Dual Cultivation God Returns

Wu Long was standing amid the valley, surrounded by his ladies and some key people among his Sect.

"It seems we didn't even need that diversion", Fen Baihu lazily said sensing no one in the vicinity, as they leisurely arrived at this spot after leaving the spatial channel, the figure that broke out and flew off into distance being a mere illusion made by her, while she shrouded them in a borderline zone in between her Mystic Realm and this world, masking their presence.

"Well, we can't be too careful with this. While it might've not necessarily been dangerous if someone were to be present, it is not a good strategy to create a mess without knowing anything about the current state of affairs in this area", Wu Long chuckled, replying to her.

While he, Ye Ling and Fen Baihu were behaving as usual, others around them were steadily getting accustomed to a much more chaotic atmosphere, feeling a bit disoriented.

In a way this environment brought a much more powerful Spiritual Qi, but it was at the same time far more impure, since to absorb it, one had to extract it from the chaotic mixture of different energies.

Fen Baihu, on the contrary, thrived in this environment, feeling much more of her powers, and much more in tune with the surroundings.

Of course, it was nowhere near to make her injury better, but it at least would not get significantly worse. Not to mention, that she already had a viable way to treat herself, the word of the God of Pleasure was more than enough to put her at ease.

Luo Mingyu and Gong Cui were among the first to adapt, with Nie Xiwang, Lian Zhiqiu and Liang Yuhan closely following them, and then one by one all of them were finally able to get used to the new environment, just in time to witness the arrival of the groups that came to investigate the disturbance.

"Heh, it seems they are some random cultivators...", Fen Baihu chuckled, but Madam Liang shook her head, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the people in the distance, holding her smoking pipe in her hand by habit, but not lighting it up.

Meanwhile, Gong Cui noticed that they were not really standing in the place they were standing, as her feet were not leaving any traces. She crouched down and started playing by passing her hand around a stalk of mountain grass growing from within the stones and gravel, and was surprised to see that her hand went straight through, with no effect whatsoever.

"Cui'er, don't play around... we can be noticed", Gong Liwei widened her eyes when her little sister then ran toward a larger rock to test passing through it.

"Heh, let her do as she pleases, we're not physically present there so there is no possibility of being detected, unless they have someone skilled enough in Soul Arts to detect me, but even then they would only know I am somewhere here", Fen Baihu proudly said, as she felt that her powers were underestimated, then turning to Madam Liang to add "the smoke will also remain in this realm so you can light up that thing"

"Hah, then I will take you up on that offer", Madam Liang only smiled, lighting up the already prepared smoking pipe and taking a few draws to get it started.

"Why do you think they're not randoms?", the Celestial Fox then asked, and Liang Yuhan understood the reason, or at least part of it, for the previous exchange. After all, this Mythical Beast was not that intimately familiar with human behavior. Despite having that information readily available to her when she was younger and lived in her clan, and also living close to humans for a long time, she was rather comically clueless to what human experience meant.

Now that she approached them closely because of her agreement with Wu Long, however, her interest was sparked as she struggled to understand them. Part of that curiosity was, toward how easily they read subtle clues to draw conclusions.

Like now, for her the groups of people that just scattered to search the surroundings did not bring any information than being cultivators who came to see what was going on. And yet it seemed that to others around her, there were various degrees of information that they saw.

"Well, they do seem to have a chain of command, and the directions that the two groups came from were different. But more than that, they are likely representatives of groups with control over the region, see how they are cautious of one another? And...", Madam Liang started explaining, not minding giving Fen Baihu some insight.

Meanwhile Old Yen, standing a bit to the side turned to Wu Long when the Iron Claw Group was mentioned.

"Heh, it seems this area is still not that developed after all those years, and the people in control are a ragtag group. This world seems more in... decline?", Wu Long chuckled, nodding to Old Yen.

"Eh? Was this place ever prosperous?", Zhao Biren asked with surprise, which caused his father's eyebrows to go up as well, as he asked "You know about this World?"

"Mm, well, I did have a dream of ascending into the Boundless Profound World, so I gathered some information here and there...", the Wine Dao practitioner spoke with a carefree smile.

"Why didn't you say so sooner you drunkard!", Zhao Xieren's temper flared as he heard an explanation that reminded of his son's decision to abandon the family post and venture to chase his dreams.

"You didn't ask", Zhao Biren only shrugged his shoulders, unusually mellow in his response to his father, which gave away that he was slightly drunk.

While Zhao Xieren was ready to blow up in anger from that answer, Wu Long only shook his head with a smile, clarifying "If my memory serves me right, this was one of the most remote places you could reach in the Boundless Profound World from the vicinity of the Battle God's Cradle. And while remote it was still very prominent, because it was a Frontier World next to the Great Wilderness. It seems that during the vast time I wasn't around it no longer is the case..."

Wu Long chuckled, he was not really surprised that the information he had about places in Boundless Profound World was no longer accurate, rather, he would be surprised if it was.

It would be only normal if the Frontier of their ever-expanding civilization had now moved further, cutting into the Great Wilderness. But he still expected to see the effects of the role of this world that he knew, which became its history now, on its state in the current era.

"Oh, no, last I've known, it still is a Frontier World", however, Zhao Biren surprised him with an unexpected answer, slightly swaying from the light motion of shaking his head.

"Our known world did not expand forward from here?", Wu Long made a slightly surprised expression.

"Hmm, the Great Wilderness it leads to experienced a cataclysm a long time ago, that made it so dangerous it had to be sealed, most people gave up on the idea of expanding further through this route, and the Frontier was quickly abandoned", Zhao Biren replied struggling to remember the information he heard.

"A cataclysm?", Cao Mei asked with slight surprise that could be seen on the faces of several beauties around her as well. After all, in her understanding cultivators rose above caring about natural phenomena.

"Hahaha, you already know of one cataclysm, the Great Calamity", Wu Long explained with a chuckle, as realization appeared on the faces of the ladies, since not even the most powerful cultivators of the Bounldess Mortal World could stand a chance against that.

He then proceeded to add "though that is a very extreme example, but natural catastrophic events of smaller scale, that are still enough to threaten parts of our civilization, are not that rare in the Seven Boundless Worlds"

"Haha, I guess cultivators like to think of themselves as rising above nature, but every now and then they are reminded that they are not as in control as they think", Zhao Biren spoke up with a philosophic look on his face, that made Wu Long chuckle while nodding.

"Hmm, if I remember right, the world of Great Wilderness this Frontier World leads to was overrun by an invasive Demonic Beast Wave, which caused those in power in this Stellar Region to block the World Stone leading there with powerful Spiritual Formations and Prohibitions to prevent it spreading here and into the nearby Worlds", Madam Liang who finished giving Fen Baihu a brief explanation, noted while puffing a cloud of herbal smoke.

"A Catastrophic level Demonic Beast Wave? Enough to make the decision of sealing off the route?", Qiu Yilao raised her eyebrows. After all, their Frozen Garden Palace was responsible for holding back a Demonic Beast Wave that would otherwise bring great destruction.

"If I remember it right, it was a species of Ants", Madam Liang nodded, as an expression of realization appeared on Wu Long's face.

"A-Ants?", Feng Yi re-confirmed with a slightly dumbfounded tone, as she found the culprit behind a decision to seal off an entire World a bit underwhelming.

"Haha, don't underestimate any Demonic Wave, but especially insect-types. Some insect-type Demonic Beasts indeed have posed civilizational threat throughout our history", Wu Long chuckled, but his tone told them that he was absolutely serious.

"It's their speed of reproduction that is a threat" Madam Liang added, recalling what she read about the topic.

"Indeed, imagine an army of Demonic Beasts ranging anywhere from 1st tier Mortal Grade, and since this is Boundless Profound World, up to even 3rd or 4th tier Profound Grade, though likely not higher, numbering in quadrillions when we meet them, and capable of expanding their numbers at a faster rate than we could exterminate them. Such swarms could overrun entire worlds, devour everything that they come across, be that natural spiritual treasures, or precious minerals, and use that to boost their numbers even more, spreading and expanding into further territories as long as there are resources to be found", As both shock and a bit of fear from that imagery appeared in the eyes of those around him, Wu Long chuckled, turning to the scattering groups of cultivators in the distance, and adding, "Welcome to the Boundless Profound World"