Chapter 387: Five Elements Heaven Secret Realm

"Master?" Li Fan felt a little dazed hearing this word. In today's cultivation world, it was not easy for one to cultivate on their own. Who would still bother to teach and enlighten others? For all these years since he embarked on cultivation, he had never seen a genuine master-disciple relationship.

Filled with curiosity, Li Fan looked in the direction of the voice. By the giant Dust-Crossing Boat, he saw an old man and a young boy standing, both cultivators with very similar attire and demeanor. Both were clad in green robes. The elder had a youthful complexion with white hair, while the younger one's face showed signs of weariness, as if he had seen through the ways of the world.

To Li Fan's surprise, the tender childlike voice he had just heard came from the white-haired elder. He saw the elder looking down at the child beside him with a puzzled, curious expression, and asking. The child appeared to be only five or six years old, but his words were certainly not those of a mere child.

"All things come from nothing, and return to nothing."

"The Five Elements returning to unity is merely them reverting to their original state."

The green-robed child answered with a smile. The green-robed elder pondered for a moment, then, feeling he understood the answer, said happily, "I see, Master. You mean that soon, this place will return to a state of chaotic void, just like what we saw before. Is that right?"

The child chuckled, looking at the elder with a benevolent gaze: "You are right. If there's no external interference and it's allowed to develop and evolve freely, it would indeed be so. But if one day, outsiders break in and take away some of the materials within this Grotto-Heaven, then it's hard to say." The child sighed somewhat wistfully, looking at the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven below.

Upon hearing this, Li Fan paused slightly, then squinted, scrutinizing the master and disciple before him. The old man and the young boy completely ignored Li Fan's presence.

The elder's brows were tightly furrowed, as if he were pondering his master's words. After a moment, he suddenly understood: "This Grotto-Heaven, with its Five Elements circulating, integrated perfectly, is flawless. It can transform one into five, and the Five Elements can return to one. But if an outsider takes a portion from each of the Five Elements, it will lead to an imbalance. Then..."

"Then..." At this point, the elder seemed to get stuck, unable to think of what came next.

The green-robed child chuckled dismissively, then continued the elder's thought: "Actually, if it's just small-scale, long-term extraction, the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven can self-regulate through its own elemental circulation, and it wouldn't lead to an imbalance. The concern is if, in a short period, resources are heavily plundered from only a few specific elemental Grotto-Heavens... The Grotto-Heaven's regulatory mechanism would be overwhelmed, causing this Five Elements Grotto-Heaven to completely lose its elemental balance."

"Master, what happens after a complete imbalance?" the green-robed elder asked curiously.

The green-robed child now put away his smile: "Do you still remember the Five Elements Sect I once told you about?" The elder nodded: "Your disciple remembers. The Five Elements Sect is an affiliated sect of the Grand Dao Sect. I even saw their sect master a few years ago when he came to visit our Calamity-Crossing Sect!"

At this moment, Li Fan's heart was greatly shaken upon hearing the conversation between the master and disciple. He finally confirmed that the two individuals before him were not truly present on this Dust-Crossing Boat. They were a phantom scene, similar to a mirage! The conversation between the master and disciple clearly took place in the ancient cultivation world, before the Great Calamity had descended and while the sects still existed. Li Fan scanned his surroundings and found people bustling about on the Dust-Crossing Boat, yet for some reason, no one else could see this phantom scene except him. Without making a sound, Li Fan continued to observe the conversation between the master and disciple of the ancient Calamity-Crossing Sect.

The green-robed child continued: "The Five Elements Sect, in fact, was not weak in its time. Besides our Ten Immortal Dao Sects, it was considered one of the top cultivation sects in the Xuanhuang Realm. Within the sect, there was a secret realm named Five Elements Heaven. It was almost a world unto itself, with boundless resources. It far surpassed this Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. Relying on this secret realm, if the Five Elements Sect had developed slowly over hundreds or thousands of years, it might not have been impossible for it to rise to become one of the top sects in the world. Unfortunately, the former-former sect master of the Five Elements Sect, Lan Xiangfeng, was shortsighted..."

At this point, the green-robed child snorted coldly, a hint of exasperated anger flashing in his eyes. The green-robed elder widened his eyes, not daring to speak, quietly awaiting the continuation.

After a moment, the green-robed child finally spoke: "At that time, the Heavenly Sword Sect reportedly needed an astronomical amount of Primordial Gold Essence to forge their legendary world-breaking divine weapon. This Primordial Gold Essence was exceedingly rare, only found sporadically accompanying metal ore veins, something that could only be chanced upon. The Heavenly Sword Sect had already plundered almost everything available on the market, yet it was still far from what they needed. Hearing that the Five Elements Heaven secret realm within the Five Elements Sect might have a large stock, the Heavenly Sword Sect Master personally sought them out. How arrogant that fearsome old geezer was, yet he would stoop to the Five Elements Sect. Lan Xiangfeng immediately became conceited, so overjoyed he lost his bearings. Moreover, the Heavenly Sword Sect's offer was incredibly high, swaying all the elders of the Five Elements Sect. Thus, the Five Elements Sect began to extensively excavate Primordial Gold Essence in the secret realm. Had it been only that, it wouldn't have led to the subsequent tragedy. But somehow, they were instigated by someone, who suggested that since various metal ores unearthed during the excavation shouldn't be wasted, they might as well sell them too. And other sects, hearing about the Five Elements Sect's large stock of metal ores, came one after another to acquire them. Driven by greed, the Five Elements Sect's excavation of gold elemental ore veins became increasingly frantic. Deeming their manpower insufficient, they even hired rogue cultivators. Finally, one day, the massive loss of the gold element led to an elemental imbalance within the Five Elements Heaven. It inevitably began to evolve towards the state of annihilation where the Five Elements return to unity. Moreover, once the missing gold element could no longer satisfy the requirements for the Five Elements to return to unity, the remaining four elements — wood, water, fire, and earth — began to undergo chaotic, never-ending energy collisions... The ultimate result was a massive explosion that completely destroyed the Five Elements Heaven. The losses for the entire Five Elements Sect were far beyond what the word 'devastating' could describe. Its core strength was almost wiped out, and it never recovered. To survive, it could only voluntarily pledge allegiance to the Grand Dao Sect, becoming an affiliated sect based on their past ties."

After finishing his story, the green-robed child sighed repeatedly. Li Fan, who had been listening, felt a sudden chill run through him. Wasn't the fate of the ancient Five Elements Heaven precisely the same as the current Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven? Does this mean that after the Five Elements return to unity here, there will also be an earth-shattering explosion?

Cursing inwardly, Li Fan looked towards the master and disciple of the Calamity-Crossing Sect again, only to find their figures becoming increasingly blurred. Their words, spoken as their mouths opened and closed, also became inaudible.