Chapter 1777: Seeking

Lu Ye inquired about this from Chongxu not for better self-protection. The blood-red eye, a marvel within the spectacle, though formidable, could not withstand the power of the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus, a fact already proven.

Therefore, even if Lu Ye did nothing, he would only need to wait a moment, and the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus would dispel the blood-red eye that was eroding his spiritual sea, leaving him unharmed.

Lu Ye's reason for asking Chongxu about his methods was simply to make some preparations beforehand; he was very interested in the spirit patterns hidden within the blood-red eye.

If anyone else had asked, Chongxu certainly wouldn't have paid attention. However, having accepted Lu Ye's kindness, it was difficult to conceal anything, and besides, his method was something others couldn't emulate.

He immediately said, "I do have a way to sense it in advance, but it's not precise."

Lu Ye asked, "Brother Dao, could you teach me? Of course, I can offer some compensation."

Chongxu waved his hand, "It's not that I'm unwilling to teach, but this method cannot be emulated by others. Please look at my right eye, fellow Daoist."

Lu Ye immediately looked in that direction. As he watched, Chongxu's right eye suddenly underwent a strange transformation. A normal person's eye has a black pupil surrounded by white, and Chongxu's right eye was originally like that. But as he spoke, it suddenly turned completely white, without a trace of black, appearing extremely bizarre.

Chongxu blinked, and his whitened right eye returned to normal. "To be frank with you, young friend, my right eye has been unusual since birth. Even before I started cultivating, what I saw was different from ordinary people. After entering the cultivation world, I used this as a basis to practice several eye techniques. Of course, sensing the changes in the demon eye isn't due to those techniques. Rather, whenever the demon eye is about to change, my right eye will faintly ache. The closer the time, the more intense the pain, which is how I can know in advance when the demon eye will blink."

Lu Ye suddenly understood. He had wondered how the Pygmy Race, after years of gathering intelligence on this spectacle, still had no way to discern when the demon eye would blink, yet he had stumbled upon Chongxu, who possessed such a method.

It turned out to be due to his right eye's innate extraordinary ability.

"Furthermore, I can't fully perceive it. Out of ten times, I miss about half of them. But whenever my right eye changes, the demon eye is certainly about to blink. When I met you earlier, it was precisely when I sensed something."

Only then did Lu Ye fully understand.

Indeed, this was not something that could be taught. He wasn't very disappointed; if he could master such a method, it would certainly give him an advantage, but not mastering it wouldn't significantly impact him.

Of course, if he absolutely wanted to gain an advantage, he could choose to travel with Chongxu. That way, once Chongxu sensed something, Lu Ye would know.

However, two strangers, with only a small intersection of paths, couldn't possibly be completely open with each other.

"How about this, fellow Daoist?" Chongxu thought for a moment and suggested, "Why don't we exchange sound talisman imprints? That way, when I sense something, I can send you a message, and you can prepare in advance."

"Sounds good!" Lu Ye immediately nodded and took out a sound talisman.

A short while later, they exchanged sound talisman imprints. Chongxu then cautioned him, "After all, this is inside the spectacle, so the communication range of sound talismans is different from the outside world. If you are too far from me, I won't be able to contact you. I usually move within this area. If there's any change, I'll inform you in advance."

"Thank you, Brother Dao." Lu Ye expressed his gratitude. Chongxu was indeed very meticulous in his actions. After a moment's thought, Lu Ye asked again, "Brother Dao, how long have you been here?"

Chongxu stroked his beard and smiled, "It must have been thirty years. When I was young, I pursued strength growth and consumed many spirit pills. Some of the pill toxins were stubborn and couldn't be resolved by ordinary means, so I could only pin my hopes on this place. Additionally, when the demon eye blinks here, it can temper one's soul power, which offers a slight help for advancing to the Sun-Gazing realm."

Thirty years... Lu Ye sighed with emotion. He hadn't been cultivating for that many years himself. However, for cultivators, the higher their cultivation, the longer they tended to stay at a particular realm.

Thirty years was a very long time for him, but for Chongxu... while not short, it was acceptable for the sake of reaching the Sun-Gazing realm.

And judging by his appearance, he might even stay here for a longer time.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, youth is an asset, but one must not be too eager to rapidly raise one's cultivation realm. A momentary impetuous rush in youth might require a thousandfold cost to rectify in old age." Chongxu spoke earnestly, clearly having seen Lu Ye's young age and high cultivation, mistakenly assuming he had rapidly grown by consuming many spirit pills.

"I've learned from your words, thank you for the reminder, Brother Dao." Lu Ye nodded.

Next, he sought out some information from Chongxu, particularly asking if he had encountered anything strange within the spectacle.

Chongxu didn't conceal anything, sharing whatever he knew.

Most of the information was of little value, or Lu Ye already knew it from the Pygmy Race. However, one specific event caught Lu Ye's attention.

More than ten years ago, when the demon eye blinked, two cultivators were fiercely battling near Chongxu, locked in an intense struggle.

He usually wouldn't interfere in such situations, and at such times, he would typically be within the formation area he had set up to resist the blood-red eye's erosion.

Generally, if battling cultivators couldn't determine a victor, they would regain their senses after the blood-red eye's intrusion and cease fighting.

However, that particular incident was somewhat peculiar.

In Chongxu's perception, the auras of the two fiercely battling individuals suddenly vanished completely at a certain moment. He had initially thought the two cultivators had perished together. However, when he safely went to investigate, he found no corpses in the area where they had fought, though many traces of their battle remained.

Lu Ye knew in his heart that Chongxu's claim of "investigating" was false and that he was truly looking for loot, but he didn't expose him. Instead, he simply asked, "Was the place where those two were fighting beyond your sensory range, Brother Dao?"

Chongxu shook his head, "Absolutely not. Although that location wasn't close to where I was, it wasn't beyond the range of my spiritual sense. Their disappearance was very strange; it happened in an instant. But then again, indeed, many cultivators have inexplicably vanished within this spectacle."

Lu Ye was aware of this fact, as it was recorded in the Pygmy Race's intelligence.

The Pygmy Race had a hypothesis about this: while some of the missing cultivators certainly died in battle against others, a portion of them must have inadvertently come into contact with the core of Mount Fangcun!

Mount Fangcun was profoundly mysterious; though not large on the outside, it contained an entire world within. Even after it was divided into three, this mystery remained unchanged.

Given this, the lost core of Mount Fangcun must also have retained this characteristic. In other words, it was indeed a core, but it definitely contained a world within!

If someone accidentally touched this core, they might fall into that world.

Among the Moon-Gazing foreign cultivators sent by the Pygmy Race over countless years, there were definitely some who became trapped and couldn't escape.

The two cultivators Chongxu sensed disappearing mysteriously more than ten years ago probably met the same fate; otherwise, Chongxu couldn't have found nothing.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye's interest was immediately piqued. He quickly asked Chongxu for the exact location where those two cultivators had disappeared.

Chongxu, hearing this, said, "That location is quite far from here, and it would be unclear if I just described it. I'll take you there."

He could tell that Lu Ye wasn't inquiring about this without reason; something must be going on. He guessed that perhaps one of Lu Ye's elders had gone missing here, and Lu Ye wanted to investigate the specifics. Having received a favor from Lu Ye, guiding him there was not a problem.

"Then I'll thank you, Brother Dao." Lu Ye was extremely grateful. If he wasn't mistaken, the core of Mount Fangcun should be at that location.

Immediately, the two set off, flying in one direction.

Within this spectacle, there were numerous meteorites, making it difficult to navigate a starship. Traveling by body alone would be faster.

Along the way, Lu Ye chatted idly with Chongxu, hoping to glean more information, but unfortunately, he gained no substantial insights.

Chongxu, however, was occasionally able to collect formed spirit jade and spirit crystals from certain meteorites or strange dust clouds.

He had been here for over thirty years, so the spirit jade and crystals he brought in his early years had probably long been used up. Fortunately, these items were not scarce within the spectacle, so collecting more to meet his daily needs was not a big issue.

After traveling for several days, Chongxu stopped and looked around for a while before speaking, "This should be the correct area, but as you know, fellow Daoist, the environment inside the spectacle isn't constant. So I can only give you a rough estimate, not a very precise one."

Lu Ye nodded in understanding. "Then, Brother Dao, what's the approximate margin of error?"

"It could be anywhere within a radius of three thousand li," Chongxu replied.

Three thousand li... This wasn't just three thousand li on a flat plane, but three thousand li within an entire spatial volume, which was a vast area.

Even with Lu Ye's current strength, thoroughly searching this three-thousand-li radius wouldn't be easy.

"Thank you, Brother Dao."

Chongxu nodded, "If you encounter any difficulties, just send me a message. If I sense anything on my end, I will also inform you in advance."

Chongxu departed quickly, not offering to stay and help. He didn't know what Lu Ye intended to do, and making a rash offer might be taboo, so leaving immediately was the smart thing to do.

After Chongxu left, Lu Ye composed himself. Then, with a flick of his finger, five drops of precious blood flew out, transforming into his likeness.

Lu Ye then activated the power of his Talent Tree, conjuring a Talent Tree clone.

One main body and six clones gathered there.

"Time to get to work!" Lu Ye commanded, and the six clones scattered in all directions, beginning a meticulous search.

He didn't overlook a single meteorite. Considering that it might be the core of Mount Fangcun and that reckless contact could lead to being trapped within, Lu Ye used his spiritual power to attack from a distance. Ordinary meteorites certainly couldn't withstand his methods and would be directly pulverized.

If any meteorite was not shattered, it would undoubtedly be suspicious and could potentially be what Lu Ye was searching for.