Void Cultivation

Chapter 282 281

When Grey heard the old man's words, he was not particularly surprised. Aside from the agonizing pain he had previously felt splitting through his skull, he had also sensed something strange appear within his sea of consciousness.

What appeared there… was a rusty nail covered in dried blood.

The nail looked old and weathered, as though it had existed for countless years. Rust clung to its surface while dark patches of dried blood coated its body. The sight of it alone carried a faint sense of oppression.

Most importantly, the rusty nail was incredibly similar to the one carried by the corpse clad in golden armor.

However, it was clearly not the same.

This nail did not contain the terrifying power of the world that the corpse's nail once possessed. Neither did it carry that terrifying exterminating aura capable of annihilating everything in its path. Instead, it appeared incredibly blurry and indistinct, as though it were merely an incomplete shadow.

It looked as if it could disappear at any moment.

The old man did not wait for Grey to speak before asking again.

"Young man… what is your master's name?"

Grey remained silent for a moment before replying calmly.

"I do not have a master."

The old man did not immediately respond.

Silence lingered between them.

Only after a long while did the old man slowly nod.

"I see… so you are a lone cultivator."

He stroked his long white beard thoughtfully as he spoke. After a moment, he lifted his gaze and looked at Grey again. This time, however, there was a strange glint flickering within his ancient eyes.

"I suggest you acknowledge someone worthy as your master," the old man said slowly.

"If not, all your talent will eventually go down the drain."

He let out a faint sigh before slowly glancing around him.

"This world you see…" he continued, spreading his hands slightly, "is one of the realities I created."

"Although I am no longer the man I once was, I can still barely maintain one or two realities."

A trace of emotion flickered across his aged face as he spoke those words.

Then, he turned to look at Grey again.

"When you can finally turn the unreal into real… and the real into unreal… only then will you step into… Nihility."

After saying those words, the old man slowly shook his head and waved his sleeve.

Before Grey could even react, a powerful force enveloped him.

Immediately, Grey felt as though his body was being pulled apart and dragged through countless black threads.

Everything around him twisted and stretched violently.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed the endless darkness and reappeared at the place where he had originally comprehended the imperial art.

However, the scene before him was completely different.

The ancient stone slab that once stood proudly before him was gone.

What remained… was nothing more than a pile of shattered rubble.

Broken fragments of stone were scattered across the ground, as though the slab had been violently destroyed.

Yet above the rubble, there was something strange.

A thin, invisible thread floated quietly in the air.

The moment Grey appeared, the thread suddenly trembled.

Before he could react, it shot forward like a bolt of lightning and directly entered his forehead.

Inside Grey's sea of consciousness, the thread instantly appeared and rushed toward the blurry rusty nail.

Then, it wrapped itself around the nail.

The moment the thread coiled around it, something strange happened.

The rusty nail, which had previously appeared blurry and illusory, suddenly gained a faint glimmer of luster.

Its form was no longer purely illusionary.

Instead, it now existed in a strange state between illusion and reality.

It was neither completely real nor completely unreal.

However, Grey did not notice any of this.

Everything happened within the span of a single breath.

By the time his consciousness stabilized, the black threads surrounding him suddenly dispersed.

Grey felt the world before his eyes stretch outward violently before collapsing inward once again.

When his vision finally cleared, he realized that he was staring directly at a stone slab.

Behind him stood Roxanne.

In her hands, she still held the strange eyeball that contained the captain's reflection.

When Grey saw Roxanne and the captain, he immediately felt a sense of relief.

Only then did he realize that he had completely left the endless darkness where the old man resided.

However, it was also at that moment that the meaning of the old man's words truly dawned on him.

'Only when you can turn the unreal into real… and the real into unreal… can you step into Nihility.'

Grey's pupils slightly shrank.

'This means… that old man was an expert of the Nihility Realm!'

The moment the realization appeared in his mind, Grey felt a chill run down his spine.

Not to mention Nihility Realm cultivators, he had never even met a Nirvana Realm cultivator before. He had not even seen one face-to-face in his entire life.

Yet just now…

He had actually conversed with an old monster from the Nihility Realm.

Just thinking about it made his body shiver slightly.

'I only came here to steal the eyes of a Soul Ascendancy Realm cultivator…'

'Since when did Nihility Realm experts, who are said to be extremely rare, start appearing everywhere?'

Grey's gaze darkened slightly.

'This place… is definitely not normal.'

As this thought appeared in his mind, he suddenly recalled everything that had happened since they arrived.

From encountering a mysterious unknown existence that could possibly be a god…

To nearly dying at the hands of a broken divine…

To almost being erased by an invisible force he could not even perceive…

If that was not enough, they had even summoned a god and caused two Immortal Weapons to descend into this place.

And now…

Grey had actually spoken to a living Nihility Realm cultivator.

When did such terrifying existences become so common?

If Grey were to discover that an existence even older and more terrifying than a Nihility Realm cultivator was currently residing inside his purple moon, no one knew what kind of expression he would make.

The old man himself had not even noticed the tiny existence hiding within Grey's sea of consciousness.

Thay showed that his level was simply beyond comprehension. And he was probably at a level similar to gods!

Inside the eyeball, the captain, who was quietly recuperating, suddenly felt as though someone was staring at her.

She raised her head.

Her gaze immediately met Grey's.

For a brief moment, she saw a strange glint flashing within his eyes.

However, Grey quickly looked away, returning to his usual calm expression.

'Despite everything that happened here… I have gained quite a lot from following the captain.'

Grey silently thought to himself.

'Not only did I break through and open fifty spirit perforations…'

'My battle strength has also increased significantly.'

'Right now, I possess the strength of a cultivator with three balls of Spirit Fire.'

Grey slowly analyzed his current condition.

'As for the ancient art that I comprehended… although I clearly understood it, it feels as though something is still missing.'

'It is as if I must fully activate it before I can truly use it.'

Grey narrowed his eyes slightly.

'But if I can successfully activate the art…'

'Then my battle strength will rise even further.'

'At that point, with my three balls of Spirit Fire… I might even be able to contend against cultivators who possess four Spirit Fires.'

Although Grey felt slightly excited at the thought, he did not reveal even the slightest hint of emotion on his face.

Instead, he quietly returned to his previous position and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

To everyone else, it appeared as though he had simply resumed cultivating.

However, in reality…

Grey was secretly attempting to activate the ancient art he had just comprehended.

Just like that, time slowly passed. But Grey found that he could not communicate with the rusty nail at all. It was as though it did not even exist.

However, whenever he tried to imagine that single drop of water, it would tremble slightly. But that was all it did—trembling. It did not activate.

After several more experiments and attempts, Grey finally gave up.

"The art won't activate no matter how hard I try. Only when I think of that drop of water does it react. But after that, it returns to its normal state of ignoring me," Grey thought inwardly.

"But I can't keep dwelling on the ancient art right now. When we get back, I'll find a way to activate it. For now..."

Grey paused for a moment.

"I feel that the time we have been waiting for has finally arrived."

After thinking that, Grey slowly opened his eyes.

Roxanne also opened her eyes at that moment. A dark crimson light shone within them, as though flames were burning deep inside. The reflection of the captain in her pupils also appeared to be looking upward.

In the darkness before them, a door of light suddenly appeared.

When the door opened, a dazzling brightness poured outward and shone directly onto their faces.

It was also at this moment that Grey heard the captain speak.

"The time for our major event has finally come."