The heavens have thirty-three layers, and the earth has eighteen. Each layer of heaven is a great world, and above the thirty-three great worlds lies chaos. Each great world possesses a unique divine ability. The first layer of heaven is filled with the Nine Heavens Gale Wind!
It can strip flesh and bone, and corrode the primordial spirit and soul. Those below the Celestial Rank entering it would leave no trace of their remains. Even those who have reached the Celestial Rank must tread with utmost caution.
Qing Ling’s feet glided along a green silken thread, his Sky-Filling power allowing him to traverse the skies at extreme speed. He walked upon the silken thread, which, though of a size comparable to Mount Sumeru, was compressed to fit between his feet. It gave him a sense of being a thousand miles away yet within reach, covering a hundred thousand li in an instant.
The distance between him and his pursuer rapidly widened. The divine bird, its white radiance fading, its wings gradually turning black, its power depleted, watched the receding Qing Ling with growing despair in its eyes.
The pursuers behind were drawing closer. If captured, he would face a fate worse than death, with no hope of escape.
Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly saw the person who had been so far ahead now flying back at an even greater speed. His heart leaped with joy, as if seeing a glimmer of hope for survival.
Within the verdant streak of light, Qing Ling was filled with immense frustration. A puppet he had released earlier had detected the presence of over a dozen Golden Immortals of the Toad Clan, directly ahead of him.
If Qing Ling were to rush in headfirst, he would likely be ambushed. Even as a Saint Child, the various clans had ways to capture him without violating the Twelve Ranks. Given the animosity between Xi Shan and the Toad Clan, Qing Ling dared not take such a risk.
Therefore, Qing Ling made a swift decision. His green silken threads multiplied into thousands, and with Sky-Filling speed, he turned and fled. A green light enveloped a large bat, and he then flew west, heading straight for the prematurely entered Chaos Land.
Behind him, the elder of the Chi Mu clan, her face ashen, had already used a clan secret to summon over ten Golden Immortal elders to block the path ahead. They had intended to strike from both front and back, capturing the Innate Spirit Embryo and the Saint Child of Xi Shan in one fell swoop. To their surprise, this individual seemed to have foreseen their plan and had instead plunged into the Chaos Land.
She asked grimly, "Divine Envoy, shall we continue the pursuit?"
"Pursue!"
The young girl uttered a single word coldly, her escaping light accelerating, continuing to follow Qing Ling’s trail. The elder, with no other choice, could only follow behind.
As for the Golden Immortals from the Chong Shan clan, they did not continue the chase. As long as the Toad Clan did not obtain the item, they were content. Moreover, they were now approaching the depths of the Toad Clan territory, and any ambush would make their escape difficult.
Qing Ling’s expression was calm. His divine sense swept over the elder and the youth behind him. The green silken threads beneath his feet accelerated once more, his Sky-Filling power coursing through the firmament. His speed was even a fraction faster than that of a Grand Unity cultivator.
After all, he was borrowing the forbidden dao of an Innate Spirit Treasure, which had already imbued him with a trace of spatial understanding. His speed was naturally extraordinary.
He captured the bat and imprisoned its primordial spirit, tucking it into his sleeve. Since this bat was the cause of all the trouble, he was certainly not going to take the blame for nothing.
Qing Ling pushed his Sky-Filling Rope to its limit, fleeing through the Nine Heavens Gale Wind layer. Several Golden Immortal Venerables he encountered were repelled by his terrifying speed, fearing they might provoke a Grand Unity cultivator.
With his escape technique fully unleashed, he entered the Chaos Land in just half a day. Upon entering, he was met with a vast expanse of barren, yellow sand, a desert devoid of life and human habitation, with swirling sand and dust covering the land in desolation.
Seeing this, Qing Ling plunged directly down a layer of heaven and soared into the boundless desert.
Within the desert, the wind was beginning to howl. The heavens and earth were a hazy yellow, and countless grains of sand lashed out.
Clad in green, he walked alone into the storm. The wind and sand swallowed him, and his aura dispersed throughout the desert, making it difficult for the two pursuers to pinpoint his location even as they slowly searched.
Amidst the uniform yellow of the sky and earth, Qing Ling lightly flicked his sleeve. Thousands of small, earthen figures landed on the gravel, heads bowed, motionless.
A gust of green breath was exhaled, infusing into each of the puppet-like figures. The green qi entered their bodies, and one by one, the small figures came to life. They straightened their heads, moved their tiny arms and legs, twisted their necks, and began to hop about.
From Qing Ling’s profound gate, his primordial spirit shot out thousands of incredibly fine divine sense crystal threads into the heads of the puppet figures.
"Go."
Immediately, the bodies of the little figures merged with the desert, sinking into the ground and scattering in all directions.
Qing Ling himself also sank into the earth, stealthily moving south beneath the desert.
Not long after Qing Ling departed, two streaks of light flickered through the sandstorm. The young girl in white and the old woman in green appeared. They scanned the area with their divine senses for a long time. The residual aura of Qing Ling was everywhere, making it impossible to discern his path.
The old woman spoke, "Divine Envoy, do not be angry. This child is the Saint Child of Xi Shan. As long as we destroy the Xi Shan Snake Clan, the innate spiritual treasure in his possession will not escape us!"
The young girl in white was furious but managed to restrain herself. "Thank you, Daoist friend, for your reminder. This Chaos Land is indeed not a place to act rashly.
My identity cannot be revealed, yet venturing in alone is too dangerous, and I might be discovered by a Grand Luo Supreme.
The Xi Shan Snake Clan? It is indeed time they were annihilated!"
After a brief rest, the two turned and left the area, speaking no more.
However, not long after they departed, a six-foot-tall earthen figure suddenly emerged from the sandstorm, a muffled voice emanating from its belly. "Heh heh, this truly surprises me. Has the relationship between the three clans become this complicated?"
As the voice faded, the earthen figure's body instantly disintegrated, as if its divine power had been extinguished, returning to a pile of sand.
Three days later, a puppet figure nervously emerged from the desert. Its eyes, once clouded, now held a trace of clarity.
It surveyed the sand dunes, and finding no abnormalities, it rapidly burrowed into the earth and fled, paying no mind to the disturbance it created. This puppet was the one that had remained outside the small world, slightly different from the others.
Qing Ling, naturally, had heard the earthen figure's self-muttering through its eyes and ears, and was filled with surprise. The Chaos Land truly harbored hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
That earthen figure was akin to a divine sense clone of some powerful being, but it was clearly a hundred times more powerful than his puppet figures.
He had fled through the perilous desert for three days, encountering countless sand worms and venomous creatures, losing over three hundred puppets. Too many strange and monstrous creatures lurked beneath the ground, making it impossible to travel underground.
Thus, Qing Ling could only travel on foot, unable to fly or burrow.
In this Chaos Land, unless one was a Grand Luo Golden Immortal, one had to tread cautiously to survive.
Qing Ling, standing on a sand dune, waved his hand and released the bat he had imprisoned.
Now only a foot in size, the little bat flapped its wings and bowed to Qing Ling. "Thank you, Divine Venerable, for your rescue."
Qing Ling crouched down with a half-smile, poking it with his finger. "What is your origin? Tell me, and I shall decide whether to roast you with fire or fry you in oil. I have never eaten an Innate Divine Being before!"
As he spoke, he smiled faintly and flicked out his serpentine tongue, as if sniffing its scent. This was a subconscious action of snakes when hunting, serving not only as a substitute for eyes in identifying objects but also indicating that this snake was hungry.
The humble and weak bat beneath him turned pale with fright. Its black fur completely receded, revealing pure white fur. Though it did not fully comprehend its savior's words, its body instinctively sensed danger.
"Divine Venerable jesting. I can barely be considered a divine being. I was formed from a trace of impure energy adhering to the hair of Great God Pangu. I am a White Night Bat, and my name is Bai Fu."