thefictionvixens Chapter 86 Mist-Clad Cutters
Chapter 86 Mist-Clad Cutters
Chapter 86 Mist-Clad Cutters
"Is this the year fog? It's such a huge area!"
Shen Yaoxing looked down at the thick fog that enveloped the boundless wilderness and said, "This foggy area is several hundred kilometers in diameter. It would be too troublesome to go around it, so we just went straight over it."
The fog hangs at an altitude of over 800 meters, but even airplanes flying above it may lose their balance and enter the fog.
Therefore, most airplanes would avoid it, but only celestial boats like theirs dare to pass directly over the foggy area.
Passing through the mist of time allows one to enter the virtual world, but the function of the mist of time is not to travel between the two worlds.
The purpose of the year mist is to prevent virtual beasts from entering reality and to stop the expansion of the rift in the virtual world.
The so-called virtual rift is not a crack in space, but a small area of space in reality becomes disordered, and this disorder will stick reality and the virtual world together.
If left unchecked, the "chaos" will continue to spread until the entire world and the virtual realm are completely merged.
If "Disorder" is a hole in clothing, then "Year Fog" is a patch, mending the hole before "Disorder" completely tears apart this garment called Earth.
After hundreds of years, the Earth is now covered with these patches.
Most of the cracks were sealed off by the fog before they could expand, just like when we entered the Earth Forest Boundary before, where it was just a thick fog a few hundred meters in diameter.
However, in some areas, like the area beneath their feet, the fog blankets a region with a diameter of several hundred kilometers.
However, this dense fog, which is hundreds of kilometers in diameter, originally referred to only small villages and towns with a diameter of a few kilometers.
This land wasn't enveloped by a city; it was forcibly squeezed out by the virtual realm.
These regions are known as the Year Fog Zone.
Humans can enter the virtual world by walking through the fog, and occasionally virtual beasts will cross this area and enter reality, so cities are generally far away from such places.
The distance from Linjiang to Jizhou was originally only over 200 kilometers, but because of this fog, the straight-line distance became over 600 kilometers.
"A foggy area with a diameter of several hundred kilometers, it's practically a miracle—"
Lu Ren looked at the gray, desolate ground below, opened his mouth but couldn't say anything, and said, "Young Miss, do you think there really are gods—the kind of beings more wondrous than those at the Burning Sun Realm, completely incomprehensible?"
"Of course it is, otherwise how would you explain the attribute panel?"
"Hmm, that seems to be true."
The attribute panel seems even more difficult to explain; it's not an exaggeration to say it's a creation of the gods.
"However, I think that should have been done by a powerful being, or rather, an even more powerful professional."
Why do you say that?
Shen Yaoxing glanced at him and said, "It seems no one has told you that the Year Mist was originally created by humans, an artificial creation like an alchemical tool."
Lu Ren was about to practice his swordplay when he suddenly stopped: "The Mist of Time—was it created by humans?"
"To be precise, it was done by the great Mist-Clad Tailor of the Year more than three hundred years ago."
"The Great Venerable One Who Cuts Through the Mist?"
A completely new term, one that I had never encountered before, even before I traveled through time.
"Ordinary people really don't know, and even most professionals don't know, since it's a world-class secret."
Shen Yaoxing explained to him, "Legend has it that the Great Celestial Venerable Wuyi Tailoring Sui was a magician active in the Burning Sun Realm more than three hundred years ago. Suiwu was created by him specifically to stop the expansion of the Void Realm rift."
Lu Ren was shocked: "The Burning Sun Realm can actually do something like this?"
It wasn't that Lu Ren underestimated the Burning Sun Realm, but he also didn't know just how powerful the Burning Sun Realm was.
It's possible that his master was always rather unserious and too approachable, which prevented him from having a clear concept of her.
"Burning Sun Realm, I don't know what level it can reach. In reality, Star Cocoon Realm is already like a terrestrial immortal. Almost no one knows the limit of the Frost Moon Realm members in my clan. However, I do know that there are different levels in the Burning Sun Realm."
Shen Yaoxing looked at Lu Ren and asked, "There's no bottleneck in the Burning Sun Realm, do you know what that means?"
Lu Ren, puzzled, asked, "What does it mean?"
"From Firefly to Frosty Moon, in each realm, unless you break through to the next level, your attributes will reach a bottleneck after doubling from the initial level. However, in the Burning Sun realm, there is no bottleneck."
In this situation, the gap between those at the Burning Sun Realm can sometimes be greater than the gap between ordinary people and those at the Burning Sun Realm. It's like having the top scorer in the city take the college entrance exam with Newton. Both score full marks in mathematics, but no one would think that the top scorer can compare to Newton.
However, we probably wouldn't be able to perceive that level of difference, just like how an ordinary person looking up at the sky can't tell the difference between a sky a few thousand meters high and a sky hundreds of thousands of meters high.
Throughout thousands of years of human history, which of the countless individuals who have left their mark on history books were not extraordinary talents? Yet, there are always a few whose mere appearance can overshadow all other historical figures.
Seeing her recount the details with such familiarity, Lu Ren couldn't help but ask curiously, "Could it be that this Great Celestial Venerable has some connection with the Shen family?"
Shen Yaoxing pondered for a moment and said, "There is indeed a connection, but it's not deep. Rumor has it that this Great Celestial Venerable had a relationship with the Shen family's ancestor, or even—a very close one?"
"Huh? Which ancestor is it?"
"Don't you also know her? The Fairy Who Transmits the Lamp and Patrols the World," Shen Zhixian, is also a titled Burning Sun Realm expert, almost like a deity.
"Shen Zhixian—" Lu Ren recalled the portrait of that stunningly beautiful woman, one who even transcended the conventional definition of beauty.
The Great Celestial Venerable, clad in mist, cuts through the years; the Immortal Maiden, transmits the lamp and tours the world.
Both titles carry a strong Taoist folk deity flavor.
But upon closer reflection, this was a figure from over three hundred years ago. Back then, people weren't very enlightened, so it was already quite remarkable that they didn't call him the Jade Emperor.
"Wait a minute, the rifts in the void still appear now, but the Great Celestial Venerable existed more than three hundred years ago, right?"
Lu Ren wondered, "Could it be that this Great Celestial Venerable is still alive?"
Shen Yaoxing looked at him and slowly shook her head.
"Huh? He's already dead?"
"It is unknown. The Great Celestial Venerable disappeared after the great battle more than three hundred years ago. In fact, there are rumors that this Great Celestial Venerable is even more ancient, a professional from a thousand years ago, so perhaps he is still alive, but there is no way to verify it."
"But the Great Celestial Venerable has disappeared, so where has the new annual mist come from in recent years?"
"Suiwu—before we set off for Yanzhou this time, I asked Youhe to keep a valuable item safe. It was something the clan asked me to take to the branch in Yanzhou. Do you know what it is?"
Lu Ren shook his head, looking puzzled.
"It's the Year-Cutting Incense, a treasure left behind by the Great Celestial Venerable. As long as the Year-Cutting Incense is lit within the crack area, it can summon the Year Mist. Our Tianxing Guild is almost out of Year-Cutting Incense at the Yanzhou branch, so they asked me to bring a batch over."
"The Great Celestial Venerable actually left behind such a wondrous thing? But this Year-Cutting Incense—will it eventually run out of time?"
"It is possible to refine the Year-Cutting Incense, but there are only nine forces within the Great Yu territory that can refine it, and the Shen family is just one of them."
"Why not make something so important available for everyone in the world to refine?"
"It's not that simple. The material for the Year-Cutting Incense is the wood of the Divine Tree. The Great Celestial Venerable planted 108 Divine Trees in the world, but only 81 remain. Now, our Shen Clan's Divine Tree is also dying. Perhaps the Shen Clan will no longer be able to refine the Year-Cutting Incense."
Lu Ren suddenly realized that the divine tree had played such an important role.
This world appears peaceful on the surface, but in reality it is nothing more than a crumbling building. The fog of time is ultimately just a delaying tactic, and the two worlds will one day completely merge.
Thinking about it this way, Lu Ren dared not slack off in training even more. If that day ever came, he could at least help Lu Youhe escape.
Looking down at the boundless misty region, Shen Yaoxing sighed and said, "Don't spread this around. If too many people know about it, it will only cause panic among the people."
"But can something like this be kept secret?"
"There are many secrets in this world that can cause panic and unrest, and that cannot be observed by too many people. They are all shrouded in mystery. If the resonance attribute is too low, even if you know them, you will quickly forget them."
"Take the Great Celestial Venerable, for example. He's practically a savior of the world, yet you've never heard of his name before, have you?"
Lu Ren gasped, "It can actually influence the perceptions of everyone in the world? How much supernatural power does that require?"
"It seems to be a titled deity from over three hundred years ago, the Holy Mother of the Void Creation. This being inscribed a gold alchemical array on the sun, and the sunlight can make people forget some things."
Some say that the attribute panel we see was also created by her, but this is just speculation without any verification. Like the Great Celestial Venerable, the Holy Mother of the Illusory Image disappeared three hundred years ago.
"Observing the Imaginary Holy Mother—"
It's truly remarkable that a corner of history has been lifted for him today, and it seems that through this corner we can see countless magnificent scenes and several enormous shadows.
The Burning Sun Realm is so terrifying; it can influence the entire world with a mere gesture. It's practically a god-like existence.
But when I'm with my master, I don't feel that way at all.
It's also possible that his master was too great, and couldn't compare to these titled masters at all.
However, knowing these things is meaningless to him now; they can only be used as extracurricular knowledge.
He chose to continue training. He hadn't yet reached his maximum physical cultivation limit for the day. Listening to the young lady recount the truth of these historical events suddenly gave him even more motivation to become stronger.
Practice spellcasting in the afternoon, and practice spirit cultivation in the evening.
He trains three times as much as others every day, so he can't waste his advantage.
Shen Yaoxing didn't stop him, but she didn't want to go back to the pleasure boat either.
She moved a chair over and sat down next to him to watch him train.
This kid, when we first picked him up he was like a lapdog, but now he's really starting to look more and more like a proper dog, quite the character.
She left the deck, and when she returned a few minutes later, she had changed out of her Ming-style Hanfu and into a white training outfit.
Lu Ren looked at her, somewhat puzzled: "Young Miss, what's wrong—?"
Shen Yaoxing stretched her joints and said, "Seeing how energetic you are, I'll join you in practicing some physical skills too."
"Want to come? Let's train hard together so that Yuuka won't be torn to pieces in the next battle."
"Put on the Soul-Locking Ring and fight me. My physique is only 30 right now, I can't beat you."
"Sure—it's been a long time since I've sparred with the young lady, it's been a while indeed."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yaoxing smiled slightly and said, "As your first martial arts master, let me see how much you've improved during this time."
The young lady's smile really does resemble her master's; they truly are grandfather and granddaughter.
"What are you standing there for? Take this!"
This sentence is very similar.
R