Chapter 653

Chapter 653: Wormhole

The old guard took another sip of wine.

He shifted from gulping to sipping cautiously, as if afraid of finishing the wine in one go.

Then he sighed deeply, overwhelmed with emotion.

Wang Chen found it puzzling: “Elder, this spiritual wine is good, but surely you can afford it?”

A habit from his past life, ingrained in his very being, made Wang Chen enjoy storing supplies in his Xumi Ring.

Spiritual rice, spiritual wine, and magical beast meat—he always kept a large stock, feeling secure while traveling.

It proved that his foresight was wise.

Although Wang Chen had considerable wealth, he wouldn’t spend excessively on spiritual food and drink; the specially brewed spirit fragment wine he offered to the old guard was indeed valuable, yet an ordinary cultivator could afford it with some effort.

It seemed the old guard was exaggerating.

“Do you know how long I’ve been here?”

The old guard glanced at Wang Chen, revealing the answer himself: “Forty-eight years!”

Before Wang Chen could respond, he murmured, “Forty-eight years, and I haven’t left the Evil Abyss even once. I’ve sent away many monsters and demons, as well as colleagues, but I haven’t managed to send myself away.”

Wang Chen fell silent.

He hadn’t expected the old guard to have worked in the Evil Abyss for so long!

This likely wasn’t just a matter of luck.

“Do you know why I’ve survived this long?”

The old guard turned to Wang Chen, a faint light flickering in his murky eyes: “I spent all my salary on high-grade Pulse Opening and Evil Dispelling Pills!”

The Pulse Opening and Evil Dispelling Pill is a special elixir used to resist negative energy. Back when Wang Chen was in the Yongle dungeon, he received three bottles every month.

He had never used them.

But to the old guard, the Pulse Opening and Evil Dispelling Pill was more important than any spiritual food or material!

To survive, he needed to consume more.

If one pill wasn’t enough, he’d take two; if two weren’t enough, he’d add another.

The old guard had managed to last nearly fifty years relying on these pills!

Of course, the Pulse Opening and Evil Dispelling Pill wasn’t the sole reason for his survival; after all, the prisoners in the Evil Abyss were no easy foes. A slight misstep could drag him into the abyss.

But in doing so, he had no extra spirit stones to spend in the city.

For other guards in the Evil Abyss, a day off once a month felt like a festival, and they had to spend some spirit stones to feel fulfilled; otherwise, their mood for the entire year would suffer.

Some guards exhausted their spirit stones in the soul-absorbing caverns, living by the motto, “Live for today, drink for today,” while others gave their salaries to their families, ensuring that even if they met a tragic end, their belongings wouldn’t fall into others’ hands.

They all held a mindset of inevitable death.

But the old guard was different—he had a clear goal and was determined to achieve it.

That goal was simply to live.

“Little Wang, you must live well.”

The old guard finally spoke with profound meaning, “You are still young; this journey of cultivation is vast and enduring. Even if you encounter occasional setbacks, you will navigate through them safely.”

Wang Chen nodded silently.

For the next two days, he continued to follow the old guard, traversing up and down, back and forth within the Evil Abyss.

Each day, they followed a different route.

As time passed, the actual map of the Evil Abyss gradually pieced itself together in Wang Chen’s Sea of Consciousness.

The old guard led Wang Chen through every formation node in the Rock Caves, inspected each cell, and shared the basic information about the monsters and demons imprisoned within with Wang Chen.

Then, the time came to part ways.

Wang Chen felt a pang of reluctance: “Thank you, elder!”

“It’s my duty,” the old guard said, waving his hand. “Meeting you has been my fortune, and I hope we meet again someday.”

“Hmm?”

Wang Chen suddenly focused, reaching out to grab the old guard’s arm and pulling him backward swiftly.

Due to the suddenness of the event, Wang Chen’s reaction was purely instinctive, and he failed to notice the slight twitch in the old guard’s eye at the moment he acted.

The old guard’s gaze abruptly turned fierce!

But this scene lasted less than a breath; behind where the old guard had stood, just two or three steps away on the rock wall, a void measuring seven feet square suddenly appeared.

This hole emerged without any warning, and it was so dark inside that it seemed to absorb all incoming sunlight!

“This is a Wormhole.”

The old guard’s expression changed as he realized, “We must leave here immediately!”

In the lower third level of the Yongle dungeon and the Evil Abyss, similar black holes appear periodically.

Some say these Wormholes are dug by earthworms, but even though that was proven false, the term “Wormhole” has endured and is still used today.

The old guard stood a short distance from the black hole, his face grave!

Wormholes are rare, but he had seen several in the past.

Each encounter never boded well!

One theory suggests that Wormholes are created by Void Worms, and entering one can teleport you to another world.

Void Worms exist in the void and occasionally “descend” into the celestial realm, thus creating Wormholes.

Normally, a Wormhole will disappear when the Void Worm departs, so as long as one remains vigilant, there isn’t much danger.

“I must go now.”

The old guard said with lingering fear, “Little Wang, the path ahead is yours to walk alone. If you achieve greatness one day, don’t forget this old brother.”

Wang Chen smiled and said, “You can rest assured!”

The old guard left, but Wang Chen did not depart immediately.

His gaze was fixed on the Wormhole not far away.

In the next moment, Wang Chen flicked his fingers to launch a spirit stone, sending it racing toward the center of the Wormhole.

The spirit stone traced a lightly glowing trail in the air before being swallowed by the darkness of the Wormhole in an instant.

It created not a ripple.

To be honest, Wang Chen was intensely curious about this so-called Wormhole and wished to investigate it thoroughly.

He wanted to see if it led to another world.

However, these wild thoughts were forcefully suppressed by Wang Chen’s strong self-discipline.

He took one last look at the Wormhole before vanishing from the spot in an instant.

Wang Chen thought encountering a Wormhole was merely a coincidence.

But just two days later, he discovered another Wormhole of similar size.

This Wormhole appeared at a fork in the path, and since there were no other cultivators around, Wang Chen could observe it closely to discern its nature.

After studying it for half a day, he couldn’t unravel its mysteries.

It felt like a bug in the Haotian Realm, normally invisible, but in a unique place like the Evil Abyss, it appeared boldly.

Due to limited time, Wang Chen didn’t investigate further.

In the following days, he found new Wormholes again.

But he had already become accustomed to them.

From idle chatter among other guards, Wang Chen also learned that he was not the only one to discover the Wormholes.

Similar Wormholes were scattered in different locations throughout the Evil Abyss.