Chapter 216: The Reward Comes Without Effort

Ye Hongshang navigated the fissure, weaving left and right according to subtle differences in the strength of the yang fire.

Xie Jinhuan led the two stunning women in a single file, Nan Nangong Ye holding the Yin-Yang Ruler to shield them from surrounding yang fire; as they descended deeper, the power of heaven and earth grew so intense it compressed the shielded zone to just one zhang around them, forcing the three to squeeze together as their exhaustion doubled.

If they removed the Yin-Yang Ruler now, the three would likely be corroded by the purest extremity of the Five Elements fire within moments, reduced to desiccated corpses.

Noticing Xie Jinhuan's excessive speed, nearly charging blindly into the depths, the two women clearly hesitated.

After all, wielding the Yin-Yang Ruler required qi support; if they got lost underground with no exit in sight, they couldn't possibly drill through rock layers dozens of li deep, and with no supplies available inside the Phoenix Mausoleum, they'd be trapped to die slowly.

"Xie Jinhuan, are you certain this path leads somewhere? If we take a wrong turn..."

"Relax, I'm sure—right ahead."

"..."

Seeing this, Nan Nangong Ye still chose to trust Ah Huan, following him for less than half a li before, upon entering another fissure, a glow suddenly appeared ahead.

The crimson light illuminated the stone walls, not blinding, as if someone had lit a bonfire at the fissure's end.

Even with the Yin-Yang Ruler shielding them, Nan Nangong Ye felt a searing heat originating from his soul, and unconsciously slowed his steps.

Bu Yuehua, seeing the firelight, instantly brightened:

"We actually found it! This must be it."

Xie Jinhuan followed the ghost bride to the fissure's end, where the opening revealed a chasm dozens of zhang wide.

The chasm stretched endlessly on either side, its depths below pitch-black and unknown; no phoenix beasts stirred within—only a flame the size of a human head floated in midair, illuminating a space of more than ten zhang around it.

The flame was utterly pure, seemingly without source, yet an immense, boundless force of heaven and earth emanated from the chasm's depths, converging upon the flame, causing it to sway silently.

Xie Jinhuan sensed the terrifying power contained within the flame, but what lay beneath the chasm filled him with the feeling of an ant gazing at the heavens; he furrowed his brow and asked:

"What's down in the chasm?"

Ye Hongshang glanced downward, recognizing something familiar but unable to recall it, and replied:

"All the Five Elements power of the Southern Frontier converges underground; this fireball is the result of 'overflow when full.' What exactly it is, we'll figure out later—first, absorb it."

Standing there, Xie Jinhuan felt as if he dared not speak loudly, lest he disturb the divine beneath; without delay, he asked:

"Who goes first?"

Bu Yuehua, having already agreed beforehand, replied:

"Absorb it quickly, then find the next one. If we keep this luck up, we should claim all the opportunities today."

Nan Nangong Ye nodded: "Hurry. Secure it before it slips away."

Xie Jinhuan, feeling that with the ghost bride guiding him and the Yin-Yang Ruler in hand, this was like picking up fortune for free, didn't argue over order—he stepped to the fissure's edge and attempted to draw the flame with his own qi.

Because the Yin-Yang Ruler repelled yang energy and the pressure of heaven's yang fire was overwhelming, the task was difficult.

As the crimson-glowing fireball drifted slowly closer to the three.

Xie Jinhuan spread his arms, following the ghost bride's method, enveloping the flame with his qi, carefully stripping away its burning core, retaining only the boundless Five Elements spiritual resonance, then slowly drawing it through his meridians into his dantian.

The Divine Gift of Lingguang contained too much heavenly power for any living being to withstand—it could only be sealed within the body, slowly nourishing the flesh through its minimal leakage, which is why the Five Divine Gifts could be passed down through generations.

The absorption process took about an hour; Bu Yuehua and Nan Nangong Ye waited anxiously for the next, their hearts eager, yet they didn't disturb Xie Jinhuan, merely waiting patiently beside him.

Xie Jinhuan had expected this journey to proceed without incident, but as he neared completion, the ghost bride floating beside him suddenly frowned:

"Someone's coming."

"Hm?"

Xie Jinhuan sensed danger and quickly turned to signal.

Nan Nangong Ye and Bu Yuehua, seeing his look, immediately grew alert, gripping their swords, holding their breath, staring toward the other end of the passage.

And after only a brief wait, voices echoed from the silent depths of the fissure:

"That fellow already dug up Zi Jin Stone—why not go further in?"

"Without a high-grade artifact for protection, ordinary cultivators reach their limit there; even knowing the opportunity lies nearby, they can't advance further."

"Hey?! There's firelight ahead..."

Nan Nangong Ye hadn't left any markers on this trip; seeing the newcomers had found them directly, his heart sank.

Anyone who could descend this deep so early, walking as if in a courtyard, either wielded a celestial artifact capable of avoiding yang fire, or possessed terrifyingly high cultivation—or both.

The three of them were indeed elites in the mortal world, but among the mountain peaks, they were mere beginners—unable to defeat anyone they encountered.

Seeing Xie Jinhuan nearly finished absorbing, Nan Nangong Ye held the Yin-Yang Ruler in his left hand and drew his magical sword, ready to defend the fissure at all costs to buy Xie Jinhuan time.

Bu Yuehua also didn't want trouble; she silently withdrew a slender waist knife wrapped in black cloth, fixing her gaze on the fissure's end.

Xie Jinhuan knew that if conflict erupted here, all three would drain their dantians and still might not survive the return to the surface; after a brief pause, he suddenly spoke:

"Don't worry—Xiao Qixia always acts this way; even after breaking her seclusion, she'll go to seize Shang Laomo, never cause trouble in Daqian..."

His sudden words startled the two women into a shiver—they wanted to kick this yellow-haired brat down—but they weren't fools; they quickly understood: only Ye Sheng would dare call True Person Qixia "Xiao Qixia."

Nan Nangong Ye's mind raced, and he replied:

"Master Ye is right, but True Person Qixia has been in seclusion for a hundred years—if she's been injured by Shang Lianbi..."

"I'd give Shang Lianbi ten lives—he wouldn't dare kill her. Back then, when the sects slaughtered the Corpse Ancestor at Longgu Beach, he was so afraid he arrived last—I haven't even settled that score with him..."

"Shang Lianbi is just a rogue cultivator—he values his life, naturally..."

The faint voices echoed through the silent underground.

Outside the fissure, Lyu Yan held the Chi Huo Token beside Xi Yanjun, both standing frozen, faces green.

That title, that tone of supreme arrogance, treating Shang Lianbi as if he were nothing—only Ye Ci, the Laozu Sect head of Confucianism, the First of the Three Teachings, could be this "Mr. Ye."

When Lyu Yan arrived, he knew any kind of cultivator might appear in the Phoenix Mausoleum.

But a Zhang Sect leader was already absurd—now the Immortal-Deng himself, who crushed the Wu Sect rebellion, the top-three cultivator in all of heaven and earth, the "Book-Sword Twin Sage"? Was this even plausible?

"Book-Sword Twin Sage" meant the Confucian Sage who was also a Martial Sage—the strongest martial cultivator since Wu Zu.

Ye Sheng might need two hands to deal with Shang Lianbi, but killing the Zhang Sect leader of the Zhanjian School would absolutely not require a second sword, and this second-in-command of the Zhanjian School might not even be worthy of the other party drawing a blade.

Lu Yan realized he had bumped into a True Immortal Buddha and wished he were merely dreaming, that he had never come to this Phoenix Tomb, and immediately prepared to slip away silently.

But if he could already hear them speaking, could a figure of Ye Sheng's cultivation level have failed to notice him approaching nearby?

Lu Yan pondered slightly, thinking that since they were at least considered Righteous Path, Old Demon Ye probably wouldn't strike to kill directly; thus, he tactfully took the initiative to speak:

"Junior Five Lingshan's Lu Yan has inadvertently wandered into this place; I beg the senior's forgiveness."

?

On the other side of the fissure, Nan Nangong Ye and Bu Yuehua turned green in the face upon hearing the other party announce his name.

Five Lingshan is the Northern Zhou Daoist sect, its status roughly equivalent to Mount Zihui in Great Qian, but the Sect Master is not on the same level.

Lu Yan, as the second-in-command of the Zhanjian School, holds a martial world status equal to Li Chi of the Black Fox Temple; if speaking solely of fire technique attainment, he is the strongest beneath the Zhang Sect leader.

This person would definitely lose against Lu Wu Zhen, but could casually handle any miscellaneous sect of Super Grade, and dealing with the three of them at First Grade might not even require three slaps.

Xie Jinhuan, merely hearing the name, knew this old geezer absolutely couldn't win; fortunately, his Qi state cultivated since age three remained intact, and the excessive power of heaven and earth within the Phoenix Tomb suppressed cultivator perception, so the other party could not gauge his depth; at this moment, he responded calmly:

"Young friend Lu, have you come here to find an opportunity for this junior?"

Lu Yan truly did not expect to be able to speak with Ye Sheng in this lifetime; his attitude was extremely humble:

"Indeed so; let the senior laugh at me."

"This opportunity has already been refined, but eight li to the east, there is another; Young friend Lu may take it yourself."

"Is that so?"

Lu Yan saw that this saint renowned throughout the world, the Saint of the Southern Court, had not made things difficult for him, a northerner; his heart could not help but sigh, "Truly the saint's nature, treating all living beings equally." After expressing thanks, he immediately took his leave.

Nan Nangong Ye and Bu Yuehua were both relieved, their nerves taut, daring not to show the slightest oddity.

Xie Jinhuan was also cautiously monitoring the commotion in the distance, ready to jump off a cliff and escape at any moment.

Unexpectedly, this Lu Yan was quite cautious; after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and asked:

"To speak frankly, the little Daoist has admired Ye Sheng for a long time and has read the 'Ten Questions' several times; I have a slight misunderstanding regarding the seventh chapter..."

Bu Yuehua's heart tightened, secretly thinking things were bad; Nan Nangong Ye's heart also rose to his throat.

But Xie Jinhuan, aside from not being Ye Sheng's direct disciple, was in no other way different from Ye Sheng's direct disciples; with his Qi state as usual, he responded:

"The difficulty of the Dao lies foremost in the heart; only when the heart is like still water can one reach the realm of the Dao. This article does not speak of severing emotions and desires, but of seeing through them. You are still young and have not yet passed the tribulation of the red dust; once you comprehend the four characters 'The Dao follows Nature,' you will naturally understand the meaning of this article."

"Oh... this junior has received your teaching!"

Seeing that this venerable elder had no flaws, Lu Yan naturally raised no objections and led his junior nephew out quickly.

Xi Yanjun did not dare approach the crack and had not seen what Ye Sheng looked like, but merely hearing the 'Saint's Voice' gave him a feeling of having no regrets in this life; only after walking far away did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief:

"Truly a Confucian Saint; look at this demeanor... Before Master departed, he cast a divination, saying this journey would be auspicious first and then inauspicious; this must be the auspicious part!"

"Shh."

Lu Yan signaled for silence, originally intending to run quickly to the east to grab the opportunity and return early.

But after walking a stretch eastward along the fissure, he suddenly discovered that marks had appeared again in the crack's gap.

Death Gate; this path is impassable!

?

When Lu Yan came over just now, he had checked the traces left by previous Daoist friends, saying that a Death Gate is a Death Gate and absolutely impassable.

Could it be that the fissure only opened this year...

Lu Yan pondered slightly, walked another stretch inward, and discovered he had indeed walked into a dead end; thus, he changed to another path and continued inward until half a shi later, when he finally arrived at a rock layer crack eight li away, one with not a single hair on it!

"Junior Uncle, what is going on? There is no opportunity here either?"

"What a fine 'The Dao follows Nature'."

Lu Yan's face turned green again; he turned and strode back along the original path:

"Deceitful little brat, you were the first to break the rules. Chase; they cannot have gone far."

(End of this chapter)