Clad in a black robe, Li Guanqi flew through the air.
Beneath the cloak of night, he sensed quite a few presences all rushing toward Nether Spirit Valley as well.
*Did the news spread that widely this time?*
*Why are there so many people?*
Li Guanqi carefully probed the surrounding auras. Almost every cultivator he encountered along the way was in the upper stages of the Mystic Immortal realm.
He even sensed several Heavenly Immortals.
Speeding through the sky, the distant silhouette of Nether Spirit Valley finally came into view just before dawn.
Surrounded on all sides by pitch-black, towering mountains, the vast range lay in total silence.
Not a single beast roared or insect chirped among the peaks. It was terrifyingly quiet.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly as a brief twinge gripped his heart, giving him an ominous feeling.
As the distance closed, he was finally able to see the full terrain of Nether Spirit Valley clearly.
With a cursory glance, he discovered that the valley spanned nearly a thousand li across!
Girdled by mountains rising thousands of zhang high, their jagged peaks pierced the clouds.
A faint, dense mist of ghostly blue blanketed the mountain range.
Within the mist, faint blue motes of phosphorescence flickered now and then with an eerie glow.
Li Guanqi descended into the canopy of a tree halfway up one of the towering peaks. Quite a few cultivators were lurking in the shadows around him.
Within range of his senses alone, there were more than twenty people!
What was more, a steady stream of cultivators was still en route.
Suddenly, the dense fog in the distance surged violently, like water boiling over when a pot lid was lifted.
The mist billowed upward, shooting straight into the clouds.
A rich haze of immortal mist spread outward, carrying an exceptionally wondrous aura.
In a flash, the aura rippled across a hundred li, brushing past like a gentle breeze.
Li Guanqi took a light sniff and found that his divine sense expanded while his soul experienced wave after wave of consummate comfort.
Merely inhaling a wisp of this escaping essence had such a profound effect!
Reflecting on the sensation, Li Guanqi was absolutely certain this was the effect of Soul-Nourishing Nectar ripening!
It dawned on him immediately—with such a grand phenomenon, this secret could never have been kept under wraps.
Soul-Nourishing Nectar was considered the very finest among second-grade heavenly treasures; if evaluated by rank, it was a supreme treasure of at least the eighth rank of the second grade.
In terms of value alone, a flagon-sized portion could easily fetch an astronomical price of a million immortal crystals!
Whether during cultivation or brutal combat, cultivators suffered damage to their souls all the time.
Furthermore, the efficacy of Soul-Nourishing Nectar was not limited to mere restoration; its nourishing properties were equally formidable.
A stronger soul brought endless benefits to a cultivator.
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered, and without the slightest hesitation, he plunged straight into the thick fog!
This dense mist obstructed divine sense. If he did not venture inside, he would discover nothing from out here.
With a flick of his wrist, Li Guanqi drew the Xue Ming Sword and slung it at his waist.
Shifting his form, he threw himself into the fog. Nothing could be discerned through the thick vapor, which suppressed a cultivator's divine sense entirely within their body!
Plummeting rapidly, Li Guanqi cast a vigilant gaze all around.
Wind howled past his ears, his black robe pressing tightly against his body while the hem whipped frantically.
Suddenly!
Relying on his keen instincts, Li Guanqi noticed that the churning of the mist ahead was slightly amiss. He instantly twisted his body, shifting a foot to the side!
A piercing beam of sword light whistled past him, and a dark figure manifested.
Narrowing his eyes, Li Guanqi drew the Xue Ming Sword with his left hand, completing his Soul Release state in a heartbeat, then swept the blade back in a ferocious horizontal cleave!
Surging thunder flames of immortal primal energy engulfed a radius of ten zhang, followed by a shrill scream of agony.
A man clad entirely in black robes stood paralyzed in place by lightning chains, his barrier of immortal primal energy shattering upon impact.
A cold glint flashed, and a severed torso dropped out of the sky as its aura rapidly faded away.
Li Guanqi collected the man's storage ring and burned the remains to ash with a burst of fire.
Descending further, he landed ever so softly upon the ground.
The earth beneath his feet felt damp and sticky, yet the air was crisp and rich with immortal energy.
Directly before Li Guanqi stood an ancient towering tree as thick as three people embracing around it.
Its trunk rose straight up, but looking up, its canopy was shrouded completely within the dense mist.
A sharp crunch came from beneath his feet. Looking down, he saw bleached, decaying bones.
Were they human bones or ordinary beast remains, Li Guanqi would not have paid them any mind.
Yet he noticed something peculiar. Leaning down, he picked up a bone fragment and frowned slightly as he examined the gnaw marks covering it.
The bone appeared exceptionally thick and sturdy.
It likely belonged to a relatively large tiger, leopard, or similar demonic beast.
However, upon the cross-section of the bone—which was as thick as an ankle—lay numerous, exceedingly neat, serrated tooth marks.
*What kind of creature gnawed on this?*
The tooth marks were tiny but densely packed.
Li Guanqi tossed the bone aside, his gaze turning wary as he scanned his surroundings.
Leaping upward, he landed upon a sturdy branch of the trunk and peered into the distance.
The forest beneath the night sky was terrifyingly still, as if he were the only living soul there.
Right then, an azure butterfly slowly came to rest upon Li Guanqi's shoulder.
It moved without a sound, without even a tremor stirring the air.
Suddenly!
A sharp pain shot through Li Guanqi's shoulder, and the flames of Shiwu instantly engulfed the butterfly!
Clenching his jaw, Li Guanqi turned to look at the index-finger-sized insect.
The butterfly struggled desperately in the fire for a breath before turning to ash.
Li Guanqi pulled back his robe and discovered two tiny puncture wounds on his shoulder.
The blood oozing from the wound was pitch-black, causing his heart to jolt.
He swiftly circulated his immortal primal energy to suppress the venom and force it out of his body!
With a flick of his sword, he gouged out the flesh around his shoulder, finding that the muscle had already turned black and stiff.
This put Li Guanqi on high alert against his surroundings. This creature was far too bizarre...
A mere butterfly devoid of any aura fluctuations had actually managed to injure his physical body!
Clearing his mind of stray thoughts, Li Guanqi adjusted his black robe and yanked Pengluo straight out of the sword coffin space.
Heavy-eyed, Pengluo could barely keep his eyelids open. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Li Guanqi.
"Master... where... is this?"
Li Guanqi said nothing. He handed over the gouged piece of flesh for Pengluo to see and described the appearance of the butterfly from moments ago.
"Do you know what kind of creature that is?"
Pengluo gathered his wits and rubbed his chin, muttering, "Could it be a Spirit-Attracting Butterfly? The environment here does look a bit like it..."
Frowning slightly, Li Guanqi said in a deep voice, "This is Nether Spirit Valley in Quping Prefecture. Take a look at that mist and see what's going on."
Pengluo reached out to draw in a wisp of the mist, twitched his nose, and took a small lick.
A moment later, Pengluo's expression turned odd, and he spat several times.
"*Cough, cough*... It really is a Soul-Guiding Butterfly."
"This mist is released by Soul-Guiding Butterflies. It suppresses divine sense and confounds the mind."
"Besides, the mouthparts of a Soul-Guiding Butterfly are extremely venomous. Master, you'd better be careful."
Hearing this, Li Guanqi nodded slightly and used the flames of Shiwu to form a protective barrier within his black robe.
Then, concealing his presence, he cautiously sped deeper into the valley.
Chapter 1672