The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

Su Qi stood still, watching Qin Hao look around in utter confusion.

"Brother Su, Brother Su!!"

The voice echoed in the empty Heavenly Mountain.

Su Qi calmly muttered to himself, "Can't see anymore, huh."

"Or perhaps, I have been erased from existence."

He was now in the midst of a downpour, himself already covered in Black Rain, while the Sky Dome above was dark and gloomy, surrounded by... black and white.

Qin Hao's voice had stopped.

The original Heavenly Mountain was also decaying step by step, with much of the terrain changing.

It was as if time had already lost its effect.

"Everyone tainted by Ominous signs, disappearing without reason, seems like they must have experienced these things."

Su Qi's Spiritual Eyes flickered slightly, as this place differed from the Old Days within Nihility.

The Black Rain, unlike the Old Days' brutal Annihilation, was indeed gentler; at least, the Heavenly Descendants had not been completely erased, and the Cultivators still retained related memories.

And Su Qi had not encountered the kind of crazy backlash as before.

"This place and the dueling ground's Black Rain are quite similar; what exactly are they trying to express?"

Su Qi walked through this world covered by the Black Rain, his Spiritual Energy seemingly allowing him temporary freedom to move.

He was now in a state oscillating between [existence and non-existence].

And his Spiritual Energy was being consumed.

At the same time.

An interface with ancient patterns popped up in front of Su Qi.

[Please note, player, you have triggered a special event in the shattered Immortal Path Dimension (extremely dangerous).]

[Event: The erased... Immortal Path Stele.]

[Task: Please find the Immortal Path Stele and successfully comprehend it before your Spiritual Energy is exhausted, to leave, or else the player will be erased from existence!]

[Note: As this is a trial of the dimension, the Strength relates to the player's Rank.]

"It's guidance from the Ancient Paradise again..."

Su Qi discovered... Does the Ancient Paradise appear every time it's about the Old Days?

And he didn't delve into this point, just following the guidance for now.

After all.

Time was limited.

"However, isn't my Spiritual Energy being consumed a little too slowly?"

Su Qi glanced at his Spiritual Energy, decreasing by roughly 10 points per second, which amounted to only... thirty-six thousand points in an hour.

And he had just broken through to Seventh Rank, with not much of an increase in Spiritual Energy values, but the upper limit had been removed, and the density and quality of Spiritual Energy had also climbed up a rung.

There were many other changes, which he would not discuss for now.

With his Spiritual Energy values around one million two hundred thousand, this meant he could stay for more than thirty hours.

"Could it be because I've just entered Seventh Rank?"

Why else would the Path of Series have the word 'Path' in its name, but because each stage has a beginning and an end, and each step leaves footprints on the Path of Series.

That's why the current situation had arisen.

"Regardless... I need to find that so-called Immortal Path Stele first. If luck serves well and I discover any Ancient Relic here, that would be perfect."

Su Qi had just broken through to Seventh Rank, conveniently fitting to integrate into a new sequence path.

The more paths of the sequence, the stronger it naturally becomes.

Just in terms of the upper limit of Spiritual Energy, three paths mean three times the upper limit of others, plus his own three sequences were extraordinary, making it entirely different.

Of course.

This Ascension also let Su Qi realize how difficult ascending was, demanding too many resources.

He had completely drained the Spirit Stone Veins of Heavenly Mountain, after all, the probability was... too low, and his own luck wasn't good.

Your mother's kiss, almost completely exhausted the Spirit Stone Veins and still almost failed.

Hard to imagine...

How many resources I'd need in the future to ascend; starting now with a single Spirit Stone Vein, later might need an entire planet.

Su Qi walked on the ground, endlessly pounded by Black Rain, not aimlessly, although the guide only instructed him to find the Immortal Path Stele, without providing any clues.

But in fact.

Su Qi had already spotted some subtle signs within the myriad Black Rain, objects that had not been thoroughly eroded, resembling fragments erupted forth.

Plus, identification with the question mark [Immortal Path Stele Fragment after burst].

From the dispersion of the fragments, Su Qi easily calculated their origin, confirming their central point.

"Let's go."

Su Qi did not linger, he sprinted forth. Though there was plenty of time, there was no need to waste it here.

He corrected his direction with the question mark and calculations, and beyond that... he also saw all sorts of monochrome scenes along the way.

Majestic mountains, with faint silhouettes of Buddhist temples and Daoist shrines staggeringly emerging from the shadows.

They too were black and white, housing statues of true monarchs, Buddhas, and so on, with faces unclear but exuding extreme authority.

As Su Qi continued, the surrounding black and white became even denser, the Black Rain pouring down like a flood, as if to submerge him.

At the same time.

Su Qi looked up at the black and white Sky Dome ahead.

No.

It should no longer be called the Sky Dome, but the black and white Star River.

There were hundreds of floating mansions slowly emerging, standing majestically within the Star River like planets.

Only.

They were also covered by an endless black waterfall, devoid of life!

And among the Galaxy Mansions in all directions, there was just one... a three-meter-tall stele standing at the center.

"This is the Immortal Path Stele," Su Qi looked over, there were no inscriptions on it, just a blank stele.

But it exuded a powerful aura not eroded by the Black Rain, and was in the black and white the only existence that possessed color.