The Stars Beyond

Chapter 366: Leaping Into The Final Level

After battling with the two top experts, the mysterious man wearing the silver mask remained calm and composed. Without lifting his head, he casually raised his right hand. However, nothing fell down.

"Come!" said the man. His fingertip glowed, and the light spread out into the sky. He didn't think the other five top experts had any reason to compete with him for this tattered beast skin. However, the sky remained eerily silent.

"Hmm?" the man sounded.

Something was amiss.

Nothing had fallen down?!

He looked up and was shocked. He never expected that the torn and hole-ridden beast skin thrown into the air would encounter an accident. A transparent thread slowly floated down and its hook hung on the pale gold beast skin as it quietly accelerated upwards.

Even that is workable?

Daring to rob him of something that he had obtained was like stealing large chunks of meat from a tiger's mouth. It was audacious!

He reacted swiftly and leapt up. His palm glowed as strands of light intersected, attempting to intercept the beast skin ahead. However, just like a delivery, the beast skin was thrown near the barrier. It was too far from him, and the person outside was blatantly pulling the fishing line. The person was frantically reeling it in!

The man wearing the silver mask's eyes turned icy cold. He smacked the barrier with all his might and gave his all to intercept the beast skin. If he couldn't stop it, he'd destroy it.

It wasn't just about getting back the item, it was more than that. Someone was undermining him right above his head. Fishing for his belongings in public.

Is this a silent contempt towards me?

The barrier shook violently. Blurred by his slap, it left a palm imprint that protruded and distorted the light screen as if it were about to burst. The barrier was sturdy. He couldn't break through it alone. The man wearing the silver mask landed on the ground without a sound. The other five top experts all showed different expressions.

Who dared to rob a top expert?

A few of them trembled lightly as they suppressed their laughter. Without a doubt, the man wearing the silver mask must be in an extremely foul mood.

What the heck was going on?

Someone on the barrier snatched the beast skin from right under his nose. It was a humiliating act, and it left him dumbfounded. He was unable to utter a word.

The hands of the man shimmered with a faint silver light. If he could break out of the barrier, he would undoubtedly go on a killing spree immediately. It was outrageous! Outside the barrier, the two individuals wearing silver masks looked down coldly.

"This belongs to me, how dare you lay your hands on them, impostor?" Wang Xuan said calmly.

Enough was enough. The real silver masked man inside the barrier raised his eyebrows. He wanted to crush those two so badly as it was a blatant provocation.

"Hand it over!" Outside the barrier, Wang Xuan spoke again. He mirrored the rightful owner's calm demeanor. He stood there confidently and raised his right hand towards the sky.

Chen Yongjie tightly tossed it over to him, and with a swoosh, the pale golden beast skin landed in Wang Xuan's hand. It vibrated twice and some ashes drifted out. Cracking sounds were heard coming out from the mask of the man and several cracks started appearing. His eyes sharpened and stared at the two figures outside. In the end, he didn't say a word as it was meaningless. He couldn't get close to them, talking more would only harm his status. Naturally, he knew who it was. The identity was revealed the moment the fishing hook was cast. The other party was having their revenge on him, and he didn't care how strong the other was, because he was deemed a mortal enemy.

"Friend, I was the one who first discovered that beast skin. There's no need for you to be angry," said the fake Patriarch of Hades Blood Sect that was within the radiant blood wheel, adding fuel to fire.

The man wearing the silver mask turned away, ignoring him. The pent-up frustration could only be suppressed in his heart for now. He was unable to vent it temporarily. He glanced at Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie for one last time before ignoring them altogether.

"He's like a silent dog. Be careful next time we encounter him. This guy is extremely cunning." Outside the barrier, the two whispered to each other. Although they let off some steam, they knew they had earned the enmity of the mysterious person wearing the silver mask.

"It doesn't matter. We've been at odds with him for a long time anyway. Whether we slap him or show him a smile, it has the same effect. Instead of that, let's find another opportunity to bait him!"

Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie ran to the side and hid in the clouds. They started to study the stolen beast skin. It truly felt ancient, and they wondered how many years had passed since it was made. It measured one square foot, with two holes burnt through it. Touching it felt like stroking through a thick history. It was a profound sensation.

The Godslaying Banner moved slightly which made Wang Xuan’s heart pound harder and faster. His eyes immediately burned with excitement. He placed the two items together, but nothing happened.

What’s going on? Was there any connection between the two?

After studying for a while, Wang Xuan took off the silver beast skin that he was wearing. He tried to make them interact, but still couldn't piece them together. In the end, he fell into deep thought.

"Is something missing?" he wondered. He felt that the flag and the skin should be related, but he couldn't assemble them.

"Perhaps these are just products of the experimental process that had relations but were difficult to truly integrate," Chen Yongjie remarked.

Wang Xuan nodded. "It makes sense. There are still doubts as to whether this top-tier mythical civilization actually created the Tao Shielding Banner. Don't tell me they failed in the end."

"You should keep it for now. There might be something weird about it." replied Old Chen.

Inside the barrier, the six experts searched again. They sifted through the mountain-like ashes, and carefully studied the partially burned papers they picked. They were even more unwilling to accept the outcome than Wang Xuan. According to legend, the depth of this civilization surpassed all previous mythical civilizations, and they should have left behind the most powerful treasures! However, the final result left them feeling disappointed. There was no Tao Shielding Banner among the ashes. Based on the records they found in the remnants, it was indeed true that a civilization had once gathered its strength here to refine treasures.

"Let’s trace the old memories of this place!"

The six of them sat cross-legged with their eyebrows glowing, they joined forces to trace the ancient events here. They were hoping to see if the true Tao Shielding Banner had been created.

Wang Xuan immediately approached the barrier and opened up his spiritual eyes. He did not want to miss such a magnificent and grand sight.

"It was indeed refined, but it exploded!" The man covered in golden light spoke with a deep voice, he was slightly excited. This means there should be a Taoist Shielding Banner in this world.

In the void, a vast bonfire burned. The flame was so ferocious, it almost collapsed the sky and distorted the spacetime. It was fueled by the endless Great Tao Scripture. It contained not only the written principles of that civilization but also the scriptures of other extinct mythical civilizations they had collected. All of it was used as kindling.

With intertwined runes and the order spreading, a small blurry flag floated in the flames. It was not known how long it had floated there across the vast expanse of history. It was suffocating, causing even the most powerful experts to feel uneasy and greatly disturbed.

Bang!

In the end, the flag soared into the sky, and the bonfire exploded, engulfing everything in its vicinity. The six experts shook violently, and the impact of this scene caused some of them to cough up blood which caused their spirit lights to scatter.

"We are restricted in the real world. It can lead to severe injuries if one forces the resonance with the law of the great veil and if one retraces the ancient scenes with supreme methods" someone spoke.

Wang Xuan was resolute.

Could these extraordinary experts still manage to do this at such a critical moment?

Each of them was an extremely dangerous individual.

Chen Yongjie said, "It's alright. They seem to need a long time to prepare, and they also have to pay a considerable price. In a real battle, who would honestly wait for them to resonate?"

"That’s true......" Inside the barrier, the man in black suddenly opened his eyes again. He exerted all his strength to reveal the final blurry scene, with others joining in the effort.

After the Taoist Shielding Banner flew away and the bonfire exploded. The place dimmed. After a long time, a rough, blood-stained hand appeared and carved a blurry map in this place.

Bang!

The man covered in golden light was the first to take action, followed by the man wearing the silver mask. Both of them struck forward to destroy the image. Some others tried to stop them, while some retreated as they did not care.

"These two scoundrels are too reckless. They destroyed it right after seeing it," said Chen Yongjie while staring with his wide opened eyes. He only memorized a part of the map.

Wang Xuan closed his eyes. The complex map played back in his mind and appeared vividly. Even with his spiritual eye, he could barely capture it and imprint it deeply into his mind. Inside the barrier, the six experts stood up and scanned the area thoroughly. They were convinced that nothing had been overlooked. Their faces showed strange expressions, each harboring their own thoughts. After that, the matter of the Taoist Shielding Banner was mentioned again. There was a high possibility that the map was related to the Taoist Shielding Banner!

"Even the flames of civilization and the Taoist Shielding Banner are in the ninth-level spiritual ruins. It's hard to imagine what might be on the tenth-level. Let's go take a look," said the man wearing the silver mask.

Currently, the ruin at the tenth-level was unknown. Without truly opening its gates and activating it, it’ll remain perpetually blurred and silent, with everything seen and felt being questionable. The six experts advanced together, once again joining forces. They hoped to use the decay of transcendence and this unrestricted period to open the way. This time they struggled. They used a lot of their spiritual light to vigorously shake the gate that stood in the void, but it simply wouldn't budge.

"Countless ages have passed, yet it remains so sturdy. It should have fallen into the void," remarked one.

For two full days, the six experts either tried to break it with spells, studied ancient formations, or brute forcing it. The results were not significant. They encountered difficulties and were stuck.

Chen Yongjie stared at the man with the silver mask and whispered, "He's very strong, even more formidable than we estimated. It seems he didn't intend to kill you directly in the desert last time. He's eyeing your body, he’s craving it."

Wang Xuan was speechless.

What nonsense was this?

"Could it be Zheng Yuantian?" he pondered. Currently, this guy had the greatest interest in his physical body and he invested quite a lot in him. He gave him heavenly herbs, the Five-Colored Soil from Mount Bu Zhou, and even celestial nectar, all at once. Moreover, he learned from the Zheng family that Zheng Yuantian seemed to be raising so-called pigs. Whether it was Zheng Wu or Wang Xuan, it didn't matter who controlled this body. In this case, it was highly probable that the peerless master Zheng Yuantian would eventually make an appearance to harvest the crops and slaughter the pig!

"Yuantian you pig! Just you wait, I'll kill you sooner or later!" Wang Xuan muttered to himself.

These two days, they had been strengthening their realms because their recent breakthroughs had been too rapid. Both of them were reciting scriptures, studying the scrolls of their predecessors, and solidifying their cultivation.

For this purpose, they had opened a can of immortal bones. They sat within the inner landscape, not to enhance themselves with the rich mystery genome, but purely to let time settle for a while.

Of course, the so-called time was illusory. They had successively used two pieces of Ascension True Bones, and it pushed their mental and spiritual senses to the limit. They gained insight of themselves, studied Taoist scriptures, recited bamboo slips, and read Buddhist scriptures. In a trance, they seemed to have borrowed ten years of time. This kind of luxurious enlightenment, coupled with the opening of the inner landscape with Immortal Bones, made their mind operate at an alarming speed. It was indeed terrifyingly efficient, and the benefits to them were immense.

"The eighth stage has already been completed. My foundation is solid and not superficial. I will name it—Pioneering," Wang Xuan reflected on his cultivation process in the ethereal realm.

He had brought heavenly herbs to the ethereal realm, and it was bursting with vitality. He even opened up meteorites along the way. It truly resembled a pioneer, as he seemed like a diligent miner. For several consecutive days, Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie had been cultivating, strengthening their foundations to an extremely solid level. They even resorted to opening the third piece of Ascension True Bone.

"These Immortal Bones that corresponded to the inner landscape were indeed accelerating the decay. The mystery genomes are becoming thinner, and cracks are appearing everywhere inside. Perhaps in a few months, they will no longer be usable," Chen Yongjie said solemnly. This meant that the myth was truly about to vanish, and it was irreversible.

"Right, now that you've stabilized your realm, you should try to take that new path again, and shake down the idiot with the silver mask. Otherwise, it could be very disastrous if we get blocked by him again next time. His actual combat power is extremely terrifying!" Chen Yongjie urged Wang Xuan to cut off the enemy at the roots. Since they couldn't win directly, they needed to find another way to bring the enemy down from above.

"That makes sense," Wang Xuan nodded. Coincidence after coincidence had made him wonder with suspicion. He felt that there was indeed a big problem in all of this.

He had been pondering. Perhaps it was because of his cultivation that shook the Life Essence Furnace in his life soil, which inexplicably triggered the Roaming Ark and the Ascension Banner. With several treasures appearing together, they resonated violently and caused those with weak foundations to fall.

"A whale falls, giving rise to all things. With new paths come decay in the old world. Perhaps it's a kind of balance that is being broken, and is in transition now," Chen Yongjie said.

"Maybe it's not these situations," Wang Xuan shook his head.

A deafening sound erupted, causing even the treasures in Wang Xuan's life soil to tremble slightly. In the real world, those whose cultivation wasn't stable were shaking. Their life soil roared, and some were about to drop in the levels of their realm.

"Are there truly various variables and different layers of reasons?!" Chen Yongjie was shocked when he realized this wasn't caused by Wang Xuan this time.

Wang Xuan's blood boiled.

Were they reversing the situation and shaking me instead?

The treasures within him were trembling and roaring.

"It's because they opened the tenth layer of spiritual ruins!" shouted Wang Xuan as he stared at the barrier. The six top experts were all shaken and pushed back. Each of them was coughing up their spirit’s blood as they fell to the ground.

Even Fang Yuzhu and the red-clothed demoness were no exception. Despite their formidable strength, they were heavily injured. They lay on the ground and their bodies were radiating light mist.

The gate of the void opened, revealing the final level of the ruins. Within the gate, powerful spiritual marks resonated with them, and substance that was close to the truth surged out like a flood.

"It’s the final path, it’s the true source! Let’s leap to immortality!" exclaimed one of the experts.