Chapter 180: 180 Testing the Sword at Black Wind Cliff (Part 1)
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Crossing the high mountain ridges, a vast rift canyon emerged before Wang Chen.
The canyon was incredibly deep and long, stretching northward until its end was invisible from the edges of heaven and earth.
Looking down, its bottom was out of sight!
It was said that this "Wuyuan" Grand Canyon was carved out by the sword of an ancient power.
But such claims were just hearsay.
Similar rift canyons were commonplace in the Mountain and Sea Realm, and stories like these were also common in the vast spans of the Heaven Cloud Mountain Range, tens of thousands of miles in extent.
It made one think that these ancient powers had nothing better to do than make random gestures at the earth.
Of course, legends were just legends, and the Wuyuan Grand Canyon was no friendly place.
The depths of the canyon were unfathomable, with storms that carried the Yin Sha Energy blowing all year round, and various dangerous monster beasts taking shelter within.
Even the Purple Mansion Superior would have to be extremely cautious if he were to come in person!
Over thousands of years, countless cultivators who came for hunting or adventure were buried within.
And the reason Wang Chen had journeyed thousands of miles to the Wuyuan Grand Canyon was because Black Wind Cliff was inside it.
To obtain the Spiritual Honey required for the Chang Chun roll call, his only choice was to take risks here.
Or to put it another way, to undergo a trial!
Wang Chen took out a map from his Storage Bag and compared it with the terrain ahead.
The Wuyuan Grand Canyon was deep within the Heaven Cloud Mountain Range, far from the gate of the Cloud Sun Sect and extremely treacherous.
Of course, Wang Chen had come prepared.
He was dressed in a set of beast skin Magical Armor, with a Fire Crow Flying Sword on his back, a Qiankun Talisman Belt wrapped around his waist, and Storage Bags hanging on both sides.
Both the beast skin Magical Armor and the Qiankun Talisman Belt were custom-made, costing Wang Chen almost five hundred Spirit Stones.
Compared to robes, the defense of armor of the same level was stronger, especially suitable for movement through mountains and forests.
It was standard equipment for a Hunter Cultivator.
The map in his hand was the "Cloud Sun Thousands of Miles Geomantic Chart," which he had exchanged for with Merit Points at the Scripture Pavilion.
The "Cloud Sun Thousands of Miles Geomantic Chart" was a scroll-shaped Magic Artifact that unfolded to show the holder's location and the terrain and landmarks of the surrounding area.
The larger the unfolded size, the wider the displaying range, but it was only limited to territories governed by the Cloud Sun Sect!
But for Wang Chen, it was completely sufficient.
He had paid a full five hundred Merit Points to get his hands on this Magic Artifact.
The Geomantic Chart showed that he was very close to his destination.
Wang Chen noted the landmarks' positions, then put away the scroll Magic Artifact.
He followed the long slope straight down into the Wuyuan Grand Canyon.
Even though the Willow Leaf Flying Boat was in his Storage Bag.
Using a Flying Artifact deep within Heaven Cloud Mountain was an extremely foolish thing to do.
It not only risked attracting attacks from flying monster beasts but could also make one a target for Thief Cultivators and even Demon Cultivators!
Even the Purple Mansion Superior didn't dare to fly over Heaven Cloud Mountain with high profile.
Let alone Wang Chen, a "minor" Qi Cultivation cultivator.
In fact, for the journey of thousands of miles from the Cloud Sun gate to the Wuyuan Grand Canyon, he had completed most of it on foot!
Just for the sake of safety.
But once he entered the Wuyuan Grand Canyon, the word "safety" would no longer be associated with Wang Chen.
As Wang Chen continued to descend, the Yin Sha Energy that filled the canyon silently engulfed him.
Though it was 11 a.m., the surrounding light grew dim.
The sunlight was blocked by the trees growing on the cliffs and could not penetrate into the depths of the canyon.
"Screech~"
The call of a bird echoed faintly in Wang Chen's ears.
He looked up, and the once vast sky had now turned into a long blue ribbon.
Standing in the canyon made one feel incredibly small!
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Wang Chen descended to a position that was not particularly deep, descending just a hundred zhang or so and arriving at the waist-level area.
The reason it was called the "waist-level" was because there were even deeper fissures ahead, ominously dark and of unknown depth.
The ground was rugged with rocks and overgrown with weeds, with dark brown vines spreading wildly; aside from a few barely visible beast trails, there was no path to follow.
But that was not really a problem.
The real test for explorers were the evil winds that blew intermittently from deep within the canyon!
The Yin Sha Energy here was already considerably dense, the chilly wind piercing to the bone—if one were not protected by mana, the evil Qi would invade the body and cause immediate death!
Wang Chen's Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method had been cultivated to the fourth realm, unafraid of the assault of the evil wind.
Nevertheless, he had still reinforced himself with Spirit Light Shield Armor.
Because Wang Chen's adversaries were not just the evil winds of the canyon!
He continued forward towards the location of Black Wind Cliff.
When Wang Chen's steps trod over the entangled vines on the ground, he immediately startled numerous insects hiding within them.
These insects were the size of thumbs, with sharp mouths, long legs, and covered in black hairs.
They keenly perceived Wang Chen's presence.
Instantly, they swarmed towards him.
Needle-like mouthparts thrust viciously at Wang Chen!
However, all of these black mosquitoes were blocked by the Spirit Light Shield Armor, and their mouthparts could not penetrate this mana barrier.
But the black mosquitoes did not give up, desperately nodding their heads like pounding garlic, attacking the Spirit Light Armor with their sharp mouths again and again.
Persistent!
A few, or even dozens of black mosquitoes were negligible, but when their numbers surged to hundreds or thousands, densely covering the surface of Wang Chen's body, the situation changed.
Wang Chen could feel his Spirit Light Armor being weakened bit by bit.
Though the degree was very small, over time, the strain on his mana would only increase.
After all, maintaining and repairing the Spirit Light Armor required the consumption of precious mana!
Wang Chen finally understood why, when Wang Shaoyuan reminisced about his own adventures in Tian Yuan Mountain, he particularly emphasized how dangerous the mountains were.
This so frightened the original master that he obediently farmed in the Outer Sect for five years, without even a trace of thought to venture out in search of opportunities.
Otherwise, if the original master had really come here, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even the mosquitoes!
Seeing that his vision was about to be obscured by the swarm of mosquitoes, Wang Chen immediately activated his mana, and a fiery red glow burst forth from his body, flames soaring and rising along with it.
This was an application of the Fire Crow Technique!
With the flames rising, the mosquitoes gathered around Wang Chen immediately fell into bad luck, turned instantly into charred remains.
The crackling and popping were more incessant than rain!
The number of black mosquitoes he killed in one go was at least in the thousands, truly terrifying.
Unfortunately, these insects were too low-level, similar to the common Earth Rhinoceros Beetles; no matter how many were exterminated, they could not bring Wang Chen a shred of Human Virtue.
Otherwise, farming them would have been incredibly satisfying!
Stepping over countless mosquito corpses, Wang Chen reached the Black Wind Cliff.
It was a cliff hundreds of zhang tall, with its exposed rock face a gray-black color.
It was covered with holes of all sizes.
Clouds of Yin Sha Energy burst forth from these rock caves.
The evil wind here became exceptionally fierce and violent!
Wang Chen had to pour strength into his feet just to stand firmly without being blown around haphazardly.
"Buzz~"
Suddenly, within the howling evil wind, a mass of dark light emerged.
Like lightning, it surged directly towards him!
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The second update has been delivered.
PS: The third update is coming, but might be slightly delayed.