Black Wind Valley Entrance

Lin Feng did not immediately set out for Black Wind Valley.

After a string of fierce battles—especially forcing out Mo San and killing him in return—his True Qi and spirit had been greatly depleted. He found a relatively concealed crevice in the rocks, drank a vial of Energy Liquid, and sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing.

Thunder Foundation Establishment Chapter circulated at high speed. The sparse yet pure Thunder Spiritual Energy around him was swiftly absorbed and transformed into surging violet True Qi, nourishing his parched meridians and weary body. The negligible trace of poison near his ear had long since been completely purified.

As he recovered, he repeatedly mulled over the information on the beast-hide parchment in his mind.

"Lady Snake Consort... for someone from Shadow Kill Pavilion to be addressed as 'Lady,' she must at least be a Martial Master." Lin Feng's gaze turned grave. A Martial Artist and a Martial Master were separated by a qualitative leap. True Qi transformed into Gang, capable of leaving the body to wound enemies and even initially drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth—the difference in strength was like heaven and earth. Even if he broke through to the Late Stage Martial Artist realm and his Thunder Gang had just taken shape, his chances against a true Martial Master were still infinitesimal.

"Black Wind Valley... if it is a certain-kill trap, it must have the advantage of terrain. There may even be arrays, traps, or other accomplices."

"The clue about the 'key'... why do they believe the thunder cultivation technique on me is connected to the 'key'? And what exactly does this 'key' point to?"

The fog of mystery was thick, danger lurking on every side. Yet rather than feeling fear, a cold flame burned within his heart. Shadow Kill Pavilion's repeated assassination attempts, along with the Zhang Family clinging to him like maggots to a bone, had utterly stirred his killing intent.

"They want my life, and they want to seize my fortune too..." Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes, violet lightning faintly flickering within them. "Then let's see who the real hunter is!"

Once he had recovered seventy or eighty percent of his strength, he no longer lingered. His body flashed like lightning as he raced toward the gorge shrouded in Black Whirlwinds from his memories.

The closer he drew to Black Wind Valley, the harsher the environment became. The fire poison and Chaotic Spiritual Energy in the air were gradually replaced by an icy, highly corrosive black Fiendish Wind Energy. Gales howled, sweeping up black grit from the ground and lashing it against his face with stinging force. It also carried a bone-eroding chill that constantly tried to bore into his meridians.

An ordinary Martial Artist would have to circulate their True Qi at all times to resist it, suffering tremendous expenditure. Yet Lin Feng discovered that when he circulated the Thunder Foundation Establishment Chapter, the Thunder True Qi naturally flowing around his body offered considerable resistance against this Fiendish Wind Energy. Thunder, supremely yang and unyieldingly fierce, was the natural bane of such yin and evil energies.

[Detected "Profound Yin Fiendish Wind" in the environment. It continuously erodes the physical body and soul. The host's cultivation technique possesses a certain degree of resistance, reducing the effect by 55%.]

Ahead, two black peaks rose from the earth like the Fangs of vicious ghosts, forming a narrow, bottomless gorge entrance between them. At the entrance, black whirlwinds danced madly like a tangible barrier, emitting shrill howls as though countless wronged souls were wailing. The Light Rays within the valley were dim, making its exact conditions impossible to discern. All he could sense was a deathly stillness and danger that made his heart palpitate.

This was Black Wind Valley!

Lin Feng stopped behind a massive boulder several hundred meters from the valley entrance, concealing all traces of his aura as he carefully observed the surroundings.

The ground near the valley entrance was an unnatural dark purple, with faint and intricate patterns intermittently visible beneath the black grit.

"Traces of an array..." Lin Feng's eyes narrowed. The other side had indeed come prepared. The aura of this array was obscure, yet it gave him an intense sense of threat. If he rashly entered, he would likely be thrown into a passive position at once.

His gaze swept across the area, his Spiritual Power like the finest comb, combing through every inch of space. Before long, he found an exceedingly hidden fissure in the mountain wall on the left side of the gorge, concealed by an Illusion Array. The fissure was narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through, but the Fiendish Wind Energy coming from within was comparatively weak, and moreover... there were no traces of array fluctuations.

"Looks like this is the passage reserved for their own people—or perhaps an intentionally left trap, one even more dangerous..." Lin Feng sneered inwardly. Either way, it was better than directly charging into that array of unknown depth.

He no longer hesitated. Like a gecko, he silently slid down from the boulder. Using the gale and flying grit as cover, he reached the fissure in the mountain wall after several swift leaps.

The system's analysis function was fully activated, carefully scanning the inside and outside of the fissure.

[Detected a low-grade Illusion Array covering the area. Energy fluctuations are stable. No embedded attack arrays or warning runes detected.]

[The passage within the fissure is approximately fifty meters long and leads to the flank inside the gorge. No signs of living activity detected.]

It seemed the people of Shadow Kill Pavilion were highly confident in their arrangements and had not stationed any sentries here. Or perhaps that Lady Snake Consort was simply too confident to bother with such petty measures.

Lin Feng gathered an almost imperceptible Lightning Arc at his fingertip and lightly tapped several energy nodes of the Illusion Array. Lightning flashed, and the Illusion Array rippled slightly, revealing an opening just large enough for one person. He slipped inside, and the Illusion Array immediately returned to normal.

The fissure was dark and damp, thick with the pungent smell of earth and mold. The passage was narrow and winding. Lin Feng pushed the "Thunder Flash" movement technique to its limit, stealthily advancing like a ghostly shadow without making the slightest sound.

The fifty-meter distance passed in an instant. A faint glimmer of light appeared ahead, along with the clearer sound of the howling wind.

He pressed himself against the edge of the passage exit and cautiously looked outside.

Before him lay the interior of Black Wind Valley. The gorge was even broader than he had imagined, with steep black rock walls on both sides. The valley floor was filled with dense black Sha Qi, so thick it could scarcely disperse, slowly flowing like ink. His vision was severely obstructed, allowing him to see only around a hundred meters ahead.

Within that dense Sha Qi, pale animal bones and human bones could vaguely be seen drifting along with the current, adding several more shades of grim horror.

His gaze was instantly drawn to a relatively open area at the center of the valley floor.

There stood three crooked black stone pillars arranged in a triangular formation, each carved with twisted serpent patterns. Between the pillars seemed to be a small altar.

Beside the altar, a slender figure stood quietly with her back to him.

She wore close-fitting dark green scale armor that outlined breathtaking curves. Her long hair spilled over her shoulders like snakes. Merely standing there, she gave off an air of Extreme Danger, like a beautiful king cobra brimming with deadly venom, ready to spring up and strike at any moment!

Even the space around her faintly warped. Her powerful aura remained contained, yet it made Lin Feng's heart tremble!

A Martial Master! Absolutely a Martial Master-level powerhouse! And far from one who had only just entered the Martial Master realm!

She was Snake Consort!

A short distance away from Snake Consort stood two figures in black robes, their faces hidden beneath hoods. They stood respectfully, and their auras had both reached the Peak Martial Artist realm.

As though she had noticed something, Snake Consort slowly turned around.

Lin Feng finally saw her face. It was a visage alluring to the extreme, her eyes rippling with endless charm, but her vertical pupils were as cold as ice that had endured ten thousand years, devoid of even a shred of human emotion. Her gaze seemed to pierce through a hundred meters of Sha Qi and the obstruction of rock, landing precisely on the fissure exit where Lin Feng was hiding!

"Little one, after watching for so long, won't you come out?"

Her voice carried a strange magnetism, pleasant and melodious, yet it drilled straight into the heart with a bewitching power capable of turning one's soul upside down. At the same time, an icy, bone-piercing killing intent coiled around him in an instant like countless tiny venomous snakes!