After making up his mind, Zhang Ling rested for a day, took care of the odds and ends in his cave, packed all his belongings, sealed the cave, and left Fire Cloud Island.
He had now spent the better part of a day in Myriad Manifestation City, and during that time, he had heard news about the opening of the Celestial Abyss Secret Realm.
It seemed that in just a day or two, many cultivators had learned of this news, though it was mostly a topic of casual conversation among most cultivators.
Only those high-level cultivators who wanted to enter the Celestial Abyss Secret Realm truly cared about this matter, while some others, although lacking Celestial Abyss Tokens, were beginning to take action. Some were heading directly towards the Celestial Abyss in the desolate region.
After spending a considerable amount of spirit stones to purchase a large quantity of goods in the city, he used the Myriad Manifestation City's teleportation array to travel to an island near the desolate region.
Afterward, he entered the desolate region, heading towards the Celestial Abyss guided by his Celestial Abyss Token.
...
As he got closer to the Celestial Abyss, he keenly felt the increasingly dense turbid energy in the天地. Even while flying in the sky, he could see a layer of dim yellow mist floating over the land.
Along the way, he occasionally encountered some high-level desolate beasts.
At first, Zhang Ling had killed a few of the high-level desolate beasts he encountered, but as he got closer to the Celestial Abyss, the number and strength of these beasts increased significantly.
In the following period, he no longer entangled himself with the high-level desolate beasts, but instead concealed his presence, wearing an Invisibility Veil to minimize his light and aura.
He traveled swiftly for more than two hours. On this day, Zhang Ling stood wearily on a mountain peak, staring blankly at the sky not far away.
In the sky above, clouds and mist churned, forming a vortex several miles in size, obscuring most of the sky.
This vortex was like a giant celestial hole, and from it came bursts of howling wind, like the wails of ghosts and wolves.
Zhang Ling looked at the Celestial Abyss Token in his hand; this was the location of the Celestial Abyss it indicated. It seemed that to enter the Celestial Abyss, one had to fly into the vortex in the sky.
He frowned but did not immediately fly inside, intending to observe for a while longer.
Thus, Zhang Ling hid directly in a nearby mountain, observing the vortex in the sky.
The vortex was constantly rotating, seemingly drawn by some force. Upon closer inspection, one could also find that it released a rich mixture of spiritual and turbid energy; the spiritual energy alone was comparable to a high-grade spiritual vein.
It was evident that the level of spiritual energy inside must be astonishing.
Suddenly, Zhang Ling seemed to notice something, glancing towards the east, and quickly retracted his divine sense.
A dozen or so breaths later, a blue light sped from the east and stopped in mid-air not far away.
Zhang Ling's eyes flashed with spiritual light, and he used his Celestial Eye Technique to see clearly that inside the light was a dark-faced man. This man was dark-skinned, very tall, and carried a dark iron greatsword on his back. His aura indicated that he was a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.
The burly man also held a round token in his hand, which was indeed a Celestial Abyss Token.
At the same time, Zhang Ling sensed a divine sense sweep past him, obviously the man checking his surroundings. Fortunately, he was wearing an Invisibility Veil and was not discovered.
Then, the dark-faced man chuckled, and a blue light struck the Celestial Abyss Token, which released a layer of five-colored spiritual light. The man no longer hesitated and flew towards the rotating vortex in the sky.
As he approached the vortex, the five-colored spiritual light on the Celestial Abyss Token enveloped him, turning him directly into a five-colored ball of light that flew into the vortex and disappeared.
Zhang Ling showed no emotion upon seeing this scene, nor did he follow and fly into the vortex. He still intended to observe for a while longer.
Over the next three or four days, one or two high-level cultivators could be seen flying to this place from other directions each day. They each held a Celestial Abyss Token and flew into the vortex.
On the sixth day, Zhang Ling could no longer sit still. He also took out his Celestial Abyss Token and injected a bit of spiritual power into it. He was likewise enveloped in a layer of five-colored spiritual light, and as soon as he approached the vortex above the sky, he was sucked in.
He only felt a dizzy spell, and when he regained consciousness, Zhang Ling immediately thickened his spiritual energy shield, adopting a defensive posture.
But after releasing his divine sense to check his surroundings, he found that there was no one nearby. The place where he appeared was actually a very large circular platform.
On the ground of this platform, he could observe some inscribed array patterns. It seemed to be a teleportation array. But this round platform was like a plaza, a full hundred feet in size.
Everything was quiet, and he was the only one there.
Zhang Ling couldn't help but frown. Had he already entered the Celestial Abyss, or had he been teleported to a place outside?
He looked at the Celestial Abyss Token in his hand, which had now returned to its original appearance, the spiritual light on it having dissipated.
Then, he spread his divine sense around and discovered that the round platform beneath his feet was actually floating in mid-air.
At the same time, there was a stone bridge to the due north, which looked very long, a mile or two, with the other end leading to a palace hidden in the clouds.
That palace, like the round platform, was floating in the sky. It looked extremely large overall. He estimated that the palace was about a thousand feet tall, surrounded by layers of spiritual light, looking very magnificent. Standing in the distance, Zhang Ling also felt an ancient and weathered aura emanating from the palace.
Apart from this palace to the north, everything else was a hazy gray, with nothing else to be seen.
Zhang Ling's divine sense could now explore more than forty miles in one direction, but in the other three directions, besides the dim yellow clouds and mist, there was nothing else.
He no longer hesitated, summoning a flying sword and holding it in his hand, while also reinforcing his protective shield, and walked towards the palace on the other side of the stone bridge.
As for why he didn't fly directly, it was because there was a no-fly restriction here. He could only honestly step onto the stone bridge. Fortunately, there was no danger walking on the stone bridge.
Along the way, Zhang Ling found that the stone bridge was ancient. Although some spiritual patterns were carved on it, they seemed to have lost their effect. Some parts of the stone bridge had even collapsed directly, and the bridge surface was full of pits and bumps.
Fortunately, the collapsed areas were not long. It was not enough to stop a Golden Core cultivator. Although he could not fly, using a little magic, like a levitation spell, or simply relying on his physical fitness to jump over was not a problem.
The other end of the stone bridge led to a semi-circular square platform, with a stone path paved with bluestone leading directly to the palace gate.
The top of the palace in front of him could not be seen at a glance. Standing below, it was like facing a crouching beast. This huge palace seemed to be built of some kind of grayish-white giant stone, with spiritual patterns also engraved on it.
Myriad Stars Palace!
Looking up, there was also a huge stone plaque with three ancient characters written on it: Myriad Stars Palace. This was the name of the palace.
