Before they knew it, some time had passed.
The intense sensation of weightlessness finally faded, but there was still no solid ground beneath their feet. They hadn't landed on earth.
Li Mo finally regained consciousness.
He suddenly realized that behind him, clouds shimmered with seven colors. It was thanks to these strange clouds that they had escaped without a scratch.
The rosy light flowed from the gap in the stone door not far away.
"Thank you. You can let go now."
A cool, clear voice sounded by his ear.
"Uh..."
Li Mo didn't react for a moment.
That flawless, breathtaking face was very close to his. He could even feel her warm breath against him.
Because he was holding her so tightly, he could feel Ice Block's heartbeat through their clothes.
As everyone knew, when people fell into water or plummeted from a great height, they instinctively clung to anything they could grab.
Little Li felt awkward for a moment.
It seemed he'd been worrying over nothing and had done something unnecessary.
Li Mo gave a light cough, released her, and stood up, pretending to survey their surroundings.
"Where are we? I've never heard of a place like this beneath Clear Abyss."
"Was this why you brought me to Moon Gazing Cliff?"
"Mm."
Ying Bing nodded without offering any further explanation.
"How did you know about this place?"
Li Mo asked casually.
People tended to ramble when they were embarrassed.
Ying Bing lowered her eyes and replied calmly, "I've been here in a dream."
If she considered everything that had happened in her previous life a dream, then what she said wasn't wrong.
Many things had changed after her rebirth.
But fortunately, the call from this place had never faded.
Even if others had a hundred lives, they still couldn't reach this inheritance hidden beneath Clear Abyss by jumping from Moon Gazing Cliff.
And even if they did make it here, they couldn't enter the inheritance grounds. They would only be trapped in the rosy light until they died.
"Let's go."
Ying Bing instinctively reached for her waist, but found nothing there.
"Use mine."
As he spoke, an utterly ordinary Green Steel Sword appeared in her hand, its blade nicked in a few places, each notch no bigger than a grain of rice.
So reaching Moon Gazing Cliff hadn't been as easy for him as he'd made it sound?
Ying Bing pushed the thought aside, nodded slightly, and walked on with the sword in hand.
Li Mo kept pace beside her, staying alert to their surroundings.
Since this was an inheritance site, perhaps... there was some kind of trial here?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when—
Whoosh—
A bone-chilling wind swept past, sending waves of dread through the depths of their souls.
"Come down... and keep me company..."
"Why are you still alive?"
"A fortuitous encounter... an unparalleled fortuitous encounter... take me in with you..."
Layer upon layer of muttering whispers drifted in on the wind.
"Careful."
"Don't stray too far from me."
Ying Bing's clear voice rang out.
"What are those things?"
Li Mo looked around by the light of the Rosy Bridge.
Black clouds surged around them, and now and then, twisted faces contorted in agony flashed into view.
In the past, Ying Bing would have been too lazy to explain.
But today, she actually answered his question:
"Once martial artists reach the Divine Observation Realm, they can study mountains and rivers, the sun and moon, strange flowers and plants, all kinds of exotic beasts, and even wondrous sights of heaven and earth to temper their spirits. When they reach the peak of Divine Observation, their spirits can even leave their bodies and command objects."
"Thus, if a martial artist at or above the Divine Observation Realm dies while clinging to an obsession, a wisp of their spirit may remain and become a Yin Entity."
"Yin Entities can't endure sunlight. That's why there are so many here."
Little Li understood.
It stood to reason that many people must have wanted to explore Clear Abyss and put that desire into action.
Some of them had surely been powerful.
Clearly, they had all failed.
A wisp of their obsession had remained here forever, keeping watch over the Nine-Colored Primal Phoenix's inheritance, which they could never enter again.
"Yin Entities..."
The freezing wind carried the Yin Entities in from all directions. Ying Bing beside him sprang into action.
Clang—
This was the first time Li Mo had seen Ying Bing fight seriously.
Her swordlight flared, bursting into a hundred sword blossoms.
Each blossom of Sword Qi struck a Yin Entity with pinpoint accuracy, driving it back.
The Flower-Seeking Sword Technique, perfected!
However, this attack, powerful enough to make those in the Inner Breath Realm retreat, did no real damage to the Yin Entities.
It merely knocked them back into the clouds. Before long, they would return in a fresh wave.
"Move faster. Yin Entities aren't afraid of blades..."
Before Ying Bing could finish, a warm, peaceful sensation suddenly came from behind them.
A feather-shaped light glowed from the pouch on Li Mo's chest.
The Fire Sparrow Feather.
Pure, blazing Yang energy—the natural bane of evil, Yin-tainted things.
Li Mo casually threw a punch.
A thin layer of the Fire Sparrow's Yang energy clung to his fist.
"Heh heh heh..."
The Yin Entity in front of him clearly lacked any semblance of reason.
It had no idea how serious the situation was.
Like snow meeting boiling oil, its ink-dark form began to melt away almost instantly.
It instinctively tried to retreat.
But Li Mo's punch went straight through it.
Pfft—
The Yin Entity vanished.
"There's a trace of the Phoenix Clan's aura in that pouch."
"It must have been left behind by some bird that carries the bloodline of a true phoenix?"
Ying Bing's tense body relaxed a little.
That meant she no longer had to split her attention to protect him.
But...
Why was Li Mo still standing there without moving?
Little Li was a little dazed.
Because just a moment ago, the system had given him a notification.
[Congratulations, host. Your investment succeeded. You helped 'Xia Rong' dispel his obsession and find peace.] [Investment feedback: One year of martial arts insight.]
Li Mo: "!"
Killing a Yin Entity counted as investment feedback?
No wonder they said guiding departed souls to rest earned merit...
And so, Li Mo looked at the shadows roiling in the clouds, his eyes alight with anticipation.
Even a mosquito's leg was meat.
He'd take any reward he could get.
Li Mo was about to continue when he noticed Ice Block looking over at him with her brows slightly furrowed.
"Ahem."
"Many of these Yin Entities were elders of Clear Abyss Sect."
"Since it's no trouble, I should help them find peace."
Little Li spoke earnestly.
Ying Bing pressed her lips together, a quiet gleam flickering in her eyes.
In the end, she didn't urge him on. She simply waited by his side.
Whenever a Yin Entity came for her, she would casually steer it toward Li Mo.
This was great.
Li Mo was thrilled.
A man and a woman working together made the work feel easy.
In less than the time it took to burn two incense sticks, they had cleared out nearly all the Yin Entities. Even the air felt less frigid.
In return, Li Mo received a string of investment rewards.
By his rough count, he'd gained eighty-six years of martial arts insight. Added to what he already had, it brought him to nearly two hundred years.
He'd also acquired an assortment of miscellaneous items: damaged weapons, pills with various effects, gold and silver, and even a few land deeds, though he had no idea if they were still valid.
"Thank you."
Li Mo smiled sincerely and cupped his hands toward Ying Bing.
"Mm."
Ying Bing returned the sword to its sheath, an unfamiliar feeling rising in her heart as well.
Sometimes, she couldn't understand why Li Mo would do something that brought him no benefit and wasted his time.
But the feeling after he'd done it...
It didn't seem unpleasant?
She shook her head, took a few steps forward, and finally reached the entrance to the inheritance grounds: the moss-covered stone door.
She placed her slender hand against it.
Buzz—
A strange vibration rang out.
Dust sifted down as the stone door slowly opened.
Peach-colored light spilled out, filling the space around them.
The light suddenly brightened. Li Mo instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes, then peered inside through the gaps between his fingers.
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