Void Cultivation

The moment Grey arrived before the veil of darkness, he felt as if he had been ushered into a completely different world.

The air was so cold that it felt as though his body would freeze in an instant. A bone-chilling sensation spread through his limbs, and the feeling of dread that had been lingering in his heart became even more intense.

More importantly, Grey could sense countless gazes landing on his body.

They came from every direction. Some were cold and filled with hostility. While others were so strange and incomprehensible that Grey couldn’t even determine what kind of existence was watching him.

For a moment, genuine fear appeared in Grey’s heart.

He had faced countless dangerous situations since he began cultivating, and he had fought enemies stronger than himself more than once. However, this was different.

The existences hidden behind the veil were simply too powerful.

Grey had a faint feeling that if any one of them decided to attack him, he would not even have the opportunity to resist before his body was reduced to nothingness.

This realization made him hesitate.

His foot stopped just before the veil, and for the first time since arriving in the Corroded Zone, Grey found himself seriously considering whether he should turn around.

He could die.

The thought appeared in his mind with absolute clarity. There was no guarantee that he would survive if he stepped through.

In fact, his instincts were screaming at him not to proceed.

But just as Grey was about to give up and retreat, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly swayed slightly.

Its body bent forward. Then, its hand instinctively shivered as it pointed toward the veil of darkness.

Grey’s pupils contracted slightly.

The shadow had sensed something. Something that had made even its usually emotionless body react instinctively.

Immediately, all the hesitation in Grey’s mind evaporated.

If even the shadow was willing to enter this place for that treasure, then there had to be something inside that was worth the risk.

Grey took a deep breath before he then, he took a step forward.

The moment his foot crossed the veil, it felt as if he had stepped into an entirely different realm.

The temperature dropped even further. Darkness immediately enveloped his vision, and even Grey’s powerful eyesight struggled to see clearly through the surroundings.

It was significantly darker than the peripheral region he had just left.

The darkness was not ordinary darkness either.

It seemed to possess a strange quality that made the surroundings feel distorted and unreal.

Grey’s expression became solemn. Almost immediately, countless powerful presences surged into his perception.

They were everywhere. Some were hiding deep beneath the ground.

Some were concealed within the enormous trees.

Others seemed to be moving through the darkness itself.

Every single one of them was far stronger than him.

The pressure created by their presence was so overwhelming that Grey’s body instinctively stiffened. His legs almost gave out beneath him, and for a brief moment, he felt as if he might collapse.

However, the shadow beneath his feet twitched slightly.

At the same time, a faint purple brilliance flashed within Grey’s eyes.

The fear in his heart was forcibly suppressed.

Grey’s expression once again returned to its usual coldness.

Without wasting any more time, he immediately dashed toward the direction where Violet had sensed the treasure.

Although he appeared completely calm on the surface, his heart was anything but calm.

Every step he took felt like he was walking through a field filled with countless invisible blades.

One wrong move could cost him his life.

Grey was also using the shadow as his guide.

He didn’t completely trust Violet.

There was simply too much that she had refused to tell him.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was using him for some unknown purpose. And although Violet had claimed that she wanted him to retrieve the treasure, Grey couldn’t be certain that the treasure was truly the only thing she wanted.

Since the shadow could also sense the treasure, Grey decided to trust its judgment more than Violet’s.

"Are you ready, Grey?"

Violet’s voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"You’ll see a lot of mutated creatures and bizarre existences once you get closer. But they should still be something you can deal with."

Her voice was abnormally calm.

There wasn’t even a hint of her usual playfulness.

Grey narrowed his eyes.

He wasn’t deceived by her calm tone.

If this matter was truly so important to her, then she would probably have come here herself instead of sending him to retrieve the treasure.

"I haven’t forgotten that you still haven’t told me how you know about this place," Grey said calmly. "You’re also hiding the fact that another avatar of yours is somewhere nearby, waiting for an opportunity."

His tone was indifferent, but there was a faint trace of vigilance within his eyes.

Violet remained silent for a moment. But Grey didn’t wait for her response.

Following the shadow’s directions, he swung past a massive tree.

The tree was enormous, its trunk so thick that several people would probably need to join hands to surround it.

Its branches stretched in every direction, intertwining with the surrounding forest like countless veins spreading through a gigantic body.

But what caught Grey’s attention were the countless holes covering those branches.

They were irregular and different in size.

Some were as small as a fist.

Others were large enough for a human to crawl through.

Grey couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

It was almost as if something lived inside those holes.

And judging from the strange movements he could occasionally sense within them, his guess was most likely correct.

Just as Grey swung past the tree, the branches that had been interlocked with the surrounding forest suddenly trembled.

Whoosh!

A crimson-red gas burst from the countless holes.

It spread through the surroundings at an incredible speed.

Grey’s expression changed.

The red gas instantly filled the area around him, obscuring his vision.

Then...

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

An intense buzzing sound erupted from the tree. From the countless holes covering the branches, red insects suddenly flew out.

They moved at an incredible speed, leaving behind numerous afterimages as they shot toward Grey.

Their numbers rapidly increased.

Dozens to Hundreds.

Soon, they had filled the air.

From a distance, they looked like a massive swarm of red mist drifting toward Grey.

Grey’s expression turned cold.

He had failed to notice them in time.

By the time he realized what was happening, the swarm had already arrived directly before him.

The insects were only a few inches away.

Only then did Grey finally see their true appearances.

They were blood-sucking wasps.

Each one was at least twice the size of an ordinary wasp, with crimson bodies and long, terrifying stingers.

The sharp points of their stingers glimmered with a sinister light.

Grey’s pupils contracted slightly.

He could clearly sense the terrifying poison contained within their bodies.

If even one of them managed to pierce his skin, the consequences would be extremely severe.

The flesh around the wound would immediately begin to rot, and painful boils would rapidly spread across his body.

The pain would be unimaginable.

And that was only if one of them managed to sting him.

There were hundreds of them.

A cultivator in the Foundation Establishment realm would find it extremely difficult to survive against such a swarm.

In fact, if they were caught completely unprepared, they would probably die almost immediately.

However, Grey had already prepared for something like this.

Before he had even entered the veil of darkness, he had been continuously releasing poison powder into the air.

The red wasps possessed poison as well, but their poison was primarily concentrated within their stingers.

As long as their stingers didn’t pierce his skin, their poison wouldn’t be able to affect him.

Grey’s poison, however, was different.

The moment it came into contact with the corrosive substance filling the air, it would immediately activate.

Therefore, barely a moment after the swarm of red wasps surrounded Grey, strange changes began to occur.

Some of their bodies suddenly swelled and their wings became sluggish.

Their movements slowed down significantly.

Then...

Bang!

One of the wasps suddenly exploded. Its body burst apart, spraying poisonous fluid in every direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More and more wasps followed. Their bodies swelled up before exploding one after another.

The sudden deaths caused the remaining swarm to falter slightly. That was all Grey needed.

His body flashed backward.

At the same time, the enormous vein-like branches suddenly whipped toward him.

Whoosh!

The branches tore through the air with terrifying speed. Grey’s eyes narrowed and he twisted his body in midair and narrowly avoided the first branch.

Another branch swept toward his waist.

Grey immediately stepped on another branch and used its momentum to propel himself backward.

He didn’t remain in the area for even a moment longer. Before retreating completely, Grey raised his hand.

A blazing fireball instantly condensed above his palm.

The intense flames illuminated the surrounding darkness for a brief moment.

With a flick of his wrist, Grey hurled the fireball directly toward the swarm of red wasps.

Boom!

The flames erupted and the swarm was immediately engulfed in a sea of fire.

At the same time, Grey casually scattered another handful of poisonous powder into the air.

The powder mixed with the red gas and rapidly spread throughout the surroundings.

Grey didn’t stop moving. He retreated deeper into the darkness while following the shadow’s directions.

His expression remained cold and indifferent. But deep within his eyes, a faint solemnity appeared.

This was only the beginning.

If the creatures guarding the outer region of the veil were already this troublesome, then Grey could only imagine what kind of terrifying existences were waiting deeper inside.

Nevertheless, he didn’t stop. The shadow had already pointed him toward the treasure.

And as long as it continued leading the way, Grey would continue moving forward.

Even if the path ahead was filled with monsters capable of devouring him alive, he would still advance.

After all, he had already stepped through the veil.

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