Chapter 397: Cangwu Town's Immortal Power

"Skull Senior was indeed right; these broken cauldrons are truly the keys to entering the Medicine King's True Cauldron!"

When Xiao Heng informed Su Xiaomei of this discovery, she couldn't help but beam with joy.

"This is great. Following the guidance, we should find it soon."

The three exchanged glances, then discreetly flew downwards along the cliff face of the Abyss Realm, heading towards the lower reaches of Cangu Abyss.

After descending about two hundred zhang from the surface, the scenery within the abyss began to differ dramatically from that on the surface.

Because of the perpetual mist and clouds above, the deeper they went, the darker the surroundings became.

The cliff walls were no longer bare rock but were instead covered with numerous strange and grotesque plants. There were glowing slender willows and predatory pines disguised as rocks. There were even withered, black, long trees that lay hidden like giant pythons, erupting to attack prey that came too close.

Coexisting with these plants were the exotic beasts mentioned in the jade slip, which they needed to be wary of. Most of these exotic beasts were pitch black, making them almost imperceptible to the naked eye in the dim, lightless abyss. Their appearances were even more bizarre and vastly different from creatures on the surface. They did not seem to have evolved naturally but rather appeared to be forcibly merged fragments of various creatures. There were long worms that split open in the middle to devour prey, strange apes with heads retracted into their bellies, and bizarre birds with wings made of countless wriggling worms. These various grotesque forms were truly chilling to behold.

Furthermore, within this abyss, there seemed to be a mysterious force at play. It suppressed the sensory range of cultivators' spiritual consciousness. This force became more pronounced with increasing depth. As cultivators descended, these strange creatures would suddenly emerge, either from the cliff walls of the Abyss Realm or from the void in the center of the abyss. They would appear in swarms, launching attacks on the cultivators. As if harboring a deep-seated hatred for outside cultivators, these strange entities would continue their attacks until they were completely destroyed.

Fortunately, although these creatures in the abyss were numerous, their destructive power was only equivalent to that of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. For Su Xiaomei and her companions, whose minimum strength was at the Golden Core stage, they posed little threat.

After half a day of uneventful travel, they finally approached a colossal boundary marker embedded horizontally in the cliff face. On it, the large characters "San Wan" (Thirty Thousand) were written in striking red luminous script, visible from a great distance. Above this boundary marker, the continuous cliff face had been almost entirely hollowed out, and a brightly lit suspended city had been built above the abyss.

"This is the first staging post for exploring Cangu Abyss," Xiao Heng said. "Lincang City. Further down, the abyss becomes increasingly dangerous. Therefore, providing a place for rest and resupply here is quite necessary."

Xiao Heng observed the constant stream of cultivators coming and going, secretly raising his guard. Most cultivators who came to explore Cangu Abyss were formidable individuals. Their purpose in coming here, besides collecting the valuable specialties of Cangu Abyss, was largely for the fiery meteor that descended from the sky years ago. In recent years, there had been much speculation about the true identity of this fiery meteor. The idea that it was the Medicine King's True Cauldron, which had transcended realms in ancient times, was just one of the more widely circulated theories. Regardless, it was capable of causing all cultivators who witnessed it to feel a sense of trepidation. This fiery meteor must certainly be extraordinary. As the saying goes, "Man dies for wealth." Thus, it was not difficult to understand why outside cultivators had tirelessly pursued it.

"Let's go." Xiao Heng and his companions did not enter Lincang City. They flew directly past the boundary marker, reaching the second layer, thirty thousand zhang beneath the surface. The moment they crossed the boundary marker, it felt as though they had passed through an invisible barrier. A strange sensation welled up in Xiao Heng's heart.

"My strength has weakened somewhat, just as the rumors claimed." Feeling a sudden heaviness in his heart, Xiao Heng sent a telepathic message to Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo. "Did you notice the presence of the Immortal Suppressing Force?"

A moment later, both Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo replied similarly: "Yes, there's a faint trace. But for now, the impact isn't too significant."

"It seems my strength is indeed weaker after all," Xiao Heng thought, feeling a touch of helplessness. He could only hope that the Medicine King's True Cauldron was located within the maximum depth he could reach.

The Immortal Suppressing Force was the general term cultivators used for the mysterious power shrouding Cangu Abyss. Specifically, as one delved deeper into Cangu Abyss, cultivators' strength would be proportionally diminished. In the first layer, within thirty thousand zhang, its effects were not yet obvious; it merely interfered with the range of spiritual consciousness. However, upon entering the second layer, the effects became immediate. Cultivators at the mid-stage Qi Refining realm and below would become indistinguishable from mortals upon entering. Their spiritual energy would become unusable, and they would lose the ability to fly. There was only one outcome: falling helplessly into the endless depths of the abyss, becoming prey for the strange creatures along the way. This meant that only cultivators at the late-stage Qi Refining realm or above could survive in the second layer of Cangu Abyss.

In reality, as the depth continuously increased, the creatures within the abyss also grew stronger. Meanwhile, the cultivators' strength was constantly suppressed. This also meant that the deeper one went, the more difficult exploration became.

Xiao Heng and his two companions proceeded even more cautiously into the second layer, the Spirit Whispers Forest. Trees deeply rooted in the Abyss Realm cliffs extended their branches wildly towards the empty center of Cangu Abyss, defying logic. They formed a vast, seemingly endless primeval forest that stretched vertically for fifty thousand zhang. Besides the increasingly numerous and powerful dangerous, strange creatures, the occasional murmuring whispers emanating from the forest were even more lethal. These sounds would cause cultivators to experience various hallucinations and lose their minds. Those with weak willpower would seem to lose their souls and fly towards the center of the Spirit Whispers Forest, and never return.

All three, Xiao Heng included, were considered outstanding talents with strong wills. Coupled with their formidable strength, they successfully traversed the second layer in approximately one day, descending to a depth of eighty thousand zhang. At this point, the dense forest suddenly thinned out. There seemed to be another light source below, and visibility suddenly became clear. The marker for this layer was no longer a horizontally placed stone tablet like before. Instead, it was a gigantic eyeball embedded in the cliff face. The pupil in the center of the eyeball had been replaced by two large, blood-red characters: "Ba Wan" (Eighty Thousand). The eyeball appeared to be alive, constantly rotating and observing. Sensing the arrival of someone from above, it instantly focused its gaze on Xiao Heng and his companions. Immense pressure emanated from it, causing Xiao Heng's body to tense instantly. Fortunately, the giant eye only glanced at them before shifting its gaze away, no longer paying them attention.

"Whew..." Xiao Heng let out a sigh of relief.

"This is the second staging post of Cangu Abyss, the City of the Giant Eye."

(End of Chapter)