’This Land God is probably "crazy," or maybe he’s lost his memory.’
Chu Bai’s mind raced, but he showed no disrespect. Instead, he cupped his hands slightly and said, "I am a Traveler here. I called for the Land God to ask for the way."
He pointed to the Cyan Netherworld above, a sky blanketed in deathly silence, and said slowly, "I wonder if the Land God knows the location of the Celestial Ladder?"
"A Traveler?"
The little old man sniffed warily around Chu Bai, his nose twitching. "You certainly don’t seem like one of this place’s people. You don’t have that stench, and your aura is different."
He turned his head to look at the crack-covered Land God Temple. Pointing at the barely legible characters on the plaque, he tilted his head and thought for a long while. "Land God... Who is the Land God? That name is written on the temple... Could that be me?"
He stood there pondering for a full ten breaths before slapping his thigh in a moment of sudden realization. "It must be me."
"As for that Celestial Ladder you mentioned, I don’t know it. That thing is most likely held by some powerful big shots. However, if you’re asking for other paths, I can lead the way."
Chu Bai wasn’t too surprised by this answer.
’The Celestial Ladder is a manifestation of the rules for this Celestial Examination. Only those who have achieved Merit Perfection can sense it.’
’Expecting a Land God who can’t even remember his own name to point the way was indeed a bit fanciful.’
’But he wasn’t disappointed. Though the Land God was "unstable," as a local Earth Spirit, the information he possessed was still an invaluable treasure to Chu Bai.’
"In that case, please show me the way, Land God. I wish to find some of the Spirit Grass and rare treasures native to this place," Chu Bai said.
’Refining Spirit Grass can yield Merit, and more importantly, it will allow me to glimpse the true depths of this Secret Realm. This is currently my safest strategy.’
"I’ll take you," the little old man said bluntly, but then a trace of foolish hesitation appeared on his face.
"May I ask the extent of your jurisdiction? How far around here does your territory extend?" Chu Bai asked probingly.
’In this vast and unknown Secret Realm, the Land God’s range of movement was critical.’
’If he could only travel a few dozen miles, his value would be greatly diminished.’
"I don’t know. If you want to go, I’ll just take you," the little old man said, sounding a bit impatient. His form suddenly shrank, and he transformed back into the palm-sized, severely cracked clay statue.
"Carry me. Running is too tiring, and this old man can’t handle the strain."
The little old man’s muffled voice, tinged with a matter-of-fact laziness, emanated from the clay statue.
Chu Bai chuckled, nonplussed. He took the clay statue and placed it in the basket on his shoulder.
The instant the clay statue touched him, Chu Bai felt a sudden jolt in his mind.
A Divine Thought, carrying the fragrant scent of rich earth, quietly connected with his own.
"Wherever you direct your thoughts, you can survey the Earth Veins in the area. Where there’s a Spiritual Mechanism, where there’s a deep pit—this old man knows with a single glance. But you must remember..."
The clay statue’s voice instructed by Chu Bai’s ear, "The Evil Qi in this Secret Realm is too dense. If you use this ability too much, I’ll fall back asleep. To keep me awake, you’ll have to find those eerie blue-green pearls for me to eat, understand?"
Chu Bai’s heart skipped a beat.
’This wasn’t just a guide; it was practically a living treasure that could provide real-time updates and ignore the interference of the Evil Qi. How convenient.’
He stepped out of the protective barrier, and his Divine Thought stirred.
Instantly, empowered by the little old man, his Divine Thought’s perception, which originally extended three hundred zhang, was now filled with faint golden threads. They pierced through the layers of ruins on the surface, pointing deep into the Earth Veins.
And about a mile away, beneath the ruins of an ancient well, a soft cluster of Spiritual Light shone up through the ground, guiding him.
"Over there. There’s something tasty," the Land God’s voice echoed in his mind.
With a light tap of his toes, Chu Bai instantly activated Fire Step Ascension, slicing a silent rift through the cyan mist.
’With this "Geographical Advantage" in hand, who among the ten thousand Trial Takers can possibly compete with me?’
A smirk touched Chu Bai’s lips as he, carrying the clay Land God, vanished completely into the depths of the desolate tombs.
Following the faint golden thread within the Earth Vein, Chu Bai sped through the undulating ruins.
The closer he drew to the place dense with Spiritual Mechanism, the thicker the surrounding air became. Unlike the scattered Evil Qi on the outskirts, the aura here presented a strange balance: a sliver of extremely pure life force was being nurtured within a profound, deathly silence.
’Evil Qi and Spiritual Qi are fundamentally just different manifestations of the world’s Primordial Qi. For the abominations in this Secret Realm, a place dense with Spiritual Mechanism is also a treasured feeding ground.’
Chu Bai crouched behind a broken stone beam, his Divine Thought sweeping silently forward like a tide.
At the edge of his vision lay a half-collapsed, ancient Pill Kiln, its dark red bricks scattered on the ground. The dense Spiritual Light was spilling from a fissure in the earth beneath it.
However, surrounding the Spiritual Light, three exceedingly powerful auras were entrenched in a triangular formation.
They were three Late-stage Qi Cultivation Exotic Beasts.
Two of them were Cyan-haired Giant Apes, their eyes closed as they breathed in the Spiritual Light.
The third was far stranger. It had no fixed form, appearing as a basin-sized cloud of black, fiery mist. It drifted silently in mid-air, scorching a black trail even on the hard bluestone ground wherever it passed.
’All are at the Late Stage of Qi Cultivation. I could win a direct confrontation, but it would cause too much of a commotion. If it attracts a swarm of abominations or other Trial Takers, it would be more trouble than it’s worth.’
Chu Bai patted the clay Land God on his back and whispered, "Old man, show me a path to get around those two big ones."
The clay statue trembled slightly, and a winding, shadowy path instantly appeared in Chu Bai’s mind.
Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he pushed Hidden Shadow to its absolute limit. He became like a wisp of wind, sticking to the shadows of the ruins and gliding silently past the very edge of the two Cyan-haired Giant Apes’ perception.
His target was the lone "black fire mist."
’I need to finish this fast, before the other two abominations are alerted.’
’A hundred breaths. That’s more than enough.’
A cold glint flashed in Chu Bai’s eyes. When he was a mere three zhang from the fire mist, he stomped forward.
Fire Step Ascension (Microscopic)!
BOOM!
The gravel beneath his feet exploded as Chu Bai’s figure instantly blurred into a wisp of cyan smoke. Before the black fire mist could even react, he formed a blade with the fingers of his right hand, unleashing a supremely condensed beam of Gold Element sword light.
Golden Eye Breaking Illusion (Microscopic)!
The seemingly illusory fire mist was forcibly torn open by the attack, revealing a frantically pulsing scarlet crystal at its core.
"ROAR—!"
Wounded, the fire mist let out a piercing shriek of its Divine Soul. The black mist then expanded wildly as a torrent of dark red Demon Fire erupted, instantly turning a several-zhang radius into a sea of molten flames. The ground beneath Chu Bai’s feet was instantly carbonized by the intense heat, and the very air warped and distorted from the scorching temperature.
’Flames of this caliber can’t hurt me.’
Chu Bai snorted, advancing instead of retreating. His Magical Power flowed like mercury as he activated the Iron Bone Casting Body Technique. A faint, dark gold luster washed over his skin, and he charged straight through the Demon Fire—hot enough to melt Fine Steel—and arrived right in front of the fire mist.
Formless Cloud Hand!
His hands blurred into countless afterimages, each palm strike packed with immense Power, forcibly compressing and scattering the chaotic black mist.
At the same time, he flicked his left hand.
Spirit Water Needle!
Hundreds of shimmering blue Water Needles traced profound arcs through the air, piercing with perfect accuracy into the fissures of the fire mist’s core from all directions.
The Five Elements countered one another; water extinguished fire.
Following a series of sharp HISSES, the once-unstoppable black fire mist contracted violently before completely disintegrating under a heavy palm strike from Chu Bai.
The seventieth breath.
The rampaging Demon Fire swiftly died out along with its host, leaving behind nothing but a patch of scorched, devastated earth.
Chu Bai reached out with a grasping motion, pulling three round, eerie blue-green pearls from the scattered embers.
’A Late-stage Qi Cultivation abomination really does yield a generous reward.’
Chu Bai had no time to reflect on his gains. His Divine Thought sensed that the two Cyan-haired Giant Apes had been roused by the commotion and were now roaring in fury as they charged in his direction.
With a flicker of his body, he used the lingering black smoke as cover and, with the clay Land God on his back, once again vanished into the depths of the ruins.
’First treasure spot, secured.’

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