Sect Forbidden Ground

"Are you all right? Sorry, I was too worried about Su'er just now..."

Only then did Caiyi recall how dangerous it had been to leave Ye Zhen alone with a Phantom Snake King that had not been killed. When she drew near and raised the Phantom Snake King's now-empty snakeskin, her brows furrowed again.

"Eh? How did this happen?" Fairy Caiyi held up the hollow snakeskin and looked at Ye Zhen in confusion.

"Well..."

His eyes shifted, and a lie sprang freshly to life from Ye Zhen's lips. "I don't know either. After you left, the Phantom Snake King struggled more and more violently, so I hid behind a distant tree.

From afar, I only saw a streak of black qi flash past. The Phantom Snake King went silent, and then you arrived."

Did Ye Zhen dare tell her the truth?

Having witnessed the wonders of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, Ye Zhen had already made up his mind. The secret of the Mirage Dragon Pearl had to rot in his belly; he could not mention it to anyone.

If even the slightest bit of news leaked out, it would bring a deadly calamity.

"Black qi?" Fairy Caiyi's brows drew together, and her expression abruptly turned vigilant. "That means fiends and demons are about. It sucked away the Phantom Snake King's blood essence. I never expected fiends and demons to truly haunt the vicinity of the Sect Forbidden Ground. It really is too dangerous."

"Fiends and demons, Sect Forbidden Ground?" Ye Zhen stared blankly. He had never expected a lie casually fabricated by him to lead to something out of legend.

It was said that the Qi Yun Sect had a Sect Forbidden Ground, but none of them Outer Disciples knew where it was.

Seeing Ye Zhen's shocked expression, Fairy Caiyi thought he was frightened and could not help feeling apologetic. "Sorry, I nearly got you killed."

After a brief pause, Fairy Caiyi folded the Phantom Snake King's snakeskin in her hands and passed it to Ye Zhen. "Keep this Phantom Snake King's snakeskin. Consider it something to calm your nerves.

When you have time, find someone at the foot of the mountain to make it into close-fitting leather armor. It is extremely useful—not only is it fireproof and waterproof, ordinary blades cannot harm it in the slightest."

Fairy Caiyi's words immediately made Ye Zhen feel greatly favorable toward her.

For a True Disciple to apologize to an Outer Disciple like him was already exceedingly rare. With such a gentle temperament, such moving beauty, and that ethereal, unworldly aura, she truly seemed like a fairy.

A young man admired beauty. Ye Zhen was already sixteen or seventeen, and without realizing it, such thoughts had arisen in him. His heartbeat suddenly quickened for no reason, and he only wanted to breathe in a few more traces of the faint fragrance drifting from the young woman.

That fragrance was especially alluring.

"Fiends and demons are even rarer than Monster Beasts, but they are harder to deal with as well. If I encountered one now, I would probably only be able to flee. Your luck was quite good today. Come, let us go see Su'er." Fairy Caiyi said.

At the mention of Su'er, Fairy Caiyi's pretty face inexplicably reddened a little. She said no more, merely leading Ye Zhen swiftly through the woods.

A quarter of an hour later, a ravine a hundred meters deep appeared before Ye Zhen. At the end of that ravine lay a massive pit whose depths could not be seen at a glance.

"Don't go any farther. Beyond this lies the Sect Forbidden Ground. Su'er is in there..." Fairy Caiyi lightly bit her lip and pointed out the direction to Ye Zhen, then turned toward the so-called Sect Forbidden Ground. "Keep watch. When Su'er comes out, call me..."

By the time she finished those words, Fairy Caiyi's fair face was crimson red. Even her earlobes had become limpid and pink.

Following the direction Fairy Caiyi indicated, Ye Zhen saw two Flower Civets tangled together in a grass nest amid distant shrubbery. One had its rump raised high, while the other thrust away with effort; the sight of them was one of utter delight.

Ye Zhen had actually anticipated this scene long ago. Yet when he saw that Flower Civet cavorting wildly there with a beautiful young girl beside him, it carried a different kind of flavor.

"Fairy Caiyi, what is the story behind this Sect Forbidden Ground? This Sect Forbidden Ground before us does not seem particularly unusual to me."

Su'er's Flower Civet took rather a long time with its business. Ye Zhen had grown somewhat bored from waiting, so he casually pointed at the stone stele nearby, bearing the two blood-red characters for "Forbidden Ground," and asked.

"I don't know either. This Sect Forbidden Ground indeed has nothing particularly unusual about it, but the sect's prohibition is extremely strict. Anyone discovered entering without permission is immediately expelled from the sect," Fairy Caiyi said.

"The prohibition is that strict?" Ye Zhen's brows knit slightly.

"Yes, it is very strict. One after another, more than a dozen Inner Disciples have already been driven from the sect for violating the prohibition. We also found it strange and were curious. After asking around in many places, we only learned one thing."

"What thing?"

"You should have heard that, years ago, the sect had a True Disciple named Tu Fangye. It was said that he was a True Disciple whose cultivation was on the verge of the Pulse Forging Realm, yet he fell. The place where he fell was this Sect Forbidden Ground before us," Fairy Caiyi said.

"A True Disciple whose cultivation was on the verge of the Pulse Forging Realm?"

Ye Zhen sucked in a cold breath. On the verge of the Pulse Forging Realm—according to rumor, even the current Sect Master of the Qi Yun Sect was only at the Pulse Forging Realm.

"Yes. For some reason, the place where Tu Fangye fell became the Sect Forbidden Ground. We all think there is something strange here, but no one has the courage to violate the sect's prohibition. It is said that sect elders patrol here from time to time," Fairy Caiyi said.

After casually chatting for a few moments about the Sect Forbidden Ground, Ye Zhen and Fairy Caiyi had nothing left to say. Their statuses were worlds apart, and they were not familiar with each other to begin with, so silence suddenly settled between them.

Breathing in the faint fragrance from Fairy Caiyi, listening to the wind and the rustling trees, and looking at the enormous ravine of the Sect Forbidden Ground before him, Ye Zhen's mind became more tranquil than ever before.

Yet that tranquility of mind brought even more sounds to Ye Zhen's ears. Especially after his cultivation had greatly advanced and he had condensed several drops of True Essence, his hearing had become exceptionally sharp.

The sounds of all kinds of small beasts, ants, insects, and birds from every direction immediately entered Ye Zhen's ears. Since he could understand the meaning behind these strange sounds of insects and beasts, it became even more interesting.

Suddenly, several voices coming from the forbidden ground—that enormous ravine—caught Ye Zhen's attention.

"That... thing... is too terrif..." Because they were quite far away, even with Ye Zhen's extraordinary hearing, the words were somewhat indistinct.

Just as Ye Zhen was about to concentrate his power in both ears and listen more carefully, the Flower Civet nearby had somehow finished its business and pounced like lightning toward Fairy Caiyi's arms.

However, what greeted Su'er was a pair of invisible hands. Fairy Caiyi lightly clenched the air with both hands and firmly restrained Su'er, leaving her as unable to move as Ye Zhen had been before.

"You little Su'er, just for this, you actually... you actually..." Fairy Caiyi was rather embarrassed and annoyed by the Flower Civet's true "illness." She wanted to scold her, but before the words could leave her mouth, her fair face had already turned crimson.

"Actually, it is an animal's instinct. You cannot blame them."

"You know a great deal about animals?" Fairy Caiyi asked.

"More or less."

Looking at the Flower Civet, which had become docile again, Fairy Caiyi said, "Su'er is fine now. I will take you back."

Before Fairy Caiyi hoisted him back into the sky, Ye Zhen turned his head and glanced once more at the Sect Forbidden Ground, its ravine a hundred meters deep, lost in thought.