It was dark, as dark as the void, and a mist gently moved around, cloaking a monstrosity that should never exist.
The rest of the group, unaware of what had just transpired, kept walking deeper. Soon, they all discovered they couldn't see or hear the others and were alone.
Xiang Ning seemed unbothered by the fact that she couldn't find the others. She continued her walk and came to a mural at the center of a room. It shone with a bright glow of a color that was hard to describe. It purified the mist around it and sat firmly in place. It was about three meters tall and made out of a rare ore. On its surface were some ancient runes, written with a black ink that seemed to emit an aura of corruption.
A glint flashed across her eyes, and she calmly walked towards the mural and placed her hands on it.
"Zzzzzzzmhhzzzpossssszzz."
A buzz came from the mural, and at its center, it split open. The opening was large enough for a human to enter. Xiang Ning's expression was still one of utmost calmness. She walked into the open space, and behind her, the mural closed once again.
In the space behind the mural was a shrine. It was a very small shrine, and right in the middle of it was an altar. The altar was made from some odd-looking bones that were black. There was a giant skull on the altar, and beside the skull was a heart that was pure white. It had an air of malevolence around it as it sat firmly on the altar, absorbing blood from a bloodied body that lay on the ground in the shrine.
The body was skinny, extremely skinny, and its heart was still beating. However, all the strength in it was being drained. Hearing the footsteps approaching, the body gathered all of its strength and managed to look up.
"Xiang Ning... get out of here... it's not safe..."
"Ohhh, why do you say so, Wei Zuyi?" she asked with a teasing smile on her face.
"There's something here in this ruin. It's very, very strong, and it's still out there," Wei Zuyi replied, gritting his teeth as he used his willpower to face her.
"What??!!!! Oh no, is it here?!" Xiang Ning said as she jumped in the air and took on a defensive stance, but her eyes flashed with mockery and disdain.
Wei Zuyi didn't see the glance of mockery in her eyes; his own eyes were bloodied and his skin had become incredibly pale. "Go! Warn the others! All of you should get out of here!"
"Why?" Xiang Ning asked as she returned to her normal posture.
"Are you deaf?! It's here!" Wei Zuyi snarled.
"Oh, this?" Xiang Ning said as she raised her hands and pointed to a corner in the shrine.
Out of the corner came a creature that could make one's blood freeze. It had the head of a jaguar with the body of a goat. At its back, three tails tousled in the air. It looked corrupted... It came to Xiang Ning and rubbed its head against her hand, urging her to pet it.
"You!!!! Why?? You're so wicked!" Wei Zuyi cried out, tears dripping from his bloodied eyes.
"Why?? Do you know what it's like to be born with inferior talent?? To try and work harder than others, yet see them overtake me so easily?" Xiang Ning burst out.
Wei Zuyi didn't say a word; he just kept snarling at her.
She continued, "I was born with low talent, and now I've refused to continue like this. Thank God I saw the map of this island and discovered its secret." She smiled as an eerie grin flashed across her face.
"?? What are you even saying, you dumb bitch? Wei Zhang was the one who found this island!"
"Is that what you believe? Hehehe," she laughed. "Well, I'll tell you this. I was looking for ways to improve my talent, then I came across a book that had a way to increase talent by absorbing the foundational spirit and Qi of others. After that, I just had to plant a fake book to deceive Wei Zhang into thinking there was a treasure here. Hahahaha."
"Bastard! There's no way you'll make it out of here! , the elders outside will find out and get rid of you" Wei Zuyi exclaimed one last time before he crumbled down, barely breathing.
"Don't worry about that," she muttered, and then walked towards the altar. She picked up the heart and examined it.
"Hmmmph, it still needs about twelve more foundational spirits to fully transform."
Her expression turned into one of concern, and her face wrinkled with worry. There were only nine people here present, including her. This wouldn't do.
Then she tapped her forehead as she remembered something. "Wei Zhang and Long Xiaoqi have beyond-average foundational spirits. They should fill in the gap."
She dropped the heart back onto the altar and walked out of the shrine, leaving behind a now-dead Wei Zuyi, who still looked incredibly aggrieved and betrayed in his death. The monstrosity blended into the shadows and went to hunt for more prey.
Meanwhile Feng Wuji and Su Mei had decided to take the tunnel on the right side of the cave.
They discovered that the tunnels led to an ancient labyrinth, and both of them had been exploring it since they discovered It, they've checked all places and tried to mark some landmarks but everywhere looked so much alike that is seemed more of a maze than a labyrinth, but now su mei had found some life around.
Feng Wuji was still extremely unstable. His injuries had healed, but the excess baleful Qi had mixed with the serpent's chilly Qi and had started affecting him. He had checked his rings, but he had no solution, so he and Su Mei decided to explore the labyrinth for treasure in the meantime while he figured out how to suppress it.
"Are you okay?" Su Mei asked Feng Wuji, her eyes filled with concern.
"I'll be fine!" Feng Wuji answered with a snarl, a stark contrast from his normal elegant and calm way of talking.
"If you say so..." Su Mei said and concentrated on what she was doing. She was trying to destroy a wall in the tunnel, as she had been hearing voices that sounded human coming from it.
"Fire Manger!" She raised her hand and created flames the size of rocks, then hurled them towards the wall.
It was already full of cracks from previous attacks, and when she struck again, it immediately crashed down.
She waited for the rubble to clear and saw a tiny creature, like a bug, moving around with a few others of its kind. The bugs were strange; they emitted a scent that was the opposite of the one Feng Wuji and Su Mei had smelled earlier. They smelled like nature and seemed to be rare creatures.
They flew away quickly, but Su Mei sensed their strangeness and chased after them. Feng Wuji was just observing it all.
She quickly summoned her Qi to create a net made of normal Qi, not fire-related, to avoid burning them. She threw the net outwards; it spread, and although the bugs tried to run, they were caught. Su Mei brought the net closer and saw that they weren't bugs at all...
They were something different.