Ye Qinglan had already taken her seat near the window.
Because of her presence, the second floor of Cloud River Wine House no longer sounded the same. Voices still rose and fell, wine cups still touched wooden tables, and waiters still moved quickly between guests, but everyone seemed to speak with one eye turned toward the green-white robes by the window.
Fang Lin remained in his corner.
His face was Chen Yuan's face. Middle-aged, ordinary, slightly tired. His aura stayed at Middle Qi Conjunction Realm, neither weak enough to invite casual bullying nor strong enough to be remembered. Before him sat a half-finished jar of Cloud River White Wine and the last few bites of steamed river fish.
He looked like a rogue cultivator eating quietly.
Only his ears were sharp.
At the nearby table, the female rogue cultivator in pale blue robes glanced at him for the third time.
She had bright eyes, a short flute at her waist, and the relaxed smile of someone who enjoyed trouble more when it belonged to other people.
Finally, she leaned slightly toward him.
"Fellow daoist," she said softly, "if you keep listening that carefully, the rumors may start charging you rent."
Fang Lin looked at her.
The woman smiled and raised her cup. "Lan Mei. Late Qi Conjunction. Professional survivor, occasional musician, and very poor judge of peaceful cities."
Fang Lin's expression remained dull. "Chen Yuan."
"Just Chen Yuan?"
"Just Chen Yuan."
Lan Mei studied him for a breath, then laughed quietly. "That is either very honest or very fake. In Rivercloud City, both are acceptable if you pay for your own wine."
Fang Lin's mouth curved faintly.
Only for a moment.
"I came for food."
"And yet your ears came for news."
Fang Lin did not deny it.
Lan Mei's smile deepened, but before she could continue, a round-faced man in brown merchant robes squeezed between two tables and appeared beside them as if summoned by the scent of curiosity.
He had a small mustache, sharp little eyes, and a folding fan in his hand. Four bold words were written across the fan.
Honest Information.
The existence of those words made him look less honest.
Lan Mei sighed the moment she saw him. "Bao San."
The round-faced man immediately opened his fan and smiled. "Fairy Lan, your sigh wounds me. I bring news, and news is the lamp that lights the road of cultivation."
"You sell news," Lan Mei said.
Bao San nodded solemnly. "A lamp still needs oil."
Fang Lin looked at him once, then lowered his gaze to his wine cup.
Bao San noticed the movement and immediately leaned closer. "This fellow daoist has good eyes. Quiet, cautious, corner seat, back against the wall. A man who understands survival. For such a person, I can offer a special price."
Lan Mei raised an eyebrow. "You do not even know what he wants."
Bao San tapped his fan. "Everyone in Rivercloud City wants the same thing today."
"The major sect disciples?" Lan Mei asked.
Bao San shook his head.
"The Demon Sealing Ruins."
The table quieted slightly.
Several nearby cultivators also slowed their drinking.
Fang Lin's fingers remained relaxed around his cup, but his attention sharpened at once.
Bao San lowered his voice.
"People are all staring at the geniuses who arrived, asking who fought whom and who lost face. Interesting, yes. Useful, perhaps. But that is surface thunder. The real storm is the ruins themselves."
Lan Mei's expression became more serious. "What about the ruins?"
Bao San looked around, then glanced toward Ye Qinglan near the window. His tone immediately became more respectful.
"Of course, all information spoken here respects Rivercloud City law and the Thousand Leaf Immortal Sect's authority."
Lan Mei gave Fang Lin a look. "See? Even shameless people know fear."
Bao San coughed. "Professional caution."
Fang Lin placed three low-grade spirit stones on the table.
Bao San's eyes brightened.
Lan Mei looked disappointed. "You paid too quickly. Now he will think he is valuable."
"I am valuable," Bao San said, sweeping the stones away with heroic speed. "Now listen carefully. I will sell thunder for the price of rain."
Fang Lin said calmly, "Speak of the ruins."
Bao San's smile faded slightly.
For once, he did not begin with exaggeration.
"The Demon Sealing Ruins near Rivercloud City are not ordinary ruins. They are not a broken cave, not a sect graveyard, and not some old battlefield tunnel that anyone can dig open with enough workers."
He leaned closer.
"They are a hidden realm."
The words caused a faint ripple across the second floor.
A hidden realm.
Even cultivators who had been pretending not to listen now turned their attention fully toward him.
Bao San continued, "A hidden realm exists between spaces. It does not remain fully in the open world. Most of the time, it sleeps behind a barrier. You can walk across the same valley a hundred times and never see it. You can build a house above it and still die without knowing what lies beneath your floor."
Lan Mei's eyes narrowed. "Then how did Rivercloud City's ruins open?"
Bao San raised one finger.
"A key."
Fang Lin's cup stopped halfway to his lips.
His expression did not change.
But inside his mind, something stirred.
Bao San said, "The Demon Sealing Ruins open only when someone finds a ruin key. Some call it a token. Some call it an entry command. Some say it is a remnant seal left behind by the ancient masters of the ruins. Without the key, the realm remains sealed. With the key, the entrance can be forced awake."
Fang Lin lowered the cup slowly.
A token.
A key.
His thoughts moved back.
After entering the Demon Sealing Ruins, he had found a strange token. At the time, it had reacted, guided him, and eventually led him toward the entrance. He had treated it as an unusual ruin object, perhaps a clue or a remnant.
But now, hearing Bao San's words, the pieces shifted.
That token had not merely guided him.
It had been the key.
Fang Lin's heart became cold and clear.
So I opened it.
The thought passed through him silently.
No one noticed.
Lan Mei asked, "If a key is needed, why did the three Rivercloud sects act like they controlled the ruins?"
Bao San snorted softly. "Because local sects love standing beside a door and calling themselves owners of the house. The entrance appeared near their territory, so they moved quickly, sealed the area, recruited cultivators, and pretended everything was under control."
Someone nearby muttered, "And killed people inside."
The table went quiet.
Bao San's eyes flickered. "That is what some survivors claim."
Ye Qinglan, who had been silent until now, placed her tea cup down softly.
The sound was light.
But Bao San immediately straightened.
Ye Qinglan did not look angry. Her expression remained calm, but her voice carried enough weight that the entire floor heard her.
"The claims of the survivors are being investigated. No sect guarding Rivercloud City has the right to turn recruited cultivators into sacrifices."
Several people lowered their heads.
Fang Lin looked at her from the corner of his eye.
Ye Qinglan's tone was not dramatic, but there was controlled anger beneath it. Not wild fury. Not youthful outrage. Something quieter.
A disciple of a major power seeing filth beneath her city's surface.
Lan Mei lifted her cup slightly, her smile faint but genuine. "Then perhaps some people will sleep less comfortably."
Bao San quickly continued, choosing his words more carefully.
"Rivercloud City's Demon Sealing Ruins are one of seven known Demon Sealing Ruins scattered across the Demon Immortal Continent."
This time, even Lan Mei looked surprised.
"Seven?"
Bao San nodded. "Seven. At least, seven that appear in older records. Each ruin sleeps in a different region. Each is sealed behind hidden space. Each requires a key token to awaken. And each time one opens, the surrounding powers go mad."
The thin man at the nearby table asked, "Have the others opened before?"
Bao San's fan tapped against his palm.
"Yes. Six have opened elsewhere in the Demon Immortal Continent across different generations."
The old cultivator sitting nearby slowly put down his wine cup. "Six…"
Bao San nodded again. "Some opened in territories controlled by peak powers. Some opened in remote regions where blood flowed for months before anyone truly understood what had happened. Each time, many cultivators died, but many also rose. Techniques were found. Ancient bones were recovered. Demonic remnants were sealed or stolen. Inheritance fragments appeared."
Lan Mei leaned forward. "And Rivercloud City's ruin?"
Bao San's eyes gleamed.
"That is the point. Among the seven, only the Demon Sealing Ruins near Rivercloud City had never opened until now."
A hush spread across the second floor.
Fang Lin's gaze lowered.
Never opened until now.
And the token had been in his hands.
The grey seed pulsed once inside his spiritual sea.
Softly.
Fang Lin's expression remained ordinary, but his chest felt slightly heavier.
He had thought he had entered a dangerous ruin.
Now he understood he had awakened a hidden realm that had slept through countless years.
Bao San said, "That is why the major sect disciples came. Not only because of rumors about inheritance. Not only because three Spirit Foundation geniuses vanished. They came because a previously unopened Demon Sealing Ruin is a rare opportunity."
Lan Mei frowned. "But the entrance already closed."
Bao San smiled.
"Closed, yes. Finished, no."
The second floor became even quieter.
Bao San enjoyed that silence very much.
Then Ye Qinglan spoke from the side.
"The opening of a hidden realm is not always limited to one short exploration."
Everyone turned toward her.
Ye Qinglan's green-white robes rested calmly around her. Her pale green aura remained restrained, but her eyes were clear.
"When the key awakens the entrance, the first opening is often unstable. Local forces may enter only briefly, and restrictions may be unclear. But once the realm fully recognizes the opening cycle, it can open again for a longer period."
Bao San bowed slightly. "Fairy Ye speaks correctly."
Ye Qinglan continued, "If the records are accurate, once the Demon Sealing Ruins properly open, all Spirit Foundation cultivators who meet the entry conditions may enter for up to fifteen days."
The second floor erupted.
"Fifteen days?"
"All Spirit Foundation cultivators?"
"Then the major sect disciples can enter?"
"What about Core Formation elders?"
"They cannot enter, right?"
Ye Qinglan's gaze swept over them.
The noise lowered immediately.
"Core Formation cultivators should be rejected by the realm's restriction," she said. "At most, they can guard outside or force minor interference. The main exploration belongs to Spirit Foundation cultivators."
Fang Lin's eyes deepened.
Fifteen days.
Spirit Foundation cultivators.
That changed everything.
The previous three-day opening had been a messy, local, restricted event controlled by the three Rivercloud sects. But if the ruins opened again properly, the scale would be completely different.
Major sect disciples would enter.
Their followers would enter.
Secret methods, hidden treasures, and stronger Spirit Foundation geniuses would fill the ruins.
The Demon Sealing Ruins would no longer be a dark hunting ground controlled by three local sects.
It would become a battlefield of major powers.
Bao San spread his fan and said, "That is why people say those born in this generation are lucky. Six Demon Sealing Ruins have already opened in other places across history. The seventh, the one near Rivercloud City, slept until now. If its key has truly appeared and the realm opens fully, then every qualified Spirit Foundation cultivator nearby has a chance to enter."
Ye Qinglan looked out the window toward the distant direction of the valley.
Her voice became softer, but everyone still heard it.
"For many cultivators, such a chance may not appear twice in a lifetime. If the token was truly found and the ruins fully awaken, then those who can enter are indeed fortunate to have been born in this generation."
Her words carried no greed.
Only recognition of weight.
Lan Mei's expression became unusually quiet.
Bao San also lowered his fan.
Even he did not joke for a moment.
Fang Lin sat in the corner, silent.
Fortunate to be born in this generation.
The words entered his ears differently from everyone else.
The others thought of opportunity.
He thought of the token.
He thought of the altar.
The darkness legacy.
The ruin authority.
The dark spire waiting in the depths.
And the fact that the ruin had already responded to him.
If the Demon Sealing Ruins opened again for fifteen days, he could return.
Not as prey.
Not as a recruited cultivator sent to die.
As someone who already held part of its legacy.
But that also meant danger.
The major sect disciples would come.
Ye Qinglan.
Jian Wuchen.
Chi Yao.
Xuan Beihai.
Yue Qingning.
Ning Shuang.
Gu Man.
Luo Qianji.
Su Lianxue.
Kong Mingyuan.
Every one of them would be stronger, sharper, and better prepared than the local disciples he had killed before.
Fang Lin's fingers tightened around his cup for half a breath.
Then loosened.
A faint sigh moved through his chest, hidden beneath the noise of the wine house.
He wanted to laugh softly at the absurdity of it.
He had run from the ruins, hidden in a city, stolen identities, killed elders, learned techniques, and now the world was walking toward the same darkness he carried inside him.
Every road really did open into another trap.
Lan Mei glanced at him.
"Chen Yuan," she said softly, "you look like a man who just learned food costs more than he thought."
Fang Lin looked at her.
His expression remained tired and ordinary.
"Opportunities are expensive."
Lan Mei's eyes curved. "True. The cheaper ones usually kill you faster."
Bao San nodded solemnly. "That line is worth at least one low-grade spirit stone."
Lan Mei pointed at him with her cup. "Say that again and I will charge you two."
Bao San closed his fan immediately.
Fang Lin's mouth curved faintly before fading.
The brief humor helped settle the cold thoughts in his chest.
He looked toward Ye Qinglan once more.
She had returned to her tea, but her eyes still carried a distant seriousness.
She knew more than Bao San.
That was certain.
But she had spoken enough to confirm the most important points.
Seven Demon Sealing Ruins.
Six had opened before.
Rivercloud City's ruin had never opened until now.
A key token awakened it.
Once properly opened, Spirit Foundation cultivators could enter for fifteen days.
Fang Lin lowered his eyes.
The token he had found was no longer a small mystery.
It was a key that could shake a region.
And he had carried it without knowing its full weight.
After some time, Bao San began speaking again, but the rest was less important. He talked about inns raising prices, sect followers buying talismans, and pill shops preparing to sell out of healing medicine. Lan Mei mocked him whenever he exaggerated. Ye Qinglan ignored most of it.
Fang Lin finished his meal and placed payment on the table.
When he stood, Lan Mei looked up.
"Leaving already?"
"Yes."
Bao San immediately leaned forward. "If fellow daoist wants more information, Bao San is always available. Honest information, fair prices, and only occasional danger."
Lan Mei smiled. "The danger is more honest than the information."
Bao San looked wounded. "Fairy Lan, your tongue is sharper than some swords."
Fang Lin said calmly, "Then keep your neck away from it."
Lan Mei blinked.
Then laughed.
Bao San froze, then slowly closed his fan. "Fellow daoist Chen, you hide your humor too deeply. It almost died before reaching us."
Fang Lin did not answer.
He turned and walked toward the stairs.
Behind him, Ye Qinglan's gaze shifted briefly toward his back.
Only briefly.
Fang Lin felt it, but did not react.
His steps remained steady.
Outside Cloud River Wine House, Rivercloud City glowed beneath lantern light. Music drifted from the zither pavilion. Red lanterns swayed before pleasure houses. Patrols moved through the streets, and the river reflected thousands of trembling lights.
Fang Lin walked into the crowd.
His expression was calm.
But inside, his thoughts moved like blades.
The Demon Sealing Ruins would open again.
The key had appeared.
The major powers had gathered.
For now, Chen Yuan remained no one.
But the hidden realm had begun calling the whole continent's eyes toward Rivercloud City.
Soon, no one would be safe.
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