"Exactly!" Ding Yan's eyes flickered, affirming his speculation.
Daoist techniques were the supreme methods in the world where he had lived in his past life. Although this world also had Daoist techniques, the essence of their implementation had completely changed, relying on elemental force. The Qian Kun Dao Classic that Ding Yan practiced in his past life could not be cultivated in this world. Inside the Mirage Nine Heavens, however, it could be used. For this reason, Ding Yan had contemplated this issue before, and later inferred that the power of the two worlds was different.
In the world where Ding Yan had practiced in his past life, it relied on absorbing spiritual energy, while in this world, it relied on elemental energy.
Elemental energy and spiritual energy.
Two different forces of nature.
However, the truth returns to unity, and when everything is cultivated to the extreme, it's all the same.
The reason the Qian Kun Dao Classic could not be cultivated was mainly because its cultivation system originated from another world. It was like a suit that was originally tailored for a person who was two meters tall, but when placed on someone who was only one meter and six centimeters tall, it might not fit.
Even though the clothes had not changed, the people had changed! A fundamental change had occurred.
Ding Yan had only a shallow understanding of the elemental force in this world, which was like a person who had just received an ill-fitting outfit. This unfamiliarity meant that when he practiced the Qian Kun Dao Classic, the principle of yin and yang could not be integrated into the world, and that was why he couldn't cultivate the Qian Kun Dao Classic in this world.
"It seems that the Lotus Leaf and Pan Peach can indeed solve this problem," Ding Yan contemplated after dissolving the force in his palm.
The Lotus Leaf and Pan Peach were rare fruits that appeared once every thousand years. If consumed by someone practicing the Qian Kun Dao Classic, it would further enhance their understanding of the world and accelerate their cultivation. Ding Yan had not used it even after obtaining the Lotus Leaf and Pan Peach mainly out of fear of depleting such precious resources. But now that his conjecture had been affirmed, he naturally wouldn't hesitate any longer.
After confirming his guess, Ding Yan no longer focused on the issue of cultivation methods, but began to observe this City of Lost Souls.
According to his memory, after the formation of the technique of manipulating space, there would be three spatial nodes. The existence of the City of Lost Souls had been recorded for over a thousand years, so this technique of manipulating space must have already been formed. Therefore, it was almost impossible to break it, unless you had a cultivation realm far surpassing the practitioner. This was naturally impossible for the present Ding Yan.
However, breaking out of it was not particularly difficult.
No matter how powerful a Taoist technique was, there would always be flaws.
The Mirage technique was a method used by cultivators to integrate their own understanding of space with supreme Taoist techniques. The basis of this technique originated from the practitioner's personal understanding of space. In other words, if one could find a space that the practitioner did not comprehend, they could easily escape.
This law may sound easy, but implementing it is extremely difficult. After all, if one can display it only a few times, their cultivation will not be lacking. What an ordinary person can see, the practitioner would have long been aware of. Otherwise, if one can easily escape, this illusory technique would not deserve the title of a supreme Daoist art.
Ding Yan walked in the city for a long time, and his divine sense was scattered from start to finish.
With each step he took, Ding Yan would calculate for a long time. Only after determining that it was not a dead end in space would he leave and head towards the next room.
Half a day later.
Ding Yan stopped in front of a nondescript peasant house.
"This is a node," Ding Yan confirmed after a long calculation.
After sitting down, Ding Yan divided a strand of elemental energy from his hand and infused it into a spirit insect. Then, he separated his mind and controlled the spirit insect to fly towards the stone house.
These insects are easy to cultivate, so after leaving Dayan Mountain last time, Ding Yan bought many more as a reserve. Although the life span of these creatures is short, their reproductive ability is very strong. Although they do not belong to the category of spirit insects, they usually lay eggs and give birth to the next generation before they die. Therefore, there is no need to worry about buying these insects and them dying before being used.
The spirit insect flew unsteadily, affected by the wind in the city, as if it could be sucked into the vortex in the air at any time. But thankfully, a part of Ding Yan's elemental power penetrated into it. After flying for a while, the spirit insect finally flew into the peasant house.
Inside the house, everything was normal.
Simple bedding, a worn-out kettle, and a wooden table. Everything was just like an ordinary family, with no anomalies.
After flying around the room, the spirit insect finally landed on the windowsill.
At the same time, outside the house, Ding Yan carefully observed everything inside through the eyes of the spirit insect.
"I just need to find the location of the node, then analyze its spatial characteristics, and use the characteristics of the dead space to escape," Ding Yan thought to himself.
In his mind, those almost-forgotten memories kept resurfacing...
Pop!
The spirit insect inside the house suddenly exploded, and a strand of Ding Yan's mind, along with the information inside the house, merged into Ding Yan's body.
Sitting cross-legged, the Qiankun Dao Sutra quietly operated within Ding Yan's body. From the outside, a virtual figure of Yin and Yang slowly rotated behind Ding Yan.
Using this Yin and Yang energy, Ding Yan began to simulate the technique of the illusory art according to his memory.
Time passed by, minute by minute.
The seals in Ding Yan's hands became more and more complex, and eventually, a faint ripple could be seen, and behind him, the virtual Yin and Yang figures stared more intently, revealing a vague shadow similar to Tai Chi.
"Condense!" Ding Yan opened his eyes, and the Yin and Yang fish in his eyes flashed. He pointed with his right hand, releasing a silver-white rune.
The rune flashed and merged into the space.
Suddenly.
The space seemed to become solid, and as the rune fell into it, it caused a ripple in the space. As the ripple expanded, an inexplicable force became increasingly strong. The vanished rune was squeezed out and condensed in the air. It kept trembling, its light flickering.
Bang!
After about ten breaths, the rune violently exploded, and then the dispersed ripples began to shrink crazily. In the next second, a terrifying rebound force came, as if it were the rebound force of the entire space, directly sending Ding Chen flying, and the Yin and Yang figure behind him shattered like glass.
Inside his body, the elemental energy was chaotic, and a drop of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The supreme Daoist art was definitely not something Ding Yan could deploy at the moment, even with the assistance of the Qiankun Dao Sutra. For now, this was just an illusion of its form, the illusory art.
Crack!
Inside the vortex, the lightning became even more frenzied.
The flashes of lightning and the deafening thunder, accompanied by an invisible oppressive force, began to silently spread.
Inside the illusory art, there were no killer moves, just a simple 'restriction'. Trapping the opponent tightly, making it impossible to escape. It may sound unimpressive, but imagine being trapped in a lifeless dead city.
One day, two days, one month, two months, one year, ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years!
Every day, one would only face endless thunder and the invisible pressure filling the city.
In this situation, even the most resolute person's mind could not last.
"What a profound realm. It seems like the person who cast the spell deliberately left a way out. It was impulsive to calculate in such a way..." Wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, Ding Yan calmed the chaotic elemental power in his body.
Then he got up and walked towards an inn to the west of the city.
During the simulation of the illusory art, Ding Yan, using the runes he had refined, saw many things in that instant...
Including the way out hidden in the inn to the west of the city.