Chapter 183 - The Third Stage and the Deeper Mist
The battle was over, but Outpost No. 3 did not become peaceful immediately.
At most, the outpost became quiet enough for everyone to hear themselves breathe.
Su Bai looked over the exhausted cultivators.
Zhuge Jing stood beside him.
"The line is stable for now," Zhuge Jing said. "But if another wave like that comes before everyone recovers, the outpost will not hold as smoothly."
Su Bai nodded.
That was expected.
Su Bai then said, "Everyone rests first. Treat the injured, repair the formation scar, and recover spiritual energy. We discuss the next step after everyone can think clearly."
No one objected.
In fact, many people looked relieved.
It was the tenth day inside Fallen Star Sanctuary. The remaining hours were spent stabilizing Outpost No. 3.
When the tenth day ended, Outpost No. 3 finally felt like an outpost again instead of a temporary place where people waited to be swallowed.
Then, the automatic sign-in arrived.
Su Bai received another Vial of Ashen-Dew Runoff. as a reward.
He looked at the reward.
This was the ninth vial he had received since entering the Fallen-Star Sanctuary.
Su Bai’s expression became thoughtful.
Today was already the eleventh day inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary.
During the battle, he had absorbed too much Ashen-Blood Miasma. Much of that pressure still remained inside his Dantian and Qi reservoirs.
His body was slowly digesting it even without his direct effort, but the amount was simply too much. Leaving it alone would work eventually, yet "eventually" was a word lazy people used when they did not have enemies waiting in the mist.
Su Bai found a secluded corner behind a repaired section of the outpost.
He sat down cross-legged.
Before meditating, he took out the vials of Ashen-Dew Runoff and read the description again.
[Description: Triggers Qi-Petrification. The dead energy aggressively attacks the target’s spiritual foundation, turning pure flowing Qi into heavy toxic sludge. It can permanently solidify the Dantian and cripple the cultivation base within seconds.]
Su Bai looked at the vial calmly, then he opened it and drank it in one breath.
The cold liquid entered his throat. The effect triggered almost immediately.
A heavy dead energy sank toward his Dantian like gray mud poured into a clear spring. It tried to invade his spiritual foundation, slow the flow of Qi, and drag everything into stillness. The force was aggressive, malicious, and frighteningly efficient.
But it met Su Bai’s Reversal Body.
The dead energy that should have turned flowing Qi into sludge twisted strangely the moment it touched his foundation. The principle of petrification reversed. Instead of freezing his Qi, it pressed against the Ashen-Blood Miasma already stored inside him and forced it to condense, settle, and enter circulation.
Su Bai’s eyes closed.
The Binary Void-Sun Supreme Method began to move.
Void received. Sun refined.
The Macro-Taiji circulation turned between them, guiding every hostile current into a path it did not want to follow.
The Ashen-Blood Miasma inside his reservoirs stirred, then the circulation pulled it apart.
Su Bai felt his Dantian warm. His nine Qi Reservoirs responded one after another.
More solid Qi Needles appeared inside his Dantian and Qi Reservoirs. They gathered like pale stars sleeping in a dark sea.
Su Bai’s spiritual energy recovered quickly. The emptiness left by the previous battles filled again, then it continued filling.
Su Bai opened another vial of Ashen-Dew Runoff, then another.
With each vial, the remaining Ashen-Blood pressure inside his body became more obedient. The reversed petrification reinforced his Dantian.
It did not turn his Qi into sludge. It made his energy flow more smoothly, as if removing useless turbulence and pressing impurities into digestible weight.
Su Bai’s expression gradually became peaceful.
This place was dangerous. But from another angle, the Fallen-Star Sanctuary was very generous.
Su Bai suddenly understood why some cultivators loved forbidden lands.
If one did not die, one profited.
Of course, the first condition was very important.
...
Time passed.
The outpost slowly grew quiet around him.
Su Bai continued cultivating.
The Ashen-Blood Miasma inside him diminished little by little.
His Dantian became deeper. His Qi reservoirs became more stable.
The newly formed solid Qi Needles accumulated in layers. Each one contained spiritual energy compressed to frightening sharpness.
The Binary Void-Sun Supreme Method moved through him like a great millstone turning night and sunlight together, grinding hostile pressure into his own foundation.
At some point, something inside him shifted.
His Golden Core trembled once. The circulation around it widened.
Golden Core, Third Stage.
Su Bai did not open his eyes immediately.
He had advanced again.
Since entering the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, he had already advanced two small stages.
For most cultivators, this speed would be enough to make them cry, laugh, or suspect they were about to be punished by Heaven for being too fortunate.
Su Bai only continued circulating for several more cycles.
Excitement was good. Stability was better.
Only after confirming that his foundation remained stable did Su Bai slowly open his eyes.
The last traces of Ashen-Blood pressure inside his reservoirs had been refined and made his own. The vials of Ashen-Dew Runoff had been a great help.
Su Bai looked toward the mist outside the outpost.
They were still only in the outer region.
Beyond Outpost No. 1 lay the deeper sections of the Fallen-Star Sanctuary.
He did not know what waited there yet.
...
Su Bai’s gaze became calm.
He wanted to go.
It’s not because he was fearless.
He had never believed fearlessness was a virtue. A person without fear usually died because he mistook stupidity for courage. Su Bai simply knew the difference between danger that could kill him and danger that could feed him.
The Ashen-Blood Miasma had not killed him. It had helped him break through.
That did not mean everything deeper inside the Sanctuary would be the same. If he encountered something that truly endangered his life, he would retreat without hesitation. Even if the mystery stood there holding a perfect cliffhanger, he was willing not to know the next part.
Curiosity was important. Living was more important.
But as long as the miasma remained something he could endure, the deeper Sanctuary was no longer only a forbidden land.
It was also a cultivation opportunity.
Su Bai smiled faintly.
If he could gather more of that flesh fragment’s blood, perhaps his cultivation could improve faster.
He paused.
That thought sounded slightly wrong.
He decided not to say it aloud.
...
When Su Bai ended his cultivation, the twelfth day inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary had arrived.
Outpost No. 3 had changed.
The wounded were no longer lying in rows with pale faces. Most had recovered enough to move, and those who could not fight yet could at least sit up and curse their own weakness, which was usually a good sign.
The red mist outside the boundary had thinned back to its usual level.
That was not comforting to anyone who remembered what "usual" meant in the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, but compared to the fluid blood-like wave from before, it was almost friendly.
Su Bai gathered everyone, then he spoke.
"We have rested long enough."
No one spoke.
They all knew something was coming.
Su Bai continued, "Next, I plan to inspect the ruins and sites around the remaining outposts we have not searched. After that, I may go deeper into the Fallen-Star Sanctuary."
The words made several people’s expressions tighten.
The outer region had already produced miasma beasts, false bodies, Soul-Bloom Returnees, and a safe-zone breach. Going deeper sounded less like exploration and more like asking the Sanctuary whether it had been holding back politely.
Su Bai did not pretend otherwise.
"I will lead the way. Treasures will be distributed fairly as before. Medicine, protective items, and life-saving resources will be prioritized for those who need them most. No one is forced to follow."
He paused, then added, "Especially when I go deeper."
That made the silence heavier.
Several cultivators looked at one another.
If anyone else had said those words, most of them would have refused immediately.
Go deeper?
Into this place?
After what happened to Outpost No. 2 and almost happened to Outpost No. 3?
Impossible.
But the person saying it was Su Bai.
That changed everything.
Corruption? Brother Su seemed to treat it as a cultivation supplement.
Miasma? He walked through it better than most people walked through morning fog.
Lost direction? They had quietly begun suspecting he had been born with a compass instead of a heart.
Soul-Bloom Returnees? He dragged them away.
Even the terrifying red mist that had nearly swallowed a group of cultivators had curled into him like it had received the wrong command.
One young cultivator whispered, "He said no one is forced."
The person beside him nodded.
"That means only fools will refuse."
Another cultivator frowned. "Is that how those words work?"
"Here, yes."
A third cultivator said carefully, "What about danger?"
The first two looked at him.
He immediately corrected himself. "I mean, what about standing too close to Brother Su when danger explodes?"
That was a better question.
Several people nodded seriously.
In the end, no one left.
Even the injured who could barely stand looked like they wanted to follow until Bai Zhi’s gentle gaze made them sit back down with great unwillingness.
Su Bai looked at the assembled group, then he looked at Zhuge Jing.
Zhuge Jing smiled faintly and opened his fan.
"It seems Brother Su’s procession has grown again."
Su Bai’s eyelid moved.
He had only wanted a group that could survive better by moving together.
Lin Weiyang raised one hand.
"Before we leave, I suggest marking Brother Su’s robe expenses as special battle consumption."
Su Bai looked at her.
Lin Weiyang looked sincere.
Several cultivators immediately nodded.
"That is reasonable."
"Brother Su’s robes have indeed suffered for everyone."
"Some died because of mist."
"One died from blood."
"That one was tragic."
Su Bai closed his eyes briefly.
He suddenly regretted surviving enough battles for this to become a topic.
Tang Ziyan’s lips moved slightly, almost forming a smile.
Liu Meng looked as if she wanted to say something comforting, but could not find a sentence that did not make the matter worse.
Zhuge Jing’s fan hid the lower half of his face.
The tension finally broke.
Laughter spread through the group.
Su Bai let them laugh for a few breaths, then he turned toward the mist beyond Outpost No. 3.
...
When everyone rested enough, Su Bai walked forward.
Behind him, the procession moved.
The outer region of the Fallen-Star Sanctuary had failed to swallow them.
So now, they would go see what it had been hiding.