Chương 81: Disorienting Ghost Canyon (1)
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*Hoooooo*
The surroundings were dark to the point where Xie Xan might even consider himself blind. Holding a specific essence tool that would only turn bright after the injection of spirit energy, he carefully observed his surroundings. Behind him, barely visible, was a tree. The current environment wasn't a lush and verdant one. Xie Xan couldn't view the sky and the ground, a dusty one most probably, was covered with a thick mist that itself hid many dangers.
In such an environment, any tree that can grow is clearly extraordinary. Coal-like dark barks and grey leaves with barely visible red veins. 5 meters high with a thick crown but its body seemed congested in the narrow space currently. Thick roots grew out of the branches and hung low. Xie Xan slowly stepped forward. His eyes focused. Although he couldn't use mental energy specifically to attack, it also represented one's senses and could be spread slightly outward to keep cautious of any danger.
The greatest danger, Xie Xan felt, wasn't the darkness, but the thick, impregnable mist covering the ground. He had eaten too much loss by various ghost spirit beasts and since it was his first solo run to increase the pressure, he needed to remain calm, too.
All this time, he remained unaware of the tree slowly moving towards him without a single sound. It was a ghastly sight. A plain tree covered by mist, its aerial roots slowly creeping forward to Xie Xan's neck.
Xie Xan's body shuddered. He couldn't sense anything but he was too familiar with this feeling. It took him a week to finally cope up with it and he instantly tossed the device in his hand in the air as his figure twisted on his heels. Two curved blades made of crimson metal and a total length of 30 inches appeared in his hands and the third purple ring brightened simultaneously.
'Strike Hurricane!'
His third purple spirit ring flared and his body instantly rotated at a high speed while Xie Xan controlled the Moon Blades in his hand and instantly shot backward.
*Shing*
Destructive gales still failed to push apart the dark mist however Xie Xan had already struck the tree behind him. The space was narrow, but it only limited the giant predator and Xie Xan easily tore the thick bark soon enough as crimson blood, instead of sap, gushed through the tears. The tree's structure shuddered and the leaves produced an erratic rustling sound.
With a cold expression as the brightening tool finally fell on the ground, the mist instantly gobbling any light produced, Xie Xan's fourth spirit ring flared up.
'Crimson Moon!'
The red blades instantly revealed a faint crimson luster. The rustling of the leaves was a mental attack but the moment Xie Xan utilized Crimson Moon, his also glowed red and while using the Strike Hurricane, leaving a thick trail of bloody light from the cruel edges of Moon Blade, Xie Xan instantly sliced the tree in uneven halves.
The mental attack barely affected him but fully knowing the dangers, he couldn't risk a successful strike from the opponent.
A purple ring rose from the corpse but Xie Xan didn't have the mind to pay it any attention. Instead, he recalled the area where he dropped the glowing essence tool and fished it out.
Unknown to Xie Xan, mixed within the dark misty world was a violet glob of mist that finally settled on the purple spirit ring for a few seconds, absorbing the energy from the ring.
For the next three hours, Xie Xan traveled into this narrow path.
Unexpectedly, this narrow path itself is the Disorienting Ghost Canyon. The path slowly widened but so did the dangers and Xie Xan didn't dare move too far ahead. Knowing one's limits was necessary for this location. While there were a few beasts from the outside world that entered the canyon and could be dealt with physical attacks and spirit skills, most of them needed to be dealt with energy spirit skills and much to Xie Xan's distress, only his first spirit skill: Moon Slice, was effective.
But due to the inherent lower level of the ability, Xie Xan's agility and senses were put through a dangerous test. Every slaughtered beast would be replaced by an even dangerous one. None of them were particularly strong but due to Disorienting Ghost Canyon's trait of suppressing one's senses and further increasing the pace of the development of spirit beasts of yin nature, Xie Xan still went through a lot of trouble and only when he was injured around his left shoulder did he retreat.
He returned to the same path but a few spirit beasts crawled around once again, giving Xie Xan extreme pressure. With his spirit energy carefully reserved for such an event itself, Xie Xan sliced open a way and reached the end of the narrow road. Instead of climbing up the mellow slope reaching up from the mouth of a cavern that would allow him to exit this god-forsaken environment, holding his bleeding shoulder, Xie Xan leaned against the cold wall and he slowly placed tapped around the left corner a few times. Finally finding his foot hitting nothing but empty air, he crouched and jumped down the hole.
Alongside the flowing mist flowing down into the hole unceasingly, Xie Xan jumped down and found a well-lit and wide cave greeting him. The mist created a pillar from the floor of the cave to the hole and there was still a layer of grey mist covering the floor of the cave.
Xie Xan silently walked deeper into the cave and soon it was revealed that this cave was almost similar to a town's inn with wooden doors isolating smaller caverns and with a wide space dugout at the end.
Not many dare enter the Disorienting Ghost Canyon and even fewer create such a lavish spot within. But being one of the most prized training spots, Spirit Hall did create such a location. Of course, the group had a time limit of one month to fully adapt to the circumstances before living within the canyon itself.
"He's back!" Liu Erlong's call roused the group and the doors slowly opened. Everyone had a slightly gloomy expression and seeing Xie Xan's injury, Hu Lana began the treatment instantly.
"He's poisoned. I need a Yin Fair Leaf and a pinch of powdered Ghost Agarwood."
Hu Lana glanced at Ja Sun. Silently, he took out the specified material before sitting next to her and observing Xie Xan's injuries. His pale gold pupils flashing and directing where to apply the medication.
None of them spoke as if everyone was infected by the strange environment itself.
After all, with their senses suppressed, everyone slowly grew gloomier and cold by each passing day. Their minds became focused and their eyes revealed a bit of ruthlessness. This was much more evident with Liu Erlong.
"I managed to stay afloat a bit but there was a Creeping Banyan Tree in the outskirts. Stay more careful," Xie Xan glanced at Ah Yin and she nodded.
Everyone would enter the Canyon for three hours. Now that Xie Xan had completed his objective, he would be allowed to rest for fifteen hours before his turn came next. By then, his injuries would heal a little and his energy would have recovered by a lot.
Compared to everyone else, Ah Yin's situation was a lot more terrible because she only had physical attacks. So, aside from defending and stalling, she could only place more focus on her control while she spends the next three hours in the Canyon. Not only that, she wasn't going to use the domain or there was no meaning to this training.
As Ah Yin left with confident steps, everyone silently retreated to their rooms. Even Xie Xan and Hu Lana had different rooms this time.
Why?
Ja Sun entered his own room and found the 'pit'.
One of the major reasons for everyone growing Solitary.
No matter how close someone is, they would need to have an unhealthy attachment to witness each other taking a dump in the same pit. Biological reactions are normal so they didn't feel awkward while holding private rooms but it still created a sense of detachment.
However, unlike others, Ja Sun's expression turned pleased and comfortable the moment he entered the room and sat on his mattress.
This is a Paradise.
The trait of Disorienting Ghost Canyon is that it suppresses mental energy and thus limits one's senses. Spreading of mental energy may even harm the spirit master and cause them to go unconscious.
Only mental energy can suppress mental energy.
Meaning?
The mist, the fog, everything was mental energy. Just a more rotten and poisonous kind of it.
Within his mental scape, Astral Combatant took care of it entirely. Not only did the skull bone from Nightmare's Fantasy increase the effectiveness of the Astral Combatant, the toxin-resistant mental energy of his could devour the rotten mental energy and refine it at an even greater speed.
Not only Ja Sun wasn't suppressed, but his mental energy was also growing at a breakneck pace.
Meanwhile, he had let out Nightmare's Fantasy to follow his teammates. Every time they killed, Nightmare would absorb as much as it can before taking to the next target. Among the six of them, including Ja Sun, the second most easygoing person in here wasn't Bibi Dong, but Liu Erlong. For some reason, her attack wasn't as effective as everyone thought it would be but she still fared better than others. Her flame energy attacks not only lit her surroundings but also made an easy prey of weaker mist-type beasts. And with her urges to massacre, she killed... a lot!
The amount of cultivation she provided Nightmare with was the highest. Almost a hundred years every trip! By not its cultivation was already 64000 years old instead of 63000 and in this extreme environment, Ja Sun observed that Bright Goddess Butterfly's pace of cultivation had slowed down considerably while the newborn Nightmare's Fantasy was like fish in the water. Its pace even better than the original. This brought Ja Sun a great number of insights in the past week.
While Nightmare's Fantasy was out cultivating, Ja Sun himself sat down silently and took a dark purple stump of food almost 20 inches long with three rings faintly visible on its surface.
Previously, Ja Sun had purchased a 100-year-old variant of Purple Cloud Wood from the war's merit points and this was even better, a thousand-year-old variant in this series of materials.
Poisonous through and through but once the Spirit Master reabsorbs the corrupted Spirit Energy, it could be absorbed by the body instead of Sea of Spirit or Consciousness.
With a thought, Ja Sun began to refine his entirety by absorbing the energy through Revitalized Blood Qi Art. Previously, he could only refine his blood and let it passively nourish his physique but with the trait of the war god's essence, his physique actively snatched benefits, equalling the two processes in a unified manner that didn't leave any weaknesses.
For others, it was true training, but for Ja Sun to whom training meant the worse Spartan battles, this was truly a paradise. His mental energy grew by itself, his Astral Combatant refining and growing more in yin toxicity, meanwhile, he consciously began to benefits he received from the Star Luo Palace. He still hadn't started using his newfound knowledge of Body Forged Weapons also called Blood Artifacts. Only able to be bound once in a lifetime, Ja Sun's blood Artifact, Vajra Gauntlets could now be improved more comprehensively.
But at this moment, the purple fog surrounded Ja Sun and entered his pores, strengthening his body considerably despite only being a 1000-year-old material because, in terms of strengthening, the line of Purple Cloud Wood is one of the best options.
For the next two more weeks, everyone continued to rotate and tempered themselves in the canyon. After Ah Yin, the one in the most desperate situation was none other than Hu Lana who used mental attacks and charm abilities but because of this situation itself, her strength rose considerably.
It was almost Ja Sun's turn. Maybe two more hours and Erlong will return.
After Erlong and him, it is Bibi Dong's turn, then Xie Xan, Ah Yin, and Hu Lana.
Within his chamber, Ja Sun held two pieces of reddish mineral in both of his hands.
In the Disorienting Ghost Canyon, getting Yang Qi from the surroundings to improve his Fiery Golden Pupils was naturally impossible. The technique couldn't be improved with the strengthening of his body. After all, the improvement of his eyes and the improvement of his technique are two different matters.
But, he was utilizing the two minerals he gained from his bet with Tang Hao. One from the man himself and the other one from the Mission regarding it.
Ja Sun had already utilized two stumps of Purple Cloud Wood that he gained from Hao and his trait. His body couldn't be more ready to take the next step but it lacked the momentum to breakthrough. Ja Sun didn't push it. Ordinarily, a Spirit Sage will only gain the qualitative change in his or her physique to be able to also achieve Spirit True Avatar.
Instead of focusing on his body, Ja Sun began absorbing the Fire Heart Iron and Flaming Sun Iron. Both the metals fiercely renowned for their inability to heat up by the forge due to their structures refined by purest Yang Qi itself. Right now, both the crimson ores had dulled considerably. Golden wisps leaking out and entering Ja Sun's eyes.
At this moment, his eyes entirely had a golden reflective surface as if blocking anything and everything.
Within Ja Sun's mental scape, the original cloudy world was now simply an immortal paradise as golden mist and cloud-like structures saturated the area. This was not the real world but to Bright Goddess Butterfly, it was. Her previous low speed of cultivation instantly returned to normalcy and even surpassed her original speed by a little. If the Ghost Canyon was a paradise for Ja Sun and Nightmare's Fantasy, then his mental scape became a paradise for Bright Goddess Butterfly.
Within the ethereal scene of a beautiful butterfly flying around the world of golden clouds stood a devilish-looking dark figure. Body entirely made of dark purple and a violet ornament on its forehead that gave a feeling of the third eye. Right now, its body shuddered and a golden reflective surface emerged on its entire body before merging within the devil.
Instantly, the reflective sheen in Ja Sun's eyes merged within and all that was left was a pair of conspicuous golden pupils surrounded by bright green irises.
The glow of the two metals receded completely.
Broken Through!
Second Level of Fiery Golden Pupils: Golden.
The entire mental scape is surrounded by an everlasting tough barrier that reduced mental attacks from any and every sense while the enhancement of his own mental attacks rises by a total of two major levels regardless of his cultivation.
He had finally gained the strength to stand on his own. Ja Sun was clear on this fact. Any ordinary Spirit Douluo would think twice before facing his mental attacks.
The change in his mental scape symbolized his breakthrough. It was now protected and even if striking mental attacks would still work on him if their power exceeded Ja Sun's by a large margin, illusions have thoroughly lost their effect on him.
Hu Lana used charm abilities through vision, scent, and hearing. Now Ja Sun could be said to have completely blocked her out and even if she gains a spirit ability that increases her mode of attack, she had thoroughly lost her potency to him.
A miraculous technique through and through.
Looking at the two pieces of metal, Ja Sun clenched his fist and the two ores broke easily.
He didn't feel heartache in using them.
Metals could be used to refine his Blood Artifact. But Ja Sun didn't plan on giving his Blood Artifact any elemental attribute since it would narrow its path of advancement. Toughness and Flexibility. These are the two traits he wanted from his blood artifact.
For that, too, he had pieces of ores.
Namely.
Plate Crystal Gold and Titanium Crystal.
As for Heavy Silver he earned from the trait, Ja Sun didn't have any plans to use it now. Once his smithing and array capabilities rise with his cultivation, he may as well start producing dangerous firearms for fun. Close combating is always thrilling but the excitement of bringing a gun to a fistfight is to the level of euphoria.
Once Liu Erlong returned, sporting even more injuries with licks of flames still around her shoulder and palms, she also turned out to be the second person truly closing in on her realm of self. She basically fought with ingenious instincts and let her body take control of the flow of her spirit skills naturally.
"How's that?" She smirked, looking at others derisively as Bibi Dong and Ah Yin glanced at each other.
It was too frustrating.
"I'm leaving," Ja Sun walked past her calmly, not revealing any hint of emotion, and jumped up the entrance.
"Tch, envious bastards," Liu Erlong scoffed and walked towards Hu Lana, "I managed to cauterize the wounds to stop the poison at the source, help me clean it," she revealed her back and everyone's expression turned strange.
"What? It's just a little burn. Ah Yin, you can heal me better, right? I'll be in your care," Liu Erlong smiled as if she couldn't even feel pain from the skull-sized burned area of flesh that also ruined her combat robes.
"Sit down," Ah Yin sighed and patted the area next to her. Once Liu Erlong sat, Ah Yin injected her spirit energy and vitality that instantly started to heal Liu Erlong from within and revitalizing her body as Hu Lana quickly cleaned the wound to allow new skin to grow at the pace of the naked eye.
Ah Yin's healing capabilities were unquestionable.
She had once stabbed Ja Sun through the heart and still managed to heal him, effectively killing and reviving him. Now, Liu Erlong's recent injuries healed, and soon, her back was as good as new with her smooth and tender skin exposed through the hole of her robe.
"Here, this was stuck on your back," Hu Lana smiled rarely after entering the canyon, so when she smirked now, it surprised Erlong and when she took the parchment, her expression turned ugly.
Bibi Dong and others could understand the sentiment that Erlong felt once she read the words: Still too slow.
Flames erupted from her palm and burnt the parchment to ashes before she growled.
"I'm going out again!" she stood up when a thick vine of blue silver goddess latched onto Liu Erlong and held her down.
"Rest," Ah Yin spoke coolly. "The only reason you're so ahead than us in comprehension is that you are of one mind. If you let Ka-ul distract you now, maybe your progress will slow down greatly."
Erlong frowned at this.
She gazed at Ah Yin who had her eyes closed.
"Fine," she leaned back and huffed, "I miss the sun..."
---
"I love this place!" Ja Sun finally gave a hearty laugh as he walked quite further ahead from the entrance of their dungeon.
The mist moved around him, clinging onto him as if he was a part of this world and it was true. His Astral Combatant flashed out of his body and all the yin and ghost-type spirit beasts instantly retreated as if they had found their worst opponent!
But Ja Sun's spirit energy fluctuated and his violet skull bone appeared on his forehead with a flash of purple light shining around and instantly casting a wide dome.
True Fantasy was activated and all the retreating spirit beasts who could ordinarily play with the senses of the spirit masters found their own senses suppressed and their mental energy unable to even sneak out of their mist-like forms.
'Devour!'
Since all the mist-like spirit beasts did not have any fleshy body, Astral Combatant could refine and devour their mental energy without caution. Seeing his projection of mental energy tearing through the mist shadows as shrill screams echoed around him followed by rings of various colors, Ja Sun smirked in satisfaction.
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