suggestions?" Zhang Rongfang asked solemnly.
"Just become a divine?" Deepa replied rather casually.
"But I’ve tried, and even if I turn my body into a spiritual line, I can’t rely on myself to come and go." Zhang Rongfang shook his head.
"Well... I can’t help you with that. Are you planning to go down and find a solution?" Deepa asked.
"Might as well give it a try; the entire Taoyuan only has the Sea of Oblivion left, which I haven’t visited yet." Zhang Rongfang replied.
"Well then... best of luck in advance." Deepa seemed to be smiling, "Don’t forget your promise to me. You still need to help me find back my name."
"I will." Zhang Rongfang nodded.
He continued his descent.
As he was about to fully enter the boundary, he took one last glance back at Deepa.
The latter was gently waving at him, seemingly bidding him a silent farewell.
"Don’t become like me, you’re someone important," Di-Crawl finally said.
"Thanks." Zhang Rongfang suddenly sank.
The surroundings suddenly flashed.
He was now above a vast black ocean.
Beside him remained the expansive Taiyuan rock wall.
But only one side of the rock wall was left; the other seemed to have vanished, transformed into an endless black ocean.
He leaned against the rock wall, looking towards the black ocean.
The sea surface rose and fell, serene.
’Sea of Oblivion....’
Zhang Rongfang gently spread his wings, slowly approaching the black sea.
Along the Taiyuan rock wall, he descended bit by bit.
He could see the ruined Divine Buddha Platforms everywhere around.
Many platforms had crumbled to just a few remnants hanging on the rock wall.
’Go.’
With a thought, threads of blood shot out, condensing in mid-air in front of him, transforming into a little red bird.
The red bird suddenly flew down, plunging into the completely black, deep ocean.
Poof!
It plunged into the sea surface.
In the deep sea, the surroundings were murky and dim.
In the red bird’s vision, the sea was hazy, with indistinct sounds echoing constantly in its ears, though it couldn’t discern what they were.
It kept diving deeper into the sea.
In the distance within the water, vague distorted human-like figures occasionally appeared, watching it.
Sometimes, clusters of small eyes lit up deep in the sea, watching it from certain angles.
A terrifying giant whale, at least a thousand meters in size, slowly swam past below.
This ocean wasn’t as serene as imagined, rather exceptionally bustling.
Not sure how much time had passed, the little red bird finally began to slow down.
It saw the seabed.
There, on the black mud, lay countless various items, bones, books, and so on.
Clothing, scepters, jewelry, weapons, armors, fragments, statues, and various items, all could be found here.
Many of them had turned black or gray.
The little red bird swam for a bit at the seabed, aimed at a particularly ancient-looking leather book, bit its corner, and swam upwards.
It just casually picked one item, attempting to bring it out.
The speed of ascent was much faster than before, and soon, the little red bird arrived near the sea surface.
Poof.
It suddenly surfaced, shooting out towards Zhang Rongfang’s main body.
Rumble!!
This seemed to have poked a hornet’s nest.
The entire Sea of Oblivion suddenly paused, then countless black tentacle-like arms shot out greedily from the sea water, reaching for the little red bird.
Zhang Rongfang vibrated his wings, spreading his arms wide.
Numerous blood clouds surged rapidly behind him.
He first wanted to test the weight of this Sea of Oblivion.
At his level, not all natural phenomena required complete evasion.
Blood clouds rolled, quickly condensing beside him into a giant arm.
The blood hand grabbed down fiercely.
Its palm, with a diameter of hundreds of meters, heavily collided with the surging black sea water.
At the same time, soul plunder began to activate.
The massive blood hand clashed with countless black arms.
With a loud crash.
Both dispersed and exploded simultaneously.
Zhang Rongfang’s brow furrowed slightly; he felt that part of the blood in his blood hand had completely lost control.
But fortunately, the blood bird returned to him with the leather book it had found.
Receiving the leather book, Zhang Rongfang casually flipped it open.
’Piyas’ Holy Book.’
That was the name of this book.
It documented how a god named Piyas, step by step from an ordinary person, grew into a powerful divine being.
"To ordinary people, it might be a detailed guide to becoming a god, but to me, it’s meaningless."
Zhang Rongfang’s expression remained unchanged, as he pressed the book with one hand, a black flash across his hand.
In an instant, the entire book emitted a piercing scream, rapidly melting, twisting, shrinking, into a black-blue rhombus crystal gem.
This was the result of soul plunder, extracting and refining its essence, transforming it into a pure Spirit Core.
"Continue...." Zhang Rongfang placed the plundered Spirit Core against his forehead, beginning to absorb the pure spiritual power within.
With a wave of his hand, countless red birds scattered out, diving towards the Sea of Oblivion below.
It seemed feasible to search for clues this way. And even if nothing was found, these failures of the Sea of Oblivion could be transformed into nourishment for his spiritual strength.
In any case, if left here, they’d only perish on their own, meaningless. Better to become a part of him, gaining more hope and rebirth.