Chapter 372 - 8: A New Arrival
「Wilderness Domain.」
「Taiyue Mountain, Yinluo Villa.」
These days, the mountain and its surroundings were a scene of thriving prosperity. Escape Lights rose and fell in the sky, and various auras flared and faded.
The scars from the great battle of years past had long since vanished. The vegetation around Taiyue Mountain was lush and verdant, the scenery magnificent. Immortal Birds and Spiritual Beasts flew and galloped about, creating a scene brimming with vitality.
Ever since the Rakshasa Sect’s defeat at Taiyue Mountain, the name of Yinluo Villa had spread like wildfire throughout the Eastern and Western Wildernesses, becoming a powerful deterrent that made others wary.
This was especially true for the villa’s master, Fang Cheng. With only his Life Talisman Cultivation, he had slain ten Life Soul Cultivators, one after another, defying the difference in their realms. He now stood firmly among the top experts of the Wilderness, far surpassing the likes of the Nine Truths Sect Master, the Sea Emperor’s Palace Prince Consort, and the Nine Nether Saintess.
Later, it was rumored that Elder Demon Fang had quietly broken through to the Life Soul Realm. Now, no one could guess the true extent of his power.
Fang Cheng returned to the Wilderness silently, alerting no one. He immediately left Taiyue Mountain and flew south.
Cyan Bird Cang Wuya had once told him about seven or eight unclaimed Spiritual Lands. One of them, a place named Cangyun Gorge, was about ten thousand li from Taiyue Mountain. The number of Tier Three Spiritual Veins it contained surpassed even that of Taiyue Mountain.
Cangyun Gorge remained unoccupied to this day, mainly for two reasons.
First, the area was relatively close to the Nine Nether Demon Sect, a major Demon Sect of the Wilderness. The Netherworld Disciples cultivated Demon Skills and frequently attracted Celestial Demons. They would either suffer a backlash and transform into Demon Fiends or have their minds corrupted by demonic will, turning them bloodthirsty and violent.
Although the Eastern Wilderness had many Life Soul Masters among its Loose Cultivators, none were willing to be neighbors with the Nine Nether Demon Sect.
Second, the area was home to a swarm of primordial strange insects. Their numbers were staggering, and if the swarm was provoked, it would form a sea of insects that blotted out the sky as it attacked. Even Life Soul Realm cultivators were in danger of perishing if they fell into that insect sea.
Fang Cheng, however, chose Cangyun Gorge for a simple reason: it was the closest to Taiyue Mountain.
After leaving Taiyue Mountain, he arrived before Cangyun Gorge in less than half a day.
Amidst the vast mountain range, a colossal peak stood as if it had been cleaved in two by a giant axe, forming a massive gorge a hundred zhang wide.
A torrential river rushed out from the bottom of the gorge, its roaring waters thundering for miles around.
The thousand-zhang cliffs on either side of the gorge were covered in ancient, verdant vines. They were lush and green, with clouds drifting like smoke halfway up the cliff faces.
Fang Cheng stood in the void, a sharp glint in his eyes. He sensed the aura of the Spirit Veins and discovered that the Spiritual Qi was most concentrated at the top of Cangyun Gorge’s eastern cliff!
His gaze swept over the verdant ancient vines on the cliff face, pausing for a moment. Then, he calmly descended in his Escape Light and landed atop the cliff.
With a wave of his great sleeve, a cloud of light drifted out, revealing an Array Disc and over a hundred Array Flags within.
The Array Flags fluttered in the wind, expanding to several zhang in size before scattering and embedding themselves into the cliff’s peak where the Spirit Veins converged.
Next, Fang Cheng pointed at the Array Disc. Instantly, the clifftop erupted in a brilliant spiritual light as clouds and mist materialized. In the blink of an eye, a hundred-mu-wide cloud of light settled over the peak, completely enveloping Fang Cheng’s figure.
Within the cloud of light, azure mists roiled and surged, emitting powerful and vast fluctuations of spiritual energy.
This was an Array that Fang Cheng had acquired in the Void Ghost Marketplace by trading a Fourth-rank Magical Artifact. It was called the Green Light Cloud Shadow Array. Even among the Sect Protection Arrays of the Ten Great Sects of the East Wilderness, few could compare to it.
After setting up the Grand Array, Fang Cheng sat cross-legged on a massive boulder atop the cliff, took out the Ten Thousand Worlds Compass, and began to silently refine it.
「At the same time.」
On the cliffs flanking Cangyun Gorge, the ancient vines began to tremble. Dozens of hundred-zhang-wide black shadows shot out from the cliff faces, then burst apart with a great WHOOSH. They transformed into a dense cloud of tiny black figures that flew toward the clifftop where Fang Cheng was, like a torrential squall.
These tiny figures were strange insects with small, slender bodies shaped like little knives. Their mandibles and wings both glinted with a cold light, appearing exceptionally sharp.
Not only were these strange insects incredibly numerous, but most were also first or second-rank and extremely ferocious.
Mixed among them were five or six third-rank strange insects, which let out piercing shrieks as they commanded the swarm’s movements.
Soon, the sky-filling swarm surrounded the Green Light Cloud Shadow Formation on the clifftop and began to dive down madly.
From a distance, it looked like a massive, terrifying black cloud pressing down on a small ball of light.
But the moment the strange insects charged into the cloud of light, an azure mist would sweep over them. In an instant, green flames ignited on their bodies, turning them to ash in a flash.
Amid piercing shrieks, the low-rank strange insects fearlessly surged toward the cloud of light. The azure mist swirled slowly, and clusters of green fire flared and died out, creating a strangely beautiful sight.
Regardless of whether they were first or second-rank, once they entered the Grand Array, they were swept up by the azure mist and burst into green flames. The only difference was that the flames on the second-rank insects burned even brighter!
One of the third-rank insects, its ferocity piqued, charged deeper into the Grand Array against the azure mist. However, a sharp beam of sword light sliced it in two, and it erupted into brilliant green flames within the mist.
Deep within the Grand Array.
Before Fang Cheng, the Ten Thousand Worlds Compass had already grown to three zhang in size. Its entire body radiated golden light as it hung silently in the air.
A cluster of starlight glowed within the Compass’s intricate and exquisite grid of patterns, growing ever brighter and more dazzling.
Fang Cheng was controlling the Array, drawing out a stream of spiritual light from the Grand Array and channeling it continuously into the Ten Thousand Worlds Compass.
The Ten Thousand Worlds Compass gradually grew larger.
A look of delight appeared on Fang Cheng’s face. He knew his idea of using the Array to power this Fifth-rank Magical Artifact was a success.
At this moment, he was using seventy percent of the Grand Array’s power to activate the Ten Thousand Worlds Compass, leaving only thirty percent to deal with the strange insects.