Luo Tian nervously stopped his mother from intimidating the Nimbus. She rolled her eyes but complied.
Soon, they climbed Yin Xia, who had to increase its size so it could accommodate two people. When Yin Xia flew up above the clouds, Luo Tian was amazed at the sight of the large void at the Valley of Madness.
"Ahem, the Valley of Madness is actually located in a place called the Great Hong Empire. No one can get in without reaching the Demon Transformation stage or the Nascent Soul stage because the Dao of corrosion is very persistent here after what happened a few thousands of years ago but as my natureof being a Nimbus, i can perfectly protect you while we travel." Yin xia explained with a happy and chatty tone.
The fox looked down, curious about the strange qi around here. One of the blue wisps of flames floating around her seemed to consume the Qi around here. These wisps were actually highly condensed flames that have reached the limits of their condensation and cannot fo further but the fox found that she has some compatibility with the Dao of corrosion.
She sat in a lotus position and the 7 fully condensed flames and and the four who were starting to form towards her and surrounded her safely.
Seeing his mother meditating, Luo Tian asked the Nimbus to slow down so she could slowly absorb the Qi around her.
Seeing her meditate, Luo Tian activated the lesser version of the True Endless Mirror. The lesser version of the technique he repurposed allowed him to mimic the state of something, a rock, an animal, or a human he could somewhat mimic their expression,states and even a bit of their thoughts.
It wasn't a truly remarkable way to use the True Endelss Mirror, but it allowed him to mimic the state of Meditation his mother was going through though much shallower, like gazing at a still pond compared to diving into the ocean.
Luo Tian breathed gently, trying to let go of his anxieties, allowing his mind to drift like Yin Xia drifting on cloud currents. The corrupted Qi here felt like biting mist, like sand in the wind—but under the Nimbus's protection, it only brushed him, unable to truly latch onto his soul. Still, he could feel it, like whispers clawing against glass.
Through the mirror technique, his senses synced to his mother's in subtle pulses. He could tell her body was adjusting naturally, the blue wisps nourishing her instead of harming her.
After a while, the mimicking came to an end as he began to understand something. Outside his body, Yin xia was startled when the Dark Qi began forming around the two but calmed down when she realized it did not harm them. She sighed and continued flying towards land.
After a month of meditation, Luo Tian opened his eyes. "Hmmmm, I see, this doesn't have any significant benefits for me, but my spiritual energy now has attributes to Corrode other cultivators' spiritual essence, a poison that would be hard to detect, that do you thing Yin Xia."
Yin Xia has been floating abive the void for a month, and she had been alone and had no one to talk to, but when she heard Luo Tian's voice, she immediately became excited. "Master, congratulations for obtaining enlightenment, and I think it's amazing you are able to corrode the spiritual energy of others without them detecting."
The stonene monkey chuckled at her enthusiastic tone, Luo Tian began to suspect Yin Xia did not have that many people to talk to. "But it feels a bit less than it should be."
Yin xia quickly replied. "That's to be expected. If you gain a comprehension of a Dao while at the Foundation building stage, it won't be beneficial to you at all but being able to peer into a Dao and keeping your soul intact sure is amazing and gaining that sort of ability is not a bad thing."
Luo Tian nodded in understanding. "I see... I guess it can't be helped."
He turned towards his mother and saw the condensed wisps of flames that were now black and giving off a threatening energy. They were 11 of them, and the 12th one was forming fast, and they surrounded his mother like she was a queen being protected by loyal guards.
The atmosphere around her was sublime, terrifying, and beautiful all at once.
Even Yin Xia, who had spent thousands of years drifting through heavenly storms and ancient voids, felt a deep instinctual awe. "Ah-I think her bloodline has been altered by staying in the Valley of Madness, and it began showing when she absorbed some of the qi here...but I would not really be surprised if everyone in that valley have a compatibility to the corrosion, the remnants of a true immortal isn't something that can truly be erased."
True immortal!!. It came to a surprise that this void and the Valley of Madness was the remnant of an Immortal. He looked down at the void and wondered... how large were True immortals for their mere remnants to affect a world this deeply?.
He took a moment to imagine it, but that began to leave his mind somehow. He could not truly fathom what a True Immortal really is. He shaked his head and stopped thinking about such things. He should concentrate on his own journey first. He turned to his mother and saw she was in deep meditation. "Yin Xia, can you stop here for a while until my mother wakes up?."
Yin Xia's cloudy formed wavered. "Oh, I can, but what about you master, won't you get hungry."
Luo Tian tilted his head. Ever since he was born, he didn't really feel the sensation of hunger or even thirst. He could just feed off from the spirit energy in the surroundings. "No, not really am I supposed to be?."
Yin Xia went quiet for a moment before speaking. "Well, you should because only Spirit Refinement Stage Cultivators could sustain their bodies with qi... but I think it's because you're really abnormal that you're able to live without food or water."
Luo Tian nodded. He was quite abnormal. He shrugged at Yin Xia's words.
Yin Xia swirled in an amused spiral, letting out a soft giggle that echoed like wind chimes in an empty canyon. "You're so strange, Master. But it's kind of nice. You don't need to eat, you don't age like mortals, and you can even glance at Dao truths without your mind fracturing. Are you sure you're not part celestial?"
Luo Tian leaned back, arms crossed as he rested against her soft, cloudlike surface. "If I am, no one told me. Besides, aren't celestials supposed to be elegant, perfect, and wise?"
"You're definitely not elegant," Yin Xia quipped with a playful tone. "But the other two? You might grow into them."
The stone monkey chuckled. "Flattery gets you nowhere."
Yin Xia grumbled. "It should get me somewhere. I've been your flying platform for a whole month! My kind are usually worshipped, you know!"
As the two bantered, a gentle pulse of dark light flared beside them, his mother's closed eyes fluttered open slowly, and her golden pupils glowed with an eerie brilliance Her aura had changed.
No, it evolved!!.
Each of her twelve black flame wisps spun in unison, now acting as extensions of her soul rather than separate flames. As she exhaled, the surrounding air seemed to shimmer, corroding impurities around her presence.
She stood up, still floating midair, and turned to look at her son and the hovering Nimbus. Her nine tails were longer now, tips ablaze with black-blue flames that left quiet ripples in space wherever they moved.
"I see you've both been chatting," she said gently, but her voice carried weight now.
Luo Tian nodded. "You're different."
She tilted her head. "And you'realways different every time i take my eyes off you even for a second."
Luo Tian scrathed the back of his head nervously. "Ugh, mim don, say things like that..." she rolled her eyes, and then she looked into the distance where the horizon bent unnaturally.
"This void… is the ribcage."
Luo Tian blinked. "Ribcage?"
She nodded slowly. "Of the True Immortal that fell here. Or at least, it was once part of their ribcage. That corrupted Dao you felt, the corrosion, it's just one of the wounds that bled out when they died. The Valley of Madness sits in a scar between worlds."
Even Yin Xia grew quiet at that revelation.
"The Dao of corrosion is like a gravekeeper now," the fox woman continued. "It tries to consume all things—time, space, form, thought—slowly, so that nothing can rise again from what once was."
Yin Xia hesitated. "Then… was this immortal… evil?"
The fox shook her head. "No one knows. But a being so powerful, so vast, can affect the world just by existing. Imagine what their death does."
Luo Tian looked down at his hand skin smooth, veins glowing with faint light he clenched his fist. "Then I'll make sure to grow powerful enough to stand even in such places."
His mother smiled, a flicker of pride lighting her stern face. "That's my boy."
Yin Xia twirled once more and then suddenly perked up. "Oh! Oh! I see land! It's… um…"
She spun rapidly and then projected a foggy screen of cloud light in front of them. A hazy image appeared forests, mountains, a silver river splitting a vibrant city, and beyond it all, a towering sect built upon floating lotus platforms.
"I believe we've reached the borders of the North Sky Borderlands, the outer edges of the Great Hong Empire!" Yin Xia declared. "And that city down there is Crane Beak City, governed by a small clan of sword cultivators and alchemists!"
Luo Tian stood up, the wind rippling through his tattered robe, and smiled. "Then let's go."
Yin Xia swiftly flew towards the city gate and set the two down. "I am going to transform into a humanoid form after you guys get off."
Luo Tian stepped lightly off Yin Xia's cloud-body, landing softly on the sun-warmed earth just outside the sprawling outer walls of Crane Beak City. His feet touched solid ground for the first time in over a month, and yet, it didn't feel grounding. It felt... unfamiliar.
His mother descended beside him, her nine black-blue flaming tails trailing like banners of dusk. The moment her feet touched the soil, the grass withered slightly beneath her bare feet before recovering moments later, an effect of her new, corrosive affinity. She wrapped a cloak over her form, muting her presence, though the pressure of a Demonic Transformation realm expert could never truly be hidden.
Yin Xia hovered a moment longer, her cloud body twisting gently like fog touched by sunlight. Threads of light wove themselves into a silhouette—a slender girl formed from mist and flesh. When she finally completed her transformation, a cheerful, bouncy young woman stood before them.
Her silver-white hair drifted like vapour, and her robes resembled layers of layered silk and drifting cloud patterns. She had playful sky-blue eyes and a slight glow that shimmered faintly with each movement. Around her neck was a long scarf made of condensed wind Qi, fluttering despite the still air.
"I am officially in person now!" Yin Xia declared, stretching her arms. "Now I can walk, talk, and buy sweet buns without anyone asking why the cloud is giggling."
Luo Tian blinked, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't have to give yourself a humanoid form to buy buns."
"Shh!" she grinned. "Let me have this."
The fox woman narrowed her eyes at Yin Xia, giving her an appraising glance. "You look... younger than I expected."
"I'm a cloud, not a wine spirit," Yin Xia replied with a cheeky smile. "I'm ageless, not ancient."
Luo Tian cleared his throat. "Let's not draw attention. We should register in the city under aliases. I don't want the Divine Clans or some arrogant sect trying to test us the moment we arrive."
His mother nodded in agreement. "Wise. And don't speak about the Dao of Corrosion or the Valley unless it's truly necessary. Even the name 'True Immortal' could shake the heart of an empire."
Yin Xia pointed at the looming city gate in the distance. "Then shall we walk in like humble travellers?"
"Let's." Luo Tian looked at the gates with a smile, his ears twitching with excitement. "We are, of course, looking for opportunities."