The explosion of that "Realm-Breaking Pearl" had turned Gu Jiuqi's plan into a mere fantasy. Tens of thousands of years of hard work had been washed away in a single day, leaving Gu Jiuqi so furious he nearly jumped up and started cursing.
After calming down, he recalculated and ultimately concluded that if he had two "Realm-Breaking Pearls" in hand, the probability of success would still be around seventy percent. However, as far as he knew, only three "Realm-Breaking Pearls" had ever entered the Desolate Moon Continent, which meant there was only one left out there.
And so, he began the search for the last "Realm-Breaking Pearl."
Although his Spirit Power was already heaven-defying, if the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" were easy to find, the Demon Clan, with their sensing magical treasures, would have found them all long ago. He had to wait until the power within the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" slowly re-accumulated over millennia. Only then, by relying on the minuscule aura it emitted and using a specially made sensing compass, would it be possible to find it. The probability was far too slim for Gu Jiuqi.
Just two months after Gu Jiuqi began his search, the channel between the South Sea and the Demon Realm was opened, a development that nearly drove Gu Jiuqi to his grave with frustration. He had stayed on the Desolate Moon Continent for tens of thousands of years and had finally found a possible way to destroy the Devil's Cliff Crevice, only for it to be thwarted just like that.
How could he be willing to accept it? He felt there must be another way, so he entered the Devil's Cliff Crevice once more, sealed himself off from the world, and continuously tried to re-deduce the laws of space.
And it was on this day that Gu Jiuqi, who was in deep thought with his eyes closed below the Devil's Cliff Crevice, suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart. This feeling only appeared when something major was about to happen. For him to have such an ominous feeling, what kind of disaster could it be?
Gu Jiuqi leaped up and flew in the direction that had caused the palpitation. Immediately, he saw a gray, spherical object flying toward the Devil's Cliff Crevice like a whirlwind. It carried the controlling aura of a Spirit Transformation cultivator, causing the cultivators from both sides who were fighting nearby to tremble in fear.
Their eyes filled with despair, and they couldn't muster even a bit of their Spirit Power. The gray sphere just steamrolled its way forward, annihilating everything in its path without distinguishing between friend or foe. The airflow around the gray sphere had already turned everything before it to dust.
Gazing at the sphere with its somewhat familiar aura, Gu Jiuqi couldn't help but cry out, "A Realm-Breaking Pearl!"
Gu Jiuqi recognized the pearl at a glance and was immediately scared into a cold sweat. He was not in his main body here. If the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" were to explode, he, being in the middle of it, would be heavily injured, if not killed.
However, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. He had come into contact with a "Realm-Breaking Pearl" before, even holding it in his own hands to study it without Daling and the others being any the wiser.
More importantly, there was another reason that made Gu Jiuqi instantly feel that something was off about this object.
For millions of years, although the Desolate Moon Continent had never found a "Realm-Breaking Pearl," many almighty beings who ascended to the Immortal Spirit Realm had long since obtained information about it and passed it down through special means.
As long as a "Realm-Breaking Pearl" was launched by a cultivator using Spirit Power or Demonic Qi, it would automatically activate upon sensing the planar barrier, just like Venerable Wan had done in the South Sea. This "Realm-Breaking Pearl" hurtling down showed no sign of activation, and it still had the Divine Sense of a Spirit Transformation cultivator attached to it.
Just the Divine Sense attached to it would be enough to annihilate that Spirit Transformation cultivator with the force of the backlash alone the moment the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" exploded.
This single piece of information immediately made Gu Jiuqi, who was about to temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack, make a risky move.
He wanted to catch this object that was similar to a "Realm-Breaking Pearl." The spot on the barrier that could collapse the passage between the two realms might just have a hope of being shattered and reorganized. The "Realm-Breaking Pearl" they had, plus this one, should be able to achieve the goal.
Although he couldn't immediately judge the authenticity of this "Realm-Breaking Pearl," he had already spread his Divine Sense and heard the conversation from above. This thing should be a magical treasure similar to a "Realm-Breaking Pearl."
So, the Demon Clan had already attacked this far. He had almost bungled a major affair this time.
His actions were much faster than his thoughts. An unactivated "Realm-Breaking Pearl" was the perfect opportunity to strike. With a flash of his figure, he had silently arrived below the "Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl." At this moment, his mouth was also dry. If this thing happened to be detonated right now, the probability of his death was almost one hundred percent.
And so, Tu Tai above had run into some bad luck. He believed that with all the Spirit Transformation cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent trapped, who would dare to touch a magical treasure he was controlling? That would be simply seeking death. Moreover, it would only take about two breaths for the "Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl" to descend to the required position. He simply didn't believe any accident could happen.
What happened next was that Gu Jiuqi succeeded. With his methods, isolating Tu Tai's Divine Sense was not difficult at all.
Only after getting his hands on the "Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl" did he finally feel at ease. At this point, even the Late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator above could do nothing to change the situation.
But the next moment, he immediately realized something was wrong. This was not a "Realm-Breaking Pearl" at all, but seemed to be a replica.
Gu Jiuqi's heart turned cold, but then, after sensing the faint fluctuations from within, a glimmer of hope was finally born. He felt that this object, combined with the other intact "Realm-Breaking Pearl," should have a thirty percent chance of collapsing the Devil's Cliff Crevice.
A thirty percent chance of hope, for the entire Desolate Moon Continent, was enough to risk everything.
At this moment, the cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent above had also reached a critical moment of life and death. Helpless, Gu Jiuqi could only fly up to save them first.
Afterward, he never revealed a single hint about collapsing the Devil's Cliff Crevice. He didn't even explain the specifics to Daling and the others. He only secretly told Daling to order the cultivators below the passage not to go deeper than fifty feet into the Devil's Cliff Crevice and to wait for his final command.
Daling and the others dared not question his methods. Filled with doubt, they could only temporarily suppress it and obey his every command.
After some thought, Gu Jiuqi finally entrusted this task to Wei Zhongran.
First, Wei Zhongran's actual combat power had reached about the Initial-stage of Nascent Soul, which should allow him to move through the Devil's Cliff Crevice unobstructed. The possibility of encountering a Demon General who had crossed over was extremely small.
Second, the disappearance of a Golden Core cultivator would not attract the attention of cultivators at the Nascent Soul level and above. After all, no matter how strong Wei Zhongran was, it would be difficult for him to endanger their lives. The decisive factor here was the Spirit Transformation cultivators. Everyone's attention would be on them.
Third, Gu Jiuqi had been on Little Bamboo Peak for so many years and knew Wei Zhongran the best, even more than Dacen did. When Wei Zhongran was training in the Devil's Cliff Crevice back then, he would go wherever it was dangerous. He was a complete madman.
However, Gu Jiuqi still appreciated this point. A young person must not only have good talent but also know how to take advantage of the situation to temper themselves.
Therefore, Wei Zhongran knew the Devil's Cliff Crevice like the back of his hand. Gu Jiuqi was not afraid that Wei Zhongran would go to the wrong place. He only needed to mention two or three prominent features of the area, and Wei Zhongran would be able to react immediately.
Sure enough, when he gave the task to Wei Zhongran and only mentioned two rather prominent landmarks twenty-four thousand feet below the Devil's Cliff Crevice, Wei Zhongran immediately and accurately stated the location, which made him very satisfied.
…
As Wei Zhongran moved stealthily and rapidly, he had already quickly examined the contents of the storage pouch. There were a total of four items inside.
Two gray spheres, almost identical in color but different in size, were placed within. The larger gray sphere was the one he had just seen, the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" held by Gu Jiuqi. The smaller one he had never seen before, but at this point, even a fool would know that it must be the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" that Li Yan had helped recover, the real "Realm-Breaking Pearl."
Wei Zhongran had also heard what Gu Jiuqi said from above. The larger "Realm-Breaking Pearl" was actually less powerful, seemingly a replica. If he remembered correctly, the real "Realm-Breaking Pearl" was always carried by the four Spirit Transformation cultivators. As for who had it, he of course wouldn't know.
But it was clear that Daling and the other three Spirit Transformation cultivators had just met Gu Jiuqi for the first time. They certainly wouldn't have given this item to Gu Jiuqi beforehand. In the span of a few hasty words, Gu Jiuqi had already flown up to chase after the First Sir, and now this "Realm-Breaking Pearl" was hanging on his own waist.
Wei Zhongran couldn't help but admire the methods of this "Senior Brother Gu" immensely.
Just from the smooth and effortless way he obtained the "Realm-Breaking Pearl," it seemed this "Senior Brother Gu" had likely taken it from Daling and the others more than once. He was very familiar with the routine.
'This is just like the difference between a Late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator and an Initial or Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. The disparity is too great. If not for the consideration that a real fight would trigger the rejection of Spirit Transformation cultivators by the laws of Heaven and Earth, that First Sir alone could have firmly suppressed Senior Daling and the other three.'
Wei Zhongran thought to himself. A jade slip had already appeared in his hand. This was the third item in the storage pouch Gu Jiuqi had hung on his waist.
Without looking, Wei Zhongran knew that it must be engraved with the magical manual to activate the "Realm-Breaking Pearl." Time was tight, so he could only read it while rapidly descending. With the help of Divine Sense, a cultivator didn't need to specifically memorize anything; they would remember it firmly after reading it once.
The result was no different from what he expected. It was a set of magical manuals. Gu Jiuqi had no special instructions for him. Besides the extremely complicated method of casting it, there was nothing particularly special about the manual. With Wei Zhongran's cultivation, he could cast it without any obstacle. After seeing the manual, the advancing Wei Zhongran also recalled Gu Jiuqi's final words.
"Junior Brother Wei, this journey is fraught with danger. I also cannot grasp how powerful the explosion of the two 'Realm-Breaking Pearls' will be. At the same time, I cannot predict how strong the suction force will be when the passage between the two realms collapses. However, I have already adjusted the activation manual accordingly. This is the most I can do. After you cast the manual, you will have about ten to twelve breaths of time to escape. You should consider eight to ten breaths as relatively safe. There is a drop of wine in the pouch. It should be able to resist the suction from the collapse of the passage and buy you about one breath of time. You only need to throw it out at the critical moment. If you still can't escape even with this, you will remain below forever."
After Gu Jiuqi finished speaking, his voice completely disappeared, with no further words.
He didn't give Wei Zhongran any room for discussion. The final reminder was the most he could do out of kindness. This was entirely due to the affinity he had formed by staying on Little Bamboo Peak for so many years. He had given enough consideration to this sentimental bond with Wei Zhongran. Cultivators are ruthless and unrighteous; to achieve their goals, why care about a few deaths? As for whether a genius elite disciple perishes, as long as the death is worthy and valuable, he couldn't care less.
He, Gu Jiuqi, was also a genius of his generation and was equally willing to die for the sect.
If it weren't for the fact that letting a Late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator, who already knew of his existence, roam free, would lead to them using all their final resorts and causing unpredictable consequences, Gu Jiuqi would of course have been willing to do it himself. After all, that way, he would be truly at ease in resolving the matter of the Devil's Cliff Crevice.
But the variables a Late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator could create were too many. By the time he came up, it wouldn't be impossible for all the high-level cultivators of the Four Great Sects to be dead. With the sects destroyed and their people dead, his existence as a Chimei Emissary would be nothing but a joke!