Chapter 2142: Reaching Heaven Soul quietly
Ling Han settled down in the Four Seas Palace. Every day, he would be studying great dao, and at the same time would also be concocting alchemical pills.
Shang Zhiwei had very good patience. She had been alive for who knew how many epochs, so she naturally did not mind waiting eight to 10 years, or even several hundred billion years.
She would have this kind of patience naturally because she took Ling Han as her own son/nephew. Otherwise, she would have just killed him and been done with it.
However, it was also not realistic for Ling Han to leave Four Seas City. Shang Zhiwei would definitely not allow him to leave before he handed over Hu Niu.
Thus, he could only cultivate, and improve his skill in alchemy.
In the blink of an eye, seven years had already passed.
Seven years had passed in the outside world, and with the time acceleration effects of the Black Tower, as long as 7,000 years had passed—and the time spent comprehending Dao underneath the Reincarnation Tree was even more overwhelmingly long—and added with how Shang Zhiwei doted on him, she would deliver all kind of precious cultivation resources to him, causing his cultivation level to soar all the way to the pinnacle of Earth Soul.
…Ling Han estimated that if he had not had Shang Zhiwei's support, he would only have been able to reach this level in over 1,000 years. Even the Black Tower was not omnipotent.
From this, it was also clear that Shang Zhiwei was really treating him like her own son, which also caused Ling Han a headache. In the future, if Hu Niu were to become enemies with Shang Zhiwei, he would definitely be on Hu Niu's side, but if he was to step in to deal with Shang Zhiwei, that would be really too ungrateful.
Whatever, he'd put the matter aside for now.
The Roc Palace possessed Yang Soul Ocean, Earth Soul Mountain, and the sort, so considering the Four Seas Palace was its equal, would they also have this kind of Mystery Realm?
Of course they would.
Thus, when Ling Han reached peak-stage Earth Soul, he went to the Heaven Soul Pool to break through.
Merely a month later, he had reached consummate level, and successfully advanced to Heaven Soul Tier, catching up with Hu Niu, the Empress, and the others in cultivation level. And another piece of good news came. The Empress and Hu Niu had subdued the Source Power of heaven and earth at about the same time.
They managed to succeed firstly because their own natural talent in cultivation was extremely high, and they were qualified to subdue Source Powers of heaven and earth, and secondly because the Black Dragon King had used a secret technique to weaken the resistance of the Source Power of heaven and earth, thus allowing the two women to succeed easily.
Otherwise, even a Celestial King would need tens of millions of years to collect a Source Power of heaven and earth. Even with the time acceleration effects of the Black Tower, the two women had only spent more than 10,000 years.
"Ling Han!" Hu Niu pounced into Ling Han's arms, greedily sniffing the scent that belonged solely to him. "Niu missed you to death!"
No slight distraction could take place when collecting a Source Power of heaven and earth. Otherwise, not only would all previous efforts be completely wasted, the Source Power of heaven and earth would also abandon you and leave. This was always only a one-time opportunity.
Thus, Hu Niu could only suppress her nature earlier. For her, this was really not very easily done.
Ling Han laughed loudly, and spun around three times where he stood while hugging Hu Niu.
The Empress also pounced. She looked down proudly on the world, and would directly express any fondness she felt. She would not pay any regard to the thoughts of others.
Ling Han also embraced the Empress, and felt as if embracing these two women in his arms was like embracing the whole world, and his heart also became incredibly steadfast. He would definitely safeguard this happiness.
"Niu is going out to play!" Hu Niu acted spoiled in Ling Han's arms for a while, and then couldn't help but call out. She had a playful nature, and she had been in seclusion for over 10,000 years continuously this time. She naturally felt suffocated.
Ling Han's expression changed lightly. Shaking his head, he said, "Niu, you won't be able to leave here for the moment."
"Why?" Hu Niu's expression was filled with curiosity.
Ling Han sighed, and after slight hesitation, he told her the truth about how the Roc Palace had already been destroyed by the Four Seas Palace.
"Wa, that despicable old witch, Niu will kill her!" After Hu Niu heard this, she was immediately howling in anger.
Indeed, she had not liked how Long Yuexi would interfere in all her matters, but after so many years, she had naturally developed very strong affections for Long Yuexi, just like how a mischievous granddaughter would feel towards her grandmother.
She was not so concerned about the destruction of the Roc Palace, but Long Yuexi's death still made her extremely furious. She wanted to leap out of the Black Tower, and seek out Shang Zhiwei for vengeance.
Ling Han naturally would not agree. The other party was just worrying if Hu Niu was going to appear. Going out would really mean just delivering herself to her doorstep.
He continuously comforted and eased her anxiety. The Empress also "put aside their old grudges", and gave Hu Niu a few words of advice, and added with Bewitching Maiden Rou and the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden who had come later, the four of them finally managed to temporarily convince Hu Niu.
"Niu is going to cultivate. Niu is going to become a Heavenly Venerable Tier, then beat up that old witch!" Hu Niu declared, her eyes red. This little girl had never liked cultivation, but now she was actually announcing such a declaration, which showed how sorrowful and furious she was.
Ling Han nodded. If Hu Niu could focus her grief on cultivation, that would be good, but hopefully, this matter would not have any effects on the little girl's personality, and turn an originally optimistic person into a tool that only knew revenge.
He exited the Black Tower, and went into a daze.
Seven years had passed, and though Shang Zhiwei had still not forced him before, he had not found any means of leaving at all. It was like he would only be able to escape and leave when he advanced to Celestial King Tier, and was qualified to match Shang Zhiwei in speed.
What was he going to do? If Hu Niu could not leave the Black Tower, then it would be forever impossible for her to break through to the Immortal Palace Tier. How could that be allowed?
Peng, peng, peng. Just as he was feeling troubled, a knock sounded at the doors.
There had been countless people who had visited him throughout these seven years—he was presently the most important person in Shang Zhiwei's eyes. Everyone wanted to develop amicable relations with him. However, he had been constantly cultivating in seclusion, so others could only be left out in the cold.
And now, here was a visitor. Ling Han naturally would not be surprised. He had initially wanted to enter into the Black Tower, but thinking that since he was presently stuck in a dilemma anyways, he might as well find someone he could chat with, and find distraction from his troubles.
He went to open the doors, and saw a young man standing in the doorway. When he saw Ling Han, he immediately clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "My name is Fu He, and I am Lord Lin Xuan's follower. Greetings, Young Master Ling."
One of Lin Xuan's men?
Ling Han naturally did not bear any positive feelings for Lin Xuan, but as the saying went, one would not hit someone who smiled at you. He could not bother himself to show his displeasure to just one of his underlings, either. Thus, he smiled, and asked, "What is it?"
"It's like this. A Mystery Realm has been newly discovered in the Wide Change Heaven, attracting a great many prodigies and elites to adventure there. Lord Lin Xuan and Lady An Ran have both decided to journey there." Fu He showed a very humble attitude. "Lord Lin Xuan has commanded me to come and ask if Young Master Ling would be interested to go with them."
Of course he was, but how could Shang Zhiwei actually release him?
Moreover, would Lin Xuan really be that kind? He was probably planning on making a move on him in the Mystery Realm.
Ling Han smiled slightly. "If Lin Xuan can convince Aunt Wei, I would indeed like to take a look."
"The Spiritual Mountain Celestial King still has some influence on the Lady Imperial Empress. Since Young Master Ling wishes to go, then Lord Lin Xuan would naturally ask the Spiritual Mountain Celestial King to step out, and put the suggestion forward to Lady Imperial Empress," Fu He said.
Ling Han was surprised. As a great, noble Celestial King, one that was at Seventh Heaven at that, he would actually be willing to deliberately make a trip for the sake of a minor Dividing Soul Tier like him?
It looked like the Spiritual Mountain Celestial King was very meticulous when it came to the matters of his disciple as well if he would actually come out in the open, and create a chance for his disciple to kill him.
However, if they were really able to leave the Four Seas Palace, Ling Han would really like to grab this opportunity. He had the Black Tower, and this should only be known to Shang Zhiwei. Even the Spiritual Mountain Celestial King did not know about the Karmic Life Heavenly Venerable.
The matter actually progressed extraordinarily smoothly. A mere three days later, Manager Chen passed on a message from Shang Zhiwei that he was to decide for himself whether to go to this Mystery Realm or not, and if he was going, there would be many dangers in the Mystery Realm, so he had to be extremely cautious.