Bei Suting slumped to the ground, still resembling a withered corpse, though her aura was strengthening. Had Lan Xiaobu not possessed Primordial Vitality, she would have perished the moment he severed her link to the void transfer.
He fed her several pills, followed by another Five-Coloured Immortal Mushroom. The mushroom melted upon entering her mouth, swiftly permeating her body.
For Lan Xiaobu, he’d done all he could to help. If this wasn’t enough to save her, he’d still given his all.
After setting up a spirit-gathering divine array for Bei Suting, Lan Xiaobu didn’t immediately tackle the Divine Origin Pill Sea. Instead, he summoned array flags to seal off this section of space.
The pill energy Bei Suting had absorbed was transmitted through the void. Though he doubted the culprit could teleport here, Lan Xiaobu took no chances, erecting a void seal to block any possibility. What if—just what if—they did teleport over?
Whoever could use a cultivator’s body as a void transfer conduit was not someone Lan Xiaobu thought he could outmatch.
With the space secured, he approached the Divine Origin Pill Sea. Probing it with his divine sense, he found it still impenetrable. The Cosmic Dimensional Model’s structure-building was painfully slow—clearly, it wouldn’t open anytime soon.
At that moment, he was grateful he’d used void array patterns to create a conduit at the spot where the pill energy was absorbed. Otherwise, this trip would’ve been for naught.
For a pill sea like this, his Great Cleaving Technique likely wouldn’t suffice. Not only was it questionable whether he could breach its seal, but the technique would surely tear the entire sea apart. He might salvage some pills, but most would be shredded into dust.
His current skill couldn’t wield the Great Cleaving Technique with enough precision to avoid damaging the pills within.
That wasn’t the main concern, though. If he cleaved it open, who knew how this space might react? A collapse could occur, and while his life wouldn’t be forfeit, he’d be forced into the Cosmic Dimensional Model. Once there, heaven knew where he’d end up.
His divine sense settled on the void array patterns he’d laid. Soon, he noticed the spatial channel he’d forged to the pill sea was shrinking. Given time, it would vanish entirely.
Impressive, Lan Xiaobu thought, inwardly admiring the work. This was undoubtedly the doing of whoever imprinted Bei Suting—a master of arraycraft beyond belief. Why they hadn’t stayed to cultivate here, opting instead to siphon the energy through her, was a mystery.
Fortunately, he hadn’t forcibly opened this entrance himself, or it would’ve collapsed completely.
He began inscribing more array patterns. As they took hold, the dwindling rift to the pill sea widened again.
In half a day, it expanded to several丈. Still too small for Lan Xiaobu, he kept working.
The rift grew from a few丈 to dozens…
When it neared a hundred丈, the space creaked ominously. He couldn’t push further—any more, and it might collapse.
Such a massive opening could let him enter and sweep the pills away directly, but Lan Xiaobu held back. Something told him entering the pill sea might trigger unpredictable consequences.
He etched teleportation array patterns, then carved a vast space within his Longevity Realm. Activating the patterns, the pills flowed out like a white ribbon, streaming into his realm.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t cultivate during this time—he had to monitor the teleportation array closely. Without his attention, the conduit would shrink.
Three months passed. A small pill sea formed in his Longevity Realm, yet the one before him seemed only half-depleted—at least within his divine sense’s reach. Beyond that, he couldn’t perceive its depths, his sense confined to a limited range no matter how hard he tried.
When the space in his Longevity Realm filled up, he didn’t stop. He opened a conduit to the Cosmic Dimensional Model and began funnelling pills there.
Another month later, to his astonishment, the pills within his divine sense’s reach were gone. Though the pill sea’s bottom wasn’t visible, what lay beneath was 108 chaos divine spirit veins—or at least those he could detect.
No, that was just what his sense could touch. The pills in that area were exhausted.
Those chaos divine spirit veins formed a Grand Cycle Array, drawing in cosmic divine spiritual energy, condensing it into new pills.
What a treasure—each chaos divine spirit vein could drive someone mad with desire, and here were 108.
He had a couple hundred top-grade spirit veins, but they paled in comparison to chaos veins.
Lan Xiaobu wouldn’t leave them behind. He inscribed more array patterns, intent on dragging them all away.
“Brother Lan, did you save me?” A frail voice interrupted. Turning, he saw Bei Suting awake, leaning against the wall, her eyes filled with lingering fear.
“Yes, someone imprinted a memory mark on you. Luckily, I arrived in time, or you’d have no chance of regaining your mind. Heal for now—I’ll take these chaos spirit veins,” Lan Xiaobu said, activating the transfer array.
A rumbling echoed as the space trembled. Lan Xiaobu wondered if it might collapse entirely.
That wasn’t his biggest worry, though. He sensed several chaos veins trying to slip away, along with parts of the pill sea beyond his reach, merging into the void…
After finally finding these veins, he wouldn’t let them escape.
Without hesitation, he burned his blood essence, frantically inscribing void teleportation patterns. One by one, the chaos veins were pulled into the Cosmic Dimensional Model.
Boom! The space began to crumble. A terrifying void-rending sensation hit him—Lan Xiaobu couldn’t stay. Not even a quasi-sage or true sage could linger now.
He spun around, grabbed Bei Suting, and, like a bolt of lightning, tore through the stone wall to escape.
A devouring force chased him from behind. Even after passing the white jade platform, he felt he could be sucked back at any moment. All he could do was repeatedly cast Mirror Teleportation.
…
At the Abyssal Relic’s pill spring site, over ten thousand people stared eagerly at the central fountain. A full day had passed since the last eruption—a single pill hadn’t emerged.
This was abnormal. Typically, the longest gap was two hours, with eruptions often occurring multiple times within one.
“Could the pill spring be entering another dormant phase? How else could a day pass without a single pill?” someone wondered aloud.
“No way. It goes dormant every five years, and it’s been less than a year since the last one.”
“Maybe it’s run dry?”
Amid the chatter, a terrifying aura surged from the fountain, and the space trembled. Everyone scrambled to flee—something was clearly wrong.
Boom! Before all could reach safety, the fountain’s exit collapsed. Not only the fountain but also the pot-shaped discs used to catch pills began to sink.
“Run! It’s a spatial collapse—the fountain’s breaking!” someone shouted.
Fortunately, the collapse started slowly. By the time the fountain tore apart, intensifying the disaster, most had escaped. These pill-chasers, seasoned by years here, reacted faster than average cultivators.
As the fountain fell, the nearby open-air market was affected too. The crowd once gathered for the fountain scattered—its destruction rendered staying pointless.
A day later, Min Yuan stood dazed outside the ruined fountain site. The fountain was gone, and not a soul remained.
Frowning, he mused that beneath it must lie a massive pill lake. Yet before he could locate it, the fountain had been destroyed.
Its loss derailed his plans entirely.
