Chapter 65: Spirit's Request
Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan walked to the edge of the sea of clouds.
Just as Mo Yan was about to step into the sea of clouds, he halted, gazing at the ethereal Milky Way within, and suddenly asked, "Young Master Lu, do you now regret entering the Flame Spirit Realm?"
"Before I acted, I had no hesitation; after I had acted, there was even less reason for regret." Lu Qingshan spoke very calmly, dispelled the clouds, and was the first to step into the Longevity River.
He was very rational, always considering everything carefully before acting, but this did not mean his blood was cold.
As he had said to Qin Yitian, there were things he wanted to do and so he simply did them.
Even if he said, the Flame Spirit Realm meant nothing to him.
Mo Yan stood rooted to the spot for a moment, then suddenly laughed, watching Lu Qingshan's figure disappearing into the sea of clouds and quickly followed, "Brother Lu, wait for me."
This time, he called him Brother Lu.
...
In the Longevity River.
There was none of the danger they had anticipated.
A rich vitality surrounded them, and with just a light breath, Lu Qingshan felt refreshed and much lighter.
The Starry Radiance was brilliant around him. Lu Qingshan reached out a fingertip to lightly touch a star, but it seemed only an illusion as it passed right through his finger, falling behind him.
An almost imperceptible force of repulsion from all directions surged, pushing Lu Qingshan towards the outside of the Longevity River.
The deeper into the Longevity River he went, the stronger this repulsive force became.
This place was as beautiful as a heavenly landscape.
Yet, it seemed that some invincible will had isolated all the Spiritual Power in this realm, even preventing Lu Qingshan from activating the Spiritual Power within his Dantian.
At this time, Mo Yan too entered this river of stars.
"It seems that this place is very likely the exit," Mo Yan made a judgment as soon as he felt the pushing force upon entering the Longevity River.
Not otherwise, this scene was all too familiar.
It resembled the Spiritual Abyss.
Only, the Spiritual Abyss was an irresistible pull, whereas the Longevity River was a force hindering their advancement.
"According to the situation in the Spiritual Abyss, if we go deeper into this Longevity River, the repelling force will become irresistible," Lu Qingshan tried advancing a few more steps into the depths of the Longevity River using the strength of his physical body.
Only a short distance was covered before the force of expulsion in the Longevity River had increased to the point that he could barely maintain his stance.
Indeed, even when they could use Spiritual Power, they could not resist the pull at the depths of the Spiritual Abyss.
Now caught in a Spirit-Nullifying state, having lost the source of a Cultivator's strength and unable to use Spiritual Power, how could they go against this pushing force and proceed along the Longevity River to leave the Flame Spirit Realm?
"Let's go back," seeing that they could no longer continue forward, Lu Qingshan turned back and called out.
Mo Yan nodded in agreement.
The two were pushed back by the force from the Longevity River and returned outside the sea of clouds.
Waiting outside, Xue Zhuyong saw that Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan had returned after only a moment within the Longevity River and a bad premonition arose in him, so he quickly asked, "Is the situation inside not optimistic?"
Mo Yan and Xue Zhuyong elaborated on the scene inside.
"Has Young Master Lu already thought of a way to escape?" Qin Yitian suddenly asked.
For she noticed that Lu Qingshan, who should have shown at least some disappointment, had a slight smile on his lips,
"To leave the Flame Spirit Realm, indeed, it's not an impossibility," Lu Qingshan nodded.
"Do you still remember that the Spiritual Abyss erupts periodically?" facing the puzzled look from Xue Zhuyong, Lu Qingshan hinted.
It was merely a sentence, yet immediately everyone understood.
"When the Spiritual Abyss erupts and the heavens fill with water mist, that is when the Longevity Whale breathes, and at that time the devouring strength within the Spiritual Abyss vanishes.
Accordingly, the repelling force in the Longevity River will also disappear.
We can wait for the next eruption of the Spiritual Abyss and take that opportunity to leave the Flame Spirit Realm," Mo Yan explained, a point he and Lu Qingshan had realized almost simultaneously.
"We can go back!" Xue Zhuyong exclaimed, unable to contain his joy.
"Yes," Mo Yan nodded gravely, "Everything is ready, we just need an east wind; all we need to do now is quietly wait for the next eruption of the Spiritual Abyss."
Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
Suddenly, a continuous strange sound erupted.
The Flame Spirit Clan, floating beside the magma waterfall, heard their conversation and, suddenly excited, started uttering unintelligible words, flying around them, constantly circling.
"What does this mean?" Mo Yan could not understand the sudden behavior of the Flame Spirit Clan and hastily summoned the Flame of Life from within his body.
"Drip?" Flame floated in front of Mo Yan, calling out in confusion.
Mo Yan pointed at the excited red Flame Spirits encircling them.
"Drip-drip," Flame began to communicate with the Flame Spirits.
After a long while, Flame started explaining to Mo Yan.
"Brother Lu, the Flame Spirit Clan wants us to take them with us when we leave the Flame Spirit Realm," Mo Yan's expression gradually turned solemn, he turned to Lu Qingshan, stating, "The Flame Spirits feel that the will of this world does not welcome them, and if they do not leave this realm, with the expanding of the Wood Spirit Clan, a thousand years from now, they will be completely extinct."
"Further, since Flame has acknowledged me as its master after becoming one of the sources of strength in the Fire Domain, the strength of the Fire Domain has been depleting faster than before. The Flame Spirit Clan might not even last a thousand years now."
"So that's how it is," Xue Zhuyong realized with a start.
Flame naturally took the side of the Flame Spirit Clan, and so did Mo Yan.
They both wanted to be able to take the Flame Spirits away from this place of doom.
The biggest problem was just one.
The Flame Spirits, being inherently ethereal, could not enter the Spirit-Nullifying Longevity River.
Mo Yan understood this dilemma too, his brows furrowed tightly, "Brother Lu, do you have a way?"
Lu Qingshan fell silent.
Was there a way?
At least for now, there was no solution; he had no leads.
Their strength was too weak; they simply couldn't break the Spirit-Nullifying power of the Longevity River.
"If it really can't be done, perhaps the only solution is to wait until we are powerful enough to break this Spirit-Nullifying power, only then we might have a chance to save the Flame Spirit Clan," Mo Yan also knew it was unrealistic to solve this problem now, he sighed, "But I don't know if the Flame Spirit Clan can last until then."
"I'll go in again and see," Lu Qingshan suddenly said, and then entered the Longevity River once more.
He wanted to observe again, to understand where exactly this Spirit-Nullifying power came from and whether there was any way to remove it.
Qin Yitian's eyes flickered slightly, thinking something unknown, he too suddenly flashed into the Longevity River.
Lu Qingshan stood in the midst of the river, motionless.
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Countless specks of stars, with long trails of light, passed over Lu Qingshan's body.
"Why did you come in too?" Seeing Qin Yitian enter, Lu Qingshan asked.
Qin Yitian did not answer Lu Qingshan's question but instead asked him, "Young Master Lu, do you intend to save the fate of the Flame Spirit Clan and take them out of the Flame Spirit Realm?"