Cao Qianqiu was the most aggressive of all, as he wielded a formidable lethal weapon—a spear obtained from the night sky over Black-White Mountain, its rust-mottled surface engraved with divine symbols.
Bolstered by great confidence, he was the first to charge forward, thrusting the spearhead toward that palm-sized scrap of cloth.
"What do you think you're doing?" A patriarch from a branch of the esoteric sect flicked his fingers, sending forth a thick shaft of azure light that transformed into a gleaming azure lotus. Its petals blossomed and spewed dense divine patterns, actually blocking the formidable weapon.
Cao Qianqiu's gaze turned hostile. The crimson sun surrounding his body expanded as he drove his cultivation with full force, activating the divine symbols on the spear.
"Old Cao, stop!" Sun Taichu called out.
Some of the other patriarchs moved to intervene, while others, like Cao Qianqiu, sought to seize the scrap of cloth from the altar.
Instantly, chaos erupted.
This small group consisted entirely of figures standing at the forefront of their respective paths. Any casual strike from them brought catastrophic consequences.
Fortunately, this place was unique. Golden patterns lit up across the ground, and silver symbols interlaced through the void. Had it not been for this, the area would have caved in long ago.
Even so, several coffins related to godkin creatures still produced faint noises, showing signs of damage.
*Crack!*
What caused the greatest alarm was that a three-inch-wide black fissure split across the altar itself. It was the first to suffer damage, threatening to collapse altogether.
The patriarch-level figures confronted each other in a standoff, freezing in place. They discovered dozens of cracks spreading across the elevated platform beneath the scrap of cloth, and then watched helplessly as it shattered.
***
In Kunling, in the region facing the Great Yu dynasty.
Black mist churned where clusters of buildings stood erect; the ruined halls in this area had all been cleared out.
A central grand palace spanned the distance ahead, its silver roof tiles gleaming brightly, while purple qi and yin mist swirled together with extraordinary density.
The first team entered. Instantly, yin qi surged violently from within, accompanied by the sounds of fighting and flickering ghostly silhouettes. The half-rotted ancients struck with extreme ferocity.
Before long, the clashing of weapons weakened.
In the end, only a single person fled the grand palace. Yet just as he emerged, an emaciated, withered palm thrust forward, piercing his chest and gouging out his heart from behind.
In less than half a quarter-hour, that entire team was wiped out.
Qin Ming frowned. Lucrative compensation was not so easily earned; even he felt like backing out.
This damned place had no scriptures or classics. He had not resonated with a single text, and that final grand palace was perilous to the extreme.
Fortunately, he had not been selected just now.
The second team was visibly tense. Someone immediately spoke up about withdrawing, but an elder stepped forward to remind them to honor the spirit of their contract.
This time, screams echoed continuously from within the grand palace, yet someone managed to escape, drenched in blood.
"That place must be an important stronghold of the ghost cultivators, guarded by core disciples. We barely managed to hold out for a while, but we were simply no match for them."
The man's body was mangled, as if torn by multiple fierce ghosts, and broken, iron-hook-like fingernails were still embedded in his flesh.
"Bring out the protective golden garments and the wind-walking talismans to help the explorers preserve their lives," said the Fourth Princess of Great Yu. She wore crimson armor that clung to her like a blooming red lotus, radiating an eerie and mysterious aura.
Otherwise, if they tried to pick a third batch of people, many would likely resist. Knowing it meant certain death, no one would be willing to throw their life away.
"All you need to do is ascertain what is actually inside that grand palace."
At the same time, an elder stepped forward and asked what they needed, showing great care and attentiveness by offering handy weapons and life-saving medicinal liquids.
They feared these people would merely go through the motions and shirk their duties rather than explore earnestly.
Sure enough, this team had a high survival rate. They lost only three people, while the remaining six emerged alive.
However, focusing mainly on self-preservation, they had only discovered a pool in the innermost area. Purple mist blended with yin mist there, and whenever one drew slightly closer, black qi surged skyward.
Moreover, those ghost cultivators were all seated cross-legged around the pool.
Qin Ming was selected for the fourth contingent and lined up to collect his compensation. The two thousand pieces of day gold were naturally not physical bullion, but two gold notes.
As for the extraordinary arts, several were available. He passed over the *Wind Driving Scripture*, the *Qingmu Scripture*, and others, ultimately choosing the *Nether Scripture*.
Qin Ming flipped through it on the spot, confirming there were no issues with it.
He put on the protective golden garment right then and there. It was densely engraved with divine patterns. He also affixed the wind-walking talismans to his legs, which would boost his speed considerably.
"Young man, do you need anything else?" an elder asked kindly.
Qin Ming naturally took the opportunity to make a request. "I am an archer. If you could provide me with some arrows mixed with jade iron, that would be wonderful."
"Bring arrows."
Many people had come from Great Yu, and their foundation was indeed formidable. Among the retinue, some carried specially crafted arrows. Though not forged of pure jade iron, the alloyed metal was more than sufficient and astonishingly valuable.
The other party handed him a quiver containing twelve dark-red arrows.
Qin Ming and his companions advanced, remaining on high alert as they passed the ruined halls. As they neared the grand palace, the chilling, ghostly aura grew increasingly thick.
When he truly set foot inside the grand palace, with no buildings left to obstruct his view, Qin Ming immediately focused his spirit. A warm current surged in his eyes, allowing him to see straight through the dense fog.
He instantly knew what was in here.
Ahead lay a pool roughly ten zhang square. The black mist was so thick it seemed congealed, pooling into a pitch-black liquid that felt bone-chillingly frigid even from a great distance.
*Is this yin qi blended with Extreme Yin power?*
He could not say for certain what it was.
Within the pool stood a plant taller than a man, its layered black leaves bearing a total of nine pitch-black blossoms. Swirling with dense dark light, it exuded both a sacred aura and an intertwining lethal force of death.
The blossoms gave off a contradictory sensation: amidst boundless vitality, they reeked of sinister ghostly qi. It looked like an extraordinary treasure medicine, yet consuming it seemed likely to cause instantaneous death.
Clearly, it had not yet reached maturity; the blossoms had not withered, nor had they borne fruit.
"Nine blossoms—a marvelous number. It's likely a rare treasure medicine unique to ghost cultivators. What a pity," Qin Ming said, shaking his head. He was quite tempted to take a bite, but feared turning into a fierce ghost on the spot.
In addition, purple qi swirled within the pool around a black seal the size of a fist. This was undoubtedly an invaluable rare treasure, as dense characters swirled around it, imprinting themselves upon the void.
Qin Ming could only stare helplessly. With the people from Great Yu guarding the perimeter, this item would certainly not be his.
He felt somewhat annoyed. Was there not a single scripture here? It seemed he would reap no extra harvest from this trip.
*Hmm?* Although the rag on his person showed no overt disturbance, amid the black mist, it had begun silently siphoning the essence of the black liquid from the pool.
He nearly threw the rag away, because when that icy chill was drawn toward him, it almost froze him stiff.
Beside the pool, a group of half-rotted ghost cultivators all rose and charged toward their team.
After his ninth rebirth, Qin Ming had developed an ability akin to spirit pupils. To him, the interior was bright as day, while the others were moving through mist as black as ink, their vision far less clear than his.
Consequently, when the ghostly silhouettes drew near, many people scrambled to defend themselves.
During this time, Qin Ming drew his bow repeatedly. Every arrow carried a golden glow that tore through the pitch-black fog, blowing apart the head of a fierce ghost with each shot.
Even from outside, the people of the Dayu Imperial Dynasty could see those brilliant flashes of golden light, and many gasped in astonishment.
"That youth's heavenly light force is remarkable. Its lethality is immense. Could he be a disciple from a prestigious sect like the Pure Yang Palace or the Blazing Yang Palace?"
In truth, Qin Ming was exercising great restraint and naturally refrained from unleashing his full power. His current heavenly light force could burn even conscious spiritual light; within the first realm, he had effectively rewritten legends.
Eventually, Qin Ming could bear it no longer, his body shivering violently. That rag woven from exotic metal never showed any might in ordinary times, yet chose this critical juncture to cause trouble. He felt as though he were about to be entombed in ice and frozen to death.
The rich Extreme Yin power surged toward him without end, and he could no longer hold it off.
He tried to back away, but a strand of yin qi stretched between the rag and the pool like pulled candy, keeping them linked.
His expression shifted. If he ran outside like this, he would immediately expose the anomaly.
Gritting his teeth, he finally hurled the rag into the pool, leaving it behind for the time being.
Having exhausted his twelve arrows, Qin Ming had shot and killed seven ghosts, intentionally held back while heavily injuring another five, and then retreated with his teammates.
After repeated probes, the people of Great Yu had deduced that there was a treasure and a rare spiritual medicine in the pool. They made intense, urgent preparations, intending to launch a few more clearance runs before making the final push to seize them.
Those old fellows could barely hold Yao Ruoxian back!
Both her talent and cultivation rivaled those of an immortal seed. She considered these teams far too weak; if she entered personally, even when facing creatures of her own level, she could swiftly slaughter her way through and retrieve the rare treasures in short order.
***
Cao Qianqiu, Sun Taichu, and the others fell silent. Was the nine-colored dais truly so fragile? It had actually been destroyed.
The scrap of cloth hovered in midair, surrounded by river-like runes swirling rapidly around it to form a multicolored tunnel.
Calling it a path made it sound rigid; it was more like ripples, one ring of ripples combining with the next, countless luminous halos linking together into a string that led into the distance.
"Everyone, should we retreat and reseal the path we came from, or press forward to explore further?" Even patriarch-level figures felt uncertain.
"If we take this scrap of cloth, will this 'tunnel' break apart entirely?" someone asked, eyes flashing like lightning as they stared at the motionless scrap of cloth.
In the end, some decided to advance. Knowing more about the legends of Kunling than ordinary people did, they wanted to investigate thoroughly.
The tunnel was brightly lit. The halos paving the path were each formed by a symbol spinning at extreme speed in a circle, while the gaps between them resembled fissures.
The group advanced swiftly. Before long, they reached the end of the road formed by the divine halos. When they saw the scene ahead, every single one of them was left dazed.
Beyond the tunnel lay a desolate expanse of land, looking as though no one had set foot there in ages. A city stood in utter silence far in the distance, yet it was already faintly visible.
At this moment, even the patriarch-level figures felt intense dread.
It was merely a small earthen city, yet purple qi soared straight into the sky. Corpses hung suspended from the city walls, and the flesh-and-blood forms of legendary creatures were nailed to the city gates.
"Retreat!"
They had no desire to draw any closer.
Every patriarch-level figure swiftly backed out of the rune-constructed tunnel.
"Should we destroy this place?"
They looked at the scrap of cloth, then back toward the tunnel.
At the same time, they inspected the surroundings closely. There were six coffins in total, from which wisps of golden and silver thread seeped, supplying energy to the cloth to construct the passage.
"Could what we just saw be that legendary city?"
Chapter 227