"Yeshuang..." Demon Lord Yueying's gaze flickered.
Demon Lord Yeshuang brushed aside the stray hairs on her forehead and smiled. "Who else could it be? What, are you going to ask me which path I choose too? Oh, wait, you wouldn't ask me. Because with me here, you can't become the second Demon Sovereign."
Demon Lord Yueying said nothing, only stared at her fixedly.
Demon Lord Yeshuang also remained silent, wearing a calm and composed smile.
This made Nan Guitian and Daoist Ruyi even more unable to fathom their thoughts. Night Owl City had always been the most domineering force in the Demonic Domain; Demon Lord Yeshuang's strength was thus imaginable. She rarely made personal moves, but both Demon Lord Yueying and Demon Lord Guifang treated her with considerable respect, never clashing with Night Owl City.
It was certain that Demon Lord Yueying could not kill Demon Lord Yeshuang. And what about Demon Lord Yeshuang? Knowing full well he still had accomplices, was she being overly confident by jumping out like this?
"Yeshuang, do you think you can stop this?"
"I cannot," Demon Lord Yeshuang said. "However, I must cause you some trouble, or else I'd be unworthy of your high regard."
The killing intent emanating from Demon Lord Yueying suddenly grew heavy.
Entering Carefree Valley, True Person Yuan Mu and his party followed the route map given by Yuan Zhen, passing through the outer valley, walking into the inner valley, and finally turning into a pit. This pit was narrow and irregular, bearing clear signs of excavation. Occasionally, they could even see mining picks and similar tools scattered on the ground.
After winding through the pitch-black pit for a long time, they passed a place where everyone seemed to hear the rushing sound of flowing water in their ears. Another place had an extremely dense, eerie aura that made even these Nascent Soul cultivators feel their hairs stand on end.
After an unknown length of time, their view suddenly opened up, revealing a massive cavern.
As soon as they emerged, they saw over ten Nascent Soul cultivators standing nearby. Seeing their appearance, each wore a guarded expression.
True Person Yuan Mu swept his gaze over them, finding they were all Nascent Soul cultivators from various major sects, though for some reason, they had all stopped here.
He gave the bearded man a meaningful look. The bearded man understood and stepped forward, cupping his hands in a salute to the group. "Fellow Daoists."
Seeing his polite demeanor, the Nascent Soul cultivators relaxed their guard slightly and returned the salutes one by one.
Among these cultivators, a mid-stage, round-faced old man with a plump build smiled and said, "So it's Brother Zhao. Your Jiuyan Sect is a bit late."
The bearded man laughed. "Some matters delayed us. May I ask Fellow Daoist Xiao, why have you all stopped here?"
Upon hearing this, the round-faced old man sighed. "It's not that we want to stop; it's because we simply can't get through."
The bearded man was taken aback. "Can't get through?"
The round-faced old man nodded and pointed. "Look, the path has been blocked by someone, making it impassable."
The Jiuyan Sect members stepped forward to look. Indeed, the passage marked on Yuan Zhen's route map was gone.
"This..." The bearded man was somewhat stunned. "What's going on?"
The round-faced old man said, "We don't know. We only arrived a little earlier than you and found the path blocked. Moreover, Fellow Daoist Yan of the Five Elements Valley says the method used to block the path is a special barrier, subtly incorporating formation principles, making it very difficult to break."
He pointed to a young man beside him who wore a shy expression. This youth seemed to have just formed his Nascent Soul, his realm not very stable. Seeing the round-faced old man point him out, he hurriedly cupped his hands again towards the bearded man.
The Five Elements Valley specialized in formation arts. If a Five Elements Valley cultivator said it was difficult to break, then it truly was. The bearded man inquired about the situation and personally tested it before reporting back to True Person Yuan Mu. "Senior Brother Yuan Mu, Fellow Daoist Yan likely isn't lying. There is indeed a barrier. In my opinion, breaking this barrier will not be a matter of a single day."
This junior brother was not outstanding in combat, but had considerable talent in formations. True Person Yuan Mu trusted his judgment. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought of a possibility and exclaimed in alarm, "Not good! Yuan Zhen might be trapped right here!"
Hearing his words, the Jiuyan Sect cultivators all showed astonished expressions. After his initial shock, the bearded man immediately realized this possibility indeed existed. They had been unable to contact Yuan Zhen the entire journey, and now the passage was blocked. How could such a coincidence exist in this world? If Yuan Zhen happened to be trapped inside, it would explain everything.
True Person Yuan Mu quickly calmed down, thinking rapidly. "After all, Yuan Zhen is my blood relative. If something happened to him, I should have some sense of it. Moreover, once his life lamp extinguishes, the sect would immediately use a Ten-Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman to inform me. Since none of these have occurred, Yuan Mu and his party should not be in mortal danger, only temporarily trapped."
The bearded man nodded, agreeing with his assessment. "Since Yuan Zhen and the others aren't in mortal danger, should we go rescue Junior Brother Ling first?"
"Mm," True Person Yuan Mu nodded, his eyes narrowing again. "Let's search. Yuan Zhen mentioned there's another path here, just extremely difficult to traverse. We'll have to choose to take that route."
As they were speaking, they suddenly saw two figures slowly fly out from within the cavern. One appeared around fifty years old, dressed in silk robes and brocade shoes like a wealthy mortal merchant, adorned with a golden belt and jade ornaments. The other wore a sky-blue Daoist robe, simple, clean, and elegant.
"Senior... Senior Brother Ruyi!" the young Cultivator of the Yan Clan from the Five Elements Valley called out.
The two saw them and slowly flew over.
"Fellow Daoists," Nan Guitian said with a smile. "So you've already arrived."
"Fellow Daoist Nan!" The round-faced old man surnamed Xiao hurriedly performed a salute and asked, "Fellow Daoist Nan, what exactly is going on? Why is the path blocked?"
Nan Guitian sighed upon hearing this. "I, Nan, came precisely for this matter. Old Donkey Ma colluded with the old ghost Yueying, intending to seize the inheritance object of the Black Tortoise. Worried we were too numerous, they sealed the passage. Fellow Daoist Ruyi and I saw the situation turning chaotic and left earlier; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to extricate ourselves either."
"Is that really the case?" The round-faced old man was both shocked and furious. "No wonder the old ghost Yueying was suddenly so generous! So he had ill intentions all along!"
Daoist Ruyi said coldly, "When has he ever harbored good intentions? Fortunately, I was already on guard beforehand."
"Fellow Daoist Ruyi," True Person Yuan Mu suddenly spoke up. "Since Fellow Daoist Ruyi suspected this early on, why still follow along?"
Seeing True Person Yuan Mu, Daoist Ruyi softened his tone and said with a bitter smile, "Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu speaks lightly. Your Jiuyan Sect has vast resources and a great enterprise. How can our Five Elements Valley act so freely? I'm not afraid of being laughed at by fellow Daoists, but it's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't. Who knows if this opportunity might just fall into one's own lap?"
Hearing Daoist Ruyi's words, everyone felt a sense of shared sentiment. Which of them hadn't thought the same? Otherwise, how could over twenty Nascent Soul cultivators have come as soon as Demon Lord Yueying released the news? Decades ago, the heaven and earth underwent strange changes; Yiyi Island and the North Pole Island were destroyed. Now, the Yunzhong cultivation world was in a period of transition, unable to cultivate Core Formation disciples properly. These Nascent Soul cultivators of theirs also had nowhere to find spirit treasures. Idle time was idle time; might as well come join the excitement. With so many people, Demon Lord Yueying couldn't possibly capture them all in one net, could he?
The round-faced old man asked doubtfully, "Fellow Daoist Ruyi, the old ghost Yueying and Old Donkey Ma are only two people. How could they have that capability? I recall Fellow Daoist Yeshuang and Monk Xuxiang also came along. They shouldn't have the guts for this."
"Fellow Daoist Xiao is unaware," Nan Guitian said. "Yeshuang and Xuxiang were both lured away. Those two seem to have colluded with someone else and made preparations long ago."
"Colluded with whom? Prepared what?" True Person Yuan Mu went straight to the point.
Nan Guitian shook his head. "We two are no match for them. Once we realized something was wrong, we were busy fleeing for our lives."
The cultivators fell silent, but among themselves, they were frantically transmitting messages—to teammates, to sect members—all discussing the words of Nan Guitian and Daoist Ruyi. Had Demon Lord Yueying truly colluded with Old Donkey Ma? Or were they deliberately luring these people away to reduce the number of competitors?
They didn't trust Demon Lord Yueying and Old Donkey Ma, but they didn't trust Nan Guitian and Daoist Ruyi either. In today's Yunzhong, resource competition was too fierce. Some leaned towards preserving their lives, some leaned towards seizing treasure, and others wanted to go rescue people. For a time, over a dozen people hesitated, argued, and found it difficult to reach a decision.
"Senior Brother Yuan Mu, do you think what they said is true or false?" the bearded man transmitted to True Person Yuan Mu.
True Person Yuan Mu frowned deeply, only speaking after a long while. "It's possible."
"Ah?"
True Person Yuan Mu said, "What kind of character the old ghost Yueying is, others might not know, but us old-timers do. When he was young, he wasn't the least bit low-key. After reaching Nascent Soul, for some reason, he actually started cultivating his character and nurturing his nature. If you say he set this trap, I believe it."
"Then we..."
True Person Yuan Mu hesitated again. "It's just that Nan Guitian and Ruyi, these two, have always been inseparable, partners in crime. If you say these two teamed up to deceive people, that's also not impossible."
Seeing him like this, the bearded man knew Senior Brother Yuan Mu was falling into his old habit again. He absolutely had to think clearly about which was the truth before making a decision.
At that moment, three more people emerged from the pit. Everyone looked and saw it was actually Scholar Yu of the Yueshan Academy and two other Nascent Soul Confucian cultivators.
Seeing them here, Scholar Yu wore a look of surprise. "Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu, you all are..."
"Scholar Yu," True Person Yuan Mu raised his hand in salute, his gaze sweeping over the two people behind him. The Yueshan Academy had lost some cultivators in the Guixu Sea back then. One of these two had just formed his Nascent Soul in recent years. Of course, that wasn't the main point. The point was, the Yueshan Academy currently only had five Nascent Souls. Including Han Shizhi, who had been sent ahead, they had actually brought four. Could it be Han Shizhi had received some news?
As he thought this, someone had already explained the situation to Scholar Yu.
After listening, Scholar Yu looked at True Person Yuan Mu. "Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu, what do you think?"
True Person Yuan Mu shook his head. "Hard to say."
Scholar Yu, however, smiled. "My Yueshan Academy will take a gamble." With that, he cupped his hands to the group and led his two juniors away directly.
True Person Yuan Mu was taken aback and quickly called out, "Scholar Yu!"
Scholar Yu stopped. "Does Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu have some advice?"
True Person Yuan Mu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Scholar Yu seems quite confident?"
Scholar Yu paused, then smiled somewhat inscrutably. "You could say that." Turning, he added, "My Yueshan Academy cannot compare to the vast resources and great enterprise of the Jiuyan Sect. When it's time to take a risk, one still must go and take it."