12dz Chapter 40 The Land of the Dispersed
Chapter 40 The Land of the Dispersed
Several hours later, Du Fan returned to the Spirit Garden with a palm-sized gray cloth bag in his hand, looking preoccupied. He ignored the medicines in the Spirit Garden and went straight back to the thatched hut.
"It seems that this trip is not as risk-free as Uncle Shen said, but if we follow Elder Xu's plan, there shouldn't be any major problems."
Du Fan murmured, glancing subconsciously at the palm-sized gray cloth bag in his hand.
"Storage bags?"
Du Fan was familiar with this storage item, as every disciple wore a similar storage bag on their waist. Of course, Ye Feng was an exception among the disciples of Kongsang Sect; his storage item was a Qiankun Ring, which was presumably much better than a storage bag.
Although storage bags belong to the category of magical tools, they do not require magical power to activate. As long as one's cultivation reaches the Quasi-Qi Refining stage and some divine consciousness is generated in the soul, a wisp of divine thought can be generated to activate the storage bag.
The sect had prepared many contingency plans for this mission, all of which were naturally stored in this storage bag.
Following his uncle Shen's instructions, Du Fan sent a wisp of his divine sense into the storage bag and examined its contents. Inside, there was a small, independent space, containing all the items. With a single pat on the bag and his divine sense, he retrieved all the items and scattered them onto the wooden bed.
Du Fan looked closely and saw several talismans shimmering with various colors, a silver longsword about half a zhang in size, and a small blue booklet. Finally, Du Fan's gaze fell on a disc about half a foot in diameter. This disc was entirely white, with a groove on the side containing a low-grade spirit stone. There were several small black dots on the surface of the white disc, two of which were moving. This disc was the positioning magic tool prepared for them by the sect, called the Positioning Magic Disc. This magic tool could be activated with a spirit stone and did not require magic power. Once they entered the Dispersed Land, they would need to use this to find the demonic beast.
Du Fan shifted his gaze, glancing at the silver longsword. He had chosen it himself; the sect had provided them with various weapons for self-defense, including knives, forks, swords, and halberds. As the saying goes, "One year for a knife, ten years for a sword, a hundred years for a spear," and after only a brief consideration, he chose the easiest to use: the longsword. This sword was forged entirely of refined iron, and with the application of a special technique, it could emit a sharp blade aura, striking with deadly force, much like the method used by the two quasi-Qi Refining stage outer disciples of the Yao family when they encountered the Black Tiger Gang while escorting spiritual herbs.
Finally, Du Fan picked up the small blue booklet, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to read and study it. This booklet was naturally a secret manual for cultivating the mind that could emit blade light. He had to thoroughly understand it within three days and be able to use it skillfully so that he could have a better chance of self-protection in the Land of Scattered Lands.
For the next three days, Du Fan did not refine the essence of the liquid, but instead focused on cultivating the contents of the blue booklet. In fact, this technique was modified from cultivation magic, and then cast using mortal martial arts techniques. Its power was between martial arts and magic, and it was a common method used by quasi-Qi Refining stage cultivators. It was not difficult to cultivate, and Du Fan mastered it in just two days.
On the last day, he naturally regulated his breathing and meditated to bring his body to its optimal state.
"Du Fan, you can come out now!" Shen Hong's deep voice suddenly rang out.
Du Fan, who was meditating with his eyes closed, slowly opened them, took a deep breath, got out of bed, and walked out of the thatched hut.
"These three talismans are a Speed Talisman, a Strength Talisman, and a Defense Talisman. Keep them safe." With a flick of his arm, Shen Hong sent three talismans flying straight towards Du Fan.
"Thank you, Uncle Shen." Du Fan's eyes flashed, he reached out and took it, glanced at it and was delighted, then put it into his storage bag.
"Okay, let's go."
Shen Hong nodded and walked out of the spirit garden first, with Du Fan naturally following closely behind.
……
Two hours later.
In a dense forest on the back mountain, a dozen or so disciples dressed in the attire of the Kongsang Sect stood there. Most of them were inner sect servants, but there were also three Foundation Establishment deacons dressed in green Daoist robes, and a Golden Core elder dressed in dark green Daoist robes.
Among the inner sect servants, Du Fan, Wang San, Zhang Dashan, and others were prominently featured, and one of the three Foundation Establishment deacons was Shen Hong.
Before them, there was nothing but a dense forest.
"I believe you all understand the mission of this trip, so I won't waste any more words. As for my Five Elements Beast, it would be best if you could capture it alive. If not, don't hesitate to kill it. In any case, you must obtain that token on this trip. Success is rewarded, failure is death!"
The speaker was the white-haired old man in a dark green Taoist robe. His face was dignified, exuding authority without anger, and his eyes gleamed with a sharp light, suggesting he was a wise man. However, his expression was gloomy at the moment, presumably because of the fact that his pet magical beast had stolen the token. The others, including the three Foundation Establishment deacons, all stood respectfully with their hands clasped, appearing as if they dared not utter a sound.
"Alright, my three junior disciples, we can begin!" The Golden Core Elder glanced at everyone present, then fixed his gaze on the three Foundation Establishment deacons. His expression softened slightly as he spoke in a low voice.
"Yes, Uncle Xu!" The three Foundation Establishment deacons were startled and dared not be negligent. After bowing respectfully, they stepped forward in unison. With a single hand flip, a small green flag appeared in each of their hands. The three flags were identical in shape and aura. When they first appeared, they were only about a foot in size. As the three made hand seals and chanted incantations, the surface of the flags immediately flashed with spiritual light, and tiny runes also appeared. Then the flags began to tremble violently, and a buzzing sound emanated continuously. Before long, the three flags suddenly changed amidst the flashing spiritual light. After swaying in the wind, they instantly transformed into three large green flags, each two zhang in size.
The three Foundation Establishment deacons abruptly stopped chanting their incantations and simultaneously tossed the three banners forward. The banners came to a steady stop several feet in front of them in the air, and with a flash of spiritual light, they converged to form a triangle with sides of two feet. With a "boom," they landed on the ground, kicking up dust. Inside the triangle was a green light curtain, like the surface of water, rippling with blue waves. Within it, scenes vaguely appeared, but they were like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water, seemingly illusory.
"The entrance to the Land of Scattered Souls has been opened. You all hurry inside. After you've accomplished your mission, return to the entrance. Seven days later, the three of us will open the exit for you. Hurry up and go!" Shen Hong's voice was loud and clear, his words slightly hurried. It was clear that maintaining the opening of this entrance was quite strenuous for the three Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Yes!" The group of inner sect servants, who had been staring in disbelief, were startled upon hearing this. They quickly walked over and rushed into the green light screen. After a blur, they disappeared into the light screen. A moment later, the inner sect servants had vanished without a trace.
The three Foundation Establishment deacons breathed a sigh of relief and put away their spells. With a single gesture, the green triangle in front of them emitted a low hum and flashed with green light. A moment later, it transformed into three large green banners that flew back towards where the three were standing. After swaying in the wind, they shrank back to about a foot in size and landed in front of the three, where they were easily retrieved.
"Uncle-Master Xu!" After completing this series of tasks, the three Foundation Establishment deacons breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to the Golden Core elder in unison.
"Very good. The three of you will return here in seven days to guide them. If they fail, kill them here. Let's go. We still have to deal with the sect's disciple competition in two days." Elder Xu's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he turned and left with a wave of his sleeve.
"Yes, Uncle Xu!" All three Foundation Establishment deacons felt a chill in their hearts.
……
Du Fan felt a sudden darkness before his eyes and a heavy feeling in his head. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in another world. He didn't rush to observe this space, but immediately looked around and found that the other dozen or so inner sect servants were there. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
They stood on a gray stone slab more than ten feet long and wide. After a brief look, they found that this space was no different from the outside world. Looking around, they saw a green meadow beyond the stone platform, a dense forest hundreds of feet away, and towering mountains in the distance. Everything seemed normal, except that something was missing: life. They could not sense the presence of insects, fish, birds, or beasts. It was unusually quiet here.
Looking up, the sky was not high, only about a thousand feet high. Above the sky, there was neither sun nor moon, only a gray and hazy color, lifeless and devoid of any vitality, so much so that this world seemed to be frozen at the moment of dawn.
"Fellow disciples, let's rest here for a quarter of an hour, and then, as Elder Xu said before, let's begin the search for the Five Elements Beast."
The speaker was a burly man dressed in the robes of an outer disciple. Judging from his appearance, he was a rugged and forthright person.
His name is Han Mang, an outer disciple. However, due to violating the sect rules, he was disqualified from the sect competition and was sent here to perform this mission to atone for his crime. He was also designated as the person in charge of this mission, and the other servants on this mission must obey his orders.
The others naturally had no objections. They didn't speak to each other, but simply cupped their hands in greeting to Han Mang before sitting down cross-legged and beginning to meditate and regulate their breathing.
After sitting cross-legged, Du Fan looked around the space again, a thoughtful expression gradually appearing on his face.
"Besides plants, there must be other life forms. If there are no insects, fish, birds and beasts, it means that the food chain in this space has been broken. With each link connected to the next, an ecological crisis would have already occurred. How could this place still be in such perfect balance as it is now..." Du Fan thought to himself, but his expression remained calm and he did not reveal anything. However, he was determined not to be careless on this trip.