Chapter 180: Xin Ruyin's Three Conditions

The next day, Yan Ruyan went to the rest pavilion of Nangong Wan.

As for what was discussed, Yan Taibai was not clear, but afterwards, the look in Nangong Wan's eyes when she looked at him held a hint of something strange that was hard to describe.

However, Yan Taibai did not pay too much attention to it.

Just like that, after Yan Taibai, Yan Ruyan, Nangong Wan, Xin Ruyin, and Yan Taibai's mother-in-law had rested well at the Yan Family in Dongyu Country, they headed toward Falling Demon Valley.

The location of Falling Demon Valley was precisely in Chang Prefecture of Dongyu Country. And two-thirds of the area of Chang Prefecture was a massive basin.

At the same time, most of this basin was covered by an unusually dense forest.

Furthermore, in the center of the basin, there was a massive mountain range stretching for a million miles, which the locals called the "Wanling Mountain Range."

However, this mountain range did not truly have tens of thousands of ridges and peaks, though there were certainly many.

Precisely because of this, whether it was Demon Beasts, heavenly spiritual herbs, medicinal materials, or other resources, they were countless within the mountain range.

The cause of this situation was related to the special circumstances of the Wanling Mountain Range. Because only once every few decades would cultivators enter the mountain range to pick spiritual herbs, gather medicinal materials, and hunt Demon Beasts.

This gave the Demon Beasts and spiritual herbs within the mountain range sufficient time to grow.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Wanling Mountain Range housed the secret valley known as the number one dangerous place in Tiannan, "Falling Demon Valley."

It is said that this Falling Demon Valley appeared as early as the primordial era, and to this day, no one knows how many Golden Core Stage Cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators have entered it to seek opportunities, treasures, and spiritual herbs to advance themselves. But those who gained something and successfully came out were few and far between, which only intensified the mysterious aura of Falling Demon Valley, making people afraid to step foot into it easily.

However, relying solely on the fierce reputation of Falling Demon Valley could not stop the many cultivators of the Tiannan Cultivation World from craving cultivation resources such as spiritual herbs, Demon Beasts, and materials. What stopped them were the colorful miasmas of the Wanling Mountain Range; these miasmas were not only extremely poisonous but also posed a great obstruction to a cultivator's divine sense, so that once one went deep inside, they could not distinguish directions and would thus get lost within.

Therefore, under these circumstances, even cultivators above the Golden Core Stage did not dare to step foot inside easily, and could only wander around the periphery to pick some common spiritual herbs, or perhaps if they were lucky, encounter a Demon Beast that had run out.

However, this miasma of the Wanling Mountain Range did not remain un-dissipated forever; on the contrary, it would dissipate once every fifty years.

At the same time, this was also the time period when the Space Cracks within Falling Demon Valley were the fewest and most stable. During this period, countless cultivators from the Tiannan Cultivation World would take the opportunity to enter the Wanling Mountain Range, or even Falling Demon Valley, to seek opportunities and spiritual herbs.

But those who could gain something were still few, not to mention the current situation.

"Now that the miasma outside Falling Demon Valley has not yet dissipated, you must be careful if you enter; although this miasma does not have much influence on Nascent Soul cultivators, you still need to be mindful."

This was the exhortation and reminder from Yan Taibai's mother-in-law.

"Mother, rest assured, we naturally know the dangers. And precisely because of this, no one will pay us any attention."

Yan Ruyan smiled. Regarding the situation of the Wanling Mountain Range and Falling Demon Valley, they had already learned most of it over the past few days at the Yan Family.

In general, as long as they did not enter Falling Demon Valley, the miasma that never dissipated in the Wanling Mountain Range year-round posed little harm to Nascent Soul cultivators, and as for Xin Ruyin, the only Golden Core Stage Cultivator, she naturally would not be in any danger.

After all, with Yan Taibai, the current number one person in the Tiannan Cultivation World, protecting them, if anything were to happen, wouldn't it be a total embarrassment?

What's more, they still needed Xin Ruyin to help repair the Transmission Array outside Falling Demon Valley. It was even more impossible to let anything happen to Xin Ruyin.

"Hmm! As long as you can understand, that is good. I won't say anything more."

Yan Taibai's mother-in-law nodded and said.

Two days later, Yan Taibai, Yan Ruyan, Nangong Wan, and Xin Ruyin boarded the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat, ignoring the colorful, highly toxic miasma of the Wanling Mountain Range, and headed in the direction of Falling Demon Valley.

Along the way, besides the Restriction light barrier of the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat itself, there was also a layer of golden rosy light, and this golden rosy light was composed of tiny, incomparable Golden Sword Qi.

Anything that approached would be completely destroyed by the sword Qi, even the colorful, highly toxic miasma in the surroundings.

And these colorful, highly toxic miasmas seemed to know that Yan Taibai and the others were not to be trifled with; they were highly sentient, transforming into torrents of miasma to submerge the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat, even attempting to corrode and swallow it.

If they had relied solely on the Restriction light barrier of the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat itself, it likely would not have lasted long before being completely corroded, and then Yan Taibai, Yan Ruyan, and the others riding inside would have been in quite a bit of trouble.

But with Yan Taibai's Golden Sword Qi protective barrier, there was absolutely no need to worry about this.

Of course, besides these colorful, highly toxic miasmas, there were also the fearless attacks from Demon Beasts within the Wanling Mountain Range.

These likewise did not cause any impact on their group.

However, even so, it still took a full two months to reach the first Transmission Array outside Falling Demon Valley.

"It cannot be repaired, it is completely impossible to repair. If one wants to repair it, it would be better to just set up a new Transmission Array here directly."

After a thorough inspection, Xin Ruyin shook her head slightly, her face showing regret.

"Then let's set up a new one; materials are not a problem. I will find a way."

Yan Taibai spoke directly, one could even say it slipped out.

Once the words were out, Yan Taibai looked embarrassed, while Yan Ruyan and Nangong Wan turned their faces away, looking as if they did not know Yan Taibai.

Xin Ruyin, on the other hand, just shook her head and did not say anything more.

"Ahem! Since it cannot be repaired, let's go to the next Transmission Array and take a look."

Yan Taibai coughed twice to change the subject.

He had forgotten that for re-setting up a Transmission Array, materials were not the problem; rather, one had to also set up a guiding Transmission Array with a rough coordinate location inside Falling Demon Valley.

Otherwise, even if one set it up, it would be useless.

If one could easily enter Falling Demon Valley, why would there be a need to repair the Transmission Array outside it?

So, Yan Taibai had asked an incredibly idiotic question.

After Yan Taibai said to go look at the next Transmission Array, the women did not object, so they boarded the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat one after another to head to the next Transmission Array.

This flight took a full half-day before they arrived at the location of the second Transmission Array.

It was still not worth repairing, and this time Yan Taibai did not say anything more.

They continued to set off toward the third Transmission Array.

However, their luck was still not good; the third Transmission Array to enter Falling Demon Valley was likewise not worth repairing.

This was also normal; after all, no one could do anything about this kind of thing.

Otherwise, it would have been repaired long ago and would not have been left for them.

Half a month later, Yan Taibai's group arrived at another entrance to Falling Demon Valley.

This was a narrow passage a hundred feet wide and over ten miles long.

Before the ancient era, this passage, like other passages, could be passed through easily.

However, because of a great battle in the ancient era, ancient cultivators unleashed heaven-shaking divine abilities, causing this passage, like the passages in other places, to be densely packed with Space Cracks.

The conditions of these Space Cracks were not all the same; some were blindingly white and obviously abnormal, some were faint and dim, appearing and disappearing, and some were completely invisible and formless, making them impossible to guard against.

Besides this, their sizes also vary; the large ones are over ten zhang wide, capable of swallowing dozens of people at once without issue. The small ones are only about a foot long, hanging in the air like sharp blades, making one tremble with fear.

What is most frightening and worrying is that some Space Cracks will temporarily disappear over time, or reappear later.

Precisely because of this, countless cultivators have been buried directly in the passage at the valley entrance, among them many old monsters of the Nascent Soul Stage. Therefore, the reputation of Falling Demon Valley as the number one dangerous place is actually mostly caused by these Space Cracks.

And now that the poisonous miasma of the Wanling Mountain Range is nowhere near dissipating, these Space Cracks are naturally the most perilous.

If it were not for the fact that the Transmission Array here is the most complete one, Yan Taibai, Yan Ruyan, Nangong Wan, and Xin Ruyin's group would never have come here no matter what. But since all other Transmission Arrays have no value for repair, they could only choose this one.

The reason it is preserved so well is directly related to these Space Cracks; it can be considered a blessing in disguise, but regardless, this place is still extremely dangerous.

"You all stay on the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat; I will go with Ruyin to check the Transmission Array."

Yan Taibai spoke to instruct them.

"Alright."

Hearing this, Yan Ruyan and Nangong Wan naturally understood, nodding their heads slightly without refusal.

Afterwards, under the slightly shy gaze of Xin Ruyin, Yan Taibai took her into his arms by the waist, then his whole body was enveloped in golden light, and only then did he cautiously head toward the Falling Demon Valley passage.

……

This Falling Demon Valley passage, if viewed from the surface, is filled with rolling gray clouds and surging spiritual energy, with many strange phenomena that make one feel wary and afraid to break in directly.

But for Yan Taibai, there really wasn't much to worry about.

Before long, they crossed the gray clouds and entered it, but they still had to be careful of the extremely unstable Space Cracks.

A quarter of an hour later, after much caution, Yan Taibai and Xin Ruyin finally found the Transmission Array located in the center of the passage.

Although it was much more complete than the Transmission Arrays in other places, it was still dilapidated, making it hard to see much value in repairing it.

Yet it was also their last hope.

"Ruyin, are you confident?"

Seeing this, Yan Taibai could only place his hope on Xin Ruyin.

"Let me take a look first!"

Hearing this, Xin Ruyin did not give a definitive answer; after all, the damage to this Transmission Array was truly not light.

Therefore, she could only say she would try, but it was still better than the Transmission Arrays in other places.

And Yan Taibai naturally could only honestly stay to the side and wait for good news. There was nothing else he could do.

However, his gaze remained fixed on the Bamboo Tube that Xin Ruyin carried with her.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, inside the Bamboo Tube should be the founder of the Thousand Bamboo Sect: Dayan Shenjun.

This was a brilliant and talented figure, but it was a pity that he was obsessed with the art of Puppets and ultimately did not have enough time to break through to the Spirit Severing Stage; otherwise, even Ascension to the Spirit World would have been possible.

But this didn't have much to do with Yan Taibai; in any case, it wasn't him helping to collect materials to refine a Nascent Soul Late Stage Puppet.

But if it were left to Xin Ruyin, would it be making things difficult for her?

Once these messy thoughts arose, Yan Taibai didn't pay much attention to his friend Xin Ruyin.

Until Xin Ruyin said a sentence that made him incredibly happy.

"It can be repaired!"

These four short words made Yan Taibai feel that the hardships of this journey had not been in vain and had finally paid off. But there was still a long distance and time before harvesting the fruit.

"But it will take a long time!" Xin Ruyin said, as expected.

"How long will it take?"

Yan Taibai asked in return.

"At least ten years."

Xin Ruyin said with a helpless expression.

"Ten years, that's too long!"

Hearing the words "ten years," the first thing Yan Taibai thought of wasn't that song, and he blurted out in shock.

"This Transmission Array is also extremely severely damaged; the runes and Restrictions required have all vanished, and they are all ancient Restriction runes. To repair it, I need to deduce them bit by bit, plus search through ancient books on arrays. This is not something I can do alone; I also need the help of other array masters. Otherwise, the time will only be longer. If I rely on myself alone..." Xin Ruyin nodded her head slightly, extinguishing Yan Taibai's last hope.

"Ten years, very well, then ten years it is! Just speak up for whatever you need, and I will arrange for people to satisfy you."

Yan Taibai sighed, his face showing a look of helplessness.

"Alright, this is the first batch of materials needed; they must be gathered within half a year so I can enter the next stage."

Xin Ruyin took out a blank Jade Slip, recorded all the needed materials in it, and handed it to Yan Taibai.

"Fine, I will have my martial uncle arrange it as soon as possible and then send people to deliver them to you."

Yan Taibai took the Jade Slip, looked at it briefly, and agreed; there were no overly precious materials, just some relatively common ones, so it wasn't a big problem.

"Good, that would be best." Xin Ruyin also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Besides these, I also need quite a few ancient books on arrays. I finished reading the array books of the Yanyue Sect and several other sects a hundred years ago, so I still need you, Brother Yan, to help with this matter."

Xin Ruyin threw out another rather troublesome matter.

"That's no problem. With my current status, borrowing some ancient books on arrays from various sects is not a difficult task."

Yan Taibai also agreed.

After all, he couldn't refuse.

"In that case, there is one last requirement: I need at least five array masters to assist. This will require you, Brother Yan, to personally invite them."

Xin Ruyin said again.

"Alright, this is also not a difficult task. At most, the matter of Falling Demon Valley will be leaked. However, this is bound to happen sooner or later, so it's not a big problem."

Yan Taibai also nodded and agreed.

After all, this was something they had discussed on the road, and Yan Taibai already had candidates in mind. It was just that inviting them to help would not be an easy task.

Mainly, he had some grudges with a few of them, so inviting them would likely be somewhat difficult.

But with his current status, it shouldn't be a difficult matter.

Moreover, with Xin Ruyin here, the problem is likewise not very significant.

Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about anything.

(End of chapter)