Ten Heavenly Passages swirled around Lin Fan, radiating divine light, their brilliance dazzling and resplendent. Standing there, he resembled a celestial deity, his presence illuminating the mortal world, sacred and transcendent.
"Little Yue Yue, still want to fight?" Lin Fan grinned brightly, his passages rumbling behind him. Runes flickered within, exuding a terrifying aura that was utterly intimidating.
Yue Chan stood frozen, silent for a long moment. I must look like a fool, she thought bitterly. She'd been so proud of her nine Heavenly Passages, only to discover Lin Fan had already reached ten. The gap was staggering.
It wasn't that she couldn't achieve ten passages herself—she was confident that the extreme limit of the Heavenly Passage Realm was within her reach. But Lin Fan had outpaced her, and that speed was what stung the most.
"No more fighting. You win this time. I'll challenge you again when I've opened my tenth passage," Yue Chan said, her voice laced with reluctance. She hated admitting defeat, but the difference in their realms was undeniable.
Each additional Heavenly Passage in this realm marked a significant leap in strength, and ten passages represented a qualitative transformation. No wonder achieving ten was so rare, a feat reserved for only the most exceptional prodigies, deemed a touch of the forbidden.
Those who reached ten Heavenly Passages could dominate their peers in this realm, wielding supreme divine might, unrivaled and unmatched. Despite all her preparations and strategies to counter Lin Fan's supreme technique, the gap in their realms allowed him to overpower her with sheer force.
"Um… about that little mirror…" Lin Fan prodded, his eyes gleaming with greed as he fixated on the treasure at Yue Chan's waist.
"Here!" Yue Chan tossed it over decisively, refusing to look at it, feigning composure.
Inwardly, though, her heart bled. She'd begged her granduncle for that mirror, a trump card meant to crush her rivals. Yet she hadn't even used it once before losing it. The pain was excruciating.
"Little Yue Yue, you're so generous!" Lin Fan chuckled, carefully catching the mirror and examining its intricate patterns with delight. This is a game-changer. With this, I'll have an edge when I venture out—perfect for ambushing and snatching treasures.
"Is Old Ancestor here?" Yue Chan asked suddenly, scanning the small world cautiously, as if she had something important to discuss.
Lin Fan blinked, exasperated. Calling such a stunning fairy 'Old Ancestor'? Really? If he hadn't deliberately turned a blind eye to her antics, Qing Yao would likely have strung Yue Chan up for such disrespect.
But Qing Yao was indeed absent from the sacred land, having left seven or eight days ago.
"Pretty Sister's not here. She went to find treasures for my baptism. It'll probably be a while before she's back," Lin Fan explained.
Yue Chan pouted, a hint of envy in her voice. "She's so good to you. Even for your baptism, she's going all out, personally searching for phoenix blood."
"Phoenix blood?!" Lin Fan's eyes widened in shock.
"You didn't know?" Yue Chan asked, puzzled, but quickly waved it off. "Makes sense. You're cooped up here all the time, clueless about the outside world."
"Three months ago, someone discovered a phoenix nest in the Uninhabited Zone, along with a Nirvana Blood Pool left by a true phoenix. There's even a chance it contains a complete Archaic Vicious Ten treasure technique. Somehow, the news spread, and all the major sects caught wind of it. It's caused a huge stir, drawing countless explorers."
"Oh? What happened next?" Lin Fan asked, intrigued. He desperately needed such precious blood to break through his limits, and this sounded like a golden opportunity.
Yue Chan continued, "You've heard about the dangers of the Uninhabited Zone, right?"
Lin Fan nodded. He knew plenty about it. The Uninhabited Zone was a battlefield from the Immortal Ancient Era, littered with the remains of fallen immortals and dark creatures from another realm.
Though dead, these beings had been supreme powerhouses in life. A single drop of their blood could annihilate a group of sect masters. Some lingered with unyielding obsessions, creating the zone's many eerie phenomena.
For instance, the Longevity Calamity was one such terror—an undying remnant soul of a dark Immortal King that possessed the head of a longevity clan in the Nine Heavens, lying dormant in wait.
"Is the phoenix nest that dangerous?" Lin Fan ventured, suspecting that the nest's treasures were nearly impossible to claim, likely fraught with peril.
"Exactly," Yue Chan said gravely. "A sect master once entered, trying to open the nest, but was nearly killed by a strange creature inside. It bit off half his body." Her expression was somber, the mere thought chilling.
That was a sect master—a peerless powerhouse capable of dominating the Three Thousand Provinces and founding sects. The creature that injured him was unimaginable in strength.
"There's a rumor that several sect masters led their disciples to explore the Uninhabited Zone together, only to perish in blood. One died bizarrely, merely touching a drop of ten-colored water that dissolved his body and soul entirely. And tens of thousands of years ago, a Demon Emperor from the Three Thousand Provinces fell in the zone—a figure even mightier than a sect master!"
Lin Fan's eyes widened, the reality far more terrifying than any text he'd read. It's beyond comprehension, utterly bizarre!
After a long pause, worry crept in. "If Pretty Sister went there, isn't that… dangerous?"
Yue Chan pondered for a moment. "It should be fine. Dozens of sect masters are said to have joined forces to explore the phoenix nest."
Relieved, Lin Fan exhaled. If Qing Yao were harmed or worse because of his baptism, the guilt would haunt him forever.
"By the way, who was that Demon Emperor you mentioned?" Lin Fan asked, his curiosity piqued. Being alone so long made him eager for conversation, especially about the Upper Realm's intriguing legends.
At the mention of the Demon Emperor, Yue Chan shook her head. "I don't know much. He's a taboo topic in the Upper Realm, rarely discussed. I only heard a brief mention from my granduncle. The older elders in the Heaven Mending Sect, especially, avoid the subject like it's cursed."
"That serious? Did our sect have some bad blood with him?" Lin Fan asked, surprised, settling onto a bluestone to mull it over.
"Don't ask me—I've got no clue. The elders won't talk, but Old Ancestor was from the same era as the Demon Emperor. She'd probably know."
Yue Chan waved dismissively. Their conversation stretched on, hours slipping by until afternoon arrived.
The more they talked, the more Lin Fan's shock grew. The Upper Realm's mysteries were far deeper and more severe than he'd realized, sparking a burning desire to uncover the truth behind the veil of secrets.
"But there's another theory," Yue Chan said, her crystalline chin resting in her hand, her rosy lips glistening. "Some say the Demon Emperor didn't die. Gravely wounded, he returned, underwent nirvana, lived a second life, and left the Three Thousand Provinces."
"Really?" Lin Fan mused.
He knew this realm was called the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, and the Three Thousand Provinces were merely one of its lands. Above them were the Nine Heavens, home to longevity clans and numerous Immortal Ancient relics, with a richer cultivation environment. Unlike the Three Thousand Provinces, where one had to wait for the Three Thousand Dao Flowers to bloom to enter relics and cultivate immortal qi, the Nine Heavens offered more opportunities.
He himself had been cast down from the Nine Heavens' border by Ye Qingxian, and he could feel that the spiritual essence in the Three Thousand Provinces paled in comparison.
"In short, those taboo figures wield unfathomable power, beyond our imagination," Yue Chan said softly, her eyes gleaming with both longing and ambition—to become an immortal, to transcend.
_
The sacred land shimmered under the afternoon sun, the air still humming with the faint resonance of Lin Fan's ten Heavenly Passages. The weight of the Upper Realm's secrets lingered between them, a quiet spark igniting their shared curiosity and resolve.
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