Chapter 103: Outer Realm Battlefield

The Giant's eyes revealed greed, and he laughed wildly, "Good, good! This massive merit belongs to me! This harvest is excellent. First, I saw the Baleful Qi, and now I see that bead. Lin Yi, if you dare to fight me for it, do you believe I'll kill you?" As he spoke, the Giant stepped out from the clouds. His body, dozens of zhang tall, exuded a sense of oppression.

His body emitted a series of crackling sounds as he rapidly shrank, eventually reaching the height of a normal person. At the center of his brow, a hammer-shaped pattern was revealed.

"Chi, what do you mean by this!" Lin Yi shouted sharply.

He glared fiercely at Lin Yi, stepped into the circular opening of the Outer Realm passage, and upon entering, waved his right hand. The passage instantly transformed back into two Flood Dragons, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. The sky immediately brightened, and the heavy black clouds completely dispersed.

Lin Yi's expression was extremely ugly. A cold light flickered in his eyes. He glanced back at Teng Huayuan, who was confused about what had happened, sneered a few times, stomped his foot, and quickly flew up, transforming into a long rainbow and disappearing into the horizon.

Every Cultivator from the State of Zhao outside Jueming Valley remembered the young man who dared to fight a Nascent Soul Stage expert—the figure of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Wang Lin was firmly engraved in everyone's hearts, lingering for a long time.

This time, the State of Zhao's qualification for the Outer Realm Battlefield was ruthlessly canceled. Regardless of whether any tokens still existed, they were worthless. The envoys who opened the passage had chased after the item; how could they remember these trivial matters?

As for Lin Yi, he was filled with rage. Watching the mission item released by the Cultivation Alliance fly past him only to be snatched away by someone else made him feel like he was about to vomit blood.

Especially considering that the bead had been in the State of Zhao all along, and he was the Supervisory Envoy of the State of Zhao—if this matter got out, it would be utterly disgraceful.

Teng Huayuan's face was gloomy. He didn't know whether Wang Lin was truly dead. Although he suspected the youth must have died, for some reason, he always felt a sense of dread and unease.

The crowd outside Jueming Valley slowly dispersed. Stories about Wang Lin gradually began to circulate. For a time, almost every Cultivator in the entire State of Zhao knew of this person.

Piao Nanzi returned to Xuandao Sect with his Disciples. Behind him was a woman, who was Liu Mei. Everything she had witnessed stirred up waves of complex and inexplicable bitterness in her heart.

Regarding Wang Lin, she didn't know why, but she held a slight fondness for him. As time passed, this feeling did not fade; instead, it often surfaced in her heart during the quiet hours of the night.

Wang Zhuo and Wang Hao gradually learned everything that had happened outside Jueming Valley that day. The resentment they originally held toward Wang Lin for bringing about the calamity that destroyed their clan slowly dissipated.

The two of them knew they lacked Wang Lin's courage to dare duel a Nascent Soul Stage expert, but this did not mean they abandoned revenge. Wang Zhuo and Wang Hao had made killing Teng Huayuan their greatest goal in this life.

After returning, Piao Nanzi learned the details of the Wang family's tragedy. After a brief silence, he took in Wang Hao as a Disciple at Liu Mei's earnest request.

Liu Mei knew this was the only way she could slightly help Wang Lin now, even if Wang Lin might never know it.

Teng Huayuan, still feeling that sense of dread, returned to Teng Family City and began secluded cultivation, vowing not to emerge until he reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage.

The entire State of Zhao seemed to quiet down considerably all at once.

The Outer Realm Battlefield was filled with fierce wind and Rifts. At this moment, in this outer realm that had existed for countless years, there were Cleaning Teams numbering up to a thousand people, hailing from dozens of Third-Grade cultivation Countries.

The highest cultivation among these people was Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Logically speaking, with such cultivation, it should be impossible for them to move an inch in this terrifying Outer Realm Battlefield, so how could they complete the cleaning work?

In reality, upon entering the Outer Realm Battlefield, the Supervisory Envoy of their respective country would issue each person a Jade Talisman. This Jade Talisman served to defend against the fierce wind, and also acted as a token for teleportation back to their home country after the 50-year period expired.

However, for the mysterious and unpredictable Rifts that often appeared silently anywhere in the Outer Realm Battlefield, the Jade Talisman's effect was negligible.

Therefore, the Outer Realm Battlefield was still extremely dangerous for these Foundation Establishment Cultivators. However, if they were cautious and lucky, they could still remain safe and sound.

Generally speaking, the survival rate in the Outer Realm Battlefield was around thirty percent.

Although not high, compared to the abundance of Materials and Magic Treasures obtained while cleaning this area, the risks were acceptable. Immortals inherently fight against the heavens; the higher the risk, the greater the reward.

Moreover, almost everyone who safely returned from the Outer Realm Battlefield would have a higher status in their respective Sects than other Disciples, and most would have an increase in their cultivation upon return, progressing much faster than Cultivating in their School.

After all, the Spiritual Qi in the Outer Realm Battlefield was extremely abundant, and coupled with the constant life-or-death crises, cultivation naturally increased rapidly.

Essentially, during every cleaning operation, someone would successfully achieve Core Formation. This was one of the major reasons why Foundation Establishment Cultivators dared to come here despite the dangers.

At this moment, at 67 degrees northeast of the Outer Realm Battlefield, a fair-faced young man was digging away at a floating gigantic corpse with a knife. If one looked closely, they would see that he was specifically aiming his knife at the seams of the huge Armor worn by the corpse; clearly, he was interested in the Armor.

The Armor on the corpse was damaged in many places, with some spots showing signs of being burned by fire. Especially the piece covering the Giant's chest, which was completely shattered, revealing a wound the size of a normal person's fist.

Furthermore, there was a hammer-shaped pattern at the center of the Giant's brow. This pattern was faint, and if one didn't look carefully, it would be completely invisible.

This young man was named Ma Liang. He was a Cultivator of the War God Hall in the Third-Grade Cultivation Country of Huofen Country. He possessed Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation and had been staying in the Outer Realm Battlefield for over thirty years, making him highly experienced.

It needs to be explained that the Outer Realm Battlefield was a mysterious place. Here, one's appearance would not change; aging would only rapidly occur the moment they left.

As he was digging, his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately flattened his body. He saw a streak of Ink Light rapidly shooting toward him from afar, whizzing past him instantly.

The young man was stunned. He vaguely saw what looked like a bead within the Ink Light. Without a second thought, he quickly abandoned the Armor on the Giant's body and chased after it.

He had been in the Outer Realm space for over thirty years. Although he hadn't seen any living people besides his colleagues, he had witnessed self-flying Magic Treasures a few times. However, each instance would attract a large number of colleagues vying for it. Ma Liang once saw from afar at least a hundred Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivators fighting over a self-flying Flying Sword.

Although ultimately no one managed to seize it, Ma Liang heard people say that those self-flying items mostly possessed a Material Soul, and such treasures were extremely powerful.

Ma Liang unleashed his fastest speed and pursued. The longer he chased, the more excited he became, especially since this area was relatively remote. In the more than a year he had been here, he hadn't encountered a single colleague. Thinking of this, his heart pounded faster. He secretly thought, "This Young Man's luck has arrived! If I can get that treasure and return to the School, my Junior Sister will certainly look at me with new respect. Then, I'll give this treasure to the Sect Leader and ask him to betroth Junior Sister to me as my Dao Companion. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Filled with fantasy, Ma Liang chased with all his might.

But the Ink Bead's speed was too fast. Before Ma Liang chased for long, he was pulled far behind. Ma Liang gritted his teeth, took an item out of his Storage Pouch. This item was a shuttle, entirely red, emitting wisps of Fiery Qi.

This was Ma Liang's greatest gain during his cleaning work in the Outer Realm Battlefield. He usually dared not take it out, fearing it would be stolen. But now, seeing the Ink Light moving too fast and the treasure about to disappear, he was unwilling to give up and ignored all caution, throwing the shuttle forward.

The shuttle immediately grew several times larger. With a buzzing sound, it shot forward at an extremely high speed. Ma Liang had already clung tightly to it the moment the shuttle enlarged. He felt fierce winds blowing violently, hitting his body like fists. He struggled to keep his eyes open, and in the blink of an eye, he had significantly closed the distance with the Ink Light.

Filled with excitement, Ma Liang held onto the shuttle and rapidly closed the gap. Time quickly passed. With the shuttle, Ma Liang would no longer lose track of the Ink Light, but he couldn't overtake or intercept it no matter what. He could only maintain a constant distance, ensuring he wasn't left behind.

It wasn't until the third day that Ma Liang looked at the unfamiliar surroundings of the Outer Realm Battlefield and began to feel hesitant. He knew that in the Outer Realm Battlefield, besides the fierce wind and Rifts, the most dangerous thing was arriving in an unfamiliar location.

Unfamiliarity represented many things. Large numbers of Rifts might suddenly appear here, swallowing everything. Ma Liang had heard old-timers say that the Outer Realm Battlefield was too vast, and what they cleaned was only a small fraction. Even within this small fraction, there were several spots where massive Rifts would appear.

While he was hesitating, Ma Liang suddenly noticed rows of densely packed white thin lines appearing ahead. Seeing these thin lines, Ma Liang's expression changed drastically. He immediately controlled the shuttle, forced it to stop, and rapidly retreated.

He was too familiar with those white thin lines; they were Rifts. This was exactly how Rifts looked when they first appeared. He believed that soon, those thin lines would grow larger and larger, eventually forming a giant Rift that would swallow everything.

Ma Liang looked around with a pale face. After confirming that the Rifts were only ahead, he visibly sighed in relief. He gave a bitter smile and said, "Forget it. It's too unworthy to lose my life for a treasure whose purpose I don't even know. I haven't even had Dual Cultivation with my Junior Sister yet. If I die like this, I won't rest in peace. Forget it, I'm not chasing anymore."

Just then, in front of the Ink Light, a thin line suddenly split open rapidly. The Ink Light didn't hesitate at all, drilling into the Rift and disappearing.

Ma Liang sighed and cursed, "Rift, you swallowed another treasure! I've been here for over thirty years. How many have I seen you swallow? If not ten thousand, then eight thousand! Can't you leave just one for me?"

Immediately after he finished cursing, a chill ran down his spine. Someone had patted him on the shoulder.

Cold sweat instantly broke out. He slowly turned around, trembling, and saw a middle-aged man standing behind him. The man had a very grim expression and asked Ma Liang, "Little guy, did you see that streak of Ink Light?"

Ma Liang immediately saw the hammer-shaped pattern at the center of the middle-aged man's brow and gasped. In his thirty years in the Outer Realm Battlefield, he had seen this pattern many times; in fact, he had seen it just a few days ago.

He had heard from some old-timers that this pattern was the symbol of the Giant Demon Race from a Fourth-Grade Cultivation Country. Members of the Giant Demon Race were born with Spiritual Power, making them the best Cultivators. Furthermore, among the few Fifth-Grade cultivation Countries on the Local Cultivation Planet, this was the only Cultivation Country that possessed only one Sect nationwide.

Ma Liang's mouth was dry. Daring not to conceal anything, he quickly nodded and said, "Senior, I saw that streak of Ink Light. It flew over there and was swallowed by a Rift."

This middle-aged man was Chi, who had chased all the way from the State of Zhao. As he hurried along, the more he chased, the more alarmed he became. The bead's speed was actually comparable to his own, and it managed to evade all his attempts at interception. Its speed didn't decrease; instead, it grew faster and faster. In the end, he was almost shaken off.

Coupled with the Rifts that appeared from time to time, although Chi wasn't afraid, being entangled by them would be quite troublesome. With his Middle Stage Soul Transformation cultivation, facing the Rifts, he could only ensure he wasn't sucked in, but he couldn't move freely in and out of them.

With the obstruction of the Rifts, his speed was lowered again. Even using Teleportation, he could only manage to keep from losing track of it.

Along the way, he discovered Ma Liang. Unexpectedly, after Ma Liang used that shuttle, his speed was actually slightly faster than Chi's, putting him ahead.

After listening to Ma Liang's account, Chi's face was grim, and he was extremely annoyed. Although the Outer Realm space was vast, he knew it still had boundaries. However, the space inside the Rifts was virtually boundless. Even if he returned to search for a Peerless Expert of the Nascent Soul Transformation Late Stage within his clan to look for it, it would likely be like searching for a needle in a haystack—a slim hope.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Ma Liang, grabbed the shuttle with his right hand, looked at it a few times, and shouted, "This damned thing belongs to me now."

After speaking, he moved his body and flew back the way he came, without even looking at Ma Liang.

After the man left, Ma Liang wiped the sweat from his forehead, let out a sigh of relief, and hurriedly left the area.

He didn't know that Chi was quite famous in the Fourth-Grade Cultivation Country, but his fame mostly stemmed from his personality of "if he doesn't pick something up, it counts as losing it." The fact that this fellow even tried to snatch the light pillar of Lin Yi's Heaven-Reaching Pagoda when visiting a Third-Grade Cultivation Country showed his character.

The Rifts in the Outer Realm space were caused by countless eons of battles, pushing this place to the brink of collapse. If the Cultivation Alliance didn't use a Great Spell to reinforce it periodically, it would have long since collapsed and turned into nothingness.

Those Rifts connected to a Star Sea, which could be described as boundless, filled with violent energy and countless mysterious creatures.

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