Void Cultivation

Time flowed by quickly, and before anyone knew it, three hours had already passed.

Grey and Iria had gone from the very back of the queue to the front. Now, only a few more people stood ahead of them. In just a few minutes, it would finally be their turn to use the teleportation array.

After the incident involving the disciples of the Flaming Giant Sect, nobody else dared to provoke Grey or the young girl standing beside him.

In the minds of the surrounding cultivators, the conclusion had already been reached.

These two were simply out of their league.

They had witnessed Grey kill three cultivators in an instant. Although the three disciples had been caught completely off guard and had not even had enough time to circulate their spirit energy, the same could be said for Grey. He had not released his cultivation base either, nor had he shown the slightest trace of killing intent before making his move.

He had relied solely on his physical strength and physique to kill the three of them.

To the cultivators in the Qi Accumulation realm, such strength was extremely frightening.

Most of them believed that Grey was merely a cultivator at a very high level of the Qi Accumulation realm. Perhaps he was already at the Ninth or even Tenth level and was preparing to break through into the next realm.

After all, that was the only explanation they could think of.

However, the few Foundation Establishment realm cultivators present had a completely different opinion.

They knew that Grey’s strength could not possibly be explained by the Qi Accumulation realm.

Only a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment realm could kill three cultivators without releasing their cultivation base or stirring the surrounding spiritual energy. More importantly, the complete absence of killing intent before the attack was what truly made them wary.

Even among Foundation Establishment cultivators, controlling one’s strength to such an extent was extremely difficult.

This caused the other Foundation Establishment realm cultivators to remain cautious around Grey and Iria.

They could not see through Grey.

His speed alone was already extremely fast, and his control over his physical strength was even more baffling. He had clearly intended to kill the three disciples, yet he had done so without causing a large disturbance.

If Grey was truly a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, then the attack should have been powerful enough to cause the three youngsters’ bodies to explode directly.

Instead, they had simply died.

There had been no blood splattering everywhere, no violent explosion of flesh, and no excessive disturbance.

It was almost as though Grey had precisely calculated the amount of force required to end their lives without wasting even the slightest bit of strength.

That was what made the Foundation Establishment cultivators uncomfortable.

Such control was far more frightening than overwhelming strength.

Grey, however, paid no attention to the gazes surrounding him.

Whether it was the curious looks of the Qi Accumulation cultivators or the cautious gazes of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, none of them mattered to him.

His attention remained focused on the journey ahead.

Soon, the people ahead of them gradually entered the teleportation array.

Finally, it was Grey and Iria’s turn.

Grey stepped forward without hesitation and paid the required teleportation fee. Iria followed closely behind him.

The moment both of them stepped onto the teleportation array, the intricate runes beneath their feet suddenly lit up.

A brilliant light erupted from the array, completely engulfing their figures.

Space began to fluctuate around them.

A strange sensation passed through Grey’s body as the surrounding environment rapidly distorted.

A few seconds later, both figures vanished from the teleportation array.

In another city, the figures of Grey and Iria slowly materialized within another teleportation array.

The brilliant light surrounding their bodies gradually faded, revealing their figures.

This was the third city they had teleported to.

It also meant that with one more teleportation, they would finally arrive at their destination.

Compared to Glory City, this city was considerably smaller. The teleportation station itself was much less crowded, and the number of cultivators and ordinary humans moving through the area was far lower.

There were no long queues stretching through the streets, nor were there large groups of cultivators gathered around the teleportation station.

The attendants responsible for overseeing the teleportation array quickly approached them.

After recognizing their identities as cultivators, the attendants respectfully bowed.

Grey and Iria responded with a similar bow before leaving the teleportation area.

The moment they stepped outside, Iria glanced toward the sky.

The sun was already beginning to descend toward the horizon.

Although there was still some light remaining, night would arrive soon.

Iria hesitated for a moment before finally gathering enough courage to speak.

"Umm... Senior Grey..."

Grey turned his head slightly and looked at her.

"Why don’t we spend a night at an inn in this city?"

Her voice was soft, and there was a faint flush on her cheeks.

Throughout their journey, she had barely managed to hold a proper conversation with Grey.

Grey was mostly silent, keeping his thoughts to himself as they traveled. Whenever they stopped, his attention was either on their surroundings or on completing the mission given to him by the Sequence Elder.

If things continued like this, they would probably complete the mission very quickly and return to the sect without having gotten any closer.

That was not what Iria wanted.

The entire reason she had convinced her master to allow her to accompany Grey on this mission was to get closer to him.

She wanted to gradually move beyond the relationship of mere acquaintances and become someone more important to him.

Yet, from the beginning of their journey until now, Grey had not shown the slightest intention of doing so.

He did not initiate conversations.

He did not ask her about herself.

He did not even seem particularly interested in her presence.

Iria quietly clenched her fists.

’From now on, I have to take the initiative.’

She secretly made up her mind.

’If I continue being passive, time will simply fly by, and the plan I have will become useless. I need to make sure that we stay at an inn tonight.’

A faint smile appeared in her heart.

’Then I can begin the first phase of my plan.’

"What reason do you have for wanting to stay at an inn?"

Grey tilted his head slightly.

"We’re already close to the next city, and once we reach it, we’ll only be a few hours away from the Corroded Zone. We might even arrive there in less than half a day."

His expression remained calm.

He genuinely could not understand why they needed to stop.

As cultivators, they possessed extraordinary endurance. They could travel for several days without eating or sleeping and could fly at extremely high speeds for prolonged periods without experiencing the exhaustion that ordinary humans would.

Even if they traveled throughout the night, it would not be particularly difficult for them.

In Grey’s opinion, stopping for an entire night was unnecessary.

"It’s almost night time," Iria replied.

"I’m sure the teleportation station will be closed once it gets too late. And besides, wouldn’t it be better for us to rest now? That way, when we arrive at the Corroded Zone, I won’t be fatigued."

She spoke in a sweet and gentle tone.

There was a subtle allure in her voice that would probably have made most men feel their hearts tremble.

However, Grey remained completely unaffected.

He ignored the tone of her voice and carefully considered her words instead.

After thinking about it for a moment, he found her reasoning rather reasonable.

The teleportation station would most likely have operating hours, and there was no guarantee that they would be able to teleport immediately if they arrived too late.

More importantly, Iria was right about one thing.

It would be better for them to enter the Corroded Zone in their best possible condition.

"You’re right about resting," Grey finally said.

"Even though we don’t need much sleep, there’s no reason to deliberately exhaust ourselves before entering the Corroded Zone."

A faint smile appeared on Iria’s face.

She had been worried that Grey would reject her suggestion.

"Exactly."

She nodded quickly.

"Besides, it’s only one night. Our journey won’t be delayed by much."

Grey nodded.

"Then we’ll stay here tonight."

Iria’s smile became slightly wider.

She had finally achieved the first step of her plan.

However, Grey’s next words caused her expression to stiffen slightly.

"But we’ll leave early tomorrow morning."

"..."

Iria’s smile froze.

She quickly recovered and nodded.

"Of course."

Grey did not notice anything strange about her reaction.

His thoughts had already shifted back to the mission.

The Corroded Zone was not a place where they could afford to be careless.

Even though their objective was not to venture deeply into the area, danger could still find them within the peripheral regions.

The Corroded Zones were known for their unpredictability. Strange phenomena could occur without warning, and ordinary dangers could become deadly when combined with the peculiar environment surrounding the zones.

It was always better to be safe than sorry.

Grey looked toward the distant horizon.

The remaining sunlight was slowly fading, and the sky was gradually becoming darker.

"Let’s find an inn."

Iria nodded.

"Alright, Senior Grey."