The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

"Pay tolls?" Shen Yifei was a little surprised, but anything that can be solved with money is not a problem.

"Senior, what do you need? Spirit stones? Pills?"

The old sea turtle slowly looked left and right, seemingly confirming their identities one last time, before speaking:

"I don't want spirit stones or elixirs."

What would you like?

The old sea turtle slowly extended a claw, pointing it at Shen Yifei's brow: "I want a drop of your essence blood."

"Essence blood? You want..."

Liu Mengli suddenly tugged at his sleeve from behind and whispered, "Master, let it fetch it."

Shen Yifei turned around and glanced at her.

Liu Mengli's peach blossom eyes curved into a smile as she saw his concern: "She knows Wan Shuo, and she knows me. We're already at the door. If she wanted to harm you, she wouldn't need to go through all this trouble."

Shen Yifei thought about it and agreed. If the old tortoise could recognize Liu Mengli as the Reincarnation Demon God at a glance, and the relationship between the old tortoise and Wan Shuo was unusual, there was no need for him to go to such lengths to harm him.

"Alright, one drop of blood, please proceed, senior."

The old sea turtle extended its claw and gently touched Shen Yifei's forehead.

Shen Yifei felt a chill between his brows, and then a drop of bright red blood seeped out from between his brows and hung in mid-air.

The old sea turtle stared at the drop of blood for a long while before slowly nodding, its tone tinged with emotion: "Such pure bloodline...no wonder they chose you as their successor."

The old sea turtle flicked the drop of blood into the air.

The blood droplet exploded in the air, turning into a thin red line that plunged straight into the sea.

"boom……"

The seawater seemed to have been cleaved in two, surging and receding to both sides, revealing a black stone staircase extending downwards.

At the end of the stone steps was a huge stone door, emitting a faint golden light.

"The Spirit Ruins Realm Gate recognizes bloodline, not cultivation level." The old sea turtle slowly retracted its claws, looking at Shen Yifei. "You possess Wan Shuo's inheritance, You Lan's bloodline, and... some things that even I cannot see through. You can enter this gate."

Shen Yifei's heart skipped a beat: "Senior, do you know my mother?"

The old sea turtle tilted its head slightly. "She came here before, but she wasn't as lucky as you. She earned the right to open the gate by risking her life."

"One life? What do you mean, one life?" Shen Yifei asked anxiously.

The old sea turtle said no more, slowly retracting its head into its shell: "Go in..."

Shen Yifei watched the stone door slowly open, then leaped and landed on the stone steps.

Liu Mengli followed closely behind, and the two descended the steps.

The old sea turtle watched the two figures disappear, muttering, "Master, everything is as you wished..."

The stone gate slammed shut, and the seawater closed in again, as if nothing had happened.

Shen Yifei felt a blur before his eyes, as if he had been stuffed into a huge whirlpool, spinning up and down, left and right, several times, his internal organs almost being thrown out.

When he opened his eyes again, all around him was silent. Soft soil lay beneath his feet, and the air was filled with the refreshing scent of grass and trees.

He looked up at the sky, which was a pale blue color. There was no sun or moon, and the whole world was shrouded in a soft light.

"Is this the Spirit Ruins?" Shen Yifei looked around. In the distance, there were continuous mountain ranges, and nearby, there were babbling brooks. The vegetation was lush, and the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Shen Yifei stood on the land of Lingxu, took a deep breath of the air filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, and felt a jolt throughout his body. The small vortex in his dantian spun half as fast as the outside world.

"This place is so full of spiritual energy!"

"Master, this is the remnant realm of that brat Wan Shuo, the primordial land left behind when the world was first created. He's gone, but this realm still lives on, so its spiritual energy is naturally much denser than that of the cultivation world."

"Not bad, this is a really nice place." Hongxiu also popped out and sighed softly.

Liu Mengli took a sip, her eyes crinkling with joy. "Master, this place is destined for you. It's practically a cultivation cave tailor-made for you."

Shen Yifei still remembered what the old sea turtle said: "She came here before, but she didn't have your luck. She traded her life for the right to open the gate."

One life for a chance to enter.

"Mengli, the more I think about what the old sea turtle said, the more uneasy I feel," Shen Yifei frowned. "What did my mother use to exchange for it? Is she still alive?"

Liu Mengli put away her playful expression, her fingertips gently twirling, and the faint light of reincarnation flowed in her palm.

She closed her eyes and sensed for a while, then opened them, her expression complex. "Master, I can only sense one direction, eastward. Your mother's presence is still there, but very faint. It's like... like there's some kind of barrier between us."

Shen Yifei didn't say anything more and flew eastward.

The Spirit Ruins were clearly not as peaceful as they appeared.

The three had not gone far when they heard a series of urgent shouts and cries of battle ahead.

The three landed, wanting to see what was going on, when a ragged young man emerged from the bushes, covered in blood.

The man raised his blood-stained face, his lips trembling, "Run...run fast...the pursuers are coming..."

Before the words were finished, a three-headed monster rushed out of the dense forest, with three cultivators dressed in black armor sitting on its back. Each of them wore a black mask, held a curved sword, and exuded a murderous aura.

The leader saw Shen Yifei and his companions and sneered, "You have accomplices too? Take them all as well!"

Before Shen Yifei could speak, the three men had already charged forward on their beasts.

Before they could even reach Shen Yifei, the leader saw a blur before his eyes, and the monster between his legs let out a mournful cry as Shen Yifei kicked it to the ground.

He was still in mid-air, his neck was already clamped by a hand, and he couldn't move.

The other two, Liu Mengli and Gong Hongxiu, each subdued one of them in one move.

"Brother, I'm new here and don't know who you're chasing after," Shen Yifei said with a smile, "but your attitude is really irritating!"

Shen Yifei threw the man to the ground and stomped on him.

The man he was stepping on struggled desperately, cursing, "You dare touch me! Do you know whose man I am? I am a guard of the Marquis of Beiyuan! You've offended the Marquis of Beiyuan, your whole family will..."

Shen Yifei increased the pressure on his foot by three points, and the man immediately screamed in pain, "I don't care if you're a Northern Plains Monkey or a Southern Ape! Why are you chasing him!"

"He...he's a fugitive who defected! He stole the secret records kept in the Beiyuan Marquis's mansion!"

Shen Yifei looked down at the young man on the ground, his face covered in blood. The young man stammered, "M-Sir, I didn't steal! I'm a handyman in the Marquis of Beiyuan's household. I accidentally saw something I shouldn't have, and they chased after me to silence me..."

"What is it?" Shen Yifei asked casually.

The young man hesitated for a moment before saying, "The ledger... records the secret sale of creatures from the Spirit Ruins by the Marquis of Beiyuan's mansion. It records the smuggling of spirit beast cubs from the Myriad Spirits Palace, and... and female cultivators."