Chapter 449: Chapter 146: Withered Old Man

Thinking about this, Lin Jing pondered over everything an entrant to the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm encountered, growing increasingly certain of his idea.

Previously.

The robed elder had enumerated several rules, one of which was not to stare at the moon or let its light shine upon oneself.

And Lin Jing, while in Observation Mode, saw the real moon, which indeed resembled an eye.

Could that mean the moon was actually the eye of the Divinity Transformation Cultivator, observing the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm every night?

And the moonlight could be where his gaze fell, sweeping over the area.

Such an explanation seemed quite reasonable.

Even if it wasn’t the cultivator himself, it had to be a Magical Treasure with a similar function.

The more Lin Jing thought about it, the more plausible it became.

Thus, he planned to try to investigate the moon in the sky next.

Before investigating the moon, Lin Jing needed to observe carefully.

During the day, the sky was obscured by blood-colored clouds, completely obstructing the view; only at night did the moon disperse the thick clouds and shine its light down.

Hence, Lin Jing had to first determine the moon’s position in the sky and make preparations during the day.

Then at night, when the moon appeared, he would proceed with his investigation.

No sooner said than done, Lin Jing spent the next days hiding in the System Space, observing the moon daily.

After just two days, he noticed that the moon’s appearance was not fixed.

After a few more days of observation, Lin Jing began to discern a pattern to the moon’s appearances, though it was still unclear.

Thus, after two months of observation, Lin Jing finally understood the moon’s regular pattern.

Once he had grasped the pattern, Lin Jing began to take action.

One day, he arrived in the vicinity of where the moon would appear, ahead of time during the daylight.

There, Lin Jing entered the System Space and waited inside for the night to fall.

……

Inside the System Space, Lin Jing was anything but idle.

Since the System Space did not abound in Spiritual Power like the outside world, he did not hesitate to cultivate unlike others.

After all, without Spiritual Energy in the outside world, they would need to use Spirit Stones if they wanted to cultivate.

But what are Spirit Stones?

In the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm, they could save one’s life; who would waste them so?

Therefore, cultivators who entered the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm generally ceased their cultivation.

They saved their Spirit Stones for emergencies.

But Lin Jing was different; he did not pass up any chance to cultivate here.

Having entered the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm for over half a year now,

Lin Jing’s cultivation had increased considerably.

Besides cultivating, Lin Jing also occasionally refined some Elixir Medicine.

Of course, the ingredients he used for these medicines were what Lin Jing had stored up previously.

The only difficulty Lin Jing faced now in the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm was the absence of a supply of Alchemy Ingredients.

Even though the System Space had a Spirit Field, it was too small to grow sufficient Spirit Plants for his needs.

……

Soon, Lin Jing finished meditating and, judging by the time, it was almost when the moon would appear.

Consequently, Lin Jing summoned the System and then said,

“System, enter Observation Mode.”

Following that, Lin Jing’s view shifted outside.

At the time, the moon in the sky was very close to him.

And it was especially bright.

The light emanating from the moon, like sunlight filtering through clouds, bathed the lands of the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm.

Before, Lin Jing had thought this might be a small world; but now it seemed to be not the case at all.

This space had nothing in it; even the moon was fake.

Now, with Lin Jing so close to the moon, he could see everything clearly.

The moon was a sham, and now that he was closer, Lin Jing realized that although it appeared like a human eye,

it actually was not.

It must be a Magical Treasure made in imitation of a human eye.

No…

It could be an artifact or a treasure.

Only that could possibly monitor the entire Devouring Spirit Blood Realm.

But now was not the moment for these concerns; Lin Jing still had to use Observation Mode to probe the moon.

Subsequently,

Lin Jing controlled the viewpoint of Observation Mode to delve unimpeded into the moon…

Upon entering the interior, Lin Jing found the structure inside the moon astonishingly intricate.

It resembled a mechanical space.

Moreover, within the moon lay countless Formation Arrays of varying sizes, arranged in a specific pattern.

The scene inside left Lin Jing in awe.

He wondered what kind of Artifact Refiner could have created such a moon to monitor the entire Devouring Spirit Blood Realm.

It was even possible that it was not the creation of a single Artifact Refiner.

And the various complex arrays within.

It wasn’t just any Array Master who could set it up.

After observing inside the moon for a while, Lin Jing then controlled the perspective of his Observation Mode and continued to move forward.

Soon, Lin Jing arrived at the back of the moon.

Behind the moon was a long upward tunnel, at the end of which there was a hint of faint light.

That light, cast through the tunnel, seemed almost like an exit that could lead to survival.

Following that, Lin Jing continued upward along the tunnel…

He reached the very top and as his observational view was about to end, Lin Jing finally approached the source of the light.

The light looked like a mirror, or more like a pool of water.

Except that it was upside down.

At that moment, a reflection appeared in that pool of water.

In that reflection was a very simple thatched cottage.

Other than an old man who looked withered, as if he were about to be buried in the ground, there was nothing else inside the cottage.

Right now, that withered old man was sitting in meditation.

It was unknown how long the old man hadn’t moved; a layer of dust had already settled on his body.

Since the reflection was only projected through the pool of water, Lin Jing couldn’t ascertain the old man’s strength.

However, Lin Jing then remembered something Jian Yunxiang had mentioned earlier.

This entire Devouring Spirit Blood Realm was actually created by a Divine Transformation Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Peak, to deceive people into coming here, all for the sake of breaking through to a realm above Divinity Transformation.

If that was the case, could this withered old man be that very Divine Transformation Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Peak?

Lin Jing felt that it was very likely…

Considering the reflection being observed, Lin Jing and the other Golden Cores were like fish being raised under the water pool, susceptible to being killed and eaten at any time.

And the withered old man was like the fish keeper.

Just waiting for Lin Jing and the others to grow up before the old man’s feast began.

Thereafter

Lin Jing tried to continue forward, wanting to pass through the water pool, yet he discovered he couldn’t get through it at all.

Even in Observation Mode, it didn’t work.

This was the second time that Observation Mode had failed.

The first time was on Immortal Crossing Island, at those trial steps.

But Lin Jing also knew why he couldn’t pass through the surface of the water pool using Observation Mode.

It seemed like only a layer of water was separating them, but in reality, it was a barrier between two different spaces.

Observation Mode could penetrate any obstacle except the barrier of space.

If they weren’t even in the same space, how could he get through?

In the end, after observing for a while longer, Lin Jing exited and returned to the System Space.

Previously, when observing the withered old man, the old man had never moved, as if he had been dormant for many years.

But Lin Jing was very clear.

Once the Devouring Spirit Blood Realm had over a thousand Golden Cores enter, that withered old man would certainly take action.

Now, there wasn’t much time left for Lin Jing.

Following that, Lin Jing stayed in the System Space until dawn, and only after daybreak did he leave the System Space.

Then, Lin Jing once again drove the Flying Boat and returned to the vicinity of the Sea of Blood beach.

The Sea of Blood beach was extremely chaotic.

Every day, many cultivators searched there for the belongings that the blood corpses had carried off.

Yet none of the cultivators searching the beach dared to venture into the Sea of Blood itself.

The Sea of Blood could devour a cultivator’s Spiritual Power just like the blood fog and at a much faster rate.

If a cultivator carelessly fell into the Sea of Blood, it would only take a few moments for their Spiritual Power to be completely devoured.

Apart from that, even on the beach, one could not be careless, because the waves from the Sea of Blood carried more than just Storage Bags and Magical Treasures.

They could also bring up blood corpses.

If one saw a blood corpse, they would have to immediately distance themselves.

Otherwise, if too close, the blood corpse could awaken instantly.

Because the blood corpses were in a dormant state during the day, people dared to come to the beach to salvage Magical Treasures.

If the blood corpses were awake, not a single person would dare to come.

Moreover, the cultivators at the Sea of Blood beach were especially cautious, particularly to avoid conflicts with others.

Otherwise, they could accidentally awaken the sleeping blood corpses.

When Lin Jing returned to the Sea of Blood beach, he once again attracted the attention of some people.

Because previously, as a newcomer, Lin Jing had arrived and, within a few days, had flown straight towards the depths of the Sea of Blood.

Others clearly understood that Lin Jing’s prior venture into the Sea of Blood was to search for a way out.

People like Lin Jing came in every batch, but they always returned unsuccessful.

Some had even disappeared since entering the Sea of Blood and the people knew all too well what had happened; over time, they simply stopped caring.

But as Lin Jing was a new face who had ventured deep into the Sea of Blood upon arrival, this was quite rare.

Therefore, Lin Jing’s return inevitably sparked some attention.

Look,

No sooner had Lin Jing come back than someone had come to find him.

And the cultivator who had come to find Lin Jing, Lin Jing recognized him too.

He was the same young cultivator who, during the Bihai City trade meeting, had refused to explore the ruins with Lin Jing and the man in black and had opted to leave the trade meeting…