Chapter 168 – A New Path Emerges, Discovering the Limit Zone! (5k)

【Year ten: Besides your daily cultivation and studying the Ruyi Visualization diagram, you began exploring various dungeons.】

【However, for someone already approaching legendary, ordinary dungeons posed virtually no danger to you.】

【Over the course of a year, you explored dozens of dungeons, hoping to find a suitable limit zone among them, but ultimately failed.】

【Year eleven: With the blessing of Great Wisdom Enlightenment, your cultivation of the Ruyi Visualization Method reached the introductory level.】

【This year, your divine sense range surged to 4,500 zhang!】

【Year twelve: Over several years, you explored over a hundred dungeons, even slaying quite a few Emperor-stage dungeon bosses.】

【Although some dungeons contained environments similar to yin-evil zones, they were unsuitable for you. You still could not find an ideal limit zone.】

【Year thirteen: Your divine sense range broke through further, now approaching 5,000 zhang.】

【Since you could not find a limit zone, you could only turn your attention to refining Void-Refining Pills.】

【You had no shortage of Condensing Wood, but what you lacked was Spring Dew Purified Water.】

【And so, on the day of Jingzhe this year, you attempted to collect Spring Dew Purified Water.】

【Circulating spiritual energy, you floated in the sky, divine sense extended outward, constantly monitoring the dark clouds and lightning high above, watching intently for any signs of rainfall.】

【But the moment the raindrops began to fall, you were dumbfounded.】

【Tens of thousands of raindrops fell at the same instant, their sequence so close together that even milliseconds could barely distinguish them.】

【Even though your divine sense range was powerful enough, you were still far from being able to detect the very first ten raindrops.】

【You realized that your divine sense was still not strong enough, so you resolved to continue tempering it!】

【Year fourteen: The longer you studied the Ruyi Visualization diagram, the stronger your soul power grew.】

【At first, you could only study it for half a shichen before feeling dizzy and unable to continue, but now you could study it continuously for nearly a full shichen.】

【You knew this was the result of your divine sense undergoing transformation. Under the practice of the Ruyi Visualization Method, your divine sense had not only expanded in range but had also undergone some unknown, fundamental change.】

【This year, your divine sense range grew to 5,200 zhang!】

Seeing this, Su Xing felt both joy and worry.

The joy was that in the simulation, both the Protective Hardened Qi divine ability and his divine sense had grown substantially.

The worry was that neither the limit zone nor the refinement of the Void-Refining Pill had made any progress.

“On Earth, most dungeons really aren’t dangerous for me anymore…”

“Those Bronze and Gold rank dungeons — the strongest things inside are just Bronze or Gold rank bosses. How harsh could the natural environments in those dungeons possibly be?”

Su Xing sighed. He could always ask Xia’s military whether there were any “forbidden-level dungeons.” Rumor had it that in those kinds of dungeons, even Martial Emperors could barely survive.

If Su Xing ventured into one of those dungeons, perhaps he could find one or two limit zones?

Su Xing made a mental note, but then immediately began worrying about refining the Void-Refining Pill.

“Spring Dew Purified Water… the very first drops of rain on the day of Jingzhe. The divine sense requirements really are extreme!”

“With my current divine sense range of over 5,000 zhang, the range is sufficient, but my control over divine sense is still too crude. Distinguishing things at the millisecond level is just too difficult!”

Su Xing let out a sigh.

On this point, Su Xing had no good solution.

The only thing he could think of now was to keep cultivating his divine sense.

By continuing to study the Ruyi Visualization Method, perhaps his divine sense would achieve a breakthrough, and he might then successfully collect the Spring Dew Purified Water.

After thinking for a moment, Su Xing turned his gaze back to the simulation panel.

【Year fifteen: You temporarily gave up on collecting Spring Dew Purified Water.】

【Instead, you devoted all your efforts to strengthening your divine sense and cultivating Protective Hardened Qi.】

【You extended your daily cultivation time to four shichen.】

【In your remaining time, you attempted to gather more information about limit zones.】

【That same year, your divine sense range grew to 5,400 zhang, but you remained in the Five Senses Realm!】

【Year sixteen: Your divine sense broke through again, growing to 5,600 zhang.】

【But you also noticed that from years of excessive Mind-Condensing Pill consumption, your mind would occasionally become hazy.】

【Moreover, the effectiveness of Mind-Condensing Pills began to decline, and the growth of your divine sense slowed.】

【Year seventeen: Although Xia’s military was concerned about your safety, under your insistent demands, they eventually revealed the coordinates of several “forbidden-level” dungeons to you.】

【You began attempting to explore “forbidden-level” dungeons.】

【Your first target was a dungeon called the Red Lotus Demon Cavern.】

【Legend had it that within this dungeon dwelled an immensely powerful flame demon, and several Martial Emperor-stage Class Users had already perished inside.】

【After preparing for several days and adjusting yourself to Peak condition, you entered the dungeon.】

【The dungeon’s environment consisted of extremely deep underground caverns, with the temperature rising the further down you went.】

【But you were already impervious to heat and cold — mere high temperatures had no effect on you.】

【After a month of exploration, slaying demons all the way, you finally reached the deepest level of the Red Lotus Cavern and encountered the legendary flame demon.】

【But this flame demon was merely comparable to a Peak Martial Emperor.】

【Though formidable, you dispatched it with some effort.】

【After getting close to the flame demon’s remains, you carefully investigated the area and discovered that beneath the demon’s lair lay an even deeper cavern.】

【You followed this cavern downward for tens of thousands of meters, and ultimately discovered a precious exotic metal mining zone!】

【The exotic metal produced in this mining zone was a crimson-red variety that was not only extremely durable but also imbued with scorching heat properties.】

【Without hesitation, you passed through the exotic metal mining zone and continued exploring deeper.】

【Finally, you discovered an extremely high-temperature magma pool.】

【Filled with excitement, you attempted to leap into the magma pool.】

【You felt mild pain and a burning sensation.】

【You soaked in the magma pool for three days and three nights, and ultimately climbed out in disappointment.】

【Although this magma pool barely qualified as a limit zone, for someone who had reached Divine Power Realm Perfection —】

【bathing in magma was nothing more than a routine affair, and it was far from enough to push you past the limits of the human body.】

Seeing this, Su Xing furrowed his brows slightly and murmured, “As expected, limit zones aren’t that easy to find… Even a magma pool of that level isn’t considered extreme for me anymore…”

Su Xing was slightly disappointed, but then his interest was piqued by the dungeon called the Red Lotus Demon Cavern.

“This dungeon actually produces exotic metal ore?”

“And this exotic metal even carries special fire attributes… An exotic metal that can possess special elemental properties — this has to be at least a tier-three, maybe even a tier-four exotic metal mining zone!”

Su Xing’s eyes lit up.

While this mining zone was of little use within the simulation, for the real Su Xing, it meant a massive amount of simulation energy!

More importantly, because of the flame demon’s presence, Great Xia had never fully surveyed this dungeon.

So this dungeon mining zone should still be in an undiscovered state right now.

Thinking this, Su Xing’s heart stirred as he said:

“Activate immersive simulation mode — duration: one hour!”

【Ding. Congratulations on activating immersive simulation. Cost: 100,000 energy. Remaining energy: 12,440,000 points.】

Su Xing’s vision shifted, and the next second he appeared outside this mining zone dungeon.

Su Xing secretly noted the coordinates of this dungeon, planning to come explore it in person when the opportunity arose.

Soon the immersive simulation ended, and Su Xing returned to the real world.

Back in reality, Su Xing furrowed his brows slightly and murmured:

“That Red Lotus Demon Cavern dungeon has extremely high exotic metal output, but for ordinary people the environment is far too harsh — survival would be impossible…”

“Sending low-ranked Class Users for large-scale mining is simply out of the question. I’ll just have to wait for an opportunity to go inspect it personally…”

Su Xing set aside the matter of this exotic metal mining zone dungeon for the time being and turned his gaze back to the simulation panel.

【After leaving the dungeon, you continued exploring other “forbidden-level” dungeons.】

【But you were disappointed to find that although these dungeons contained powerful monsters — some even comparable to legendary-level beings that even you had to give a wide berth —】

【these dungeons did not necessarily contain naturally formed limit zones. Thus, you still had not found a suitable location.】

【Year eighteen: You continued your focused cultivation, and your divine sense range grew to nearly 6,000 zhang.】

【What pleased you even more was that despite the rapid growth of your divine sense, you still could not sense any bottleneck.】

【Year nineteen: Your mastery of Protective Hardened Qi achieved a minor breakthrough.】

【You persisted in cultivating your primordial energy divine ability and visualizing the Ruyi Visualization Method every day.】

【Like this, another two years passed.】

【In the twenty-first year, your divine sense range grew to six thousand five hundred zhang.】

【Due to excessive consumption of Mind-Condensing Pills, you felt that your divine sense growth had hit a bottleneck. At the same time, the Pill Poison accumulated in your body had become quite severe.】

【But you weren’t worried about this. You simply continued cultivating the visualization diagram, steadily improving your divine sense.】

【In the twenty-third year, through your relentless cultivation, your divine ability Protective Hardened Qi finally achieved a minor accomplishment, reaching Minor Mastery!】

【At Minor Mastery, your Protective Hardened Qi not only had stronger defense, but the duration you could maintain it also extended to three hours!】

【That same year, your divine sense range grew to six thousand eight hundred zhang!】

【In the twenty-fifth year, the foreign races launched a massive invasion on Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【Demon-Sealing Pass was destroyed in a single day. A colossal beast descended upon Earth, swallowing the entirety of Great Xia in one gulp.】

【You were swallowed into the belly of the giant beast, but thanks to your powerful physical body, you didn’t die immediately.】

【You forcefully channeled your primordial energy and activated your divine ability, Protective Hardened Qi!】

【The Protective Hardened Qi wrapped firmly around you, temporarily blocking the terrifying spatial turbulence in your surroundings.】

【As the entire continent shifted and tilted, everything around you spun wildly, the earth shaking and mountains crumbling.】

【You struggled to maintain your spiritual energy and primordial energy, keeping yourself balanced.】

【You attempted to enter the spirit field grotto-heaven, but the spatial turbulence in the beast’s stomach was too intense — you simply couldn’t enter the spirit field grotto-heaven at all.】

【Suddenly, an incomparably massive pressure descended upon you. You let out a furious roar, pushing your Protective Hardened Qi to its absolute limit, barely withstanding the pressure.】

【You looked around. The continents, mountains, rivers — all life had already dissipated. Nothing remained but an expanse of void.】

【Suddenly, explosive sounds reached your ears — peals of thunder!】

【You observed carefully. The thunder originated from the spatial turbulence within the beast’s stomach.】

【Within those shattered pockets of space, there were clearly small worlds.】

【The violent collisions between worlds produced this turbulence, which in turn generated phenomena resembling lightning.】

【A bolt of lightning struck you. You had no room to resist — your soul was annihilated along with your body.】

【You died!】

【Ding — this simulation has ended!】

After the simulation ended, Su Xing’s eyes went wide, and he murmured:

“What a case of ‘just when it seems there’s no way through, a new path appears without any effort at all!'”

“Of course… how did I not think of it before? The spatial region inside that giant beast’s stomach — isn’t that a perfect limit zone?”

“But… isn’t it a bit too extreme? Forget the Void-Shattering Realm — even far stronger cultivators probably couldn’t withstand the force of those collapsing worlds, right?”

Su Xing couldn’t help but frown slightly.

The good news was that he now had a lead on finding a limit zone.

The bad news was that this damn thing was way too extreme — with Su Xing’s current strength, there was absolutely no way he could endure it!

“I just don’t know how long one needs to endure in a limit zone to break through from Divine Power Realm Great Perfection to Void-Shattering Realm…”

“Or rather… if I successfully break through to Void-Shattering Realm but die in the process, I should still be able to bring the cultivation level out, right?”

Su Xing pondered briefly.

He was quite certain that the horrendous environment inside the giant beast’s stomach was absolutely a terrifyingly extreme limit zone — one that would absolutely satisfy the requirements for Su Xing to shatter his limits and step into the Void-Shattering Realm.

As for dying even after breaking through to the Void-Shattering Realm… Su Xing wasn’t particularly worried about that.

Because in principle, even if he died the very second after breaking through to the Void-Shattering Realm, through the simulator, he could still bring his cultivation level out.

Su Xing’s only concern was whether, with his current strength, he could actually endure this limit zone.

“From how things look right now, I probably can’t endure it…”

“Perhaps if I cultivate my primordial energy and Protective Hardened Qi to Perfection, I could last a bit longer inside the beast’s stomach?”

Su Xing mused thoughtfully, his goals gradually becoming clear.

First, grind primordial energy and Protective Hardened Qi to Great Perfection, and then try to endure the limit zone.

“Moreover, the growth of my divine sense was also astonishing… Even though I took too many pills in this simulation, causing Pill Poison to build up in my body.”

“But popping pills inside a simulation — what does that have to do with me, the real Su Xing? I can just bring out the divine sense level directly and call it done!”

The corner of Su Xing’s mouth curved upward slightly.

It seemed that breakthroughs in both the Void-Shattering and Void Return realms were now on the right track.

He just needed to keep grinding, and the breakthroughs wouldn’t be far off.

With that thought, Su Xing turned his gaze to this simulation’s rewards.

【Friend of All Beasts】: Purple talent. Price: 1,000,000 energy points.

【Ten Years of Alchemy Experience】: Alchemy insights. Price: 500,000 energy.

【Primordial Energy Cultivation Insights】: Contains insights on primordial energy cultivation. Choosing this will deepen your mastery of primordial energy. Price: 10,000,000 energy.

【Low-Grade Spirit Liquid, 1 Million Drops】: Price: 100,000,000 energy.

【Protective Astral Aura (Minor Accomplishment)】: Primordial energy divine ability. Minor Mastery-level Protective Hardened Qi. Within three chi of the astral aura, nothing can intrude. As long as the aura holds, one faces no danger. Price: 50,000,000 simulation energy.

【Ruyi Visualization Method (Introductory)】: Upon selection, gain partial visualization insights for the Ruyi Visualization Method. Additionally, divine sense range increases to seven thousand zhang (Five Senses Realm). Price: 40,000,000 energy.

Su Xing glanced over the simulation rewards.

Without question, his targets were Protective Hardened Qi and the Ruyi Visualization Method.

“Choosing the Ruyi Visualization Method can directly boost my divine sense range?”

Su Xing was pleasantly surprised. The Ruyi Visualization Method — just one simulation had more than doubled his divine sense range. It truly was a supreme technique.

“The only shame is… my current simulation energy doesn’t seem to be quite enough.”

Su Xing frowned slightly.

He currently had just over 10,000,000 energy on hand.

The Protective Hardened Qi and Ruyi Visualization Method rewards alone required 90,000,000 energy!

Even counting next week’s cargo simulation energy, Su Xing would barely reach 40,000,000.

After all, the transactions with Jin Congxue and Xia’s military would take several weeks to finalize. The profits from those mining dungeon instances weren’t something Su Xing could enjoy just yet.

“Looking at it this way, there are only two methods left for me to acquire simulation energy in bulk.”

Su Xing murmured.

The first was naturally to make another trip to the Baili estate. There was a certain degree of risk, but the energy gained would surely be substantial.

The second was to visit the Red Lotus Demon Cavern dungeon instance.

“The Red Lotus Demon Cavern instance… from my memory, the coordinates of this dungeon seem to be at Great Xia’s border, and it’s been strictly sealed off by the border defense forces. Getting in won’t be easy…”

Su Xing muttered to himself, “Looks like my only option is to make another trip to the Baili estate!”

Going to the Baili estate naturally carried risks for Su Xing.

But with Su Xing’s current strength, Martial Emperor-level powerhouses wouldn’t be a match for him, and even if a legendary powerhouse made a move, Su Xing was confident he could escape!

If worst came to worst, he could grab the energy and then hide out in the spirit field grotto-heaven to let things blow over. That shouldn’t be much of a problem.

With that decided, Su Xing wasted no time.

He first purchased the earliest available plane ticket to Fudong Province.

After making some quick preparations, Su Xing set off for Fudong Province.

Eighteen hours later, the plane touched down gently at an airport in Fudong Province.

Su Xing immediately disembarked, made his way to an uninhabited mountain area, and began his disguise and aura concealment.

A Disguise Pill, a Breath-Concealing Pill, plus a Voice-Altering Pill.

After going through this familiar routine, Su Xing’s appearance had completely changed.

After that, Su Xing sprinted several hundred kilometers until he arrived outside the Baili estate in Guang Province.

“Logically speaking, the Baili estate shouldn’t know what day I’ll come back — they might not even know if I’ll come back at all. So they probably haven’t made many preparations, right?”

Su Xing thought, rubbing his chin.

But to be safe, Su Xing still released his divine sense, instantly enveloping the entire Baili estate.

In Su Xing’s perception, the powerful auras within the Baili estate were the same as last time.

Over a dozen Heavenly Kings, and three Martial Emperor-stage powerhouses.

After confirming there were no traps set for him, Su Xing breathed a sigh of relief and stealthily infiltrated the Baili estate…

Meanwhile, inside the residence of the Baili estate’s patriarch, Baili Tu.

Su Xing appeared silently behind Baili Tu and spoke in a hoarse voice:

“Old Master Baili, long time no see… How have you been lately?”