459: Chapter 474 Where did I come from?

Lu Ming stood up, stretched his limbs, and looked into the distance.

"It's about time. Everything is ready. As long as I get the xuan yin jade marrow, I can start considering the Breakthrough to Nascent Soul."

He took a deep breath, identified the direction, and turned into a stream of light, speeding toward the core area of the Secret Realm.

However, an hour later.

Lu Ming landed in a place he was all too familiar with and fell silent.

Surrounded by a dilapidated valley after Undergoing Tribulation, the ground was cracked, cliffs had collapsed, and rubble was scattered everywhere.

Especially seeing the sword marks all around, Lu Ming was even more convinced.

Isn't this the place where he underwent the five calamities!

How did he come back!

"What's going on?"

Lu Ming looked around, his brows furrowed.

He clearly remembered flying in a straight line in one direction, so how did he end up back where he started after such a large circle?

Did he fly off course?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

With his current Realm, his perception of direction had always been precise, and he could never make such a low-level mistake.

Moreover, although he had been flying at full speed just now, he had been paying close attention to the changes in the terrain and was very certain about the path he had taken.

Lu Ming didn't want to believe it. He took off again, chose a direction, and flew with all his might.

However, half an hour later, he was back at the starting point.

It was still the same dilapidated valley, still the same crisscrossing sword marks, and even the footprints he left behind when he stopped just now were still there.

"Bizarre, truly bizarre!"

Lu Ming landed on a cliff and scanned his surroundings.

With this look, he discovered something unusual.

He didn't know when it started, but the valley was now wrapped in a layer of thick, gray fog.

The fog came silently, like a rising tide, drowning the entire valley without a sound.

He could originally see thousands of feet away, but now he could only see a dozen meters around him.

Lu Ming frowned slightly and quietly spread his Divine Sense.

The next instant, his brows furrowed even tighter.

With the strength of his current Golden Core Perfection Divine Sense, he could cover hundreds of miles in the outside world.

But at this moment, as soon as his Divine Sense probed out, it was tightly suppressed by the strange fog, as if trapped in a quagmire, unable to move an inch.

He barely managed to push it out more than ten feet, and it could no longer move forward at all.

And as time passed, this suppression became stronger and stronger.

What shocked Lu Ming even more was that he vaguely sensed that his own mana had also begun to feel sluggish.

When mana circulated in his Meridians, it was no longer as smooth and free as it used to be; instead, it felt like it was being pulled by some invisible force, and every cycle required extra effort.

He had to know that his current true strength was far beyond that of an ordinary Golden Core Perfection.

But now, he was still being tightly suppressed by this strange fog.

"This feeling... why does it feel a bit familiar."

Lu Ming muttered to himself, a feeling of déjà vu welling up in his heart.

He remembered the guess he had when he first came here, but this conclusion was too ridiculous, and even he himself found it hard to believe.

He had to suppress the doubts in his heart and continue walking forward.

"Sigh, I chose this place for Undergoing Tribulation because it was hidden and safe, preventing prying eyes. I didn't expect that after the tribulation was over, I wouldn't be able to get out."

Lu Ming sighed inwardly, but his footsteps did not stop.

He walked for another two hours.

"Why haven't I gotten out yet?"

Lu Ming stopped. The scenery around him hadn't changed, and he was becoming increasingly irritable.

Moreover, because he kept walking in circles, his sense of direction had completely vanished.

"Damn it, since I can't tell the direction, I'll just go down one path!"

Lu Ming made up his mind, stopped worrying, chose a direction, and decided to move forward in a straight line.

However, to prevent walking back again, he raised his hand, and the human emperor banner fluttered behind him.

A phantom image emerged from the banner; it was one of the Banner Spirits — the Wonderful Brush Scholar.

"With me as the center, set up the 'Pulling Mechanism Thread Formation' along the way."

Lu Ming immediately instructed him.

The Wonderful Brush Scholar obeyed, his figure turning into a ghostly light, setting up the Formation along the path Lu Ming was taking.

This Formation was a tracking Formation that used mana threads as a guide, leaving indelible marks along the way.

No matter how far he walked, he could return along the same path by following the marks.

However, Lu Ming used it in reverse, using the mutual attraction between the marks. If he were walking in circles, the Formation would automatically warn him.

With this Formation, Lu Ming didn't have to worry about losing his way again, so he continued on his journey.

Another hour passed, and the Pulling Mechanism Thread Formation had no reaction, meaning he had been walking in a straight line and was not circling.

But Lu Ming's expression grew increasingly grim.

Because he discovered that the surrounding scenery had begun to change.

Originally, he could occasionally see traces of low-level Yao Beasts, but now he couldn't even hear the buzzing of insects.

Spiritual Plants were extinct, replaced by dead silence.

The rocks turned from gray-black to gray-white, the ground from dry and cracked to fissured, and the thin Spiritual Qi in the air had completely disappeared.

In its place was a suffocating aura.

Decay, desolation, dead silence.

Lu Ming squatted down and grabbed a handful of soil.

The soil was gray-white, dry and hard like stone, devoid of any vitality.

With a gentle squeeze, it turned into powder and fell from between his fingers.

He rubbed the powder on his fingertips, unable to feel any moisture, nor was there any residue of Spiritual Qi.

This soil seemed to have had all its essence extracted by something, leaving only an empty shell.

"This soil... has no Spiritual Qi at all."

He stood up and looked around.

In the distance, a few twisted dead trees stood crookedly, their branches like withered arms reaching toward the gray sky.

Scattered under the trees were the bones of some unknown animals, long since weathered out of shape.

There was no sound of wind, no buzzing of insects, no sound of any living creature, only absolute silence.

Lu Ming continued forward in silence for about another hour.

Later, within a radius of a hundred miles, he could no longer sense the aura of any living thing.

It was as if he was not in a Secret Realm full of Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence, but was venturing deep into some forbidden area that no one had ever set foot in.

He stopped on a cliff, his brows locked tight.

Reason told him that he could not go any further.

There were unknown dangers ahead, so it would be better to stay where he was, set up a Formation, and wait for the thick fog to recede before finding another way out.

But Lu Ming did not do that.

It wasn't because he was taking chances, but because he had vaguely sensed something for some time.

Ahead, something seemed to be attracting him.

That feeling was ethereal, appearing and disappearing, yet it was real.

It was like a palpitation that went straight into the depths of his Soul, making him involuntarily want to get closer.

Whenever he thought of retreating, the calling would become stronger, like an invisible hand gently tugging at his heartstrings.

It was because of this feeling that he was so conflicted. He didn't know whether he should continue forward.

"Damn it..."

Lu Ming cursed under his breath and scratched his head in frustration.

At his Realm, a sudden hunch often heralded some Opportunity or danger.

If he rushed forward, he might encounter a mishap, but if he were timid and missed the Opportunity, it would also be regrettable.

As the saying goes: If Heaven gives and you do not take, you will be blamed.

Since he was here, he would go and see. As for whether it was a blessing or a curse... he would find out upon inspection!

A flash of determination crossed Lu Ming's eyes. He raised his hand, and a figure slowly emerged behind him.

It was his newly refined Puppet Incarnation — Jiang Wunian!

After he used Possession on this Golden Core Perfection Physical Body, its spirituality was greatly reduced, and its strength was far from what it was when he was alive.

But regardless, it was still a genuine Golden Core Perfection expert. It was perfect for scouting the way!

"Go!"

With a thought from Lu Ming, the Puppet Incarnation turned into a stream of light and sped forward.

As for himself, he restrained his aura and followed unhurriedly behind.

This way, even if there was danger ahead, the Incarnation would block it, and his true self could retreat at any time.

Walking and stopping.

Another half a day passed.

In this place now, there was absolutely no aura of living things.

The surrounding rocks presented a strange gray-black color, barren, as if all vitality had been sucked away by something.

The suppression of the thick fog had also reached a certain limit.

Lu Ming could clearly feel that the mana in his body was almost completely stagnant, and every activation required ten times the effort of a normal day.

His Divine Sense was also completely compressed back into his body, unable to be released even a little bit.

Finally, when his mana was completely stagnant and his Divine Sense could no longer be released, Lu Ming stopped.

At the same time, his vision, through the Jiang Wunian Incarnation, saw the scene behind the thick fog ahead.

At that moment, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart almost stopped beating.

He saw that the world was a constant gray, and the light seemed to be blocked by some force here, appearing dim and weak.

Under his feet was dry, hard, and cracked gray-white land, like a thousand miles of scorched earth after a great fire.

Looking into the distance, there were only those twisted and strange dead trees and remains in his field of vision, and the scent of decay permeated the surroundings.

It was like a forbidden zone of life, with only eternal silence and desolation.

"Where the hell did this take me? Is this still the Xuanling Secret Realm?!"

Lu Ming stood at the edge of the abyss, looking at this scene through the eyes of the Jiang Wunian Incarnation, cursing in his heart.

But in fact, an indescribable chill had already rushed from the soles of his feet to his crown.

Because the guess in his heart had been confirmed.

A place name appeared in Lu Ming's heart like lightning.

Jiling Wasteland!

Legend has it that a long, long time ago, a shocking battle involving a Nascent Soul True Monarch broke out here, shattering the spiritual pivot of the earth.

The evil Qi of the earth surged up, polluting the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and finally formed this strange area where all things withered and mana was forbidden.

Since then, it had become barren, without any resources.

It was extremely difficult for Cultivators to recover their mana here, the power of spells was greatly reduced, and their actions were severely restricted.

Once, Lu Ming was hunted down by Li Daoxuan and had no choice but to hide in the Jiling Wasteland.

It was only because he carried the golden book and was not afraid of the consumption of spiritual power that he treated it as a safe haven.

After he recovered, he left directly.

He never expected that he would see it again today!

He kept saying how familiar the feeling of his Divine Sense being suppressed and his mana being restricted along the way felt!

But... how could this be!

He was in the Xuanling Secret Realm! How could he appear in the Jiling Wasteland?

The sense of time and space disorder made Lu Ming unable to wrap his head around it for a while.

He really couldn't describe the strangeness of the scene before him in words.

The Xuanling Secret Realm and the Jiling Wasteland were thousands of miles apart, separated by heavy Restrictions and dangerous places. He was clearly just traveling in the Secret Realm, so how did he end up here?

Unless... there was some unknown connection between these two places.

However, Lu Ming was no longer a fledgling Cultivator.

Over the years, he had experienced many strange things and had long since developed a strong heart.

So he quickly adjusted his mood and began to carefully examine everything in front of him.

It's different...

After a careful comparison, although the scene in front of him was very similar to the Jiling Wasteland, there were still differences.

The most conspicuous one was the pit on the horizon!

No, it was not appropriate to describe it as a "pit".

It should be said that it was an abyss. An abyss so huge it was suffocating.

It spanned the earth like a wound that had been split open, stretching for who knows how many miles.

The Puppet Incarnation stood on the edge, looking left and right, but couldn't see the end of it.

He was very sure that although he had not explored the size of the Jiling Wasteland, in the places he had walked, there was definitely no such crack.

The appearance of this abyss made the scene in front of him completely different from the Jiling Wasteland in his memory.

This also made him more and more curious.

However, Lu Ming did not rashly approach, but controlled the Jiang Wunian Incarnation to fly over and land on the edge of the crack.

The edge of the abyss was a steep cliff, and the cliff wall was gray-black, smooth as a mirror, as if it had been cut by some ultimate power.

On the cliff wall, countless strange patterns were engraved, looming under the cover of the fog.

Those patterns were not carved casually, but had some kind of pattern, vaguely forming incomplete pictures.

It was a pity that the fog was too thick, and Lu Ming could not see the full picture.

Looking down through Jiang Wunian's perspective, he couldn't see anything.

Only endless darkness.

That darkness was thick as ink, swallowing all light, all Divine Sense, all prying.

The moment his gaze touched it, it would be ruthlessly swallowed by that darkness, as if falling into another world.

Lu Ming even had an illusion that the darkness was like a sleeping beast, opening its huge mouth, waiting for prey to throw itself into the net.

"Where exactly is this..."

Lu Ming was puzzled, but couldn't figure it out.

However, he was very sure that this place must be related to the Jiling Wasteland.

Whether it was the topographical features or the strange power that suppressed mana and Divine Sense, it was exactly the same as the Jiling Wasteland.

It's just that there was no such abyss in the Jiling Wasteland, so... did this abyss appear later?

Or had it always existed, but was never discovered?

But then the question came again: what is the relationship between the Jiling Wasteland and the Xuanling Secret Realm?

What was that faint calling?

And what kind of secret was hidden at the bottom of this abyss?

A series of questions arose in his heart, but he couldn't get any answers.

For a long time, Lu Ming looked at the crack with complex eyes and made a decision in his heart.

He wanted to go inside and see, to find out clearly.

As the saying goes, seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times, and doing it is better than seeing a hundred times.

Anyway, he was already here, wasn't he?

"Go, just consider it making the best use of everything."

Lu Ming didn't hesitate for long, and decisively controlled the Jiang Wunian Incarnation, jumping off the cliff without hesitation.

As for wanting his true self to take risks?

That was definitely impossible.

First throw Jiang Wunian down to take a look. If there was really some incredible Opportunity below, then it wouldn't be too late to make other plans.

If there were heavy dangers, then he would break his arm to save his life, abandon this Incarnation, and keep his true self safe.

However, Lu Ming originally thought that the Divine Thought connection would be cut off due to the long distance.

After all, this abyss was bottomless, and the further down it went, the stronger the suppression would be.

However, that induction did not disappear, and he could still see the scene around him through Jiang Wunian's perspective.

But at this look, his pupils suddenly shrank.