Chapter 饥渴 Thirst?

Fatigue?

Exhaustion?

Born as an immortal being, a natural-born Zhu Shi (a type of Daoist priest), he had never felt such sensations before, and was momentarily stunned.

Russell looked up at the three great suns radiating light, finding them almost blinding?

"Trying to drag me down to the level of a short-lived species, and then defeat me?"

Russell took a deep breath, the scalding air exploding within his body, instantly making him feel even hotter.

If it were anyone else, they would probably be unable to resist inhaling the spiritual energy within this dream to replenish their own, but he would not. Because he knew that the first step of a nightmare was to exert influence.

What you gain is never more than what you lose.

But he was also very clear that if that short-lived species wanted to trap him, it would have to pay an even greater price.

Thirst, exhaustion, heat, pain… a tidal wave of agony rose from this corpse-like, rotting body, impacting his mind and spirit.

But his spiritual will was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. As if unaware, he stepped into the wind and sand.

A mere illusion, what was there to fear?

Russell's expression was indifferent, his heart even colder, as he allowed the sunlight to shine upon him, and the days and nights to pass.

One day, two days, three days…

He did not expect that this journey would last a full ten days!

For ten days, he still saw no change. Day after day, it was nothing but endless desert, so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard. No people, no beasts, not even insects.

On this day, Russell finally stopped.

But it was not because he saw the edge of the desert sea, nor anything else, but because this dying body, even with his powerful spiritual will, could only support him until now.

"Then let's see, whether you can outlast me, or I can outlast you."

Russell stood on the yellow sand, his upper and lower teeth clicking together, but making no sound, because his body, including his tongue, had all fallen off the moment he stopped.

He was dead.

And until this point, he had not swallowed a single mouthful of the 'extraordinary spiritual energy' that was omnipresent on this desert sea, which would have allowed him to last much longer.

Not even a single mouthful.

Dazed.

Darkness.

Chaos.

Narrow.

Scalding hot…

As if in an instant, yet also after a long, long time.

Russell slowly opened his eyes, his vision filled with swirling yellow sand, and the boundless desert sea.

Burning, pain, thirst, and fatigue swept over him once more…

Everything seemed to have returned to the beginning.

"Heh~"

Russell chuckled softly, the cold killing intent in his heart almost unbearable.

But in an instant, he had suppressed the killing intent and anger in his heart, and as before, stepped into the yellow sand.

High above in the sky, Lan Lingtong (Blue Spirit Child) watched this scene, and for the first time, a hint of coldness rose in its heart, sensing a trace of terror.

It had never seen such a nightmare.

It also found it hard to believe that within a newly emerging, lower civilization, there would be such cruel punishment.

Yes, cruel.

At this time, what Russell was experiencing had another meaningful name in the Xuan Xing, Da Xuan civilizations:

Avici!

Its meaning being,

Those who suffer in this realm, their suffering has no interruption.

Those who suffer in this realm, suffer continuously without interruption.

Those who suffer in this realm, their lives have no interruption.

Those who suffer in this realm…

There is a Buddhist saying: those who receive a body in Avici never die, and longevity is the great tribulation in Avici Hell.

This is the most ruthless method targeting the 'immortal species'. Living long will be the most terrifying disaster.

"Mr. Monster, your methods are really cruel…"

Lan Lingtong muttered to itself.

Desert, ice mountains, purgatory, death grounds… Russell was separated into layers of dreams, simultaneously experiencing incredibly terrifying things.

And this was not the most terrifying part.

If Russell could step out of this endless Avici, returning from the layers of dreams as one, the pain and torment accumulated this time would erupt all at once.

At that time, could the Nightmare Hydra clan, known for its chaos, stabilize its mind?

As the Three-Hearted Lan Lingtong thought, a trace of awe involuntarily rose in its heart, feeling that beneath the gentle and calm exterior of that 'Mr. Monster', lay the dangers of mountains and rivers.

Cruel and ruthless beyond imagination.

"You've already gone to this extent, what else can I do?"

The Three-Hearted Lan Lingtong was somewhat at a loss again.

Avici takes boredom as the greatest torture, and any intrusion would only disrupt this terror, which is completely undesirable.

For a time, Lan Lingtong did not know what it could do.

Could it just watch?

…

Whoosh~

Trees rapidly flashed past the car windows on both sides.

Chu Fan skillfully maneuvered the vehicle through the winding roads, driving at a steady speed on the straight sections, gradually entering the city.

"Mr. An, do you really not want this Bigu Dan (Pill of Grain Avoidance)?"

Casting a glance at the back row, which was filled with Zitan (red sandalwood) wooden boxes, Chu Fan felt a little regretful: "The Bigu Dan has been improved and is much more effective than before."

An Qisheng closed his eyes to rest in the passenger seat, without opening them, he said lightly: "Give it to you."

The Qi Seed has initially replaced the Xuan Xing aura. Although it is still a long way from completely replacing it, it no longer needs 'Bigudan' to support its consumption.

In fact, if the Qi Seed had not initially replaced the Xuan Xing aura, his rapidly transforming physique, no matter how many Bigudan were supplied, would have already been depleted of energy and blood, just like Yang Ming who he had seen before.

"That won't do."

Chu Fan shook his head.

He was entrusted to deliver this Bigu Dan, so of course he knew the value of this Bigu Dan.

Since batches of dreamers descended until now, it has been half a year, but the Qi Seed seems to be the limit they can carry.

Half a year in reality, more than five years have passed in the dream, but no one has been able to condense the Qi Meridians.

It is not because of insufficient Zhenqi (true energy), or because there is no method to condense the Qi Meridians, but because of the physique!

The limitation of physique has once again widened the gap between countless ordinary dreamers and many powerful martial artists and military martial artists.

The tempering of the physique cannot be supplied solely by the Zhenqi Seed. Therefore, this Bigu Dan, which once supplied the martial artists who had achieved the realm of Seeing the Gods, was immediately hyped up.

Especially the newly developed fourth-level Bigu Dan, which is stronger than the previous Bigu Dan that supplied the martial artists who had achieved the realm of Seeing the Gods, is worth as much as three million yuan per pill, and is in short supply.

There are as many as a thousand Bigu Dan placed here, how dare he accept such a heavy gift?

"Then take it back."

An Qisheng waved his hand, still in the dream.

In the past six months, the number of dreamers has not increased as sharply as before, and those who have died more than twice have also been deprived of their status as dreamers.

Therefore, after half a year, the number of dreamers now may not be as many as it was half a year ago.

But even so, the carrying capacity of the dream still requires him to be careful at all times. Russell, after a long period of torment, may explode at any time.

Once it explodes, it will inevitably be earth-shattering, a battle to the death.

Naturally, he would not be careless, nor could he be careless.

The ability attached to Russell's bite of the gate of another dimension was too powerful. If it was not handled well, it would probably usher in even greater terror.

For An Qisheng, who already knew Russell's cards, he could not, was unwilling, and even more did not want to play the game of "the little one is beaten, and the old one comes" with this Nightmare Hydra clan!

An Qisheng did not speak, and Chu Fan naturally did not dare to disturb him. After more than half a year of dream cultivation, he had made great progress, but in front of this Mr. An, he could still feel a sense of trembling from the inside out.

'Mr. An is even more unfathomable than before… I really don't know what level he has reached.'

Driving the car, Chu Fan was still guessing in his heart.

He had seen a weapon ranking in 'Wangquan First Year'. This An Qisheng was ranked second, a top master of Qi Meridians. Now, how terrifying would he be?

"Do you know why they don't come to see me?"

An Qisheng suddenly spoke.

Chu Fan frowned slightly, and then realized that An Qisheng was talking about Wang Zhixuan and Jiang Shili.

"I don't know."

Chu Fan shook his head.

"When you know, you will probably understand what level I have reached."

Saying that, An Qisheng slowly opened his eyes, his gaze fell outside the window, and the airport had already arrived: "Alright, let's stop here."

"Mr. An, you haven't left Tianlian Mountain for more than half a year. Are you going to see Master Xue today after going down the mountain?"

Chu Fan opened the car door and still asked curiously.

"Yes, but not entirely."

An Qisheng pondered for a moment and answered.

"Then what is it?"

Chu Fan was slightly stunned.

"Mr. An, your plane ticket is for a flight to Baodao in half an hour."

Knowing that An Qisheng was coming, a member of the Special Affairs Bureau who had already bought the ticket ran over and handed the ticket over.

"Thank you."

An Qisheng took the ticket, and without answering Chu Fan's question, he waved to him slightly and walked towards the airport.

The member of the Special Affairs Bureau followed behind him, and for some reason, he always felt that this Mr. An was very different from more than half a year ago.

Especially his footsteps, which seemed to have a heaviness like the stars and moon.

After getting on the plane, there was no conversation along the way. An Qisheng closed his eyes to rest, and the member of the Special Affairs Bureau was cautious.

When he arrived in Baodao, the sun was setting in the west. Although it was not dusk, the day was not so hot.

At the same time that An Qisheng took the flying sword to Baodao.

Behind the Xue Family Manor in Yangming Mountain, in the pavilion in the heart of the lake, Xue Zheng, who was closing his eyes and fishing, trembled slightly, scaring away the fish that was about to be hooked.

"Master Xue, you?"

Su Jie was slightly surprised.

Xue Zheng was already a top master of Da Xuan decades ago, one of the three great Seeing the Gods Grandmasters. His Kung Fu was superb, and in recent years, his Jin (strength) changes have become more sophisticated. The fact that he could not hold the fishing rod must be because he was too surprised.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Jing Xiaolou also noticed Xue Zheng's gaffe and couldn't help but be shocked.

He had followed Xue Zheng for many years and rarely saw him have a gaffe. The last time was before that door descended…

Pa-da~

Xue Zheng put down the fishing rod, looked far into the sky, his eyes showing a trace of indescribable meaning: "So, the legend is true…"

"What legend?"

Jing Xiaolou and Su Jie followed his gaze, but saw nothing, and were even more curious.

"Lao Tzu's Hangu Pass in Xichuan…"

Xue Zheng's eyes moved and he slowly opened his mouth: "Purple Qi Comes East for Thirty Thousand Miles."