The First Venerable of All Paths

"What did you mean when you said that Burial Valley is more dangerous at night than during the day?"

Half an hour later, the two finally found a secluded cave to use as their place of rest.

While refining the pills to restore his strength, Fang Xuan asked Li Guanlan a question.

"There is a strange power in the Valley of the Dead that only appears at night."

Li Guanlan was also refining elixirs to recover from his injuries.

Although her injury in the previous battle was not serious, she still needed to recuperate.

Otherwise, venturing into this perilous Valley of Death would be tantamount to courting death.

She looked at Fang Xuan and said, "That strange power, no one knows where it comes from. It seems to be a power that exists in the Valley of Death itself, capable of killing people silently."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan frowned.

He suddenly remembered the strange power he and Li Tianjiao had encountered in Hongquan Town.

However, that power was due to a force within Red Spring Lake that influenced the soul of martial artists, drawing them into the lake and killing them.

Could it be that a similar power exists in this Red Spring Lake?

He told Li Guanlan about it, wanting to confirm it.

"They appear to be the same, but they are two completely different forces."

After listening to Fang Xuan's explanation, Li Guanlan shook his head and said, "What you described is a special kind of divine soul power, but the strange power in the Valley of the Dead manifests in various ways."

"It could be a rain that corrodes the physical body and essence, and obliterates the soul and consciousness."

"It could also be a beast tide that wipes out everyone in it."

Li Guanlan said, "Compared to these, they're actually all fine."

"The most terrifying thing in the Valley of the Dead is those bizarre beings that are invisible to the naked eye and indescribable in words."

Li Guanlan said in a deep voice, "These forces will suddenly descend in the darkness of night and then kill you silently."

Fang Xuan's brows gradually furrowed.

According to Li Guanlan, this Valley of the Dead is indeed quite eerie.

It remains to be seen whether his Azure Lotus Karmic Fire can purify this power.

"Just one last reminder."

Li Guanlan said, "In the Valley of Burial, the night lasts three times longer than the day. During this time, you cannot absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to restore your cultivation. Your strength will also be continuously weakened."

"Therefore, even if you are lucky enough not to encounter those strange forces, you will still be slowly tortured into becoming a cripple."

"You can do that?"

Fang Xuan was somewhat surprised and said, "It seems that entering here was not a wise choice."

"It's too late to regret it now."

Li Guanlan rolled his eyes at Fang Xuan and said, "It's easy to get into the Valley of Death, but getting out depends not only on strength but also on luck."

"Not to mention the entrance, which is already guarded by the Gu family, the most important thing is..."

Li Guanlan glanced at Fang Xuan and said, "Haven't you noticed that all the routes we've taken before have completely disappeared without a trace?"

Fang Xuan's expression hardened.

He has indeed discovered this.

Fang Xuan hadn't thought much about it at the time, but now that Li Guanlan had brought it up, he realized the importance of the matter.

"No wonder you said before that it's easy to get lost in this Valley of the Dead."

Fang Xuan said with a wry smile, "It seems that leaving this place won't be easy for us now."

At the entrance, besides the powerful members of the Gu family guarding the entrance, there must also be powerful members of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce.

Going out would only be like walking into a trap.

But if we stay here, we'll die sooner or later.

"Is there really no other way out of this Valley of Death?"

Fang Xuan said, "Even if it's a deadly place, I don't believe there's no other way to survive."

"Other outlets are naturally available."

Li Guanlan said quite frankly, "But I believe you won't encounter it."

Why?

"because......"

Li Guanlan's gaze darkened slightly, and he said softly, "That was a disaster, a disaster powerful enough to annihilate any being at the Divine Realm."

"Aside from a handful of special forces, there is simply no way to contend with them."

"As long as it's there."

Fang Xuan laughed and said, "As for whether we can contend with it, we'll only know after we try."

He knew that there was always a way out.

As long as there is another way out, at least Fang Xuan still has a chance to leave this place alive.

"I know what you're thinking."

Li Guanlan said, "The Azure Lotus Karmic Fire can indeed purify some evil and strange forces, but your cultivation is too weak to unleash its true power."

"The Lu family once had an ancestor who entered this place wielding the scales of a Xuan Turtle at the Tongxuan Realm."

Li Guanlan said, "That person was a terrifying existence at the eighth level of the Divine Intent Realm. Although he successfully left the Valley of Burial, he also damaged his foundation and passed away in just a few years."

"hiss!"

Fang Xuan gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine.

The black tortoise's scales and armor, its divine will encompassing eight layers.

With the combined power of these two factors, one can contend with beings at the ninth level of the Divine Intent Realm, or even the peak of the Divine Intent Realm.

Did they also encounter danger here?

"It seems we can only take it one step at a time."

Fang Xuan said, "If all else fails, we'll just force our way out through the entrance we came from."

Although the Gu family and the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce might send powerful individuals to guard the entrance, Fang Xuan also has the Crimson Scale Demon Emperor.

This is his biggest trump card right now.

If he really goes all out, there aren't many people who can stop him.

After that, the two stopped talking and silently began to heal their wounds and wait.

Soon, night fell.

Fang Xuan witnessed firsthand that the sky in the Valley of the Dead did not darken as it normally would.

It was as if all the light had been suddenly blocked by something, turning it into a deep, dark place, devoid of any radiance.

The darkness came suddenly and eerily.

"Quickly, block the hole."

Li Guanlan said urgently, "As long as you're not in complete darkness at night in the Valley of the Dead, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Inside the cave, several moonstones were already hanging, illuminating the cave as brightly as day.

Fang Xuan quickly blocked the cave entrance and said, "Could it be that the powers in the Valley of Death are afraid of light?"

"I don't know."

Li Guanlan said, "This is just a survival method that our predecessors figured out, and it may also be to prevent us from being discovered by something."

Fang Xuan felt that this was more likely.

Time passed slowly.

For some inexplicable reason, Fang Xuan suddenly felt a stirring in his heart.

Although his spiritual power couldn't probe too far into the Valley of Death, Fang Xuan could still clearly sense that something was rapidly approaching the cave.

Li Guanlan noticed this and gestured for him to be quiet.

In fact, Fang Xuan wouldn't have made a sound even without Li Guanlan's reminder.

His gaze was fixed on the entrance to the cave, which was completely blocked off, so that not a single ray of light could be seen from the outside.

But Fang Xuan's heart felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, making it difficult for him to breathe.

The karmic fire of the blue lotus circulated on its own, and this feeling vanished like smoke.

He turned to look at Li Guanlan, and seeing that the other man's expression was calm, Fang Xuan transmitted his voice and asked, "How are you?"

Li Guanlan looked puzzled and confused.

Fang Xuan frowned deeply.

Did Li Guanlan not notice?

Or was it just his imagination?

"No, it's not an illusion!"

Fang Xuan was startled.

Because that feeling came back again.

And this time it was even more intense than before.

Besides the feeling of his heart being squeezed, something else was trying to invade his consciousness.

"court death!"

Fang Xuan snorted coldly in his heart and quickly mobilized his divine soul power, wanting to kill 'the other party'.

But the moment he activated his divine soul, this strange power inexplicably disappeared.

"Fang Xuan, wake up!"

Just as Fang Xuan was confused, an urgent voice rang in his ears, and a tremendous force surged into his body.

Fang Xuan suddenly woke up with a start.

He then realized that he was standing at the entrance of the cave, and it looked like he was about to open the cave and go out.

He was surrounded by blue flames, and Li Guanlan was gripping his wrist tightly, trying to stop him.

Upon seeing this, Fang Xuan broke out in a cold sweat.

"What happened to me just now?"

Fang Xuan's face was pale, completely unaware of what had happened.

"You've been affected."

Li Guanlan released Fang Xuan and said, "Luckily you have the Heavenly Fire protecting you, otherwise we would both die here."

Fang Xuan's face immediately darkened.

He didn't expect that even with the protection of heavenly fire, he would still be tricked.

Everything that just happened was just his hallucination.

"What terrifying power."

Fang Xuan said with lingering fear, "Even I was affected. If it were anyone else, they would have died on the spot!"

It can be said that Fang Xuan had no idea that it was an illusion.

"The Valley of the Dead is more terrifying than you can imagine."

Li Guanlan said, "I was lucky that a soul fire was born in my sea of ​​consciousness, which allowed me to sense some dangers in advance."

Fang Xuan nodded and said, "I'd appreciate it if you could protect me."

Seeing Fang Xuan sitting cross-legged with a solemn expression, Li Guanlan had no idea what he was going to do.

At this moment, Fang Xuan formed hand seals and frantically circulated the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire to examine himself.

Everything that happened before occurred too suddenly, without any warning.

But Fang Xuan didn't believe that with his current strength, there really was any power that could bypass his perception and affect him silently.

There's definitely something I haven't discovered yet.

Under the careful examination of the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire, Fang Xuan indeed made some discoveries.

It was a small, fine grain of sand stuck to the bottom of his shoe, embedded in the gap of the sole.

Under the sweeping influence of the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire, the grain of sand slowly cracked open, resembling an insect egg, as fine as sand.

If Fang Xuan hadn't been so observant, he really wouldn't have noticed.

He manipulated the Azure Lotus Karmic Fire to envelop the insect egg.

Fang Xuan touched it with his hand; the insect eggs were very hard and showed no signs of life.

However, Fang Xuan discovered that the insect eggs were actually consuming his Azure Lotus Karmic Fire.

This discovery shocked Fang Xuan.

"Insect eggs capable of absorbing heavenly fire?"

Fang Xuan's expression turned extremely serious as he searched his mind carefully.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Fang Xuan, and he remembered something.

"Could this be...?"

Fang Xuan exclaimed in astonishment, "Such a thing actually exists in this world?"

Just then, the insect egg suddenly cracked open, and a tiny, ferocious-looking insect broke through the flames and rushed towards Fang Xuan's brow.

"court death!"

Seeing that the other party actually tried to enter his sea of ​​consciousness, Fang Xuan's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he spat out a wisp of sword energy, directly cutting the insect in half, which then floated to the ground.

Li Guanlan stared in shock at the insect corpses on the ground and asked, "Fang Xuan, what are these things?"

Fang Xuan said, word by word, "An ancient and exotic species, the fire-eating celestial worm."