Chapter 500: Waterqing Realm

The scaled alien expert quickly said, "There's something I need to report to you immediately, Senior."

"Speak," Meng Chuan said, looking at him.

"This time, Fang Chang of Bloodsun Realm wanted to capture you to explore a Tribulation Realm mighty one's dwelling," the scaled alien expert reported. "Fang Chang left a mark near the dwelling, but I didn't. If I take you there now, we can still find it. If we delay for too long, it might become untraceable."

"Where is the dwelling?" Meng Chuan's eyes lit up.

"I'll take you there," the scaled alien expert quickly replied. "It's not far from here."

"Let's go." Meng Chuan nodded; such an opportunity shouldn't be missed.

The scaled alien expert flew with Meng Chuan, eager to please. He was afraid. He feared that if this senior looked through his memories, he might be deemed useless and summarily killed. Therefore, he had to seize the moment to ingratiate himself, hoping 'Senior Dongning' would spare his life.

"If my calculations are correct, given the dwelling's flight speed, it should be in this vicinity," the scaled alien expert said, guiding Meng Chuan to a void. He circled the area but looked puzzled. "Senior, let me check more carefully."

"Is that dwelling over a thousand li in size?" Meng Chuan asked.

"The dwelling is on a star fragment, and yes, the fragment is indeed over a thousand li long," the scaled alien expert affirmed with a nod.

"Follow me."

Having reached the Primordial Chaos Realm, Meng Chuan's senses for the outside world were incredibly sharp. He immediately led the scaled alien expert in a swift flight. As they approached the target, he distinctly felt the spatial ripples caused by the high-speed movement of the star fragment.

"It's there!" The scaled alien expert's face lit up with joy. "You are indeed formidable, Senior."

Meng Chuan had also estimated its approximate size by observing the spatial ripples.

Whoosh, whoosh. The two figures descended.

The star fragment only fully appeared within their sight when they got within a hundred li. After all, this mighty one's dwelling also had formations that isolated light from the surrounding area of the star fragment. From a distance, it was impossible to see the dwelling with the naked eye. As for the 'spatial ripples,' one had to be close enough to sense them; from further away, they were undetectable. Even Qing Gu, the scaled alien expert, couldn't find it upon returning after leaving for just a moment, which was why Fang Chang, the purple-robed man, had deliberately left a mark.

"What an impressive dwelling," Meng Chuan remarked, now seeing the dwelling before him.

The dwelling spanned over a hundred li, situated at the center of the star fragment's surface, with formations enveloping all sides.

"We tried exploring it a few times before," the scaled alien expert said. "We even managed to enter the dwelling's interior, and I sent in a Soul Avatar, but it was shredded by sword energy within. However, from all our explorations, it seems this dwelling has long been devoid of practitioners."

"If a Tribulation Realm mighty one's dwelling had a master, you wouldn't even be able to land on this star fragment," Meng Chuan observed carefully, a hint of anticipation rising in his heart.

The formations were intact, and the entire dwelling was in perfect condition. This indicated that the dwelling was likely unoccupied. The dwelling itself was a treasure; if an outsider had occupied it, they would have long since collected it and departed.

"Perhaps this Tribulation Realm mighty one failed to survive their tribulation, perishing body and soul," Meng Chuan mused to himself. "That's why the dwelling was left behind. It's possible their body and treasures are still inside."

Individuals like Ancestor Cang Yuan, who could cultivate to the Seventh Tribulation Realm and peacefully die of old age in their homeland, were exceedingly rare. Most Tribulation Realm mighty ones perished during their tribulations! The 'Tribulation' was the greatest obstacle for every Tribulation Realm mighty one.

"Senior, Fang Chang previously controlled this star fragment, directing it towards the Bloodsun Realm," the scaled alien expert said quickly.

"Bloodsun Realm?" Meng Chuan's heart jolted. Instantly, with a thought, lightning appeared within a thousand li radius around him, forming a lightning domain. The lightning domain began to exert its full power to restrain the star fragment. Resistance in the outer void was negligible, allowing star fragments to fly at high speeds for extended periods. However, under Meng Chuan's active restraint, the star fragment began to slow down, coming to a complete stop in just over ten breaths.

"It's stopped; there are no spatial ripples now," Meng Chuan stated. "Unless one flies within ten thousand li and detects this star fragment with their own domain, it cannot be found."

"The outer void spans billions of li of emptiness; it's virtually impossible to happen to fly within ten thousand li of a star fragment," the scaled alien expert said, trying to please.

Meng Chuan nodded slightly. Discovering a light-obscuring star fragment in the outer void was far more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

Meng Chuan looked at the scaled alien expert. "I will now briefly review your memories to confirm you haven't lied. As long as you're truthful, I'll spare your life. But if you dare to deceive me... hmph."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," the scaled alien expert quickly replied, trying to curry favor. "I only wish to live, Senior. Please feel free to examine my Soul memories."

Meng Chuan nodded. After all, the other party was a Soul Layer Six practitioner; only if he didn't resist could Meng Chuan examine his memories. The scaled alien expert was exceedingly compliant, allowing Meng Chuan to begin reviewing his memories.

The scaled alien expert hailed from a lower world called 'Azurewater Realm,' and he was its strongest practitioner! Azurewater Realm had a history of several hundred million years, making it a relatively young life world. Throughout its long history, only one Emperor had ever appeared! On average, it took over a hundred thousand years for a 'Venerable' to emerge. In Azurewater Realm, the birth of a Venerable meant ruling the world and being invincible.

"The entire Azurewater Realm only has a single Tribulation Realm secret treasure weapon. It's forbidden to be taken out of their homeland unless one reaches the 'Emperor Realm'?" Meng Chuan mused silently. This was typical of lower worlds; Tribulation Realm secret weapons were incredibly vital. "It's the supreme treasure of the entire Azurewater Realm, and all past Venerables of Azurewater Realm have studied its runes to explore cultivation paths?"

"Azurewater Realm's most powerful scripture was an original Emperor-level ultimate art, from the 'Wind and Fire' lineage. It wasn't suitable for most Venerables." Meng Chuan sighed inwardly.

Cultivation required direction and the experience of predecessors. Just like for a mortal, without scriptures, becoming a God-Fiend would be incredibly difficult! Cang Yuan Realm also went through a long barbaric period before the 'God-Fiend cultivation system' was born. The process of creation from nothing was even harder than progressing from a mortal to a Venerable. For a Venerable, without any scriptures, attempting to reach the Fifth or Sixth Tribulation Realm? It would be like a blind person groping in the dark, virtually impossible. A scripture, from shallow to profound, would provide detailed guidance, leading cultivators to advanced realms. The importance of such a scripture was self-evident. Tribulation Realm secret treasures also served a similar purpose; studying their runes could also provide direction.

"The Tribulation Realm secret treasure of Venerable Qing Gu's homeland wasn't very suitable for his study," Meng Chuan understood as he reviewed the memories. "For his cultivation, he received an Emperor-level ultimate art inheritance granted by Fang Chang, and he studied the runes of the Emperor-level weapon 'Nine-Dragon Chain'." How pitiful. This Qing Gu had received a common Emperor-level inheritance, and it was only granted to him after he pledged allegiance to Fang Chang. The Nine-Dragon Chain was also something Qing Gu obtained by chance after following Fang Chang.

"Common Emperor-level ultimate arts aren't even qualified to be kept in the Myriad Stars Tower," Meng Chuan thought of his homeland. "In Myriad Stars Tower, every lineage possesses top-tier ultimate arts." For example, in the Lightning lineage, Emperor-level ultimate arts like 'Thunderbolt Stride,' 'Thunderfire Body Refinement Art,' and 'Dark Lightning' could be considered 'incomplete versions' of Emperor-level ultimate arts. To some extent, they reached the power limit of Emperor-level ultimate arts, but they all had flaws. For instance, the Thunderfire Body Refinement Art could make the physical body comparable to a Fifth Tribulation Realm physical body, truly on par with an Emperor-level ultimate art. However, its drawback was that by cultivating one's body into a weapon, the physical body could no longer be improved. Despite their flaws, at the Emperor level, all three ultimate arts allowed for cross-level combat, and Ancestor Cang Yuan was willing to collect them, demonstrating their uniqueness.

'Three-Lives Blade' and 'Thunder Realm' were even more remarkable. These ultimate arts, at the Sixth Tribulation Realm level, could threaten Seventh Tribulation Realm mighty ones. Ancestor Cang Yuan could find many Sixth Tribulation Realm ultimate arts, but the Lightning lineage ultimately included only these two. For example, to tempt 'King An Hai,' the demon race offered some decent ultimate arts, which were considered good in the outer realm given the demon race's heritage. However, after King An Hai obtained the ultimate arts from 'Myriad Stars Tower,' he no longer bothered to look at the demon race's ultimate arts.

"So, lower worlds are truly struggling," Meng Chuan sighed inwardly. "Even finding a perfectly suited Emperor-level ultimate art is so difficult." No wonder so many Venerables were willing to follow powerful individuals. There was no other way. If a powerful individual let even a little slip through their fingers, the Venerables from these lower worlds would be overjoyed.

"Venerable Qing Gu's greatest wish is actually to complete his home world's cultivation system," Meng Chuan mused with a silent sigh. Their system was incomplete. While Cang Yuan Realm's God-Fiend cultivation system had a flaw in the step from Emperor-level perfection to Tribulation Realm, with only the 'Reincarnation God-body' currently succeeding, Venerable Qing Gu's home, 'Azurewater Realm,' had a flaw at the very step of becoming a Venerable. Even when practitioners reached the Soul realm, comprehended the Grotto-Heaven realm, and were still young, they simply couldn't break through! It was a pure flaw in their cultivation system. This was why Azurewater Realm produced only one Venerable on average every hundred thousand years. If the system were complete, a Venerable might emerge every few thousand years.

"A suitable cultivation system," Meng Chuan sighed inwardly. The beings of Azurewater Realm were aquatic life forms with claws and scales. They differed greatly from humans, with distinct physical characteristics. The cultivation systems of each world were not entirely universal unless the physical bodies were identical. For example, some inheritances like the 'Starry Sky lineage' collected by Ancestor Cang Yuan were passed down to future generations because they were suitable for humans. Ancestor Cang Yuan would not harm future generations by giving them unsuitable ones.

"Cang Yuan Realm received many inheritances from the outside, but the most suitable one was still its self-created God-Fiend system," Meng Chuan mused. "If Azurewater Realm could produce a Tribulation Realm mighty one, perhaps its cultivation system for the Venerable level could be completely perfected. But that's clearly very difficult." Every world, every civilization, had its own hardships.

"Senior," Venerable Qing Gu noticed Meng Chuan had stopped reviewing, and he looked up at him with apprehension.

Meng Chuan felt a touch of melancholy. The more Meng Chuan understood him after reviewing his memories, the clearer it became that Venerable Qing Gu simply wanted to access more ultimate arts in the outer realm, learn more, and help his home world more. Compared to the countless worlds in the outer realm, Qing Gu's home civilization was too backward! Too weak! This 'weakness' made Venerable Qing Gu grit his teeth, determined to dedicate his entire life to making his home world stronger.

"From now on, when we're outside, just call me Dongning," Meng Chuan said. "No need to address me as Senior."

"Yes, yes," Venerable Qing Gu quickly agreed.

"As long as you're obedient, I certainly won't treat you unfairly," Meng Chuan said.

"Rest assured, Brother Dongning, I will do whatever you ask and will never interfere with what you don't want me to," Venerable Qing Gu quickly guaranteed. He knew very well what a follower needed to do to survive for a long time.

Meng Chuan nodded slightly, then looked towards the mysterious dwelling before them.