Enduring humiliation for three years, seizing the elixir, the treasure, and the holy maiden.

The white mist on the river surface was dispersed slightly by Meng Yuan's words.

Su Chen nodded.

"If that's the case..."

"Please help my fellow Taoist to lead the way."

That's very polite of you.

In his mind, however, he peeled back the layers of Meng Yuan's explanation.

The aura of the spirit beast is identical to that of the spiritual vein.

That makes sense, though.

But the problem arose later.

If he truly couldn't tell the difference, how did Meng Yuan know that the ancient tree was at the late stage of the Refinement Realm?

Those demonic beasts were all at the Nascent Soul stage.

Something that cannot be detected even through divine sense.

Could it be that you guessed?

Either this person has seen it with their own eyes.

Otherwise, they would have encountered this thing at the bottom of the abyss more than once before.

Su Chen lowered his eyes and looked at the water of the Spirit River.

The water flowed extremely slowly, as if it were being pulled down from below by something.

The more perfectly you put something into your words, the less room there is for loopholes.

The more sinister the situation, the more likely it is to be sinister.

That's it.

At the center of his brow, the Spring and Autumn Annals Brush, which symbolized salvation from calamity, moved slightly.

There is cause and effect involved.

No matter how meticulously you orchestrate this scheme, Su will always find a way out.

Let's see.

Who exactly do you want to use Su as a knife to kill?

"Fellow Daoist, this way."

Meng Yuan waved from ahead.

The hem of that flowing cloud robe was dampened by the spiritual mist.

He didn't care and started walking towards the riverbank.

...

The two followed the spirit river forward.

The river widens as you walk further.

At first, it was just a stream.

After walking for half an hour, the river had widened by several tens of feet.

The spiritual mist also thickened.

So strong that when Su Chen raised his hand, he could squeeze out a handful of coolness between his fingers.

The stone ground beneath my feet had been filled with spiritual energy for countless years.

It feels soft when you step on it.

It felt somewhat like stepping on muddy ground where the snow had just melted in spring.

Su Chen glanced down.

On that rock, there was a thin layer of something that looked like white hair.

It falls apart at the slightest touch.

"Fellow Daoist, don't touch it."

Meng Yuan turned around.

"This thing is called Spirit Moss."

"It has been nourished by the spiritual energy of the spiritual vein for hundreds of thousands of years."

"It's not really of any use."

"It's sticky."

Su Chen casually wiped his hand on the hem of his robe.

"That's certainly true."

along the way.

Those bloodthirsty bats lingered there.

Not too far, not too close.

Su Chen scanned the area behind him with his divine sense and roughly counted the number of people.

There are at least tens of thousands of them.

They were densely packed on the wall of the abyss, pairs of blood-red eyes, flickering on and off.

Logically speaking...

These Foundation Establishment stage beasts would have fled tens of thousands of miles away long ago upon seeing a Void Refinement cultivator.

But they refuse to escape.

They dared not approach.

And so it remained, pinned to their backs.

Su Chen slowed down.

That lingering doubt resurfaced in my mind.

What these beasts are afraid of is not him and Meng Yuan.

If they were afraid, they should have all run away long ago after that wave of their hand, which blasted half the abyss with blood mist.

They dared not retreat.

Behind them, there were things that terrified them even more than cultivators at the Void Refinement stage.

Therefore, they are stuck in the middle, unable to advance or retreat.

Su Chen raised his eyes and looked towards the end of the Spirit River.

It means that the blackness has no end.

Meng Yuan, however, seemed oblivious to this, continuing to chat and laugh while waving his folding fan.

"Speaking of which, Fellow Daoist Su..."

He tucked the fan behind his waist, turned around, and walked backwards.

"This is actually my third time coming down here."

Su Chen's eyebrows twitched.

"Three times?"

"good."

Meng Yuan smiled.

"The first time was three years ago."

"At that time, unaware of the danger, I fled to the mouth of the abyss and was entangled by the swarm of bats."

They went back looking dejected.

"The second time."

He raised his hand and pointed vaguely ahead.

Then we arrived at that stone bridge.

"On the bridge, there were more than a dozen Nascent Soul stage demonic beasts lying down."

"I, alone, simply don't have the guts."

That's where it ends.

Su Chen remained silent.

He simply raised his hand and brushed away the wisp of spiritual mist clinging to his sleeve.

Stop.

What a convenient stop!

Someone who can hide their Void Refinement cultivation level so well in an auction house that even he can't tell.

They were forced to stop by more than a dozen Nascent Soul stage demonic beasts.

Su Chen weighed these words in his mind.

It's been put aside.

"Fellow Daoist is indeed cautious."

"We can't be careless."

Meng Yuan sighed.

"This place is really weird."

"The first two times I came here, I felt like something was watching me from behind."

But when I looked back, there was nothing there.

That statement contains not a single word of truth.

Meng Yuan turned around, and the smile on his face slowly faded.

In my mind, however, I was rapidly going through the accounts.

Just now, Su Chen casually waved his hand in the sky above the Nightless Demon City, tearing open a hundred feet of void.

The galaxy surging out of that opening sent chills down his spine.

Such methods would probably make even that old man wary.

it is good.

very good.

They coaxed him to cling to the old tree.

That spiritual spring naturally belongs to me alone.

As for what happened afterward...

Meng Yuan touched the ribs of the folding fan at his waist.

The accounts at the bottom of the abyss are easy to settle.

It's not uncommon for cultivators at the Void Refinement stage to die here.

...

The Spirit River abruptly ends at its end.

It didn't break off on any stone wall.

It is cut off at a bottomless ravine.

The water of the Spirit River, when it flows to this place, is like a ladle of ink spilled out, pouring all of it down into the lower reaches.

It fell without making a sound.

A stone beam lies across the top of the ravine.

It wasn't carved by human hands.

The stone beam was dark blue-black, about three zhang wide, with both ends embedded in the abyss wall, and a section arched in the middle.

A naturally beautiful appearance.

Above the stone beam.

There were more than ten things coiled up.

Su Chen's foot stopped at the mouth of the ravine.

Those monsters weren't very big.

The largest one was only slightly thicker than an ordinary cow.

It has six legs, a flat head, and a pair of eye sockets without eyeballs.

A layer of white, misty spiritual fog swirled around its entire body.

That spiritual mist is just like the spiritual energy filling this abyss.

Su Chen extended his divine sense upwards.

really.

We couldn't figure it out.

It was like throwing a pebble into the Spirit River.

It sank, it's gone.

"Fellow Daoist Su."

Meng Yuan took half a step back.

He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"My cultivation level is still far inferior to yours, fellow Daoist."

"I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, fellow Daoist, to scout ahead first."

Well said.

Su Chen glanced at him sideways.

He wasn't annoyed.

My mind suddenly felt clearer.

First, explore the depth.

Once you relax, you'll know his hand.

It was strenuous, but this trip was much safer.

Su Chen knew exactly what they were up to.

"Fine."

Su Chen took a step forward.

A wisp of pressure from a Void Refinement cultivator pressed down without any fancy tricks.

If it's left outside.

Even a Nascent Soul stage demon beast would have its bones creaking from being hit like that.

Let alone resistance.

Even lying prone is an instinct.

But then it pressed down.

The dozen or so demonic beasts simply knelt down in unison.

then.

Su Chen frowned.

Below the stone beam.

The sound of the water flowing down from the Ling River suddenly grew louder.

Wisps of white mist rose up through the cracks in the stone beams.

They all burrowed into the fur of those monsters.

...