Chapter 188: A Growing Pseudo-Domain
When Yaan started to ascend through the tower, he drew the full attention of the entire audience, so nobody noticed that Eccentric Granny began to follow him up the stairway. By the time Yaan reached the 27th floor, the Hukon Clan Ancestor finally noticed this bizarre scene. He looked away from Yaan for a moment, staring at Eccentric Granny oddly, before his brows furrowed deeply in realisation.
"This woman is able to ascend to the 27th floor…whilst also enduring an immortal pseudo-domain…"
Just as he spoke, Eccentric Granny paused, seeming to realise the same thing at the exact same time. She quickly looked around as if checking whether or not she had been seen, even though she obviously could not see outside of the tower. However, acting as if she had been caught out, she straightened up her body and coughed, then suddenly clutched her chest and yelled out dramatically.
"Arg! Oh no, my heart cannot take it anymore…ahem…Blegh!"
She suddenly coughed out a mouthful of 'blood', then pretended to fall back, even though she obviously jumped. She fell down, shooting past Yaan and almost brushing past his body, before she plummeted all the way down to the ground floor. When she hit the ground floor, she was immediately ejected from the tower.
The Foundation Step cultivators were still too distracted by Yaan to even notice this, but the immortals looked at the old woman weirdly as she flew away from the tower, looking completely fine and free from injury.
They didn't even know what to say. Even when she coughed out 'blood' just now, it definitely wasn't blood, it was merely a mouthful of the berries which she had been eating! She didn't even make a decent attempt to hide this fact!
"Sigh, these trials are for young people, I just can't hack it anymore…" Eccentric Granny flew away, blending into the crowd as she ignored the immortals' piercing gazes.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Ah, he's approaching Laila!" The Xuqi Sect Immortal Lord quickly stopped caring about the oddity called Eccentric Granny, returning her attention to the tower.
Yaan's ability to manifest a pseudo-domain was shocking, but honestly, she was more concerned about her own disciple.
Laila being ejected from the tower was the least of her worries. There was a very real chance that if Xuqi Laila entered the range of Yaan's continually growing pseudo-domain, she could become seriously injured, or even directly killed!
The immortals struggled to estimate the impact that Yaan's pseudo-domain would have on Foundation Step cultivators. This was an immortal ability, they could not analyse it in a short period of time. Still, the Xuqi Sect Immortal Lord just hoped that this pseudo-domain was much weaker than a pseudo-domain formed by an immortal.
This was entirely possible, Yaan wasn't an immortal after all, but they couldn't know for sure. As such, the Xuqi Sect Immortal Lord felt quite anxious as Yaan drew in closer and closer towards her disciple…
Even though she, as the immortal lord of the Xuqi Sect, understood this Tower of Mortal Dao better than almost anyone else in the Southern Continent, she still did not understand even half of its mysteries, nor did she possess absolute control over it. The Tower of Mortal Dao was a construct made to test the dao of Foundation Step cultivators, but it was certainly an immortal level object, and an extremely high grade immortal level object at that! Immortals were unable to enter the tower, nor could those in 'control' of the tower do anything other than move it within a restricted range, and open its entrance once every ten years.
The female immortal could only hope that this immortal construct, which had been provided to them by the Divine Court, would act like a proper righteous monument, protecting her disciple's life from the impending danger.
When Yaan reached the 30th floor, he was only five floors away from Xuqi Laila. At this point, she finally noticed the strange aura spreading up from below her. Xuqi Laila paused and looked down. Her eyes widened at the sight before her.
Glowing white figures were wailing like tortured ghosts, battling against abyssal black cracks as they were born and killed in an endless cycle. Chaotic streams of white and black power exploded out in all directions, giving form to new illusions, which quickly underwent their complete lifecycle in a short period of time. Despair, pain, killing intent, ruthlessness, desolation, all of these emotions blended together within the region, forming a confused mixture of feelings that could easily drive a person insane.
After staring down dumbfoundedly for some time, Laila realised that the illusions were growing stronger by the second, and drawing closer towards her! At this moment, she forced herself to look away. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then stared upwards with a burning gaze.
"Along my path of cultivation, there have always been distractions, trying to get in my way, trying to hold me back…but I will not get distracted…because all I want is to cultivate!"
And with that, she continued with her ascent, now moving faster, intending to outrun the monstrosity that was approaching from below.
By the time that Yaan reached the 35th floor, Xuqi Laila had already made her way to the 40th floor! Yaan was not drifting upwards very quickly, so Xuqi Laila was actually able to maintain the distance between them. However, she still felt an increasing sense of pressure, since Yaan's pseudo-domain was continuing to grow larger with each passing moment.
By now, the audience, although still feeling horrified by Yaan's pseudo-domain, finally noticed Laila and started to regather their bearings. After adjusting to the dreadful aura emanating from Yaan that remained even after the immortals blocked the majority of its power, those stronger and more mentally resilient individuals began to discuss the shocking scene amongst themselves.
Naturally, Brase, Keasal and Hukon Jong were amongst these few.
"It seems that we have underestimated this junior brother of ours, Brase…" Keasal commented wryly. Brase nodded, before sighing with a complicated look in his eyes.
"Just look around, not a single cultivator is able to remain unaffected by his power. This power is far too strange, it can even pass through the tower's walls! Were it not for the immortals protecting us, I fear that we would all be forced to retreat, at the very least…"
"Don't forget Xuqi Laila. She is only five floors away from him, yet she is able to continue climbing the tower whilst simultaneously resisting the dreadful power!" The Hukon Clan Leader added, his eyes flickering between the two. He was still unable to hide his shock. These two were juniors, were they not? Why were they both so ridiculous?!
Even the Xuqi Sect Immortal Lord was surprised by her disciple's performance. She had not expected that Laila would be able to continue ascending the floors with such ease by this level, it was almost as if she was only climbing an ordinary staircase!
The female immortal's gaze drifted back towards Yaan briefly.
'Laila, you have finally encountered someone who can stand on the same stage as you. This could be an excellent opportunity for you, in more ways than one…'
The truth of the matter was that the Xuqi Sect Immortal Lord wanted her disciple to lose to Yaan. Of course, she wanted Laila to excel, shining brightly as she made her way onto the stage of the Southern Continent…however, after witnessing Yaan's spectacular performance, she saw the opportunity for Laila to develop further, beyond her current limitations.
To develop through failure.
Since her birth until now, Xuqi Laila had outperformed her peers by such a huge margin that she had become distant, not considering anyone worth her attention. Perhaps, if she finally met her match, she would change, branching out her horizons and experiencing more of this life than simple cultivation…
Naturally, even if she knew about her teacher's thoughts, Xuqi Laila would not give up. In fact, despite what it might look like to everyone spectating from the outside, she did not even think of this current situation as her 'competing' against Yaan…she just wanted to continue climbing the tower.
She knew that if Yaan caught up to her, she would become distracted - she would definitely be ejected from the tower, she might even suffer serious injuries. The opportunity to climb the Tower of Mortal Dao did not come about often, and in fact, it was a rule of the Xuqi Sect that nobody was permitted to enter this tower more than twice in their lifetime! Laila did not understand the reason for this rule, but regardless, she knew that she needed to make the most of this opportunity.
If that dreadful power, which continued rising up from below, would cause her to fall, then she just needed to outrun it!
Laila continued to climb. She surpassed the 45th floor, at which point, her speed finally began to slow down. She had drawn some distance away from Yaan, but she knew that this would not last forever…
The black and white power below her, whatever it was, was steadily rising up. It was not fast, but neither did it seem hindered, rather, it was simply unrushed.
Yaan did not know that Xuqi Laila was ahead of him. He did not know that he had attracted the attention of the entire upper echelon of the Southern Continent's cultivation world. He did not know that the Xuqi Sect Lord had secretly contacted the Xuqi Dynasty's Supreme Ancestor, the most powerful immortal in the Southern Continent, and that this person was now watching him from the shadows.
Yaan was not fully conscious right now, he was not at all aware of his surroundings. All he could recall, was that he needed to continue. No matter what happened, he needed to go on…
A large man with a beard that extended down to his chest stood above the Tower of Mortal Dao, staring down with a gaze that seemed to pierce through the heavens and earth. This person was simply enormous for a human Qi refiner, he would tower over any normal man with his ten feet tall muscle-clad body. Despite his apparent old age, he looked to be in extremely good shape.
He was the Xuqi Dynasty's Supreme Ancestor!
Even the other immortals in the Southern Continent needed to treat this person with respect. He rarely made public appearances, in fact, he rarely even bothered to deal with the other immortals on this planet. However, when he received his junior clansman's message, claiming that a mortal cultivator had displayed a pseudo-domain within the Tower of Mortal Dao, he immediately left his secluded cultivation and appeared above the Xuqi Sect lands within seconds.
"It really is a pseudo-domain…" He murmured, narrowing his eyes. A flash of seven-coloured light surfaced within his gaze, then a moment later, he glanced towards the Immortal Ancestor with a frown. However, neither the Immortal Ancestor, nor the other two immortals, noticed his gaze.
"Pristine Qi took on a fiend as a disciple? Well, since this child is now cultivating the Four Paths Cultivation Technique, he is no longer a true demon, so I will let it slide for now on account of his potential…however, this boy's nature must be monitored."
The man said this to himself, but he showed no intention of making any move for now. He continued to watch Yaan silently, waiting to see just how far his pseudo-domain would grow.
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