Is That A Wisp?

"Hmm?" The tiny ring spirit frowned as she looked around, flapping her wings as she flew from one place to another, swirling in the air for a couple of rounds before she returned on Cultivator's shoulder. 

She then iterated her result, pointing in a certain direction as she told him, "Once we escape in this direction, followed by a couple of turns, we'll arrive at a wider path. There might be some traffic in it since it's frequented by a lot of people."

"I don't really wish to mingle with other people for now." Cultivator frowned. "Is there any narrow paths that would take us straight to the Sub-Realm?"

"You wish." She rolled her eyes as she replied, "There are some, but you need to travel at least 10 kilometers in this main path before you encounter one. Just you bulldoze your way through the main path. It's not as if anyone here can pose a threat to you."

Seeing how confidently the ring spirit proclaimed it, Krune felt an intense thumping in his heart. It meant what he had sensed earlier was indeed true. Cultivator had truly reached an unimaginable level in strength. 

He was assured because the tiny ring spirit seemed to be geared around the field of investigation since she used mysterious means to probe around their surroundings. This was the first time Krune came to witness an investigative approach apart from Divine Sense and one that didn't even leave out any traces of energy, not that one could sense them if it existed. 

It was the same as his Mental Energy Scan. This time, he had discovered another similar one that no one else apart from the user knew and took advantage of. So, in the end, the ring spirit possessed a lot of knowledge. Plus, if it said no one in the region could face against Cultivator, then there might be truth to the statement. 

"Until the day arrives when I can take on ten cultivators with Spiritual Incarnations and win the fight, I won't call myself strong." Cultivator smiled as he looked at the ring spirit and said, "Fine, we'll move through the main path for the time being."

"Great, head through this route, then." The ring spirit pointed towards the tiny gap between a couple of Predominated Vines. The gap wasn't even enough for one to see through the other side. The gap was just apparent thanks to the curvature of the vines.

The lady from before appeared at the scene, snorting as she looked at Krune before dashing towards the couple of Predominated Vines that was her target. She stood right before them, turning around to beckon for the two people to start running.

"Let's run and jump through like before," Cultivator said while facing Krune, beginning to sprint the moment the other party nodded. 

The two sprinted at their maximum speed as the lady spirit clamped her hands on the sides of the two Predominated Vines, exerting all her strength as she pushed them aside wide enough for a person to leap through.

Her figure vanished when Cultivator's figure flashed through her position, followed by Krune. Their collective leap took less than a second as they exited the crater. Upon noticing how the source of the Godly Energy disturbing them had vanished, the Predominated Vines didn't take any action and just readjusted themselves to their original position. 

It seemed like they were vines that acted solely based on instinct. Also, their senses could only feel Godly Energy and physical touch. It was why they depended on the Mashed Serpents from time to time to locate their prey. Otherwise, they would just remain still for all their lives. 

The moment they exited the crater, Krune anticipated the ground, only to not see anything that resembled it. It was entirely dark below. He quickly activated his Mental Energy Scan, probing around to see the depth of the canyon.

They were on a narrow path, one that was barely a meter wide. The canyon walls were at least 200 meters high from his current position. Krune extended his arms and applied pressure on the canyon walls on either side, using it to slowly reduce the momentum of his fall. Seeing how inefficient it was, he took out a pair of shields and slammed them into the walls, obtaining the ability to quickly reduce his downward momentum to a minimum. 

He then retracted them as he landed on the bottom, causing a faint splash as his feet met water. There was a thin brook flowing at the bottom, barely possessing a width of 40 centimeters and a depth of 20 centimeters. It wasn't even big enough to be called a brook or a canal. 

It was just a trickling stream of water. Krune gazed up to see Cultivator slamming onto the sides of the walls with his foot as he zigzagged his way to the bottom, muttering as he gazed up, "Damn, the walls are at least 350 meters high. We're getting deeper into the canyon. It would reach a couple of kilometers by the time we reach its depths."

"Where exactly is this Sub-Realm located? At the center?" Krune inquired.

Cultivator didn't say anything, directly looking at his ring spirit as he motioned her to speak.

The ring spirit fanned her face as she took in a deep breath, saying, "It's not in the center of the Four Sectors' Border Region, geographically speaking. Though, it is the center of its origin. The Sub-Realm is located in the place the first Predominated Vine appeared."

"I see." Krune nodded, then remembered the map Yulian had given him. He then took it out and gave it to the ring spirit, asking, "Will this be helpful to you?"

The ring spirit glanced at the map once she made a note of the details. "Thanks, that was helpful. I can guess the correct route, more or less. But this made it a bit easier for me."

"Travelling through this route would be a pain," Cultivator muttered as he began to walk, occasionally touching the walls as he was careful in getting his feet wet. Though, after taking five steps, his feet plunged into murky mud that looked dry in the first place. 

His foot sank in it a little, dirtying his shoes and allowing the mud to reach his knees. Cultivator looked at the ring spirit and said, "You should have told me this path would be wonky like this."

"This is just some minor inconvenience. You can easily clean it off with a single emission of your Godly Energy." The ring spirit rolled her eyes. "There's nothing that can threaten you in this path, so I didn't bother warning."

She then yawned as the Godly Energy flow in her body turned a tad sluggish. The ring spirit immediately pointed at the front and made a couple of hand actions. "If you go two kilometers, you'll come across a crossroads. Take a right, then after one kilometer, take another right and travel in that direction for three kilometers. You'll reach the main path. You can then head in the direction other people are traveling in."

Saying her piece, she then disappeared.

"There she goes again." Cultivator sighed as he wiped his earlobe on his sleeve, wiping off all the saliva the ring spirit had drooled on it as he continued to walk. The two then began to walk through the muddy path, taking a couple of hours as they walked slowly, finally reaching the main path. 

Followed by a faint emission of Godly Energy, both of them cleaned themselves, returning to their pristine conditions. 

"Finally, I'm out of that yucky place." Cultivator stretched his hands as he relaxed. He then wore a ring as he summoned its ring spirit. It was a Zenith Plugger or a ring spirit that looked similar to one. 

The two then boarded it and began to ride it through the path, watching the figures of cultivators that streamed through the path from time to time. As he looked at their silhouettes, Krune used his Mental Energy Scan to judge their cultivation bases. 

Most of them were at the late stages of the God Foundation Realm, followed by some God Core Stage Realm experts. Though, that was only among the individual people traveling through the path. As for those traveling in groups, they were more or less at the God Core Realm.

As they proceeded forward, having traveled past nine kilometers now, they noticed a crowd before them. And, it seemed most of the people traveling through the path had been blocked by someone at the front. 

Using the height advantage of the Zenith Plugger, Krune noticed the figures of five people stationed at the front, present in relaxed states. They were the culprits that had blocked the path, preventing anyone from traversing past. 

On top of that, they had picked a rather perfect location to block people. It was at a fair away place in the main path, so even if someone wished to avoid trouble, the amount of distance they had to backtrack was tremendous. Not only that, but they had to venture forth into narrow paths whose routes they didn't know about. It might very well make them miss the opening of the Sub-Realm. Once the duration passed, the entrance would close, and they wouldn't be able to enter it, making their travel a lost opportunity. 

And, if they wished to pass through the main path, they had to do whatever the five people at the front said. If they wished to break through using brute force, they had to be sufficiently strong. But, judging by the number of corpses that lay under their feet, it was apparent no one was successful in defeating them.

Moreover, the five people had piled up the corpses and used them as a seat to be seated upon, increasing the brutality of the scene they displayed. This caused most of the crowd to have pensive expressions. 

At the front of the group of five sat a man wearing armored spikes, sporting a cold and arrogant look, looking at others with a gaze that treated them as dust. With a sweeping gaze at the crown, he spoke, "The rules are simple. Kill three people, and you may pass. You will probably be fighting to the death for resources in the Sub-Realm anyway, so considering this as a chance to whittle down your competitors."

Seeing the terrified and hesitant expressions of the people before him, the man wearing armored spikes was just about to speak when he saw a massive figure walk towards him. It was the Zenith Plugger look-alike ring spirit Krune and Cultivator were traveling upon. 

He frowned, using his Divine Sense to inspect their cultivation bases as his face morphed into one of disdain, tinged with anger, "Mere God Foundation Realm and God Core Realm trashes dare to look down on me?"

He then pointed at the two, motioning the crowd to act on them. "The rules have changed now. Kill those two, and you are free to pass."