"Gulp!"
A girl transformed from a pufferfish almost reverted to her original form.
"Why are you all dawdling! Do you want to die here? Get moving!"
Not far away, the voice of a cultivator in black robes boomed again.
At the same time, the sound of several Emotion Crossing Sect disciples whipping the Loose Cultivators rang out.
The Loose Cultivators shuddered in fear, no longer caring about the unknown terrors at the bottom of the Celestial Abyss, like a flock of driven ducks, they stumbled down the slippery and steep cliff path into the depths.
"Lord Tuoba, the other groups of Loose Cultivators have entered the Celestial Abyss."
An Emotion Crossing Sect disciple approached the black-robed cultivator respectfully and whispered.
This black-robed cultivator was Tuoba You, a Sixth-Layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
The Emotion Crossing Sect placed great importance on this action concerning the Celestial Abyss.
Even while in conflict with Lingyin Sect, they freed up hands to send numerous cultivators.
Among them,
included a Fake Pill Cultivator and a Late Period Venerable of Foundation Establishment.
From the seven branches of Emotion Crossing, they selected a Middle Period Foundation Establishment Cultivator from each, directing these seven to drive large numbers of cultivators from Qi Kingdom to enter the Celestial Abyss from different locations.
Tuoba You nodded, sneering:
"This time at my Chouyun Pass, we suffered a great loss, but if someone from my Chouyun branch finds the Divine Son, it’ll all be worth it... How are the personnel from the other six branches?"
The Emotion Crossing Cultivator’s face was grave: "They entered the Celestial Abyss yesterday. Unfortunately, the Venerable was harmed by Bai Susu; otherwise, someone from my Chouyun branch should have been in overall command this time."
"No matter."
Tuoba You’s expression remained unchanged; he snorted coldly,
"Serving that master is not a pleasant task. The three Divine Venerables probably have no one to use now, even summoning out this sleeping master, tsk tsk..."
The master he mentioned was naturally that Fake Pill Cultivator.
Even in Lingyin Sect, which values self-cultivation, many Fake Pill Cultivators have mental issues, let alone in a Demon Path like the Emotion Crossing Sect?
It can be said,
The existing Fake Pill True Masters of the Emotion Crossing Sect, none are mentally stable, especially those Fake Pills who were forced into slumber.
...
The further down they went, the denser the fog in the Celestial Abyss became.
This fog not only severely hindered vision but also isolated the cultivators’ Divine Sense.
Ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators’ Divine Sense couldn’t probe beyond ten feet here.
Forcing it further would bring the sensation of the Divine Soul being torn apart, excruciatingly painful.
"Just as the Great Elder said, this place indeed resembles Songyang Cave Heaven somewhat. The broken laws of some great power are like iron wires, segmenting this piece of heaven and earth, making it difficult for Divine Sense to emerge."
Chen Ye meticulously sensed.
Even with his powerful Divine Soul, he was heavily restricted.
However,
compared to other cultivators who could only explore ten feet at most, Chen Ye’s Divine Sense could at least explore a range of two hundred feet.
"Drip... drip..."
The grayish-white ice crystals condensing on the cliff walls shattered under the chaotic footsteps of the group.
"Hmm? What is that?"
"Who goes there?"
"Ah—! What is it! Help! Help..."
Several Loose Cultivators scouted at the front of the group and suddenly screamed out.
What followed was the horrifying sound of bones being chewed.
The Loose Cultivators at the back, unaware of what exactly happened up front, immediately fell into chaos upon hearing this commotion.
Chen Ye’s eyes focused.
His Divine Sense barely managed to see the scene at the very front.
He vaguely saw two unknown creatures dragging the bodies of two Loose Cultivators into the dense fog to feast on.
"Wait... are these Demon Beasts or cultivators?"
Chen Ye was shocked; the unknown creatures had fine scales covering their bodies, roughly humanoid, with red eyes, looking extremely strange.
At this moment,
Chen Ye suddenly felt his left sleeve being heavily tugged.
This startled him, thinking the strange creatures had targeted him.
Looking down, he found the little girl had somehow squeezed to his left side.
Hmm...
This is a stranger creature.
Qing Jun puffed up her cheeks like an angry pufferfish, her small hands tightly clinging to Chen Ye’s left arm, her whole body wishing it could hang onto him.
"Qing Jun is cold too! Qing Jun wants Master to hold her too!"
The little girl raised her chin bravely.
The small white fox wrapped inside the bundle was squeezed tightly against Chen Ye’s body, almost suffocating.
Damn girl!
If you want to stick to him, do it yourself, this fox does not want to stick!
Chen Ye chuckled silently, reaching out with his large hand, naturally dividing a thread of Spiritual Power to protect the girl too.
Seeing this, Qing Jun quickly grabbed both of Master’s big hands.
During this, she did not forget to give Jin’er a proud look.
Jin’er blinked innocently and secretly tightened her grip on Master.
"..."
Chen Ye’s forehead was marked with black lines; the most innocent one is Master, almost being torn into two by his disciples.
Zhiwei silently hugged the Canchen Sword, closely following behind Master, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
"Ah——"
Another scream echoed from the front.
Everyone’s hearts trembled, suddenly halting.
Through the clouds and mist, Loose Cultivators in the back vaguely saw a proficient Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivator frozen in place, maintaining a step-forward posture.
The next breath.
"Pfft!"
His body, from brow to crotch, abruptly split open, blood mixed with entrails gushing forth, but before it hit the ground, it was frozen into two ice sculptures by the Celestial Abyss’s extreme cold阴气.
"Void...space fissure!"
A seasoned old Loose Cultivator’s teeth trembled in fear.
Back when Nascent Soul powers clashed, they shattered the space here.
Those broken fragments, like invisible guillotines, hung in this heaven and earth.
Plus the earlier eerie Demon Beast commotion.
Fear spread through the Loose Cultivator team like a plague.
At the forefront, a facial-scarred Loose Cultivator at Qi Cultivation Perfection turned his eyes, suddenly clutching his chest, spitting blood:
"Fellow Daoists, I just now forcefully activated a Secret Technique to resist the cold阴气, injuring my heart meridian...cough cough, I’m afraid I’ll drag everyone down, I ask some Daoist to come forward and help me for a moment, let me recover among the middle of the team..."
With that, he began naturally pressing against the rock wall, silently trying to retreat to the rear of the team, attempting to dump the deadly duty on the fellow behind him.
But he had just retreated three steps.
"Hmph, clever by half."
A steward of the Emotion Crossing Sect responsible for oversight in the back looked coldly, instantly activating a Spell.
"Ah——!!"
The scar-faced Loose Cultivator suddenly collapsed to the ground, his hands desperately clutching his head, screaming mournfully.
In just three breaths’ time, black blood oozed from his seven orifices, his Divine Soul perishing.
"This is the consequence of being conniving!"
The steward’s chilling voice echoed down the mountain path,
"Where there’s a spatial rift, Spiritual Qi flow surely stagnates! Use your Magical Artifacts to probe! Anyone retreating a single step, I will use the Unity Seal and take their life!"
Under the torture worse than death, the Loose Cultivators could only swallow their anguish.
Seeing this,
The steward casually instructed other Emotion Crossing Cultivators to keep a close watch, then came to Tuoba You’s side to report:
"Lord, two trespassers appeared earlier. Judging by their appearance, they should be at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment."
"Two of them...once trespassers find prey, they will call friends and family. Make sure the Holy Sect Cultivators stay vigilant."
Tuoba You mused for a moment, casually producing a Jade Scroll, reflecting,
"This mission involves nearly six hundred Loose Cultivators, should be enough to satisfy the trespassers’ appetite. The ones coming forward are merely low-grade trespassers, have the Qi Refining Loose Cultivators lead the team to prevent harm to them."
"My lord...these expendables are centuries of accumulation from Chouyun Pass. Feeding them all to the trespassers, isn’t that too wasteful? If these Loose Cultivators die too horribly, I’m afraid no one will dare come to Chouyun Pass in the future."
The steward, who ruthlessly killed earlier, now spoke up for the Loose Cultivators.
"Sigh..."
Tuoba You sighed deeply,
"It is said, the true reason for the Songyang battle a millennium ago wasn’t Ruins Country wanting to exterminate the Demon Guards but for the True Dragon dispute."
"Of course, such matters are varied, and the truth has become complicated. Regardless of the reason, trespassers are unique to Celestial Abyss, and trespassers are a branch of the dragon lair!"