The eighth illusory heaven!
Ding Yan opened his eyes and realized that this eighth heaven was completely different from the ninth one. The ninth heaven was an immense starry sky, silent and empty except for the nebulae, with no sense of life. The eighth heaven, on the other hand, turned out to be a planet entirely covered by accumulated snow.
The sky was filled with delicate snowflakes.
Ding Yan appeared at the peak of a mountain on this planet.
Looking around, everything was silver-white, and there was still no sign of any life.
"How can there be a map?" Ding Yan closed his eyes and began to sense the mysterious ancient map that had suddenly appeared in his mind.
What was eerie, when Ding Yan's spiritual sense was about to release the mysterious ancient map, a layer of undispellable mist suddenly appeared around the map. The closer he got, the denser the mist became. No matter how hard Ding Yan tried, he couldn't see the content of the ancient map, only guessing the era it belonged to, at least not less than ten thousand years old.
How could an ancient map from ten thousand years ago suddenly appear in his mind?
"Could it be the illusory handprint?" After thinking for a long time, Ding Yan could only come to this conclusion.
After confirming that the ancient map had not caused him any harm, Ding Yan stopped researching it. After all, without knowing the method, researching it alone was not only a waste of time, but would also never yield any results.
Gathering his thoughts, Ding Yan trod on the thick snow and started heading down the mountain.
The snow fell gently, without wind, only the tranquil drifting of snowflakes. As Ding Yan walked, his footprints were quickly covered by the snow, erasing all traces. Looking back, he didn't know where he came from.
Ding Yan sighed and extended his right hand, catching a snowflake and placing it in the palm of his hand.
It had no warmth, and the snowflake showed no signs of melting.
"In a world of snow, it's a pity that I am just a conscious being and unable to experience the coldness of this vast world." Ding Yan clapped his hands, shaking off the snowflakes.
As a conscious being, he couldn't feel the external temperature, so even though he was stepping in the snow, Ding Yan didn't feel any chill. On the contrary, he felt that this vast snowy scene calmed the mind, evoking a feeling of disgust towards the mundane world.
After walking for a while, Ding Yan found a high peak and prepared to rest.
Extending his right hand, he brushed away the accumulated snow on the ground, only to discover that beneath the snow was not rock but a thick layer of solid ice.
Seeing this, Ding Yan's eyes flashed, and without hesitation, he extended his right hand and fiercely struck the ice.
Boom!
Despite being only a conscious being, his strength was still considerable. With one strike, ice chips flew everywhere.
Deeper down, there was still ice.
"This is actually a planet made entirely of ice?" A hint of astonishment flashed in Ding Yan's eyes.
An entire planet, entirely made of ice. How large was this block of ice?
"First immortal techniques, and now a planet condensed from ice. How did this illusory Nine Heavens come to be?" Thinking about this, a scene suddenly flashed in Ding Yan's mind.
In the scene, a huge ancient formation connected heaven and earth, dividing the two realms!
That was the Dao Fan Great Formation.
"It should be impossible. Although the Dao Fan Great Formation is mysterious, at least I can still see some clues. This illusory Nine Heavens has completely surpassed my understanding." Ding Yan shook his head, denying his own speculation.
The snowflakes continued to fall silently, without a break.
Suddenly, Ding Yan's eyes narrowed.
Like lightning, in the next second, Ding Yan's figure directly appeared on a mountain peak two hundred meters away.
Extending his right hand, a snowflake the size of an infant's palm appeared in his palm. Ding Yan's eyes flickered, and he closed his fingers, exerting a tremendous force on the snowflake in his hand.
Puff...
The surface of the snowflake disappeared in an instant. When Ding Yan opened his hand again, a clear and transparent water droplet appeared in his palm.
"Immortal energy!" A look of realization flashed in Ding Yan's eyes.
This water droplet was precisely the immortal energy that the middle-aged man surnamed Hua had used to chase Ding Yan. If it were someone who had just become an ascended immortal, they would absolutely not be able to detect this power. Apart from the sensitivity of his own soul, the main reason why Ding Yan could discover this immortal energy from the vast snowfall was that he had seen immortal energy before!
"So, immortal energy originates from within this illusory Nine Heavens." With a little thought, Ding Yan understood the origin of immortal energy.
Afterward, Ding Yan found several more droplets of immortal energy, each the size of an infant's palm. Although they contained many impurities, their purity was much higher than the droplet of immortal energy the middle-aged man surnamed Hua had used.
"Twenty-nine droplets of immortal energy, I wonder if I can take them out." Ding Yan put these immortal energies into his sleeve, pondering over it.
He was merely a conscious being now, and he entered this illusory Nine Heavens because of the sudden appearance of that power after his tribulation. Moreover, in this world, elemental energy couldn't be used, and even divine spells couldn't be cast. He himself was not sure if he could take the immortal energy out.
The existence of the illusory Nine Heavens had already exceeded his understanding.
Time passed day by day.
Ding Yan sat in the snow, allowing the snowflakes to fall on him.
During these days, Ding Yan collected a lot of immortal energy. At this point, he had nearly a hundred droplets of immortal energy in his hands.
"If these immortal energies can't be taken out, they will only be wasted. I might as well try to refine them. If successful, my consciousness should be greatly enhanced, and I don't even know when the passage to the next level will appear." Although he was just a conscious being, Ding Yan didn't want to waste these hard-earned droplets of immortal energy.
Thinking of this, Ding Yan grasped a droplet of immortal energy, closed his eyes, and began to practice the cultivation method of the Lianhua Valley.
Half a day passed, and Ding Yan opened his eyes, frowning slightly.
The Lianhua Valley's cultivation method had absolutely no effect here.
"Try again!"
Shortly after, Ding Yan entered into a meditative state once again. This time, he switched to the cultivation method handed down by the old village chief on the nameless island. The essence of the martial arts lies not in its form; having comprehended it, Ding Yan no longer needed to express it in the form of the martial arts.
After a little while, Ding Yan opened his eyes again.
The immortal energy in his hand had not changed at all.
This time, there was no surprise on Ding Yan's face. He entered into meditation once again.
In this state of meditation, Ding Yan directly activated the cultivation method of his past life.
Qiankun Dao Classic!
Although it couldn't be used in the outside world, since this was a virtual world, Ding Yan had no idea if the Qiankun Dao Classic could be cultivated here.
Time passed by, second by second.
The profundity of the Qiankun Dao Classic was obviously higher than the previous two methods, and coupled with Ding Yan's cultivation for a thousand years, he was able to fully display the wonders of the classic.
It took nearly two days of meditation this time.
On the third day, Ding Yan opened his eyes again and looked at the fairy element in his hand, lost in thought.
"The Ninth Void Heaven gave half a year for people to comprehend that fairy technique, it shouldn't be for no reason..." Ding Yan thought to himself, then closed his eyes again, and the Qiankun Dao Classic started running within his body.
At the same time, in Ding Yan's mind, he began to recall that nearly illusory hand seal...