The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 1258

Chapter 1258: Chapter 1255: Splitting into Two Chapter 1258: Chapter 1255: Splitting into Two Shen Luo sighed lightly, slowly closed his eyes, and hastened the refining of several treasures within his body.

He had not shared his speculations with Master Yan or the Little Master, as they were baseless guesses. If he was right, all would be well, but if he was wrong, he would lose face and the Little Master might think less of him.

The Spirit Crab Airship sped forward like a shooting star, and soon one hour had passed.

With Shen Luo's current understanding of the Innate Treasure-refining Technique, it didn't take much effort to refine the Profound Yellow Staff, of which he had already mastered the majority of its prohibitions, and he was now refining the Thousand Cup Golden Goblet when a deafening roar suddenly came from ahead.

He hurriedly opened his eyes and looked forward.

Another towering sandstorm rose within the Boundless Sand Sea ahead, rolling in like the tide and quickly engulfing the Spirit Crab Airship, leaving no chance to avoid it.

Blast after blast of the sandstorm struck the Spirit Crab Airship, which had all its functions focused on flight and insufficient defense, and when hit by the fierce sandstorm, it immediately started swaying from side to side.

“Reduce speed by twenty percent, enhance the airship's defensive capabilities, and don't let the sandstorm throw us off course,” the Little Master and the others, who had already emerged from the sealed room, instructed upon seeing this.

Elder Fu responded with a nod, and a flash of green light appeared under his feet. Four of the airship's eight crab legs retracted, and the green protective cover around the Spirit Crab Airship instantly became much more stable, warding off the sandstorm's impact and ceasing the swaying.

The Little Master nodded at this and turned to look at Shen Luo, who got the message. He sensed the position of the mana imprints and his expression suddenly changed.

“What's wrong?” The Little Master asked with a sharp look in his eye upon seeing this.

“Something strange has occurred. I left five mana imprints in the Puppet City, and now four of the imprints are moving in a northeast direction, while the remaining one is going southwest, all at a great speed,” Shen Luo said, not concealing anything and narrating everything he had sensed.

“The imprints have split up? But why?” The Little Master was taken aback.

Shen Luo was also puzzled. If Ghost Yan had detected the presence of the imprints, he should have directly destroyed them. What could he mean by dividing them?

“Could it be that Ghost Yan knows we are on our way and wants to mislead us with this tactic?” he suddenly wondered, but after giving it some thought, he felt that was unlikely.

The Little Master, Elder Fu, Elder Mo Wang, and Elder Mei exchanged looks, their lips occasionally moving as they clearly communicated through voice transmission.

Master Yan and the other disciples of Tianji City had also heard the conversation, their expressions revealing surprise. However, they all waited quietly on the side without any rash comments.

The Little Master and the others finished their discussion quickly and approached.

“The imprints dividing might indicate a change within the Puppet City or could be due to some other reason. Regardless, this is our only chance to capture Ghost Yan, and we must not miss it. After our discussion, we have decided to divide our forces into two groups. One will be led by me and Elder Fu, and the other will be headed by Elder Mei and Elder Mo Wang, to pursue the two sets of imprints separately,” the Little Master explained.

Shen Luo was not surprised by the Little Master's decision and did not question it. Master Yan and the other disciples of Tianji City naturally did not object either.

The Little Master then started to divide the team, and Shen Luo was assigned to the group with Elder Mei and Elder Mo Wang.

Whether by coincidence or by the Little Master's deliberate arrangement, Master Yan, Lin Han, Zhou Ming, and the other disciples acquainted with Shen Luo ended up in this group as well.

“City Lord, after I follow the two elders, how will you track those four imprints?” Shen Luo hesitated for a moment before speaking to the Little Master.

“Friend Shen, you need not worry about this matter. This Black Jade Plate was a Magical Treasure I refined a few years ago. It possesses excellent communication and positioning effects. I'll lend it to you temporarily; just use it to inform me of the whereabouts of that imprint at any time,” the Little Master said as he took out a palm-sized black disc and handed it to Shen Luo.

The disc was crystal clear, faintly emitting a cold aura. It was surprisingly made of the extremely rare Ink Jade, and it featured the pattern of the Innate Eight Trigrams on its surface, which clearly indicated it was no ordinary item.

“It seems the City Lord had already planned for this. I was overthinking it,” Shen Luo accepted the Black Jade Plate, nodding as he spoke.

After the Little Master taught Shen Luo how to operate the Black Jade Plate, he immediately set off with half of the people in the direction of the northeast, in pursuit. The Spirit Crab Airship, belonging to Elder Fu, left with them.

“Elder Mei, in terms of escaping speed, your Red Phoenix Flying Boat has the upper hand. It would be best if we continue our journey aboard your flying boat,” Elder Mei said, projecting a light purple Protective Cover to shield everyone from the storm outside while speaking to Elder Mo Wang beside her.

Elder Mo Wang did not say a word but waved his hand, and a crimson round pearl shot out, rapidly expanding and transforming. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a flying boat more than ten zhang long, its body's prohibitions emitting flame-like red light all around.

The group flew into the Red Phoenix Flying Boat, and as its crimson light intensified on the surface, it sped off towards the southwest. It was like a red phoenix flapping its wings in flight, and it was not much slower than the Spirit Crab Airship.

Shen Luo sat down inside the Red Phoenix Flying Boat, pinched a technique to stimulate the Black Jade Plate, which then emitted strands of black light. A white light dot on it gently flickered, slowly moving in the direction of the northeast–exactly the location of the Little Master.

Seeing this, he nodded and stored the Black Jade Plate away, continuing to refine his Magical Treasures with closed eyes while sensing for the imprints on both sides.

The Red Phoenix Flying Boat flew for a day and a night before coming to a halt outside a massive black mountain range.

The black mountain range was exceptionally tall, with giant peaks that occasionally reached into the clouds. Moreover, the mountain range was undulating and interconnected, with huge mountain after mountain stretching to the horizon, with no end in sight.

Everyone flew out from the boat, which quickly shrank and soon turned back into a crimson sphere, disappearing into the Sleeve of Elder Mo Wang.

Shen Luo, seeing mountains within the Boundless Sand Sea for the first time, couldn't help but take a few extra glances. However, despite the enormity of the mountain range ahead, the spiritual energy was still very thin, no different from other places. The mountains were barren inside, the field of vision filled with black rocks and sandy soil, and there was hardly any green vegetation visible, let alone birds and beasts.

“Daoist Friend Shen, is that mana imprint located within this mountain range?” Elder Mei asked, gazing into the depths of the mountain range without turning back.

“Indeed, it hasn't moved for quite some time now,” Shen Luo replied.

Elder Mei heard his answer and fell quiet for a moment, her eyebrows slightly furrowing as she looked into the depths of the range.

Elder Mo Wang also gazed at the mountain range before him with a rather grave expression.

Seeing this, Shen Luo also released his Divine Sense to probe the black mountain range.

However, the area of this mountain range was extraordinarily vast, and despite his Divine Sense, he could not probe its end. He could only feel that deep within the mountains, there were surges of intense Yin Qi fluctuations from time to time, intertwined with bizarre howling sounds.

A thought crossed his mind, and he then asked Master Yan beside him in a low voice about this mountain range.

“This mountain range is known as the Black Abyss Mountain Range. Deep within it lies the Black Abyss Mystery Cave, a place of extreme danger in the Boundless Sand Sea. Year-round, the Nine Nether Yin Wind blows within–winds that are said to come from the Nine Netherworld. Even we, the Great Mahayana Stage Cultivators, if contaminated, would succumb to Yin Poison that erodes bone and melts flesh. Moreover, the Mystery Cave is full of dense Yin Qi, breeding countless Yin Beasts and ghosts. Even if someone possesses treasures capable of withstanding the Nine Nether Yin Wind, they would still be torn to shreds by those Yin Beasts and ghosts,” Master Yan hesitated for a moment before explaining.

“Yin Beasts…” Shen Luo's thoughts were stirred as he recalled the Yin Beasts he had encountered before in the Boundless Sand Sea and Puppet City.

The appearance of those Yin Beasts was quite sudden; considering the sparse spiritual energy and few living creatures in the sand sea, it seemed unlikely that so many Yin Beasts could originate here. Could it be that they all came from this place?