Some people, upon witnessing the countless layered peaks, gradually feel their own insignificance. Others, never having experienced the vastness of the world, feel only their own blazing passion like the sun.
The former are thoughtful and perceptive, the latter simple and brave.
It is difficult to say which is superior.
Wang Yu belonged to the former category, yet he did not lack the reckless courage to venture forth. The stirring in his soul seemed to have awakened his original, fundamental hue.
After a brief moment of confusion, tranquility returned.
"So... this is the true meaning of venturing out into the world. To encounter oneself and achieve enlightenment."
In that instant, an indescribable change occurred within Wang Yu.
It was as if a long-standing mountain weighing on his soul had been removed. The **[Asura Slaughter Heart]**, half-forged through the Minor Asura Slaughter Fist, grew purer.
Faintly, the sound of Buddhist sutras and prayers seemed to drift into his ears.
That intangible, untouchable slaughter heart actually took on a wisp of golden light. He could feel it—the upper limit of the slaughterous intent he could control had surged, nearly tripling.
"—Enlightenment of One's Own Heart!"
This was an epiphany of the soul, a bountiful harvest. If in the past, Wang Yu's attainment on the path of the mind had been stuck on the threshold, neither fully in nor out, then now, he had truly stepped across the doorway of mental power. The Asura Slaughter Heart could now be perfectly forged, and he had gained even deeper comprehension of the Prajna Heart Sutra.
Most importantly, he could now control materialized slaughterous intent!
"Mental power..."
In the miasma-filled jungle, Wang Yu, who had been racing along, abruptly stopped. From his fingertips emerged wisps of illusory yet real red light. The true form of mental power should be a milky white.
His manifestation was influenced by the Asura Slaughter Heart. After all, the Minor Asura Slaughter Fist was not just a supernatural ability, but a special one that involved the cultivation of mental power.
"With a slaughter heart as the foundation, if cultivated to a profound level, one might decide life and death with a single word."
Thanks to the existence of the Slaughter Intent Stone Tablet, Wang Yu's progress in the Minor Asura Slaughter Fist had always been swift. It was, after all, a mental imprint left behind by a Divine Transformation Venerable in a moment of venting.
Even time had failed to erase it. Its preciousness almost surpassed any other treasure Wang Yu possessed.
But this Slaughter Fist was, in essence, still primarily focused on combat mysteries. The aspects involving mental power cultivation were all centered on forging the Asura Slaughter Heart.
As for the Prajna Heart Sutra, this rankless secret scripture, it was the true, unimpeded great path for cultivating mental power. Having no rank meant it could be very weak, or it could be incredibly powerful.
Wang Yu felt it would not be weaker than an ordinary Nascent Soul legacy.
Moreover, it seemed to help him possess greater innate wisdom. This feeling was difficult to articulate, but persisting with it would undoubtedly yield benefits. That much was beyond doubt.
Experiencing this unexpected episode could be counted as a good thing.
Several days later.
He arrived at the "White Serpent Depression" he had preliminarily identified.
The Heavenly Demon Bone Forest was a vast stretch of mountainous woodland spanning the Yunling, Ye Qiong, and You Provinces. Its area was immense. Due to the presence of a mysterious Divine Transformation poison beast in its core region, traversing it directly was nearly impossible; one could only travel diagonally across it.
It was roughly divided into four tiers: the periphery, inner region, central area, and core zone. The deeper one went, the greater the danger. There was a chance of encountering fourth-tier poison beasts in the central area, which he certainly wouldn't enter recklessly.
Therefore, Wang Yu had entered from northern Yunling and was heading northwest, actually gradually approaching the direction of Ye Qiong Province.
After a period of travel, what came into view was a depression covered in withered leaves and fallen timber, with some areas of sedimented sludge forming treacherous, man-eating swamps.
The damp environment had gathered pools of stagnant water here. The foul, poisonous gases rising from the ground caused constant bubbles to swell in the water.
Upon reaching their limit, they would burst with a *pop*, fouling the air.
To put it in plain terms: It stank to high heaven!
Even Wang Yu couldn't help but frown in such an environment. No wonder few people came here. It was hardly any better than a cesspit, yet it was oddly suitable for secluded cultivation.
Absolutely no one would disturb you here. He recalled the vow he had made back in Black Mountain and couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret.
"Search the mountains, seek the demon."
Without delay, Wang Yu employed a simple, brute-force method: directly sweeping the area with his divine sense. Since there were no traces of any ruins on the surface, they could only be underground.
And what a sweep it was!
From the surface down to about five meters was densely packed with white serpents. They were only one or two meters in length, but their numbers were simply staggering.
Apart from the swampy areas, this depression was practically saturated with these snakes. Penetrating this serpentine wall and delving another thousand meters downwards became difficult.
While his divine sense could extend to a radius of five thousand meters in open air, its effectiveness was greatly reduced when probing through solid earth.
Just as he was considering whether he could use the Purple Earth Dragon Traveling Art to pass through the serpent layer and probe deep underground to ascertain the situation...
Not far from him, in a small swamp about three *zhang* in diameter, the mud began to boil. It rapidly coalesced into the form of a mud figure, which looked at him from a distance and spoke.
"From the Ruan family?"
"Hmm—"
Wang Yu quickly turned his gaze, feeling surprise in his heart while immediately guessing the newcomer's identity. "You are Array Master Long?"
As he spoke, he took out the jade token given by the Ruan family elder. Array Master Long's demeanor indeed softened considerably.
"It seems you've also come for this place. Follow me down."
The mud figure dispersed. A whirlpool appeared in the center of the small swamp, rapidly expanding and leaving a vertical passage leading deep into the earth in the middle, with occasional drips of mud and water.
Confident in his abilities, Wang Yu clenched the newly acquired Heavenly Thunder Talisman Treasure in his palm and directly jumped into the muddy passage.
His divine sense remained on high alert, silently calculating the distance of his descent.
Soon.
The moment his feet touched solid ground, he had the result: Eight thousand meters!
The other party had actually opened up an underground cavity at such a depth. He couldn't sense the presence of a spirit vein, but the concentration of spiritual energy was quite high.
It was likely gathered through array means, sufficient to meet the daily cultivation needs of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The ceiling above had been transformed into stone through art. Luminescent stones dispelled the darkness. Stone slabs paved the floor, and not far away were a stone table, stone stools, and other furnishings. The entire area spanned about one hundred and twenty square meters.
It resembled a room.
The master of this place, Array Master Long, looked him over with an air of composure. There was no malice in her gaze, yet a trace of puzzlement surfaced.
"How did you obtain that token?"
Wang Yu sized her up in return.
This array master, though female, was unusually plain in appearance, with unremarkable clothing. A sense of weariness lingered between her brows, reminiscent of an overworked office drone from his previous life.
Ordinary. That was his first impression.
One must know that cultivation not only made one powerful; each major realm breakthrough, with its leap in life level, would also repair one's innate physical flaws.
Unless influenced by a cultivation technique, there were simply no ugly cultivators.
Among male cultivators, many didn't care much about appearance. Among female cultivators, almost all paid great attention to their looks—those of the Joy Union Sect even more so. There were no plain ones.
In Scarlet Kite, female cultivators were either exceedingly ugly or breathtakingly beautiful, with almost no middle ground. Someone like Array Master Long was truly rare.
"That token was gifted by an elder of the Ruan family. He said it would allow you to assist me once."
"That is indeed so. I am Array Master Long Yiran. How may I address you, Fellow Daoist?"
"A wandering cultivator, Wang Yu."
For this interaction, he chose to use his real name. The information about a mysterious array cultivator recorded in the intelligence from the Listening Wind Pavilion matched Long Yiran perfectly—a Foundation Establishment peak array master.
"Since Fellow Daoist Wang has found this place and encountered me, you surely didn't come specifically to find me. Are you also here for the serpent dwelling?"
Serpent dwelling? Wang Yu frowned, immediately realizing he had come to the wrong place. This should be a dwelling left behind by a senior, a completely different type of opportunity from a sect's ruins.
Considering the other party's realm, she was likely searching for her Core Formation opportunity. Thinking this, his interest grew.
Dwelling-type opportunities.
They were divided into three types: Ancient Era, Archaic Era, and Present Era, in order of abundance. Ancient Era dwellings were the most numerous and also the most straightforward.
Breaching them would yield a large number of method legacies and inheritances, with somewhat fewer gains in spiritual materials. This was related to the prevailing ethos of the Ancient Immortal Dynasty.
Archaic Era dwellings were neither too many nor too few. They were rich in method legacies and contained a wealth of rare spiritual materials, even extinct, unusual spiritual species. They were the most valuable of the three types.
As for Present Era dwelling opportunities...
Speaking of them brought nothing but tears. A cultivator capable of leaving behind a dwelling with various restrictive trials and spiritual material temptations would at minimum be at the late Core Formation stage.
And such individuals could use their Golden Core to preserve their lives and cultivate the inferior branch technique of body-snatching arts—the **[Soul Seizing Art]**!
Therefore...
Over eighty percent of Present Era dwelling opportunities were traps. Their reputation was foul to the extreme. Even if a ready-made dwelling were placed right before them, few cultivators would dare to venture in.
Over time, those with ill intent refined their skills, crafting dwellings, underground palaces, hidden pavilions, and the like in the style of the Archaic or even Ancient Eras.
Decorative details, architectural patterns, everything perfectly replicated to lure you in.
Heh, they specialized in forging fakes to tempt you inside.
From then on, any dwelling-type opportunity required careful discernment.
Back in the Profound Bone Mountain underground palace, when Liu Jinxian encountered that powerful remnant soul, she had suspected the palace might have been forged in modern times.
But she hadn't communicated this part of the intelligence to Wang Yu.
He actually had no idea about this matter. Having obtained the opportunity and legacy of the Grand Yin Ghost Pupils, he had only suspected that place was a branch sect's mountain gate.
Like the four province capital cities under the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.
Returning to the topic at hand.
Facing Long Yiran's inquiry, Wang Yu replied.
"Array Master Long, to be frank with you.
"I, Wang, came to the Heavenly Demon Bone Forest also for an opportunity—the ruins of an Archaic Era sect. I require the assistance of an array master's skills to locate it and complete my own legacy."
"I see. I agree to help."
Long Yiran agreed as lightly as a feather. Without waiting for Wang Yu to ask further, she continued.
"I am currently unable to free myself from here.
"This serpent dwelling is the abode left behind by an Archaic Era master of arrays. It is intimately connected to my, Long's, own legacy. Therefore, I can confirm the dwelling is absolutely genuine.
"About five or six years ago, I arrived here and have been attempting to break the dwelling's defensive arrays ever since. If you are not in a hurry, wait for me a few years. How about it?"
The exchange between the two was harmonious to a degree that seemed utterly unlike Scarlet Kite. But now that Wang Yu had stepped onto the path of mental power cultivation, he could vaguely sense the truth in her words.
This ability to discern truth had not been verified.
Nevertheless, he chose to trust the power of the mind. This power was more mysterious and profound; merely stepping onto its threshold was something few could achieve.
"How about this instead..."
**(End of Chapter)**