Beyond a stretch of towering forest, beneath the cliffs, a clear stream curled around the rocks, swirling and surging onward.
By the deep pool stood green trees and purple bamboo, partly concealing an abandoned village.
The village seemed to have been deserted for a long time. Ruined walls and broken buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, buried beneath thick layers of dust.
Whoosh!
Five streaks of profound light shot out of the void.
With a series of muffled thuds, the lights faded, revealing five arrows buried in the ground at the village entrance. In an instant, they transformed into five figures.
They were "Chui Yu," "Xiang Zai," "Gu Miao," "Kongmeng," and the Eighty-one Tribulation Great Ascension female cultivator dressed in plain clothes and straw sandals.
Looking at the village, which was almost entirely in ruins, the female cultivator swiftly formed an ancient, unadorned Magic Seal.
A hazy mist immediately rose within the village. It curled like cooking smoke, thin and ethereal, and in the blink of an eye swallowed the entire settlement.
Without another word, the female cultivator said, "Go in!"
With that, she stepped toward the village entrance.
"Chui Yu" and the other three hurried after her.
The instant the five entered the mist, it vanished without a trace. The village once more looked like a ruin, yet not a single person remained in sight.
Within the mist, everything around them was blurred, its outlines barely discernible.
The four followed the Eighty-one Tribulation Great Ascension female cultivator through the ruins, winding this way and that. After a full half-hour, the mist gradually dispersed, and a village of low-roofed houses suddenly appeared before them.
The village stood on a barren patch of ground, with no water source or much vegetation nearby. Only a kind of dark green