?Back at the tavern, the three old men were all sipping at their drinks as they gazed upon a small crystal orb.
These three were some of the most powerful people in the Beyond, and they were pretty much… Bored.
After all, they all reached the peak of their cultivation and found no way or method to progress further. They stagnated not because of their lack of effort, but because the pathway forward was nowhere to be found.
And so after trying to figure out how to overcome their stagnation for many generations and years, they decided that it was better to go back to the roots of cultivation. There must be clues for them that they missed, clues to the heavenly path. And so they took interest in the cultivators who had talent and proved to be people who were able to bind fate itself to their wills.
Cultivators who had heavenly blessings and protection.
There were many of them throughout the ages. Some called them geniuses some called them a one-in-a-thousand-year talent. Some had such weak upbringings and then their entire lives changed once they found the treasure of an ancient cultivator.
Some were born in power and grew stronger. Some were born in wealth and then it was taken from them, and they then took vengeance upon their transgressors.
Those stories were many, and whenever one of the Suns found one, they would follow their stories with interest. After all, these 'heroes' of a generation, their entire lives and adventures is comparable to a blink of time in the eyes of the Eight Suns's almost eternal lifespan.
They would invite each other to watch, and sometimes they would make bets on how the life of their 'chosen' goes. How far they'll make it in the cultivation path and how they'll turn out.
These bets were nothing strange to these cultivators, and they could claim great treasures from each other.
They have done this watching session so much that they've all become proficient in noticing and antic.i.p.ating what would happen thus making the bets more interesting.
After all when one has an endless life and no goal in sight, things can actually get pretty boring far too quick, and a bit of stimuli for these people is enough for them to invest in treasure that would shake the foundation of the world itself.
"You think they'll figure it out?" The Red Sun said.
"I have faith in Shen Bao," the Lord of Lords said, "He had proven very capable in the Vast Expanse, he should be able to figure out the secret behind the Sea of Demons."
The Red Sun shrugged, "How long will it take him? And what are you willing to bet?" asked the Red Sun.
"I say less than a hundred years," the Wisest Sun.
The Red Sun's brows rose, "Really? That's a really short time. I think it will be more, at least three hundred years."
The Lord of Lords laughed "You two really do underestimate Shen Bao, remember, A year at most!" the Lord of Lords proclaimed with a firm resolution.
"You're mad, there is no way they'll even be able to travel to the center of that region in that time, not to mention a year, it will take an emperor cultivator able to fully use his cultivation base at least ten years to arrive to the center of that zone. Not to mention all the creatures they'll encounter there, creatures that have been starved for a while, A year? Hah! You truly grew senile." The Red Sun said.
"I do believe in the ability of Shen Bao, but a decade is already too much, not to mention a year, are you sure about this Lord?" asked the Wisest Sun.
"Of course," the Lord of Lords replied smugly as he sipped from his mug. "I'm willing to bet the Blood Letting Sword.
"You wouldn't sell me the Blood Letting Sword no matter how much I offered, and now you want to bet it on something so absurd… I'll take you up on it," the Red Sun said, "Then I'm betting the Yellow River Stone. I knew you wanted it from before,"
"Then I'm betting my Nascent Law Stone," said the Wisest Lord.
"I accept the betting value, now let's watch," said the Lord of Lords as a wide grin was plastered across his face.
He was the one who followed Shen Bao's story from his earliest days. And knew what he was capable of. And as they gazed on the crystal they saw how the group that had fallen into the ma.s.sive gorge were about to discover a new world underneath the Sea of Demons.
The source and reason for the desertification of the entirety of the Sea of Demons.
The three watched with eyes focused as Shen Bao's group was falling down and how they had made makes.h.i.+ft tents to slow themselves down.
The Sea of Demons's atmosphere was heavily diluted with the sea water that causes one to lose all their cultivation once they contact it. But underneath the Sea of Demons, was a different story.
It was a cavern. But the size of it was so absurdly gigantic that calling it a cavern would be a disservice. The entire region was so absurdly big it was comparable to any of the regions that the eight suns were ruling. However this place was not habitable. At least for weak cultivators.
This region not only was it deep underground, it also had its own ecosystem. Ma.s.sive pillars were supporting the dome covering this region and around these pillars grew a type of glistening moss that was breathing life and light into this world.
It was like a forest of sorts, an underground forest where light, water and gra.s.s grew. And if all those were available, life must exist. The only issue here was the intensity of the particles of the Sea of Demons in the air.
There was so much of it that any cultivator would have their cultivation base heavily restricted. And for Shen Bao's companions, they all felt like they were forced down all the way to the first stage of cultivation, from powerful Emperor stage cultivators, to barely at the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Not even Shen Bao was capable of escaping this restriction. Even though he was able to ignore a good majority of it. The particles were affecting the way his own Poison Qi was spreading through his body making him lose about a third of his power.
But for Shen Bao, Losing a third of his ability was not something to be too worried about. He could still manage with less and with worse, he always did and the Lord of Lords knew that.
The ecosystem underground was generating atmosphere and it was the reason why that wind pressure existed. The ma.s.sive gorge was nothing more than a natural ventilation system for this world underneath. And the moment they exited the gorge and were falling down toward the underground forest was when their parachutes lost all of its effectiveness since there no longer was a pressurized wind current slowing down their fall.
Shen Bao unlike anyone who would usually panic in such a situation immediately used his head. The Qi here was disturbed and disrupted but it was far better than being in direct contact with the waterways of the Sea of Demons Here, Qi still works although at a far lesser ability. Thus he immediately pulled out his hoverboard.
A tool that Shen Bao had made back in the Vast Expanse to traverse vast distances across planets. Now, this tool might have been far from capable of doing the same task due to the effects of the Sea of Demons particles, however even with the reduced power of this tool. He was still fully capable of carrying the weight of himself and the people hanging on to him with the makes.h.i.+ft ropes he saved them with.
The tool slowed their descent greatly and allowed them to reach the bottom of the cave unperturbed.
Only then were they able to grasp in the sight of this new world. Only then were they able to see what lays underneath the ground and what secrets it holds.
Trees like nothing the overworld ever had grew in all sort of shapes and forms. Critters of the land writhed, squirmed and wriggled underneath the soft and moist dirt under their feet.
Gigantic mushrooms that want to cover the sun itself sp.a.w.ned all over the place, and in between here and there were many, many mystical trees and flowers grew all over the place.
But this was just the visible part of this deadly garden. Because among the shade of these beautiful and mystical trees, lay the terrifying gaze of many beasts never before seen in the overworld.
And for these cultivators who have their cultivation sealed and in a new environment. Surrounded by beasts that they don't know. Their chances of surviving are not going to feel that great now would it.