The small, nameless valley was in complete disarray.
Under the power of the magical treasures and spirit talismans, the teleportation array on the ground had been destroyed. As for the cultivators from Starfall City, none had been spared—all were severely wounded. The other cultivators who had escaped from the Maze Cave were no better off. The three from the Jin Stone Sect lacked sufficient medicinal pills, Yu Gui had already perished, and Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo were also in dire straits, hovering on the brink of death.
The only one who remained relatively unscathed was the sword cultivator, Jian Xin. Although he had attacked City Lord Mei, the city lord's target had been Nie Wushang and Mo Tiange, so he had paid Jian Xin no mind. Thus, Jian Xin had only been shaken by the shockwave of City Lord Mei's Demonic Qi.
At that moment, a figure flew out from the shattered restriction node.
This person was dressed in black, tall and imposing, with a gloomy countenance. His hands were tucked into his sleeves. As the surrounding Spiritual Qi churned violently, his sleeves were blown back, faintly revealing a glint of silver light.
He cast a cold, indifferent glance in the direction where City Lord Mei had vanished, then looked down at the scene before him and snorted coldly. With a wave of his right hand, a surge of Demonic Qi erupted, striking the several severely wounded cultivators.
"You..." Elder Liang, who was gravely wounded but not yet dead, was utterly horrified. "You're not dead?"
The man sneered, his voice low and sinister. "Did you think I was one of these fools?" As he spoke, he raised his silver prosthetic hand, and a mass of Demonic Qi smashed into Elder Liang. The already critically wounded Elder Liang immediately ceased breathing.
The man's movements did not stop. With one hand conjuring a mass of Demonic Qi after another, he almost instantly annihilated nearly everyone present—be they cultivators from Starfall City or fellow cultivators who, like him, had been deceived.
Although these people were all severely wounded, judging by this man's almost effortless performance, his strength was clearly extraordinary.
Seeing this, Jian Xin flicked his sleeve. His flying sword emitted a clear ring as he stared at the man with utmost vigilance.
The man, however, merely glanced at him, showing no intention to fight. With a sweep of his hand, he collected the Qiankun Bags of several demonic cultivators and said expressionlessly, "The rest are yours." Having said that, he flicked his sleeve and flew away in the opposite direction of City Lord Mei's pursuit.
Jian Xin let out a sigh of relief, covering his chest as he coughed once.
He had noticed this person even before entering the secret land. Also at the peak of mid Core Formation stage, those prosthetic hands were clearly formidable at a glance, marking him as no ordinary opponent. Indeed, while they were locked in a battle of wits and courage with City Lord Mei, this person had hidden deep within the cave, leaving no trace. Only after they had lured City Lord Mei away did he emerge with ease.
Now, with both sides wounded, this person had emerged from the cave and hadn't even forgotten to seize the opportunity to kill and plunder. His mind was meticulous, his heart ruthless and cruel, driven by greed and profit.
Fortunately, this person had no intention of making an enemy of him. That made sense; although Jian Xin was injured, his wounds were not as severe as those of the critically wounded. If they were to fight, he might not necessarily lose. Being so clever, the man naturally took his gains and left. Lingering here any longer was an invitation for unforeseen trouble.
Thinking of this, Jian Xin looked up in the direction where Mo Tiange and the others had fled, a flicker of worry in his eyes. He remembered that the Maze Mist lay in that direction. If those two were fortunate enough to escape into the Maze Mist, then they still had a chance to survive. But under the pursuit of a Nascent Soul cultivator, could they hold out until then?
Jian Xin pondered for a moment, then shook his head. He collected the few remaining Qiankun Bags on the ground, summoned his flying sword, and likewise fled the area in the opposite direction.
He valued his own life more. At this point, he could only pray for their good fortune.
At this very moment, Mo Tiange was fleeing at breakneck speed.
She didn't know why City Lord Mei had been blocked by that strike from the Heaven-Earth Fan, and now was not the time to investigate. Fortunately, this time, City Lord Mei's aura was growing increasingly distant. He had not pursued her even as she safely entered the Maze Mist.
Mo Tiange breathed a sigh of relief. At this distance, she didn't even need to rely on her Earth-Shrinking Ruler; she had ample time to escape into the Void Heaven Realm.
She looked down at Nie Wushang, who remained unconscious, and noticed that Nie Wushang's Origin Demonic Qi had already spread to her own hand. A flicker of hesitation passed through her eyes, but in the end, she pressed her fingers to her brow and activated the Void Heaven Realm.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths... City Lord Mei's aura remained at that distant interval. Finally, the pearl light at her brow erupted in brilliance, swallowing both her and Nie Wushang.
Seeing the familiar small hut and flowing stream once more, Mo Tiange felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body. She collapsed onto the floor of the hut, almost unable to move.
It wasn't just because she had been attacked by City Lord Mei, her spiritual energy churning violently within, leaving her severely wounded. It was also because her nerves were stretched to the breaking point, teetering on the edge of collapse.
Strictly speaking, this crisis hadn't been as dangerous as the one at Heavenly Demon Mountain. But back then, Qin Xi had been by her side. Experienced, he had often avoided dangers in advance. This time, however, she had faced the pursuit of a Nascent Soul cultivator almost single-handedly.
After resting with her eyes closed for a while, she suddenly heard Nie Wushang let out a groan. Mo Tiange opened her eyes and, seeing Nie Wushang whom she had tossed aside, was immediately startled.
Ever since absorbing that monster, Nie Wushang had been completely enveloped in Origin Demonic Qi, motionless like a silkworm in its cocoon. But now, the Origin Demonic Qi surrounding her body began to churn restlessly, as if agitated.
Mo Tiange observed carefully for a moment and discovered that this Origin Demonic Qi seemed to be clashing with the Spiritual Qi within the Void Heaven Realm.
"How can this be?" she murmured to herself. As she pondered, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her left hand. Looking down, she saw it was the spot where she had been eroded by Nie Wushang's Origin Demonic Qi while pulling her to safety.
Origin Demonic Qi was quite similar to the Death Qi she had encountered before, possessing the same corrosive power. Therefore, before entering the Void Heaven Realm, she had worried that if the Origin Demonic Qi also prevented her from entering, she would have to hide within the Maze Mist and play hide-and-seek with City Lord Mei. Fortunately, that hadn't happened. Compared to Death Qi, this Origin Demonic Qi seemed less violent and more pure.
But just when she had concluded that Origin Demonic Qi and the Void Heaven Realm were not in conflict, she now discovered that the situation might not be so simple.
If this Origin Demonic Qi was the pure demonic energy from the primordial ancient times, and the Spiritual Qi within the Void Heaven Realm was also the purest Spiritual Qi existing in the world today, then it was not impossible for the two to conflict.
Watching as the clash between the demonic and spiritual energies grew increasingly intense, Mo Tiange hesitated briefly before setting up a formation around Nie Wushang to block out the Spiritual Qi. After a while, Nie Wushang gradually calmed down and sank back into deep slumber, allowing Mo Tiange to sigh in relief.
Judging by this, Nie Wushang likely wouldn't wake up anytime soon. That monster had been incredibly powerful, arguably surpassing Nie Wushang's own realm. Under such circumstances, Nie Wushang's actions amounted to forcibly absorbing the monster's Origin Demonic Qi. To wake up, she would have to completely assimilate all this Origin Demonic Qi for her own use. Therefore, the time until she awoke would be measured in years, at the very least.
This left Mo Tiange with mixed feelings—part relief, part worry. The relief was that she could completely leave the Void Heaven Realm before Nie Wushang woke up, thus avoiding any need for explanations. The worry was that, as a result, she would have to take care of Nie Wushang for a period of time.
Regardless, the situation was what it was. She could only go with the flow.
With this thought, after resting briefly, Mo Tiange ordered the two stone puppet dolls to tidy up a wooden hut. She then carefully set up a formation inside the hut to isolate Spiritual Qi, moved Nie Wushang into that room, and left her to her own fate.
She was completely unable to help with digesting the Origin Demonic Qi. Now, it all depended on Nie Wushang herself. If she could fully absorb that Origin Demonic Qi, she might even turn misfortune into blessing and achieve a great leap in her cultivation. But if she couldn't fully absorb it, she might suffer a backlash. As for the exact consequences, Mo Tiange couldn't guess.
After dealing with Nie Wushang, she released her three spirit beasts, sending them off to cultivate on their own. She herself spent several days in meditation, temporarily stabilizing her injuries. Then, she began to ponder the events.
The matter of City Lord Mei left many unresolved issues.
First, her injuries were not light. Nie Wushang would need years to digest the Origin Demonic Qi, and she herself would probably also need several years for her lingering injuries to fully heal.
Second, she had been eroded by Origin Demonic Qi. Although not severe, it would still take some time to expel it from her body.
Finally, she simply couldn't understand: why had City Lord Mei been injured?
During breaks in her recovery, Mo Tiange replayed the scene over and over in her mind. The white silk handkerchief, the Diamond Talisman, and the Heaven-Earth Fan—these three treasures had allowed her to survive City Lord Mei's attack with severe injuries but her life intact. The white silk handkerchief and the Diamond Talisman presented no issues. Only the Heaven-Earth Fan, which at that moment had emitted an intense, vast, and majestic sacred aura.
Yet, when she took out the Heaven-Earth Fan afterward, it remained as before, with no trace of that aura to be found.
If her memory served her correctly, this aura should be the same Breath of the Divine Dragon she had sensed within the Divine Dragon Sacrificial Temple. After the Dragon's Hidden Land collapsed, the Divine Dragon Sacrificial Temple vanished, and the Dragon Bones shattered, the Breath of the Divine Dragon had weakened considerably. After she retrieved the fragments and crafted them into the Heaven-Earth Fan, the dragon's breath became even more difficult to detect. This had once led her to wonder if there was an error in the method of crafting the magical treasure, especially since even Mo Yaoqing had never successfully crafted a Heaven-Earth Fan.
However, Qin Xi had told her that the crafting method should be correct. It was just that even when Mo Yaoqing conceived of this treasure, she probably never imagined someone would use Dragon Bones to craft it. After all, the bones of ordinary eighth-rank or higher demon beasts were merely difficult to break; they didn't possess such powerful... properties.
Mo Tiange had accepted this explanation. After all, through experimentation, using Dragon Bones to craft the fan had made it incredibly resilient—an obvious benefit.
But she never would have imagined that one day, this thing would emit such an intense Breath of the Divine Dragon.
Could it be that after the Dragon Bones were crafted, the dragon's breath hadn't dissipated but was instead deeply concealed within?
Considering this possibility, Mo Tiange grew excited. If so, the power of her Heaven-Earth Fan wouldn't be limited to its current state. If she could stimulate that vast, majestic Breath of the Divine Dragon, her Heaven-Earth Fan could truly rival those ancient spiritual treasures.
But how to stimulate this Breath of the Divine Dragon? She carefully recalled the scene at the time. City Lord Mei's Demonic Qi attacked... right, Origin Demonic Qi. Although City Lord Mei hadn't absorbed that monster, he had cultivated that mysterious technique and also possessed Origin Demonic Qi.