Chapter 2272: Small Asura Realm
"There's no need to waste further time, Fellow Daoist Spirit; just tell us exactly what it is you would like us to do," Mo Jianli urged.
"Alright, your wish is my command. I currently require a Threat of Time to save my life, and I'm willing to exchange one Sanqing Lightning Talisman for each Thread of Time; what do you think?" the white-robed elderly revealed.
Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Hei Lin immediately flared up with rage. "You require a Thread of Time? Is that supposed to be a joke? How can we possibly find such a legendary item?"
Threads of Time were extraordinary items that could only be born in the River of Time, which contained the law of time.
However, there was no way that a River of Time could appear in a lower realm like the Spirit Realm; only in the True Immortal Realm would one be able to find a few of these incredible rivers.
Mo Jianli's expression also darkened upon hearing this. "Brother Spirit, are you proposing this deal without any sincerity?"
Han Li had naturally also read about Threads of Time and Rivers of Time in some ancient tomes, and he was stroking his chin with a contemplative expression as he quickly reviewed the information that he had read.
Even among all of the treasures that only existed in legends, Threads of Time were considered to be extremely precious, and its main effect was that it could extend one's lifespan.
It was said that the power of time imbued within a single Thread of Time could extend a mortal or a low-grade cultivator's lifespan by over 1,000 years, while for beings of their caliber, Thread of Time had the incredible ability to delay heavenly tribulations.
A Thread of Time could delay a minor heavenly tribulation by over 500 years and a major heavenly tribulation by over a century.
Of course, those were only legends as no one had ever truly seen these threads in action.
However, one thing was for sure: no Rivers of Time had ever appeared in any of the lower realms.
Could it be that the Spirit Monarch was requesting this item as he was...
Han Li cast his gaze toward the white-robed elderly man, and a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.
The Spirit Monarch chuckled, "Hehe, I wouldn't dare to waste your time by making such tasteless jokes, fellow daoists. The most premium Threads of Time can indeed only be born in Rivers of Time, but I don't specifically require Threads of Time of that caliber; even if you could find Threads of Time of the lowest caliber, I'd exchange Sanqing Lightning Talismans for them without any hesitation. It's next to impossible to obtain naturally arising Threads of Time, but it's not impossible for us to refine artificial Threads of Time."
Hei Lin and Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before both of them fell into deep thought.
In contrast, a thought seemed to suddenly occur to Xue Ran, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
"Looks like you already know what I'm referring to, Fellow Daoist Xue Ran," the Spirit Monarch said in an unhurried manner.
"Brother Xue?" Hei Lin turned to Xue Ran with an inquisitive expression, while Han Li and Mo Jianli exchanged a silent glance.
"If I'm not mistaken, you must be referring to the Asura Spiders that can only be found in the Small Asura Realm, which appeared once many years ago. Aside from that, I can't think of any other place where you can obtain artificial Threads of Time," Xue Ran said.
"Small Asura Realm?"
"Asura Spider?"
Mo Jianli and Hei Lin exclaimed in unison, while Han Li blinked in a perplexed manner.
This was the first time he was hearing these two names.
"That's right. The Asura Spider is born with the innate ability to control space and time. If you can kill a few of these spiders, you should be able to refine artificial Threads of Time from their cores. This will certainly be far easier than searching for a River of Time," the Spirit Monarch replied.
"Hmph, you sure make it sound simple! Setting aside how perilous the Small Asura Realm is and how fearsome the Asura Spiders are, the entrance to that realm had completely collapsed during the battle that had taken place 200,000 years ago; how are we supposed to access it?" Xue Ran harrumphed coldly.
"I've naturally made preparations for that. Please take a look at this," the Spirit Monarch said with a faint smile, then flipped a hand over to reveal a ball of crimson light.
Han Li focused his gaze on the ball of crimson light to find that it contained a crimson fist-sized rock with an extremely rough surface that was riddled with countless tiny holes.
"That's an Asura Heart! Where did you obtain this item, Brother Spirit?" Mo Jianli's expression changed drastically at the sight of the object.
Xue Ran and Hei Lin clearly also recognized it, and incredulous looks appeared on their faces as well.
As for Han Li, this was the first time he had heard of this Asura Heart, so he naturally displayed no reaction.
However, Mo Jianli immediately offered him an explanation through voice transmission.
"The Small Asura Realm once emerged in the southern region of our Tian Yuan Continent 200,000 years ago. The realm is quite small, but everything within it is extremely similar to that of the Asura Realm, which collapsed and completely vanished in ancient times; the presence of Asura Spider is one of the most symbolic similarities between the two realms. Thus, many people have speculated that the Small Asura Realm is a section of the Asura Realm that was somehow spared during the latter's collapse.
"In order to fight over this realm, several nearby super races had engaged in a fierce clash, unintentionally destroying the entrance to the realm in the process, and causing it to disappear again. For that, all of the super races were quite remorseful for a very long time."
Mo Jianli's voice transmission cut off there.
"I see, so what is this Asura Heart? You seem to be extremely surprised to see it," Han Li also asked through voice transmission.
"Asura Hearts are items manifested from the hearts of powerful creatures in the Small Asura Realm. They contain a type of mysterious energy unique to the Small Asura Realm, and they were originally used only for tool and pill refinement, but after the entrance to the realm was destroyed, some people discovered that these hearts could be used in conjunction with a type of defunct ancient super formation to directly enter the Small Asura Realm. However, during this time, those who entered the Small Asura Realm ahd to refine the Asura Heart into some type of protective treasure to oppose the resistance from the realm.
"The energy within that treasure will slowly be expended, and once it's been completely exhausted, the resistance of the Small Asura Realm would automatically eject that person. Unfortunately, the creatures that possess Asura Hearts in the Small Asura Realm are extremely difficult to kill, so there aren't many of these Asura Hearts in existence. After the entrance to the realm collapsed, almost all of the remaining Asura Hearts were used up over time, so it came as quite a surprise to me that the Spirit Monarch is in possession of them," Mo Jianli explained.
Han Li nodded with a contemplative expression upon hearing this.
As the two of them were conversing with one another, Xue Ran had already accepted the Asura Heart from the Spirit Monarch and was carefully examining it.
After a long while, he heaved a long sigh, and asked, "This is indeed an Asura Heart. How many of these do you have in our possession, Brother Spirit?"
"Two," the Spirit Monarch replied.
"Two? Each Asura Heart can only teleport one person into the Small Asura Realm; are you planning to select two of us to enter the Small Asura Realm?" Xue Ran asked as his expression darkened slightly.
Mo Jianli's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this.
"Rest assured, fellow daoists; after some improvements I made, these Asura Hearts can be split into halves. However, one Asura Heart only contains enough energy for one person to remain in the Small Asura Realm for around a month, and with each half, you would only be able to remain in the realm for around half a month. I'm sure that with your abilities, this will be more than enough time to track down Asura Spiders," the Spirit Monarch replied in a calm manner.
"Hmph, that'll be a matter of luck considering the limited time that we have," Xue Ran harrumphed coldly.
"If I recall correctly, you two possess the bloodlines of the two true spirits, the Bloodflame Six-headed Spider, and the Blackscale Heavenly Dragon Spider, right? This might not be enough time for others to track down Asura Spiders, but with your bloodline sensory abilities to guide you, there should be a very good chance," the Spirit Monarch replied with a smile.
"Looks like you've done a lot of homework on us two," Xue Ran said as a cold light flashed through both his and Hei Lin's eyes.
"Hehe, I originally invited Fellow Daoist Shi Xin as he possessed the bloodline of the Thousand-eyed Evil Spider bloodline, which should've made it even easier for him to track down Asura Spiders in the Small Asura Realm. However, seeing as he perished in the Elder Devil Realm, I could only turn to you. Thankfully, the Small Asura Realm isn't a large place, so even without your bloodline sensory abilities, you'll have some chances of tracking down Asura Spiders. Had it not been for Fellow Daoist Shi Xin's unexpected demise and the fact that I urgently require these Threads of Time, I wouldn't even have allowed Brother Mo and Fellow Daoist Han to get in on this deal.
"However, seeing as they came to me with the relevant token, I could only oblige. Now then, I've said everything that needs to be said; are you willing to venture into the Small Asura Realm?" the Spirit Monarch asked in a calm manner.
No one offered an immediate reply.