Chapter 624: Stone Stream Town
It would also inevitably draw the attention of True Monarch Pu Du and even other True Monarchs from the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, like a beacon in the night.
That was truly courting death.
Now that he was in an Otherworld, he was even more afraid to use it.
After all, it was still unclear just how powerful the Divine Spirits were in Aitela, which was clearly a Great World Heaven.
If he carelessly exposed himself, he might very well be ganged up on and killed.
’Not worth the risk.’
As for his pursuer, True Monarch Qing Yuan.
He was the real menace!
This man was at the Golden Core Cultivation level, had mastered the Qiankun Pure Qi Mysterious Dao True Skill, and protected himself with the Immortal Palace Pure Qi he had cultivated.
Once his Grotto Heaven was deployed, its power was unparalleled. Even though he was injured, as soon as he caught his breath, he could follow the Void Crossing Boat’s spatial trail into the Boundary Sea. With his understanding of the void and his lock on Xu Yunfan’s aura, finding this place was only a matter of time. It probably wouldn’t take very long, either.
’I have to find something in this World Heaven to set a trap for him.’
As for achieving the Golden Attainment Fruit Position in this realm, Xu Yunfan hadn’t even considered it.
The True Scripture he cultivated pointed toward a Fruit Position in the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.
He couldn’t achieve Dao Attainment in this realm even if he wanted to.
But a Great World Heaven was bound to contain countless opportunities, and he certainly wouldn’t give up on them easily.
The cave was deathly silent.
Xu Yunfan quietly regulated his breathing and circulated the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture*. He very slowly absorbed the chaotic energies of the outside world, meticulously avoiding the violent, primordial factors within as he gradually repaired his nearly shattered body.
"In the end..."
He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the dim restrictive spell sealing the cave’s entrance. After a moment, he glanced at the Star Spirit Banner standing beside him and couldn’t help but mutter to himself with a barely perceptible trace of self-mockery.
"I’ve been stained by the filth of the Primordial Sect."
The Xu Yunfan from the Divine Martial Realm—that Martial Dao prodigy who valued kindness and righteousness, who was sharp and ambitious—had long since faded away amid the endless scheming and life-and-death battles of the Primordial Sect.
On this path of the Dao, survival was the only thing that mattered.
’Get stronger. Get stronger as fast as you can.’
Otherwise, when True Monarch Qing Yuan followed the trail and arrived, the only fate awaiting him would be the utter annihilation of his Divine Soul.
This trial would likely be ten thousand times more perilous than when he faced Ye Yuan’s Bright Sun No Return Dao Fruit.
He collected his thoughts and once again immersed himself in the arduous process of healing and recovery.
* * *
「Three months later.」
On the streets of a small town called Stone Stream Town.
Xu Yunfan walked slowly through the streets. The town had a population of no more than thirty thousand, and adventurers clad in armor and carrying weapons were a rare sight.
𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Now fully recovered to his peak condition, he had set foot in Stone Stream, a small border town on the Aitela Continent.
His clothes—made of an unfamiliar material and cut in a style that was completely out of place—looked more like a simple, dark combat uniform than the roughspun linen or ornate velvet robes common to this world.
He immediately drew the gazes of the commoners, some obvious, some hidden.
Whispers spread from alley ends and beneath the eaves, a mixture of curiosity and cautiousness.
"Look at that outfit. I’ve never seen anything like it."
"Is he a Mage? But where’s the symbol for the Mage Tower?"
"SHH! Don’t point, you’ll get us in trouble! Mages are temperamental."
"He looks young, but someone who can travel these wild roads alone can’t be an ordinary person, can they?"
"His eyes are so bright..."
Though the voices were hushed, every word fell clearly on Xu Yunfan’s ears.
He paid them no mind, his pace steady as he walked along the main road paved with gravel.
To his surprise, what he gleaned from those hushed words was not entirely ostracism or simple curiosity. It was something more—an almost instinctual reverence, one rooted deep in the very bones of this world.
The gazes cast upon him, especially after they noted his composed gait and serene demeanor, quickly filled with more reverence than curiosity.
He passed through the town’s rather shabby streets.
The wood-and-stone houses were low and crowded, their walls stained unevenly by the wind and rain. The air was a mixture of the smells of livestock, hay, and cooking smoke.
Most pedestrians wore coarse cloth garments washed to a faded white, and their movements carried a sense of caution and weariness unique to people from a small, hardworking town.
However, when his gaze fell upon the town center—a clearly planned area—a completely different sight met his eyes.
A towering building stood there.
The Divine Hall of Delis.
Although its scale couldn’t compare to the grand Bright Cathedrals in the major cities he recalled, its magnificent and solemn form stood out starkly against the surrounding low-lying commoner houses, like a pearl set on coarse sackcloth.
The entire cathedral was built from smoothly polished, white-veined stone. Every block was fitted together perfectly, and it glowed with a soft, holy light in the afternoon sun.
The Gothic spires soared toward the clouds, as if silently proclaiming the deity’s majesty.
Huge rose windows were inlaid with colored stained glass, through which one could faintly discern intricate and exquisite patterns.
The main doors were carved with countless small reliefs of angels holding musical instruments, each in a different, lifelike pose.
The stone steps before the entrance, swept spotless and polished to a sheen, formed an ironic contrast with the muddy lanes of the town.
This magnificent structure, which had consumed most of the town’s believers’ savings and perhaps even made their lives more difficult, was built to enshrine an unremarkable being from the vast Aitira Pantheon.
Delis, the Goddess of Song and Listening.
Her title was almost unheard of across the vast lands of Aitira.
Having come into existence a mere millennium ago, she was as naive as a stumbling toddler in the eyes of gods who claimed to trace their origins back to the dawn of creation.
Her followers were mostly concentrated in this single region, limited in number. Her influence was restricted to ensuring favorable weather for this corner of the world, placating the public’s emotions, and listening to a few insignificant worries.
For the countless beings of Aitira, the name "Delis" had likely never even crossed their minds.
To track down these insignificant minor deities and the centers of their worship, Xu Yunfan had spent considerable time combing through voluminous tomes and jumbled streams of information before finally zeroing in on the border town of Stone Stream.
’After all, going after these insignificant little gods wouldn’t cause too much of a stir.’
The heavy oak doors opened without a sound, and a heavy scent of sandalwood mixed with the cold air of stone washed over him.
The cathedral’s interior was far more spacious than it appeared from the outside.
The ceiling was high, and sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows above, casting mottled and magnificent patterns of light and shadow on the floor.
A few rows of pews were sparsely arranged, all of them empty at the moment.
Aside from an old Steward dozing by the entrance, the entire hall was eerily silent. Only his footsteps stirred a faint echo from the stone walls.
His gaze barely lingered on the surrounding furnishings, landing directly on the altar.
There, a life-sized stone statue of a goddess was enshrined.
The statue was carved from a pure white, almost jade-like stone. The craftsmanship was breathtakingly exquisite, with every detail steeped in the believers’ piety and the artisans’ ingenuity.
The statue depicted a woman.
She had a slender, graceful figure and an elegant bearing. A strangely styled long gown clung to her lovely curves, its hem rippling like water. Though made of stone, it seemed to have been imbued with a certain flowing rhythm.