As Yan Zaizen was harvesting in peace, Wu Kun finally got interested in why the Presba's Imperial forces were half-naked without anything to call their own. Considering he allied with them, robbing them so directly was an affront to his name. His first intentions were to get back face for himself when he saw them.
"..."
Then, he heard what happened.
The notion of revenge fluttered away like a blue jay in spring.
"Understood. Men, give them some of your spare clothes." Was all he instructed, then he looked towards Yan Zaizen with a deeply concealed glint within his gaze. Yan Zaizen had two profound cultivation bases, one at the Perfect Aurora Soul Realm and peak-True Essence body cultivation. As this was only the entryway into the second floor, he had zero intentions of offending someone like this.
He also thought it was absurd. If Yan Zaizen truly took Princess Qin forcefully because of her beauty, it would be far too simple to take her as his wife. With his prowess, he would only need to say a word, and Dong Long would easily agree. Hell, even Princess Qin herself would do so. With a husband of such strength, it'll be like becoming the Empress of a continent. Even the Xiantu Empire would give him face!
As for performing the deed for revenge? What reason did he have to do it in the shadows? He could simply do so openly, take her as a slave, and wipe out her entire force. From his knowledge, Dong Long was the strongest cultivator amongst Presba's Imperial Family. Killing him was as simple as a breath for Yan Zaizen. What issues could he have?
After a while, many individuals were using special tools, a combined soul energy construction of multiple individuals, or a profound soul cultivation to harvest the Asura's Milk. Unfortunately, a few people had their souls washed in failure, but most were cautious enough to be definitively sure they could harvest a single drop before taking action.
Others were trying to figure out the requirements for them to take their group through the curtain. A group of three initial-True Essence Realm and several Origin Core cultivators pulled their strength together to penetrate the curtain. Regrettably, even combined, their strength couldn't rival the mid-True Essence Realm. Their souls were directly cleansed in their attempt.
As for their possessions, Yan Zaizen was the first to take action. His soul energy constructing a thick robe, it traveled at high-speed to snag all objects in their possessions. As for the True Essence experts, he snatched their bodies as well. With their soul flames wiped, they were essentially dead. He was always one to obtain a profit. A True Essence corpse was incredibly valuable.
Many who watched had some discontent, but they didn't take action due to Yan Zaizen's prowess. He, of course, actively avoided those who still had experts to pick up their bodies. He wasn't so ruthless as to take their bodies from their friends and families. As for those who didn't have anyone? They were directly taken with zero hesitation.
After three days, many experts had already passed to the second floor, but Yan Zaizen was still harvesting the Asura's Milk. Regardless of what's on the second floor, the Asura's Milk had a far greater worth than anything that'd be there. As for his original group, they had long since departed. With their total strength, bypassing the curtain was an easy feat. However, harvesting the milk was impossible.
Only after a month, did Yan Zaizen finally exit, entering the second floor. If he stayed here for too long, its likely everything in the entire palace would be taken by others. He couldn't have that.
Just like he assumed, when he arrived at the main hall, this time with ten corridors, his spiritual sense revealed nothing but ransacked areas. There was even evidence of fierce battles taking place. It seemed there was something of exceptional value within these doors. At least, enough to fight fiercely for.
Ma Xiuren stayed silently by Yan Zaizen's side throughout. Due to the fact she decided to accompany Yan Zaizen, she had missed her chance to fight for the second floor's treasures. Her eyes flickered as she carefully scanned the area, but she didn't feel the slightest hint of regret.
"Let's go." Yan Zaizen urged. With that, they both traversed the halls towards a destroyed spatial platform. Yan Zaizen couldn't help but feel that this layout was rather reminiscent of the Anima Syndicate's. The Anima Syndicate had three corridors, several doors, and at the end of each corridor, two miniaturized spatial platforms. It may not be the exact same but it was quite similar.
Ma Xiuren withdrew a silver-orb. It was exactly the same one as Guàn Cui's. It seems the situation of destroying a spatial platform was quite common in exploration campaigns and many prepared for it. Despite the initial travelers obviously destroying it during their departure, nine thousand cultivators still was capable of entering the second floor. Not to mention, there was no one on this floor except for them.
This indicated that everyone made it to the third floor. At least, those who were alive.
A spatial tunnel was produced by the silver-orb. With a leap, they both entered.
What awaited them was similar to the first and second floor. A vast room with a single door at the further end. However, there was no one here. Whatever guarded the third floor was likely dealt with during the month they idled in harvesting.
"I see…" Yan Zaizen felt a little discontent. However, he felt that Pinaka's previous words towards difficultly was correct. The first floor had the highest difficulty out of all the floors. This could be seen by the Golem's strength capable of rivaling a first-floor Heavenly Genesis expert in its domain, yet the Asura's Milk could be bypassed with a mid-True Essence strength. The third floor likely had similar defenses, but it was obviously not enough to stop all those who could reach here.
Similar to the second floor, the third floor was ransacked. The battle here was far more intense than before. He could see burnt limbs scattered about without a torso, blood sprayed all over the floors and walls painted in its crimson color, and even areas within the corridors suffering severe damage. The greater the benefits, the greater the fighting.
"I wonder how many died…" These were top-tier experts. In their respective continents, they could be rulers of billions, conquer as kings and queens for tens of thousands of years, but their lives were reaped here. It caused him to well up with melancholy.
The world of cultivation may be defined by strength, but many in their pursuit of strength die. Their stories vanishing in the sands of time, their lives no longer affecting those around them and their fight against the heavens ending with their last bemoaned breath.
Would he suffer a similar fate one day? A fate where his breath ceased and his dao vanished?
Ma Xiuren looked at Yan Zaizen curiously, noticing his intense reactions. She reached out and gently held Yan Zaizen's hand with her small dainty one.
"Huh?" Feeling someone's hand intermingled with his own, Yan Zaizen was startled. His gaze turned to see a little girl with bright eyes and a soft smile. Despite this little girl having the age close to three thousand, that smile calmed down his mind. Taking a deep breath, he recollected his mental state.
"As cultivators, we fight against the heavens. We fight against our fellow man. We fight against time itself. Our only reason for existence is to fight. Fight for a better life, to protect our loved ones, and to experience contentment without fear. If the day comes that I die, then I'll die. Until then, I'll fight." He silently muttered to himself, a dark-amber luster illuminating his gaze.
"..." Pinaka stayed silent during this. For this, this specific realization, Yan Zaizen needed to find the path himself. As cultivators, no one's immortal, and the fighting never stopped. As she said before, we fight for us! But that also meant we die for us! Her former master had profound cultivation that could contend against the heavens and a dao of his own, and yet...he still perished beneath another's blade.
Ma Xiuren's hand clenched a little tighter, her gaze also occupied with a blazing luminance.
As they reached the fourth floor, they discovered the situation wasn't much different. However, the fights here was beyond what words could describe. The most simple and direct way to do so: It was savage to the extreme. The corridors numbered six, yet each one was filled with pools of multicolored blood, pieces of bones and even brain matter. There were remnant true-essence and vital energy scattered about that caused the surroundings to feel turbulent and heavy.
Yan Zaizen could even see feathers that seemed to originate from that large four-winged bird scattered about drenched in silver blood. There was even a giant's head...however only half of it remained. It was severely affected by the Mortal Law of Decay. The smell it emitted was horrendously putrid. The gaze in its singular eye was filled with an unwillingness to concede before being sharply removed.
As his first Realm Exploration Campaign, he was surprised by all this. As he continued to approach the next spatial platform, Yan Zaizen saw a broken blade.
"This is…" His memory flashed as he remembered Guàn Cui's sky-rank sword.
This was it.
He could sense her remnant true-essence lingering on the broken pieces. Ma Xiuren looked at the broken blade and didn't show any shift of expression. Even towards the violence from the corridor, her bright eyes contained a trace of pureness that seemed untainted. Perhaps she had gotten used to such events. Perhaps she ignored them. However, Yan Zaizen felt a little relieved.
"I'm truly too young." He silently muttered in admittance. In his lifetime, he has killed. He has slaughtered people, but typically he's always been in the superior position. Never had he faced struggles or seen someone die fighting with all their might and will. Regardless of his Dao, he was never in a situation where he had to fight with his life truly on the line.
He looked towards the pathway that leads to the next spatial platform. A scene flashed across his eyes. He held the body of a person, his eyes filled with crimson tears, and his mouth frothing with emotion. A stomach-curdling scream was released at the heavens. No, it seemed to go beyond that.
In a split second, his vision returned as if the scene had never occurred. There was a remnant of surrealism at it all. As if the scene was truly real but also wasn't.
Before, when his cultivation base was weaker, he experienced something similar.
Looking at his right hand, he felt a surrealness wash over him. "That...didn't look like me, but why...did it feel like me." He was more attuned towards the slight changes than before, and he wasn't so naive to believe it happened twice without reason. Almost instinctively, he caressed his glabella. This action caused him to freeze. Shaking his head, he realized the mysteries about him was far too great.
His cultivation base has already reached a high-realm, yet he still discovered nothing about what the black hole means or how it became a part of his soul.
"Let's go." Those questions will be answered in the future, but he felt that day was far away. With that, they entered the fifth floor.