At this moment, the Immortal Palace Passage was about to close. Everyone should be rushing to get out. How could there still be someone here?
Mo Tiange was just about to enter the Void Heaven Realm when she sensed a heavy sword intent emanating from this person. A thought flashed through her mind. She stopped the action of summoning the Void Heaven Realm and turned to look.
"I'm back," the newcomer said weakly, offering her a bitter smile.
Mo Tiange was stunned. "You... why didn't you leave?" They had said they would meet again, but it didn't need to be this soon, did it?
"Sigh!" The newcomer let out a long sigh. Who else could it be but Jing Xingzhi?
Hadn't he left quite a while ago? If he followed the route map she gave him, he should have already exited the Immortal Palace Passage. Why had he turned back? Mo Tiange was utterly perplexed.
Jing Xingzhi spread his hands. "It seems fate has decreed that I'm destined to be stuck here with the two of you."
"What happened?" Mo Tiange asked, bewildered. Without her and Qin Xi holding him back, with Jing Xingzhi's abilities, exiting the Immortal Palace Passage shouldn't have been difficult. Why had he turned back?
Jing Xingzhi sighed deeply, a look of weariness appearing on his face. He tossed something to her.
Mo Tiange caught it. It was that Qiankun Ring.
Jing Xingzhi said, "I may be ruthless and merciless, but I never break my word. When I cooperate with others, I don't hog all the spoils. This time, you two got me into a real mess. So, I took all the high-grade spirit stones and most of the crystal jade inside as compensation. This is yours."
Although the Qiankun Ring was rare, it was ultimately just a storage magic treasure. For him, high-grade spirit stones and crystal jade were more practical, aiding his cultivation. The crystal jade could also be inlaid into his lifebound flying sword, which was far more effective than soul jade. Once refined, the sword's power would increase significantly.
Thinking of this, Jing Xingzhi paused. What use was a more powerful flying sword if he couldn't get out and was trapped in this Immortal Palace for life? When he left Tianji, he had thought that if he one day became a late-Nascent Soul Sword Venerable, he would definitely return to Tianji, return to the Ancient Sword Sect, and reclaim what belonged to him and his master. Therefore, even though he became a rogue cultivator, wandering everywhere, he never gave up on himself. But now? When he turned back just now, this thought of revenge hadn't even crossed his mind until now.
In the end, he revealed a bitter smile. Forget it, forget it. It wasn't that he didn't want to leave. Who told him to be so unlucky as to run into these two jinxes?
Mo Tiange held the Qiankun Ring, looking at Jing Xingzhi, waiting for his explanation.
Jing Xingzhi sighed again—he had sighed more today than in the past few hundred years. The next moment, however, his brow furrowed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a "puh" sound.
"Fellow Daoist Jing!"
Jing Xingzhi slumped to the ground, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth carelessly, and grinned at her. "See now? It's not that I don't want to leave. I can't get out."
"You..." Mo Tiange's gaze was complex. She asked in a low voice, "Who was it?"
"Of course, it was those two from the Jiuyan Sect," Jing Xingzhi said in a flat tone. "I ran into them again in front of the Immortal Palace Passage. The mid-stage Nascent Soul one had been healing above ground and hadn't come down, so his strength was still intact. One mid-stage, one late-stage—I could only flee for my life."
"..." Mo Tiange was silent for a long moment. Earlier here, Iron-Face Perfected One hadn't made a move because he was alone and had to consider Yuan Mu Perfected One and Ling Yunhe. Leaving here, reuniting with Ling Shiyu, and then running into Jing Xingzhi—naturally, they would vent their anger on him. Although Jing Xingzhi was formidable, he was only at the early Nascent Soul stage. Facing the joint attack of a mid-stage and a late-stage cultivator, he could only flee.
Mo Tiange didn't feel too guilty about this. Jing Xingzhi had chosen to cooperate with them, so he naturally had to bear the risks involved. But regardless, the fact that he couldn't get out was related to the two of them.
Most importantly, the three of them were now truly in the same boat, sharing the same misfortune. The Immortal Palace Passage was about to close, and none of them currently had the strength to get out.
After a long while, Mo Tiange also sighed. She took out a bottle of pills from her Qiankun Bag and tossed it to him. "No choice. Heal your injuries first."
Jing Xingzhi took it, opened the jade bottle, sniffed it, and his eyes lit up. "You guys really have a lot of good stuff. Nine Revolutions Return to Yang Pills! You even have this kind of healing elixir! Right, that kid Qin Shoujing is good at alchemy and has a rich background, so naturally, he uses whatever works best." He poured out one pill and swallowed it. After a moment's thought, he carefully tucked the entire bottle into his robe. "It's mine now. No matter what, you two bear some responsibility for me not being able to leave. I'll take this as a bit of compensation first."
Mo Tiange didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He really was... "Hurry up and heal! So much nonsense!" Although these pills were precious, they weren't short of spirit herbs and could refine more anytime. Giving him a bottle was nothing.
However, this was troublesome. With someone else here, how could she enter the Void Heaven Realm?
She thought for a moment, then shook her head helplessly. Forget it. Right now, in this temple hall, the demonic qi was gone, spiritual energy was abundant, and there were remnants of the Vermilion Bird's Breath. It wasn't much worse than inside the Void Heaven Realm. Since she still had plenty of pills on her, she might as well heal here. As for the future... if they really couldn't get out, there would always be opportunities.
Thinking this, she took out a piece of beast hide from her Qiankun Bag, settled Qin Xi comfortably, swallowed a pill herself, and began to sit cross-legged in meditation.
In order to heal Qin Xi, Mo Tiange had nearly exhausted all her spiritual energy earlier. This meditation session took almost a full day and night.
By the time she opened her eyes, Jing Xingzhi was gone.
The Immortal Palace Passage had already closed. Presumably, there were no others. Perhaps he had gone outside to look around. They didn't know how long they would be stuck here, so familiarizing themselves with the surroundings was reasonable.
Mo Tiange thought for a moment. Taking advantage of Jing Xingzhi's absence, she brought Qin Xi into the Void Heaven Realm.
Once inside, she first released Little Fire and Xiao Fan. No fighting; let them continue cultivating in the Void Heaven Realm. As for Fei Fei, he was more useful outside.
Seeing Xiao Fan, she couldn't help but recall her promise to the Cang Dragon clan: that if she ever passed away or, fate willing, achieved God Transformation, she would dissolve the spirit beast contract and release him back to the East Sea. Now that she was trapped in this Immortal Palace, she didn't know if she could still fulfill that promise.
She shook her head, putting the matter aside for now. She would do her best to keep her promise, but clearly, it wasn't possible now.
Afterward, she gathered some things and, bringing Qin Xi, left the Void Heaven Realm, returning to the Vermilion Bird Great Hall.
This Underground Palace had no other structures besides this temple hall. Although the spiritual energy inside was abundant, it was too dim and gloomy. If there was a chance, they should go up to the higher levels.
However, that wasn't possible in the short term because that God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet was still wandering above.
Thinking this, Mo Tiange began taking items out of her Qiankun Bag one by one.
Not long after, Jing Xingzhi returned. His steps were light, and he looked in good spirits. It seemed his injuries had healed well.
Seeing Mo Tiange, he was stunned for a long moment before pointing at the things around her and asking, "What are you..."
"Since we can't leave for now, we might as well make ourselves comfortable, right?" Mo Tiange glanced at him, very calmly pouring herself a cup of tea.
She had arranged one corner of the great hall into a small cultivation chamber. Innermost was a bamboo bed covered with a soft beast hide, where Qin Xi was settled. Beside it was another beast hide with a meditation cushion placed on it—her own cultivation spot. In front was a tea table with a small tea stove beside it. Outermost was a row of low tables holding various books, serving both as decoration and a partition.
Jing Xingzhi was amazed, shaking his head. "Women will be women..."
Mo Tiange pointed to the other side of the Vermilion Bird statue. "That side is yours. We won't disturb each other."
With the statue and altar table separating them, they wouldn't have a completely unobstructed view, preserving some private space.
Jing Xingzhi swept a glance over it and didn't say more. He walked over to her. "I just took a walk around the entire Underground Palace."
Mo Tiange pushed out another meditation cushion, letting him sit opposite her at the tea table. "Any discoveries?"
Jing Xingzhi hesitated for a moment before saying, "There are others like us who didn't get out."
"What?" Mo Tiange was surprised, then frowned. "Could it be that Demon Lord Guifang?" They couldn't get out due to limited strength, but others shouldn't have that problem, right?
Jing Xingzhi first nodded, then shook his head. "Yes, and no."
"What do you mean?"
"That Demon Lord Guifang has already perished," Jing Xingzhi said.
Mo Tiange was shocked. "What?!" Although she had speculated, she never really believed that the demon lord who could contend with Venerable Wuming had perished just like that. She couldn't help but recall Guifang City, the demonic cultivators' evaluations of Demon Lord Guifang within the city, and his scheming nature in obtaining the Heavenly Demon Tower yet keeping it secret. Although his lifespan wasn't long, to perish like this... it was truly hard to believe.
"What exactly did you see?"
"You once said there's an Origin Demon Stone Stele here, the source of the previous demonic qi, right?"
Mo Tiange nodded. When they first entered the Underground Palace, she had mentioned this to Jing Xingzhi.
"I walked around the Underground Palace just now and found that stone stele."
"And then?" Mo Tiange asked. Could it be that Demon Lord Guifang couldn't absorb so much Origin Demonic Qi and exploded?
"Demon Lord Guifang perished right beside that stone stele," Jing Xingzhi said. "However, there's one person still alive."
Mo Tiange paused, blurting out, "Yang Chengji?!"
"That's right, it's him," Jing Xingzhi confirmed. "He's currently surrounded by demonic qi, with countless demonic creatures scattered around him. But, the demonic qi from these creatures has all vanished. They've become lifeless objects."
Mo Tiange's expression shifted. "Could it be that he's the one who cultivated the Origin Demon Great Art and absorbed the demonic qi here?"
"Origin Demon Great Art?" Jing Xingzhi asked.
Mo Tiange nodded slowly. "Yes. That stone stele records a top-tier demonic path technique—the Origin Demon Great Art."
Jing Xingzhi frowned, thinking for a moment, but ultimately couldn't recall anything and shook his head. Apart from that one time at Heavenly Demon Mountain, he had no interaction with Song Feng and didn't know he cultivated the Origin Demon Great Art, so he had no idea what kind of demonic art it was.
"I don't know anything about the Origin Demon Great Art," Jing Xingzhi said. "Seeing that kid cultivating demonic arts there, I originally thought about finishing him off with one sword strike. But on second thought, the Immortal Palace Passage has already disappeared. Having one more person might be good. If we find a way out later, he could be an asset."
"It's a good thing you didn't kill him," Mo Tiange said, relieved. Yang Chengji was an old acquaintance of hers, and his character was decent. After a moment's thought, she frowned again. "How did Demon Lord Guifang perish? Since he perished, why is Yang Chengji still alive?"
"I don't know that," Jing Xingzhi said. "Demon Lord Guifang perished right beside Yang Chengji, seemingly in a protective stance. I suspect he might have died protecting his disciple."