Chapter 323: Black Abyss Mist

"Hahaha, Yun Daoist, you finally came."

In a hidden underground area of a prosperous tavern in Enlightening Spirit City, Ji Liuyun saw Yunhe approaching, smiled, and performed a salute.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Daoist Ji."

Yunhe exchanged a few polite words, then, under Ji Liuyun's guidance, passed through two layers of concealed formation barriers, walked down a not‑short corridor, and entered a secret chamber.

This secret chamber is not large; a luminous pearl hangs from the ceiling, casting a soft glow that illuminates the table, yet leaves those seated around it in shadow.

It actually has quite a mysterious feel.

However, everyone present is a Yuan Ying Cultivator; even without using divine sense, relying solely on the eyes, they can see everyone in this dim light.

Yunhe discovered that among those present, there actually was a mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivator!

Moreover, not only was there a mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivator, but there were also two demonic cultivators.

But at their level of strength, who doesn't have a few demonic secret arts up their sleeve?

Although demonic cultivators inspire some wariness, cooperation is not impossible, so Yunhe showed no reaction and simply took a seat on an empty chair.

I believe that among you fellow cultivators there are both strangers and old acquaintances, so I will give everyone a brief introduction.

After Ji Liuyun also sat down, he turned to the sole mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivator present beside him and introduced:

My senior brother, Guang Chengzi—I believe none of you fellow cultivators are unfamiliar with him.

Guang Chengzi?

Yunhe remained silent in his seat, but he could sense that upon hearing this person's name, the other Yuan Ying Cultivators present felt considerable wariness and apprehension toward him.

In fact, his status as a mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivator alone would be enough to make Yunhe and the others wary, but the appearance of the title 'Guang Chengzi' seems to have heightened everyone's caution.

Although Yunhe had returned to the Eastern Region, he was based at the Ice‑Snow Pavilion of Wu State, so he knew some cultivators there fairly well, whereas his knowledge of inland Yuan Ying Cultivators was limited, having only heard a few names.

As far as he knows.

This Guang Chengzi seems to have some reputation for calculating heavenly secrets and divining omens.

I suppose.

It seems they were able to locate the cave dwelling of Senior Floating Cloud thanks largely to Guang Chengzi's contribution.

Thereafter, Ji Liuyun gave each of them a brief introduction in turn.

Ji Liuyun remained very discreet; his introductions covered only the basics, giving everyone a simple mutual understanding without delving too deeply into secrets.

Besides Guang Chengzi and Ji Liuyun, this pair of fellow cultivators from the Hundred Dawn Pavilion, there was also a male and female Yuan Ying Cultivator who came together—as it turns out, they are a dual‑cultivation couple!

The man is named Xi Shuang, wearing a plain gray robe, looking rather aged with white whiskers, white eyebrows, and silver hair; he calls himself the White Eyebrow Daoist.

The woman presents the appearance of a lovely lady, graceful in her movements, clad in a fiery red long skirt with a black whip at her waist; her name is Yan Ying, and she is known as the Red Gauze Fairy.

Both are demonic cultivators and dual‑cultivation partners, skilled in joint‑attack techniques.

Outsiders jokingly call them the 'Red‑White Affair,' and they have a fearsome reputation.

As for saying.

One looks like an old man, the other like a young beautiful woman; such a dual‑cultivation pairing is not particularly unusual in the cultivation world.

Cultivators enjoy long lifespans, let alone Yuan Ying Cultivators.

Female cultivators generally care more about their appearance, so they naturally would not present themselves as old hags.

If one had to say, it's truly impossible to determine which of the two is younger or older.

"White Eyebrow Daoist and Red Gauze Fairy possess the strength to face a mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivator without being outmatched; truly admirable," Ji Liuyun seemingly praised, but in reality he was balancing everyone's apprehension toward Guang Chengzi.

After all.

Among these six people, only Guang Chengzi is a mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivator, so it's inevitable that others would think that if they encountered a treasure, Guang Chengzi would surely dominate, possibly even overpower them by sheer strength.

But by bringing forth this 'Red‑White Affair' pair, it gives those he has gathered a balanced capability, greatly easing the pressure in their hearts.

"Daoist Ji, you overpraise us; against an ordinary Yuan Ying Cultivator we can barely hold our own, but if our opponent were Fellow Cultivator Guang Chengzi, we would surely be no match," said Bai Mei Dao Ren Xi Shuang, stroking his white beard with a smile.

"You two are being too modest."

Guang Chengzi, who had remained silent until now, heard these words, flicked his whisk, clasped his hands in a salute, and then spoke with a smile.

The two of them likewise hurriedly returned the salute, exchanging pleasantries.

As for the last person, although Yunhe does not know him, he is relatively the most 'familiar' to him.

The sect master of the Blood Sect, Xue Wuhen!

Clad in a black robe, only an extremely pallid face is revealed, matching his handsome features, giving off an indescribable eeriness.

Yet this Blood Sect sect master apparently does not know Yunhe; even when Yunhe glanced his way, he still showed an extremely friendly smile.

Naturally, Yunhe returned a friendly smile in kind.

It is obvious that Xue Wuhen is preparing to win him over.

Although Yunhe has certain grudges against the Blood Sect—or rather, he harbors one‑sided resentment toward it—this does not preclude the possibility of them joining forces.

Judging from the current situation.

The Hundred Dawn Pavilion's Ji Liuyun and Guang Chengzi form one side, and they are the strongest faction with an absolute advantage; next comes the 'Red‑White Affair' pair of Bai Mei Dao Ren and Hong Ling Xianzi; finally left are Yunhe, a lone cultivator, and Xue Wuhen, the Blood Sect sect master.

Although this operation sees the six of them cooperating as one side, disputes over treasure are inevitable; if they do not want to end up as the two left picking scraps, a temporary alliance is not a bad choice.

I suppose Xue Wuhen harbors the same thought.

After finishing the brief introductions of the six present, Ji Liuyun continued:

"To avoid unnecessary trouble later, I think we should first agree on some ground rules, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, everyone secretly thought, 'Here we go.'

They all straightened their postures slightly.

"I don't know what Fellow Daoist Ji means by 'ground rules'; how should we set them?" asked Bai Mei Dao Ren.

Now is the time for each of them to contend for benefits; nobody will choose to yield easily.

Ji Liuyun gave a faint smile and said, "If we discover many treasures, as the initiators of this venture, the Hundred Dawn Pavilion having provided the location and channel, my senior brother and I will pick first; do any of you have objections?"

As soon as he said that, everyone narrowed their eyes.

Yet no one raised any objections.

Because what he said was indeed reasonable, and furthermore, with Guang Chengzi being the only mid‑Yuan Ying Cultivation Base present, if they could not obtain such benefits, they would certainly not agree.

However, the White Eyebrow Daoist hesitated slightly before saying:

If that's the case, 'Falling Wind Valley' counts as being adjacent to my and my spouse's cultivation grounds, so we two could also avoid some unnecessary disturbances; therefore we two will take the second pick, how about that?

Although he posed it as a question, his gaze swept over Xue Wuchen and Yunhe.

When facing Bai Xiaolou and Guang Chengzi, everyone still had some tacit understanding, but when facing the White Eyebrow Daoist and Scarlet Veil Fairy—a pair both at early Yuan Ying—they were less wary.

Although their combined strength could barely match a mid‑Yuan Ying cultivator, they are ultimately only early Yuan Ying; even if they couldn't win, could they still be kept?

So Xue Wuchen, who had reached a certain tacit understanding with Yunhe, snorted derisively without hesitation:

White Eyebrow Daoist friend, your words somewhat puzzle me, Xue; if Falling Wind Valley is considered adjacent, my Blood Sect is not far either, so there's no need for you two to worry.

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Yunhe and asked:

Is what I said reasonable, Yunhe?

The White Eyebrow Daoist and the Scarlet Veil Fairy both furrowed their brows at Yunhe, while Guang Chengzi and Ji Liuyun appeared indifferent, giving him a few meaningful glances.

But Yunhe sat squarely in his seat, lowering his gaze to his beautiful eyes, as if he hadn't noticed everyone's looks, and spoke in an extremely calm tone:

It's reasonable.

Upon hearing that, Xue Wuchen showed a smile, but the White Eyebrow Daoist and his partner's faces darkened slightly.

Hehe, in my humble opinion, why don't the four of you discuss distribution according to each one's contribution when the time comes? Ji Liuyun said in a peacemaker manner.

But this time, whether it was the White Eyebrow Daoist couple or Yunhe and Xue Wuchen, the four of them maintained their tacit understanding.

Even if distribution is based on contribution, the person who gets the second pick must at least be one of us four. the White Eyebrow Daoist said.

That's very well said. Xue Wuchen echoed.

This is natural, this is natural. Ji Liuyun understood that contradictions were contradictions and benefits were benefits; everyone present was an old Yuan Ying monster, and no one was willing to suffer a silent loss.

Since the discussion is settled, let's set out. Guang Chengzi said.

This time, nobody said anything else.

A party of six.

Five early‑Yuan Ying cultivators and one mid‑Yuan Ying cultivator—such strength means they would have to yield unless they encountered a late‑Yuan Ying great cultivator.

Not to exaggerate, if the six of them joined forces, they could annihilate an entire country, including all its cultivation sects, and it would absolutely not be difficult.

Of course, countries with truly top‑tier sects stationed there don't count; for a place like Mu Country, wiping them out would still not be a major problem.

Falling Wind Valley lies within the Demon Realm, and can even be considered to be on the edge of its interior.

Along the way they must pass through the Gobi Desert, the Ten Regions border, the Heavenly Ridge Mountains, and also traverse numerous countries where demonic cultivators run rampant—some stretches are tens of thousands of li, or even farther.

Between the Demon Realm and the orthodox cultivation world there are no teleportation arrays, so Yunhe and the others naturally had to each rely on their own evasion techniques to travel.

The reason they did not board a large, comfortable flying treasure like a treasure ship is partly because its speed is too slow, and partly because its profile is too large.

Even a mid‑Yuan Ying cultivator like Guang Chengzi merely treads on his horsetail whisk.

Yunhe's feet rested on a dazzling ice‑crystal flying sword, his evasion technique not slow.

Tens of thousands of li amount to several hundred thousand li; for a Yuan Ying cultivator, that's at most a difference of seven to ten days.

Even so, it's because Yunhe and the others wanted to reserve some mana to handle emergencies, so they did not fly at full speed.

Naturally, because the Red‑White pair and Xue Wuchen are traveling together, after entering the Demon Realm they need not worry about encountering any unexpected attacks.

Along the way.

It's not that they didn't encounter any cultivators, but given those cultivators' levels, discovering Yunhe and the others' traces would be utterly fantastical.

Just.

After five days of travel, Yunhe and the others had already penetrated deep into the Demon Realm when Guang Chengzi, who was flying in the lead, suddenly emerged from his evasion light, holding an eight‑trigram compass in his hands, his expression solemn.

Seeing his reaction, Yunhe and the others also all stopped flying and looked toward Guang Chengzi.

"Senior Brother, what's wrong?" Ji Liuyun asked, voicing the doubt many felt.

This place is still some distance from Falling Wind Valley.

Guang Chengzi did not answer immediately, but instead gazed at the wavering needle of the compass in his hand and cast a single‑handed spell seal.

The Red‑White pair and Xue Wuchen, meanwhile, seemed to have thought of something, their faces changing abruptly as they almost simultaneously spoke:

"Could it be that we have encountered the Abyssal Mist?"

(End of chapter)