The great war is over.
The two ancient demons, split in two, were completely annihilated. The other was sealed away by Lu Xuan. The remaining task was to use time to gradually and thoroughly erode the demon's last vestiges of consciousness, and then allow Lu Xuan's second nascent soul to possess that body.
Lu Xuan's second Nascent Soul only possesses the cultivation level of the early Nascent Soul stage. However, when combined with the physical body of this ancient demon, it is sufficient to contend with a powerful cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage.
The battle at Fallen Demon Valley had significant consequences in Tiannan. First and foremost, the demonic sects suffered heavy losses. The Ghost Spirit Sect and the Joyful Union Sect were the biggest losers. The Ghost Spirit Sect lost two elders and a handful of elite disciples, suffering a severe blow. The Joyful Union Sect, which had been a formidable force in Tiannan, lost its Grand Elder, the Old Demon of Joyful Union. Having lost a powerful cultivator, the Joyful Union Sect dropped a level in status. The entire demonic sect became much more subdued as a result.
On the righteous path, the losses were also heavy. Although Wei Wuyai of the Huayi Sect survived, all the disciples he had impersonated were wiped out, resulting in a devastating defeat. At the same time, a large number of rogue cultivators were casually devoured and killed by the ancient demons.
Overall, it's not bad. At least it's much better than the original story. Lu Xuan remembered that in the original story, almost everyone who entered the Fallen Demon Valley was wiped out. After the ancient demon escaped, he wreaked havoc in Tiannan. He single-handedly killed nearly half of all the Nascent Soul cultivators in Tiannan.
Later, Tiannan gathered dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators in one fell swoop and launched a desperate attack, finally driving away the ancient demon. However, the vitality of the entire Tiannan region would not recover for at least a thousand years.
Seeing that the ancient demon had been captured, Fallen Demon Valley returned to its previous state.
This time, however, no one dared to wander around searching for treasure. It wasn't that they were afraid, but rather that everyone was tacitly waiting for Lu Xuan to speak.
The Hidden Immortal Sect has actually gained some fame over the years. However, it's mostly valued among the higher-ups of various sects. After all, this is Tiannan, not the Chaotic Star Sea. The Hidden Immortal Sect hasn't directly participated in the war with the grasslands, so its reputation isn't very widespread.
However, after this battle, the Hidden Immortal Sect has undisputedly become the number one sect in Tiannan. Don't believe it? Look at Wei Wuyai, the number one cultivator in Tiannan, who was beaten like a dog by the ancient demon. And what about that ancient demon? It was captured alive by the Hidden Immortal Sect, and it's likely to have its soul extracted and refined.
The Hidden Immortal Sect, which committed such an act, only sent four people from beginning to end. Of course, Marquis Nanlong had something to say about this. "You didn't see that these two traitors of the Hidden Immortal Sect had over a dozen Nascent Soul level puppets stored in their storage bags. If these two wanted to, wiping out the entire Fallen Demon Valley wouldn't be a problem."
The problem now is that Lu Xuan and Han Laomo have demonstrated overwhelming combat power, meaning they have gained greater influence in the Fallen Demon Valley. Coupled with their recent demon-slaying and world-saving efforts, no one dares to act rashly.
After a moment's thought, Lu Xuan understood the nascent soul behind this phenomenon.
"Please don't worry about it. The rare treasures and the opportunities in the caves are all determined by fate. Just do as you please."
Upon hearing Lu Xuan's words, the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. They were truly afraid that Lu Xuan would suddenly become domineering and drive everyone out, taking over the Fallen Demon Valley for himself. Now that Lu Xuan had said everyone could do as they pleased, they naturally scattered like birds and beasts, fearing that Lu Xuan might return.
Having dealt with the ancient demon, the next major objective for the Hidden Immortal Sect in entering the Fallen Demon Valley is to focus on this matter.
Lingmiao Garden, the oldest legend of Fallen Demon Valley. Its origins are lost to history. However, it is said that Lingmiao Garden was a blessed land of a great sect in ancient times. It contained countless rare treasures and various spiritual herbs that were at least ten thousand years old. It was the ultimate opportunity sought by cultivators.
However, Lu Xuan knew that while the legend of Lingmiao Garden was true, that place wasn't actually in the Fallen Demon Valley, or more precisely, not on its surface. It existed behind the countless spatial rifts within the Fallen Demon Valley.
In the original story, when Han Laomo was fighting the ancient demon, he was sucked into a spatial rift and ended up in a fragmented corner of the Lingmiao Garden. Inside was part of a medicinal garden, filled with spiritual herbs over 100,000 years old—even more extravagant than Han Laomo's supposedly cheat-like cultivation. Han Laomo broke through from the early to the middle stages of the Nascent Soul realm in just twenty years there.
What Lu Xuan is looking for now is this kind of spatial rift. Even if he can't find the rift that Old Demon Han encountered, finding others is perfectly acceptable.
Exploring the world behind spatial rifts is an extremely dangerous and insane endeavor. This is because spatial rifts are inherently unstable gaps in the laws governing them.
Behind it might be a passage to another world, or a fragment of a small world, but more likely it's a chaotic spatial storm. Once inside, without the cultivation of the Mahayana stage, one will be torn to pieces instantly.
At the same time, spatial rifts themselves cannot be stimulated using most methods. Otherwise, they could easily collapse and disappear completely.
Lu Xuan had been preparing for this operation for many years. His research into spatial rifts had been ongoing for centuries. One of the advantages of being the head of a super-powerful sect was that Lu Xuan didn't have to do everything himself. Much of the research was conducted by various specialized personnel.
While his natural talent was undeniable, he wasn't a jack-of-all-trades. He lacked the energy to excel in everything. The cultivation world, with its tens of thousands of years of tradition, was teeming with countless talents possessing all sorts of strange and mysterious techniques. Most of them would eventually return to dust. However, after Lu Xuan appeared, he gathered these talents together, providing them with abundant resources to research all sorts of unusual and intriguing problems.
Cultivation requires talent. Many cultivators who know their talent is limited and they cannot progress further choose this path. After all, this path offers sufficient resources for a comfortable retirement.
With Lu Xuan's substantial resource support, the cultivators under his tutelage actually found a viable solution. They discovered a peculiar spirit beast—a male and a female—that shared a magical connection. If either one was injured or witnessed anything unusual, it could quickly relay this information to the other.
This kind of telepathic communication is not uncommon in the cultivation world. What is rare is that these spirit beasts are not particularly intelligent or powerful. However, their telepathic communication is exceptionally strong and stable. It can largely ignore interference from various magical fluctuations. It can even transmit over extremely long distances, between Tiannan and the Chaotic Star Sea.
After some testing, Lu Xuan enhanced these spirit beasts using the Beast God's secret technique. They can now communicate to some extent through the chaotic turbulence of the spatial rift.
The operation is quite simple. Throw one of them behind the spatial rift, then use a secret technique to synchronize the other's perspective. You will then be able to see what's behind the rift.
Although most of the images were just fleeting glimpses, they were enough for a great cultivator like Lu Xuan.
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Chapter 545 Lingmiao Garden?
To gather as much information as possible, Lu Xuan also equipped these spirit beasts with various defensive magical artifacts, ensuring they could survive longer in the spatial rift.
This is because the Hidden Immortal Sect is now large and powerful enough to support this level of consumption. Ordinary sects, even the six major sects of Tiannan, would absolutely not be able to withstand such consumption.
Amidst Han Laomo's pained expression, dozens of magical treasures and those special spirit beasts were thrown into various spatial rifts. Without exception, each one resulted in a fleeting, chaotic spatial storm.
After losing more than twenty spirit beasts in a row, even Lu Xuan was somewhat discouraged. These spirit beasts, though lacking other abilities and with low cultivation levels, were no different from wild beasts in terms of consciousness. However, they were not easy to raise. This time, the total number they brought into the valley was only about thirty pairs.
If one dies, the other is useless. Now, most of them have been used up, and we've gained nothing.
Fortunately, the Demon Valley will be open for about three years this time. Less than a year has passed so far, so there is still plenty of time.
One month later.
"There are only three pairs of spirit beasts left. If we still don't find any clues, we'll have to give up."
Spatial rifts are things that only Mahayana cultivators can personally explore. Lu Xuan, at his current level, dares not enter directly under any circumstances. Therefore, without a safe means, he is prepared to abandon this exploration.
However, perhaps it was Han Laomo's protagonist luck that finally came into play. During the penultimate pair of spirit beasts, Lu Xuan finally saw something different.
"It was the effect of some kind of restriction being activated. Although it was only for a moment, I'm sure it wasn't a spatial storm. It was the effect of a high-energy restriction being activated."
At this point, both Lu Xuan and Han Laomo became slightly excited. The restriction itself wasn't frightening, because its existence implied the presence of human intervention. In other words, they had likely found a fragment of the legendary Lingmiao Garden.
The only problem now is the existence of the restriction. Lu Xuan has read the original novel and knows that the restriction of Lingmiao Garden is not targeted at human cultivators. However, this is something that cannot be gambled on. Therefore, it is still necessary to make thorough preparations. At the very least, sufficient defensive measures must be in place.
Heavenly Talisman Armor is a must, one for each of them. They recklessly pile various defensive magical artifacts onto their bodies. They also carry various small defensive array plates to assist in protecting themselves.
Even with all the preparations complete, it's still not foolproof. But Lu Xuan knows that cultivation and exploration always involve risks. So, when the time comes, it's necessary to take the risk.