Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

"But this marriage contract..."

Her face flushed again. "I...I need to think about it."

"For us Miao girls, marriage requires the consent of our parents... even though they are no longer here..."

Lin Chen smiled: "There's no rush regarding the engagement."

"You should recover first. Then, we need your help to completely eliminate the hidden dangers of the Gu poison in the town, and also to find out any other potential dangers."

"After that, whether you stay or leave is up to you."

Mu Qingyao nodded vigorously, a bright smile on her face: "Yes!"

Just then, Ye Qingcheng knocked on the door and came in, her expression somewhat strange: "Lin Chen, there's new information from Su Qingxue."

"There's a clue about the position of the Yao Guang star... but the situation is... a bit complicated."

"How so?"

"Su Qingxue said that, according to the joint deductions of Tianji Pavilion and Xiaoyao Valley, the location pointed to by the last marriage certificate on the Yao Guang star position..." Ye Qingcheng paused, her expression complex:

"In the Death Valley of the Kunlun Mountains."

The room fell silent.

Mu Qingyao didn't know what Death Valley meant, but judging from everyone's expressions, she knew it was definitely not a peaceful place.

Lin Chen frowned: "Kunlun Death Valley... a forbidden zone known as the 'Gates of Hell'?"

"To be precise, it's a special rift valley in the eastern section of the Kunlun Mountains," Shen Qingqiu continued, his tone grave.

"Geological anomalies, chaotic magnetic field, frequent thunderstorms, and extinction of life."

"In the cultivation world, it is said that this place is the ruins of an ancient battlefield, where the space is unstable and there are often strange phenomena such as ghostly soldiers passing through."

Chu Ling'er shuddered: "My spiritual power vaguely sensed that the aura of the Yao Guang star position was extremely elusive, and entangled with a destructive evil energy... Could it be referring to the Valley of Death?"

"What's even more troublesome is that," Ye Qingcheng continued, "the Tianji Pavilion's informants have reported that in the past half month, several groups of unidentified cultivators have been active on the outskirts of Death Valley, acting mysteriously and seemingly searching for something."

"One of the groups used the Netherworld Sect's secret hand signals, but their techniques were not entirely the same."

"A fish that slipped through the net of the Netherworld Sect? Or are other forces also eyeing the Yao Guang Star Position?" Lin Chen pondered.

"I'm not sure. But what is certain is," Ye Qingcheng looked at Lin Chen, "that person at the Yao Guang star position is probably in more danger than anyone we've encountered before."

"Death Valley itself is a perilous environment, coupled with the watchful eyes of various forces..."

Mu Qingyao's face turned pale upon hearing this, and she instinctively gripped the blanket tightly: "Then...then we have to hurry and save her!"

Lin Chen looked at her, his tone gentle yet firm: "We must go, but not recklessly. Death Valley is no small matter; we need to be fully prepared."

He turned to the crowd and said, "Qingyao still needs a few more days to recuperate."

"While we have this time, we will clear out the remaining poison in Falling Moon Town, wait for reinforcements from the valley, and gather all the information about Death Valley."

"We'll depart for Kunlun in a week."

With the plan set, everyone got to work separately.

Shen Qingqiu did his best to treat Mu Qingyao and the three young men who were poisoned by the Gu.

With the help of Mu Qingyao, Lin Chen and Ye Qingcheng assisted the town mayor and village elders in investigating and eliminating any remaining Gu worms and poisons in the town.

Chu Ling'er attempted to use her spiritual powers to sense the position of the Yao Guang star more precisely, hoping to obtain more accurate clues.

Mu Qingyao's Gu Spirit Body displayed astonishing abilities during the recovery process.

She can easily identify which plants are contaminated by Gu poison, soothe frightened insects and beasts, and even have a vague communication with some ancient trees in the mountains, obtaining information that they "see".

With her help, the town's cleanup efforts were much more efficient.

Three days later, the support team from Xiaoyao Valley arrived, led by Ling Feng, bringing ample supplies and several disciples skilled in formations and exploration.

Meanwhile, Su Qingxue and Qin Yurou also continuously sent the latest analysis data about Death Valley through an encrypted channel.

That night, everyone gathered again in the largest room of the guesthouse, where a detailed map of the Kunlun Mountains and limited information about Death Valley were spread out in the middle.

Ling Feng pointed to the area marked with a red circle on the map: "Death Valley is about 105 kilometers long and 33 kilometers wide, with an altitude between 3200 and 4000 meters."

"Known dangers include: extremely unstable strong magnetic fields that can interfere with all electronic devices and the spiritual perception of cultivators."

"Frequent ball lightning and ground lightning strikes are as powerful as a Foundation Establishment stage lightning spell."

"There are spatial distortions in some areas, which may lead to illusions or complete disappearance; and... there may be ancient killing formations or vengeful spirits."

"The government and the cultivation community have organized several explorations, but the losses were heavy and the gains were meager."

"The most recent expedition was five years ago, a joint effort between Longhu Mountain and the government. It stopped in the middle of the rift valley, bringing back some unusual minerals and..."

"A mummified corpse dressed in modern clothes but carrying a jade tablet from the pre-Qin period."

The atmosphere in the room was oppressive.

Chu Ling'er whispered, "I've been focusing my senses these past two days, and the aura of the Yao Guang star position is indeed within the Death Valley area, but its exact location... seems to be moving, or as if it's being obscured by something, sometimes strong and sometimes weak."

"The malevolent aura that haunted her felt to me...very ancient, very hungry."

"Ancient? Hungry?" Ye Qingcheng frowned.

"It's like... a long slumber that has just been awakened and urgently needs to devour life force to recover." Chu Ling'er tried her best to describe the uncomfortable sensation.

Shen Qingqiu marked several points on the map: "Based on the existing data and Chu Ling'er's perception, we can initially delineate three most likely areas."

"The ancient altar ruins at the entrance to the rift valley, the 'Thunderstorm Core Area' in the middle section, and the 'Mist Abyss' at the deepest part that has never been successfully explored."

"I suggest we split into two groups and approach from two directions, meeting up in the 'thunderstorm core area'."

"No," Lin Chen shook his head. "Death Valley is too harsh; splitting our forces is too risky. We should concentrate our forces and advance from one direction."

"I suggest entering from the relatively flat western entrance, exploring the ancient altar first, and then proceeding towards the middle section as needed."

He looked at Mu Qingyao: "Qingyao, your Gu Spirit body is sensitive to changes in the natural environment. You will need to pay close attention to any abnormalities in vegetation and insects, as these could be warning signs of danger."

Mu Qingyao nodded earnestly: "I will!"

"In addition," Lin Chen pulled out a blurry satellite image from the data sent back by Su Qingxue and pointed to a few inconspicuous black dots on it.

"These are traces of camps that have recently appeared on the outskirts of Death Valley."

"Based on the scale and the amount of garbage, there were at least three different groups of people, one of whom had lifestyles that... clearly reflected the Western Regions style."

"The Western Regions?" Ling Feng's eyes sharpened. "The Western Regions Demonic Sect? Are they also interested in the Nine Yin Body?"