"Let's try again in a few days!"
Thinking this, Pei Ling immediately sent a message to the female cultivators in his cave abode. "That guest has something urgent to attend to and can't make it today."
"You don't need to come over later."
In their respective rooms, the female cultivators who had been dressing and grooming themselves immediately replied, "Yes!"
Pei Ling gave a slight nod, then moved and vanished from the cave abode.
In a gloomy, desolate valley, a pitch-black palace crouched like a giant beast.
A plaque bearing the words "Chaona" hung high above, reflecting the blazing sun in a cold, razor-sharp gleam.
On the plaza before its main gate, rows of pitch-black statues stood motionless. Their eyes brimmed with malice as they watched every living being who came here.
Suddenly, space rippled, and a figure in a black robe carrying a saber stepped out.
The statues, which had been radiating a bone-chilling, venomous aura just moments before, all lowered their eyes at once, as if they dared not look directly at Pei Ling.
Without concealing his aura, Pei Ling strode toward the palace gates.
The palace, which had seemed utterly deserted, immediately swung its main gates wide open with a thunderous crash.
Two elegantly dressed Specter maids stood on either side, holding lanterns made of human skin as they came forward to welcome him.
They were Jiao Ni and Wu Liu.
"Welcome, Holy Son!" The two women curtsied, their manner gentle and submissive. "Our master is cultivating. Please follow us."
Pei Ling nodded and followed them into the palace.
The palace interior was as dim and chilly as ever. But to Pei Ling now, neither the darkness all around him nor the faint, carefully restrained rustling sounds held any threat or mystery.
He walked through the