Huangfu Song noticed Li Fan lost in thought and assumed he was considering taking a chance by going back to search for longevity treasures.
He quickly tried to persuade him otherwise.
After all, without Li Fan, it would be much harder for him and Dongfang to explore the Maze Zone efficiently. The hope of exchanging for the limited treasures on the Qingxuan List would become even more remote.
“This bounty issued by Immortal Sage Blue Feather might actually be a good thing for us,” Huangfu Song analyzed earnestly. “The principle of rising and falling forces—many cultivators are being drawn back. The competition pressure here in the White Mist will lessen…”
Li Fan smiled faintly and waved his hand to interrupt, “Brother Huangfu, don’t worry. I have no intention of going back. Besides, I might stay here in the White Mist even longer than you.”
Dongfang Yao couldn’t help but become curious. “Oh? Brother Li, did something on the Qingxuan List catch your eye?”
Li Fan did not hide it and said, “The Endstone Plate.”
Dongfang and Huangfu exchanged glances. “A hundred thousand Qingxuan Points, to bet on that still-unknown secondary body…”
Dongfang Yao couldn’t help but advise, “Brother Li, think carefully! The risk is just too great. If it turns out to be just an impressive-sounding name with little practical use, wouldn’t you lose everything? It might be better to look at something else. Even if you exchange for a Dao Integration technique that you can’t use, you could at least trade it with others…”
“I heard that after this secondary body was born, there were no more Tianxuan secondary bodies appearing for a full ten years. The headquarters became so nervous they thought there might never be another one.
“That’s why it earned the name ‘Endstone.’
“However…” Huangfu Song frowned slightly and said, “The prolonged anomaly caused by the Tianxuan Mirror originally led people to believe it had some unique feature. Yet, after extensive research, they couldn’t reach any definite conclusion, and ultimately had to give up. That might be why the Immortal Alliance decided to put it on the Qingxuan List.”
“After all, it’s still a Tianxuan secondary body—there might be some practical use that the Immortal Alliance hasn’t discovered yet. Although the price of a hundred thousand Qingxuan Points is steep, if the gamble pays off…”
Li Fan smiled and said, “A single investment for endless profit! I’m willing to take the risk!”
Dongfang Yao clicked his tongue and said, “Brother Li, you sure have a big appetite for risk. What if that thing turns out to be just a useless stone?”
“At the very least, it would still have collectible value. It wouldn’t be a total loss!” Li Fan laughed heartily, his attitude carefree.
“The only thing I worry about now is whether someone else will compete with me. There are countless Immortal Alliance cultivators, and I can’t be the only one willing to gamble.”
Huangfu Song clapped his hands and said, “Looks like we’ll need to pick up the pace. We’re still quite a ways off from a hundred thousand Qingxuan Points!”
After that discussion, the three of them aligned their goals and continued to explore the Maze Zone with renewed vigor.
Time passed quickly during their relentless exploration.
Huangfu and Dongfang had already exchanged their points for the Dissociation Disc and the Yuan-Devouring Saint Physique Technique, and they set their sights on other treasures.
The accumulated Qingxuan Points were inching closer to a hundred thousand.
Up to now, they had explored thirteen Maze Zone in total, including the initial Life-and-Death Maze Zone.
With experience, their exploration skills became increasingly proficient, and Li Fan also deduced some patterns regarding the existence of the “Maze Zone.”
Based on the conclusion that the current Xuanhuang Realm was formed from the fusion of the ancient Xuanhuang Realm with many other worlds, Li Fan suspected that the so-called Maze Zone might be fragments shed from the original worlds during the process of fusion and collision.
These Maze Zone were often eerie and followed their own unique rules, much like the bizarre phenomena within the Xuanhuang Realm itself.
By comparing the clothing styles of the corpses and the patterns on the buildings within the Maze Zone, Li Fan further discovered that these zones clearly originated from different sources.
“It seems that world-level evolution is occurring through collisions, and the White Mist serves as a buffer zone…”
After completing the exploration of yet another labyrinth domain, Li Fan gained some insight.
Perhaps this could also explain why there is such a vast space within the white mist—because it is originally the distance between worlds.
“Damn it, it’s getting harder and harder to find unexplored Maze Zones,” Dongfang Yao couldn’t help but curse as the Samantabhadra True Boat sped through the white mist for several days. They passed by several maze zones, but each time, the Heaven-Measuring Mirror indicated that they had already been documented.
Huangfu Song, absentmindedly fiddling with the Dissociation Disc, said, “It’s normal. It’s been almost a year since the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance issued the exploration decree. Considering the number of cultivators in the alliance, the shallow layers of the white mist should be mostly explored by now. To gain any more rewards, we’ll have to go deeper…”
“Boom!”
Before Huangfu Song could finish speaking, a sudden loud noise interrupted him.
It was as if something had fallen from above and crashed onto the Samantabhadra True Boat, causing the ship to shake violently for a moment.
Huangfu Song instinctively put away the Dissociation Disc, scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense, and revealed a strange expression.
The object that had collided with the speeding Samantabhadra True Boat turned out to be the corpse of a cultivator!
Moreover, judging by the clothing on the corpse, it did not originate from a maze zone but belonged to the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance!
The three people on the ship instantly tensed up, thinking that an alliance cultivator had encountered some unexpected danger and died in this place. They immediately heightened their vigilance.
But what happened next made Li Fan and the others visibly horrified.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
At first, there were one or two sounds, but then the noises became more and more frequent.
A continuous barrage of crashing sounds erupted, and the Samantabhadra True Boat trembled unceasingly. The protective barrier suddenly appeared on the verge of collapse.
Huangfu Song quickly reinforced the barrier with a spell while looking at the scene outside, his face pale.
Overhead was a dense, pitch-black sky, from which countless cultivator corpses rained down like raindrops.
Some of the bodies were still relatively intact, while others were already broken into pieces, with only fragmented limbs remaining.
Without exception, the edges of their bodies seemed to bear traces of twisted, wriggling black threads.
Occasionally, they caught glimpses of the faces on the corpses, which were not as ferocious or terrifying as those seen in maze zones.
Instead, their eyes were tightly closed, and their expressions were peaceful.
The endless rain of corpses seemed as if it would never stop.
Forcing their way out of the rain of corpses at high speed could damage the Samantabhadra True Boat.
The three of them halted the flying vessel and took action to intercept the falling corpses from above.
Although these lifeless entities posed little threat, the eerie scene still made them feel a chill creeping into their hearts.