Chapter 1617: Zhang Fei - The Mysterious Man

’Can you detect the metal elemental seed, Mei?’

[Master, the metal elemental seed is on this floor, but I can’t pinpoint its location. It’s invisible to the naked eye because it’s blocked by something, but I don’t know what’s blocking it.]

Zhang Fei looked at Ju Jushen and Lu Wangyi. "What exactly are the challenges on the third floor? Why don’t I see anything here but empty space?"

Lu Wangyi and Ju Jushen exchanged glances for a moment. "This third floor is called the Transcendent Floor, and only cultivators who have successfully completed the challenges on the lower two floors can ascend here."

"The challenges on the third floor are different from the previous two floors, and they will appear once in a while. We will face various challenges, but mostly, we will face many battles."

"If we manage to pass each challenge, we will get rewards that are useful for us, such as technique books, weapons, equipment, useful consumable items, and many other things."

Zhang Fei nodded slightly. "How long is the time interval for each challenge?"

"I can’t say that for sure, and you can wait for your first challenge to appear."

"Sigh." Zhang Fei sighed softly and walked towards the stone gate, followed by Luo Yunxiao and the others. As soon as he touched the gate, he suffered a heavy headache that made him vomit. "Bleurgh!"

"Husband!" Luo Yunxiao hurriedly supported him and asked. "What happened? Why did you suddenly vomit like this?"

"Did you see something, Master?" Huo Yan asked as he floated beside him. Lei and the dark fairy didn’t say anything, but they were also worried about their master.

"I’m fine." Zhang Fei wiped his mouth. "Even though this door is tightly sealed, I can feel the aura of those shadowy creatures, and they are much stronger than I previously expected. Many of them have already reached the top of the tower in the Zhanlu Domain, and they should be able to feel my presence here. If we succeed in finding the key and opening the gate, they will invade this realm immediately, and many cultivators will fall under their control."

"How strong are those shadowy creatures, young man?"

"They are strong! I can’t describe their strength! No one in this Paradise Realm can face them, including Long Wuzhao." Dugu Yuanshen, Lu Wangyi, and Ju Jushen were shocked to hear that. "Empress Huo is the most powerful cultivator in this realm, but I’m not sure she can defeat them. However, she has Huo Ling by her side, and I’m sure that hot-headed woman can help her."

"Who is Huo Ling? Why have I never heard of her?" Lu Wangyi asked.

"I can’t tell you her true identity, but I can tell you that she’s powerful. I’m sure she can fight those shadow creatures, but I’m not certain that she will act, especially with her character like that." Zhang Fei asked the three spirits to return to his body, which they immediately complied with. "I want to go to the Ancient Realm, but I’m not sure I can get there with those shadowy creatures in the tower."

"Why are you so eager to go to the Ancient Realm?"

Zhang Fei sighed and answered Ju Jushen. "The two last souls of the old fox are in the Ancient Realm, so I must go there to meet them. Without them, the ten-tailed fox will never return to this universe, and peace will never come."

"I see." Ju Jushen nodded in understanding, but his vision suddenly blurred, and he fell unconscious a moment later. Lu Wangyi and Dugu Yuanshen experienced the same thing, except for Zhang Fei and Luo Yunxiao.

Zhang Fei and Luo Yunxiao frowned at the sight, but a man appeared above the gate and spoke to them. "You two don’t need to worry about them. I need to talk to you, so I put them to sleep."

"Hmm?" Zhang Fei and Luo Yunxiao looked up. "Who exactly are you? How did you suddenly appear in this place?"

"Hahaha," The man laughed. "I have no name, and I am the will of my true self. He accidentally created this universe, and he didn’t realize he left me here when it happened."

"Husband." Luo Yunxiao hugged his arm tighter.

Zhang Fei nodded slightly. "Do you have a relationship with that young woman?"

"No." The man shook his head. "That young woman came from another universe, and she came here to find a way to free her father from the core of their universe."

Zhang Fei took a deep breath after he realized the identity of the young woman who accidentally killed him and brought him back to life.

The man spoke. "I didn’t come to you to talk about that young woman, but I wanted to talk to you about those shadowy creatures."

"Where did they come from? Why did they suddenly appear in this universe? What is their real purpose?" Zhang Fei asked.

"As you already know, this universe was born from Yin and Yang—good and evil, and those shadowy creatures are the incarnation of the evil side hidden in this universe." Zhang Fei frowned. "They have existed since the birth of this universe, but they were locked away deep in the core, and they were finally freed after the core of this universe manifested itself. They had never moved before, and they took advantage of the damage and chaos in this universe to strengthen themselves. They were strong now, so they decided to appear on the surface, and they intended to destroy this universe."

"The core of this universe? Who is that person?"

"Don’t you already have the answer?"

"Is that person Feng Yao?" The man didn’t nod or shake his head, but Zhang Fei already knew his guess was correct. "How are we going to stop those shadowy creatures? Can you stop them?"

"I am merely the will born from my true self, and I possess no power whatsoever, so I can’t stop them." The man pointed at him. "You can stop them, but you’re still too weak to fight them, and they will devour you alive if you encounter them now. Besides, they are only pawns, and the core creature has not yet surfaced. To stop the chaos in this universe, you must kill it, and those shadowy creatures will disappear forever."

"Where is the location of the core creature? How can I stop it?"

"Unfortunately, the core creature escaped due to her mistake, and I haven’t managed to find it yet, so I can’t tell you about its location." Zhang Fei was disappointed. "To stop the core creature, you must evolve into the ten-tailed fox first, and you must gather allies who can help you. Some of them are already by your side, including this little girl. She inherited the old ten-tailed fox’s Heaven-Earth Reversal Physique, so you must always bring her wherever you go because you will never be complete without her."

Zhang Fei looked at Luo Yunxiao, who smiled at him. He returned his gaze to the man. "Who are the others?"

"Luo Yunxiao is the representative of the human race, Xu Ling’er is the representative of the winged race, Tianshi Shengjie is the representative of the beast race, and Jia Yuyan is the representative of the natural race. This way, you only need to find representatives from the demihuman race and the demon race, and they will be your strength to defeat the core creature."

"Is the representative of the demihuman race already by my side?" The man shook his head at Zhang Fei. "I can’t think of the representative of the demihuman race for now, but I have an idea of the representative of the demon race."

"Those ten demon gods can’t help you deal with those shadowy creatures and their main core."

"The people I mean are not them."

"Who are you referring to, Husband?"

"The woman inside the Lotus Limbo World," Luo Yunxiao remembered. "She wanted to imprison the old fox there in the past, but she couldn’t stop him because he possessed the Heaven-Earth Reversal Physique. If my guess is correct, she should be the representative of the demon race."

"Does that mean you’re going into the Lotus Limbo World to meet her? What if she won’t let you leave that place?" Luo Yunxiao worriedly asked.

The man spoke directly. "As I said before, the two of you must always be together, and you will be his strength because you inherited the Heaven-Earth Reversal Physique. He won’t be able to leave that place if he enters alone, but the story will be different if you join him, so you have to help him to meet that woman."

"I see." Luo Yunxiao nodded in understanding. "He is my husband, and I am the inheritor of the old fox’s Heaven-Earth Reversal Physique, so I will assist him to the best of my ability."

"That’s good."

Zhang Fei asked the man. "Do you know the locations of the possessors of the Immortal Sacred Physique, the Yin-Yang Devouring Physique, the Universe Tree Physique, the Heavenly Calamity Physique, and the Void Emperor Physique?"

"Hmm?" The man raised an eyebrow before nodding to Zhang Fei. "They are in the Ancient Realm, except for the owner of the Void Emperor Physique."

"Where is that person located?"

"Inside the void core." Zhang Fei furrowed his brows. "If you want to meet that person, you’ll have to wait for Bing Xingying to break through to the Celestial God Realm first, but she won’t be able to do so anytime soon. I think I’ve talked too much with you, and it wouldn’t be good for you if you knew more now, so I have to go now. I hope you’ll succeed in stopping the core creature and restoring peace to this universe, or it will be destroyed because of them."