Chapter 00132: The Treacherous Nine Continents Mountain (Silver League's Desperate Gamble +2)
# The Treacherous Nine Continents Mountain (Silver League's Desperate Gamble +2)
Chapter 132
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 132: The Treacherous Nine Continents Mountain (Silver League's Desperate Gamble +2)
When it was Lan Xiaobu's turn from the two-star sect, it had already been twenty or thirty minutes.
After verifying his sect identity token, Lan Xiaobu stepped into the Four Seas Universe Pouch.
Upon entering the door of the Four Seas Universe Pouch, darkness enveloped him.
At that moment, Lan Xiaobu felt as if he were standing exposed for all to see.
A shiver ran down his spine; he knew he had at least done one thing right—he hadn't brought his spatial ring inside.
If he had, all the items within might have been revealed.
His storage pouch only contained a few hundred low-grade spirit stones and some low-level pills.
However, that cold feeling quickly faded, disappearing within seconds, as Lan Xiaobu found himself standing on a patch of sandy ground.
The darkness around him lifted, revealing a sky covered in a grayish haze, reminiscent of smog back on Earth.
There were no other people on the sandy ground, and Lan Xiaobu didn't rush forward.
He felt increasingly certain that the selection process set by Qiu Zhan from Nine Continents Mountain was a trap.
He chuckled to himself, thinking that trusting these supposedly impartial major sects would only lead to trouble.
After a while, a few figures swept past him.
Lan Xiaobu compressed his divine sense to a radius of about twelve miles, which was average for cultivators at the Golden Core stage.
He dared not extend his divine sense beyond a hundred miles, as the owner of the treasure would surely sense his remarkable divine might.
Even though his divine sense was restricted to about ten miles, its strength surpassed that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.
He quickly detected certain lurking beasts in the sandy ground.
He didn’t even need to penetrate the sand with his divine sense; just sensing the fluctuations of vitality in the sand was enough.
Lan Xiaobu was confident that those below the Transformation stage would find it difficult to perceive such life fluctuations.
The cultivators entering the Four Seas Universe Pouch were all under fifty years old, and to break through to the Transformation stage before that age, one would have to be exceptionally talented.
Lan Xiaobu quickly maneuvered past the lurking beasts, surging ahead of over a hundred figures in no time.
Just as he was about to cross the halfway mark of the sandy area, a thought crossed his mind.
He purposely glided over a lurking beast.
An eight-armed sand octopus shot up, causing Lan Xiaobu to awkwardly tumble sideways.
It seemed his streak of good luck had run out; he immediately encountered another concealed sand creature.
The sand creature opened its mouth and tore a strip from Lan Xiaobu's trousers.
Fortunately, he managed to punch it back several feet and escape.
Lan Xiaobu deliberately slowed his pace.
If he continued at his previous speed, he might soon find himself in the leading position.
Even with his slower pace, he still frequently encountered sand beasts, continuously surpassing some earlier entrants.
After navigating the sandy desert, he entered a swamp.
When Lan Xiaobu witnessed a Golden Core cultivator from a three-star sect being devoured by a sharp-toothed crocodile, an even colder sensation washed over him.
What had once been a slightly favorable impression of Nine Continents Mountain now felt like mere trash in his mind.
This was clearly a man-made deathtrap.
If Qiu Zhan owned this treasure, he could easily prevent the swamp crocodiles from harming people.
Lan Xiaobu slowed down again, vowing never to participate in such a cavernous competition again.
After dodging several swamp crocodile attacks, he closely followed a few disciples from five-star sects as they traversed the swamp.
Beyond the swamp lay a massive volcano, not entirely ablaze but with sections allowing brief passage.
Standing at the volcano's base, Lan Xiaobu sensed that without fortified bodies, cultivators would likely lose their lives trying to cross it.
As a few five-star disciples entered the volcano, Lan Xiaobu followed suit.
When flames swept toward him, he put on a panicked expression, swiftly dodging the fire and landing in a flame-free spot.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted a disciple from a five-star sect being encircled by flames.
Suddenly, a watery shield surrounding him appeared, protecting him and pushing him to safety.
Indeed, five-star disciples possessed deep capabilities.
That was definitely not a treasure; it was a fusion of true essence and divine sense, a technique marvelously impressive.
It reminded him of his own divine sense shield, each with its strengths.
His divine sense shield mainly resisted mental attacks, while the disciple's watery shield could deflect both magical and physical attacks.
Unfortunately, since this was someone else's treasure, he couldn't replicate that technique.
In the following moment, Lan Xiaobu's heart sank.
The five-star disciple was once again engulfed by flames, and then...
There was no more after that.
The flames here were over ten times stronger than ordinary fire, as if they were specifically targeting him.
With his head down, Lan Xiaobu desperately charged forward, only to find himself caught in flames as well.
Soon, his clothes and hair were scorched, and he appeared gravely injured.
No one knew that this was intentional on Lan Xiaobu's part.
If it weren't for him practicing the Undying Technique, he could even convert the fire into vitality energy.
He suspected that Qiu Zhan set him up, particularly since the five-star disciple's impressive technique might have caught his eye, leading him to want it for himself.
Though it was just a guess, Lan Xiaobu felt he was mostly correct.
What were the chances that the precise moment someone showcased a special technique, they were then taken down?
Thankfully, a glance from the corner of his eye caught it; otherwise, would he have been silenced?
Lan Xiaobu soon convinced himself that Qiu Zhan likely didn’t realize he had seen the disciple perish.
Since his Divine Refinement Technique had reached the fourth stage, his sight was far superior to an average cultivator, easily doubling their range.
As long as Qiu Zhan regarded him as a typical cultivator, he wouldn't suspect that he had seen anything.
With thousands of cultivators participating in the test, the scrutiny couldn't be that meticulous.
After enduring half his life in those flames, Lan Xiaobu finally emerged from the volcano, catching sight of the exit of the Four Seas Universe Pouch.
Seeing several disciples ahead move out, Lan Xiaobu staggered out of the Four Seas Universe Pouch.
The moment he stepped out, the sight of Kunxu Plaza made him feel as if he had just danced on the edge of death.
If given another chance, he would rather avoid Kunxu than enter a private treasure for selection.
“Xiaobu, junior brother…” Upon his exit, Shan Qianyue and others hastily rushed over, their faces brimming with excitement.
Then they beheld Lan Xiaobu's forlorn appearance, as if he had been pulled from a fire, completely charred with singed hair.
No one laughed at Lan Xiaobu; that was due to his ranking—seventh place.
At the exit of the Four Seas Universe Pouch, a middle-aged man smiled at Lan Xiaobu and said, “Congratulations, this is your Kunxu token.”
As he spoke, he handed Lan Xiaobu a small pouch, in which he detected ten tokens at a glance.
In the distance, a group approached, clearly intending to target Lan Xiaobu's tokens.
“Let’s go, we can talk later.” Lan Xiaobu swiftly headed towards the Thousand Clouds Immortal Sect's base before those people could say anything.
“Sect Master Lan, if there are any surplus Kunxu tokens, I would like to purchase them from you at a satisfactory price,” a chubby merchant called out from afar.
“What's the use of spirit stones? I have top-tier pills and some treasures here. As long as Sect Master Lan trades me a Kunxu token, everything can be negotiated.”
“Sect Master Lan…”
Lan Xiaobu’s identity had been thoroughly investigated; everyone knew he was not a disciple of the Thousand Clouds Immortal Sect but its sect leader.
Standing at the sect’s entrance, Lan Xiaobu clasped his hands together and said, “Fellow Taoists, I was heavily injured while traversing the Four Seas Universe Pouch and nearly perished. I will go clean up and rest for a bit, then I will come back to trade with you shortly. I also have five extra Kunxu tokens I am willing to trade.”
“Yes, yes, Sect Master Lan, please take your time. We will wait here,” the merchants eagerly responded, realizing Lan Xiaobu was truly willing to trade, making them all the more agreeable.
Everyone desired Kunxu tokens, but typically, the top ten slots were taken by disciples of major sects.
Not only would ten slots suffice for them, but even a thousand would be used up; how could they offer tokens for trade?
Only the two-star Thousand Clouds Immortal Sect would offer Kunxu tokens in such a manner.
Only four disciples from their sect had come, and yet they still had six tokens left.
“Xiaobu, junior brother, this is for you,” as soon as Lan Xiaobu entered the dwelling, Shan Qianyue handed him the cloth pouch, which contained his storage ring.
“Thank you so much.” Lan Xiaobu secretly felt relieved; had he really worn the storage ring into the Four Seas Universe Pouch, he might have lost his life.
It was always good to be cautious.
After returning to his allocated room, Lan Xiaobu quickly used his divine sense to capture everything he saw with a crystal ball, followed by washing up and changing into clean clothes.
When Lan Xiaobu emerged, he found that there were at least several thousand people gathered outside the Thousand Clouds Immortal Sect.
“Sect Master Lan, congratulations!” Meng Ao called from afar, clasping his hands in respect, eager for a Kunxu token from Lan Xiaobu.
Without hesitation, Lan Xiaobu took out a token and handed it to Meng Ao, saying, “City Lord Meng, thank you for your care that day. This token is a gift for you.”
Meng Ao grasped the token excitedly, but he replied, “You can’t give it for free. How about I pay you what others paid?”
Meng Ao knew well that having spirit stones didn’t necessarily guarantee one would acquire such a token.
Lan Xiaobu waved his hand, laughing, “Ha ha, City Lord Meng, do you look down on me, Lan Xiaobu? If I say it’s a gift, then it’s a gift.”
Sometimes, free things were the most precious.
(End of this chapter)