Dashing Student
Chapter 1416: Ghost City Fengdu
The long strands of silkworm thread had one end plunged into the void, while the other end wove into a cocoon, drawing in the nature’s spiritual energy from the Spirit Stones within, and the Space Power never once dissipated.
Chen Nan’s idea had worked; he could use Spirit Stones as a core energy source to create a small Cultivation Room, where time would be stretched tenfold, giving him ten times the amount of cultivation time.
His Divine Sense swept once outside the Immortal Palace Space and found that the Divine Calculator was still healing, so he relaxed and chuckled. "Then I’ll cultivate for a while."
He poured out a Demon Spirit Pill from the Blood Gourd, refined from the corpses of the Ape Clan Great Demons he had previously collected. It was of immense help to his cultivation of the "Demon Ape Form."
Sure enough, after he swallowed the Demon Spirit Pill, his whole body was shrouded in a blood-colored airflow. One strange movement after another was executed, carrying a peculiar rhythm.
Crackling sounds came from every part of his body, the sound of being stretched to the limit, as if he would be torn apart in the next moment, yet he remained at the very edge of tearing.
Both flesh and bones were slowly improving under the nourishment of the Demon Spirit Pill, and the cultivation progress of the "Demon Ape Form" was climbing rapidly.
No one knew how much time had passed. Immersed in cultivation, Chen Nan could no longer sense the flow of time. He maintained a bizarre posture, like a giant ape holding up the sky, completely motionless.
All of a sudden, a dense demonic power erupted from his body, surging up like rolling black mist. In the void behind him, the phantom of a giant ape emerged, letting out an earth-shaking roar!
Right after, his body suddenly swelled—one zhang, two zhang, three zhang... becoming like a giant. His muscles bulged as if they contained the power to destroy everything.
Chen Nan suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within. He exhaled a long, turbid breath. The power within him quickly contracted, and his body size gradually returned to normal.
"’Demon Ape Form’—Great Success!"
He clenched his fists, feeling the surging might inside his body, and grinned. After such a long period of cultivation, he had finally cultivated the "Demon Ape Form" to the Great Achievement Realm.
He was only one step away from crossing into the Perfect Realm and completely mastering the Demon Ape’s power.
Although the results of cultivation were very satisfying, when he looked at the pile of powder on the ground, Chen Nan still felt a stab of pain in his heart, because these were all Spirit Stones that had been sucked dry.
And all of them were top-grade Spirit Stones!
By rough calculation, this round of cultivation, just to maintain the Time Domain, had consumed a full hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, granting him ten months of cultivation time. This was also his first time in closed-door cultivation for so long.
Outside, only a single month had passed. The effect of the Time Domain had already begun to show its formidable side, but the consumption was equally astonishing.
If not for Chen Nan’s considerable wealth, he simply wouldn’t be able to sustain such a massive expenditure, and even for him, it meant he would have to go search for more Spirit Stones.
Chen Nan sat back down cross-legged and took out the Blood Gourd, pouring out a Demon Spirit Pill. This Demon Spirit Pill was quite different—there was a silver pattern on its surface, and it radiated majestic demonic power.
The origin of this Demon Spirit Pill was also extraordinary; it had been refined from the corpse of an Ape Clan Demon King, and it was the only Demon King Level Demon Spirit Pill in his possession.
"Once I refine this Demon Spirit Pill, the ’Demon Ape Form’ should be able to reach perfection." Chen Nan muttered under his breath, but he did not swallow the pill immediately.
Because his Divine Sense had discovered that the Divine Calculator was already awake and currently looking for him, cursing and grumbling, calling him "disloyal" and such.
With a thought, Chen Nan exited the Immortal Palace Space, then slowly walked out from a corner. Seeing this, the Divine Calculator shot toward him like an arrow.
"Where did you go? I thought you’d already left!" The Divine Calculator lightly hammered Chen Nan’s chest, his eyes wide open.
"Just took a stroll around," Chen Nan answered with a smile, not exposing the secret of the Immortal Palace Space. "How are your injuries?"
The Divine Calculator patted his chest proudly. "A mere minor wound. This Daoist never took it seriously at all."
"Did you find anything around here?"
"Nothing at all. In fact, aside from us, I didn’t find any living creatures. We still have to make a trip into that city." Chen Nan looked toward the gigantic city in the distance.
The Divine Calculator was somewhat worried, yet also extremely excited. When he had just reached the bottom of the Heavenly Cutting Abyss, he had already been full of curiosity about this city.
After all, he very much wanted to know what kind of beings could live beneath the lightless depths of the Heavenly Cutting Abyss.
After a bit of preparation, the two of them set out toward the giant city. After only a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the city gate. The gate was wide, and above it were three large characters: "Fengdu City."
"Damn it, this can’t really be Hell, right? Are we already dead?" The Divine Calculator stared at the three characters on the gate, his eyeballs almost popping out.
Although no one had ever seen Hell or the Six Paths of Reincarnation with their own eyes and those things seemed to be mere legends, Fengdu City was the Ghost City of legend!
Chen Nan slapped the Divine Calculator across the face and asked, "Does it hurt?"
"Nonsense!" The Divine Calculator clutched his face. "How about I slap you once and we see?"
"Then we’re still alive," Chen Nan said very seriously.
The Divine Calculator nodded, but quickly reacted. "Why don’t you hit yourself? No way, hurry and let this Daoist hit you back. I promise I won’t use my full strength!"
Chen Nan noticed that he had secretly summoned his Compass and quietly infused a strand of power into his arm. Knowing the man couldn’t play fair, Chen Nan hurriedly walked toward the city.
As they reached the gate, the massive doors rumbled open. But the scene inside left them both stunned on the spot; it was very different from what they had imagined.
The houses in the city were scattered in an orderly fashion. The pedestrians on the streets were dressed simply, their words and behavior no different from people outside the Heavenly Cutting Abyss. There were also vendors hawking at the roadside, and the cacophony of noise poured directly into their ears.
On the surface, this was just a bustling city, and the residents living inside were undoubtedly human. There was no Mana fluctuation on these people, yet every one of them exuded a thick Yin Energy.
"This... how can there be so many people at the bottom of the Heavenly Cutting Abyss?" The Divine Calculator’s eyes were opened wide, his heart filled with doubt.
Chen Nan shook his head. "I don’t know. Maybe they originally lived here."
"Impossible! Look at the ghostly aura on them; maybe they’re ghosts!" The Divine Calculator pointed at the pedestrians on the street and shouted.
"You’re a cultivator and you’re afraid of ghosts?" Chen Nan chuckled softly. "And this might not even be because of them. I discovered earlier that here, even a rock is saturated with Yin Energy."
"Living here, it would be strange not to have Yin Energy on them. I just don’t know how these mortals manage to survive within such Yin Energy."
While the two were speaking, a thin man suddenly stepped out from the side. His dull eyes looked at them, and a smile slowly spread across his face.
"Welcome, outsiders!"