Black Abyss

The black rock plain looked even more desolate up close than from afar.

What they stepped on was neither sand nor soil, but a kind of fine black particle resembling powder ground from charred bones.

Every step produced a faint crunch.

"Don't look," Shi Yong said in a low voice. "They're just stones."

Su Ying nodded, but her eyes still couldn't help drifting downward.

Shadow walked at the very front, moving much slower than before.

His short sword was already drawn, the blade coated with that dark ointment, emitting an eerie purple-black luster under the moonlight.

He stopped every few steps to observe his surroundings, his ears twitching slightly like an alert cat.

Li Xuan walked three steps behind him, the Blood Wolf Saber held horizontally across his chest, his Pure Yang Qi running to the absolute limit within his body.

After reaching the edge of the Black Abyss, the cold and gloomy Qi in the air grew so dense it felt substantial. With every breath, he could feel the freezing air pouring from his nasal passages into his lungs, much like drinking ice water.

Yet the Red Sun Scripture operated automatically, blocking those chilly currents outside the body while absorbing a small portion into the meridians and transforming it into Pure Yang Qi.

However, the Yin Qi here was simply too dense—so thick that even the Red Sun Scripture could not refine all of it in time.

"How much further?" Shi Yong asked from behind.

Shadow did not answer, merely raising a hand to point ahead.

Within the darkness, that black bulge grew closer and closer.

Drawing nearer, they saw it was a massive rift valley.

The earth had split open here, at least two hundred zhang wide with a length that seemed to stretch endlessly into the depths of darkness to both north and south.

The edge of the rift was formed by steep black rock walls lacking any vegetation, marked only by deep gullies as though gouged out by giant claws.

Li Xuan walked to the edge of the rift and looked down.

Below lay a realm of pure darkness.

He took out a flint, lit it, and shone it downward. The firelight could only reach about a dozen zhang below before being swallowed entirely by the darkness, leaving nothing visible.

"The Black Abyss," Shadow said beside him, his voice very low. "That's how it got its name. Once light reaches here, it vanishes."

"Where is the path down?" Li Xuan asked.

Shadow walked dozens of paces eastward along the edge of the rift and stopped before a rock face.

The rock face here was not as steep as elsewhere, forming a gentle slope. Though still quite steep, it was barely passable.

The slope bore traces of artificial chisel work, as though someone had built a road here long ago, though it had since been ruined, leaving only a few broken stone steps.

"Down from here," Shadow said. "Qin Lie took this route back then."

Li Xuan gazed down the descending path swallowed by the darkness, falling silent for a breath.

"Shi Yong, Su Ying," he turned back. "You two stay above."

Shi Yong blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"It's too dangerous below," Li Xuan said. "You're in the Body Tempering Realm and can't withstand the Yin Qi down there. Going down is just courting death."

Shi Yong opened his mouth to argue, but looking at that bottomless abyss of darkness, he shut his mouth again.

"Shadow comes down with me," Li Xuan said. "The two of you guard up here. If we haven't come back up by dawn, return to the Crimson Firmament Sect and report what happened here to the Shadow Division."

Shi Yong was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Come back alive," he said.

Li Xuan did not answer, turning to walk toward the descending path.

Shadow followed behind him.

The stone steps were narrow, wide enough for only one person to pass.

The further down they went, the denser the chilly Yin Qi became, growing so heavy that even Li Xuan's Pure Yang Qi began to struggle.

He had to run a few extra circulation cycles just to keep the crimson gold flame on the surface of his body from extinguishing.

Shadow's condition was worse than his. Shadow was at the second layer of the True Qi Realm, but he did not cultivate a supreme-yang cultivation method nor did he have Blood Fiend Gang Qi for protection.

In a place like this, he could only rely on raw true qi to endure, consuming his inner force with every single step.

"Can you hold on?" Li Xuan asked.

Shadow nodded without speaking.

Yet Li Xuan saw that his face had already turned pale, sweat beading on his forehead, the droplets quickly turning into ice shards under the erosion of the Yin Qi.

The two continued downward.

After about the time it took to burn an incense stick, the stone steps finally came to an end.

Li Xuan squatted down and poked the ground with his finger. The touch at his fingertips was cold, soft, and elastic.

It was not soil.

It was some kind of substance he had never seen before.

"Don't touch it," Shadow's voice came from behind. "This is... this is 'meat'."

Li Xuan looked up. "What?"

"Something Gurqin raises," Shadow said. "The Shadow Division's records mentioned it. He breeds a kind of... moss-like thing at the bottom of the Black Abyss that absorbs Yin Qi and devours living creatures. If a person steps on it and stays too long, it will grow tentacles to entangle your feet."

Li Xuan stood up and looked down. That layer of black "meat" covered the entire bottom of the rift valley, extending in all directions with no end in sight. In the distance, several bulging shapes resembled tree roots or perhaps blood vessels, writhing slowly beneath the surface.

"Which way?" he asked.

Shadow pointed ahead.

There, dimly visible in the darkness, was a deeper black cave opening.

The entrance was large, at least ten zhang high, and irregular in shape as though something had hollowed it out from within.

"That's Gurqin's lair," Shadow said. "That's where Qin Lie went back then."

Li Xuan tightened his grip on the saber hilt and stepped forward.

The "meat" beneath his feet contracted slightly the moment he stepped on it, as if testing him.

However, the Pure Yang Qi covered his entire body, and the crimson gold flame roasted that layer of "meat" until it produced a faint sizzling sound.

It did not move again, slowly returning to its original state only after he passed.

Shadow followed closely behind him, placing every step precisely where Li Xuan had trodden, not daring to step elsewhere.

The two arrived before the cave entrance.

The interior was even darker than outside, black as a solid wall.

Li Xuan raised the Blood Wolf Saber, and the crimson gold flame on the blade illuminated a small area around them.

The cave walls were not made of rock, but of some smooth black substance resembling solidified asphalt.

The walls were covered in patterns, arranged in concentric circles like tree rings or some kind of rune.

Sounds drifted out from the cave.

Footsteps.

Not the footsteps of a single person, but of many.

Li Xuan stopped, and Shadow halted as well.

The footsteps drew closer.

Then, people emerged from the darkness.

No, they were corpses.

Over a dozen corpses, wearing various kinds of attire.

There were barbarian leather robes, the moon white robes of Crimson Firmament Sect disciples, the worn armor of Northern Territory garrison guards, and the coarse cloth linen clothes of ordinary commoners. Their skin was ashen white as if soaked in water for a long time, and their eyes were empty, the sockets holding only two faint green lights.

Walking Corpses.

Puppets transformed after being eroded by Gurqin's Yin Fiend Qi.

The foremost corpse wore the moon white robe of a Crimson Firmament Sect disciple, with cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs—the mark of an Inner Disciple. Its face had rotted away for the most part, exposing the white bone beneath, yet Li Xuan still recognized that face.

Zhou Wen.

Li Xuan's pupils contracted sharply.

How could his corpse be here?

Shadow also recognized Zhou Wen, his hand tightening around his sword.

"He isn't Zhou Wen," Shadow said in a low voice. "It's Zhou Wen's corpse. Stolen away by Gurqin's people."

Zhou Wen—or rather, Zhou Wen's corpse—opened its mouth. Its jaw was already rotted, and as it opened, it produced a clicking sound of bone friction.

"Li... Xuan..."

The voice was hoarse, sounding as though it came from deep, deep beneath the earth.

"You're... here..."

Li Xuan did not speak.

He gripped the Blood Wolf Saber tightly, pouring Pure Yang Qi into the blade as the crimson gold flames suddenly surged.

"Whoever you are," he said, "get out of his body."

Zhou Wen's corpse tilted its head as if smiling. Then it raised a hand and pointed at Li Xuan.

The dozen or so walking corpses behind it moved in unison.

They lunged forward not with great speed, but with strict coordination, like a well-trained army. The front two wore barbarian leather robes and held rusted sabers stained with black mucus.

Li Xuan did not retreat.

He took a single step forward and swept the Blood Wolf Saber horizontally.

A crimson gold blade Qi detached from the weapon, striking the chests of the two walking corpses. Wherever the blade Qi passed, the bodies of the walking corpses were sliced in two, crimson gold flames igniting along the cut surfaces and rapidly spreading across their entire bodies. They emitted shrill screeches, struggled in the flames for a few moments, and turned to ash.

[Killed Walking Corpse (Yin Fiend Puppet), Potential Points +1]
[Killed Walking Corpse (Yin Fiend Puppet), Potential Points +1]

The remaining walking corpses had already pounced.

Li Xuan sidestepped to evade a lunge from one corpse and slashed backward, cutting off its head.

The head rolled to the ground while the body kept charging forward for a few steps before collapsing.

Another walking corpse lunged from the side, claws raking toward Li Xuan's throat.

He threw a punch with his left hand, crimson gold flames exploding across his knuckles to blast the walking corpse away, crashing into the cave wall and bursting into a ball of fire.

Shadow joined the fray as well. His short sword pierced the back of a walking corpse's head, the ointment on the blade taking effect as the corpse's body instantly stiffened and then shattered like sand. His fighting style was clean, every strike piercing vital points without wasting an ounce of strength.

The dozen-plus walking corpses were completely wiped out in less than the time it took to burn half an incense stick.

The cave interior returned to silence.

Only piles of ash and shattered bones remained on the ground.

Zhou Wen's corpse was still standing.

It had not moved.

From beginning to end, it had not participated in the attack. It merely stood there, head tilted, watching Li Xuan with those empty eye sockets.

"You're... stronger... than before..." it said.

Li Xuan stared at it. "Who are you?"

"You... know..."

Li Xuan's heart sank.

Gurqin.

"You're not a clone," Li Xuan said. "You're the main body."

Zhou Wen's corpse smiled. An eerie grin formed on its rotting face, the jaw nearly falling off.

"The clone... was a... part of me... you... destroyed him... and I... knew it... your... location..."

It raised a hand, pointing at Li Xuan's chest.

"Within you... is my... mark... even though... you... refined it... still... I can smell... your... scent..."

Li Xuan tightened his grip on the saber hilt, the Pure Yang Qi surging wildly within him.

"You thought... refining it... meant nothing was wrong?" Zhou Wen's corpse let out a cackling laugh. "That mark... before my... main body... will... grow back..."

Li Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"You... in the Northern Territory... killed... so many of... my subordinates... today... I'm going to... make you... stay..."

Zhou Wen's corpse suddenly stiffened, and then, as if squeezed by an invisible hand, its entire body collapsed inward, the sound of bones breaking dense like popping beans. It turned into a patch of black mist, within which two massive green lights ignited—

Gurqin's Eyes.

A part of Gurqin's main body had descended through Zhou Wen's corpse.

The black mist condensed into the shape of a wolf.

A gigantic wolf wrapped entirely in black mist, its eye sockets burning with ghostly green flames.

It stood two zhang tall and four zhang long, crouching inside the cave and nearly filling the entire space.

Gurqin's Main Body.

Not a clone, but the main body.

Although it was only a part, it was already three times larger than the wolf soul on that night in Iron Wall City and five times stronger than the clone in the mine.

The Pure Yang Qi within Li Xuan surged violently.

The wolf soul lowered its head, its ghostly green eyes fixing on Li Xuan.

"You... brought... a... friend..." It looked toward Shadow. "A little... mouse... from the Shadow Division..."

Shadow did not speak, holding his short sword horizontally across his front, his face pale yet his gaze resolute.

"All of... you... will... die..."

The wolf soul opened its mouth, and a breath of black Qi spewed forth like a torrent of darkness, hurtling straight toward Li Xuan and Shadow!

Li Xuan stepped forward, holding the Blood Wolf Saber vertically before him as Pure Yang Qi poured into the blade, the crimson gold flames condensing into a shield shape upon the metal.

The black torrent crashed against the flame shield, emitting a sizzling sound akin to water poured onto a red-hot iron plate. The black mist was scorched by the flames and turned into white smoke that dissipated, yet the flame shield was also being eroded, thinning layer by layer.

Li Xuan gritted his teeth, driving every drop of Pure Yang Qi in his dantian to surge forward as the flame shield abruptly flared, pushing the black torrent back!

A flash of surprise crossed the wolf soul's eyes.

"You're... stronger... than... I thought..."

It pulled back the black mist, stood up, and looked down at Li Xuan from above.

"But... not enough..."

It raised its right claw and slammed it down.

Before the claw even reached him, the fierce wind it displaced had already pressed Li Xuan's legs weak. The Mountain Suppressing Art activated on its own, triggering the Immovable as a Mountain trait. His legs seemed rooted in the earth, forcibly withstanding that pressure. But the ground beneath his feet was crushed into a deep pit, and his calves sank into it.

Shadow burst out from the side, thrusting a short sword at Wolf Soul's right leg.

The blade pierced the Black Mist. The medicine took effect, and Wolf Soul's right leg suddenly stiffened. But it merely lowered its head and glanced at Shadow before sweeping out its left claw and sending him flying. Shadow slammed into the cavern wall, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slid to the ground. He struggled several times but could not get back up.

"Shadow!" Li Xuan growled.

Wolf Soul's right claw was already crashing down.

Li Xuan had no time to check Shadow's injuries.

He drew a deep breath and urged all his Red Sun Qi and Blood Fiend Gang Qi to their limits at the same time.

Crimson Gold Flame and blood-colored Gang Qi intertwined, collided, and fused within him.

His left hand condensed Blood Fiend Gang Qi into a blood-colored fist-blade. His right hand condensed Red Sun Qi into a Crimson Gold blade ray.

He struck with both fists.

His left fist smashed into Wolf Soul's right claw, while his right fist slashed toward Wolf Soul's head.

Boom—!!!

The tremendous impact made even the cavern walls tremble.

The Blood Fiend fist-blade blasted a hole through Wolf Soul's right claw, and Black Mist gushed from the opening. At the same time, the Crimson Gold blade ray struck Wolf Soul's head, slicing from its forehead all the way to its jaw and leaving behind a deep, scorched wound.

Wolf Soul let out a shrill howl, its entire body trembling violently.

It retreated two steps.

Li Xuan also staggered back several steps, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The flesh on both his fists had peeled back, exposing the white bones beneath. Yet the bones shimmered with a faint golden light and were slowly healing.

The Blood Fiend Diamond Body.

Wolf Soul stared at him. At last, wariness appeared in its ghostly green eyes.

"You... aren't... an ordinary human..."

Li Xuan said nothing. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and tightened his grip on the Blood Wolf Saber.

"Again."

Wolf Soul was silent for a breath.

Then it laughed.

"Not... fighting... today..."

Its body began to dissipate, and Black Mist spread in every direction.

"You... will... come... looking for me... again... I'll wait... for you..."

"You... have... something... of mine... inside... you... You... can't escape..."

The Black Mist dispersed completely.

Darkness and silence returned to the cavern.

Only Li Xuan's heavy breathing and Shadow's faint coughing remained.

Li Xuan walked over to Shadow, crouched down, and examined his injuries. Shadow's chest had caved in, at least three ribs were broken, and blood was still trickling from the corner of his mouth. But his eyes remained open, and he was still conscious.

"Not dead," Shadow said weakly. "Can't die."

Li Xuan took out the bottle of Golden Wound Powder Zhou Ning had given him, sprinkled it over the wound on Shadow's chest, then tore off a strip of his own robe and bandaged him.

"Can you walk?"

Shadow tried. He braced himself against the cavern wall and stood, swaying before steadying himself.

"I can."

Li Xuan supported him as they headed toward the cavern entrance.

When they reached the entrance, he looked back at the darkness inside.

Wolf Soul's words continued to echo in his mind.

"You have something of mine inside you."

He had refined the Wolf Soul Mark. But Gurqin had said that the mark would grow back in front of the original body.

Had it merely been trying to frighten him, or was it telling the truth?

Li Xuan turned around and supported Shadow as they climbed toward the top of the Rift Valley, one step at a time.

Behind them, the darkness of the Black Abyss slowly closed together, like a shut eye.

Shi Yong and Su Ying were waiting at the edge of the Rift Valley.

When they saw Li Xuan and Shadow come up, Shi Yong breathed a sigh of relief. But when he saw the wound on Shadow's chest, his expression darkened again.

"What happened?"

"We ran into Gurqin," Li Xuan said. "A clone. Stronger than the one in the mine."

Shi Yong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then closed it again.

Su Ying ran over and helped support Shadow. She took a handkerchief from her clothes and carefully wiped the blood from his face, her eyes reddening.

"Don't cry," Shadow said. "I'm not dead."

Su Ying bit her lip and held back her sobs, but tears still fell.

Li Xuan walked over to a rock and sat down.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. Most of the flesh had already healed, revealing faintly golden bones. The Blood Fiend Diamond Body recovered much faster than an ordinary martial artist's body, but the battle had consumed too much of him. He would need at least one night of rest to recover.

He checked his internal panel.

[Potential Points: 25→31]

Thirty-one Potential Points would be enough to last him for a while.

"We'll rest here tonight," he said. "Tomorrow morning, we head back."

Shi Yong froze for a moment. "Head back? We're not fighting anymore?"

"We can't beat it," Li Xuan said. "Gurqin's original body is too powerful. The four of us aren't enough. We'll go back, find the sect, find the Shadow Division, and find more people."

He looked toward the darkness in the north.

"When we come next time, we'll bring more people."

Shi Yong was silent for a while before nodding.

Su Ying helped Shadow find a sheltered crevice between the rocks. She spread out some cotton-padded clothes and let him lie down.

Shi Yong went to find some dry firewood. There were no trees here, but there were a few dead shrub roots that could barely sustain a fire.

Firelight rose, driving away a small patch of darkness.

Li Xuan sat beside the fire, watching the flames dance.

Inside his body, Red Sun Qi and Blood Fiend Gang Qi circulated slowly, repairing his damaged meridians.

He remembered the line in Qin Lie's letter:

"When it's time to ask for help, ask for help."

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