Chapter 00453: The Secret at the Bottom of the Swamp Mud River
# The Secret at the Bottom of the Swamp Mud River**
Chapter 453
Novel: Abandon The Universe
**Chapter 453: The Secret at the Bottom of the Swamp Mud River**
Lan Xiaobu once again extended his divine sense downward while simultaneously circulating the *Soul Tempering Technique*.
As soon as his divine sense penetrated the Swamp Mud River, it was devoured once more.
This time, however, Lan Xiaobu was prepared.
Thanks to the continuous operation of the *Soul Tempering Technique*, his divine sense wasn’t completely consumed.
Not only that, but the resistance against this devouring force actually refined his divine sense slightly.
This place truly was suitable for cultivating the *Soul Tempering Technique*.
Since his cultivation couldn’t progress any further, Lan Xiaobu didn’t hesitate to continue pushing his divine sense deeper into the Swamp Mud River.
His *Soul Tempering Technique* had already reached the ninth level.
Based on his understanding of the technique, divine sense should no longer be able to advance beyond the ninth level.
Yet now, Lan Xiaobu felt that his *Soul Tempering Technique* was still improving—was it about to break through to the tenth level?
Whether it was possible or not, his divine sense continued to grow and refine itself.
Half a year later, on a certain day, Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense strengthened once more, and with a resounding boom, his sea of consciousness expanded rapidly.
Not only that, but when his divine sense penetrated the Swamp Mud River again, he no longer felt any devouring force.
In other words, the power within the Swamp Mud River could no longer suppress his divine sense.
His divine sense had surpassed the restrictive power of the river’s rules.
Had his divine sense truly broken through to the tenth level?
Soon, Lan Xiaobu confirmed it—his divine sense had undoubtedly reached the tenth level.
At this moment, his divine sense far surpassed his current cultivation level.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t continue refining his divine sense.
Instead, he unleashed it without restraint, delving deep into the Swamp Mud River.
As his divine sense traveled further into the depths, Lan Xiaobu was shocked to discover enormous cylindrical pillars.
Each of these pillars was tens of thousands of miles thick, slanting within the river, their ends extending beyond the reach of his divine sense.
Slowly sweeping his divine sense across these pillars, Lan Xiaobu sensed the aura of an incredibly powerful formation—it seemed to be some kind of guiding formation.
Giant pillars, a guiding formation, divine sense devouring, and faint traces of divine spiritual energy…
Lan Xiaobu suddenly recalled the fissure in the Silent God Valley.
That fissure had also been widening, and from it seeped divine spiritual energy.
If this divine spiritual energy came from the same source, then it had to be the Divine Realm.
These enormous pillars couldn’t have formed naturally.
If they were artificially placed, what was their purpose? What were they guiding? Were they channeling divine spiritual energy into the Immortal Realm?
A thought struck Lan Xiaobu—what if these pillars and the fissures in the Silent God Valley were connected? Could these pillars be part of a massive transference formation, designed to redirect the Heavenly Tribulation from the Divine Realm to the Immortal Realm? The Divine Realm couldn’t possibly shift the tribulation through sheer force alone.
The pillars beneath the Void Swamp Mud River were likely part of this transference formation, guiding the calamity to the Immortal Realm before unleashing it through the Silent God Valley.
If that were the case, then there must be a boundary intersection point between the Swamp Mud River and the Silent God Valley.
Lan Xiaobu had already decided that once matters in the Leviathan Ruins Sea were settled, he would find a way to return to the Swamp Mud River and investigate further.
If his suspicions were correct, he would destroy this formation.
Regardless of whether he would ascend to the Divine Realm in the future, why should the Immortal Realm bear the disasters of the Divine Realm?
The Immortal Realm’s laws were far more fragile than those of the Divine Realm.
A Heavenly Tribulation that might only destroy a region in the Divine Realm could annihilate the entire Immortal Realm.
He had already deployed the thirty-six formation flags of the *Heavenly Gang Formation Disk*, but whether the disk would actually work, Lan Xiaobu had no idea.
He had only heard rumors about it.
If he could prevent the Heavenly Tribulation from reaching the Immortal Realm without relying on the formation disk, that would be the best outcome.
Just as Lan Xiaobu was pondering how to stop the Heavenly Tribulation from being redirected to the Immortal Realm, Liang Changxu approached him once more.
“Brother Lan,” Liang Changxu greeted respectfully.
Lan Xiaobu opened his eyes and looked at the cautious man standing before him. “What is it now? Hasn’t the ship already crossed the Void Swamp Mud River?”
Liang Changxu quickly replied, “Indeed, but this time, something is unusual. Every time we’ve crossed the Void Swamp Mud River before, massive columns of mud would surge into the sky, and the river’s suction force would grow immensely. Many immortal ships attempting to cross have been dragged into the river because of these mud columns. But this time, the river has been eerily quiet—aside from the usual waves, there hasn’t been a single mud column.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Lan Xiaobu said indifferently.
Liang Changxu said fearfully, “Based on the experience of immortal ships crossing the Void Swamp Mud River in the Leviathan Ruins Sea, if no mud columns rise during the crossing, there’s a ninety percent chance of encountering a void rift afterward. Once such a rift appears, survival is impossible. To this day, no immortal ship has ever escaped a void rift.”
“Void rift?” Lan Xiaobu frowned.
If it truly was a void rift, then this was indeed troublesome.
Liang Changxu said, “I can’t explain it clearly since I’ve never experienced it myself, but I once saw a crystal recording left behind by someone who did. The cultivator who recorded it was quickly swallowed by the rift.”
Before Lan Xiaobu could respond, Liang Changxu took out a crystal sphere.
Lan Xiaobu took the sphere and activated it.
He saw a black hole—small at first, but rapidly expanding to an unimaginable size.
Then, half of an immortal ship was sucked into it.
The recording ended there, clearly because the owner of the crystal sphere had also been pulled into the black hole.
Lan Xiaobu tossed the crystal sphere back to Liang Changxu and stood on the deck of the void immortal ship, frowning as he stared ahead.
There was nothing in front of them—just an open path.
Yet, an uneasy feeling crept into Lan Xiaobu’s heart.
It was a strange sensation, as if his world was about to end at any moment.
Something was wrong.
Lan Xiaobu immediately began carving formation runes.
As an Immortal Formation Emperor, his ability to set up formations with flags was limited by his cultivation and artifact-refining skills.
However, the formations he carved directly with runes surpassed those made with flags.
Now that his divine sense had advanced another major level, he could carve top-tier void formation runes.
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The Leviathan Ruins Sea was dominated by six major powers: the Great Kun Immortal Palace, the Boundless Market City, the Three Immortals Hall, Luanjiao Island, the Leviathan Ruins Immortal Market, and Dragon Roar Valley.
But beyond these six, there were many other formidable forces, such as the Liang Family of the Leviathan Ruins Sea.
Though not officially ranked among the top six, they were privately regarded as the seventh major power.
The fact that the Liang Family operated immortal ships traveling between the Leviathan Ruins Sea and the Immortal Realm was proof of their immense influence.
This wasn’t a business that could be run just by owning void immortal ships—it required deep-rooted power and connections.
The Liang Family’s patriarch, Liang Lianfeng, was one of the most powerful Immortal Emperors.
As for the so-called Half-God Realm cultivators—a false realm—rumor had it that Liang Lianfeng could kill them in an instant.
Of course, the Liang Family also had cultivators in this false Half-God Realm, and more than one at that.
Liang Xuntian and Liang Bianying were both Half-God Realm experts.
Besides them, the Liang Family had three more peak Immortal Emperors: Liang Gujing, Liang Fei, and Liang Yueliang.
As for Liang Changxu, despite his fearsome reputation outside, within the Liang Family, he wasn’t considered particularly important.
At this moment, in the main hall of the Liang Family, ten of their top Immortal Emperors had gathered because of a message sent by Liang Changxu.
It had taken thirty years for this message to reach them.
Thirty years ago, the void immortal ship under Liang Changxu’s control had been seized, and Liang Changxu himself had been imprisoned.
The patriarch, Liang Lianfeng, turned to an elder beside him. “Mo Yan, read out the message from Elder Changxu.”
“Yes.” The elder named Mo Yan stood up and looked at the communication bead. “Patriarch, our Liang Family may have provoked a great disaster. This matter is related to the disappearance of Gu Cai that I mentioned before. The woman named Luo Caisi, whom Gu Cai forcibly took away, has a Dao companion named Lan Xiaobu.”
“Lan Xiaobu pursued her all the way and caught up with our immortal ship at Kunqian Island. I couldn’t discern his cultivation level, but he’s likely not yet an Immortal Emperor. However, his mastery of formations is unparalleled in the Immortal Realm. I’m certain no one in the Immortal Realm surpasses him in formations—he’s a supreme Immortal Formation Emperor. Using his formations, he restrained me in just a dozen breaths and sealed my cultivation. It took me thirty years just to barely manage to send this message back…”
The Half-God Realm elder Liang Xuntian snorted. “What exactly was Liang Gu Cai trying to do? As a direct descendant, he was supposed to be out gaining experience, not stirring up trouble.”
Everyone understood Liang Xuntian’s meaning—if you’re going to cause trouble, at least pick your targets wisely.
Provoking an Immortal Emperor was one thing, but provoking an Immortal Formation Emperor?
Another Half-God Realm elder, Liang Bianying, said coldly, “When Gu Cai took that Luo Caisi, he didn’t know Lan Xiaobu was an Immortal Formation Emperor. Besides, Gu Cai is a direct descendant of our Liang Family. Everyone knows about his innate talent and why he was sent out. Once his talent awakens, who in the entire Leviathan Ruins Sea will be his match? At that time, our Liang Family will dominate the Leviathan Ruins Sea. So what if he took a few women? That’s just his true nature. Should our Liang Family have to live in fear of a rogue cultivator?”
Liang Lianshan remained noncommittal, simply saying, “Continue reading.”
“At the time, I was furious—until Lan Xiaobu mentioned that he had annihilated the Silent God Valley.”
Mo Yan’s words plunged the entire hall into silence.
Annihilated the Silent God Valley? The Silent God Valley’s strength was arguably unmatched in the Leviathan Ruins Sea.
Even the Great Kun Immortal Palace might not compare.
Liang Xuntian looked at Liang Bianying. “Elder Bianying, do you still think it was right for Liang Gu Cai to casually take people?”
Liang Bianying’s face darkened.
Though the Liang Family held a lofty position, in the eyes of the Silent God Valley, they were nothing.
Mo Yan continued reading, “I believe that no matter what, we must not make an enemy of this man. Given the current speed of the Kunpeng, I estimate it will take no more than twenty years to reach the Leviathan Ruins Sea.”
No one spoke.
Everyone understood Liang Changxu’s meaning—this was a warning for the Liang Family to prepare in advance.
Whether they chose to fight or negotiate, they had to decide quickly.
(End of Chapter)