Chapter 696: Going to the Chaotic Murky River

Chapter 1: Secret Technique 'Three Autumn Leaves'

Author: I Eat Tomatoes

Meng Chuan looked at the black book before him. "On the surface, this book offers an opportunity to become a disciple of an Eternal Being. But in reality, its true value lies in these three thousand illusion arrays."

Breaking all three thousand illusion arrays? Even an Eighth Tribulation Soul cultivator would find that extremely difficult.

However, each broken array deepens one's understanding of 'illusion arrays.' Perhaps after breaking a thousand, one might even grasp the rules of time and space.

While its immediate benefit to strength is negligible, far less significant than the boost provided by that fruit, over a longer timescale, the advantages of the black book are likely far greater. However, if one's cultivation foundation isn't sufficient or they comprehend too few illusion arrays, the rewards will be greatly diminished. Therefore, the extent of the 'gain' depends more on one's own potential.

"The third treasure." Meng Chuan looked at the silver cube. With the three treasures arranged side-by-side, what could this one be?

Meng Chuan's Soul energy permeated the silver cube.A rumble—

"A secret treasure?" Meng Chuan was utterly shocked, his consciousness completely immersed. The silver cube appeared to be a perfect whole, but it was actually precisely assembled from 'six parts.'

"This silver cube, is it a composite secret treasure?" As Meng Chuan had already mastered the rules of space, he discerned the true nature of this treasure. "Each of the six parts, viewed individually, is an ordinary Eighth Tribulation secret treasure, probably not even as valuable as the 'Heavenly Punishment Scroll,' estimated to be worth only two to three hundred thousand units. But when combined, it undergoes a qualitative change. It would be difficult to acquire it even for several million units."

Meng Chuan certainly had a good understanding.

It was quite common for several 'Eighth Tribulation secret treasures' to cooperate to form an array. In the Nine Refining Pagoda, Meng Chuan had witnessed the Three-Ring Chaotic Cave Array.

However, this silver cube was even superior.It completely combined six Eighth Tribulation secret treasures into a new, single secret treasure!

"Manipulating a composite secret treasure is far more difficult than manipulating six separate Eighth Tribulation secret treasures." Meng Chuan understood this. When used individually, one only needed to multitask, provided their Soul was strong enough. But with a composite secret treasure, one move affected the whole, making it much more challenging and placing a terrifying burden on the Soul.

"A composite secret treasure formed by six 'Eighth Tribulation secret treasures' would be too demanding for a Seventh Tribulation physical body with a weaker Soul. At least a Seventh Tribulation Soul would be required to wield it," Meng Chuan mused.

Staring at the silver cube suspended before him, Meng Chuan's eyes glowed with fervor. "More importantly, all six parts of this silver cube are actually space-time type Eighth Tribulation secret treasures."

While normal Eighth Tribulation secret treasures contain rules of time and space, they often incorporate more than one fundamental rule in pursuit of greater power.

For instance, the Three-Ring Chaotic Cave Array, the Heart of Immeasurable, or the Heavenly Punishment Scroll.

"It contains no other fundamental rules, only pure time and space profundities," Meng Chuan observed. "Yet, it still forms an Eighth Tribulation composite secret treasure."

This was a display of skill.Meng Chuan felt that a great being was showcasing their profound mastery of 'space-time' to the fullest.

But it was also the best object for contemplation and study.

"Contemplating secret treasures is itself a method of cultivation. This silver cube... is exceptionally suitable for understanding time and space." Meng Chuan was very satisfied, feeling that the value of this third item was slightly higher than the previous two. It was both an incredibly powerful secret weapon and beneficial for cultivation! The secret treasure refiner... Meng Chuan was filled with immense admiration.

"Crafting such a composite secret treasure is probably much harder than creating an Eighth Tribulation secret technique. If I were that refiner, I'd probably make ten or eight of them and sell them across different time-space rivers," Meng Chuan thought clearly.

While other Eighth Tribulation mighty beings crafted 'Eighth Tribulation secret treasures' worth hundreds of thousands of units, this particular refiner created a purely space-time oriented one that was worth nearly ten million units. That was a display of true prestige!

"The White Bird Pavilion Master was very modest in saying these three rare treasures are worth twenty million units." Meng Chuan felt the immense depth of this benefactor's generosity.

Ancestral Master Cang Yuan had accumulated a vast fortune in his lifetime, but apart from that one Eternal secret treasure, the great seal, none of his other treasures could compare to these three rare gems.

Trading goods, it would be very difficult for him to acquire such rare treasures on his own.

"These three treasures are of great help to me; they might even double my cultivation speed," Meng Chuan mused. "Such immense kindness... I wonder what the White Bird Pavilion Master will ask of me."

He was ready to answer the call at any time.

In a certain region of the outer void, Meng Chuan, clad in black robes with white hair, was flying at high speed. He was heading towards the Turbid River of Chaos, intending to slay forbidden creatures.

He had to resolve the karmic ties. If he didn't fulfill his promise, the karmic interference would make his future cultivation path more than ten times harder.

"Hoo."Meng Chuan was employing a secret technique, and this expanse of void did not repel it.

"Another half month of flight, and I should reach the Turbid River of Chaos." Meng Chuan had not flown such a long distance since mastering the rules of space. "The Turbid River of Chaos is surrounded by layers of arrays, and even multiple Eighth Tribulation mighty beings throughout history have reinforced them. Unless one can leap out of the time-space river, no method can directly cross it; one can only fly slowly to reach it."

After becoming a peak Sixth Tribulation cultivator and receiving a wealth of information from the White Bird Pavilion, Meng Chuan knew many secrets, including the detailed secrets of the 'Turbid River of Chaos.'

According to the White Bird Pavilion's records, the Turbid River of Chaos was created by the Demon Mountain Master!

The Demon Mountain Master was one of the foremost Eighth Tribulation mighty beings in the history of this time-space river. He elevated himself above all beings. While he wouldn't intentionally slaughter living creatures, countless Tribulation mighty beings had perished due to some of his cultivation experiments. The 'Demon Mountain Remnants' were merely a relatively minor disaster, but 'forbidden creatures' posed a far greater threat. Forbidden creatures were originally chaotic beings, life forms from outside the universe, completely unable to enter it.

Yet, the Demon Mountain Master deliberately created the Turbid River of Chaos, connecting the inside and outside of the universe, leading chaotic beings into the universe.

The Turbid River of Chaos was a trap, intentionally luring chaotic beings in.

In his early days, the Demon Mountain Master even released forbidden creatures into the outer void, causing many calamities. This compelled other Eighth Tribulation beings to appear during that era, forcing the Demon Mountain Master to desist, and eventually, the Turbid River of Chaos was reinforced.

From then on...Forbidden creatures entered from outside the universe, became trapped in the Turbid River of Chaos, and could not leave once inside, like fish waiting to be slaughtered.

However, due to the Demon Mountain Master's original 'forbidden creature creation experiments,' forbidden creatures still occasionally appeared in various parts of the universe, though their threat was negligible.

"This Demon Mountain Master truly acts as he pleases, doing whatever he desires. And his strength is immense; it took the collective appearance of all Eighth Tribulation beings in history to force him to yield." Meng Chuan gathered from the intelligence that while some historical Eighth Tribulation beings were very displeased with the Demon Mountain Master, they still tolerated him. This was partly because they originated from the same universe, and partly because killing an Eighth Tribulation mighty being was extremely difficult, as they could leap out of the timeline, making them very hard to find.

Furthermore, the intelligence indicated that the Demon Mountain Master did not intentionally slaughter; all his actions were experiments.The Demon Mountain Remnants were an experiment, forbidden creatures were an experiment, and there were other experiments as well... Some of these experiments caused immense harm, but others were successful.

"According to the White Bird Pavilion's intelligence, only the Demon Mountain Master collected the life cores of forbidden creatures." Meng Chuan had initially thought these life cores were important to Eighth Tribulation beings, but he had not expected that other Eighth Tribulation beings had no need for them at all.

He continued flying leisurely.

Although there were layers of arrays, Meng Chuan knew the secret technique to enter and exit them. After flying for a long time, he finally arrived at the Turbid River of Chaos.

"Reached it."

Having reached the end, using his secret technique, Meng Chuan intentionally surged forward and suddenly vanished into thin air, having entered the hidden space-time—the Turbid River of Chaos!