Yu Xinghai was at the Primordial Spirit Transformation Realm, so the Skysilver Protector was very useful to him. Although he might not be able to create it himself, his elders with sufficient materials might be able to create something comparable.
As a condition, he let Wu Yu go.
Wu Yu was already in front of the door at this point.
Yu Xinghai was already unable to catch him, nor pillage his Fire Source Ancient Crystals.
The most he could do now was force Wu Yu out of the Taigu Immortal Path, and this wouldn't bring about any benefit to him.
"Thank you, Brother Wu, for your graciousness. Being able to enter the same Ancient Pagoda of Time is our fate, and once beyond this, we are definitely friends of the same heart. If Brother Wu encounters any difficulties, please let me know. I don't tolerate anyone who will mistreat my brother in arms."
Yu Xinghai was slick-tongued and concise, instantly improving the gap in their relationship with a few simple sentences.
Wu Yu smiled. So long as Yu Xinghai did not strike out against him, he was safe. He believed that there were still numerous opportunities available for him.
He took his leave. After leaving the Ancient Pagoda of Time, Wu Yu was faintly able to feel the massive changes in the flow of time.
The time outside felt noticeably slower. It was like he had entered a quagmire - every step weighted down, slowing himself.
However, he was not given much time to appreciate and condense his understanding. The moment he escaped, he noticed that the surroundings were riddled with a few individuals, cautiously researching this pagoda.
Although they were not from the Yan Huang Ancient Country, two were Primordial Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators, and were even sea region demons.
They had personally seen Yu Xinghai enter and were currently in deep discussion. Wu Yu's sudden appearance had shocked them.
Honestly, they never recognized Wu Yu as a foe. They did not notice Wu Yu's cultivation level either.
Once Wu Yu appeared, without a second word, he silently activated his Swift Art and, with great haste, rushed into the deep cloud layers. He even split off a few clones to confuse and obfuscate.
There seemed to be two who had given chase, but they were thrown off by the red herrings. Before they were caught, the doppelgangers disappeared into fine, golden hairs, vanishing before their very eyes.
An easy escape.
The significance of the Swift Art had greatly increased over time.
The 20 days of smelting the body had greatly strengthened Wu Yu's fleshly body. His combat strength had also skyrocketed.
The Taigu Immortal Path brought about equally priceless opportunities and equally perilous dangers. At the same time, it allowed him to further refine his own understanding of the dao.
It felt lonely on the path of the great dao, but such was the dao! Only by walking alone could one understand its implications.
"What should I do now?" he pondered.
"Now that I know that there are not many individuals who have entered an Ancient Pagoda of Time, and that there are many of them, more should open up today for challengers to be accepted. I can also try my luck and see if there are any weak opponents. If the opponent is at the Primordial Spirit Transformation Realm, I can only say that I have been unfortunate. Yet there is the possibility of my luck being good as well." If he was lucky and managed to beat someone, the pagoda might have an even more accelerated flow of time, giving him more opportunities to become mightier.
There were also other issues he had to consider. The person he displaced would definitely let others know that he had entered this particular Ancient Pagoda of Time and would inevitably garner the people of the Yan Huang Ancient Country to ambush him when he came out.
"The crux of the matter is that if I don't enter a pagoda, there is no place for me to hide and temper my body within the cloud sea." Both choices had clear disadvantages.
In the end, he could only grit his teeth and take things as they came.
"The good news is that almost everyone knows of the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord. Whether they believe it or not, the news will spread and the people of the Yan Huang Ancient Region will know. I guess my task has been almost completed. The time before Duomingshan Shengxue can escape is still long. So long as someone leaves the path eventually, there will be people heading towards the divine continent, especially those of the Yan Huang Ancient Country!" Wu Yu felt at ease, and with nothing holding him back, he would focus on exploring this place to the fullest.
His motivations and desires had finally been able to amalgamate into one.
"The super geniuses of the Yan Huang Ancient Country want the ancient crystals in my hands. Just how could I make it so easy for them...?" Wu Yu gave a cold smile that was not a smile.
He began to wander the cloud sea of time like a vagrant, ambling in all directions. He was mainly looking for the closest Ancient Pagoda of Time, and there were supposedly 100 of them randomly distributed throughout this world. Most of the people in his surroundings had also discovered that the Ancient Pagodas of Time had reopened, and such news spread wantonly.
When he had first exited, Lan Tianyu had sent him several core-tail talismans. He had heard of Wu Yu's plight and was so shocked, he was rambling incoherently! Wu Yu was also at a loss and tentatively did not reply. He continued to circle his location and eventually found yet another Ancient Pagoda of Time.
This pagoda had no one around.
He had to first quell his doubts.
Thus, he flew to the top of the pagoda and inspected the sundial. Seeing the movement of the shadow on the dial, he could make out that the speed at which it moved seemed thrice as fast as normal!
"It truly looks like every Ancient Pagoda of Time has a different flow of time. The one I was in was twice as fast. This one is three times as fast. Perhaps there might even be pagodas with absurdly fast flows of time?" He continued to wait for a bit. The door on the pagoda had yet to open, and perhaps the person inside had yet to finish his period of 10 days, which would prevent anyone from entering.
After a period of time, Wu Yu's Eyes of Fire and Gold pierced through the cloud layers, suddenly spotting three individuals making their way over. Furthermore, they were all people from the Yan Huang Ancient Country. One was an expert even mightier than Jiang Qijun, possibly a member of the royal family.
Wu Yu was uninterested in clashing with them, so he immediately took his leave.
With this pair of eyes, he had the advantage in spotting people from afar.
The opposite side truly had not noticed him.
As he maintained his distance, Wu Yu managed to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Do you think that scumbag Wu Yu has hidden himself inside this pagoda? Based upon the information that has been spreading, this pagoda is known as an Ancient Pagoda of Time. It will open after a fixed period of time. From the very beginning, all of our people have been observing these pagodas and hoping to find Wu Yu."
"Couldn't it be possible that he's already returned with his Taigu Immortal Talisman?"
"No matter. With his strength, he can only stay there once he returns. Once we leave the Taigu Immortal Path, we can get people to go over to the Dong Sheng Divine Continent and snatch the ancient crystals. He can't hide for long. We can also take the opportunity to see if his words really are true."
"Either way, this Wu Yu is still considered as someone from the Yan Huang Ancient Country. Daring to steal from royalty and nobility, how audacious! Even death will not suffice."
"Don't be so narrow-minded. Once we get back the treasures, then so be it. His life no longer concerns us. If the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord's return turns out to be true, he will have done us a great service. If you dare to kill him then, what would the elders feel?" Wu Yu stopped listening at this point as he had rushed too far away.
"They'd actually dare to come to the Dong Sheng Divine Continent to find me? These people truly are vicious.
"However, this is a good thing. Firstly, even before they arrive, I will have refined all the Fire Source Ancient Crystals and there will be nothing left to steal. Secondly, the more that come, the lower the chance the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord will have to revive!
"I have to quickly raise my strength. That way, I can stand on the same footing as those geniuses. Furthermore, I'm also a youth of the Yan Huang Ancient Country and not from a privileged position. With my contributions and strength, my life would definitely not be something these scum can control." Everything relied on oneself.
Leaving the area, Wu Yu found yet another unoccupied Ancient Pagoda of Time.
There were fewer pagodas that had no one waiting outside. The first group of individuals who had experienced the magic of these Ancient Pagodas of Time had explained the situation, resulting in more cultivators surrounding said pagodas. This was especially so for the people from the Yan Huang Ancient Country. As they had yet to locate Wu Yu, they were growing ever confident that he could possibly be hiding within one of these pagodas.
Although the minor increase in time gained was negligible to most cultivators, everyone wanted to go in and experience it for themselves. They held hopes of attaining something that had been overlooked by the previous occupant. Who said that these pagodas might not be hiding treasures?
"I wonder who took the Water Source Ancient Crystal," Wu Yu wondered as he inspected the sundial atop the new pagoda he had just found. The flow of time for this pagoda was between two and three times faster than normal.
Before long, some other cultivators had also arrived.
Trying to sneakily steal an Ancient Pagoda of Time was not easy as most had been taken by someone, the majority of them being the cultivators of the Ancient Pagoda of Time.
Wu Yu heard many individuals discussing the daring escape he had made, as well as the situation with the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord.
Who would have thought he would have caused such a ruckus!
He no longer had much of an aim and began to wander the cloud sea.
"Just what secrets does this cloud sea and the Taigu Immortal Path hold? If the situation is like the dark sea, just what can break this illusion? There's no doubt that whoever solves this mystery will gain the largest benefits!" Pondering further, Wu Yu suddenly felt an impending sense of danger. He activated his Eyes of Fire and Gold and looked deep into the cloud sea, where he saw a large bird stalking him!
Looking closer, it wasn't a real bird. It was one made of numerous mechanism in an elegant fashion. It was only the size of a steed, but its body consisted of tens of thousands of intricately carved wooden blocks that were seamlessly stitched together. Although it was clearly a man-made puppet, it almost looked alive!
Every single wooden block possessed untold numbers of marvelous but complex spirit designs.
This was a top-tier mechanical beast!
This Mechanical Skylark Beast's quality seemed to be no lower than that of the Skysilver Protector.
Wu Yu felt a little depressed. Why would such a troublesome thing appear outside of an Ancient Pagoda of Time?