I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 232 Return
Somewhere in the holy land.

Eighteen array pillars formed a circle, with a dark cave suppressed in the center, which was the entrance to the abyss.

At the entrance to the abyss, several figures gradually emerged.

When they were finally outside the range of the formation and back under the sky, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Finally back."

Wu Ming was also among them. Looking up at the azure sky, he also let out a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of liberation.

Compared to the outside world, the environment of the Abyss is extremely harsh. Although one can survive in it after the body has achieved six blood clotting processes, it does not mean that one can live comfortably in the Abyss.

Returning to the sacred place and breathing in the fresh air under the sky again felt like a drowning person surfacing again.

The others, such as Chu Chen and Fang Zhe, were also very relaxed and smiled.

"Fellow disciples, now that we have returned to the sacred land, it is time for us to part ways."

"See you later."

"Hahaha, I'm off!"

After exchanging greetings, the group laughed and went their separate ways in different directions.

Wu Ming discerned the direction and quickly arrived at the side hall at the foot of Zhongfeng Mountain in the sacred land.

Here he received resource points to guard the desolate stone vein for three months, and then went to the rear hall to exchange for various supplies.

“Disciple Wu Ming has come to exchange for resources.”

Wu Ming entered the hall, bowed respectfully to one of the guardians in the rear hall, and spoke in a respectful manner.

The protector glanced at Wu Ming casually, then tossed a jade talisman over with a slight flick of his wrist.

There are too many disciples in the Holy Land, and even the number of Grandmasters is unknown. Wu Ming has not yet become a Grandmaster, so he is nothing special. The guardians guarding the rear hall will not say much to him.

Wu Ming reached out and caught the jade talisman, placing it between his eyebrows. Instantly, a wisp of light merged into his thoughts, and a wealth of information appeared in his vision.

Exchanging resources was something he was already very familiar with.

"Wind-stabilizing Stone".

Wu Ming quickly found what he needed.

His purpose in guarding the desolate stone vein this time was to replenish resource points. One of the uses of these resource points was to exchange them for a rare and precious artifact that could assist him in cultivating the fourth Dharma form.

Long ago, he had already chosen the fourth Dharma form he would cultivate, which was called the Heavenly Gang Wind Profound Dharma Form.

Among the many Dharma forms recorded in the Holy Land, this is also a top-tier Dharma form, comparable to Thunder Essence, Heaven Burning, and so on.

The reason for choosing this Dharma form is twofold: firstly, its level is high enough to match the Thunder Element Burning Heaven and other similar methods; secondly, its nature is wind-based, leaning towards neutrality, and it does not conflict with thunder, fire, earth, or evil.

in this way,

The four Dharma forms he will master will span earth, fire, wind, and thunder, encompassing the two Heavenly Generals and the two Earthly Fiends, forming a balance.

The Wind-Stabilizing Stone was worth exactly 5,000 resource points, no more, no less, and its quality was just right. After choosing the Wind-Stabilizing Stone, Wu Ming also selected several other basic resources needed for daily blood qi tempering.

The guardian in charge didn't say much. He waved his hand, retrieved the jade talisman, and then sent someone to retrieve the resources for Wu Ming. In a short while, all the resources were handed over to Wu Ming.

With these resources, he returned to Qingming Peak.

Just as Wu Ming returned to the foot of Qingming Peak, someone approached him. It was Yu Yangyan, a senior brother from the middle peak of Qingming Peak.

"Junior Brother Wu."

When Yu Yangyan saw Wu Ming return, he immediately smiled.

Over the years, he had had several encounters with Wu Ming and was quite familiar with him. He knew that Wu Ming was talented and rarely caused trouble, so he treated Wu Ming with great kindness.

"Senior Brother Yu? Is something the matter?"

Seeing that Yu Yangyan was guarding the foot of Qingming Peak, Wu Ming guessed that something was wrong and immediately asked.

Yu Yangyan smiled and said, "Junior Brother Wu, you just returned from a mission? Well, there have been changes in the Abyss. Master has ordered all disciples under Qingming Peak to be prepared, as there may be orders to transfer Qingming Peak disciples to the Abyss at any time."

"I see."

Upon hearing this, Wu Ming looked enlightened.

"Junior Brother Wu already knew?"

Seeing that Wu Ming didn't seem surprised, Yu Yangyan spoke to Wu Ming with slight astonishment.

Wu Ming shook his head and said, "I don't know about the Qingming Peak incident, but I just returned from the Abyss and I know about the changes there. It seems that the Holy Land is already making preparations to deal with it."

The upheaval in the Abyss appears to be larger than he anticipated. If the disciples of Qingming Peak have all received instructions, then it's possible that disciples from all the peaks of the entire Holy Land have been summoned. This could very well be a major battle to defend the Abyss.

"So Junior Brother Wu just returned from the Abyss."

Upon hearing Wu Ming's words, Yu Yangyan suddenly realized what was going on.

Wu Ming hesitated for a moment, then said, "Senior Brother Yu, I may be trying to break through to the seventh level of cultivation soon. Could you give me some time to go into seclusion?"

Yu Yangyan smiled and said, "Breaking through to the seventh level is a good thing. Why would I stop you? Even your master wouldn't stop you. If you can break through to the seventh level, your master will most likely summon you again."

"The task of guarding the Abyss was not originally intended to force all disciples of Qingming Peak to go; some would remain behind."

After hearing Yu Yangyan's words, Wu Ming breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Now, having undergone a trial in the Abyss, his primordial spirit power has become increasingly profound. He anticipates that it won't be long before he reaches the limit of the sixth refinement and then attempts to break through to the seventh refinement.

The current upheaval in the Earth Abyss is not a good time for him. After all, judging from his previous experience guarding the desolate stone veins, even a top-tier expert at the sixth level of cultivation would have little power to protect himself in the event of a large-scale war breaking out in the Earth Abyss.

Faced with such a great battle, he naturally hoped that his realm could be raised to another level. Although he now had some means to deal with a Grandmaster of the Seven Refinements and Seven Bloods, those means were still worlds apart from his true advancement to the Seven Refinements realm.

Now,

After bidding farewell to Yu Yangyan, Wu Ming returned to his cave dwelling.

Yu Yangyan watched Wu Ming's retreating figure and smiled slightly. He was somewhat impressed. Wu Ming was indeed very talented. He had only been with Qingming Peak for a little over five years, but he had not only broken through to the sixth level of cultivation, but was also close to the limit of the sixth level, and was qualified to challenge the seventh level.

However, reaching the seventh level of refinement is not so easy. Compared to the bottleneck of the sixth level, this step is almost ten times more difficult. Just like him back then, he wasn't much slower than Wu Ming in his cultivation, but he was stuck at the bottleneck of the seventh level for twenty years!
Seventh refinement, eighth refinement, ninth refinement!
Starting from the level of a grandmaster, every step is incredibly difficult.

This is understandable, since the transition from the sixth to the seventh level of refinement is a huge hurdle to becoming a grandmaster. Once you reach the seventh level, you are qualified to establish your own sect in many small places.

"I wonder how long it will take him to break through to the seventh level of cultivation."

Yu Yangyan certainly didn't doubt that Wu Ming could reach the seventh level of cultivation. The main reason was that anyone who could enter the sacred land of cultivation either died on the way or could reach the seventh level; it was just a matter of when.

It's practically impossible to succeed on the first attempt at the seventh level of cultivation. However, with Wu Ming's abilities, he might only need two or three attempts to cross this threshold. And the accumulation of those two or three attempts would only take another five or six years at most.

"Beyond the Grandmaster level, every step is difficult, like climbing to the heavens. I wonder when I will be able to break through the bottleneck of the Eighth Refinement?"

Yu Yangyan looked up at the sky and murmured to himself.

It has been nearly twenty-four years since he achieved the seventh level of cultivation. Six years ago, he had already cultivated his primordial spirit to the limit of the seventh level, but he failed twice in his attempts to break through to the eighth level.

As a disciple of the Holy Land, it is not difficult to cultivate to the Seven Refinements and Seven Bloods, but to break through to the Eight Refinements and become a Grandmaster is not something that everyone can do. Often, in the Holy Land, it is difficult for one Grandmaster to emerge out of ten Grandmasters.

As for the ninth level of refinement, less than one in a hundred survives!

It should be known that everyone who achieves the ninth level of refinement is qualified to establish their own peak and lineage within the Holy Land. To date, there are only a little over a hundred peak masters in the Holy Land.

Martial Saints and Dao Saints who have undergone nine refinements and nine blood trials can at least survive one or two tribulations and live for two or three thousand years. However, throughout the two or three thousand years of the Holy Land, there have only been a hundred or so peak masters.

……

A cave at the bottom of the mountain.

Carrying a long spear and a bundle on his back, Wu Ming strode forward.

As soon as they entered the cave, someone came to greet them. It was Yan Chuyu, who had come to the Holy Land as Wu Ming's subordinate.

Five years have passed in the Holy Land, and Yan Chuyu appears more mature than when she first arrived. Of course, this maturity is limited to her temperament; in terms of appearance, there hasn't been much change.

Young martial artists with talent like Yan Chuyu locked away their blood energy early on, so even when they reached their forties or fifties, their appearance wouldn't change much.

Besides,

Yan Chuyu has now entered the Five Blood Realm.

Even though she was only a follower in the sacred land and had no resources, she relied on the environment here, where the primordial energy of heaven and earth was far more abundant than that of the Hidden Dragon Academy, and her cultivation efficiency was extraordinary.

"Wu Ming, you're back. What's the abyss beneath this sacred land like? It's probably very different from Jingye City."

When Yan Chuyu saw Wu Ming return, she immediately smiled.

Although she was an attendant, she and Wu Ming were acquainted, so Wu Ming would never really treat her as an attendant to be ordered around. Rather than an attendant, it would be more accurate to say that she was staying here to cultivate.

Here, she focused on her own cultivation, remaining very diligent, and naturally paid close attention to Wu Ming's affairs, trying to understand almost everything, even though she couldn't help much with most of it.

“Very different.”

Wu Ming nodded slightly to Yan Chuyu and said:
"Jingye City is not even worthy of being called an abyss; at most, it's just some deep fissures formed by the rupture of the earth's veins."

“Even experts who have reached the fifth level of Blood Condensation cannot stay in the Abyss for long. They need to reach the sixth level of Blood Condensation to be able to ignore the harsh environment of the Abyss.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Chuyu was also moved and said, "That is indeed extraordinary. I was just thinking about when I would have the chance to go to the Abyss. It seems that my strength is still a bit lacking."

As a follower, there wasn't much she could do in the Holy Land, especially when it came to resources; often, she wanted to earn them but had no way to do so.

She couldn't accept most of the missions in the Holy Land, not because she wasn't strong enough, but because those missions were essentially 'training' and 'rewards' for the disciples of the Holy Land, and followers couldn't enjoy these benefits.

but,

There are still some places she can go.

For example, the Abyss is one of them. If she goes in to explore, whatever she gains will be hers. However, these places without restrictions are often quite dangerous.

"Forget about it in the near future. Even if you can break through your cultivation level, don't go to the Abyss. Something has happened down there, and there will probably be a great battle, and we don't know how long it will last."

Wu Ming shook his head at Yan Chuyu and said.

Yan Chuyu often consulted him, and he was very clear about Yan Chuyu's strength and realm. After more than five years in the Holy Land, Yan Chuyu was still some distance away from the limit of the five bloodline, but not far away.

In a few more days, she will be able to attempt the sixth blood clotting stage. However, this stage is easy for the disciples of the Holy Land, but it will be quite difficult for her. Breaking through will not be so simple.

"I see."

Yan Chuyu nodded immediately after hearing Wu Ming's words.

For her, being able to enter the Holy Land for cultivation was an almost indescribable opportunity. If she had stayed in Yong Kingdom, she might not have been able to reach the fifth level of Blood Condensation by now, but after coming here, she has already reached this level and caught up with her father, Yan Yuntian.

She even has some time left to try to achieve six blood clotting trials, which already satisfies her.

If she can reach the sixth level of blood clotting, and possesses some royal blood of the Yong Kingdom, her status will be extraordinary when she returns to the Yong Kingdom, and she may even be granted the title of 'princess'.

And if...

She couldn't help but steal a glance at Wu Ming.

Although she was obsessed with martial arts, she was not stupid. She knew very well why she was assigned to follow Wu Ming, and she knew that she had gotten to where she was today all thanks to Wu Ming's care. Both her maternal grandfather and Prince Yong wanted to see her take her relationship with Wu Ming to the next level.

But she had known Wu Ming for many years and knew what kind of person he was. He had a Daoist heart and a martial spirit that were more resilient than hers. He was a person who was truly focused on cultivation.

A person focused on spiritual practice would not be distracted by romantic love, and she would not disturb Wu Ming's spiritual practice either.

"These are some demon cores. Please help me deal with them."

Wu Ming noticed Yan Chuyu's gaze but did not respond. Instead, he opened his bundle, took out a few items, and tossed them to Yan Chuyu. These were some ordinary spoils he had obtained while guarding the desolate stone vein, including some demon cores from killing the Six Transformations Great Demon King.

These resources were of little use to him, and he was too lazy to spend time dealing with them. However, they were invaluable resources to Yan Chuyu.

Say it.

Wu Ming then walked deep into the cave and entered the secluded meditation room.

Yan Chuyu accepted the demon cores Wu Ming gave her, silently holding them in her palm. She watched Wu Ming's figure disappear into the depths of the cave until it vanished completely. Then, she took a deep breath and turned to leave.

(End of this chapter)