TBIP: Chapter 35 Part 1

He saw Lou Xingyao taking something out from the storage bag, which turned out to be brown-yellow demon beast fur.

The fur was a bit worn. If it was thrown on the side of the road, no one would bend down to pick it up.

However, Wen Hanshan saw its extraordinary nature at a glance.

It was because there was a trace of spiritual energy on this fur. It wasn’t obvious, but it was really there.

Based on the storage bags that Lou Xingyao had just explored, it could be seen that the corpses in this cave had been here for some years.

Except for a small amount of money in the storage bags, most of the energy in the rest of the items had dissipated. They were no different from ordinary things.

Even the two spiritual plants properly stored in the jade box only had the seeds left, and there was almost no vitality left.

In such a situation, this seemingly shabby fur could still retain a bit of spiritual energy. This showed it was extraordinary.

Lou Xingyao was able to take it out alone from a pile of worthless rags in the storage bag due to this.

Thinking this, Wen Hanshan stretched out his hand and took the fur from Lou Xingyao’s hand.

The fur looked shabby and rough, but it was extremely soft to the touch. If he felt it closely, he could perceive that it seemed to have some warmth on it.

It felt like the fur had just been taken off the body of a monster.

Realizing this, Wen Hanshan felt that this thing was extraordinary. He couldn’t help pinching it in his hand and examining it carefully.

After a long time, he said with some uncertainty, “It looks a bit like a map.”

“Huh?” Lou Xingyao heard this and hurriedly came over to look at this unsightly fur again.

At this time, he noticed that there were many lines faintly covering this brown-yellow fur.

It was just that the traces were faint and the pigment used for these lines was very close to the original color of this fur. Lou Xingyao hadn’t looked at it carefully just now and hadn’t noticed it.

Looking at it now, the composition of these lines did have the appearance of a map.

The fur looked a bit old. Just the fact that it was drawn on here meant the location should be remarkable.

Lou Xingyao couldn’t help asking, “Brother Wen, can you tell what type of place this is?”

“I can’t.” Wen Hanshan shook his head.

“Huh?” Lou Xingyao looked at Wen Hanshan with surprise.

He couldn’t see the details of this map, but he could explain it.

After all, he wasn’t from Tianming Continent originally. He had been here for a few years now, but all his knowledge of this continent came from the books that Wen Hanshan shared with him.

The novel might be comprehensive, but it wasn’t very detailed.

For example, the map related to the Tianming Continent only marked the location and distribution of Canglan City and the 108 counties.

The specific topographic features weren’t clear.

In such a situation, Lou Xingyao could only know what it was without knowing where.

However, Wen Hanshan was obviously different.

The other person grew up in the Zhou family of Canglan City and was once cultivated as the heir. The knowledge and content he learned must be richer than ordinary people.

Before he had an accident at the age of 14, he often went out to practice. He had traveled all over the continent and had an understanding of most areas.

Lou Xingyao couldn’t see the details of this map, but he could see that there were several extremely obvious signs on it.

According to Wen Hanshan’s understanding of the Tianming Continent, it shouldn’t be difficult to see the location.

“It isn’t the same as what I know.” It was precisely due to the obvious signs on the map that Wen Hanshan could give such a definite answer.

Still, Lou Xingyao heard a few different meanings from Wen Hanshan’s tone.

The other person didn’t know the specific location of this map, but he had some guesses.

Sure enough, before Lou Xingyao could ask, Wen Hanshan had already said what he thought in his heart. “I looked at this piece of fur for a long time. Maybe it is due to the passage of time and the vicissitudes of life changing the topography and landforms, so that people can’t see the details.”

It was possible.

Unlike modern times, the rules of the cultivation world were relatively more stable, perhaps due to the existence of the Heavenly Dao. If it wasn’t for the great catastrophe of heaven and earth that occurred more than 100,000 years ago, it would be difficult for the terrain to change too much under ordinary circumstances.

For example, it was said that since the great catastrophe of heaven and earth 100,000 years ago, the Tianming Continent formed the pattern of one city and 108 counties.

Now more than 100,000 years had passed, and the mainland still maintained their layout. There wasn’t much of a change.

If it was really as Wen Hanshan said and the age meant that the place depicted on the map couldn’t correspond to the existing landforms of the Tianming Continent, it meant that this piece of fur should’ve existed for over 100,000 years.

However, the traces of time on this fur were long, but they obviously didn’t go that far back.

Therefore, Wen Hanshan might’ve said this speculation, but it could be seen from Wen Hanshan’s tone that this possibility was extremely low.

So after a pause, Wen Hanshan expressed another guess. “The second is that the scene depicted on this map doesn’t belong to the Tianming Continent.”

“Brother Wen, do you mean a big world?” Lou Xingyao followed Wen Hanshan’s words and made a guess.

After all, Wen Miaoyin came from outside the Tianming Continent. It was really normal for him to have such thoughts.

Unexpectedly, he heard Wen Hanshan deny it the next moment. “The Dao of the small world might be limited, but the rules are very complete, and the space barrier is relatively strong. Such things won’t happen frequently.”

Due to Wen Miaoyin, Wen Hanshan knew the rules of the small world, the middle world, and the big world better than ordinary cultivators.

The small world and middle world couldn’t be compared to the big world in terms of the upper limit of cultivation, but the rules were still very intact.

One of the most distinctive points was the small world’s protection of itself.

If it weren’t for the one in a million probability, the cultivators in the big and middle worlds couldn’t easily break the spatial barrier to enter the small world.

Even if they had gone through a lot of hardships and achieved their goal, their high level of cultivation would be suppressed by the Heavenly Dao of the small world after entering the small world. Their cultivation and ability would be compressed to the upper limit that the small world could bear.

If this wasn’t the case, a random person in the big world who cultivated to a high level would be able to easily grasp the lifeline of the cultivators in the small world and do whatever they wanted.

Taking a step back, what if the high level cultivator didn’t enter personally and instead handed over the more advanced magic weapons and items from the big world to the people in the small world? Wouldn’t this also allow them to indirectly grasp the lifeline of the small world?

In the long run, how could the small world exist?

The Heavenly Dao of the small world obviously understood this truth, so it was very strict against such a situation.

As for why Wen Hanshan was able to use a fifth-grade formation that exceeded the limit of Tianming Continent, there were naturally all types of coincidences.

One of them was that when Wen Miaoyin fell into a spatial crack and entered the Tianming Continent, it was caused by chance and not what she intended.

Later, Wen Miaoyin thought about leaving, but the passage from the Tianming Continent to the middle world was very secretive. Even the cultivators who were born and raised in the Tianming Continent didn’t know the inside story.

She was a newcomer and had no way of knowing it.

Later, she learned about the existence of the Death Desert from the Zhou family, but it was obviously a dead end for Wen Miaoyin, who was injured by the spatial crack. It was impossible for her to go there.

All types of coincidences overlapped with each other, so that Wen Miaoyin was forced to stay here in the end.

As for the spatial crack, it was most likely caused by the negligence of the Heavenly Dao.

There was a reason for it, so how could the Heavenly Dao limit what she carried?

In addition, the fifth-grade formation was just a protective object and no attacking effect. Even if it was used to break through the sky, it wouldn’t be able to pose a threat to others.

In this way, the Heavenly Dao would naturally turn a blind eye to this matter.

But being able to tolerate the existence of a fifth-grade protective formation was already the limit of the Heavenly Dao. How could other things be allowed to continue to enter the world?

Lou Xingyao heard about this type of internal cause and could be regarded as having a further understanding of this cultivation world.

He also knew that this map was unlikely to come from another world.

But it wasn’t from another world, nor was it within the Tianming Continent. Could it be…

Lou Xingyao suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind and blurted out, “Does Brother Wen mean a secret realm?”

“It seems that the books you usually read aren’t in vain.” This time, Wen Hanshan finally nodded and gave an affirmative answer.

Any cultivator who had officially stepped into the Dao was familiar with secret realms.

Most secret realms were space fragments outside the continent and weren’t usually revealed to people. They were only open to the public at specific times, allowing cultivators to enter.

Due to its long-term closure, it could be said to be rich in resources and treasures. It was a treasure land that cultivators yearned for.

On the Tianming Continent, there were two small secret realms. One was open once every ten years, and the other was open once every twelve years.

Since the entrances and opening hours of these two small secret realms were fixed, they were taken over by the six major families in Canglan City not long after they appeared.

It was said to the outside world that it was to protect the vitality of the small secret realm and prevent people with bad intentions from acting indiscriminately in it, so unified management was carried out.

But everyone was clear about the specific reason for this.

It was just an excuse to be able to maximize the use of the materials in the secret realm for themselves.

Even so, the scattered cultivators of the Tianming Continent didn’t dare to speak out against the actions of these six major families.

After all, this was a world where strength spoke. If their strength wasn’t as good as others, there was no other way than to be slaughtered by others.

Fortunately, these six families also knew that if they wanted to eat meat, they had to leave soup for others.

Before each secret realm was opened, an auction would be held. Some places to enter the secret realm would be released for sale.

It could be regarded as barely maintaining the appearance of peace between the families and the casual cultivators.