Chapter 1688
Crack
Hearing Li Zhirui's sigh, the female cultivator said, "You don't need to worry about spending too much time. You only need to break one of the restrictions to open a crack in this cage, and you can forcefully break it down."
"You have been trapped for many years, so you must have a good understanding of these restrictions, right?"
Reminded by her, Li Zhirui immediately realized what she meant and said with a smile, "Although you are trapped inside the barrier and unable to break it, now that I'm here, you might as well tell me directly, so as to save some time."
This was actually a test for him, to verify whether this person was really trapped here for many years, as she claimed.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. This body of mine is not my true self. My original self fell into a deep sleep a long time ago in order to delay being devoured. Although this part of my soul can share memories, its spiritual strength is weak and it has no way to break these restrictions," the female cultivator explained softly.
"I see." A glint of light flashed in Li Zhirui's eyes. Even he couldn't tell whether these words were true or false.
But just in case, he still instinctively remained vigilant and cautious.
After all, she didn't explain why she wanted to delay being devoured, or what was being devoured.
He then stopped speaking and focused on examining the restrictions surrounding him. Since he was unfamiliar with these restrictions, he randomly selected one and began to study and break through them.
'This is a restriction concerning the laws of suppression…'
Li Zhirui never expected that the restriction he randomly chose would turn out to be one of the important ones.
He then looked at the other restrictions nearby and was surprised to find that these restrictions were either for suppression, absorption, or sealing.
Further afield, there are various other restrictions such as those that prevent spirits from being extinguished and those that induce sleep.
Judging from these restrictions, this person is probably not a kind person.
"By the way, may I ask why you were suppressed here?" Li Zhirui asked casually, as if asking a question at random.
"It's alright to tell you."
A bitter expression appeared on the female cultivator's face as she said, "By chance, I obtained a Taiyi-level innate spiritual seed, but I accidentally let the news slip and it was discovered by other cultivators."
"When I was driven into a corner, I thought I couldn't let them get away with it, so I swallowed the spirit seed and refined it, so that they wouldn't get it either."
"But to my utter surprise, that spiritual seed took root and sprouted in my dantian, transforming me into the form you see now."
"When those cultivators saw this, they were reluctant to destroy the Taiyi-level innate spiritual seed, so they suppressed me here, hoping that the spiritual seed would completely devour me and turn me into an innate spiritual root. In this way, they could master an innate spiritual root."
"A Taiyi-level innate spiritual root?"
Even Li Zhirui, who was usually calm and collected, couldn't help but be moved when he heard the news.
"If you truly rescue me, I am willing to give you three spirit seeds. Although they are not innate spirit objects, they are still Taiyi-level spirit seeds! Heaven can attest to this!"
"Then I shall accept it without hesitation."
How could he possibly refuse a chance to obtain a Taiyi-level spirit seed?
Even if the spirit seed is most likely an orchid, it's better to have something than nothing. Besides, it might not be unusable for alchemy. It's better to put more effort into deriving the alchemy method.
After that, Li Zhirui stopped speaking and began to concentrate on breaking the restriction, hoping to resolve it as soon as possible.
After all, being three thousand miles underground was a huge pressure for him, constantly draining his magical power.
If these restrictions weren't so complex that he couldn't perfectly replicate them, he wouldn't be stuck here enduring such immense pressure.
Seeing that Li Zhirui was truly taking it seriously, the female cultivator breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself: Just as I expected!
The person I deduced, despite the cost of falling into a long slumber, was indeed the extraterrestrial being who helped me escape my predicament.
Once I get out, I will definitely settle all the scores for what happened back then!
The thought flashed by, but the intense resentment in his eyes sent chills down one's spine.
……
Time flies, and I don't know how much time has passed.
In order to break the restriction, Li Zhirui's aura became somewhat weak, which made people feel that he was very concerned and working hard.
Seeing this, the female cultivator couldn't help but nod slightly, once again marveling that she was indeed her destined one.
But in reality, most of the way he acted was a facade, a performance for her.
Even now, Li Zhirui still harbors some suspicions about her, so he needs to remain vigilant and leave himself an opportunity to resist or escape.
After a period of time of deciphering, he had a pretty good grasp of the contents of the restriction and began to try to break it.
"Hmm? Something's not right."
However, when he actually started working on it, things were slightly different from when he had cracked it before, and it suddenly became much more complicated.
Fortunately, the structure has not changed fundamentally, it has just become a bit more complicated, requiring him to put in more effort and thought.
"Your Excellency need not worry. I have been trapped here for tens of thousands of years, so a little longer won't make a difference," the female cultivator reassured her.
"Ah."
Li Zhirui simply responded with a faint "yes" before focusing most of his energy on breaking the restriction.
click-
More than an hour later, a sound of a lock being opened rang out. The restriction he had broken slowly dissipated in front of him and then disappeared.
"The restriction has been broken. Could you please give me the other half of the method you promised, as well as the three Taiyi-level spirit seeds?" Li Zhirui suddenly asked.
"Ha ha……"
Upon hearing this, the female cultivator chuckled and said, "You don't need to be so wary. I have no intention of breaking the contract."
Before she finished speaking, she reached out and flicked out four beams of spiritual light, which stopped in front of Li Zhirui.
These spiritual lights were the very spiritual objects she had promised.
After scanning the items with his divine sense and confirming that there were no problems, Li Zhirui put all four spiritual items into his storage magic treasure. However, the moment he got his hands on them, he immediately sent them into his space to prevent them from having any marks left by the other party.
"Now that this matter is settled, I shall take my leave."
After leaving those words, he flew towards the ground at top speed.
Rumbling--
Behind him, the cage filled with restrictions suddenly erupted with a deafening roar, followed by a terrifying force that spread outwards, like an earth dragon turning over, causing the earth to crack and collapse, resulting in all sorts of disasters.
"Are you in such a hurry?"
Li Zhirui frowned slightly. He didn't know if the other party was doing this on purpose or was simply eager to break free and gain freedom, but he was indeed implicated.
In order to avoid being hit by this enormous force, he could only continue to increase his speed and frantically flee towards the ground.
Fortunately, as he got closer to the ground, the force weakened considerably, and at least it no longer threatened his life.
After a while, Li Zhirui finally burst out of the underground and saw the long-lost sunlight and sky. But he didn't even have time to breathe the fresh air and flew north without stopping.
He needed to leave Youlan Prefecture immediately, because barring any unforeseen circumstances, there would be no peaceful days to come.
If the female cultivator wasn't deceiving him, the situation in Youlan Prefecture might be even more dangerous and chaotic than in Lichou Prefecture.
If Li Zhirui wasn't mistaken, the other party was a Golden Immortal before she was trapped, and the cultivators who were able to suppress her back then should at least be Golden Immortals as well.
So many years have passed, and perhaps some of those cultivators have already achieved the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
And for that Taiyi-level innate spiritual root, it's hard to guarantee that the Taiyi cultivator won't take action himself.
If they can't find that female cultivator, they will definitely conduct a large-scale search. If Li Zhirui, this extraterrestrial being, stays here, isn't he just waiting to be discovered?
Therefore, for his own safety, he had to leave this place as soon as possible.
Not long after he left, a large hole suddenly opened at the foot of the mountain covered with all kinds of orchids, and a beam of azure light flew out from it.
The light dissipated, revealing the female cultivator!
"After ten thousand years, they've finally come out..."
She said with a sigh, "The years I spent imprisoned deep underground were so long that I forgot about sunlight and air."
But the next moment, her expression changed abruptly, and she said through gritted teeth, "Fu Yuan, Kong Tong, Qing Lin, Hua Ning! You just wait! It won't be long before I come looking for you!"
His voice revealed endless chill and resentment.
Her original human body also underwent a tremendous change, and an enormous orchid, hundreds of feet long, appeared in this land.
Then a faint light emanated from the roots, spreading in all directions like a tide.
Wherever she went, all the orchids she touched withered and turned into essence, which was absorbed by her body.
During this process, her main body also unleashed a terrifying suction force, pulling in all the spiritual energy within a thousand miles and absorbing it all without any worry about an explosion.
From a distance, it looked like a giant tornado had appeared out of nowhere, which was extremely frightening and terrifying.
"What happened?"
The monks within this area were completely bewildered and terrified, having no idea what was happening.
Seeing the orchids around me wither and die in large swaths, I realized that the spiritual energy in the world had become extremely thin.
"Could it be that some supreme treasure of heaven and earth is about to be born?" A greedy cultivator suddenly had this thought.
However, most cultivators still felt that this was a very terrifying danger and dared not approach it easily, instead trying to stay as far away as possible.
However, they soon realized something was wrong, because no matter how far they retreated, the eerie light, like a tidal wave, could always catch up.
Although I didn't feel like my spiritual energy was instantly drained, I could clearly feel it decreasing.
"What kind of strange phenomenon could possibly cover the entire Youlan Prefecture?!"
These strange phenomena only stopped when some of the cultivators retreated to the border of Youlan Prefecture. They were all dumbfounded and shocked.
Given such a bizarre situation, how could they dare to linger here?
They flew away as fast as they could, not daring to approach Youlan Prefecture, for fear that the eerie light would take their lives.
"hiss!"
Knowing the reason behind all this, Li Zhirui stood on the border of Yunjing Prefecture, looking at Youlan Prefecture, which was originally full of various orchids, but is now a barren land, and couldn't help but gasp.
"Is the power of a Golden Immortal really that terrifying?"
He had had brief contact with the Golden Immortals before. Although he didn't know them well enough, he was certain that they couldn't possibly do something like this!
"Could she be about to break through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm?"
This thought suddenly popped into Li Zhirui's mind.
Only this reason can explain why she possesses such power.
Although she suffered from tens of thousands of years of suppression and imprisonment, and was tortured to the point of unbearable pain, perhaps it was precisely this experience that allowed her to break through her cultivation level. Once she was born, she directly broke through her cultivation level.
At the same time, Li Zhirui felt incredibly lucky. Fortunately, she didn't intend to harm him; otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to escape.
However, none of this matters to him now that he has left Youlan Prefecture!
Li Zhirui's guess was correct; the female cultivator was indeed about to break through to the Taiyi Realm, and it went very smoothly. The entire breakthrough process was extremely seamless, without encountering any obstacles.
Rumbling--
Still at that great mountain, layers upon layers of ominous clouds had gathered above it.
With a deafening roar, the first bolt of tribulation lightning pierced through the sky!
The lightning struck straight down on the hundred-foot-tall orchid, and in the next instant, it emitted a thin layer of light that completely blocked the tribulation lightning.
Not only that, she also easily passed through the next few lightning strikes.
Nine consecutive lightning strikes failed to force her to unleash her full power.
The terrifying Taiyi-level lightning tribulation posed no threat whatsoever to her, which seemed unbelievable.
As for the inner demon tribulation, it became nourishment for her, making her Taiyi Realm after her breakthrough even more solid and robust.
From the moment the first lightning bolt struck to the moment he successfully broke through, it took less than an hour!
The speed of this breakthrough is terrifying; few people would believe it if they didn't know.
After she successfully broke through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, she did not stay in one place, but flew eastward, seemingly having found a suitable destination.
……
Let's rewind to the moment when Li Zhirui broke the seal and the female cultivator escaped.
In a certain cave in the Myriad Profound Realms, several Golden Immortal cultivators suddenly opened their eyes.
"impossible!"
Although they were quite far apart, their expressions were somewhat similar: shock and disbelief.
Then they gathered together as quickly as possible.
They exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, they knew why the others had come.
"The seal that sealed Tianlan has been broken!"
One of them said in a serious tone, "It seems that the fact that she was extremely weak when we investigated her before was just a pretense!"
If that's true, how could they possibly break through the barrier now? (End of Chapter)