The Upper Bound

Despite being burnt, Gu Qingfeng was a thrifty and resourceful child; what he wouldn't eat himself could be fed to dogs... or demons.

Thus, Gu Qingfeng collected the charred corpse of the elephant demon and stored it in his alternate dimension.

After completing these tasks, he looked up at the enormous portal in the sky, hesitated not, and flew straight in.

Having already learned what lay beyond the portal—just two members of the Holy Tribe—there was nothing to fear.

Passing through the Gate of Heaven, Gu Qingfeng felt a surge of cross-dimensional power, a sensation quite peculiar, akin to suddenly surfacing from underwater!

Splash!

Gu Qingfeng emerged from the water.

The scene before him transformed.

As he stepped through the portal, he was instantly stunned by the sight.

"This is the Upper Realm!?"

His view was filled with a gray haze, everything dim, as if he were amidst the cosmos, like a giant black curtain draped over this world.

On this black curtain, many shining light sources resembling stars were scattered.

The gravity here was also strangely uneven, heavy in some places, light in others.

There were numerous remnants of various buildings, like countless palaces and corridors from around the world, violently shattered and sliced apart.

Some of these building remnants floated in the sky, drifting like clouds.

Others lay on the ground like stones, motionless.

The ground was not soil but a pale purple light screen, resembling a mirror surface.

Gu Qingfeng carefully scrutinized the scene before him, suddenly recalling what the elephant demon had once said: the Holy Tribe chose a remote location to avoid other demons discovering the Qing Realm's population trade, and opened a spatial rift as a point of contact with the Qing Realm.

So, this must be the small space formed by the spatial rift created by the Holy Tribe.

If his guess was correct, these building remnants were likely brought in by spatial turbulence.

Spatial turbulence can occur anywhere, much like an earthquake, arising when space is unstable.

Turbulence will sweep away everything in the nearby space, eventually flowing into the spatial rift.

Even the aftermath of battles between powerful beings can cause spatial turbulence.

Once Gu Qingfeng understood where he was, he did not venture recklessly but began to keenly sense the differences in the Upper Realm.

This perception indeed revealed significant differences.

The most notable difference was the world energy!

The world energy in the Upper Realm was unimaginably rich.

With such energy, even an ordinary person, without practicing martial arts, could easily live a long life, perhaps even longer.

Gu Qingfeng took deep breaths of the world energy, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

It felt as if he had always lived in a stinking garbage heap and was suddenly transported to a forest oxygen bar!

Aside from the difference in world energy, there was also the stability of space!

The spatial stability of the Cangming Realm was akin to a fortress wall, whereas, by comparison, the Qing Realm was like wooden boards—those used for Taekwondo demonstrations.

The consequence of spatial stability was that Gu Qingfeng found it difficult to teleport here.

Shifting shadows might not be possible anymore, and even if it were, it would be greatly restricted.

This restriction isn't just for Gu Qingfeng; all living beings in the Cangming Realm face the same limitations. To move instantly at will, only those at the Heavenly Realm can achieve it.

After a moment, Gu Qingfeng had sensed enough and began to act.

Following the route given by the elephant demon, he leaped onto a nearby floating piece of debris. Suddenly, a pressure of the Divine Pill Realm descended upon him.

In the next second, an elephant demon clad in black armor, with an elephant trunk and fan-like ears, appeared before Gu Qingfeng.

He shamelessly scrutinized Gu Qingfeng, "Who are you? Where is Xiang Tian?"

While speaking, he turned to glance at the cross-realm passage behind Gu Qingfeng, slightly surprised, "Xiang Tian actually spent his own resources to open the passage. Did he discover something valuable and want to capture it early to offer to the ancestor?"

The elephant demon looked at Gu Qingfeng again, his gaze sweeping up and down as if assessing merchandise.

"Hmm, Divine Soul Realm cultivation, but the aura is very peculiar. Could it be some special constitution..."

Smack!

Gu Qingfeng's figure appeared ghost-like before the elephant demon, delivering a massive slap.

The powerful force from the Divine Elephant Body sent the demon flying, even knocking out a tusk.

"What the hell are you babbling about? Even ignorance should have its limits!"

Gu Qingfeng said impatiently.

He had had enough of these arrogant and ignorant upper-realm holy clans. As soon as they saw someone from the lower realm, they acted without thinking, their eyes filled with nothing but disdain.

"Lowly lower-realm human! How dare you hit..."

Before the elephant demon could finish his tirade, Gu Qingfeng had already closed in.

His fist, as large as a sandbag, landed punch after punch on the demon's face.

For demons without any use, Gu Qingfeng was always too lazy to waste words.

After all, the demon was just like Xiang Tian, both at the Human Origin Divine Pill Realm. What he truly wanted to meet was the peak Heavenly Human Realm's Heavenly Elephant Ancestor!

Since the upper realm was teeming with strong individuals, and he was merely at the basic realm level, he might as well deal with the Heavenly Elephant Ancestor first, and perhaps reach the Heavenly Human Realm himself. Once he emerged from the spatial rift, he'd have a means to protect himself in the true Cangming Realm, if not invincibility.

"Ahhh! How dare you hit me! I'll kill you!"

The elephant demon exerted all his strength to resist, but no matter how he struggled, his immense power couldn't cause the slightest ripple on Gu Qingfeng.

"Curse it! Law of the Elephant..."

"Elephant your mother!"

Bang bang bang...

A stick of incense later...

The elephant demon had been beaten beyond recognition, covered in wounds, his tusks pulled out, and his fan-like ears torn off. He had even undergone some electric shock therapy, finally becoming docile.

Gu Qingfeng frowned, surprised that despite all this commotion, the Heavenly Elephant Ancestor hadn't appeared.

Was he still in seclusion refining the Qing Realm's Heavenly Dao?

"Hey, stop playing dead. Where's the Heavenly Elephant Ancestor?"

"The ancestor is... in seclusion," the elephant demon mumbled indistinctly, blood oozing from his mouth.

"You're crying out so miserably and loudly, and yet he's still in seclusion? Is he deaf or something?"

"The... the old ancestor has reached a critical point in refining the Qing Realm's Heavenly Dao. He said that no matter how big the issue, he cannot be disturbed, so he definitely won't come out."

"Forget it, since he won't come out, I'll go find him myself. Get up and lead the way!"

"Yes, yes..."

The elephant demon struggled to get up, ready to lead the way.

After all, going to find the Celestial Elephant Ancestor was exactly what he wanted; he was counting on the Celestial Elephant Ancestor to save his life.

Gu Qingfeng suddenly paused, "Wait a moment."

The elephant demon shuddered upon hearing this, looking at Gu Qingfeng in fear, clearly afraid that he might change his mind.

"Take me to where you're holding the humans first."

Gu Qingfeng planned to rescue his father-in-law first, as it would be troublesome if a fight broke out with the Celestial Elephant Ancestor and his father-in-law got hurt.

He already knew his father-in-law's whereabouts from Xiang Tian. He was confined within this spatial rift because his Seven Apertures Exquisite Body was very precious. Keeping him outside was unsafe, as other demons might try to snatch him away.