Chapter 383: Heaven Eight and the Void

Lu Ye had always been confident in his cultivation speed. Thanks to the Talent Tree and the Gluttonous Feast, he could continuously consume spirit pills without restriction to enhance his cultivation. He believed no other Spirit Creek Realm cultivator in the entire Kyushu could match his speed in opening spirit apertures.

Who else could maintain the pace of opening one spirit aperture per day, even at the Seventh Heavenly Layer, especially in such an environment?

That was, until he saw Hua Ci today!

When Hua Ci left their base for Mount Ying that day, she was only at the Eighth Layer.

Her cultivation advanced to the Ninth Layer after entering the Myriad Poison Forest, which could be attributed to the significant benefits she gained from the legacy site there.

However, in just over a month since she entered the Myriad Poison Forest, she had astonishingly progressed from the Ninth Layer to the Seventh Heavenly Layer!

It's important to note that after the Ninth Layer, each subsequent layer requires opening sixty spirit apertures. Opening sixty apertures in just over a month translates to a speed of almost two apertures per day.

He simply couldn't compare.

Lu Ye knew somewhat how Hua Ci had been cultivating during this time. She spent most of her time outside the wooden hut, as the hut itself was protected by a formation that kept the poisonous mist out.

Lu Ye hadn't expected that Hua Ci's unconventional cultivation method would lead to such rapid progress in her cultivation.

Both of them were now at the Seventh Heavenly Layer. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Hua Ci's cultivation surpassed his own.

Lu Ye inexplicably felt a sense of urgency!

Ju Jia had advanced to the Cloud River Realm before him, but that was because Ju Jia had accumulated sufficient strength in the past and possessed a unique demon core, long having the prerequisites to ascend.

But what if Hua Ci were to ascend to the Cloud River Realm even before him someday?

However, looking at it from another perspective, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Hua Ci. His sense of urgency immediately dissipated.

Days passed, and Lu Ye continued to open one spirit aperture per day.

Over a month quickly passed.

With a crisp sound, and the surging spiritual power, the barrier of a spirit aperture shattered, and trickles of spiritual energy flowed into the newly opened aperture.

Three hundred apertures!

Trapped in the Myriad Poison Forest for approximately two months, Lu Ye had managed to increase his spirit apertures from over 240 to a full 300.

The number of spirit apertures was now sufficient; the next step was to advance his cultivation.

He circulated his spiritual power, connecting the sixty newly opened apertures to form a new minor circulation cycle. When the spiritual energy could flow continuously within this small system without Lu Ye's active direction, a wave of energy swept forth, and he naturally reached the Eighth Heavenly Layer.

Lu Ye then sat in meditation for another day to consolidate his cultivation and ensure the newly formed minor circulation system was stable, before finally rising.

He stepped out of the wooden hut into the courtyard and began to work. He planted one formation flag after another, constructing the framework of a formation.

Yi Yi watched him curiously from the side. "Lu Ye, what kind of formation are you setting up?"

"A fun one," Lu Ye replied casually. It wasn't that he intended to hide anything; it was just his first time setting up this kind of formation, and he wasn't sure if it would work. If it failed after he'd boasted to Yi Yi, he would lose face.

Once the formation's framework was complete, Lu Ye surged spiritual power to refine its internal structure. After a flurry of activity, he finally began to construct the core of the formation.

The core was a spirit pattern consisting of over three thousand yin-yang dual elements, which he had spent a great deal of time and effort studying from books.

He had been practicing this spirit pattern daily, and while there was still a possibility of failure, his success rate had significantly improved.

This time, luck was on his side, and it formed on the first attempt.

Having been with Lu Ye for so long, Yi Yi had some understanding of spirit patterns. Looking at the core spirit pattern within the formation, she couldn't help but gasp. "Lu Ye, this spirit pattern is so complex! What is it?"

"Void!"

"Void?"

"Yes, its name is 'Void'!"

This was a spatial spirit pattern. Depending on how it was used, it could manifest different effects. When constructed as the core of a formation using special methods, it became the renowned teleportation array!

Teleportation arrays did exist in Kyushu, though not in large numbers. This was because communication and travel among Kyushu cultivators were already convenient, thanks to the Heaven's Secret Pillars provided by allied sects.

The Heaven's Secret Pillars themselves possessed teleportation functions, so unless absolutely necessary, no one would bother spending time and effort to set up a teleportation array.

Furthermore, teleportation arrays required frequent maintenance, making them far less convenient than the Heaven's Secret Pillars, which were gifts from Heaven's Secret and incredibly difficult to damage.

The teleportation array Lu Ye was currently setting up was quite rudimentary, built using formation flags as a framework and his own spiritual power. To maintain its operation, Lu Ye made slight modifications to give it a spirit-gathering effect, ensuring it could draw in the surrounding world's spiritual energy and sustain itself for a long time.

With his current mastery of formation arts, he was capable of doing this.

In truth, using a formation disc would have been the best option, as it would make the formation more stable; formation flags were far inferior in this regard. However, using flags offered more flexibility. With thirty-two basic formation flags in hand, Lu Ye could create various combinations and deploy all the formations he had mastered.

Formation discs were different; each corresponded to only one or a few types of formations, lacking the versatility of flags.

Although the formation was now set up, Lu Ye truly had no idea if it would actually work.

However, every endeavor required a first step. Now that he was at the Eighth Heavenly Layer, he had the capability to fight his way out of the Myriad Poison Forest. But what then? He would still be pursued and cornered by countless cultivators from the Myriad Demon Ridge. Even if he sought refuge in a core sect's stronghold, he would only bring disaster and trouble to them.

In essence, the Myriad Demon Ridge's apprehension of him made it difficult for him to establish a foothold in the core region.

The Myriad Poison Forest was a good place; it was a forbidden zone for cultivators. No matter how numerous the Myriad Demon Ridge forces were, as long as he hid within the forest, no one would dare to enter and trouble him. If anyone dared, Hua Ci would certainly teach them a lesson.

Therefore, before venturing out, he needed to secure a retreat, ensuring he could return here at any time.

These were the various plans he had conceived after encountering the Void spirit pattern.

This teleportation array would be his retreat, and the Myriad Poison Forest his sanctuary. While the spiritual energy here was indeed inferior to that in sect strongholds, as long as he had enough spirit pills, he wouldn't have to worry about cultivation; it would simply be less efficient.

Others relied on absorbing and exhaling spiritual energy from heaven and earth for cultivation, which placed high demands on the environment, but he was different...

He briefly tested the teleportation array, confirming that there were no issues.

"Watch this for me," he instructed Yi Yi.

Then, Lu Ye left the spot and entered the Myriad Poison Forest.

Teleportation arrays came in several types. One was random teleportation, where the array would transport a person to a random nearby location after activation.

Another type was directional teleportation, which further branched into single-point to single-point, single-point to multi-point, and multi-point to multi-point teleportation.

Simply put, single-point to single-point meant two teleportation arrays communicated with each other for transfers.

Single-point to multi-point involved a primary array communicating with multiple subsidiary arrays. Teleportation was possible between a subsidiary array and the primary array, but not between two subsidiary arrays.

In multi-point to multi-point, all teleportation arrays functioned as both subsidiary and primary arrays.

Different types of teleportation arrays had distinct setup requirements and intricacies.

Lu Ye was currently setting up a single-point to single-point teleportation array, with the one in the small courtyard outside the wooden hut serving as the primary array.

He needed to set up a subsidiary array elsewhere to test if this teleportation array was functional.

As night fell, Hua Ci returned from her nearby cultivation session. Seeing Yi Yi squatting in the courtyard with Amber beside her, she couldn't help but ask, "What are you two doing here?"

"Lu Ye set up a formation and told me to watch it for him," Yi Yi replied truthfully.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know."

A moment later, Hua Ci and Yi Yi were both squatting in the courtyard, staring intently at the teleportation array before them.

"Yi Yi, he didn't tell you what this formation is for?"

"No."

"He's being so mysterious."

Meanwhile, twenty miles away, on an open patch of ground, Lu Ye stood on the newly established subsidiary teleportation array. He channeled spiritual power to activate the formation beneath his feet. Instantly, through the array's flow, he vaguely sensed something in the direction of the wooden hut resonating with the formation he was standing on.

It was successful!

The two teleportation arrays resonated, indicating that his setup had no issues. The next step was to see if he could actually teleport.

As he continued to channel power into the formation beneath his feet, the space around Lu Ye suddenly began to twist. An indescribable force enveloped him, making him feel as though he had stepped into an empty void and was falling into a bottomless abyss.

The sensation came and went quickly. By the time he recovered his senses, he had already appeared in a different location.

At the same time, outside the wooden hut, Yi Yi and Hua Ci, who were squatting by the primary teleportation array, listened intently. There seemed to be some strange sounds from nearby.

"What's that sound?" Yi Yi asked curiously.

"Perhaps some poisonous creature passed by?" Hua Ci tilted her head and replied. The creature must have been quite large, otherwise, it wouldn't have caused such a commotion. She guessed it was a venomous python; Hua Ci had encountered many such creatures in the Myriad Poison Forest recently, and most of them had ended up in her soup.

"Why is this formation broken?" Yi Yi asked again.

Just now, the formation in front of them had stirred. The space enveloped by the formation became intensely distorted, and then the spiritual energy within the entire array became chaotic, rendering it completely damaged.

"Yi Yi, did you hear someone shouting for help?" Hua Ci asked, listening intently.

"Did I?"

"Listen carefully!"

Yi Yi also listened closely, her expression soon turning strange. "It sounds like Lu Ye?"

The two women exchanged a look, quickly stood up, and headed towards the source of the sound. A moment later, they found a figure hanging like a broken burlap sack on a large tree several dozen feet from the wooden hut.

"Lu Ye!" Yi Yi exclaimed in shock, swiftly flying over to take him down. Upon seeing him, Lu Ye's clothes were tattered all over, and his body was covered in gashes, some deep enough to expose bone. He was completely soaked in blood.