Chapter 361: Exploring the Map

That dim "boundary" seemed like some living creature, swelling and contracting faintly at the end of the mine slope.

Qianji Zhenren tapped a wall on one side, then flicked a fine needle from his fingertip, piercing the stone wall within the eroded range of that dim boundary, as if sampling and analyzing something.

"Loose and brittle, mineral salt seeping out, the earth veins severed," he turned his head and said casually to Yu Sheng and the others, "Did this other realm really only appear recently?"

"It was indeed discovered recently," Xuanche replied, stepping forward half a pace and bowing with clasped hands, "Half a month ago, everything here was normal."

"... This erosion situation doesn't look like a recent change; I'm afraid the environment below began to show anomalies years ago," Qianji Zhenren muttered, turning his head again to look at that dimly lit area. Accompanied by a soft "click," two beams of intense light erupted from his eye sockets, shooting straight into the depths of the darkness.

However, those beams were blocked by some invisible "filter," illuminating only a few steps before strangely fading away completely.

"Interesting..." Qianji Zhenren murmured, then stepped forward.

Yu Sheng led the others to follow closely behind.

Darkness gradually closed in before their eyes; the long slope seemed to extend infinitely beneath their feet, leading endlessly to the earth's core. The group stepped into the darkness and walked forward for an unknown duration before Yu Sheng felt the surrounding environment begin to change gradually.

He focused his spirit and stepped carefully, recalling that moment of trance from his last entry into this other realm, and the illusory, grand sound of "activating the great formation" he had heard within that trance. Thus, he was extra vigilant while moving forward, yet this time, he heard nothing at all.

A slightly damp airflow suddenly blew from ahead; that condensed darkness receded rapidly as if scattered by the wind. Yu Sheng's vision flickered, and he saw that he had already walked out of that "endless" slope, revealing a rather vast underground space before his eyes.

This was a cavern of staggering scale, its circumference unknown. The distant boundaries of the cavern were swallowed by darkness; only the nearby primitive rock walls could be seen, extending upward and disappearing into the darkness above. Meanwhile, glowing vines and various unknown fluorescent fungi spread and grew along the nearby rocks, ground, and stalagmites, illuminating the surrounding space.

Yu Sheng stared in astonishment at everything before him, then immediately noticed rippling light waves on the "ground" in the distance. Focusing his gaze, he realized it was actually a vast expanse of water.

It was a massive subterranean lake. Many unknown plant stems and leaves emitting a faint glow floated on the lake's surface. The dim light illuminated the water, reflecting together with the glowing moss and vines along the shore, creating a scenery that possessed a dreamlike beauty yet also carried a subtly dark and eerie atmosphere.

This incredible subterranean scene instantly made Yu Sheng's breath catch slightly, and almost at the same time, he heard a gasp of wonder from Erin on his shoulder: "Wow—"

"At least there's no sand this time," Hu Li muttered. Immediately, her large tail behind her "bloomed," and countless dim fox fires drifted out from between her tail like a swarm of fireflies, rising and spreading around, further illuminating everything nearby.

However, her fox fires spread hundreds of meters out and still failed to illuminate the cavern's boundaries.

But at least they made this dim space appear much brighter.

"As expected, it's different every time we come in," Yu Sheng said casually, then lifted one shoulder slightly. "Erin, is there killing intent this time?"

Erin sensed carefully: "Not for now, but I feel you're facing a disaster of blood again."

Yu Sheng laughed upon hearing this: "You make it sound like I don't face a blood disaster every day—how much blood will be spilled this time? Where exactly will I be injured?"

Erin widened her eyes: "How would I know that? Do you really take me for a prophet?"

"Your recent level of charlatanism is about the same as a prophet's," Yu Sheng pouted, then turned his head to look at Luna and extended his hand. "Poke me."

No sooner had he spoken than Luna raised her hand and struck—truly, as an Artificial Saintess, she was professional at cutting people. Usually dull at everything else, she was uniquely proficient in this one thing.

Then Yu Sheng began sprinkling his blood onto the ground, and after finishing, he sprinkled it into the lake...

Erin looked somewhat dumbfounded: "What are you doing?"

"Whether it's useful or not, sprinkling some blood is good; even if we can't gather intelligence, leaving some markers is fine. Maybe if we sprinkle it on something critical, it'll help us escape later," Yu Sheng argued convincingly. "And since you said there's a blood disaster, I'll shed some of my own blood first to pad the drop rate..."

"You can exploit bugs like that?!" The small doll was stunned, then frowned upon watching Yu Sheng's blood-sprinkling actions. "But why do I feel like you're laying down a mycelial mat here?"

Hearing this, Yu Sheng paused for a moment, but inwardly he sighed with gratitude that the little thing hadn't come up with an even more unpleasant metaphor...

Nearby, Qianji Zhenren looked somewhat confused by Yu Sheng's actions. Although he hadn't dealt much with "Other Realm Handling Experts" from the Borderlands, he had previously encountered a few Spirit Realm detectives or investigators, yet he had never seen such a workflow style. After holding back for a long time, he couldn't resist turning to Xuanche: "What is Daoist Yu Sheng doing?"

Xuanche was actually confused too, since he only had a vague understanding of the nature of the Travel Agency group. But since the elder asked, he had to answer, so he thought hard for a few seconds before clasping his hands and bluffing: "... Mr. Yu has his own investigation methods; he knows many blood sacrifice and refinement techniques."

A "click" sounded inside Qianji Zhenren's head: "Blood sacrifice and refinement?"

Xuanche: "Uh, only refining his own."

Qianji Zhenren nodded: "Oh, then there's no problem."

At the same time, Yu Sheng was carefully sensing the situation after his blood was sprinkled down.

That "void" sensation appeared again.

Yu Sheng could clearly feel his blood falling onto the soil and lake water of this underground cavern, yet in an instant, that blood seemed to pass through the ground and water surface, disappearing directly into a depth of void, failing to establish any "connection" with anything.

But perhaps due to the experience and accumulation from the previous time, the intelligence he vaguely sensed this time was slightly more than last time.

At the extreme end of that utter void... there truly seemed to be something extremely vast, whose "existence" could not be perceived even by sense.

It was like standing at the foot of an endlessly wide, pitch-black giant wall; no matter which direction one looked in all four directions, one could only see darkness, failing to perceive the existence of that "wall" itself.

But Yu Sheng did not feel any pressure or malice from that vast existence.

It seemed like just a lifeless object, or... some kind of shell?

He frowned, attempting to extract some information from that vague sensation, but ultimately found nothing. Moreover, after a brief dozen seconds, even that vague sensation disappeared.

After a moment of thought, Yu Sheng felt that increasing the dosage might work.

So he turned to Luna again: "Poke me one more time."

The previous wound had already healed.

Luna nodded, but before she could act this time, Hu Li nearby couldn't hold back: "Benefactor, I can do it too; I brushed my teeth today~"

"No, you always steal sips," Yu Sheng refused sternly. "Every time you suck half of it down..."

Hu Li's ears instantly drooped, and she grumbled and muttered in her mouth.

Luna said nothing, simply raising her hand and striking again, as nimble as someone who had been killing fish in a supermarket for ten years.

Yu Sheng continued laying down his mycelial mat by the lake.

But this time, he sensed no more intelligence, not even the vast "presence" at the extreme end of that utter void.

"... Can it only take effect once within the same Other Realm 'scene'?"

He muttered thoughtfully.

"Hey, Long Hair... if the two of us sneak out to play, will Sister Red Hat scold us?" On a mountain path somewhere in Qianfeng Ling Mountain, a black-haired girl wearing a blue dress looked around curiously with wide eyes, yet couldn't help but worry as she muttered to the long-haired Princess walking beside her, "She said we shouldn't run around recklessly..."

"What do you mean 'sneak out to play'? We came out openly!" Long Hair argued with righteous indignation. "And Brother said we can move freely; we even registered yesterday—Salted Fish, you're too timid."

"But Brother also said free movement requires a guide," the blue-dressed girl, whom the Long-haired Princess called "Salted Fish," was clearly still conflicted. "And I have a live broadcast tonight; if Sister Red Hat catches me, she'll definitely scold me all night..."

"Oh, I already said it's fine," Long Hair waved her hand dismissively. "Besides, who said there's no guide? The guide is right here, isn't he? —Right, Da... Zheng Zhi?"

She looked up at Zheng Zhi walking ahead, but the latter sighed helplessly: "I only arrived a day before you; I'm not really familiar with the situation here... turn left ahead; the right side is the Spirit Plant Garden, not allowed to enter."

"You're not even familiar yet?" the long-haired girl widened her eyes. "And I heard you made seven sworn brothers in half a day; you even have a bosom friend on the Beast Taming Peak..."

"Where did you hear that?" Zheng Zhi's mind went blank upon hearing it. "How could such an absurd rumor spread!"

"Eileen said so. She also claimed you fell off a cliff in the back mountain, crushing a reclusive expert who was fishing, and that you found over seventy cultivation manuals on the expert—of course, I know she must be exaggerating. Who carries over seventy manuals while going out to fish?"

Zheng Zhi's face immediately twitched. He felt that deciding to stay at Thousand Peaks Lingshan might truly have been a mistake, but with matters already at this point, saying he wanted to go home might be too late. He could only sigh, continuing to walk forward while muttering, "You can't believe what Eileen says. I just ran into an old man watching the dormitory at the foot of the mountain; he even complained that I scared away his fish... Turn right ahead, there's a pavilion. It was donated and built seventy years ago by the cousin-in-law's next-door neighbor of the Spirit Nurturing Peak's Fairy Suyun. The view from the pavilion is quite good; you can see the Spirit Gathering Array of Spirit Peak City at the foot of the mountain."

The long-haired Princess, full of pride, poked the Mermaid's arm. "I told you just letting Zheng Zhi be our guide would work. No one close to Brother is ever simple."

The Mermaid watched Zheng Zhi ahead on the mountain path, his figure agile as if returning home. After a long while, she blinked. "... Truly awesome."

(End of this chapter)