"Greetings, fellow cultivator."
Seeing Ye Chen, Tian Lan Yan was slightly taken aback, seemingly surprised that such a slightly chubby middle-aged Divine Master like Ye Chen could venture into the No. 1 Tavern.
However, she quickly brushed aside her curiosity and smiled at Ye Chen in greeting.
"Greetings, fellow cultivator." Ye Chen also smiled back at Tian Lan Yan, treating it as their first meeting.
In fact, Ye Chen was also very curious.
After all, in the Nine Bends Demon Realm, Tian Lan Yan and Chining Xiaoxiao were the only two talents who could contend with the five Grand Star Lords like him.
All things considered, Tian Lan Yan and Chining Xiaoxiao were absolutely formidable, whether in challenging the Nine Esteemed Treasure Light Daises of the first Demon Domain or in the hard-strength-required trials like the Flash Change Demon Realm of the Valley of Life and Death.
Chining Xiaoxiao had already explained his origins as coming from the Cosmic Sea South Pole Region.
But Tian Lan Yan had never revealed her origins.
Ye Chen speculated that since this woman was so extraordinary even in the Divine Master Realm, her origins must be equally remarkable.
Pretending to be newly acquainted with Tian Lan Yan, Ye Chen didn’t want to chat too much.
Tian Lan Yan was also a person of few words.
If she knew that the slightly chubby middle-aged man in front of her was actually the Ye Chen she had always been curious about and admired immensely, she would definitely ask Ye Chen many questions and have much to talk about with him.
However, at this moment, Ye Chen had transformed into a middle-aged appearance, so Tian Lan Yan simply didn’t recognize him.
She only greeted him briefly before sitting cross-legged in the tavern, closing her eyes in meditation.
The two of them continued to wait in the No. 1 Tavern.
After several hours had passed, no one else had entered the No. 1 Tavern.
Apparently, the difficulty of the No. 1 Tavern was too high. To pass its test, a Divine Master needed the power to oppose a Cosmic Emperor, and a Master had to counter a Star Lord, a rarity even within the Sea of Exile. So, during this time, no one could make it in!
In this situation, continuing to wait would likely just be a waste of time.
Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan either had to form a team with just the two of them or leave the No. 1 Tavern to search for teammates in a less challenging tavern.
"Fellow cultivator, may I ask, what do you plan to do in the Abyss?"
After a long silence, Tian Lan Yan finally spoke to Ye Chen, seeing that no one else arrived.
"I don’t have a specific goal; I just want to join others in exploring the depths of the Abyss," Ye Chen replied.
Hearing this, Tian Lan Yan’s eyes twinkled slightly, and she smiled at Ye Chen, "Like you, I also have no specific goals in the Abyss. It’s my first time here too, and I’m not familiar with many places."
"Since that’s the case, why don’t we head to the No. 2 Tavern, which is slightly less challenging, to see if there are appropriate fellow cultivators to team up with?"
Ye Chen’s primary purpose in entering the No. 1 Tavern was to see what the most challenging tavern looked like. Since he had already passed through it and there weren’t enough people inside to form a team, going to the No. 2 Tavern posed no issue.
After discussing for a while, they flew directly out of the No. 1 Tavern.
At this time, there were still quite a few people standing outside the No. 1 Tavern, though they were not the same ones Ye Chen had seen earlier. Clearly, more people had come later to witness the excitement at the most challenging tavern.
When they saw Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan come out of the No. 1 Tavern, the crowd was astonished.
After all, these onlookers had observed numerous people attempt to enter the No. 1 Tavern and fail, and they knew its difficulty all too well.
Seeing Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan emerge was a surprise; they were undeniably geniuses who had successfully entered the No. 1 Tavern, and this naturally shocked the crowd.
However, when they noticed Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan head straight to the No. 2 Tavern, wait for a while, and then enter, they were bewildered.
"Did they leave the No. 1 Tavern and come to the inferior No. 2 Tavern just for these two?"
Someone replied, "Don’t you see that only the two of them came out of the No. 1 Tavern? Two people are too few, so they likely chose to come out and select teammates from an easier tavern."
This explanation made many people come to a sudden realization.
It also led a large number of people to sigh with emotion: "Apparently, being too powerful isn’t necessarily a good thing—finding teammates to form a team becomes inconvenient."
"Indeed, it truly is lonely at the top."
"Alas, I would love to experience the loneliness at the top, but unfortunately, I don’t have the strength."
Amid the sighs and discussions, Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan had already entered the No. 2 Tavern.
The difficulty of entering the No. 2 Tavern was indeed lower.
Inside, there were instantly many more people than in the No. 1 Tavern.
Ye Chen took a quick look and saw that there were already seventy or eighty people gathered.
While Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan were observing others around them, they heard someone exclaim, "It’s them!"
"They entered the No. 1 Tavern; why have they come out and come to us?!"
The one speaking was a Lower Tribulation Master, and his focus was none other than Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
As this Lower Tribulation Master pointed at Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan, all attention in the No. 2 Tavern instantly converged on them.
For cultivators, strength is the ultimate path.
Strength is something worth admiring!
All the cultivators entering Pub No. 2 once attempted to enter Pub No. 1, but failed.
Under such circumstances, for Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan, who came out from Pub No. 1, this group naturally held deep admiration.
No, it’s not just admiration.
Once they learned that Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan had emerged from Pub No. 1, numerous individuals gathered around, eagerly inviting the two to form a team.
"Fellow cultivators, we are planning to head to the Abyss to find a ten-thousand-year-old demon vine. Would you two be interested in joining us..."
"Friends, our team is heading to Blackwater Divine City further down in the Abyss. Would you two be interested in going with us..."
"Fellow cultivators, we plan to go to the Nine Spirits Cold Stream in the middle of the Abyss. It’s an excellent place for cultivating Ice Secret Arts, though it’s said to occasionally have ferocious ice-type demons. Would you two be willing to explore that region with us..."
"Fellow cultivators..."
One invitation after another made Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan smile inwardly.
Indeed, you can’t just wait idly in Pub No. 1.
The more people, the more opportunities.
Coming to Pub No. 2 to form teams was a truly correct decision.
Among the many team invitations, there was one that moved Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan both in mind and spirit.
"Fellow cultivators, this time we are inviting Divine Master realm friends for our team. You both are in the Divine Master realm and were able to break into Pub No. 1, showing extraordinary strength. If you can join our Divine Master Squad, our Dominion Realm adventure will be greatly enhanced."
"Although we are just a Divine Master Squad, the opportunities in this adventure are no less than others, and we might even achieve some incredible gains. Because, the place we are going to explore this time, is a mysterious place in the Abyss that has recently appeared, and only Dominion Realm cultivators can enter!"
The person inviting Ye Chen was a Ninth-Level Divine Master.
This Ninth-Level Divine Master seemed not too old, appearing to be a pleasant youth.
At this moment, there were already three people teamed up around this Ninth-Level Divine Master.
These three people were also at the Ninth-Level Divine Master realm.
Including the inviter, there were four Ninth-Level Divine Masters. However, these four were extremely courteous to Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan.
Even though Ye Chen was only a First-Level Divine Master, and Tian Lan Yan was just a Third-Level Divine Master.
But, after all, Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan were capable of breaking into Pub No. 1. They knew, even if these two were at a lower realm, their combat power was definitely much higher.
In such cases, they naturally treated Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan with great respect.
Eager to invite Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan to join the team.
After all, the stronger the teammates, the better the ability to handle danger, and the safer they would be.
"Indeed, friends, our Divine Master Squad plans to explore this mysterious place this time, and judging from the information collected by Friend Lin Tong, it is definitely not an ordinary area. Its celestial phenomena resemble those of major discoveries in treasure lands previously found in the Abyss."
"In the past, those places all yielded huge discoveries and gains."
The three Ninth-Level Divine Masters who had already teamed up were explaining the situation of the exploration site to Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan in various ways.
A mysterious place only accessible to Dominion Realm cultivators?
Recently appeared in the Abyss?
Similar to the celestial phenomena of other treasure lands, likely a precious site for major discoveries?
Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan, as they listened to the talks of these Ninth-Level Divine Masters, found themselves increasingly interested.
"How about going to check it out?"
After all, Ye Chen came to the Abyss to explore around. Venturing to a newly appeared mysterious place seemed like a good choice.
"I also want to see why there are places in the Abyss that only Dominion Realm cultivators can enter." Tian Lan Yan also nodded.
Tian Lan Yan vaguely felt that such a realm-restricted area might truly bring about some unexpected major gains.
Hearing that Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan were interested in joining the Divine Master Squad for the exploration, the other four were overjoyed.
Especially the organizer of the team, Lin Tong, was over the moon.
He said to Ye Chen and Tian Lan Yan, "Since you two are willing to join, with the four of us, we’ll have a total of six people, which should suffice for the team."
"You two possess great strength."
"The four of us, being able to enter Pub No. 2, aren’t weak either."
"Shall we then set off towards that mysterious place for our Divine Master Squad?"
"Let’s head out." With the team formed, staying in the pub was just a waste of time, Ye Chen directly said.
Tian Lan Yan nodded as well.
Seeing this, Lin Tong swung his hand.
The other three shouted excitedly.
Ye Chen, Tian Lan Yan, and these four Ninth-Level Divine Masters, a total of six people, formed the Divine Master Squad and officially began their exploration of the Abyss this time.