Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

In his sight, it was clearly what he had dug out of the soft, dark soil when he had half-squatted down just now...

A broken, dark black, rotting vine.

Recalling the words Qi Mengshu had said to him when they parted that day—Yun Ping's expression darkened, and he murmured aloud:

"This is not a good sign..."

32. Ghost encounters

"Ow~"

A sharp cry echoed through the dead woods.

The wind was deathly still, and the group went against the icy howling wind, following the sound of the wolf's howl.

The extremely powerful spirit beast, whose consciousness was temporarily clear, deliberately slowed down its pace as it walked through the forest. Its nose twitched as if it was searching for the trace of something. Although it was not a hunting dog, its sense of smell was still incredibly sensitive.

Sending the ultimate spirit beast to search the surroundings is a good decision.

Just now, Yunping had an intimate conversation with a certain "husky-like" ultimate spirit beast. After whispering a few words in its ear, he patted the latter's head, turning this vengeful spirit beast into his loyal pathfinder.

Finding the third vengeful spirit beast is simple. Since they originate from the same source, they should be able to sense each other (that is, they attract each other). Therefore, by using this husky's sense of smell, it is easy to find the remaining vengeful spirit beast.

And if nothing unexpected happens, Yunping's old friend will probably be there too.

A rustling sound rang in their ears as a young man in a white shirt rode at the head of the line, atop a large feline, with the others following closely behind.

The group had been following "Erha" for about half an hour, but "Erha" still seemed unable to pinpoint its exact location. It wandered around the woods for a while, pausing frequently in certain places, then shaking its head as if it had made a mistake before walking away again.

Patience is being worn down.

Sweeping her gaze across the distance, Ye Yuchan sighed, "Does a place like this really have a path leading underground...?"

Gu Xingzhuo: "Since the teacher judged that the Seven Dream Tree and the third ultimate spirit beast are very likely underground, then the passage leading to the underground must also exist, right?"

Yu Chan glanced back at her fourth senior brother, whose expression remained unchanged, then looked back at Yun Ping, and helplessly spread her hands: "Fourth senior brother, although the old rogue is indeed a teacher, we can't blindly trust him~ We have to take initiative, right?"

"Besides, he can be quite unreliable at times."

Yunping went up and gave the girl a sharp rap on the head.

thump.

"While I am very pleased with your independent thinking—"

Yunping smiled broadly, steam rising from his right fist: "But speaking ill of your teacher openly will get you beaten."

Ye Yuchan covered her head, her eyes lighting up: "So that means it's possible in secret?!"

……

Before Yunping could reply.

Zhang Ruoxue seemed to sense something and suddenly stopped.

The black-haired sailor-uniformed girl who had attracted everyone's attention stood still, sniffed, then frowned, a hint of doubt and strangeness appearing in her eyes, and twitched her delicate nose twice.

"The taste has been strange ever since just now."

"Smell?" Upon hearing this, Lu Yingqiu and her apprentice Ning Xuchen immediately sniffed carefully as well. "Why can't I smell anything?"

The surrounding air was as cold as ever; when you inhaled it, you could clearly feel a chill creeping into your throat and even into your abdomen without it disappearing immediately.

Besides the coldness, there is another pungent smell.

Zhang Ruoxue sniffed again, a thoughtful expression on her face, before making her judgment: "It smells rotten."

“The surrounding trees have all been affected by vengeful spirits, so naturally they will rot.” Gu Xingzhuo didn’t find anything strange about this: “The smell of decay has remained unchanged all the way here.”

"No, it's changed."

Zhang Ruoxue's words became particularly certain.

She trusted her sense of smell: "It didn't smell like that. It was more rotten, more intense, and even had a slightly astringent taste, like the peel of a spoiled orange? Oh... and a subtle sourness too."

……

Ye Yuchan and Yun Ping both looked deadpan at the same time, and they both sighed in unison:

"Ruoxue, are you a dog?"

Zhang Ruoxue's lips twitched, and she pointed in a certain direction, saying, "I have a keen sense of smell! Don't you believe me? It's in that direction!"

Even if you say that…

Everyone looked in the direction Zhang Ruoxue pointed.

Unsurprisingly, there was nothing there.

The soil piled up with fallen leaves was still incredibly wet and soft, like stepping into a lump of wet cement—at least that's what everyone could see.

To everyone's surprise, right after Zhang Ruoxue pointed out the direction, the "Erha," an ultimate spirit beast, made the same judgment as Zhang Ruoxue and walked in that direction.

Yunping narrowed his eyes, without much thought, and immediately used his newly recovered divine sense to sweep in a certain direction. In less than half a second, he had a result.

He turned around, carefully examining his Ruoxue, and after a few seconds of contemplation, asked:

"Ruoxue, is there some secret you haven't told your master?"

"What secret...?"

When did you switch to being a police dog?

……

……

Zhang Ruoxue's sense of smell confirmed that it was a "Siberian Husky".

After walking for another ten minutes in the direction Ruoxue had pointed out, the group arrived at an open space.

They were still in the deadwood forest, surrounded by countless withered tree trunks that looked like the claws of demons. But strangely, the ground beneath their feet was a pure light brown.

Not a single fallen leaf was on it.

Even withered leaves blowing from afar are blown away by a strange wind that seems to come from nowhere just before they reach this area.

It was as if this place was a forbidden zone of life, where even a dying leaf could not set foot.

But there was clearly nothing around.

The husky lay obediently in the center of the open space, wagging its tail at Yunping, but the fear in its eyes showed that it did not want to personally uncover the mystery of its affection.

Yunping lowered his eyelids, then jumped down from the large feline and came to the "Siberian Husky's" side, giving it a gentle smile: "Thank you for your hard work."

"Ow!"

"You don't need to walk with us from now on. Just stay outside and keep watch."

"Ow~"

The husky breathed a sigh of relief, then let out a howl tinged with worry.

Yunping knew what it was worried about, but he didn't respond. Instead, he raised his right foot and stomped it hard on the ground.

The foot landed without causing a ripple.

There wasn't even a speck of dust, nor were there any turbulent waves like a tsunami.

After a very brief silence—

Click.

The sound of something breaking.

Visible to the naked eye, the pitch-black vines seemed to have always been there. Slowly emerging from the void was a deep green gate woven from countless vines. The roots of the vines were underground, and at this moment they were rapidly breaking apart.

In just three seconds, hundreds of thick vines, each as thick as a forearm, crumbled to pieces on the ground. At the same time, what lay before everyone was a path leading underground.

A path leading to the dark underworld, made of tangled and intertwined vines.

An ominous premonition.

Just one glance was enough to make Ye Yuchan feel genuinely uncomfortable.

It seems there's something inside... Once you step inside, getting out won't be easy.

Yun Ping turned around, his gaze falling on a certain Qin Sect disciple, and said calmly, "There's nothing good in here. If you don't want to see anything unclean, you can stay outside."

His meaning was very clear.

Huang Luo is an outsider; there's no need for him to go on an adventure with Yun Ping and the others.

Huang Luo could understand what Yun Ping meant, of course. He shuddered and looked fearfully at the vines that had broken and were turning to ashes on the ground. He swallowed hard and nodded vigorously.

Upon hearing this, Ye Yuchan gave an awkward laugh: "Well, how about I stay outside and keep watch for you guys?"

"You chickened out?" Zhang Ruoxue stared at Ye Yuchan with a half-smile.

Upon seeing Ruoxue's smile, Ye Yuchan's lips twitched violently twice...

Ever since Ruoxue became a Saint, I've never had the upper hand in bed... If I give her any more ammunition, I guess I'll never be able to recover.

not to mention……

Gu Xingzhuo, Lu Yingqiu, and the others also turned their gazes over.

Under pressure from her senior and junior brothers, Ye Yuchan had no choice but to suppress her incurable cowardice and said helplessly, "Fine, I'll go, okay..."

"You can't push yourself too hard!"

Ye Yuchan pouted and glared at Zhang Ruoxue: "None of your business."

Ruoxue chuckled twice but did not reply.

Yunping didn't take the interaction between the two girls, who seemed to have lesbian tendencies, to heart.

In reality, it wouldn't make much difference whether Ye Yuchan went or not. He could already imagine what Ye Yuchan would look like after reaching the depths.

"Let's go."

He uttered a few words softly and then stepped down the vine-covered steps first.

The crowd followed closely behind, while Ye Yuchan squeezed next to Zhang Ruoxue, hooking her arm around Ruoxue's and walking down shoulder to shoulder with her.

And so, only two ultimate spirit beasts and... remained outside the arena.