"What are you saying? If Domain Lord hadn't brought me here, I really wouldn't have been able to come to this interesting place."
Yi Tianyun surveyed the surroundings. This area might contain more treasures; maybe he could even find the Illusory Metal Core! That would give him a guaranteed foundation for his next planet.
"No need to call me Domain Lord anymore; just call me Liuli," Domain Lord Liuli said with a smile.
"Huh…?" Yi Tianyun was startled. Had his status risen so quickly? Usually, you'd only call someone by name if your cultivation was at a similar level, or if you were on friendly terms.
"Don't think too much about it. You should know that when cultivations are about the same, that's how people address each other," Domain Lord Liuli explained. "You're technically still at the Heaven Monarchs level, but overall, your strength is comparable to mine, so let's call each other friends."
Power was the ultimate basis for respect. One moment you might address someone as Elder, and the next, they might be calling you Senior if your cultivation surpassed theirs. If your level was lower, you had to say "Senior," and if your level was about the same, you called each other "Fellow Daoist." If you far exceeded them, they had to call you "Senior" or "my Lord."
Here, it all revolved around cultivation, not age. "Those who excel are teachers", that was the logic.
"Then I'll be bold and call you Sister Liuli. Just calling you 'Liuli' is a bit awkward," Yi Tianyun said a little sheepishly, scratching his head. He'd always addressed her as Domain Lord; changing it suddenly felt odd.
"Sister Liuli isn't bad. In that case, I'll acknowledge you as my younger brother." Domain Lord Liuli's eyes curved in a smile; she was growing fonder of Yi Tianyun by the moment. She hadn't expected that she'd really struck gold, finding such a remarkable genius.
Even though she didn't know how he cultivated, she only cared about the result, not the process. As long as he had this level of strength, her Heavenly Spring God Domain would be that much more secure.
"Now then, any thoughts on where we should go next?"
Yi Tianyun looked around; aside from an endless sea of golden sand, there was nothing else, completely barren. No signposts, no landmarks, seemingly a dead end.
If there were some kind of demonic beasts roaming around, he might have captured one or two to force them to show the way. He'd done that sort of thing before, but there was nothing here. The only living souls were presumably the cultivators who had come in.
Domain Lord Liuli turned, scanning the area as her willow-leaf brows knitted slightly.
"We really don't know which way to go. There's not a single clue, so it looks like we'll just have to fly around and see."
They each held a Ten Lives Heavenly Bead, but it gave no direction, only protection.
With that, they began flying at random. They traversed dune after dune of golden sand, and there was no real change in the scenery. Occasionally, a gold-sand tornado would rush them, buffeting them violently.
Fortunately, the beads offered protection; otherwise, they truly would have had a bit of trouble. For now, it was manageable, but being stuck here indefinitely brought another issue: energy consumption.
Flying around aimlessly burned a lot of stamina, and maintaining the bead's protective shield also required energy. Earlier, they couldn't use the beads, but inside this place, they could, only for the purpose of generating that shield.
Over time, if they couldn't replenish energy, it would eventually run out. Though this realm was filled with Illusory Metal Power, they couldn't absorb any of it, let alone restore themselves.
Unless they specifically cultivated Illusory Metal Power, it would be impossible to remain here for too long.
Of course, "not too long" meant it might still be ten thousand years or so. They had plenty of pills in their storage rings, so consumption wasn't a big worry for now. But if they stayed away too long, the Heavenly Spring God Domain would surely descend into chaos.
Yi Tianyun didn't know whether Teleportation God Stones would work here. Teleportation-type items probably wouldn't function, either. To teleport out of this enormous statue, you'd at least have to know where the exit boundary was. Right now, they had no idea; there was no way to escape.
"Not a single change. Looks like we're really stuck here," Domain Lord Liuli said grimly.
Yi Tianyun lowered his gaze to the bead in his hand and said calmly:
"Given that this thing appeared, Sister Liuli, have you thought about anything?"
"Death?" Domain Lord Liuli immediately thought of something.
"Exactly, death," Yi Tianyun responded. "It suddenly showed up, like it's arranged for 'qualified cultivators' to come and be tested. If you fail, that item returns to the fifth level, so others can compete for the right to open the gate and enter."
"Meaning at most only ten people can come in for the trial," Domain Lord Liuli speculated.
"I think so. If all ten die, or if all the participants die, the whole process starts over." Yi Tianyun shook his head. "That's probably the best explanation for its appearance, it isn't some random treasure dropping from the sky; it's a trial set up for us."
Domain Lord Liuli fell silent. Thinking carefully, it did indeed match Yi Tianyun's words. It wasn't some heavenly treasure falling into their laps but a means of testing them.
Only ten participants in total could join, and how many would survive in the end was anyone's guess.
"I suppose that must be it. If we want to claim this Upper Heavenly Venerable's treasures, we have to risk it all," she said, continuing to fly forward with Yi Tianyun. Before long, they spotted figures in the distance.
It was the other three factions, gathered together, seemingly discussing something. Some among them were only God Monarchs, who appeared to be suffering as they resisted the sand outside.
Lacking their own Ten Lives Heavenly Beads, they had to rely on physical defenses.
The moment Yi Tianyun and Domain Lord Liuli appeared, all eyes converged on them. God Monarch Lu Yuan sent a voice transmission:
"Friends, would you mind coming over here so we can discuss something?"
Yi Tianyun and Domain Lord Liuli exchanged glances and decided to land. Wandering aimlessly wasn't really a plan.
When they touched down, the entire group's attention focused on Yi Tianyun. Many cultivators were seething with jealousy, wanting him to hand over the Ten Lives Heavenly Beads. They had hoped to hide in storage spaces, but those were blocked, they couldn't go inside.
They could still take items out, but nobody could enter. So there was no way to evade the rules; the beads were the only method to stay safe.
For these people, Yi Tianyun left the deepest impression: just one thought, speed! He snatched the beads so fast, ran so fast, and yet he was still just a Heaven Monarch…