While Mu Yun and the others were locked in a chaotic battle with the Yin Corpse, Xu Chunniang seized the chance to move away from the battlefield. She dove all the way down in the direction from which the Yin Corpse had come, arriving at the lowest level of the cave.
She was now deep within the mountain's belly in the Valley of Lost Souls.
Unlike the cramped passageways, this place was a naturally formed karst cavern, broad and open to the eye.
The yin energy in the cavern was so dense it had reached the extreme. Mist-like yin energy condensed into droplets that slowly fell into a pool in the cavern's southeastern corner.
A familiar figure stood beside the pool. It was An Yue.
Sensing someone approaching, An Yue, who had remained behind by the pool, turned back nervously. When she saw who it was, wariness and surprise appeared on her face.
"It's you?"
She had assumed that the first to arrive would be her master, or the siblings Mu Sha and Mu Yun.
She had never expected Xu Chunniang to be the first one here.
Xu Chunniang ignored An Yue. She slowly approached the pool and studied its water of utmost yin. Every so often, she picked up a stone or a clump of waterweed and tossed it into the pool.
The stones fell into the pool, released a few bubbles, then quickly went still.
The waterweed had grown beside the pool and should have long adapted to the surrounding yin energy. Yet after being thrown in, it was corroded by the yin energy with a series of hissing sounds.
Within a few breaths, it melted away entirely, leaving nothing behind.
An Yue was anxious. After glancing at Xu Chunniang's actions once, she withdrew her gaze.
White Lotus