You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

Waiting here idly will only become more dangerous as night falls. I have a suggestion; you might want to consider it.

Everyone looked at him.

"We split into two teams."

One team, consisting of fellow cultivators who were seriously injured and needed rest, followed behind us, maintaining a certain distance, and slowly explored forward.

Another team, composed of cultivators with minor injuries and remaining strength, dispersed to explore the front and sides, focusing on finding areas with inscriptions or array traces similar to those before, or other potentially safe or valuable locations.

We agreed to a two-hour period.

Regardless of whether any discoveries were made, the pathfinders must return to rejoin the main force.

If we find nothing within two hours, or if we discover that the area ahead is too dangerous, we should rush back to the formation area we passed through before nightfall!

That place can at least give us a safe night's stay, and then we can plan our next move.

This proposal balanced exploration with safety, providing both clear objectives and time constraints, as well as a reliable escape route, and was immediately approved by most people.

"Fellow Daoist Chen's considerations are thorough; I think it's feasible!"

"Yes, it's better than waiting to die here!"

"My injuries aren't serious, I'm willing to go scout ahead!"

The teams were quickly divided.

About seven or eight cultivators with minor injuries and in relatively good condition volunteered to join the exploration team, including Liu Haoran, who seemed to want to prove himself.

The remaining dozen or so people who were more seriously injured or still in shock formed the rear guard and followed slowly.

Just as Chen Yang was about to join the exploration team, the young girl Xiao Yun quickly walked to his side and looked up at him.

"Brother Chen, I... I'd like to team up with you to scout ahead, is that alright? Although my strength is average, I'm quite agile and won't hold you back!"

Her eyes were clear and pleading, as if she was convinced that it would be safer to follow Chen Yang.

Chen Yang pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"Can.

But you must follow my instructions and stay close to me.

"Ok!"

Xiaoyun nodded vigorously, a hint of joy on her face.

Upon seeing this, Liu Haoran's expression darkened, and he also walked over.

"Junior Sister Xiaoyun, why don't you join my team? We're fellow disciples, so we can work together better and I can protect you more easily."

As she spoke, she glanced at Chen Yang.

Xiaoyun wrinkled her nose and refused outright.

"Senior Brother Liu, we already have a small group, so let's not waste manpower. You can team up with the other senior brothers, and I'll team up with Brother Chen."

Brother Chen is amazing!

The latter half of her sentence carried an inexplicable trust in Chen Yang.

Liu Haoran was taken aback and felt embarrassed, but he couldn't show it in front of everyone. He could only glare at Chen Yang, snort coldly, and turn to walk towards another group.

The exploration team quickly split into four or five groups of two or three people each. After choosing a direction and agreeing on a communication signal, they quickly dispersed and disappeared into the complex terrain in front of and on both sides of the canyon.

Chen Yang, with Xiao Yun in tow, chose a route that followed the left side of the mountain wall along the main canyon road.

The terrain here is slightly higher, offering a relatively open view and allowing one to avoid the potentially stronger yin energy at the bottom of the valley.

The two used their movement techniques to move forward quickly.

Throughout the journey, Chen Yang remained vigilant, extending his spiritual sense to constantly monitor his surroundings. Xiao Yun followed closely behind Chen Yang, half a step behind, appearing both nervous and somewhat excited.

After walking a short distance and confirming that it was temporarily safe, Chen Yang began to talk to the girl intentionally or unintentionally, trying to gather information.

“Miss Xiaoyun, judging from your accent and the way that Fellow Daoist Liu addressed you earlier, are you from the same sect? May I ask which sect you belong to? My name is Chen Yang, from the Qingwei Sect outside the cave heavens. I don’t know much about the sects within the blessed lands.”

Chen Yang took the initiative to introduce himself and asked a question.

Xiaoyun seemed to be quite guileless and answered readily.

"Hello, Brother Chen! My name is Liu Piaopiao, as in 'floating gracefully'! We are disciples of 'Lingxi Valley', and Liu Haoran is my senior brother. Lingxi Valley is a small branch on the outskirts of 'Yunmeng Great Swamp', you may not have heard of it."

"Lingxi Valley? Yunmeng Marsh?"

Chen Yang had indeed never heard of it.

A thought wave emanated from Li Rou within his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Yunmeng Great Marsh... is a famous blessed land since ancient times. It is vast and has a well-developed water system. It is said that there are many sects inside. Lingxi Valley may be a small force attached to it, or a bloodline branch left behind in the present world."

Chen Yang understood, but remained expressionless and continued to ask.

"I see.

"Miss Liu, since you are descendants of a blessed land, why have you entered this trial ground? And judging from your previous experiences, you seem to know little about the dangers within this trial ground?"

Liu Piaopiao sighed, a complex expression on her face that seemed out of place for her age.

“Brother Chen, you don’t know this. Our branch in Lingxi Valley is actually an ‘outer lineage.’ We migrated to the mortal world a long time ago and are responsible for managing some peripheral affairs and collecting resources.”

Ultimately, however, we still yearn to return to the true heart of the blessed land of 'Yunmeng Daze'.

This trial ground is one of the main pathways for us 'outer lineage' members and some 'inner sect prospective disciples' with average aptitude to return or advance.

She paused for a moment, then explained.

“Every so often, the blessed land opens some trial grounds, like this one. We outer disciples, or inner disciples who need further testing, are sent here. The trials are very brutal. It is said that each time a hundred people come in, less than a third of them can walk out alive and gain recognition!”

The others... either die during the trial, or even if they survive, they will be eliminated due to poor performance, losing the opportunity to return or be promoted, and may even be punished.

Chen Yang was secretly alarmed upon hearing this.

The selection process for disciples in this blessed land is so cruel! Even raising Gu poisons couldn't be more brutal!
He asked tentatively.

"So, the opening of this trial grounds is mainly for the disciples within your blessed lands? What about us cultivators who strayed in from the outside..."

Liu Piaopiao shook her head.

"That's how it should have been. But something seems to have gone wrong this time. I vaguely heard the elders in the valley mention that a key formation maintaining the stability of the trial grounds' entrance and exit was deliberately damaged, causing the teleportation fluctuations to leak out and attracting many cultivators from the outside world to break in. I don't know who did it or why. For us trial participants, it just means the task has become more complicated. We not only have to face the dangers of the trial itself, but also have to be wary of potential external competitors."

However… I don’t think you’re a bad person, Brother Chen.”

Chen Yang smiled and asked again.

"So, besides the brutal selection process, what else is the purpose of this trial ground? For example, what if we outside cultivators, or disciples from other branches like Miss Liu who don't want to continue participating in the brutal competition and simply want to get out alive? Is there a time limit for the trial?"

"Of course there is!"

Liu Piaopiao nodded.

"The trial grounds are usually open for only three days to the outside world."

However, due to the different flow rates of time, it can actually last for two to three months!
As long as you survive inside until the time runs out, you will be automatically teleported out no matter where you are.

However, if all you want to do is survive and get out of here, that's just too... too unambitious!

She stuck out her tongue.

"Moreover, the trial grounds often contain some opportunities, such as the inherited insights left by ancestors, special spiritual medicines, and even some high-quality magical artifact materials."

If one can obtain it, it will greatly benefit one's spiritual practice.

Even if they don't ultimately qualify to return, taking some benefits with them isn't a loss.

This information largely matched Li Rou's previous speculations, and also gave Chen Yang a clearer understanding of the rules here.

Three days, two to three months... there's still plenty of time, but danger lurks everywhere.

"I see."

Chen Yang nodded, and then asked a crucial question.

“Miss Liu, since you are an outer disciple of this blessed land, have you ever heard of those ‘demons’ that appeared here, or what you call ‘monsters’ or ‘shadows’? Or did your elders give you any hints? I see that you seemed completely unprepared for this last night.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Piaopiao's face fell, and she looked somewhat dejected.

"No...not a single hint! The elders only said that the trial grounds are fraught with danger, and that we must be vigilant at all times, work together, and rely on our own abilities to survive."

Who would have thought such a ghostly thing existed—untouchable yet capable of sucking away souls! If we had known earlier, we would definitely have prepared some talismans or magical artifacts to target souls! Unfortunately… it's too late now, so many of our senior brothers and sisters…”

Her eyes were slightly red, clearly recalling the horrific scene from the previous night.

Chen Yang sighed inwardly. It seemed that these disciples from the "outer lineage" of these blessed lands knew very little about the specific contents of the trial grounds. Or perhaps, the designers of the trial intentionally concealed some information to increase the difficulty and unpredictability of the test.

"Do you know much about this canyon, or rather, the rest of this trial area? For example, besides the monsters, is there anything else we need to be careful of? Or do you have any maps or guides?"

Chen Yang continued to press for answers.

Liu Piaopiao shook her head.

There is no map.

The terrain and challenges are different in each trial ground. We were randomly teleported in, and we only knew that there were several different trial areas, but it seemed that we would eventually converge on a certain 'core area' for the final test.

This canyon...this is my first time here too. It feels eerie, scarier than other places.

As they talked, the two continued for quite some distance. The terrain of the canyon began to change; the gap between the rock walls on both sides became wider and narrower, and some scattered, oddly shaped dark red rocks began to appear on the ground. The chilling atmosphere in the air seemed to become more solid.

Suddenly, Chen Yang stopped in his tracks. His keen senses detected a faint energy fluctuation, different from the Yin energy, emanating from behind a huge, dark red rock that looked as if it had been soaked in blood, not far ahead.

The fluctuation carried a sense of balance and tranquility; though faint, it was as conspicuous as a candle flame in the darkness.

There's something ahead.

Chen Yang whispered, signaling Liu Piaopiao to stop and be on high alert.

Liu Piaopiao immediately tensed up and gripped the short sword in her hand tightly.

Chen Yang gestured for her to wait where she was, while he concealed his aura and moved forward silently like a cat, circling around to the side of the huge dark red rock.

Behind the rock was not the array inscription that one had expected, but a small, naturally formed recessed stone cave.

The cave was no more than half a person's height and was empty inside. But in the very center of the cave, there was a strange stone, about the size of a fist, pure white and smooth like mutton fat jade.
The balanced and peaceful energy fluctuations emanated from this white jade-like stone.

It lay there quietly, out of place with the surrounding dark red, eerie rocks and environment, like a white lotus blooming in the mud.

What surprised Chen Yang even more was that when his gaze fell on the white jade stone, the "Listening" detector, which had been silent all along, suddenly emitted a very faint, intermittent electrical interference sound behind its ear, and the environmental parameter readings on the screen also showed subtle, abnormal fluctuations!
"This is……"

Chen Yang's eyes narrowed.

In this eerie canyon that almost completely blocks all external contact and precision detection, this rock actually managed to trigger a response from the detector.
Liu Piaopiao blinked and shook her head helplessly.

Actually... we don't know them very well either.

Each time the Trial Grounds open, the internal environment, the content of the trials, and even the rules may change; they are not static. For us outer sect disciples, entering each time is like opening a blind box; we can only rely on some general survival experience and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, as taught by our sect.

Therefore, even we tend to take it one step at a time, figuring out exactly what we'll encounter here.

After hearing Liu Piaopiao's explanation, Chen Yang understood.

It seems that these disciples from the "outer lineage" of these blessed lands have limited knowledge and are more often seen as subjects to be selected and tested than as masters of the rules.

In that case, it's unlikely we'll get any more information from her about the Trial Core or the specific weaknesses of the "Demon Soul".

"I see."

Chen Yang stopped asking questions and refocused his attention on the exploration in front of him.

"Then let's keep going and see what other mysteries this canyon holds."

The two continued along the chosen route.

Chen Yang carefully put away the white jade stone that could trigger the detector's reaction. His intuition told him that this thing might be useful, but now was not the time to study it.

After traveling for another hour and a half, the canyon finally came to an end.

The towering rock walls on both sides gradually lowered and parted to reveal a relatively open area. The ground beneath our feet also gradually transitioned from jagged rocks and dark red soil to relatively firm land covered with weathered gravel.

"Brother Chen, look! It looks like... there's a road ahead?"

Liu Piaopiao suddenly pointed ahead, her tone carrying a hint of surprise and uncertainty.

Chen Yang stared intently and saw, in the dim light, a winding path, clearly paved by human hands, faintly visible on the ground ahead!

The path was long since broken and dilapidated, with shattered stone slabs, weeds growing in the cracks, and many places even buried in mud or collapsed. However, its general outline remained, stretching deep into the open area. (End of Chapter)