Swallowing the Stars: Become Stronger by Taking on Disciples

Chapter 41 Exploring the Mysterious Realm

"Farewell, senior."

Go ahead.

With a thought, Gao Ya felt the black cube within his body tremble slightly, and a spatial force rippled outwards like water, instantly enveloping his entire body.

The next second, he appeared above the clouds in the outer region of Liuchong Mountain.

Recalling the white-robed elder's requirements for passing on his skills, Gao Ya frowned.

Unlike the soul or body, which can be improved through numerous means.

Willpower can only be cultivated through hardship; treasures and secret techniques are useless against it.

Although his cheat ability could replicate the will of his contracted disciples, it was still a drop in the ocean.

Luo Feng's image flashed through Gao Ya's mind.

"Should we wait for Luo Feng?"

Gao Ya immediately dismissed the idea; Luo Feng's willpower during his time as a Realm Lord was just so-so.

After a moment of contemplation, he turned his gaze to the cosmic sea and made a decision: "Since there's no shortcut for now, I'll just have to hone my skills slowly in the black-patterned stone pillar space of the spaceship. Anyway, this cycle of reincarnation is still long."

Without further hesitation, Gao Ya flashed forward, teleporting repeatedly, and sped off towards the spaceship.

At this moment, in the Primordial Universe, the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, the Giant Stone Starfield

In the void, a spatial rift quietly opened.

Zakri stepped out, his piercing gaze sweeping across the desolate star field.

"They've hidden it quite well," Zachlee muttered to himself.

A few days ago, he unexpectedly obtained a treasure map, from which he learned that a secret realm was hidden here. Since he was going to train in those dangerous secret realms in the original universe, he decided to stop by and take a look.

He stretched out his right hand and gently made a slash in the air ahead.

"Sizzle!"

The resilient space of outer space was easily torn apart like cloth, revealing a deep entrance about 100 meters in diameter.

Zachley passed through the passageway into the interior of the space, entering a long, labyrinthine corridor made of flowing light.

"The laws of time, the laws of light... there really is a secret realm." Zachary looked around, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

He raised his hand and waved, and a wisp of extremely condensed ethereal divine power transformed into billions of starlight, scattering across every corner of the entire secret realm.

In the blink of an eye, he had thoroughly investigated the entire secret realm's structure, its core location, and all the life fluctuations within it.

"Huh," Zachary murmured, "So it's a secret realm of inheritance. What a pity."

"There's another poor little fellow," he thought, looking deeper into the maze. There sat an elderly man with gray hair and a blank stare, looking helpless and pitiful.

This person is merely a realm lord; it seems he's been trapped here for some time.

Zachary's divine power surged, and he simply channeled it into his battle blade, then delivered a plain and unadorned horizontal slash into the secret realm.

boom!

The entire secret realm began to tremble violently, and the labyrinthine structure formed by flowing light corridors collapsed with a deafening roar.

The illusion of time created by the Time Lord melted and disintegrated instantly, like ice and snow under high temperatures, revealing a desolate and lifeless land and a bleak gray-white palace.

The elderly man with gray hair suddenly raised his head, and in a short instant, the expression on his face changed from numbness to confusion, and then to blankness.

What happened?

What about a maze?

What about an illusion?

"Whoa!" After a full few seconds of silence, the old man let out an excited roar and scrambled to his feet.

"It's gone! It's gone!"

"Eight hundred thousand years! I can finally leave this hellhole!" he roared emotionally, gesturing wildly and flailing his arms as he vented his despair.

Zachary, standing a short distance away, twitched his lips slightly before interrupting, "Now that you're free, let's get out of here quickly."

Hearing the sound behind him, the old man's wild dancing froze in mid-air. Several seconds later, like a rusty machine, he stiffly returned to a normal standing posture.

He turned around and saw the man with fiery red skin; his pupils contracted sharply.

Just one glance at this man sent a chill down his spine, as if a giant stood before him, his feet firmly planted on the earth, his head piercing the stars, and the surrounding space itself seemed to distort.

"This...!" The old man was overwhelmed with shock. He had only ever experienced this feeling before, when he was the ruler of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom.

That was a long time ago, when he was still a Hengxing-level being. It was the first time he participated in the Cosmic Genius Battle as a student of the Qianwu Dojo. The king saw them off, and he glanced at them from afar.

The elderly man with gray hair quickly bowed his head and respectfully said, "Luo greets Senior."

Zakri nodded expressionlessly: "You can go."

Having said that, he pointed his fingertip at the space in front of him.

"Whoosh!"

A stable spatial rift appeared out of thin air in front of the old man.

The old man, Luo, bowed deeply: "Thank you so much for saving my life, senior!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he impatiently transformed into a streak of light, rushed into the spatial rift, and disappeared.

Zakri withdrew his gaze, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and teleported into the interior of the gray-white palace.

His gaze was sharp as lightning; after a quick sweep, he said, "Do I need to ask you to come out?"

A long, aged sigh, seemingly traversing endless ages, slowly echoed in the hall.

In the center of the main hall, an ancient stone platform rose up, upon which rested a crystal ball that sparkled and shone.

A faint ray of white light shot out from the crystal ball, slowly coalescing in mid-air into a blurry figure of an old man in gray robes, with a faint soul fluctuation emanating from him.

Zachley said, "Interesting, you're actually able to live on as a remnant soul."

The universe is vast, and there are countless races, many of which live in the form of souls.

But unlike other races, once their souls are annihilated, they die completely, leaving not even ashes behind.

Of course, the universe is vast and full of wonders; nothing is absolutely impossible, there's always a sliver of possibility.

"My method of merely prolonging my life is laughable, senior," said the gray-robed elder.

Zakri's gaze fell on the crystal ball, and he asked, "What is this thing?"

"This is a Soul-Suppressing Crystal, crafted from Soul Crystals, capable of storing souls."

"I see. You really went to great lengths to stay alive," Zakri nodded slightly. "If someone were to inherit your legacy, would you perish completely?"

The gray-robed elder said, "Yes, my legacy is contained within this crystal. Once the legacy ends, the crystal will become ineffective, and my soul will dissipate."

"You're really pathetic," Zachary said with a hint of sympathy.

Many powerful figures like to leave behind their legacy before their demise, waiting for a destined person to inherit their mantle. However, most of them leave behind only images, without experiencing pain.

The person before us who chose to leave behind their remnant soul must wait in endless solitude.

If achieving immortality on the path to becoming stronger is a blessing, then achieving immortality on the path to falling is an ordeal.

Zach shook his head. "Why are you being so sentimental? Maybe they're happy waiting."

Clearing his mind of distractions, he said, "I've ruined your legacy, so I owe you a favor. If I happen to meet someone who has any requirements for their disciples, I will pass on your legacy to them."

The gray-robed elder trembled violently. Countless epochs of waiting had driven him to despair. Rather than keeping the inheritance in his hands, it would be easier to entrust it to someone else to take out and find his clansmen.

He bowed and thanked him, "Thank you, senior. My inheritance is only suitable for the people of the Heavenly Soul Clan to cultivate. However, tens of millions of years ago, the Heavenly Soul Clan was wiped out. I don't know if any of the remaining members survived."

"If you ever encounter one of my people, this crystal will automatically sense it. At that time, I would be grateful if you could hand it over to him."

"Of course, if you are interested, you can read the inheritance within the crystal yourself, which should help you comprehend the laws of time."

Zakri laughed. "What's the point of your legacy? Isn't the teacher's legacy better?"

"I'm not interested in your legacy, but your Soul-Suppressing Crystal is quite interesting. Do you have a method for refining it?"

The gray-robed elder said sorrowfully, "The Soul-Suppressing Crystal is a top secret of our clan. The method of refining it is inscribed in the Soul-Suppressing Stele and has been kept by the clan leaders of each generation. After the clan leader's death, the Soul-Suppressing Stele disappeared without a trace."

"Never mind then, I was just curious and wanted to see."

Zachary waved his hand, and the crystal on the stone platform flew into his hand. He then turned and left.

The figure of the gray-robed elder, who was "respectfully bidding farewell to the senior," gradually became ethereal and transparent, eventually transforming into a wisp of starlight and returning to the universe.