Chapter 140 – Sea of Devils
Wang Lin’s expression became unsettled as the country sealing array being broken was very bad news for him. Once those fire beasts get out, their first target will be him.
The thought of the fire beasts chasing him made Wang Lin’s scalp go numb. He immediately made up his mind; he had to get the map no matter what, and it didn’t seem like he could wait until the end of the month for the Distant Heaven Pill.
Thinking of this, Wang Lin’s brow furrowed. The last piece of the map was in Feng Luan’s hands and he didn’t have enough time kill the the required cultivators. After pondering a bit, Wang Lin’s eyes lit up and he made a decision.
He immediately found Lin Tao and Yang Xiong with his divine sense and then quietly moved away before flying toward Yang Xiong.
Yang Xiong was one of the disciples responsible for patrolling the area. He didn’t dare to relax at all as he vigilantly kept watch, but his eyes couldn’t help but move toward the top of the mountain. When that broken Nascent Soul flew past him, he had a feeling that something big was about to happen.
Yang Xiong let out a sigh as he suppressed the heavy feeling in his heart. Just as he was about to go patrol the northwest area, he suddenly felt something, so he flew into the dense forest in the north. After he entered the dense forest, he looked around and respectfully said, “Yang Xiong greets master.”
Wang Lin came out of a tree. He examined Yang Xiong before asking, “Where is Zhong Zihong?”
Yang Xiong was suspicious, but he didn’t dare say anything. He pondered for a bit before replying, “If I remember correctly, junior sister Zhong should be in the third squad of the fourth army, but I don’t know the exact details.”
Wang Lin looked at Yang Xiong and said, “I have already returned Zhong Zihong’s soul essence blood.”
Yang Xiong’s body shook and his breathing became rough, but he quickly calmed himself down. He raised his head and looked at Wang Lin. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.
Wang Lin’s expression was calm as he said, “If you can make Zhong Zihong come here, then I’ll return your soul essence blood to you.”
Yang Xiong’s eyes became bloodshot and his breathing became rough again. After a long time, he whispered, “Is what master is saying true?”
Wang Lin frowned but still nodded.
Without a word, Yang Xiong took out a piece of jade and placed it on his forehead. Wang Lin only saw the jade gleam a few times before being thrown. Yang Xiong then disappeared into the distance.
After one hour, the sound of flying swords came from the distance and a very beautiful woman with red lips, white skin, and a curvy figure arrived. This person was Zhong Zihong.
She put away her flying sword, and just as she was about to speak, she saw Wang Lin beside Yang Xiong, making her face immediately go pale.
Wang Lin waved his hand and Yang Xiong’s soul essence blood flew toward Yang Xiong. He felt very shameful as he caught it and left without daring to look at Zhong Zihong.
Zhong Zihong’s face was pale and she bit her red lip. After a long time, she talked with a chill on her back. “Ancestor Feng Luan… is my mother. When she saw me, she immediately noticed that something was off, so…”
Wang Lin shook his head. He sighed and said, “This matter is over, so there’s no need to mention it again. Zhong Zihong, I would like you to help me with something.”
Zhong Zihong was startled and asked, “Is it the map?”
Wang Lin nodded and said, “My home is very far away. It would be impossible to find it without a map.”
Zhong Zihong looked at Wang Lin with a very complex gaze and said, “Help me kill two people.”
Wang Lin raised his brow. “What cultivation level?”
Zhong Zihong’s eyes became cold as she answered, “One is at the mid stage of Foundation Establishment and the other is at the peak of late stage Foundation Establishment.”
“Okay!” Wang Lin didn’t hesitate to agree.
“You should know the two of them. One of them is Ma Liang’s precious junior apprentice sister, Xu Si. The other is Zhou Au, who is always fooling around with her. You don’t have to kill them now, you can kill them when you leave. As for the map, I’ll bring it to you within one hour.” After Zhong Zihong finished speaking, she looked at Wang Lin meaningfully before leaving on her flying sword.
“Ma Liang, this is the last time I’m helping you…” Zhong Zihong revealed a melancholy look as she slowly flew away.
Wang Lin meaningfully looked at Zhong Zihong’s back before spreading out his divine sense to find Xu Si. He left a sliver of his Ji Realm on her before, so it was very easy to find her.
After finding Xu Si’s location, Wang Lin took a step forward and went underground.
Half an hour later, Wang Lin resurfaced. He sat down cross legged, waiting for Zhong Zihong’s return.
There was a strange look on his face as when he found Xu Si and Zhou Au. The two of them were in a remote area of the mountain. They were having fun with their two white bodies colliding and creating popping sounds.
Wang Lin took one look and placed a sliver of divine sense that would activate in half a month on Zhou Au before quietly leaving.
After waiting in the dense forest for a while, the person that came wasn’t Zhong Zihong but a female Qi Condensation disciple. She threw a piece of jade into the forest and ran away without even looking back.
Wang Lin’s right hand moved and the jade quickly flew into it. He checked the jade with his divine sense before putting it away. Then he took a deep breath, entered the ground, and quickly left.
After the three pieces of the map were fused, Wang Lin could tell that Hou Fen belonged to the Zhou Wu continent. A place called the Sea of Devils was between here and the continent Zhao was on.
If he wanted to return to Zhao, he would have to cross this Sea of Devils, which was rumored to be filled with demonic cultivators.
The map contained only some details of the Sea of Devils. It only said that it was a very dangerous place and that even Nascent Soul cultivators didn’t dare to casually enter.
And the map even pointed out that the Sea of Devils wasn’t a real sea anymore. Back in ancient times, the sea was evaporated by a very powerful cultivator to kill his enemy.
Since then, the entire Sea of Devils was filled with fog, so it’s more accurate to say that it’s a fog sea. The creatures living in the Sea of Devils have adapted to survive in this fog too.
At the same time, because of the the special fog of the Sea of Devils, the fog becomes seawater for one month out of the year.
Due to the harsh landscape, resources are very lacking, there are very few spirit veins, and killing people is very common. All of this caused the Sea of Devils to become a gathering point for demonic cultivators. Even criminals from high ranking cultivation countries being hunted by their countries escape to the Sea of Devils.
The name Sea of Devils comes from this. As for its real name, no one even remembers it. The Sea of Devils is a very messy and chaotic place. Very few non-demonic cultivators are willing to enter that place.
Wang Lin digested the information in the jade as he was using the earth escape technique. He suddenly stopped when his divine sense spread out from the ground and saw two flying swords flying across the sky. The one in front was a girl whose face was very flustered and pale. Her body seemed like it was ready to fall over.
This girl was as beautiful, graceful, and elegant as a fairy. She was Li Muwan from the Lou He Sect who he met once.
The person chasing her was a young man with slicked hair. Not only was the young man not in a rush as he casually chased her, but he also loudly teased, “Little darling, I have kill everyone else in your 13 man squad. Where can you possibly run to?”
Li Muwan remained silent as she bit her lower lip and flew forward.
The young man waved his hand. Li Muwan let out a scream as a large piece of the clothes on her back was torn off, revealing her white and tender skin.
The young man let out a laugh as he sniffed the ripped piece of cloth. His eyes lit up.
Wang Lin only looked for a bit before withdrawing his gaze. That young man’s cultivation level was very high, at the mid stage of Core Formation. He doesn’t want any trouble as his goal is to leave before the fire beasts arrive.
He only met Li Muwan once, so there was no real reason to risk his life to save her. But just at this moment, the young man’s eyes lit up and he threw a black light toward where Wang Lin was hiding.
“There is a junior who knows the earth escape technique hiding here. Since we met, you might as well stay.”
Wang Lin let out a sigh and jumped out the moment the black light hit the ground. Li Muwan noticed a change, so she turned around. She revealed a joyous expression and shouted, “It’s you! Senior apprentice brother, please save me!” With that, her flying sword turned and arrived next to Wang Lin in an instant.
The young man let out a laugh. He waved his hand, making eight flying swords appear. They all shot toward Wang Lin and Li Muwan. The flyings swords closed in, but most of them were targeting Wang Lin. Only one sword was targeting Li Muwan, and it wasn’t trying to kill her. Clearly, the young man wanted to keep her alive.
Wang Lin secretly let out a sigh as he grabbed Li Muwan’s arm and dangerously dodged the flying swords. He pulled her underground and activated the earth escape technique to run away.
The earth escape technique was really a technique of the ancient cultivation world, even if this was just an inferior branch of it. Even when Wang Lin was carrying another person, his speed barely dropped.
The youth controlled the flying swords to attack the ground. He showed a mocking smile as the shock waves transferred underground, but as Wang Lin’s speed became faster and faster, the youth’s expression became more serious and he focused on chasing.
Although he was a Core Formation cultivator, he wasn’t specialized in speed. If Wang Lin was using a normal flying sword of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would be nothing, but against the specialized earth escape technique, his weakness was exposed. The more he chased, the bigger the gap between him and Wang Lin became.
Wang Lin’s face was gloomy as he looked back at Li Muwan with a merciless expression. Li Muwan’s heart began to pound. She knew that she had dragged him down with her. She bit her lower lip and quickly said, “That person is the Xuan Wu’s Double Cultivation Sect’s elder. He somehow knew that I had a Distant Heaven Pill. That’s why he disregarded his status and came after me.”
Without waiting for her to finish speaking, Wang Lin’s eyes lit up and he asked, “You have a Distant Heaven Pill?”
Wang Lin’s gaze caused Li Muwan to become very frightened. She was a very clever person or else she wouldn’t have risked saying the three words “Distant Heaven Pill” to get him to save her.
After all, they were both from Hou Fen, so falling in his hands would be better than falling in the hands of that Core Formation cultivator. Thinking about this, she immediately said, “I don’t have a finished Distance Heaven Pill, only a semi-complete product…” Her eyes began to turn red as she saw Wang Lin’s unkind gaze and quickly explained, “None of the Lou He Sect’s Distance Heaven Pills are complete; they are all in a semi-complete state. However, it would only take half an hour of refining to make it a complete product. This is because once the Distance Heaven Pill is complete, there is no way to store it. It must be consumed within one year, otherwise its effectiveness will drastically decrease.”
Wang Lin’s mind quickly turned. He originally planned on going around Hou Fen to get into the Sea of Devils, but now he grabbed Li Muwan’s soft little hand and charged toward Hou Fen’s border.
Wang Lin had two options right now. One was to return to the Hou Fen Union. There were many powerful cultivators there and the moment they arrive, they would be safe. However, that Core Formation young man might not even let them get that far. If Li Muwan changes her mind once they get to safety, then it would be very hard for him to get the Distance Heaven Pill.
The second option was to go to the border of Hou Fen. Considering how long it had been since the country sealing barrier broke, the fire beasts should be on their way.
Wang Lin didn’t hesitate to choose the second option.
The young man kept chasing. Seeing his prey getting farther and farther away, he let out an angry grunt and took out a crystal leaf from his bag of holding. The young man looked at the leaf for a bit before throwing it out. The leaf immediately grew longer and wider until it was ten feet long. The young man jumped on the leaf, then his hand formed a seal and he shouted, “Quick!”
The moment he said that word, the leaf flew forward at an incredible speed. It was so fast that it left an afterimage that took a while to dissipate.
The distance between the two parties began to lessen and Li Muwan’s face became even more pale. She didn’t dare to think of what would happen if the young man caught up. She was angry that Wang Lin didn’t go toward the Hou Fen Union, but she only dared to kept it inside as she didn’t want to show her face in fear of Wang Lin leaving her behind.
Wang Lin’s expression remained calm as he carefully calculated the time. It had been about three hours since the news of the country sealing array breaking arrived. Adding the time it took for the Nascent Soul to use all its power to teleport here and the time after the fire beasts broke the array, the fire beasts must have arrived at the border of Xuan Wu by now.
As he was calculating, he detected a red cloud rolling in from the distance with his divine sense.
When the young man saw the red cloud, he immediately stopped and gave up the chase. With his position, he knew the reason Hou Fen was invading Xuan Wu. The reason was that the fire beasts were forming that red cloud.
The herd of fire beasts was very fast and Wang Lin’s earth escape technique was also very fast, so when they passed each other, a huge gap was created.
Li Muwan’s heart pounded rapidly as she watched the red cloud. She finally calmed down a bit when she noticed that they moving farther away from it. However, she suddenly realized something and shouted, “Quickly, stop! We need to go back and report it… aren’t the fire beasts supposed to be sealed by the country sealing array?”
Wang Lin looked at her coldly and said, “They already know, there is no need for you to worry.”
Just then, a powerful divine sense spread out and suddenly locked onto Wang Lin’s body. Wang Lin realized that something was wrong, so he took out a bottle of spiritual liquid and drank it all. He throttled the earth escape technique to 120% of its normal speed and quickly escaped with Li Muwan.
The fire beasts that had already flown far away suddenly stopped. They all let out roars, then turned around and started chasing after Wang Lin.
However, the distance between them was very large and Wang Lin’s reaction was very quick. Instead of slowing down, he sped up, so even though the fire beasts were chasing, they could only follow far behind and were unable to catch up anytime soon.
Li Muwan was horrified as she noticed the change, but then she suddenly had a very strange thought. It felt as if the fire beasts weren’t out to destroy Hou Fen but were after this cold youth.
The real five elemental escape technique is a legendary technique. Not only does it require a large amount of spiritual energy, it also has strict requirements for one’s talent. However, what Wang Lin learned was only a branch variant called the earth escape technique. Aside from the large spiritual energy consumption, the amount of talent required isn’t very high. He could even fine-tune the technique after many uses. Although he hadn’t known the technique for long, he had used it a lot since learning it, so now he could use it with ease.
As for the spiritual energy consumption, well, to be honest, the last thing Wang Lin was afraid of was the consumption of spiritual energy.
Wang Lin continued to use the earth escape technique for three days straight as he brought Li Muwan across Hou Fen. The fire beasts chasing him had gotten closer and their roars could now be heard. At the border of Hou Fen, Wang Lin came out of the ground. He looked at the Sea of Devils, then he turned to Li Muwan, who had a pale and weary face, and asked, “Are you confident you can finish refining the pill before the fire beasts catch up?”
At this point, Li Muwan feared Wang Lin from the bottom of her heart. She was now sure that the fire beasts’ target was the person before her. Why would those fire beasts ignore the Hou Fen Union and all turn to chase him otherwise? Also, looking at the fire beasts, it was as if they all had some deep hatred for this person.
Most importantly, Li Muwan knew a bit about the earth escape technique. Unless one reaches the Core Formation stage, it is impossible for a cultivator to use for it three days straight. She became very curious about the liquid Wang Lin always drank whenever he ran low on spiritual energy.
Now that she heard Wang Lin’s words, her face became even more pale. With how smart Li Muwan was, how could she not realize the hidden meaning in that question? If she could do it, then he might give her a way out, like luring the fire beasts away or something.
But if she couldn’t, she believed that this cold youth would take away her half-completed Distant Heaven’s Pill and leave her behind.
Thinking about it, Li Muwan’s body began to tremble. She had seen a lot of cultivators being torn apart by the fire beasts, so she was terrified right now.
Wang Lin’s brow furrowed. Time was of the essence right now, yet this girl was in a daze. How could he possibly know what was going through her head right now? Li Muwan’s guess was a bit off however. Even if she couldn’t finish it now, Wang Lin would have taken the semi-complete product, but he still would have given her a life-saving treasure. Adding on the fact that the fire beasts were after him, she would have had a high chance of survival.
Li Muwan’s heart trembled when she saw Wang Lin frown. She bit her lower lip and said, with a trembling voice, “Senior… senior apprentice brother, time is too short for me to produce a complete product, but I… I can refine pills. I know how to refine almost every pill from the Lou He Sect and I have memorized many ancient recipes. As long as I have the materials, I can refine them.”
Wang Lin was startled and looked at Li Muwan a few times, then he saw the red light coming in from the distance and grabbed Li Muwan. He then charged toward the Sea of Devils.
Li Muwan didn’t know that her words had really tempted Wang Lin. In his eyes, Li Muwan was a walking pill furnace. If he used her properly, his cultivation level would be able to increase greatly.
Wang Lin obtained this idea from Sun Youcai’s life journal.
The Sea of Devils was very large, and it was basically a big hole. It wouldn’t be wrong to call the Sea of Devils a giant basin, only this basin had many mountain ranges within it. There weren’t any trees, but there were many strange plants. If one were to check their ancestry, they would find that these plants would trace all the way back to ancient sea plant life.
The season Wang Lin entered the Sea of Devils was when the fog was the thickest. Shortly after, the fog will turn into water, and then one month later, all of the water will become fog again.
Li Muwan was dragged into the thick fog by Wang Lin. Her charming body trembled as she bit her lower lip and whispered, “Senior… senior apprentice brother, this is the Sea of Devils!”
Wang Lin coldly replied, “I know!”
Li Muwan secretly let out a sigh and no longer said a word.
The moment they entered the Sea of Devils, slivers of Ying energy entered their bodies. This caused Wang Lin to become alert. He didn’t expect to find Ying spiritual energy here. This made him very happy.
Compared to Hou Fen, the Sea of Devils was like a piece of ice, creating a vast contrast with Hou Fen. This was the first time Li Muwan had come to the Sea of Devils. Various stories she had heard about the Sea of Devils entered her mind, causing her face to become ever paler than it was before.
Wang Lin stopped in the middle of the fog. The fog in this spot wasn’t too thick, so the border of Hou Fen was visible. He saw the red cloud closing in from the distance, but once the fire beasts arrived at the border, none of them crossed it. They could only roar at Wang Lin.
Gradually, more and more fire beasts gathered, but not one fire beast entered the Sea of Devils. It was as if there was a giant crevice in the way and they didn’t want to cross it.
After a long time, one fire beast finally charged out, but the moment it touched the fog, it let out a miserable scream. Its body quickly shrank and its skin went from white, to red, to grey. This scene looked exactly like throwing a hot coal into ice water.
After seeing this, Wang Lin’s heart calmed down a bit. According to his plan, even if the fire beasts charged in, the beasts and cultivators from here would stop them.
And the Sea of Devils was the size of several thousand Hou Fens. Although the map did not show it, it clearly pointed out the difference in size.
With how large the Sea of Devils was, if Wang Lin were to hide here, it would be hard for the fire beasts to find him.
Wang Lin’s body moved and he grabbed Li Muwan, the portable pill furnace, and quickly flew away. His Ji Realm divine sense spread out. He kept a watchful eye on the surroundings.
He had to make a cave and reach the Core Formation stage as soon as possible. Only after reaching the Core Formation stage and becoming the number one cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage would he have any confidence in surviving in the Sea of Devils.