“However, things are different in the Wildlands. Supposedly, there is a river in the Wildlands which is similar to the Heavenspan River. The difference is that it is a river that the living cannot see. It’s an underworld river, a path that all the souls from the entire world travel after death!
“Because of that, souls are a lot more common in the Wildlands. In fact, they’re everywhere. Within that literally uncountable number of souls, it’s possible to find, not only deva beast souls, but also deva souls!!
“And that’s why the place is the ultimate place of good fortune for Core Formation cultivators!!” From the level of Xu Baocai’s excitement as he spoke, it was evident that he would leap at the chance to be qualified to go the Wildlands.
“The Wildlands….” Bai Xiaochun said. The truth was that Bai Xiaochun knew a bit more about the Wildlands than Xu Baocai did, and the first thing that popped into this mind was that something seemed strange about this trial by fire. It was definitely not as simple as it sounded.
After all, there weren’t just souls in the Wildlands, there were also cultivators!!
“This soul-hunting expedition is going to happen in the Wildlands. That ancient battleship is going to sail across the Heavenspan Sea toward another path which leads to the Wildlands!” Xu Baocai pointed to the huge, mysterious battleship at the top of the waterfall.
Bai Xiaochun looked up at the ship, and was shaken as he recalled something Chen Manyao had said back when she had been trying to convince him to let her join his group of Dao protectors. She had mentioned this very ship, and Bai Xiaochun now realized that she must have known about this soul-hunting expedition all along!
“The only people who qualify to go to the Wildlands on this ten-year-long trial by fire are famous people among the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars. Congratulations, Junior Patriarch. It’s hard to say for sure, but when you come back, you’ll probably be a Nascent Soul cultivator!
“The ultimate goal of the trial by fire is to acquire a deva soul. Anyone who does can bring it back to the sect and exchange it for a complete set of five elements deva beast souls!!
“Even if you can’t get a deva soul, and only get a single deva beast soul, you can still bring it back to the sect and trade it for a precious Nascent Soul Pill!!”
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Chapter
442: Du Lingfei Appears In Person!
“I even heard that a lot of the top 100 Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars could have reached the Nascent Soul stage years ago, but have been suppressing themselves just so that they could join this soul-hunting expedition!” Beaming with delight, Xu Baocai continued to explain everything he’d learned.
The more Bai Xiaochun heard, the grimmer his expression got. In the end, he felt deeply conflicted about the whole trial by fire.
Finally, he made a decision. “I definitely can’t go,” he thought. “Absolutely not!!”
Suddenly, Xu Baocai’s face lit up as if he had just remembered something. Looking shocked and incredulous, he said, “Oh right, there’s something else you definitely don’t know about, Junior Patriarch, something huge. Heavens! Even I had never heard a whisper about this. It was only after word of the trial by fire began to spread that I caught wind of it.
“Junior Patriarch, did you know that the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect is a lot bigger than you ever imagined? That’s right. What you see around us here is not the entirety of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. There are other parts of the sect that are located within the Great Wall!!” Even Xu Baocai was still shaking from this shocking news, despite having heard it some time ago.
“The Great Wall?” Bai Xiaochun said, a look of shock appearing on his face.
“The four sections of the Great Wall all connect eventually, creating a huge circle that protects the Heavenspan Sea, and all the sects too!
“Everything outside the Great Wall is the true Wildlands!! According to what I heard, everyone who takes part in the soul-hunting expedition has to actually go outside of the Great Wall, on more than one occasion….” As he talked, and brought together all of the various bits of information he had learned, Xu Baocai’s expression slowly changed as he realized that, clearly, this Great Wall was separating two opposing forces!
His voice gradually faded away, and his pupils constricted.
“You get it now, don’t you?” Bai Xiaochun said, scowling a bit as he looked at Xu Baocai.
“It can’t be like that, can it?” Xu Baocai said quietly. “Maybe the area outside the Great Wall is just really dangerous. That’s why they built it, to keep out the danger? Or maybe to keep all the souls from getting inside?” Xu Baocai was feeling more and more like there was something mysterious going on, and he shivered, almost like an instinctual reaction to piecing together some puzzle.
Not daring to think about the subject too deeply, Xu Baocai left in somewhat of a daze. As for Bai Xiaochun, he was scowling on the verge of tears. Based on the sensation of danger he was feeling, he knew that he had to think of a way to make sure he didn’t go on the soul-hunting expedition. And yet, before he could, the orders of the sect leader and the peak lords spread out to all of the disciples.
“All Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars in the top 1,000 are required to join the soul-hunting expedition. It will last for ten years, during which time you must go outside of the Great Wall at least three times! After the ten years are up, you may return to the sect headquarters!”
Almost immediately, Bai Xiaochun was filled with a sense of foreboding.
“I’m finished,” he moaned. “Kaput….” After all, this was not the River-Defying Sect, where he had so much sway with the patriarchs. He had only just reached the violet portion of the rainbow, and made a name for himself. As far as he could tell, he had no options available.
“This mission is going to be way too dangerous! The Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect’s so-called Great Wall is obviously there to keep out, not just the souls, but the traitors….” After much thought, he decided to go to Chen Manyao’s immortal’s cave to see if he could get some answers.
Chen Manyao didn’t seem surprised at all to see him. After inviting him inside, they sat down, and an enigmatic smile appeared on her face.
Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat and said, “So, um, Manyao, do you think I’ve treated you well here in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect? You still haven’t fulfilled that one promise from early on.”
Chen Manyao covered her mouth and chuckled lightly. She was beautiful to begin with, but whenever she laughed or smiled, she seemed even more attractive.
“Don’t worry, Junior Patriarch. Even in the Wildlands outside of the Great Wall, you’ll be safe as long as you’re careful. Furthermore, this trip will definitely be an opportunity for good fortune. You never know. You might even end up with a deva soul. Although, if you’re really worried, you could always join our side.”
Bai Xiaochun sighed. Avoiding the topic she had brought up, he said. “Ah come on, how many deva souls can there be in the world? After all the years that have passed, surely any that did exist have already been found.”
“There are some things you probably don’t understand completely, Junior Patriarch. The Wildlands are special. The Underworld River there contains a huge amount of souls. Throughout all the countless years that have passed since the Heavenspan Realm came to exist, all the souls which have died end up in that river, and build up in the Wildlands. Even if there were fewer deva souls than there are, there would still be some!”
“They build up?” he murmured, a look of shock appearing on his face.
“I don’t know the details, and in fact, I don’t even know why it happens that way. But what I do know is that the Wildlands has been building up souls for years and years.” Chen Manyao seemed very earnest in her words.