Chapter Twenty-Five: Useless Space

Wang Luo soothed the little white lion, scooped up a handful of earth, and focused his mind on that mysterious space. His spiritual sense, transformed into a misty cloud, once again appeared above the barren land, and the soil that had been in his hand materialized within that space as well.

Fixing his gaze on the handful of earth upon the desolate ground, Wang Luo noticed it was vanishing in a strange manner, little by little—disappearing without warning, inexplicably fading away until there was no trace left, as if it had never existed at all.

He scooped up another handful of soil and brought it into the space; the same phenomenon recurred. Observing closely this time, Wang Luo realized the soil was disappearing even faster than before.

A low whimper drew his attention away from his thoughts about how to send the pale lavender flower in his hand into the space. Curious, he looked at the little white lion, only to find that the flower in his hand had vanished.

“Little White, you didn’t eat that flower, did you?” Wang Luo asked with a smile. At his question, the little lion shook its head indignantly and gestured at Wang Luo with its paw, making animated motions.

“You’re saying I ate it? I’m not a cow; why would I eat—” Wang Luo, who had been laughing as he spoke, suddenly paused as a possibility occurred to him. He told the little lion to wait a moment, then closed his eyes.

He skillfully located a tiny green speck of light within his sea of consciousness and entered the mysterious space once more. His spiritual sense, in the form of mist, stared in surprise at a pale lavender flower right before him.

“So it really did end up in this odd place!” Wang Luo remarked, his indistinct misty lips moving soundlessly as he surveyed the space anew, sensing something different.

Originally, the energy here had been scant, and Wang Luo hadn’t paid much attention. But now, he found the energy within the space had increased noticeably, and he discovered the barren soil was greedily absorbing what little energy there was.

The gray mist formed by his spirit drifted over to the lavender flower. To his astonishment, he saw the flower absorbing the limited energy within the space, its inner energy visibly growing, and its color had deepened as well.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Luo knelt down, intending to pull up the flower and see if he could carry it out. Frustratingly, he found that his spirit form was intangible and couldn’t uproot the flower. After some contemplation, he placed a hand upon the blossom and thought of the world outside.

With a tremor, his consciousness returned to his physical body. Opening his eyes, he saw the lavender flower once more in his hand.

The little white lion was curiously examining the now more vividly colored flower, its eyes full of confusion and wonder. It whimpered at Wang Luo, as if asking how he had done it, having just thought Wang Luo had eaten it.

Wang Luo comforted the little lion, scooped up another handful of earth, and once again projected his spirit into the barren space, bringing the soil along. Once more, the earth he brought in appeared within the space.

Watching intently, Wang Luo saw the soil begin to disappear in that same strange way—bit by bit, inexplicably fading until it was completely gone, as if it had never been there at all.

He repeated this experiment several times, each time noticing the soil vanished more swiftly. He then tried bringing in various other things he could find nearby—leaves, bark, and so on—but without exception, everything vanished in the same uncanny manner.

Through these trials, Wang Luo gained a rough understanding of the space: except for whole plants or seeds, anything else brought in would mysteriously disappear.

At first, the disappearing process was slow, but the speed gradually increased; for instance, the last handful of earth vanished in an instant.

With every random item he placed within, Wang Luo noticed that the energy inside the space increased noticeably—not because his senses were particularly sharp, but because the space’s original energy had been so meager that any addition was easily felt.

He also discovered that any whole plant or seed transplanted here would automatically burrow into the barren earth, absorb the energy, and grow rapidly.

Wang Luo witnessed with his own eyes as a seed landed on the soil, sprouted roots and leaves at once, bloomed into a purple flower, and then ceased growing—the energy within the space having been instantly exhausted by its growth.

His spiritual sense, taking misty form in the unknown space, stared gloomily at the dozens of assorted flowers and plants before him. These seemed useless, perhaps fit only to amuse the little white lion. Disappointed, Wang Luo withdrew from the space.

A sudden, jubilant wolf’s howl rang in his ears, so loud it left his head ringing as if bombers were roaring past. Abruptly, his vision darkened, and a blood-red wolf’s head appeared before him, its green eyes shining with gratitude. Wang Luo, stunned, reached out and patted the great wolf’s nose.

The blood wolf, now awakened, stood even taller—about three meters high. To Wang Luo’s chagrin, he still wasn’t as tall as one of the wolf’s legs, and he could sense the wolf had grown stronger, surpassing him in power and reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. It seemed that among this trio of beasts and himself, he was now the weakest.

After the wolf’s howl faded, the black panther suddenly appeared from who knows where, casting a cold, disdainful glance at Wang Luo. He didn’t mind, and the little white lion ignored the panther as well, continuing its search for flowers and grasses to play with.

Yet just because they didn’t care didn’t mean the blood wolf had no opinion. Brimming with fighting spirit, the wolf let out a furious roar at the black panther.

Though it could sense the panther was formidable, the blood wolf was no longer to be underestimated. More importantly, it could not tolerate the panther’s scorn toward Wang Luo—for Wang Luo had not only saved its life but also helped it advance. How could it allow another beast to bully him so freely?

Otherworld Azure Dragon, Chapter 25: Useless Space, has been updated!