Chapter 98: Ashen Wastelands
A distance of fifty or sixty zhang, with Li Weiyi’s current cultivation, could be crossed in moments.
But in this dimly lit, web-covered, crisis-ridden underground spider cave, it seemed exceptionally deep, like stepping step by step into the strange dark nether spirit world.
Spirit highly tense, senses fully released, vigilant of the ground below and all directions around.
Walking over forty zhang toward that purple cordyceps, getting closer and closer, Li Weiyi stopped, turning back for a glance.
Ten zhang away, Yin Twenty-Four’s slender thin figure was slightly blurred, but her cold and glamorous beautiful face could be seen. Farther away, Yao Yin by the blood river was only the size of a finger, almost completely merged with the darkness.
Already very far.
Further ahead was the unknown area shrouded in purple mist.
How powerful were the seven phoenix wing moth emperors, yet after entering, they vanished without a trace, still not returned. As their master, Li Weiyi had lost connection with them.
At the center of the purple mist, that cordyceps was over a meter tall, emitting crystalline luster, flowing with radiant colors. But its alluring posture and the medicinal fragrance it released no longer held any greed for Li Weiyi; instead, he felt it like a snake-scorpion beauty stripped naked, wantonly displaying her allure, extremely dangerous.
Yin Twenty-Four tightened the spider rope further, nodding to him.
With a Five Seas Realm expert providing support from behind, Li Weiyi felt more confident, gripping the Yellow Dragon Sword, secretly mobilizing magic power to activate the corpse clothes soft armor worn close to his body, then stepping into the purple mist area.
“Hu!”
As if stepping into the center of a storm, his figure unsteady, leaving the ground, everything in his vision disappeared.
Inside the purple mist area, it was far from the calm it appeared on the surface, filled with chaotic power.
Li Weiyi was shocked in his heart, shouting “Pull me back” while struggling to steady himself, feet landing, stumbling out of the purple mist area, whereupon he froze in place.
He was no longer in the spider cave.
“This is… what place…”
Underfoot was extremely fine black sand, fine as powder dust.
In his vision, the space was vast, with yardang landform-like earth mounds standing tall, strange and jagged, full of wind-eroded ridges and grooves.
It was the purple cordyceps’ light illuminating this place.
A hundred zhang away was the edge of the purple light, blurred by darkness. But Li Weiyi believed there was even vaster terrain in the darkness.
The spider rope at his waist had somehow snapped; he abruptly turned back to look. The purple mist still shrouded there, rolling in the wind and sand, shifting into various forms.
“Li… Weiyi…”
A blurred, distant voice sounded.
Moments later, Yin Twenty-Four floated in like a light leaf in the purple mist, suddenly falling sideways.
Li Weiyi waved a strand of magic energy, and she quickly regained balance, drifting to the ground.
Her feet touching down, she immediately sensed something wrong with the ground here, softer than desert, her legs sinking half a chi deep.
Releasing magic energy.
Her body became light, legs slowly pulling free.
After observing the surroundings, shock intensified in Yin Twenty-Four’s eyes: “How could there be such a strange place underground around Jiu Li Insect Valley? This doesn’t seem like the Flying Winged White Spider’s nest.”
“Why didn’t you pull me back?” Li Weiyi asked.
Yin Twenty-Four glared at him irritably, her eyes large and round: “I pulled with all my strength, the spider rope snapped, couldn’t pull you at all.”
Li Weiyi realized the severity, staying vigilant around while walking toward the purple mist, saying: “You shouldn’t come in! You should take Yao Yin and leave quickly, go find Hidden Lord for help. I feel this place…”
Li Weiyi had just stepped into the purple mist when he immediately lost balance, pulled back by an incomparably chaotic and powerful force, thrown several zhang away.
Yin Twenty-Four exhaled sharply, turning it into a clear wind that enveloped him.
She knew what Li Weiyi said was the most correct strategy, but stubbornly replied: “I’m Five Seas Realm, I have the responsibility and duty to bring you back intact.”
After landing steady, wariness appeared in Li Weiyi’s eyes, pointing at the purple mist as if saying “You’re Five Seas Realm, you go.”
Yin Twenty-Four had the bearing of a strong practitioner, releasing thick magic energy in her palms, striding toward the purple mist, using her palms to force open a path out.
But the magic energy on her palms dissipated into nothing upon touching the purple mist.
The stronger the power struck, the stronger the backlash.
“Peng!”
Yin Twenty-Four flew backwards, crashing heavily to the ground; Li Weiyi couldn’t reach her in time.
Her slender body nearly completely buried in the black sand. After a while, she crawled out, utterly disheveled, face covered in dirt, hair bun loose, waist-length hair messily draping down.
Yin Twenty-Four quickly adjusted her state, regaining her cold and proud expert demeanor: “Be careful of the black sand on the ground. Without using magic energy to lift your feet and body, you risk being buried by it, falling into the extremely deep underground, suffocating to death.”
Li Weiyi had noticed this long ago, channeling magic power to his eyes for far sight, saying: “This place doesn’t seem naturally formed, or holds unfathomable danger. I only hope Yao Yin is smart enough to quickly return to Hidden Sect for help.”
“Hua!”
That patch of purple mist surged turbulently again.
Yao Yin in white cloud robes fell out from inside.
Li Weiyi closed his eyes with a long sigh.
Yin Twenty-Four immediately stepped forward, exasperated: “What are you doing coming in? With us two trapped, you should immediately leave the spider cave and find Hidden Lord for help.”
Ignoring the two women behind, Li Weiyi searched around and found the seven phoenix wing moth emperors.
The seven of them flew around a six-to-seven-meter-tall wind-eroded pillar, excitedly and happily gnawing at the sand on it. Li Weiyi felt puzzled, using mind power to communicate, but received a terrifying response that chilled him to the bone.
They said they were eating cordyceps precious medicine.
But that purple cordyceps was clearly dozens of zhang away…
What they were eating was clearly sand on the wind-eroded pillar.
Li Weiyi’s scalp numbed, cold sweat beading on his back; he hurriedly told them the truth with mind power, but it was useless. The seven phoenix wing moth emperors firmly believed they were eating precious medicine.
“Not good… Ah, this place has great danger!”
Li Weiyi’s voice trembled; he wanted to rush over and bring back the seven phoenix wing moth emperors, but as he took a step forward, he immediately pulled his foot back, afraid of suffering their fate.
Thus, mobilizing mind power, he inscribed insect script, forcibly commanding them to return.
Insect script flashed in the seven phoenix wing moth emperors’ bodies, unable to resist Li Weiyi whose mind power realm reached “Square Inch Bright Fire”; they flapped wings and flew back. But just as they reached Li Weiyi’s side, they plummeted to the ground, bellies swollen like balls, hard to the touch when pinched.
Yin Twenty-Four and Yao Yin had long come behind Li Weiyi, naturally witnessing the earlier strangeness, scared badly, only wanting to flee immediately.
“Quickly go!”
Li Weiyi put the seven phoenix wing moth emperors into the insect tube, rushed toward the purple mist, activated the Yellow Dragon Sword, and slashed.
Yin Twenty-Four and Yao Yin also unleashed their powers.
Unfortunately, not only did they fail to open a path, but after the attacked purple mist area shrank smaller and smaller, it directly vanished.
“What’s going on?”
Li Weiyi rushed forward, first swinging his sword, then his hand; the area where the purple mist had been was empty. His face turned extremely grim: “Now we’re completely trapped!”
Yao Yin squatted down, studying the fine black sand on the ground: “Sis, do you think this might be an ash region?”
Yin Twenty-Four had sensed it early, gravely saying: “Perhaps, but how is that possible? This is underground. Books record that the smallest ash region spans hundreds of li.”
“What ash region?” Li Weiyi asked.
Yao Yin said: “I’ve never seen one myself, just read in books that Lingxiao Life Realm has six or seven such mysterious places. These mysterious places have no living beings, full of dangers, so each ash region is also called an ash hell.”
“Records say the largest, most dangerous ash region is west of Western Territory State, spanning tens of thousands of li, impossible for human power to cross. Legend says an ancient immortal burned a life realm, leaving this remnant trace.”
“Look at this sand on the ground; doesn’t it look like ash from burned plants? Too soft; without magic energy to lift the body, we’ll slowly sink into the deep underground.”
Li Weiyi had little concept of ash regions but clearly knew how dangerous their current predicament was, saying: “With our cultivation, we can’t keep releasing magic energy forever; must quickly find a way out.”
Yin Twenty-Four looked up, spitting a strand of magic energy mist bridge from her mouth. Twisting her slender waist, she leaped up, stepping on the mist bridge to search for the top of this ash region.
Rising over ten zhang up, she fell back, caught by Li Weiyi’s magic energy.
“How was it?”
She shook her head, mood heavy: “Can’t see the top; this place defies all common sense.”
Li Weiyi pondered briefly, took out the ghost flag, spread it on the ground, sat on it to buffer his body’s natural sinking. Closing his eyes, he used mind power to consult the three masters in the blood mud space.
The three elders were knowledgeable, far beyond those two fifteen- and sixteen-year-old girls.
What Five Seas Realm expert; facing true peril, utterly unreliable.
Jar Master said: “I know little of Hidden Sect, didn’t know they hid such a strange place. From your description, it does seem like an ash region.”
“Dangers in ash regions are myriad and bizarre; hard to guess what the seven phoenix wing moth emperors encountered earlier. But it’s nothing more than some mysterious external force interfering with consciousness.”
“You can try your unique breathing technique to clear your consciousness, unaffected by the external environment.”
Spirit Tablet Master said: “Or try mind power! I’ll teach you a mind technique to cultivate a spirit eye.”
Jar Master said: “Shine with gold veins, might reveal the evil. As long as yang energy is strong enough, ten thousand evils cannot invade.”
Jar Master not mentioning was fine, but this reminder made Li Weiyi realize the time since the Six Desires Talisman was planted was nearing four months. The pill Hidden Lord mentioned had not been obtained.
No one knew when the Six Desires Talisman would explode.
Being trapped in this damned place would be very troublesome.
Jar Master said: “Since we can enter, there must be a way out. The key is for you to first see through the layout here; I feel this ash region was artificially created.”
Li Weiyi’s mind power exited the blood mud space, glancing at the two women several zhang away trying various methods to find a way out; they probably hadn’t noticed the Dao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish activating earlier.
“Inside Evil Camel Bell, there is some food stored, but for three people, it won’t last days.”
He cleared all distracting thoughts, beginning to cultivate the spirit eye mind technique taught by Spirit Tablet Master.
About three hours later, Yin Twenty-Four and Yao Yin had exhausted all methods; not only failed to find a way out, their magic energy depleted. They sat on the ghost flag, using breathing technique to recover.
“Hua!”
Li Weiyi formed a finger seal, raising it overhead, then slowly sinking it to his brow.
Spiritual light bright fire emerged from the brow, condensing into a golden light eye.
As Spirit Tablet Senior said, this was a Daoist Sect unique art called “Heavenly Eye,” completely different from an ordinary great mind master’s mind power eye. Even at initial formation, it could pierce illusions, penetrate veils, observe minutiae and traces.
It was her ultimate skill!
With this ultimate skill, she had defeated Jar Master in coffin opening skill, forging a bond and marriage.
Li Weiyi used the Heavenly Eye at his brow to peer into the distance, golden light illuminating all around. He saw yardang landform-like wind-eroded earth mounds with shifted positions, like two misaligned worlds overlapped.
Undoubtedly, one world was real, the other fake.
He immediately stood, swiftly removing his upper robes, revealing solid, aesthetically pleasing muscle lines.
“Hua! Hua…”
Gold veins manifested under his skin, intertwining like a group of dragons, roaming his body, illuminating the surroundings.
Yin Twenty-Four was startled, sitting on the ghost flag, raising her head to gaze, eyes filled with shock, unspeakable awe. She had always considered herself a top genius; reaching Five Seas Realm, she looked down on her generation, few worthy of her notice.
But Li Weiyi beside her, only at Eight Springs realm, erupted with a divine aura not inferior to Five Seas Realm martial cultivators or great mind masters. She suspected once Li Weiyi broke through to Nine Springs, he could match her with raw strength.
Yao Yin’s beautiful eyes rippled, not hiding her admiration and appreciation. Li Weiyi’s body was like sculpted by gods, not only beautiful but exuding a masculine charm that could suck in one’s soul.
