Land of Ice Ruins

With a cry of the phoenix, enormous pale-blue wings rimed with frost beat the air. The Ice Phoenix rose from the ground, flew into the sky, and vanished into the clouds, leaving Liu Xiaolou and Su Jiuniang in Fengji Valley.

"Why isn't there any movement at all? Fengji Valley—isn't it supposed to be a valley where phoenixes gather? Did I misunderstand?"

"You didn't. This really is a valley where birds gather. Look at the trees around us."

"They're all bird nests? That nest is that huge?"

"That is a Giant Eagle-Owl's nest."

"Damn, with a nest that big, that bird has to be three men tall, right?"

"That bird is five times your height. When it spreads its wings, it is as big as that hill over there."

"So huge? Where the hell did they go? And the other birds? Not a trace of them? Is it because of the Void Rift?"

"Yes, because of the rift."

"Why? They knew it was dangerous, so they all fled? Is it really that terrifying?"

"Because it moves."

"It moves? A rift moves? What does that mean?"

Liu Xiaolou quickly understood what "moves" meant.

At Ninth Mistress's reminder, Liu Xiaolou opened his eyes wide in extreme vigilance, staring intently at the activity around them while doing his best to sense everything happening in the valley with his Spiritual Sense.

Before long, Ninth Mistress turned her head toward the northwest, and Liu Xiaolou followed her gaze.

In the perception of his Spiritual Sense, that direction suddenly became "heavy."

It was an indescribable heaviness, pressing down upon his Spiritual Sense as though a stone had been laid atop it. That stone gradually grew heavier, becoming a pile of rocks, or perhaps a massive boulder. Then, a row of giant fir trees some ten zhang away