Chapter 853: Void Rift

Xu Xiaoshou could already imagine what those trapped in the Sovereign Dao Realm would do if they obtained the "Soul Read" skill. Of course, this cultivation method felt a bit inhumane to him. However, if given the chance, Xu Xiaoshou wouldn't mind reading all the Water-type mysteries from his arch-nemesis, Yu Lingdi, just for fun. After all, he was no longer attribute-less but an all-attribute wielder. He could try to comprehend any attribute he wished.

Yet, among the Three Thousand Great Daos, quality was valued over quantity. Xu Xiaoshou's first choice was space, as it was a powerful attribute, and for his second choice... If possible, he wanted time. But the time attribute was incredibly difficult to even begin to grasp; he could only hope for future opportunities. At this moment, he couldn't help but think of Huang Quan, the leader of the Yama. To be able to control both space and time attributes simultaneously, not just at an introductory level but with mastery—what a powerful existence that must be!

"Young Master Xu."

As he was pondering, Xin Gugu's voice reached his ears. The two guardians were already accustomed to the strange occurrences around Young Master Xu, having seen them countless times. So, seeing that Young Master Xu had no intention of explaining what had just happened, they didn't ask further questions and resumed their duties. Xin Gugu had been looking at the trial map. Suddenly, he glanced up, momentarily distracted, and noticed that a faint crack had appeared above the void at some point. Xin Gugu immediately turned to alert Xu Xiaoshou. Such an anomaly appearing in the Yunlun Mountain Range could signify an opportunity.

Liu Changqing had also noticed it. He frowned slightly, feeling a vague unease, unlike Xin Gugu's optimism. Because according to the trial rules, if a rare treasure appeared in the Yunlun Mountain Range, the ground should emit a dazzling light, attracting everyone to contend for it. Or if a divine object like a Dao Principle Origin Stone appeared, even the trial jade pendant would give a notification; there was no reason for it to just be such an obscure void crack. If trial participants were cultivating at this moment, they wouldn't even notice it, just like the members of the Little Xu Gang gathered around the Fire-type Origin Stone.

"A void crack?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked in that direction at the sound, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread. The crack wasn't large, just a faint mark; perhaps because it was very far from the ground, it appeared to be only about a zhang long. But it was black and very conspicuous. Xu Xiaoshou had "Perception," and he could sense that this void crack was actually opened extremely high up. Its true length was about dozens of zhang long and more than ten zhang wide, a size large enough for massive monsters to enter and exit!

"When did it appear?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

"I don't know." Xin Gugu shook his head decisively, thought for a moment, then added, "Although I don't know, the void crack must have appeared very recently. When you were doing your big things, I was gazing blankly at the sky, and it wasn't there then."

"Doing big things..." This naturally referred to Xu Xiaoshou's evolution, awakening, and other such matters.

"Just appeared?" Xu Xiaoshou's tone was somewhat worried. The more he looked at this void crack, the more he felt a sense of familiarity. Déjà vu? He tilted his head, recalling. Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remembered that he had indeed seen a similar void crack before! However, at that time, he was still in the White Cave. The place where he saw this crack was on the White Cave map, found within the white bead bequeathed to him by the Embarrassed Saint!

"Void Island crack?" The moment it dawned on him, Xu Xiaoshou's face was filled with horror. He knew what this was. Because at the end of the White Cave, the direction in which the Four Swords flew him was precisely where this Void Island crack was located. And the reason he knew this was a Void Island crack was precisely because after the Four Swords finished carrying him, in the Land of Finality, he saw Bazun An and others who had just emerged from the Void Island crack.

But! "A Void Island crack, how could it open here? Yet..." Xu Xiaoshou looked south, his gaze seemingly penetrating the perpetual fog and Cloud Realm World covering the Yunlun Mountain Range, landing on the City of Sky, floating above Dongtianwang City. The Void Island had clearly already descended. Why open a crack now? Had something unusual happened inside, and something wanted to come out? Or was it that this crack had existed for a very long time and was now activated by some powerful figures, just like the one in the White Cave?

Xu Xiaoshou remembered something. He extended his spiritual perception into his Purple Mansion Origin Court. Sure enough, a white bead quietly stood there. Since leaving the White Cave, the white bead had lost its unusual movements and no longer emitted that unsettling periodic sound. But at this moment, as Xu Xiaoshou's spiritual perception probed, it seemed to have triggered something. The sound that initially felt unremarkable, but after a while could make one's hair stand on end, resonated again.

"Om..." A prolonged and ancient soft sound cleansed the soul. Xu Xiaoshou's hair stood on end, and he broke out in goosebumps. At this point, he was 100% certain that the void crack above the Yunlun Mountain Range was related to the Void Island!

"Young Master Xu..." At this moment, a voice suppressing a tremor rang out beside him; it was Liu Changqing's. Xu Xiaoshou looked over, seeing the usually calm Liu Changqing; his face was now deathly pale, as if he had heard something terrifying.

"Shh." Xu Xiaoshou's expression was normal; he gently nodded and shushed, indicating that he understood everything and Liu Changqing didn't need to speak. He knew that Liu Changqing at this moment must have received some information from the Inorganic Ancestor within him. As a normal person, even a Dao Striker... but after being parasitized by a ghost beast, it was very normal to fear the Void Island.

Liu Changqing was momentarily stunned, having not expected Young Master Xu to understand even though he hadn't said anything. "As expected of someone who dares to take me in..." He felt much calmer within. At this moment, having someone to rely on was more important than anything.

Xin Gugu watched from the side, utterly bewildered. The appearance of this void crack was a good thing; why was Old Liu so terrified? "What happened..." Xin Gugu was about to ask when his thoughts suddenly shifted. He remembered that Liu Changqing was usually fearless, at most only fearing the Red-clothed. Now, could a void crack really scare him this much? In this world, besides the Red-clothed, what else could frighten a Dao Striker?

The Void Island! Humanoid ghost beasts! Suddenly, Xin Gugu's face also turned green. "Damn it, so it's not an opportunity after all?" At this moment, Xin Gugu wanted to turn around and leave the Yunlun Mountain Range. He hadn't known the secrets of the Void Island before. But Jiao Tangtang, who often went on missions with him, had occasionally mentioned that it was a place only accessible to Grandmasters and Demi-Saints. If ordinary people went there, they would either die or be crippled!

"Young Master Xu, we..."

"We know nothing; we'll keep our mouths shut." Xu Xiaoshou replied calmly. He had currently revealed his Grandmaster cultivation, but in the Yunlun Mountain Range, it was not uncommon for cultivators who had suppressed their innate cultivation for a long time to break through to Grandmaster. Moreover, with his identity as a Demi-Saint's disciple and extensive knowledge, knowing that this crack in the void was actually a Void Island crack was not strange at all. Xu Xiaoshou believed that even if the reactions of the three of them were truthfully observed by the Cloud Realm World's overseers, there would be nothing unusual about it. In fact, by now, those so-called overseers were very likely no longer focused on the trial participants in the Yunlun Mountain Range.

Meanwhile. At the summit of the Yunlun Mountain Range.

"Sword Immortal Rao!" A Red-clothed exclaimed in alarm, "Look at the sky..."

Rao Yaoyao, however, stared intently, still focused on the spiritual mirror in front of her. The moment the void crack appeared, her spiritual sense noticed it, so she naturally didn't need anyone to remind her. At this moment, she wanted to see how many of the trial participants in the mountain range actually understood this so-called Void Island crack.

In a short while, almost everyone remaining in the trial grounds noticed the crack in the sky. As if a mirror world had suddenly cracked, this fissure abruptly appeared during normal hours, amidst the blue skies and white clouds that ordinary people were accustomed to. It was too conspicuous! After nearly ninety-nine percent of the people looked up, their eyes showed confusion, but soon, joy flashed across their faces. Only a very small portion, after noticing the crack in the sky, were not surprised but pleased, with expressions of extreme eagerness and excitement on their faces.

Rao Yaoyao's lips curved upward. She ignored all Grandmasters and Demi-Saint disciples, focusing only on those whose identities were unknown, and lightly raised her hand. "Trial Officials, your next mission has arrived. Coordinates have been sent to your operational channels. Probe all of these individuals."

Within the Yunlun Mountain Range, countless black figures instantly moved swiftly. After completing all this, Rao Yaoyao then raised her eyes with a hint of solemnity, gazing at the Void Island crack in the sky. "So fast..." she murmured softly. It had only been a few days since Bazun An infiltrated the Void Island. But in such a short time, a Void Island crack had been created. One must know that before this, the City of Sky had been above Dongtianwang City for several months, including the time before and after, yet had failed to open a Void Island crack.

"Bazun An..." "What exactly do you want to do..." Rao Yaoyao's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and her slender brows were tightly furrowed. Such a formidable opponent had even directly dispatched Gou Wuyue in the White Cave last time. For this operation, Rao Yaoyao outwardly appeared very calm and confident. But to be honest, if she were to face her true feelings openly, Rao Yaoyao truly had no confidence. Her only hope was the immense importance placed on this operation by the Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain in the Central Region. And she, Rao Yaoyao, was not like Gou Wuyue, who, to the Sacred Mountain, would forever remain an outsider. On the contrary, her identity destined that nothing could happen to her. Should this operation go awry... Aid from all directions would move at the sound.

"Accelerate the trial process," Rao Yaoyao commanded the void, as she presided in the void, her attention returned to the spiritual mirror.

"Understood." From an unnamed place, a respectful voice responded.

At this moment, Rao Yaoyao's gaze suddenly locked onto the spiritual mirror's display of the short, white-haired young man. Her beautiful eyes narrowed, and she turned her head to command, "Coordinate 032, leave him be for now. You don't need to test his identity."

"Understood," another response echoed in her ears.

Rao Yaoyao thought for a moment, then pulled out a very mysterious crystal with a backhand motion. The moment the crystal appeared, it caused the surrounding space to slightly distort. She squeezed her hand, and the crystal vanished.

"Let me see what exactly you want to do!" Rao Yaoyao lightly tapped the spiritual mirror screen, causing ripples to spread, her eyes gleaming with contemplation. "Space attribute..." "Kong Yuhan?" "No, it's not him! After that fellow became one of the Ten Great Sovereigns, he completely vanished without a trace, and even the Ancient and Modern Worry-Free Pavilion lost its coordinates. Presumably, only Bazun An could find him now." "Then who could it be?" "Huang Quan?" "Ye Xiaotian?" "Or has some new space-attribute expert appeared on the continent whom I don't know about?"

There are still quite a few individuals who can awaken space attributes throughout the Five Regions. But this rare attribute doesn't mean that once awakened, everyone can become invincible in their own rank or transcend ranks. On the contrary, if they lack the corresponding comprehension, space-attribute spiritual cultivators can't even break through the minor realms within the Innate stage! Because space is unlike other attributes. Those who awaken space attributes must begin to touch upon and comprehend the Dao in the Innate stage. Every step they take is far more difficult than for basic Five Elements attributes. The survivorship bias has led the world to believe that space-attribute experts are very powerful. Little do they know, their power is because before they became famous, every step they took was dozens or hundreds of times more difficult than for others!

For Rao Yaoyao, space-attribute experts with known names across the Five Regions of the continent could be counted on her fingers. The appearance of one in the Yunlun Mountain Range made her a bit troubled, as she wasn't sure of their identity. Oh, no... It was two! Rao Yaoyao thought, looking at the spiritual mirror screen showing Young Master Xu. However, as for this Young Master Xu, she didn't pay him any mind at all. A Grandmaster, for a space-type spiritual cultivator, was merely having one foot over the threshold. The path Young Master Xu had to walk from now on was too long. Rao Yaoyao had seen too many instances where Demi-Saint forces forcibly cultivated space-attribute experts, only for their efforts to come to nothing in the end. Young Master Xu? If she had time to pay attention to this Young Master Xu, who was trying to hide but still revealing himself, she might as well spend more time on the Void Island crack above her head!

Within the Yunlun Mountain Range. Only one day remained until the start of the second trial, the Nine Dragon Veins. Originally, by this time, everyone was supposed to be resting and recuperating. But suddenly.

"Beep." The trial jade pendant seemed to not give anyone time to rest; just as everyone had relaxed, it received another message. All trial participants took out their jade pendants.

"Congratulations to trial participant 'Nangong Jin'er' for finding the Lightning-type Origin Stone, awarding 100,000 points. Please keep it safe."

Instantly, the trial participants' breathing became heavy! Somewhere, a slender, beautiful young girl stared blankly, completely dumbfounded, at the Origin Stone that had suddenly popped out from a crack in the rock and landed in her hand. "The Origin Stone... it came out by itself, I didn't find it?" After just one breath, she stopped her exclamations and frantically opened her trial map. Her coordinates were exposed!

"Ah—" A scream startled the forest birds into flight. Nangong Jin'er's face twisted into a distressed bun. "Oh no, I'm going to die, I'm going to die..." At this moment, it was believed that a large number of trial participants began to move upon hearing the news. Nangong Jin'er looked at another coordinate on the map. Sure enough, the coordinates of the Fire-type Origin Stone were rapidly approaching her! "It's over, it's over, I've become the prey..." The young girl tightly clutched the Lightning-type Origin Stone. She put it down. Then picked it up again. Put it down again. And picked it up once more. "Wuwuwu, but I just can't put you down..." she cried, hugging the Lightning-type Origin Stone, and started to flee. She had only taken a few steps.

"Beep." The trial jade pendant rang again. Nangong Jin'er froze, then immediately flipped it open.

"Congratulations to trial participant 'Young Master Xu, Save Me, I've ended up in the west! It was a random teleportation, my heavens! With my strength, you probably won't even see this message. Huh, this thing actually has no limit' for finding the Lightning-type Origin Stone, awarding 100,000 points. Please keep it safe."