One month later.
Chen Lin, who was studying, put down the bamboo scroll and checked Meng Hezhang's body.
Still nothing has changed.
This made him frown. Such a long time had passed and there was still no movement. Was it because no members of the Ten Thousand Worlds Alliance had appeared, or was there some unexpected change
After thinking for a while, he stopped thinking about it.
It is impossible to guess what the situation is, but the other party is still alive, which means that even if something unexpected happened, he is trapped inside and has not turned into a creature from the demon world, nor has he died.
Otherwise, if the projection is destroyed and dies, the body outside will also die.
Chen Lin checked again, stuffed a fasting pill into the other person's mouth, and then returned to the outer room to continue studying the characters.
The energy of the bone fragment is very strong. As long as it is not a special scene like the bluestone street, the projection can be maintained for a long time. If Meng Hezhang cannot wait for anyone or cannot find the rules of the task to leave, there is no need to worry about the projection not being able to be maintained and being wiped out.
He waited like this for nearly half a month. During this time, Qu Qingzhou and Meng Dashan came to inquire about it in the name of delivering something, but he evaded the question.
But just waiting like this was not a solution, so Chen Lin thought about finding another experienced cultivator to go in and take a look.
Before the idea could be realized, at noon one day, Meng Hezhang slowly opened his eyes.
"How about it?"
After checking the other party's situation through the crow, Chen Lin immediately walked into the inner room and inquired about the situation.
"Reporting to the Lord, nothing happened. There is nothing there, just a cave. There seems to be something invisible blocking the surroundings. We can't get out from the exit, and we can't destroy the rock wall."
Meng Hezhang described it, and then said: "In addition, there is a strange energy inside that makes me feel repulsive, but with the bone fragments given to me by the adults, nothing unexpected happened."
After hearing what the other party said, Chen Lin nodded with a relaxed expression.
He didn't say much about the situation in the Demon Realm during their previous communication, but the information the other party provided matched the rules of the Demon Realm, and the cave was the same as Xu Zi Han's original description, which meant that the other party did not speak.
"So who did you meet in there, and what were the conditions for leaving?"
These two are the issues he cares about, nothing else matters.
"My Lord, I have been waiting in the cave. Only just now did a very strange woman appear. There is a small tree growing on her head and shoulders. They are not placed there, but really growing inside her body!"
Meng Hezhang seemed to have not yet recovered from the shock, and his tone fluctuated greatly.
Chen Lin was not too surprised. Since he came into contact with the demon world, he had seen too many strange creatures and was no longer surprised.
Seeing that Chen Lin didn't react, Meng Hezhang calmed down and continued, "But the woman's attitude was quite good, and I could actually understand what she said. After I introduced myself as the adults had instructed, she told me how to leave."
"What method?"
Chen Lin immediately asked.
Meng Hezhang had a strange look on his face and said, "There is a smooth stone slab next to the cave entrance, and outside is a grassland. When the stone slab changes color, just write the number of large birds on the grassland on the stone slab. If the answer is correct, you can leave."
After a pause, he continued, "But according to what the woman with the small tree said, you can only look at it by yourself and can't let others prompt you. When I checked, there were only two big birds on the grass. After writing it down, I put away the bone fragments as the adults said, and they were excluded after a while."
Chen Lin looked surprised.
This rule is simple enough, yet also peculiar enough.
"Is that big bird aggressive?"
Chen Lin continued to ask.
Since there are living things, we have to be on guard against them.
Meng Hezhang immediately replied: "I can't get out of the cave and test it, but the woman said she wouldn't be attacked."
Chen Lin nodded slightly, thinking that it should not be aggressive, otherwise the Alliance of All Worlds would not choose this place for the gathering.
He basically understood the situation, but just to be on the safe side, he still cast the spell of bewitching and asked again: "Tell me the details again."
Meng Hezhang's eyes were blurred as he repeated what he had just said, with basically no changes.
Then Chen Lin asked some more details, and the other party answered them one by one, which made him look satisfied.
"Okay, you can leave now!"
Chen Lin took back the bone fragments and the giant egg and sent the other party out of the inn.
Then he came to a shop.
"Boss, what's the situation?"
The shop was not big, and there was only an old man who was in the foundation-building stage inside. Chen Lin opened his mouth to ask.
When the old man saw that it was Chen Lin, he immediately came up to him with a smile.
"It's Fellow Daoist Chen. The owner has replied, but the price may have to be raised. There seem to be some problems with the spiritual fields in the small spiritual realm recently. The amount of spiritual rice has decreased, and prices are fluctuating greatly."
"There's something wrong with the spiritual field. Is it serious?"
Chen Lin was shocked when he heard this.
The so-called small spiritual realm is an independent space opened up by ancient cultivators. It is connected to the cave abode and basically all cave abodes have it.
It was originally supposed to be a place where ancient cultivators cultivated spiritual medicines, but now spiritual rice is grown there. After practicing the Tianyan Jue, the spiritual energy in the cultivator's body becomes mixed, and those below the Golden Elixir stage cannot practice fasting for a long time, and need to replenish their energy with spiritual rice regularly.
He doesn't have to worry, but if there is no spiritual rice from the small spiritual realm, this cave may not be able to be maintained, and he will have to move his position. Who knows what kind of trouble will arise.
The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "I don't know about that, but it shouldn't be a big problem. It's just that once the price of spiritual rice goes up, the prices of other things will have to go up as well, and life will be difficult."
After sighing, he looked at Chen Lin and said, "The owner of the house is also a Nascent Soul cultivator like you. Now the other party requires a treasure used by Nascent Soul cultivators in exchange. You can consider it. If it doesn't work, I will find you something else."
Chen Lin thought about it and took out a magic weapon-level flying sword.
"I got this flying sword when I explored the ancient cultivator's cave. I don't know if it will satisfy the other party. The shopkeeper, please call the owner of the house to have a talk!"
He had plenty of treasures in his storage bag, but he had been disguising himself as a Nascent Soul cultivator, so it was not advisable for him to take out treasures that were too good to attract attention.
"Okay, then Brother Chen, please wait a moment."
The old shopkeeper looked at the flying sword, summoned a waiter from behind and asked him to go find someone.
"Fellow Daoist Chen is a foreign cultivator, right? I wonder where he is from?"
After the waiter left, the shopkeeper found a topic to chat with Chen Lin.
"Haha, the shopkeeper has a keen eye. Chen is indeed from somewhere else, but I like to explore, and I don't stay in each place for long. But something happened when I went to the swamp before, so I plan to stay here permanently this time."
He was vague and did not give the other party a clear answer.
As for the fact that the other party could tell that he was an outsider, it was not surprising.
There were less than 20,000 people in this gathering place. Although there were many Nascent Soul cultivators, there were only a few hundred of them. They had lived in the same place for so many years that they should not have any impression of it. Moreover, as Nascent Soul cultivators, it was impossible for them to not have a place to live. It was definitely rare for them to come out and buy a house in person, so the other party made such a guess.
"oh?"
The shopkeeper was very surprised to hear Chen Lin's words.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, have you ever been to the swamp? I heard that there is a very strange monster in the swamp near our snowy area. Even strong men like the three cave masters dare not set foot there!"
Chen Lin's heart moved.
This was the first time he had heard that there were powerful monsters in the swamp, but he had been exploring there for so long and had not encountered any danger.
He didn't know what the so-called monster was and why it didn't attack him.
After thinking for a while, he looked puzzled and asked, "Really? Does the shopkeeper know what kind of monster that is?"
"I'm not sure about that. I just heard about it. The swamp is very mysterious. Even the Tianluo people don't dare to go there. Fortunately, the monster doesn't come here. As long as we don't go there, there will be no problem."
The shopkeeper shook his head in reply.
Chen Lin recalled the situation in the swamp in his mind, and did not feel that there was anything unusual.
But since everyone said so, the monster should exist. I don’t know if he was lucky enough not to encounter it, or if there were some other reason.
The most likely scenario is that Hua Ruyu or Xiaocao were swept into this place with the bronze coffin by the turbulence of the void, encountered the monster, and then overdrawn their essence to kill the monster, or drove it away.
That's why the Bronze Pavilion fell into the swamp, and Xiaocao and the other two turned into flowers.
Of course, these are all speculations, and the specific situation is unknown. I will just not go there in the future.
At this time, the waiter brought the homeowner over, and the two bargained and finalized the deal.
Chen Lin bought an independent courtyard. Although it was not big, it was very quiet and much more convenient than living in an inn.
He first checked the house inside and out, and then began to set up the formation.
Everything was ready. He took out some puppets and placed them in the yard. He brought Fat Tiger out from the Demon Realm to guard him, and then entered the Demon Realm.
In a flash, Chen Lin appeared in a cave.
I checked the situation immediately and didn't see the aliens that Meng Hezhang mentioned. I guess they must have left.
The space inside the cave is spacious and a little dim, but there is nothing except bare rock walls.
After making sure there was nothing unusual, Chen Lin walked towards the cave entrance.
As soon as I reached the exit, I saw a smooth stone slab next to it. There was nothing special about it. If you didn't know the inside story, it would be hard to imagine that the task rules for leaving required the number of big birds to be written on it.
He took a few glances and then turned his gaze outside the cave.
It was indeed a grassland, and a rather large one at that. There were huge rocks surrounding the grassland, and further away were some low mountains.
But there are no big birds now.
After thinking about it, Chen Lin walked out of the cave.
Now there is no bird and the stone slab has not changed color, so I will check the situation first.
After taking just two steps, he felt an invisible barrier appear.
This feeling was all too familiar; he had reached the restricted area of the first-level pass. He didn't care and just passed through.