Translator: CinderTL
That night, the pitch-black sky, like an invisible giant net, enveloped the entire world.
Song Wen and his companions stood at the foot of the mountains. They were over a thousand miles from Demon Subduing City, already at the edge of the Rotting Miasma Ridge.
Song Wen glanced back toward Demon Subduing City, where a faint, intermittent Divine Sense probed their location. It was Jiang Lanruo. The five of them were still within her perception range.
"Old white-haired geezer, Senior Jiang gave you the map of Yin Spider Valley. Which way should we go?" the green-robed young woman asked, her tone crude and disrespectful.
The white-haired old man paid no heed to her lack of respect. He flipped his hand, producing a piece of animal hide with simple lines sketched on it. After studying it, he spoke.
"Follow me, everyone."
The old man soared into the air, heading deeper into the Rotting Miasma Ridge.
"Conceal your auras as much as possible and make no noise. Any disturbance could attract demon beasts or poisonous insects," he warned as he flew.
He didn't fly quickly, weaving between the mountain peaks and keeping close to the treetops. The vegetation in the Rotting Miasma Ridge was sparse and scattered. The old man's gaze and Divine Sense constantly scanned the ground, trees, and surrounding mountains, as if fearing a sudden attack by demon beasts or poisonous insects.
Song Wen and the others followed the old man, their eyes scanning their surroundings warily.
As they ventured deeper, wisps of miasma began to rise.
The miasma varied in color—some were bluish-green, others gray-white, and still others pitch-black. These multicolored vapors drifted among the mountains, lingering without dissipating.
The deeper they went, the denser the miasma became.
Gradually, the Divine Sense of all five began to be suppressed.
And the lingering sense of being watched that had been weighing on Song Wen's mind finally vanished.
They had left Jiang Lanruo's perception range.
The white-haired old man, who had been leading them, suddenly stopped. After cautiously surveying the area, he leaped down to the foot of the mountain and entered a cave.
Song Wen and the others followed closely behind, entering the cave as well.
Inside, the old man first set up concealment and defensive Formations.
This was Jiang Lanruo's prearranged plan. The five of them were to hide in this cave until the beast tide erupted, then proceed to Yin Spider Valley. By then, their chances of encountering demon beasts and poisonous insects along the way would be significantly lower.
The cave wasn't large, only about a hundred yards wide.
Seeing the other four find their own corners and begin meditating, seemingly uninterested in conversation, Song Wen took the initiative to speak.
"Friends, we're all in the same boat now. Why not be open and honest with each other?"
"What do you want to talk about?" the old man asked.
Song Wen asked, "This journey is a near-death experience. Why are you willing to risk your lives for Jiang Lanruo instead of seizing the opportunity to escape?"
The green-robed young woman sneered, "Escape? Where could we possibly flee?"
Song Wen looked puzzled. "The world is vast. We are cultivators in the Divine Transformation Realm. Surely we could escape the Jiang Family's reach?"
Shu Sheng took over. "Fellow Daoist Ai Kun, you've just ascended and may not know. It's not that we don't want to escape; it's that there's nowhere to go. The Qianchang Wilderness where we are located borders the Rotting Miasma Ridge to the east. The ridge is shrouded in endless poisonous miasma, teeming with demon beasts and poisonous insects. Even cultivators in the Divine Transformation Realm have no chance of crossing it. To the south and west lies the Azure Cloud Sea. Not only are demon beasts rampant in the deep sea, but beyond ten thousand miles from shore, fierce hurricanes rage, impossible for any mortal to traverse."
Song Wen asked, "What about the north?"
"The north?" Shu Sheng chuckled, as if hearing something absurd. "That's even more impossible. The north is a forbidden zone—the Primordial Qi Death Zone, a place where no living being can survive. It's said that even Great Ascension and Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivators must take detours to avoid it."
Song Wen frowned. "The Primordial Qi Death Zone? Doesn't it contain a peculiar type of heaven-and-earth energy that contaminates any living creature that enters, turning them into Resentful Spirits?"
Shu Sheng said with a hint of surprise, "Does the Lower Realm you come from also have Primordial Qi?"
Song Wen nodded.
He wasn't surprised that the mystic realm contained Primordial Qi. Xu Geng had mentioned it before.
"According to what you said, doesn't that make the Qianchang Wilderness a giant prison, with no one able to leave?" Song Wen asked.
"Not quite," Shu Sheng replied. "The Rotting Miasma Ridge is an insurmountable chasm for cultivators at the Divine Transformation Stage. But Void Refinement cultivators, with caution, still have a few chances of crossing it. Additionally, the Chi Family, one of the three great clans of Shangchu City, possesses a Teleportation Array that can transport people out of the Qianchang Wilderness."
"The Chi Family?" Song Wen asked, his face puzzled.
"The Qianchang Wilderness is ruled by three great clans: the Jiang Family, the Chi Family, and the Ye Family," Shu Sheng explained. "Nearly ninety percent of the resources in the Qianchang Wilderness are controlled by these three clans. That's why the Jiang Family has heavily fortified the Rotting Miasma Ridge, while the Chi and Ye Families guard the southern and western seas, respectively. All to prevent beast tides from breaching the Qianchang Wilderness and damaging their interests."
After a moment of thought, Song Wen replied, "Even if we can't leave the Qianchang Wilderness, there are still ways to evade the Jiang Family's tracking using their soul lamps."
Shu Sheng's eyes immediately lit up, his gaze fixed intently on Song Wen.
The other three also turned their attention to Song Wen.
"Fellow Daoist Ai, do you have any ideas?" Shu Sheng asked, his voice filled with anticipation.
Song Wen replied, "In the Lower Realm, a demon beast called the 'Nether Fox' lives within the Primordial Qi. The Soul Concealment Jade, found in the third-tier Nether Fox's brow bone, can conceal soul fluctuations, making it impossible for soul lamps to track us."
Upon hearing this, both Shu Sheng and the green-robed young woman wore expressions of disappointment.
The dwarf and the old man, however, showed no such reaction.
"I thought you had some brilliant plan, but it's just about hunting Nether Foxes," the green-robed young woman couldn't help but sneer, her mockery evident.
Song Wen was utterly baffled.
Judging from their reactions, they knew about Nether Foxes and the Soul Concealment Jade.
"Fellow Daoists, is this plan unfeasible?" Song Wen asked.
Shu Sheng sighed and explained to Song Wen, "Fellow Daoist, you're mistaken. While the brow bone of a third-tier nether fox can indeed conceal the aura of a soul, our souls have already transformed into Primordial Spirits. To conceal the fluctuations of a Primordial Spirit's aura, we would need the brow bone of a sixth-tier nether fox. In the Primordial Qi Death Zone, Primordial Qi is so dense that it constantly corrodes cultivators' physical bodies, while their Divine Sense is severely suppressed. Even a Seventh-Realm Body Integration Stage cultivator would likely have no absolute certainty of finding and killing a sixth-tier nether fox."
"So that's how it is."
Song Wen seemed to have exhausted all other options, his expression darkening. After a moment, he continued, "This plan won't work. Do any of you have a better idea? We can't really spend our lives working for Jiang Lanruo, can we?"
The white-haired elder replied, "There's nothing wrong with searching for the Nine Deaths Grass for Jiang Lanruo. At least it offers a sliver of hope. If we oppose the Jiang Family, we're doomed to certain death."
(End of the Chapter)
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