Mysterious Canyon

The enormous green wolf frightened off its companion. To keep its prey from being stolen, it accelerated first and charged at Lu Xiaotian.

"Ah!"

Lu Xiaotian shrugged off his basket and screamed, hurling the woodcutter's blade in his hand at the green wolf. Taking advantage of the wolf dodging aside, he sprinted across the snow with every ounce of strength he had. The green wolf only swerved slightly before quickening its pace and pursuing him again. The distance between man and beast rapidly closed.

When he reached a small slope, Lu Xiaotian lost his footing and tumbled down it, rolling all the way. The green wolf behind him growled low as it leaped upon him.

Paralyzed by fear, Lu Xiaotian could scarcely bear to look at the horrifying sight.

"Roar!" A far more powerful bellow nearly left Lu Xiaotian dizzy and deaf. Before his unbelieving eyes, a gigantic black bear nearly a zhang tall came roaring and charging toward him. The icy ground trembled beneath the body of this two-thousand-jin behemoth. Yet the black bear displayed agility and speed utterly at odds with its bulk.

The once-ferocious green wolf howled miserably as the giant bear sent it flying with a single paw, leaving it utterly unable to resist. The hundred-jin wolf gave a shriek and, as though it had lost all weight, crashed into a tree more than two zhang away. The trunk, thicker than a grown man's waist, shook violently several times from the impact. The green wolf fell to the ground like a dead thing and never moved again.

The other green wolf had long since fled in terror, vanishing without a trace.

So stunned was Lu Xiaotian that he even forgot the pain from his fall. Watching the enormous furry bear face draw close, he did not dare move a muscle. Each time the black bear breathed, its heavy, fetid breath washed over his face.

Just then, a clear, crisp sound of a short flute rang out. The enormous black bear gave a soft roar, drew back its face, and abandoned Lu Xiaotian. It then trotted with utmost docility toward the source of the flute.

Immediately afterward, Lu Xiaotian saw an old man in a black robe abruptly appear in the snow. Only the old man's pale, wrinkled long face was exposed. With a sweep of his broad sleeve, a fierce gust struck Lu Xiaotian head-on. Before he could make any response, he fell unconscious.

Without seeming to make any movement, the black-robed old man crossed several zhang in just a few steps and arrived before Lu Xiaotian. He took out a colorless, transparent crystal disc, grabbed Lu Xiaotian's hand, and placed it atop the disc. At once, the crystal disc displayed five colors—red, blue, green, gold, and yellow—which spun together in a dizzying whirl, shifting continuously without ever stopping.

"Looks like he has a Spirit Root. Otherwise, he could not have activated this Spirit-Testing Disc. But it keeps changing without settling—what kind of Spirit Root is this? Never mind. In a mundane place like the North Liang Kingdom, finding someone with a Spirit Root is truly difficult. I happen to have no one useful under my hand, so I can only make do with him for now."

The black-robed old man's expression flickered between light and shadow. After walking the cultivation world for so many years, this was the first time he had encountered a case where the Spirit-Testing Disc could not determine a Spirit Root. After a short while, the old man recited an obscure incantation. The black bear gave a low roar, lowered its head, and gently gripped Lu Xiaotian in its mouth before following the black-robed old man in great strides. The old man merely lifted his feet lightly, yet he remained ahead of the endlessly charging black bear as the mountains and forest streamed backward.

Several hours later, deep within Mang Mountain, several hundred li from the Thunder Blade Sect, white mist coiled through a valley, while the cries of tigers and apes echoed within.

At the mouth of the valley, three figures could vaguely be seen.

"Those stray hairs from Soaring Heavens Palace have been chasing us close enough to bite. We fled all the way to the North Liang Kingdom before we finally managed to shake them off. If those mad dogs keep clamping their teeth around us, I'm afraid we truly won't have anywhere left to hide."

A burly man with a face full of beard stood bare-chested despite the bitter winter, exposing bronze skin and solid muscles. A bronze battle-axe hung at his waist as he spoke in a muffled voice.

"Soaring Heavens Palace is far too powerful. It's all Blood Dwarf's fault. If your hands and feet had been cleaner, how could you have let Soaring Heavens Palace find even the slightest clue? We've spent years living like stray dogs. The spirit stones in our hands are nearly used up now. Are we supposed to live like ordinary mortals from here on, eating the five grains and coarse staples?" The plump young woman in green, who bore a long, thin scar across her face, spoke resentfully.

"How can you blame me? The cultivators of Soaring Heavens Palace truly are formidable. If you hadn't been seized by the urge to kill and seize treasure, how would there have been all this afterward?" Blood Dwarf was an adult man over forty, dressed in red and only the size of an eight- or nine-year-old child, with a patch of bluish beard on his chin. Hearing the green-robed young woman's words, he sneered. "Besides, if the disciples of Soaring Heavens Palace had not driven us into a corner, we would never have stumbled upon such a Mysterious Canyon in a place this remote. The spiritual energy here is so abundant—it must be a treasure ground."

"Whether it is a treasure ground or a death ground, it is still too early to say. This valley is exceedingly strange. The white mist within never disperses, and there seems to be some restriction inside that blocks divine sense. Once cultivators like us enter, we are no different from ordinary people. If we encounter demonic beasts in the valley, our situation will be perilous beyond measure," the bearded man said gravely.

The green-robed young woman said impatiently, "The spirit stones and pills on us are almost exhausted. If we cannot replenish some spiritual materials, what are we to do afterward? No matter how dangerous it is inside, we must investigate it. It might even be a treasure ground. That old freak Geng has been out for days already. If he doesn't return soon, this old lady will have no choice but to go in herself."

"Since that is the case, you may all go in and investigate it yourselves." An aged, gloomy voice rang out, followed by the heavy thuds of an enormous black bear's feet striking the ground.

The green-robed young woman's expression changed upon hearing this, then she put on an affected string of laughter. "Listen to yourself, Fellow Daoist Geng. I was merely joking. This canyon is quite bizarre. Among the four of us, Fellow Daoist Geng's cultivation is the deepest, and you are skilled in the art of alchemy. Without Fellow Daoist Geng, how could the rest of us possibly have the ability to brave this strange canyon?"

"Fellow Daoist Geng, you've finally returned. You truly kept us waiting anxiously."

In his daze, Lu Xiaotian heard a burst of hearty laughter. "Eh? What did you capture a little brat for?"

"You're big, so why can't your brains keep up? We fled all the way to the North Liang Kingdom, but Fellow Daoist Geng's pill boy did not escape in time and was slain by the disciples of Soaring Heavens Palace. Naturally, he needs to find another pill boy." The dwarf man chuckled darkly. "Now that Fellow Daoist Geng has found one, should we pick a day to enter the valley and get to the bottom of it?"

"Exactly. Blood Dwarf has hit the nail on the head. Fellow Daoist Geng, this canyon may be somewhat dangerous, but it may also be a treasure ground. Better still, no other cultivators have been seen here. This is a treasure ground bestowed by Heaven."

Blood Dwarf and the bearded man nodded repeatedly. For treasure-seeking cultivators like them, their greatest enemies were usually not the demonic beasts or mechanisms within spiritual lands, but other treasure-seeking cultivators with sinister intentions. Each of them had already taken the lives of no fewer than ten other cultivators. Rogue Cultivators like them, who had survived for so long while drifting from place to place, were for the most part ruthless and decisive killers.