Chapter 1002: The Gap Between Help And No Help
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lin Feng watched the starry sky that was brightening up as the corner of his mouth curved upwards. "The Heavenly Charms Grand Sage, the Golden Roc Grand Sage and the Heavenly Grandmaster Grand Sage – could they have decided to help me and the Great Void Sect lure the Original Celestial Dragon out of the Black Sea?"
The Heavenly Grandmaster Grand Sage and the others probably had no clue why the Great Void Sect were inside the Starry Sea. They didn’t know whether the Zheng Yi Holy Man was going to be the only one, or whether other powerful cultivators from the Great Void Sect were reinforcing him. However, at least they knew that the Zheng Yi Holy Man and the Great Void Pavilion were already in front of their eyes.
Lin Feng had a single gate to the Starry Sea on his hands. If there were no unforeseen circumstances, Lin Feng’s original body could enter the Starry Sea at whim.
Even if both parties had some form of conflict, if the Original Celestial Dragon came out of the Black Sea before he was back to his full power and entered the Starry Sea, Lin Feng and the Great Void Sect were quite likely to team up against this great demon who had already completed the Second Tribulation of Destiny.
Of course, even if Lin Feng and the Great Void Sect were able to defeat the Original Celestial Dragon, they would have to pay a great price. This was undoubtedly a beneficial outcome for the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage and the others.
If the Original Celestial Dragon refused to enter the Starry Sea, then opening the Star Tomb could only be good for them and nothing else.
The large volumes of star skulls contained within the Star Tomb was unimaginable wealth to any demon race, and would vastly increase their powers.
Lin Feng exchanged a look with the Zheng Yi Holy Man. They were both acutely aware of the implications of the situation before them, but remained silent and said nothing to each other.
Even though the Crucible of the Divine Lands transformed into the Small Divine Lands World once again, the contest of power between the two parties did not stop.
The Star Tomb was still quite a distance from their current position. For people like Lin Feng and the Zheng Yi Holy Man, it was not something too far to be reached, and the opening of the Star Tomb was an endeavor that required time as well. Everything that had happened so far was just a preamble.
For both of them, taking control of the Crucible of the Divine Lands and rushing over to the Star Tomb was the optimal decision.
After all, opening the Star tomb required the combination of four gates to the Starry Sea. The star skulls were considered supreme treasures to these demons, and were equally useful to humans as well.
Assuming control over the Crucible of the Divine Lands would boost their own powers at the same time. Even though the main strength of this treasure was its ability to forge medicine and pills, this was not enough to mask the fact that it was still a Destiny-level magic treasure, and contained incredible power within.
The Xuan Lin Holy Man and Wang Lin’s Great Satanic Avatar were watching each other with unbelievably calm expressions.
Even though they had never battled each other before, he could faintly feel that the Great Satanic Avatar was no match for the Xuan Lin Holy Man. The Great Satanic Avatar was injured in the battle he just had with the Six-Horned Grand Sage, and this further reduced his chances of victory.
While he had the Cang Heaven Spell Blade, the Xuan Lin Holy Man definitely had magic treasures in his possession as well. His magic treasures would also be seamlessly harmonious with his mantras as both originated from the Great Void Sect, thus he would be able to maximize their powers.
Still, Wang Lin was not too worried as he knew how to use Lin Feng’s Dual Dimension Vacuum Charm. If the need arose, he would simply swap his original body and the Heavenly Gods-Sealing Banner over.
His understanding was not as deep as his master’s, and the efficacy of the Dual Dimension Vacuum Charm would also be limited by the dimensional power between the Starry Sea and the Greater World. However, the gate to the Starry Sea was right there and within reach.
If not for the fact that doing so would weaken their defenses over in the Divine Lands, Wang Lin’s original body would have charged in with the Heavenly Gods-Sealing Banner a long time ago.
Compared to him, the person that should be anxious was the Xuan Lin Holy Man.
The gap between help and no help, in a standoff and relatively equal matchup such as this, became a lot more conspicuous.
The truth was that the Xuan Lin Holy Man wasn’t feeling too good, but it wasn’t because of Wang Lin’s presence before him, and neither was it because the other members of the Celestial Sect of Wonders could descend into the Starry Sea at any time.
What distressed him was that before the contest of mana began, Lin Feng had instructed Shi Tianhao to enter the Crucible of the Divine Lands.
The most powerful entity from the Celestial Sect of Wonders currently inside the Crucible was Zhu Yi’s Great Sun Avatar. The Great Sun Avatar had solid fundamentals in the first place, and Zhu Yi had since been able to completely cultivate it, further increasing its power. It was no longer something that typical second-level immortal soul stage cultivators could match.
On the other hand, the most powerful cultivator from the Great Void Sect who was currently inside the Crucible was one of the members of the Supreme Elder Council – third-level immortal soul stage cultivator, Cai Fengzhou.
Now that Shi Tianhao was in the mix, even though the Xuan Lin Holy Man still had confidence in Cai Fengzhou, he had no choice but to recognize that the situation was slowly slipping out of their hands and he no longer had enough confidence of success.
The Zheng Yi Holy Man was still engaged in the power contest with Lin Feng’s Thunder Dragon Avatar and the Avatar of Ares. Due to the special circumstances, he was unable to gain the upper hand. In such a situation, if Cai Fengzhou and the others were able to interact with the original soul of the Crucible of the Divine Lands and obtain some kind of progress, they would be able to link up with the Zheng Yi Holy Man from the inside and would gift them with an advantage in the wrestle for control over the Crucible, which could eventually be converted into a high chance of overall victory.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders were facing the exact same situation.
Under the effects of Lin Feng and the Zheng Yi Holy Man’s contest, the lights flashing on the outside of the Small Divine Lands World became increasingly radiant, and their connection with the Crucible of the Divine Lands also grew more intimate. The outer regions of the Small Divine Lands World suddenly trembled, and several light projections surfaced.
Lin Feng and the Zheng Yi Holy Man’s eyes sparkled at the same time. The pictures presented by these light projections were not some flashback to days long past, but were a reflection of what was currently going on inside the Crucible.
In a set of light projection pictures, a group of human figures could be seen. Every single one of them were wearing white robes embroidered with white clouds – it was the classic uniform of the Great Void Sect.
One of them was a thin-looking man with pale skin, a sharp nose and slim lips. He wore a cold expression, and his face betrayed tinges of weakness and frailty while his mouth was open in speech.
This was Yang Zhao, who had previously been sucked into the crack in void space and managed to tear himself after some effort. He was considered lucky as he quickly reunited with the fellow members of his sect.
There were multiple cultivators from the Great Void Sect in front of him, and it was clear that they deferred to the leadership of three individuals. The level of mastery of the person in the middle was the highest, and it was a nascent soul stage cultivator who had completed the cosmic soul – she was a woman, and had a calm look on her face as she listened to Yang Zhao.
This lady seemed like she was only twenty years old, and there were only tranquility and composure in her eyes. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t considered pretty and an optimistic judgment would place her slightly above average. She could not be compared to the other female cultivators of the Great Void Sect like Yan Mingyue and Bai Xiqian.
However, she had an elegant and graceful aura that left quite an impression upon others. The only thing was that there were tinges of indifference hidden within her calm expressions.
A handsome-looking youth stood to her right and had a dignified posture – he was the disciple that entered the Spiritual Conference of Mount Kunlun with Lin Daohan and Yan Mingyue all those years ago, and also one of the more outstanding disciples of the younger generation of the Great Void Sect, Chen Xingyu.
Zhou Yuncong possessed the Yang Incinerating Entity, and Chen Xingyu was similar as he possessed the Yin Terminating Entity and faced many challenging obstacles in his path of cultivation.
Compared to Zhou Yuncong, who had to experience the Tribulations of the Yin Fire right after forming the aurous core, Chen Xingyu had a relatively more stable process after forming the aurous core. However, the main checkpoint that he had to pass afterwards was far riskier.
For people with the Yin Terminating Entity, after they had formed the aurous core and ascended to the aurous core intermediate stage from the Tribulations of the Yin Fire, they would have to go through the Tribulations of the Yin Wind right away.
In other words, after Chen Xingyu formed the aurous core, he would have to experience both tribulations one after another at the same time if he wished to continue along his path of cultivation.
If he was successful, he would be in the advanced aurous core stage and without any form of imperfections. If not, he would simply cease to exist.
For Chen Xingyu and his Yin Terminating Entity, either tribulation was already considered risky, and experiencing both one after another only made it worse.
Zhou Yuncong had stagnated at the Foundation Establishment Stage for a very long time, and Chen Xingyu ended up with a similar situation as he stuck around in the aurous core beginner stage for a prolonged period. Finally, under the protection of his mentors, he successfully passed the tribulations.
Afterwards, the challenge of the Void Lightning Tribulations that he had to experience was similar to that of Zhou Yuncong – it was relatively more difficult for them than for other cultivators.
However, this person lived up to his reputation of a young prodigy under the guidance and care of the Great Void Sect, and was already a nascent soul stage cultivator today.
On the path of cultivation in the future, the checkpoints and other milestones that he had to break through still contained more difficulties than other cultivators. He was practically in the same boat as Zhou Yuncong.
"Junior Wan was killed Tang Jun, and Senior Shan and Junior Zhao, along with the other members of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, were sucked into the crack in the void." Yang Zhao recounted the events that transpired. Chen Xingyu and the others were already there by then, but were ultimately a step too slow and they already knew everything that came afterwards.
"Please advise us on what we should do now, Senior Mu." Yang Zhao clasped his hands together in greeting after finishing his speech and said nothing more.
Chen Xingyu glanced at Senior Mu, who was the leader of the pack, and said quietly, "Senior, Junior Zhao and Senior Shan are still nowhere to be found. We should search for them first, and make a decision after meeting up with Senior Great Uncle Cai."
Senior Mu’s name was called Mu Xuan, and she had the highest level of mastery amongst the younger generation of disciples from the Great Void Sect who ventured into the Ancient Desolate Galaxy.
She said softly, "We shall search for them first. We will not only loo for Junior Shan and Junior Zhao – we will also be looking for the people from the Celestial Sect of Wonders."
To her left was another youth with a relatively bigger and taller stature. He was standing in the same line as she was, and was also in the nascent soul beginner stage like Chen Xingyu was.
However, his personality was the complete opposite of the well-mannered and gentle Chen Xingyu. This person was a lot more hardheaded, and exuded an intense aura of aggression.
This youth’s face was toned and full of detail, and he revealed a look of disapproval and unhappiness. He stared at Yang Zhao and said, "You have humiliated all of us, and the Great Void Sect."
Yang Zhao did not attempt to defend himself or explain anything, and simply bowed his body in respect.
It was not just because this person before him was higher in mastery. His standards, mantras and mana were possibly more powerful than even that of Shan Xiang, who was in the nascent soul intermediate stage. This man was called Guo Chaoyang, and was part of the Radical Faction like he was, and was also one of the youths with the greatest potentials to become the future leader of the Radical Faction.
Even though the two factions of the Great Void Sect were starting to combine their schools of thought and their general direction, the separation between the Factions still existed. The competition between the successors to both factions were all over the place as well.
Ever since Pang Jie’s imprisonment and after Shi Tianyi’s death, there was nobody else from the Radical Faction who could even come close to touching Lin Daohan’s position. There was hardly anybody from the Radical Faction with the mere potential to do so.
However, in the next generation of disciples, there was someone who could hold his own against Chen Xingyu.
It was this tall youth currently standing beside Mu Xuan and Chen Xingyu.
Before Guo Chaoyang, Yang Zhao did not cover anything at all, and recounted the story truthfully and objectively, from his actions to his own thoughts.
Guo Chaoyang glared at Yang Zhao and shook his head repeatedly. "It’s nothing much if you and Junior Wan have a problem with the Celestial Sect of Wonders, because I also had a problem with them. However, what’s with this backstabbing nonsense, and repaying a favor with treachery? Victory wouldn’t have been glorious or sweet, and now you guys have lost everything."