"Old man followed that ghost and Yao Ranran into the ancient forest. Before we even found the phoenix, we encountered the one behind it all!"
Senior Shang looked heavily toward the towering ancient trees.
"I'm afraid at this moment Yao Ranran and that ghost have both already fallen at the hands of the black-robed man!"
Pei Xianqiao was utterly stunned. "Yao Ranran is dead?"
Sitting in meditation, Shen Yuefu slowly opened his eyes.
Senior Shang said to Pei Xianqiao, "That black-robed man is a powerhouse from the Spirit Realm. Let alone Yao Ranran, even Shen Yuefu cannot escape his grasp. You must leave here with me at once!"
Pei Xianqiao shrank back. "No, I will not go! Even if Yao Ranran has fallen, I will not abandon Brother Fu here alone!"
She rejected Senior Shang's plea with all her strength, shouting it aloud.
A gust of wind swept past, and suddenly Shen Yuefu's pale face appeared before her eyes.
"Who did you say has fallen?"
That hoarse, chilling voice sent Senior Shang scurrying back into his storage ring.
Pei Xianqiao's lashes trembled as she gazed at the face of the man in her heart, whispering weakly, "Brother Fu, it is... Yao Daoyou who likely met misfortune. We must leave this place!"
"Utter nonsense!" Shen Yuefu turned and strode away from her.
Pei Xianqiao froze for a moment, then chased after him.
"Brother Fu, Qiao Qiao did not lie to you, Qingshui Town is extremely dangerous!"
She anxiously tried to grab Shen Yuefu's hand.
He evaded her touch and looked at her coldly. "That is why I told you not to follow me. Go back at once!"
His gaze pierced her like a blade. Though it hurt her deeply, she forced herself to endure it, remembering Senior Shang's warning. She cried out with all her strength:
"Elder Shen, while you were unconscious, I sent someone to track Yao Ranran. She truly has fallen! You will never find her again in this lifetime!"
Her words rang with a sob.
Shen Yuefu's body swayed. The bleak scenery before his eyes blurred.
"Yao Ranran... is dead?"
"Yes, she is dead. She will never appear in this world again!"
Seeing him stop, Pei Xianqiao's eyes flickered with joy.
So as long as Yao Ranran was gone, Brother Fu would finally stop his obsession!
"No. Wherever Yao Ranran is, even if she has died, I must see her corpse with my own eyes!"
Shen Yuefu's voice was bitter, his gaze cold yet unshakably firm.
Pei Xianqiao stared blankly at his staggering figure moving away, biting her lip hard.
"Elder Shen, you don't have to go."
His body faltered, but he did not stop.
"Yao Ranran... left no corpse behind!" Pei Xianqiao gritted her teeth and cut off all hope.
Even Senior Shang had feared that opponent. There was no way Yao Ranran could still be alive. Since she was already a dead woman, there was no need to let Brother Fu keep suffering for her!
Shen Yuefu looked as though struck by a fatal blow. Through the haze of his vision, rage suddenly flared.
"Why do these ancient trees always block my sight!"
"Brother Fu!"
Amid Pei Xianqiao's cry of shock, Shen Yuefu ignited what remained of his spiritual power, burning his blood essence. He swung the immortal sword that had lost its spiritual aura, and in an instant all the ancient trees trembled.
Pei Xianqiao stood frozen in place.
…
"Fairy Sister, right up ahead!"
Meng Xiangxiang looked joyfully at the stone hut in the distance.
Hearing this, Yao Ranran spurred her Lotus Petal Cloud-Stepping Boots, dragging Meng Xiangxiang along as they rushed inside.
"Wow! How many spirit stones did that black-robed man stash in here!"
Yao Ranran's eyes widened, her pupils practically shaped like spirit stones.
Meng Xiangxiang swallowed hard. All around, piled like mountains, were endless stones.
"He truly was a heinous criminal!"
For a brief instant he was bewitched by the sight, but quickly remembered the atrocities of the black-robed man. These spirit stones had all been extorted from Qingshui Town!
Yao Ranran swept the hoard into her storage ring with quick hands. "Exactly, he was never worthy of them!"
Meng Xiangxiang, his vengeance avenged, dropped to his knees before her.
"Thank you, Fairy Sister, for avenging me…"
"No need to thank me!" Yao Ranran smiled.
With over a million spirit stones piled here, thanks or no thanks hardly mattered!
Her heart bloomed with delight.
"Fairy Sister…" Meng Xiangxiang gazed at her smiling face, an unspoken request caught in his throat.
But before he could speak, a vast section of the ancient forest outside suddenly collapsed. The stone hut shook violently. At their feet, a massive formation pattern appeared.
Yao Ranran's brow twitched. "Not good. Could someone be trying to seize my spirit stones?"
She channeled her spiritual power, sweeping the entire hut clean in an instant.
Meng Xiangxiang rose in shock, staring at the falling trees outside, then his face turned ashen.
"No, this is the ancient killing array left by the black-robed man. It has been triggered! Fairy Sister, we must—"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground beneath them suddenly caved in. Yao Ranran snatched a red bottle falling from the hut's roof and clutched Meng Xiangxiang as they both plunged into the depths below.
…
Drip. Drip. Drip.
In a crystal-clear ice palace, droplets fell with crisp echoes.
Yao Ranran walked calmly across the frozen floor, watching every detail around her.
"This killing array is really crude."
On either side of her feet, sharp icy spikes jutted from the ground. A single misstep would skewer her foot, draining her blood until she died. But as long as she could see the traps clearly, they posed no real danger.
"This is… all?"
She walked alone for quite some time, beginning to wonder why the black-robed man even bothered with such an array. Had he designed it only to insult people's intelligence?
Elsewhere.
The cold pierced like knives. Pei Xianqiao's hands and feet were flushed red, her robes had lost all warmth, her spirit was unraveling.
"Brother Fu, Brother Fu, where are you?"
"Pei girl, let this old man test the path first. You follow only where I have stepped!"
Senior Shang sighed heavily. If he was not mistaken, this killing formation was none other than the long-lost Zhe Xian Death Array!
Even a Divine Transformation cultivator could easily perish within it. How much less a mere Golden Core like Pei Xianqiao.
"Senior Shang, you must help me find Brother Fu!" Pei Xianqiao shivered violently, placing all her hope upon him.
Senior Shang looked at her helplessly, then nodded in assent.
…
"An ancient killing array, the Zhe Xian Death Array. It is not easily broken."
An Xiaolin shook his head.
Yao Ranran had no idea why this cheap master of hers had appeared, but she asked anyway. "Master, not easily broken means there is still a way to break it, correct?"
She had been walking for so long, unscathed, yet unable to escape or return to the surface. She inevitably wanted to shatter the array.
An Xiaolin smiled gently at her, gazing southwest. "Disciple, walk that way. Find the source that triggered the array, take its blood essence, and you will be able to break it."
Following his guidance, Yao Ranran walked toward the southwest.
There, beneath a jagged stone wall, lay an unconscious man.
It was none other than the gravely wounded Shen Yuefu!