Mo Shoudan held the jade box up with both hands.
This was the special poison meant to be smeared onto spirit plants—the poison personally provided by the Shadowy figure. Its effects were remarkable.
The only catch was that it had to be returned after use.
Seeing that Mo Shoudan knew his place, the Shadowy figure reached out and took the box, giving him a sidelong glance.
The very next moment, Mo Shoudan’s expression changed. He clutched his stomach and collapsed onto the ground, his entire body trembling in agony.
It felt as though a stone had lodged itself in his throat. He could neither catch his breath nor make a sound.
The Shadowy figure slowly withdrew his gaze. “This is a small punishment for failing to complete your task. If tonight’s events are exposed, you will die tomorrow!”
Leaving him with those words, the black-clad man turned and vanished into the woods, leaving only Mo Shoudan rolling in the grass, writhing in unbearable pain.
No one noticed that the black jade box in the Shadowy figure’s hand suddenly emitted a flash of light before disappearing without a trace.
…
The main hall of the Master of Profound Shade Peak.
The entire hall had been carved and forged from Profound Yin Stone. An energy-gathering formation surrounded it, and as spiritual energy surged through the structure, the Profound Yin Stone gave off a faint black radiance imbued with dark elemental power.
This made the entire hall seem steeped in a gloomy, sinister aura.
A gust of dark wind swept past. In the blink of an eye, a figure appeared in the seat of honor at the center of the hall.
His head suddenly grew unbearably heavy, as though it were being crushed beneath something weighing a thousand jin, accompanied by indescribable pain.
It seemed that even his spiritual sense had been affected!
Mo Yi’s face darkened. With a flip of his hand, a black jade box appeared in his palm.
Inside was a strand of the origin power of the Earth Demon Sha.
To orthodox cultivators, this origin power was no different from poison. Yet the moment he opened the box, it eagerly wound itself around his wrist.
Before long, the origin power of the Earth Demon Sha seeped into his skin.
An indescribably pleasant sensation spread through his chest. Mo Yi relaxed his body and could not help letting out a soft sigh of enjoyment.
He had thought that the heaviness and stabbing pain in his head just now had been a momentary accident. He had never expected the sensation to return at that very moment.
And this time, it was hundreds or thousands of times worse!
“Hiss!”
He drew in a sharp breath. His expression instantly twisted in pain as he gripped his head fiercely.
Only after quite some time did the sensation ease slightly.
Bracing himself against the armrest, he rose and hurried to the corner of the hall. He pressed a concealed mechanism.
The perfectly smooth wall suddenly opened, revealing the entrance to a secret chamber.
Without the slightest hesitation, he hurried inside.
…
“This Falling Immortal Sect certainly has no shortage of people with all sorts of ulterior motives. Who would have thought that the Master of Profound Shade Peak would actually be a member of the Earth Demon Sha clan?”
In the shadows by the corner of the hall, Yuan Shu pressed herself tightly against the wall, suppressing her breathing and heartbeat as much as possible.
Watching Mo Yi enter the hidden passage beneath the hall, she could not help complaining to the Hehuan Divine Tree through her sea of consciousness.
“Falling Immortal Sect is a thousand-year-old great sect with a deep foundation, and naturally, plenty of people covet it. Let alone members of the Earth Demon Sha clan—even if demons secretly sneaked onto the mountain without being discovered, that would not be surprising. Do you think your Hehuan Sect in your previous life had no such people?”
“That’s true.” Having personally experienced betrayal, Yuan Shu was deeply convinced.
Great edifices did not collapse in a day or two. Before they fell, their foundations were bound to have already loosened.
While they were speaking, the entrance to the hidden passage beneath the hall had already closed again.
Yuan Shu quietly leaned against the shadows, watching Mo Yi enter the passage, but she did not hurry after him.
As the Master of Profound Shade Peak, Mo Yi had already reached the Divine Transformation Realm. Recklessly following him could easily lead to trouble!
In truth, Yuan Shu had lain in ambush at Yao Qianci’s residence not to capture anyone, but to leave a curse mark on him.
The curse mark of the Hehuan Divine Tree possessed an expelling effect against the mysterious Earth Demon Fiend Qi.
She had originally intended only to test how closely the person who had ambushed Yao Qianci was connected to the Earth Demon Fiend Qi. She had never expected to draw out the Earth Demon Fiend Clan itself!
Yuan Shu had followed the trail here and personally witnessed Mo Yi absorb the origin power of the Earth Demon Fiend Qi. His identity as a member of the Earth Demon Fiend Clan was now beyond doubt.
However, the curse mark of the Hehuan Divine Tree was not something that could be absorbed so easily!
“That should be enough. Let’s go in and take a look!”
Estimating that enough time had passed, Yuan Shu cautiously stepped out of the main hall. She imitated the technique Mo Yi had used earlier and felt around along the wall.
A moment later, her fingers found a protrusion in the corner. She gently pressed it down.
Sure enough, the stone door in the wall slowly opened before her.
Beyond the stone door was a passageway. Luminous stones on either side illuminated it brightly, yet its end remained nowhere in sight.
Yuan Shu entered the passage, and the stone door behind her slowly closed.
The surroundings were utterly silent, save for Yuan Shu’s faint breathing and the sound of her footsteps.
“Doesn’t this place look a little familiar?” Yuan Shu stood at a fork in the passage and looked to both sides, narrowing her eyes as she asked the Hehuan Divine Tree in her sea of consciousness.
The Hehuan Divine Tree was stunned. “How could it? Haven’t you been walking straight ahead this whole time?”
Yuan Shu frowned and pointed toward the corner of the wall. “When I passed the fork earlier, I habitually left a mark. Now that mark is right in front of me.”
The Hehuan Divine Tree’s eyes widened. There really was a mark!
“Shushu, could it be that… you’re lost?”
The corner of Yuan Shu’s mouth twitched. She really did not want to admit it, so she said nothing and merely chose her path through the passage with increasing caution.
It was only when she stopped at the same fork for the third time and saw three identical special marks lined up in the corner that Yuan Shu was forced to admit it.
She really was lost!
“Hehuan, be useful for once and find us a way out!”
“Shushu, I can sense that the divine tree mark is nearby. But if you want to teleport there directly…” The Hehuan Divine Tree coughed. “You’ll probably have to use some of my origin power.”
The origin power of the Hehuan Divine Tree contained the power of yin-yang union.
Once it was used, it would make one want to engage in dual cultivation!
Yuan Shu’s brows drew together. After a brief struggle, she made her decision with a decisive strike of her hand.
“Use it!”
They could worry about the consequences afterward!
“All right, Shushu. The teleportation point will be extremely close to the divine tree mark, so be careful!”
The Hehuan Divine Tree replied, and a burst of pink energy surged outward. An indescribable tremor suddenly arose deep within Yuan Shu’s body.
“Hiss!”
Yuan Shu sucked in a sharp breath. Before she could react, her body abruptly lost all sense of weight.
…
Deep within the passageway was a half-natural cavern.
Vines hung down from the ceiling, and beneath them lay a small pool more than twenty square meters in area.
Mo Yi was currently bare-chested, sitting cross-legged in the pool.
The water reached his chest and abdomen, slowly swirling around him.
With careful perception, one could sense threads of green life force flowing through the water. This was no ordinary pool.
A moment later, the green life force within the pool suddenly changed, transforming into wisps of black death energy.
This was a special cultivation method recorded in ancient texts, practiced by members of the Earth Demon Fiend Clan—the Life-and-Death Cycle Art.
It circulated the forces of life and Earth Demon Fiend energy through the body to purge any negative conditions.
After his body had begun showing strange symptoms, Mo Yi had tried to repair himself, only to discover that self-recovery was completely useless.
The pain in his head was worsening. It seemed that some force was at odds with his own Earth Demon Fiend energy.
The two forces collided, causing him unbearable pain.
The Life-and-Death Cycle Art had originally been used by him to balance the spiritual energy and Earth Demon Fiend energy within his body.
Now, he was using it to suppress the agony in his body.
Fortunately, it had some effect.
Mo Yi’s expression gradually relaxed.
Just then, a cold wind swept across his face, accompanied by a soft, suppressed cry.
Then, something fell into his arms.
His eyes flew open.
