Entering the Black Mist Wasteland

Inside the room.

Wei Qing, seated cross-legged, abruptly opened his eyes, a flash of golden light passing through them.

An invisible surge of Mental Power pierced through the wall like a sharp blade. The hard bricks and stone were punched through as though they were thin paper.

"If this suddenly struck, it could cut down any martial artist below the fifth rank in a single blow!"

As Wei Qing spoke, red light flashed in his eyes again.

In an instant, the surrounding environment changed.

The familiar Blood Moon hung in the sky.

A cross stood upon a cliff by a sea of blood.

With a lift of his hand, Wei Qing's consciousness avatar—

The sea of blood beneath his feet suddenly churned, and a crimson wave ten meters high soared into the air like a colossal beast.

Reeking of blood, it crashed fiercely against the cliff.

Then Wei Qing seemed to become a creator god.

Under the control of his consciousness, the scenery in the space shifted like scenes on a revolving lantern.

A deep azure ocean.

A desert filled with wind and sand.

A forest where countless beasts howled in unison.

A battlefield locked in slaughter...

Any scene Wei Qing could think of, even imagine, could be conjured within this space.

Knock, knock, knock...

A sudden knock sounded at the door, and Wei Qing withdrew from the space.

"Come in."

With a creak, the door was pushed open from outside.

Zhang Zhidong entered the room and cupped his fists. "My lord, we have just received a confidential report. The anomaly in the Black Mist Wasteland is dissipating. All the sect disciples currently in Qingcheng have already set out for the Black Mist Wasteland."

Wei Qing rose from the bed. "Then let's set out as well."

Zhang Zhidong accepted the order and went to arrange the manpower.

Black Mist Wasteland.

Ever since news of the Exotic Treasure spread, quite a few people had gathered here.

Some chose to stay in Qingcheng.

Others waited where they were.

A quarter of an hour earlier, a wide road ten meters across, with no end visible at a glance, had suddenly appeared in the Black Mist Wasteland, which was shrouded in thick fog all year round. It ran straight into the depths of the Black Mist Wasteland.

As the black mist grew thinner and thinner,

more than a hundred sect disciples had gathered at the entrance.

At this moment, over a hundred sect disciples were already gathered in the surrounding area.

Among them, three figures stood out in particular.

The most eye-catching was the saber-carrying man standing at the edge of the crowd. He wore a fitted set of dark attire, with a black broadsaber a full three feet long slung diagonally across his back. The dark-red patterns winding around its sheath resembled bloodstains that had not yet dried. Not a single person within three zhang of him dared approach.

"That's Blood Saber Qin Shuang."

Someone in the crowd spoke in a low voice.

"I heard he wiped out the Six Ghosts of Jinyang by himself last year. The souls that died beneath that Blood Saber number no fewer than eighty, if not a hundred."

In stark contrast to the lone saber wielder was the richly dressed young man surrounded by five or six people, like stars clustered around the moon. He was just over twenty, with features so beautiful they bordered on femininity, and an arrogant smile that seemed to hover at the corners of his lips.

"The Blazing Sun Sect's young sect master, Liu Yulong." An older martial artist warned his junior brothers beside him, "Whatever you do, don't provoke him. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died."

Liu Yulong seemed to greatly enjoy the awed gazes around him. Fanning himself with a jade-ribbed paper fan, he said to an old man behind him, "Elder Chen, once the mist completely disperses, you'll be the first to rush in. For the mist in the Black Mist Wasteland to suddenly vanish, something extraordinary must have appeared."

"Yes, Young Sect Master."

The last was a mysterious woman guarded at the center by four women. The four attendants all wore plain white gauze robes and carried different weapons. Their positions subtly formed a Four Symbols formation, tightly protecting the violet-clad girl in the middle.

The girl appeared to be seventeen or eighteen. Her skin was as smooth as congealed cream, while her dark hair was loosely gathered with nothing but a purple ribbon.

She toyed with a crystal-clear orb in her hand, within which clouds and mist seemed to drift.

"Are those... people from the Mystic Maiden Palace?" someone guessed uncertainly.

"Shh!" His companion hurriedly stopped him, lowering his voice in warning. "Don't talk nonsense... Don't you know the people of the Mystic Maiden Palace hate it most when others point and whisper about them?"

The violet-clad girl seemed to hear the discussion. She slightly turned her head, her black eyes sweeping across the crowd. Everyone touched by her gaze involuntarily held their breath, as though suppressed by some invisible force.

"Senior Brother, are these three the highest-ranked Heavenly Prides from our Jizhou Prefecture on the Heavenly Pride Ranking?" Dongfang Rongrong blinked as she looked at the three of them.

"Mm." Song Yuanming nodded. "Qin Shuang is ranked eighth, Liu Yulong eleventh, and Nangong Ruyan fourteenth."

As for Tantai Yue, ranked fourth, she was not a native of Jizhou Prefecture. It was said she came from the Imperial City and was the child of an important figure in the Heavenly Realm Division.

Upon seeing these three arrive, Song Yuanming's thoughts of competing for that Exotic Treasure immediately faded considerably.

Both the Blazing Sun Sect and Mystic Maiden Palace were first-rate powers within Jizhou Prefecture.

It was said that Qin Shuang's master was a powerful fourth-rank Rogue Cultivator martial artist.

Whether in strength or backing,

Song Yuanming was not merely a little inferior to those three.

Even if he were lucky enough to obtain the Exotic Treasure, he might not be able to keep it.

At the very back of the crowd, Qin Yang and Zhao Gao of the Blood Robe Gate showed no fear upon seeing the three arrive. Instead, they exchanged a mysterious smile.

Just as everyone was discussing matters, the mist within the passage completely dispersed.

The next instant,

before anyone could react, a black shadow stepped onto the road first and charged into the Black Mist Wasteland.

"Bold bastard!"

Liu Yulong instantly flew into a rage at the sight.

He had just declared before everyone that Chen Li would be the first to enter, yet someone immediately stepped forward and slapped him across the face in public.

"Elder Chen, find that person and kill him!"

"Yes, Young Sect Master."

Chen Li accepted the command, turning into an afterimage as he gave chase.

Only after Qin Shuang and the other two, along with their guards, stepped onto the road did the remaining sect disciples follow them into the Black Mist Wasteland.

By the time Wei Qing arrived with Tantai Yue, Jun Wushang, and Zhang Xue, no one remained at the entrance.

Wei Qing swept his gaze around. Other than the thick fog and a road leading into the depths of the Black House Wasteland, he found nothing unusual. "Looks like they've all gone in."

"Qingzi, we're already a step late. Hurry in, or someone else will snatch that Exotic Treasure."

After hearing there was an Exotic Treasure, Jun Wushang had insisted on coming along no matter what.

And naturally, Zhang Xue, that curious little bundle of energy, could not be left out.

Only Tantai Yue seemed to have noticed something unusual about Wei Qing, yet she did not expose it.

Wei Qing's expression was grave as he instructed them in a low voice, "No matter what happens later, remember to stay close behind me."

"Alright."

"No problem."

"Qingzi, whatever you say goes. Let's hurry up."

"Good."

Wei Qing gave a brief reply, stepping onto the road first and entering the Black House Wasteland. The other three followed close behind.

Not long after Wei Qing and the others entered,

an anomaly suddenly arose.

The fog that had already dispersed silently gathered once more, slowly weaving an invisible net like ghosts and quietly sealing off the entrance.

Then, as if it had come alive, the mist began pursuing them bit by bit, swallowing everyone's path of retreat inch by inch.