Inside a dark, sealed mountain cave within Everbow Valley, a pleasant female voice drifted over from the distance, carrying the faint echo unique to long, narrow tunnels.
“Why are you being so cautious? Even if Qin Mo broke through, he is still only a mere seventh rank.”
“Ha, cautious?” A relaxed chuckle sounded, followed by a rather light and carefree male voice.
“Am I being cautious? I think I’ve already been plenty bold.”
“Qin Mo left this place two days ago.”
“A seventh rank naturally isn’t worth paying attention to. But Yu Lan, guess how that little fellow managed to find his way here the moment he entered Everbow Valley?”
“You mean the Soul Nurturing Ring?”
“Mhm. I suspect the soul ring is in that boy’s hands. Even with a map guiding him, he should never have been that decisive. He came straight here without stopping, which means there’s a good chance someone was giving him directions in real time.”
The cave stretched on, long and narrow. As the voices continued, two sets of light footsteps drew closer from the distance. And as the footsteps approached, two figures gradually appeared inside the tunnel. A small glowing orb floated quietly behind them, lighting up their appearances.
The woman was gorgeous, with a graceful, shapely figure. She wore Western Region clothing, and even in the depths of winter, her toned stomach and large stretches of snow-white skin were still exposed.
The man had handsome features, his brows and eyes carrying a hint of casual, devil-may-care ease.
Yu Lan fell into thought for a moment. “From what I’ve seen recorded in ancient texts, if it really is the Soul Nurturing Ring, then there is a Sage living inside it.”
At that, much of the carelessness in Qin Weijiu’s eyes faded, replaced by a faint, almost imperceptible respect. “It’s precisely because I know that that I’m being so careful.”
Yu Lan hesitated slightly. “Then Qin Mo…”
“He cannot die,” Qin Weijiu said. His original plan had been to help neither side. Whether Qin Mo or Xu Yuan died, it would still be enough to provoke a blood feud between the Chancellor’s Manor and Burial Village. But now it seemed he would have to intervene from the shadows and help Qin Mo. After all, Qin Mo had a Sage with him.
Yu Lan pondered for a moment, then said softly, “But the Bewitching Soul Devil Body has already sent word that she has yet to succeed. Xu Changtian most likely won’t leave Stillwater. If Qin Mo wants to save her, he can’t be thinking of entering the city, can he?”
She paused, her gaze turning grave. “There is a grand formation laid over Stillwater. Even for the two of us, it would be very dangerous.”
Qin Weijiu’s eyes flickered for a moment before he said, “Jinxuan can already move freely within the Xu residence. Find an opportunity to bring her out. Qin Mo is more important than Xu Yuan.”
After a pause, a smile flashed through his eyes. “And besides, that girl Jinxuan seems to have a favorable impression of Qin Mo too. Forcing her to get close to Xu Changtian this time really was asking too much of her.”
The woman fell silent for several breaths, then reminded him in a cool voice, “Qin Weijiu, I hope you haven’t forgotten who was behind what happened more than ten years ago. If you want to play house, you’d best know where to draw the line.”
Qin Weijiu glanced at her and said, “After ten-some years, even raising a dog would leave you with some attachment, let alone a person. Don’t worry. I know where the line is.”
“Suit yourself. Just be careful you don’t get bitten back by the Bewitching Soul Devil Body.” Yu Lan clearly had no desire to say more.
As they spoke, the two fell silent.
The end of the cave gradually came into view, a space wrapped in secret formation patterns.
Qin Weijiu sensed it for a moment, then turned his eyes toward the woman beside him. “I’ll leave it to you.”
With that, he sat down off to the side and began regulating his breath.
Yu Lan gave a soft snort. Her soul sense spread outward, beginning to sense the area in careful detail.
In that silent, lightless space, it was as if time itself had ceased to exist.
No one knew how long had passed before Yu Lan bent down and gently pressed her hand against the center of the formation patterns on the ground.
The next instant, source qi surged, and a ball of light appeared within the cave. Its outer shell shone white, while its hollow center was pitch-black.
Without a word, the two exchanged a glance and stepped inside one after another.
This was why they had come here. Wealth could stir the heart, let alone an entire secret realm’s worth of cultivation resources.
With Qin Mo’s cultivation, there were bound to be many places he could not reach. They had come precisely to pack up every valuable medicinal herb and cultivation resource in those places and carry them away.
But after entering the secret realm, the scene inside was completely beyond Qin Weijiu and Yu Lan’s imagination.
They did not see the orderly dwellings and hidden paradise they had pictured. What they found instead was boundless blood mist stretching as far as the eye could see, and enormous black shadows wandering between heaven and earth.
The eerie sight before him made Qin Weijiu’s brows knit tightly. He quietly began circulating his cultivation art, his guard raised. Golden light flickered in his eyes. Through the fog, he saw the massive bodies roaming within it, as well as those strange figures floating in the air.
“This mist…? And what is going on with these demonic beasts?”
Yu Lan kept sensing their surroundings, her gaze sweeping all around. Suddenly, she warned him, “Qin Weijiu, wrap yourself in your soul sense. Let’s land first.”
Although Qin Weijiu did not know why, he immediately followed her advice and wrapped his entire body in his mind-soul.
After landing on the ground, he looked at the thick blood mist around them, so dense he could barely see his own hand in front of his face, and asked softly, “What is this mist? Ghost fog?”
When demonic beasts or humans died in great numbers in one place, if their remains were not dealt with, the dense deathly aura would slowly form ghost fog.
Within it, demonic beasts and ghosts ran rampant. It was no exaggeration to call it a hell on earth. But logically speaking, ghost fog should be black as ink. Why was this place giving off such an uncanny blood-red color?
Yu Lan’s tone turned grave. “This isn’t ghost fog. It’s an abyssal rift caused by wraithfiends. Those demonic beasts have all been warped by the wraithfiends too.”
Hearing this, Qin Weijiu narrowed his eyes and instantly understood. Many ancient texts recording the calamity that had once swept the world had survived to the present day. Naturally, he had read some of them. So naturally, he knew what wraithfiends were, and he knew what an abyssal rift was.
Just as ink would quickly spread through clear water, once an abyssal rift formed from the corruption of wraithfiends, that strange blood mist would continuously erode and contaminate everything within the space.
Of course, that erosion and contamination were only dangerous to the human race. Just like ghost fog was a dead zone for humans but a paradise for demonic beasts and ghosts, the wraithfiends of the past thrived even more in the environment of an abyssal rift.
As he thought of this, Qin Weijiu sighed softly. “To think this is a secret realm that was breached by wraithfiends. What a pity.”
The blood mist of an abyssal rift would corrupt spirit herbs and all manner of cultivation resources. If a cultivator used them directly, then with the slightest mishandling, they could be transformed into a wraithfiend themselves.
That said, an abyssal rift could be cleansed. The problem was that this secret realm was located within the periphery of Stillwater. It would be very difficult for them to extend their reach into this territory. In other words, they could only give up on this secret realm.
Yu Lan swept her gaze around and asked directly, “Should we leave right away, or destroy it?”
Wraithfiends were a tremendous threat. If the corrupted demonic beasts in this secret realm were released, at minimum, one prefectural city would be plunged into misery and ruin.
Qin Weijiu looked around at the enormous black shadows hidden within the sea of blood mist, and a faint, somewhat emotional smile tugged at his lips. This was his first time seeing the inside of an abyssal rift with his own eyes. Demonic beasts corroded and warped by wraithfiends. Eternal life, yes, but only as walking corpses.
After pondering for a long while, Qin Weijiu shook his head slightly. “Leave it for now. Qin Mo may come back. As for leaving, there’s no need to do that immediately. If a Sage guided that boy Qin Mo into this secret realm, then there must be something here that we can use. Let’s search deeper inside. If we find nothing within three days, we’ll leave and keep watch over Qin Mo.”
“Good.”