Chapter 1499 - Eighth-Level Void Realm

The instant Liu Wuxie fixed his gaze on the crystal coffin, greed lit up his eyes, and he knew it was sealing a hoard of treasures inside.

With a single beckoning gesture, Tian Can flipped the lid open, and clusters of radiance burst out, flooding the palace with terrifying energy.

Liu Wuxie stepped up and rubbed his hands together in excitement, but Tian Can planted himself in the way and blocked his view. These were the accumulations they had gathered through countless years.

Two light orbs shot out from the crystal coffin and flew toward Liu Wuxie.

"The Great Yi True Spirit Pill! This is a treasure!" Liu Wuxie recognized the pill inside the first light orb, and a crooked smile tugged at his lips.

The Great Yi True Spirit Pill was not a ninth-grade spiritual pill, but it carried terrifyingly potent effects, because it contained the great yi energy—a scarce energy rumored to exist only in the distant Primeval Era.

When the second light orb dropped on Liu Wuxie's palm, an immense force slammed into him and nearly sent him flying into the air.

"The Ancient Earthcore Dragon's core!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed again. The Ancient Earthcore Dragon was a dragon clan's descendant that contained mighty divine dragon power, and these two treasures alone could push him to the eighth-level Void Realm.

"Brat, it's time for you to fulfill your promise now."

The crystal coffin clearly held more treasures, and Liu Wuxie couldn't entirely hide the flicker of disappointment that flashed through his eyes. He understood these treasures were the lifeline of the three elders, and taking more would likely be the same as taking their lives.

He sealed the Heavenly Dao Book, extracted three hundred years of lifespan, and injected it into the three elders. The moment the nourishment flowed into them, the three elders released satisfied groans.

"I have one more request," Liu Wuxie said, looking at the three elders.

"Go on," the three elders said, and their tone softened after their complexions improved significantly with more lifespan.

"Loan me ten million astral crystals," Liu Wuxie said. He had come to borrow astral crystals in the first place; the two treasures were an unexpected bonus.

"Astral crystals, we can give. We have plenty, but if you ask for anything else, we will decline. Here are fifteen million astral crystals, and you can have them for free. But you have to help us undo the curse within ten years," Tian Can said. They still had uses for the other treasures, but astral crystals meant little to them.

They handed him fifteen million astral crystals, packed into three interspatial rings.

"Very well. I promise that I'll undo your curses within ten years," Liu Wuxie said as he accepted the interspatial rings. With that, both sides struck an agreement: if Liu Wuxie undid the curses, the three elders would serve him for three hundred years.

Liu Wuxie had deliberately chosen ten years. By his estimation, he could reach the Heaven Gaze realm in three years at most.

With everything he needed in hand, he didn't leave immediately and entered the Heavenly Deity Monument instead. The moment he entered the eternal world, Liu Wuxie took out the Great Yi True Spirit Pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

Watching Liu Wuxie vanish, the three elders' expressions shifted because they had no idea where he had gone.

"Elder Brother, is this worth it?" Ren Can asked.

For the first time, they had lowered their heads and allowed Liu Wuxie to lead them by the nose. If it had been in the past, they would've already killed Liu Wuxie with one slap.

In the past million years, every cultivator who had visited had died without exception. By that logic, they should've lived for at least millions of years by now, yet it made no sense for their lifespans to burn away so rapidly.

Their constitution caused that. The hundred years Liu Wuxie lent them would sustain them for only thirty years at best, meaning their lifespans bled out far faster than that of ordinary people.

"Do we have another choice?" Tian Can asked with a bitter smile. They had been trapped here for 1,500,000 years, and many from older generations in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain had probably forgotten they even existed.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect had existed for only 1,200,000 years, and it hadn't even existed yet when the three elders had risen to fame. However, if anyone mentioned Long Xiao or Lingqiong Tian, the three elders would still recognize their names.

"Let's hope that there will come a day when we can leave this hellhole." The trio had stayed in Death Mountain only to slow the pace at which their lifespans bled away, because if they had been anywhere else, their lifespans would have burned out almost immediately.

It had been two hours since Liu Wuxie had entered Death Mountain, and Luo Hai paced around anxiously because there still hadn't been any news.

......

At the same time, many undead experts approached and stationed themselves not far away from the Death Bridge. Many among them were at the higher levels of the Earth Immortal Realm.

"Did Liu Wuxie really enter Death Mountain?"

The news of the Heavenly Dao Society slaying thirteen experts at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm had long spread throughout the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, and it had reached the Undead Star as well.

"I saw him entering with my own eyes." A small group of undead had followed Liu Wuxie and personally witnessed him disappear on the Death Bridge.

"Who would've thought that a monstrous prodigy would fall here in Death Mountain?" Many undead sighed in pity.

Though Liu Wuxie had slain many of their kind, his talent had still won their respect.

Everyone back in the Heavenly Dao Society waited anxiously, because Sun Xiao's sudden departure had carried the message that Liu Wuxie had gone somewhere dangerous.

Sun Xiao, Tong Shan, and Yin Ying waited in the Heavenly Dao Society as well, each of them hoping for a miracle to occur.

By now, the various sects had already made their way to Vermilion Star. The Skybrim Pavilion was scheduled to host the auction on Vermilion Star.

The Skybrim Pavilion wasn't a sect, but a massive merchant organization. Even so, no one dared underestimate it; rumors claimed several Immortals stood guard within the Skybrim Pavilion. If any sect chanced upon a rare treasure, they could sell it through the Skybrim Pavilion's channel and fetch a higher price.

For example, if the Heavenly Dragon Sect obtained a priceless treasure, they could entrust it to the Skybrim Pavilion. After the treasure was sold, the Skybrim Pavilion would keep its fee and hand the remaining resources to the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

The reason sects sold their treasures through the Skybrim Pavilion was that they couldn't openly disclose many items, like treasures plundered from other sects. If they directly sold them, it was no different from announcing to the world that they had stolen them.

......

Terrifying great yi energy coursed through Liu Wuxie's body, but because time didn't flow in the eternal world, only an instant had passed since he entered the Heavenly Deity Monument.

After the desolate world absorbed the great yi energy, terrifying power began to brew as the energy dissolved into countless strands of immortal energy. The discovery delighted Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie's cultivation started rising as he sped toward the seventh-level Void Realm. The moment he would break through to the Earth Immortal Realm, Gong Gong would go into slumber once more and reach the Heaven Gaze Realm after waking up again.

Even without time laws, time didn't stop altogether; it just flowed differently. By normal calculation, Liu Wuxie had already spent two decades in the Heavenly Deity Monument, and decades of cultivation meant nothing in the later stages of cultivation.

As for experts at the Heaven Gaze Realm, their seclusion could last a thousand years.

The great yi energy smashed through the gateway to the seventh-level Void Realm with ease, and an endless torrent of energy fed back into the desolate world. The moment he broke through, Liu Wuxie didn't continue pushing; instead, he chose to consolidate his cultivation.

......

Time flowed as usual in the world, outside the Heavenly Deity Monument, and the three elders chatted among themselves inside the palace. "Where did that brat go? Why did he disappear all of a sudden?"

A thousand years inside the Heavenly Deity Monument equaled only a few breaths outside, and the so-called eternity didn't mean stopping time; it meant slowing it down drastically.

"There's something strange about that boy. There's an aura that even I'm afraid of. Let's forget about him for now," Tian Can said. He had the highest cultivation among the three and had examined Liu Wuxie several times, sensing terrifying energy hidden within him.

If that energy erupted, it could crush them. That aura belonged to the Heavenly Deity Monument, enough to make them fearful.

......

Five hundred years passed, and Liu Wuxie consolidated his cultivation at the pinnacle of the seventh-level Void Realm, consuming one hundred thousand astral crystals in the process. Fortunately, he had obtained 15 million astral crystals from the three elders, or the consumption would have made his heart ache.

He took out the Ancient Earthcore Dragon's core again and tossed it into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron for refinement. Demonic flame erupted inside the cauldron, wrapped around the core, and slowly broke it down.

The immense energy inside the core prevented any quick refinement, but Liu Wuxie didn't rush and instead spent the time comprehending the profundity of eternity while refining it.

The Divine Eternal Fist stood as his strongest trump card now, and he wanted to push it to a higher level, ideally grasping a sliver of an immortal art's power.

The palace remained silent, and another three hundred years passed inside the Heavenly Deity Monument. The core finally broke down, releasing a terrifying surge of ancient dragon aura.

Pure dragon aura poured into Liu Wuxie's body and strengthened the True Dragon Physique. After cultivating for so many years, his cultivation had already reached saturation at the seventh-level Void Realm.

When the gateway to the eighth-level Void Realm appeared, the dragon aura surged out of the True Dragon Physique to smash into the gate, producing a loud rumble, and the impact nearly destroyed his physique.

Ever since Liu Wuxie had obtained the Heavenly Deity Monument, the desolate world had expanded by threefold. That meant every subsequent breakthrough demanded far more energy.

By the three elders' calculations, reaching the pinnacle of the Void Realm shouldn't have been an issue for Liu Wuxie, yet they would never have imagined he would struggle to reach the eighth-level Void Realm. As for reaching the Earth Immortal Realm, no amount of hoarded resources could get him there, and not even the three elders could bypass that limit.

If one strike wasn't enough, Liu Wuxie struck again. Immortal energy began pouring into his body from the surrounding area as it increased within the desolate world.

Executing immortal arts required immortal energy, and his immortal energy still wasn't sufficient. However, if he could reach the Earth Immortal Realm, he would barely have enough immortal energy to execute an immortal art once.

Liu Wuxie hammered the gateway to the eighth-level Void Realm thousands of times before he finally forced his breakthrough, and the moment he crossed, it felt like stepping into an entirely new world.

The desolate world expanded again, making his future breakthroughs even harder. His soul sea surged violently, and his soul energy alone already matched the ninth-level Earth Immortal Realm, which meant Liu Wuxie could now kill cultivators at the ninth-level Earth Immortal Realm even without using the Divine Eternal Fist.

After another five hundred years, Liu Wuxie finally consolidated his cultivation at the pinnacle of the eighth-level Void Realm. He took a deep breath and stood up, his body crackling as the stiffness from sitting too long slowly faded.

He stretched briefly, then began shuttling freely through the desolate world while casting mythical arts one after another. Each of his mythical arts had grown significantly stronger than before.

"That feels refreshing! I have finally reached the eighth-level Void Realm. I didn't expect my trip to Death Mountain to yield so much harvest. I should've come sooner," Liu Wuxie murmured with a chuckle. He felt a strong urge to seize the crystal coffin away, and he even felt confident he could reach the Earth Immortal Realm with those treasures, but he only entertained the thought, because a person couldn't be too greedy.