Fu Yuanbo had been sitting cross-legged in meditation. Sensing that Luoyu had woken up, he said in a gentle voice:
"It is still early. Junior Sister, sleep a little longer."
Outside the formation, Demonic Qi churned in pitch darkness, making it impossible to tell the exact time. Luoyu tidied her loose hair bun and replied:
"Senior Brother, you haven't rested in days. You should get some sleep; tomorrow will likely be even more perilous."
"Alright."
Fu Yuanbo could not hide his exhaustion, but Luoyu's concern filled his heart with warmth, driving away even the biting chill of the cold night.
Listening to the gradually evening out breathing behind her, Luoyu let out a soft breath. Accustomed to enjoying solitude, she could truly relax only when she was completely alone, feeling unrestrained even deep within the darkness.
She projected her spiritual awareness outward beyond the formation and slowly discovered something strange: the Demonic Qi was not closing in evenly from all sides, but rather flowed like water from the front left, parting around the sides when it hit the barrier of the formation, and forming a reverse current at the rear right.
Luoyu stood up and walked to the edge of the formation, confirming her judgment even more. Gathering her spiritual awareness to a single point, she probed outward inch by inch. The Demonic Qi was boundless and endless. Suddenly, her spiritual awareness seemed to be scorched by something; that burning pain from the depths of her soul caused Luoyu to let out an involuntary muffled groan.
"What is wrong, Younger Sister Luoyu?"
Liangchen woke up at some point and, seeing Luoyu in pain, stepped forward with concern to ask.
"It is nothing. It is just that the flow of this Demonic Qi is somewhat strange, and there seems to be something over there that can scorch my spiritual awareness."
Liangchen's spiritual awareness was naturally not as strong as Luoyu's, who cultivated both alchemy and medicine, but he too noticed the bizarre flow of the Demonic Qi. Right then, he marked the spot where he was standing and threw a dart straight in the direction from which the Demonic Qi was surging.
Liangchen said, "Tomorrow we will walk in this exact direction. Who knows what great fortune we might encounter."
"Is your injury better?"
"It has mostly healed. Younger Sister, you are truly amazing! This is a seventh-tier defense talisman; keep it close to your person. If you encounter any danger tomorrow, remember to protect yourself first."
"Brother, keep it for yourself. You need it more than I do. I will hide far away and will not put myself in harm's way."
"Just take it. Master gave me quite a few magical treasures. On the contrary, you came to such a perilous Secret Realm without even a single magical artifact to save your life."
Luoyu took the talisman and carefully put it away. If she could, she would keep this talisman forever—not only because a seventh-tier talisman was precious, but also because this was the first gift Brother Liangchen had ever given her.
The two of them chatted casually about the past until the morning sun rose and the Demonic Qi that had blotted out the sky finally receded.
The four of them marched toward the direction Liangchen had marked the previous night. Monster beasts all had their own territories; the one-horned demonic lizard from yesterday had never appeared again after being heavily injured, and they did not encounter a single monster beast along the entire way.
After walking for half a day, the continuous stretch of forest suddenly plunged into a massive, deep depression, and the shape of that depression looked like a gigantic palm print.
Standing on higher ground, the four of them looked down at the massive palm print, which spanned several dozen zhang. A sense of solemn reverence welled up spontaneously. One could only imagine how heaven-shaking and earth-shattering that ancient battle between immortals and demons hundreds of thousands of years ago must have been!
Liangchen said, "The Demonic Qi below is dense. Everyone, prepare your exorcism pills. Let's move out!"
Liangchen produced his flying artifact, which was a jade-green tree leaf. Standing upon it, a dense and vibrant surge of vitality burst forth, forming an aqua-green light barrier. Without even needing to expend spiritual power, the surrounding Demonic Qi retreated of its own accord.
"As expected of the Nine-Fold Jade-Pure Willow! A single leaf possesses such mighty power!" Fu Yuanbo praised sincerely.
"The spiritual energy here is sparse while Demonic Qi runs rampant. This Jade-Pure Willow leaf can hold out for half an hour at most, so let's strive to go and return quickly."
While they were speaking, the four of them had already penetrated deep into that sunken terrain. Luoyu concentrated on sensing the flow of Demonic Qi around her. It was completely different from the previous night; rather, it was like a calm pool of water, with the Demonic Qi being slightly lighter on the periphery and growing increasingly dense the further inward they went.
"Brother Liangchen, over there."
Liangchen trusted Luoyu's words implicitly. After all, it was she who had discovered the trajectory of the flowing Demonic Qi last night, and among these four people, her spiritual awareness was also the highest. They sped along, following her guidance all the way.
In less than half an hour, the Jade-Pure Willow's aqua-green light barrier flickered a few times and abruptly shattered. Although all of them had prepared themselves, they still broke out in goosebumps from the sudden onslaught of Demonic Qi. That bone-chilling coldness that struck straight at the soul was indescribable; Fan Ni and Luoyu both could not help but let out low groans, and the complexions of Liangchen and Fu Yuanbo did not look good either.
"Younger Sister Luoyu, are we almost there?"
"We should be close."
As soon as she finished speaking, an irregular opening appeared on the ground before them. The Demonic Qi inside the cave was so thick it was practically viscous. The dart Liangchen had thrown with all his might met with massive resistance, flying sluggishly for a dozen meters before dropping limply to the ground.
The four of them exchanged glances, and all of them felt the urge to retreat. The Demonic Qi at the cave entrance was already terrifying to this degree, and that pitch-black cave wound downward all the way—heaven only knew what kind of situation awaited them.
Liangchen said, "We have already come this far. I plan to go down and take a look. If we turn back now, I fear inner demons will plague me in the future. Those who do not wish to go can stay here. If I haven't come out after a day, you may leave on your own."
"I am going too." Luoyu was the first to step forward and state her stance, for no other reason than for Liangchen's safety.
"I am going too. Master instructed that I must ensure you come to no harm, and besides, I am worried for Junior Sister Luoyu," Fu Yuanbo said.
All three of them looked at Fan Ni, who was frowning. Fan Ni had no wish to go, but if she were left alone outside as the only alchemy cultivator, she would probably die even faster. Hesitating for a moment, she spoke up:
"I will go too."
Swallowing four exorcism pills in one go, Liangchen took the lead. Luoyu had the highest spiritual awareness, so she followed closely behind; further back was Fan Ni, with Fu Yuanbo bringing up the rear.
The four of them filed in one by one. The passageway inside the cave was exceptionally smooth—so smooth that it didn't look like it had been polished by human hands, but rather formed by the relentless scouring of Demonic Qi over the years.
The passage grew increasingly steep, and the four of them had to use their weapons to anchor their bodies and prevent themselves from sliding down.
Liangchen said, "Get ready, we might have to jump down!"
The cave plunged almost vertically downward. Liangchen took out the Jade-Pure Willow once more, adjusted it to an appropriate size, pulled Luoyu—who was right behind him—close to his side, and slowly descended. Fan Ni stood upon Fu Yuanbo's flying artifact, watching Liangchen tightly holding Luoyu's hand down below. Her face turned ashen, and her heart grew intensely irritated; on a few occasions, she almost wanted to strike out and kill those two eyesores.
Fu Yuanbo keenly detected the oppressive aura inadvertently revealing itself from Fan Ni and spoke up to remind her:
"Senior Sister, Demonic Qi most easily invades the mind and spirit. If you have any clearing-heart pills, you might want to take one."
Fan Ni swallowed two pills in one breath, and the irritation in her heart was dispelled quite a bit, but those intertwined hands down below still looked as glaring as ever to her. Although she did not like Liangchen, she could not tolerate others touching what belonged to her either.
"Senior Sister, Senior Brother Liangchen is merely afraid that Junior Little Sister might face sudden peril; it is just a measure of expediency, do not mind it."
"Shut up!"
Fu Yuanbo stopped talking, but deep down he grew increasingly disinclined toward this daughter of the Alchemy Sect Master. Not only was her cultivation lacking, but she was also petty and narrow-minded. And yet she was already in the Nascent Soul stage—it was probably all piled up using pills, otherwise how could she let Demonic Qi invade her Dao heart?