A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Wang Yu’s Rebirth as the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor - Chapter 180

Chapter 177: Charging Admission Fees, Fellow Villagers Meet, the Situation is Unpredictable

. Ten days later,

Han Li arrived at a vast, empty sea in the southeast of the Inner Star Sea.

“Husband, shall we go in?”

Yuan Yao asked beautifully.

Han Li thought for

a moment before replying, “You two go first and find a secluded spot. I’ll come in later.”

Some tolls still need to be collected.

Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.

In the following days, this sea area gradually became lively.

Every few days, cultivators would fly here rapidly.

When everyone looked at the magnificent palace complex high in the clouds, they were all overjoyed.

Looking up, the very first palace in the cluster of jade palaces was about a hundred feet tall, made entirely of flawless white jade, emitting a faint glow, exquisitely beautiful.

The other palaces appeared like shadows behind it.

The hundred-foot-tall palace was shrouded in a thick golden light shield, hanging in the sky like a mirage.

Many of the arriving cultivators transformed into azure rainbows, heading straight for the palace complex enveloped in the golden light shield.

Upon reaching the shield, a flash of white light enveloped them, and they entered easily without hindrance.

Han Li waited alone outside for five days, witnessing dozens of people enter one after another.

Their cultivation levels varied.

The weakest was a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the strongest had reached the late Core Formation stage.

For those Foundation Establishment cultivators who were oblivious to their fate, he knocked them unconscious and took the fragments of the Void Heaven Map from them. Then, he placed jade slips into their storage bags; these jade slips contained only one word:

“Get out!”

For those in the early Core Formation stage, he looted the fragments of the map.

In total, he collected more than twenty fragments of the map,

as repayment for saving his life.

In addition, he would check the cultivators’ storage bags and take anything that caught his eye. He then purchased them all with spirit stones at half the price of those in Tiannan. Half the price in Tiannan was two to three times the price here.

“Although one should respect other people’s lives, I still enjoy doing things that benefit both sides.”

He truly felt like a living bodhisattva.

And he could say he had a clear conscience and had done his utmost.

…

No one knew how these fragments of the map ended up in the hands of so many cultivators.

In short, these fragments of the map miraculously ended up in the eight million li radius of the sea centered on Tianxing Island.

No one knew why the Void Heaven Palace suddenly appeared more than ten thousand years ago.

No one knew why the Star Palace had signed a vow with the ancient cultivators who left behind the Void Heaven Palace.

The Star Palace hadn’t even tried to take possession of the Void Heaven Palace for ten thousand years?!

You must know that the Star Palace had two Nascent Soul stage cultivators at its peak.

But the Star Palace never crossed that line.

This was something that only the Star Palace itself probably knew the reason for.

On the sixth day after arriving, a Nascent Soul cultivator finally arrived.

He was a middle-aged man with cold eyes.

Beside this man were an extremely ugly young man and three masked cultivators.

“Wu Chou…”

Han Li, observing the three from the shadows, narrowed his eyes.

He recognized the young man.

It was Wu Chou from the Extreme Yin Island, whom he had met once before, with a mid-stage Core Formation cultivation.

The three masked cultivators possessed the same magical aura as Wu Chou. In terms of cultivation, two were mid-stage Core Formation cultivators, and one was late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

As for the middle-aged Nascent Soul cultivator? Unsurprisingly, it was the Extreme Yin Old Demon from Extreme Yin Island.

After arriving here, the Extreme Yin Island group, like Han Li, blocked the road and charged a fee.

The two Core Formation cultivators and one Foundation Establishment cultivator who arrived later were unlucky enough to be stopped by the Extreme Yin Old Demon before even entering the high-altitude light barrier, and then had their fragmented Void Heaven Map stolen.

One person tried to avoid Extreme Yin and force his way into the Void Heaven Palace, but as expected, he was burned to ashes by the Heavenly Capital Corpse Fire, leaving only the fragmented Void Heaven Map he carried.

This tiny fragment of the Void Heaven Map is indeed a rare treasure.

Its crafting materials are unknown.

Not only is it difficult for a Core Formation stage cultivator to destroy, but even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would need a sustained and powerful attack to break it. The restrictions on it are even more profound; even from millions of miles away, one can sense the precise location of the soon-to-be-born Void Heaven Palace. Of course, beyond eight million miles, the sensing fails.

The Ice Soul Fairy, capable of crafting such a magical artifact, and the one who could replicate the Void Heaven Cauldron, must have possessed unimaginable cultivation and weapon-crafting skills when they descended to the mortal realm.

“Let’s go, it’s about time. Follow me into the treasure trove,”

Ji Yin called out.

He took the lead, using a fragment of the Void Heaven Map in his hand to pass through the golden light barrier.

The four Core Formation stage cultivators, each carrying a fragment of the Void Heaven Map as a “pass,” were about to ignore the Void Heaven Palace’s restrictive light barrier and enter.

In the shadows, Han Li took a deep breath and frowned slightly:

“The situation has changed…”

In the original timeline, Ji Yin only brought Wu Chou into the Void Heaven Palace, without the other late-stage Core Formation cultivators from Ji Yin Island.

However, due to his butterfly effect, the ancient cultivator’s cave on that desolate island was opened a year and a half earlier, in other words, it alerted the Ji Yin Old Demon more than a year earlier.

This also caused Ji Yin to change many of his original plans and make more thorough preparations.

If Ji Yin was like this, it’s hard to say that the others wouldn’t be affected by the butterfly effect as well.

For the next ten days or so,

whenever he discovered Foundation Establishment cultivators or early Core Formation novices arriving, he would ambush them and send them far away.

Even some mid-stage Core Formation cultivators would be given a warning with a surprise attack.

He was shameless, but for ordinary early- to mid-stage Core Formation cultivators, entering would be a nine-out-of-ten chance of death. For

Foundation Establishment cultivators, it was basically a ten-out-of-ten chance of death. The fact

that Zi Ling in the original timeline was able to pass through a group of Yin spirits was purely because she had latched onto a powerful figure.

The timely arrival at the Void Heaven Palace was also thanks to the flying treasure, the stone tablet, passed down from the Myriad Sound Sect. It was a testament to the Myriad Sound Sect’s profound heritage.

That stone tablet, when activated in the late Foundation Establishment stage, could maintain the flight speed of a mid-Core Formation stage cultivator. When activated in the early Core Formation stage, it surpassed the escape techniques of ordinary late-Core Formation cultivators. Otherwise, even Zi Linglian wouldn’t have been able to approach this place, let alone enter the Void Heaven Palace to retrieve the spiritual herbs that would help her break through to the Core Formation stage.

“With dozens of fragments in hand, wouldn’t you say I’ve saved over eighty lives?”

Han Li stitched together the palm-sized fragments, creating a double-patched shirt and double-patched long johns in the style of a Beggar Clan Nine-Bag Elder.

Wearing this suit made from nearly a hundred fragments of the Void Heaven map, he felt a sense of security.

While the Void Heaven map fragments had no other effects and weren’t enough to completely neutralize a Nascent Soul level attack, they could still buy him time to react by offsetting most of the power.

He strongly suspected that these scrolls were made from the leather of an ancient demon or monster at the Nascent Soul stage.

Now, they were quite a bargain for him.

Furthermore, as long as he placed the clothes into the golden treasure chest in his storage bag before leaving the Void Heaven Palace, ensuring they wouldn’t be activated, the Void Heaven Palace’s Great Teleportation Restriction wouldn’t reclaim them. He could then continue to use them.

Three days later, another Nascent Soul cultivator arrived.

It was Wan Tianming, a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, along with two early-Nascent Soul cultivators.

Seeing the three, Han Li became even more cautious in his concealment.

After the three entered, he waited for several more days.

He noticed that fewer and fewer people were coming, and the frequency was decreasing. It seemed that all the mid-to-high-level cultivators with the Void Heaven Remnant Map in this sea area had arrived.

Therefore, Han Li didn’t linger any longer.

Disguised as a mid-Core Formation cultivator, he walked towards the golden light barrier. He

injected his magic power into one of the Void Heaven Remnant Maps, and a layer of white light immediately appeared on his body. The white light contacted the golden light barrier, and he could pass through it without any hindrance.

Approaching the magnificent Void Heaven Palace, he chose to follow another newly arrived Core Formation cultivator into a passage.

The passage was two zhang wide and forty zhang high, constructed of crystal-clear jade.

One second, he attempted to probe the depths of this place with his divine sense; the next, his divine sense rebounded upon contact with the surrounding walls.

The walls were protected by incredibly powerful isolation barriers erected by ancient cultivators.

A similar situation occurred with the Core Formation stage cultivator ahead.

However, that person’s divine sense didn’t rebound; rather, it ached faintly, as if the barriers on the surrounding walls had pierced his outward-projecting divine sense.

Frustrated, he dared not continue projecting his divine sense.

The two, one after the other, traversed the passage in the time it takes to eat a meal, arriving before a blue light barrier.

Passing through the barrier, the space opened up before them.

It was a vast hall,

three to four hundred zhang wide.

The hall was magnificent and grand, capable of accommodating thousands without feeling crowded.

Sixty or seventy thick jade pillars stood evenly erected within, adorned with lifelike and vibrant carvings of dragons and phoenixes.

At this moment…

More than forty cultivators of various attire had gathered here.

The Extreme Yin Island lineage, which had entered earlier, occupied one of the pillars.

Another reclusive, long-bearded old man sat alone on a jade pillar not far away.

There was also a Nascent Soul stage female cultivator, quietly holding a treasured sword and meditating with her eyes closed. However, Han Li’s keen senses detected that this Nascent Soul stage female cultivator’s consciousness was always intentionally or unintentionally lingering in a certain corner.

On a pillar in that corner, Yuan Yao and Yan Li were both meditating with their heads down.

Judging from their state, he knew that the two women were compressing their true essence to strengthen the Yin Demon Slash within their bodies.

The power of the Yin Demon Slash depended on the degree of compression; the more compressed it was, the greater the power when released at once.

Clearly, Yuan Yao and Yan Li took this secret realm instance very seriously and dared not slack off in the slightest.

Han Li nodded slightly and flew over.

Along the way, several cultivators gave him strange smiles, as if they were mocking him.

It wasn’t until the two veiled women noticed his arrival and rose to greet him with joyful smiles that the smiles of the surrounding late-stage Core Formation male cultivators froze, their faces twitching.

“What’s going on?”

Han Li asked telepathically, erecting a mid-grade soundproof barrier.

“Husband, some cultivators tried to flirt with us sisters, but were rejected.”

The already petite and charming Yanli’s eyes crinkled into crescent moons with laughter.

In an instant, Han Li understood why some of the Core Formation cultivators around him were giving him strange looks.

So, someone had tried to flirt with him but was rejected, and they wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

Unexpectedly, instead of a laugh, they witnessed the two women’s warm intimacy.

Thus, those who had tried to flirt but were met with cold shoulders all felt extremely frustrated.

“Alright, you two continue your cultivation. I’ll protect you,”

Han Li said with a smile ,

ignoring the jealous gazes around him.

The two women smiled happily upon hearing this:

“Thank you, husband.”

The surrounding male cultivators exclaimed, “Damn it!”

…

In the following days, more scattered cultivators arrived one after another.

He even saw several familiar faces:

“Why are these people here?”

Where did they get so many fragments of the Void Heaven Map?

One was Sect Master Wang, a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator from the Myriad Sounds Sect.

Another was the young sect master of the Myriad Sounds Sect, also known as Wang Ning, one of the Ten Beauties of the Chaotic Star Sea, also called Zi Ling. The name of Fairy Zi Ling was still very well-known in the Chaotic Star Sea. Her cultivation had also reached the early stage of Core Formation.

The third person, who came together with the mother and daughter from the Myriad Sounds Sect and flew towards a jade pillar, had a late-stage Core Formation cultivation. Dressed in white, she looked even more dashing!

When this woman saw Han Li, her eyes widened.

“What’s going on?”

“He…he…he…”

The little rascal surnamed Han also came?

“Eh? How did his cultivation drop to the mid-stage of Core Formation?”

No.

The little guy surnamed Han must have been hiding his true cultivation.

Moreover, who are the two female cultivators beside him?

He brought two beautiful female cultivators to participate in the Void Heaven Palace Secret Realm, but deliberately left her, his sword attendant, out of the picture? He didn’t even inform her.

“Am I really that unwelcome to you?”

Grandma Gan thought bitterly.

At this moment, for some reason, her originally calm state of mind was stirred. She

felt inexplicably aggrieved and slightly wronged.

Especially seeing Han Li’s doting on the two women made her even more uncomfortable.

Meeting Gan Rushuang’s beautiful eyes, which held a complex expression, Han Li turned his head away, pretending not to see.

“Husband, do you know those women?”

Yanli, observing his expression, was the first to guess.

Yuan Yao leaned in with a probing gaze.

“Just fellow villagers,”

Han Li answered succinctly.

In fact, not only Gan Rushuang recognized him, but the youngest of the three women from the Myriad Sounds Sect also recognized him.

However, this woman concealed it very well.

Gan Rushuang, always reclusive and rarely interacting with outsiders, remained solitary even after becoming a well-informed guest elder of the Miaoyin Sect, not yet able to conceal every detail. The

younger Zi Ling, however, was different.

Having seen countless cultivators and endured countless forced smiles since childhood, she had ingrained a facade in her very being.

Even with surprise, she wouldn’t easily show it.

She possessed an instinctive familiarity with how to interact with people to gain favor and trust, if not cunning. Thus, the more powerful Gan Rushuang subtly revealed her emotions. The younger, less powerful Zi Ling, on the other hand, remained completely expressionless. “Sister Gan,

do

you

know

that person over there?”

Zi Ling asked telepathically, her words carrying a hidden meaning.

“Just a fellow villager,”

Gan Rushuang replied, giving the exact same answer as Han Li.

“A fellow villager?”

No wonder her emotions fluctuated so much.

The mother and daughter of the Miaoyin Sect nodded.

They didn’t investigate further.

…

“Tsk tsk…”

Just as the women from Miaoyin Sect were about to say something, several unfriendly gazes swept over from Jiyin Island, scrutinizing the three women with interest, startling the mother and daughters.

Looking up and meeting Jiyin’s cold gaze, they felt a chill run down their spines.

“It’s Jiyin Old Demon from Jiyin Island.”

Miaoyin Sect Master Wang’s forehead instantly broke out in a fine layer of cold sweat.

Her Miaoyin Sect and Jiyin Island had a blood feud more than twenty years ago.

Although their Miaoyin Sect had suffered a great loss, how could they dare to cause trouble for Jiyin Island? They

were even more worried that Jiyin Island would think they were still holding a grudge.

“This is bad.”

Originally

, their disguise could easily fool some Core Formation stage cultivators.

But against the Nascent Soul stage Jiyin Old Ancestor, it was no match.

“It’s alright, Mother. We won’t venture into the second trial, the Ice and Fire Path. We’ll just gather some spiritual herbs in the outer hall and then leave. The outer hall’s safe zone has always prohibited killing. I think as long as we’re not too greedy and don’t venture too deep, Jiyin Island won’t violate any taboos,”

the girl in purple palace attire reassured him.

Hearing this, Sect Master Wang suppressed his anxiety and fear.

Gan Rushuang, however, was worried and skeptical of the so-called safe zone.

Just then, a mocking voice rang out:

“Jiyin, your gaze is quite impolite. This isn’t your Jiyin Island.”

The one who spoke was Tian Wuzi, the old Taoist priest of the Tianji Sect.

This man was considered upright.

He seemed to have some unpleasantness with the old demon Jiyin.

They seemed to be at odds.

“Tian Wuzi, it’s none of your business how Jiyin Island operates,”

Jiyin coldly retorted.

They were evenly matched; who was afraid of whom?

“Can I, Wan, intervene?”

A refined middle-aged man beside Tian Wuzi spoke calmly.

Ji Yin turned to face him, his imposing manner immediately weakening by three points:

“Sect Master Wan, why must you make things difficult for me over a few young women?”

Wan Tianming, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, was someone he didn’t want to provoke for the time being.

“Women? Heh, Ji Yin, are you looking down on us female cultivators?”

A female Nascent Soul cultivator holding a sword suddenly looked up, coldly staring at him.

“Madam Wen, that’s not what I meant.”

Ji Yin quickly waved his hand.

Inwardly, he cursed this woman.

As the Daoist partner of the number one demonic cultivator, not only did she not help him, a member of the demonic path, but she also went to speak up for the righteous cultivators?

“What’s wrong with you?”

He then began to calculate, finally flying to the jade pillar where the solitary Nascent Soul elder was located: “Brother Qing, would you be interested in joining me to explore the inner hall?”

The so-called Brother Qing was none other than Qing Yi Jushi.

“…”

On the other side.

Sect Master Wan looked at Madam Wen, the Daoist partner of the Six Paths Extreme Saint, the number one figure in the Chaotic Star Sea’s demonic path, and revealed a gentle and refined smile:

“Thank

you for speaking up for justice, Madam.” “Wan Tianming, don’t give me that. The matter of my disciple being injured by your disciple is not over.” “

…”

Several Nascent Soul cultivators from both the righteous and demonic paths clearly didn’t get along.

But no one knew whether these people were genuinely at odds or putting on an act for the Star Palace people.

While everyone was still waiting anxiously, a series of earth-shaking rumbling sounds suddenly came from the passage connecting this place.

Those from the righteous path looked over and all showed solemn expressions, with Tian Wuzi and another Nascent Soul cultivator disguised as an old farmer showing even more worry.

On the demonic path, however, they laughed.

When a tall figure emerged from within, manifesting as a golden avatar dozens of feet tall, Ji Yin immediately greeted him warmly:

“Brother Man, you’ve finally arrived!”

The newcomer was none other than Man Hu Zi, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from the Chaotic Star Sea demonic path.

His cultivation technique, the “Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art,” was hailed as the best defensive technique in the Chaotic Star Sea.

It was also a crucial component of the “Brahma Saint True Demonic Art.”

“Eh, am I too early?”

Man Hu Zi asked, as the dozens of feet tall golden avatar behind him retracted into his body, revealing his towering, dark, muscular physique.

“Brother Man, you’ve arrived just in time,”

Qing Yi Jushi stroked his beard.

“But why are there so few people this time?”

It was as if a massive layoff had occurred.

In the past, at least a hundred cultivators would enter the Void Heaven Palace, sometimes even two or three hundred.

This time, however, there were only sixty or seventy, mostly from the righteous and demonic paths.

There were very few Core Formation stage cultivators among the rogue cultivators.

Even the three women from the Myriad Sounds Sect, in this current space, were a force to be reckoned with.

“Brother Man, have you also noticed something amiss?”

This unusual behavior was a major reason for Qingyi Jushi’s constant worry.

He felt that the rogue cultivators, who should have been lucky in this Void Heaven Palace instance, might have been targeted by someone.

His intuition was usually accurate.

But he had no evidence.

“The Ghost Mist instance isn’t so friendly right now. Wouldn’t it be better for those small rogue cultivators and forces to stay out of the way?”

Tian Wuzi murmured.

“Oh? Could it be your Heavenly Mystery Sect’s doing?”

“Ji Yin, stop smearing us righteous cultivators…”

“Alright, everyone…”

(End of Chapter)