Yellow Maple Valley, Covering Moon Sect, Mulan Grasslands

This completely overturned the common sense of the cultivation world.

Qian Renxue slowly rose to her feet.

The purifying power of the Six-Winged Angel was naturally the bane of all sinister, poisonous forces.

That brief test had given her a clearer sense of the situation.

This so-called Foundation Establishment cultivator might possess formidable spiritual pressure, but in actual combat, he might not be as invincible as imagined.

She brushed the dust from her cloak, her voice still cool and detached.

"I'll say this one last time."

"Move aside."

Qian Renxue did not summon her martial soul, yet the noble aura cultivated through years of standing above others erupted from her without reservation.

Seeing their master injured, the black-robed young man's guards immediately drew their magical artifacts and surrounded Qian Renxue.

They looked ready to attack at the slightest disagreement.

The rogue cultivators in the teahouse hurriedly scrambled outside, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.

The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.

The black-robed young man clutched his injured right hand, his expression shifting unpredictably.

That golden flame was far too strange. Not only had it destroyed his baleful energy, it had even burrowed inward along his meridians.

He had no choice but to mobilize a great deal of spiritual power before barely suppressing that scorching aura.

"All of you, stand down!"

The black-robed young man suddenly shouted.

The guards exchanged glances, but obediently put away their magical artifacts and retreated to either side.

The black-robed young man gave Qian Renxue a long, searching look.

As the young master of a family who had survived long enough in the cultivation world to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, he was certainly no brainless fool.

This woman dared to walk alone through the market, and with a casual move, she had broken his signature technique.

Moreover, the power she used lay completely outside the scope of the cultivation world's five-element spells.

This unknown power filled him with intense wariness.

Before learning the other party's true capabilities, risking his life in a fight was absolutely unwise.

In the cultivation world, survival came first. Face was worth nothing; life mattered most.

The gloom on the black-robed young man's face vanished instantly, replaced by a somewhat stiff smile.

"It seems I misjudged you."

"Your methods are impressive, miss. I am truly impressed."

"I have offended you today. I'll cover the cost of this tea as an apology."

With that, he took out a low-grade spirit stone from his storage pouch and placed it on a nearby table.

Then, without looking back, he led his guards out of the teahouse.

Clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

The viewers of Douluo Continent were all somewhat slow to react to this sudden turn.

Just moments ago, he had been arrogant and overbearing, looking ready to devour someone alive.

After suffering a small loss, he had actually lowered his head, apologized, and left just like that?

Shrek Academy.

Flender adjusted his newly replaced black-rimmed glasses, a slight frown on his face.

"Why did that guy just leave?"

"On Douluo Continent, when those young masters from great clans suffer a setback, don't they usually yell for you to wait, then go back to call for reinforcements?"

Tang San looked at the light screen, a trace of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"Dean, that is what makes this world so frightening."

"The people here are too rational."

"They do not care about pride, only benefits and consequences."

"Once that black-robed young man realized Qian Renxue's power was strange and that he had no certainty of victory, he immediately admitted defeat and withdrew."

"A temperament that can bend and stretch like that is ten thousand times harder to deal with than those reckless fools who can only rage impotently."

The black-robed young man left with his men.

The teahouse was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop.

The rogue cultivators hiding outside the door and in the corners cautiously poked their heads out, studying Qian Renxue as though she were some kind of monster.

Qian Renxue ignored those stares.

She put the low-grade spirit stone on the table into her storage soul tool, then rose to her feet, adjusted the gray cloak around her body, and walked straight out of the teahouse.

On the surface, she appeared perfectly calm and composed.

But only she knew that the brief exchange just now had been far from as easy as it looked.

Her right hand, hidden beneath her wide sleeve, was still slightly numb.

Although that black baleful aura had been burned away by angelic flames, the cold impact it carried had traveled through her meridians, leaving her blood and qi churning.

"Foundation Establishment..."

Qian Renxue silently repeated the realm's name to herself, her expression growing increasingly solemn.

That young man had clearly been nothing more than a spoiled dandy hollowed out by wine and women, with little real combat experience.

If it had been a true Foundation Establishment cultivator hardened by countless battles, even if she had managed to block that strike, she would definitely have exposed the trump card of her martial soul.

In a place crawling with ancient monsters, exposing one's trump card often meant death.

She passed through the crowded streets and turned into several secluded alleys. Only after confirming that no one was openly following her did she slow her pace slightly.

"Though that young man in black retreated, this market is surely his territory."

"If I stay here, more trouble will find me sooner or later."

Qian Renxue resolved to leave as soon as possible.

But before leaving, she had to understand this world's geographical layout—at the very least, she needed to know which direction she should head in.

She looked up at the shops lining both sides of the street.

At last, her gaze settled on a three-story wooden pavilion.

The sign above the pavilion bore the three large characters, "Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion." Cultivators streamed in and out without pause, making it seem like a fairly sizable general store.

Qian Renxue stepped inside.

A faint scent of sandalwood filled the shop.

Behind the counter stood a middle-aged shopkeeper with a thin mustache, clicking away at an abacus.

When he saw the cloaked Qian Renxue enter, the shopkeeper stopped what he was doing and put on a professional smile.

"Esteemed customer, what would you like to buy?"

"This shop has pills, talismans, and magical artifacts of every kind, all at fair prices."

Qian Renxue walked up to the counter and lowered her voice, making it sound somewhat hoarse.

"I need a map."

"The more detailed, the better."

Hearing this, the shopkeeper pulled out a square wooden box from beneath the counter. When he opened it, more than a dozen green jade slips lay neatly arranged inside.

"If you're looking for maps, then you've come to the right place."

"This is the latest complete map of the Yue Kingdom. It not only marks the locations of the seven major sects' mountain gates, but also clearly indicates the territories of major cultivation families, as well as dangerous forbidden regions inhabited by demonic beasts."

"One jade slip costs two low-grade spirit stones."

At that price, Qian Renxue frowned slightly.

She only had the one low-grade spirit stone left behind by that young man in black.

Spirit Hall's gold soul coins were clearly useless here. That auxiliary-system soul master named Liu Yunfei had brought about his own death by carelessly taking out gold coins.

Qian Renxue's thoughts raced as she lightly brushed her hand over her waist.

A translucent stone gleaming with a faint red light appeared in her hand.

It was a Fire Marrow Diamond from Spirit Hall's treasury, a rare material on Douluo Continent.

She placed the Fire Marrow Diamond on the counter.

"I don't have enough spirit stones. Use this to make up the difference."

The shopkeeper picked up the Fire Marrow Diamond and examined it closely before a trace of puzzlement flashed through his eyes.

"This ore looks quite pure, and it seems to contain a peculiar fiery energy."

"But it doesn't possess the slightest spiritual energy fluctuation, so it can't be used to refine a ranked magical artifact. At most, it's decent material for ordinary forging."

The shopkeeper shook his head and pushed the Fire Marrow Diamond back.

"Esteemed customer, this shop cannot accept it."

"If you truly don't have spirit stones, a few century-old spirit herbs would also do."

Qian Renxue's heart sank.

A rare ore from Douluo Continent was actually worthless in this world.

Just as she was about to think of another solution.

A somewhat aged voice suddenly came from the stairway to the second floor.

"Hold it."

An elderly man in a long gray cloth robe slowly descended the stairs.

Upon seeing the old man, the shopkeeper hurriedly bowed respectfully.

"Master, why have you come down?"

The old man addressed as Master ignored the shopkeeper and walked straight to the counter, picking up the Fire Marrow Diamond.

His withered fingers rubbed across it for a moment, and a glimmer of light flashed through his cloudy eyes.

"Though it has no spiritual energy, this kind of pure fire-aspect crystal can be used to prepare certain special cinnabar. It could increase the power of talismans by a bit."

The old man raised his head and glanced at Qian Renxue.

"I'll take this stone."

"Besides that Yue Kingdom map jade slip, I'll give you eight low-grade spirit stones."

Qian Renxue nodded without wasting any words.

The transaction was completed quickly.

Qian Renxue put away the cyan jade slip and the eight spirit stones emitting a faint glow, then turned and left the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion.

After leaving the shop, she found a secluded corner where no one was around.

Imitating the way she had seen others use jade slips on the light screen, she gently pressed the cyan jade slip against her forehead.

A thread of spiritual power entered it.

Boom!

An enormous flood of information surged into her mind like a tide.

An incomparably vast and detailed three-dimensional map slowly unfolded within Qian Renxue's mind.

At the same time.

The map seen through Qian Renxue's eyes was simultaneously projected onto the enormous light screen above Douluo Continent.

Everyone unconsciously held their breath.

Since the opening of the heavenly screen, this was the first time it had presented them with such an intuitive view of the geographical scope of this cultivation world.

At the center of the map lay endless mountain ranges and vast plains, marked with the two words: "Yue Kingdom."

Seven markers glowing in different colors were scattered throughout every direction of Yue Kingdom, representing the lofty seven great cultivation sects.

Covering Moon Sect, Yellow Maple Valley, Spirit Beast Mountain, Clear Void Sect...

The territory occupied by each sect was dozens of times larger than the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.

And beyond Yue Kingdom's borders.

The map extended endlessly in every direction.

To the north lay more than a dozen nations such as Martial Origin Kingdom and Purple Gold Kingdom, each no smaller than Yue Kingdom and some even far larger.

To the east stretched an endless wilderness known as the Mulan Grassland, with the word "Danger" marked upon it in glaring red.

To the south stood the Ten Thousand Mountains, shrouded in mist, filled with poisonous miasma and rampant demon beasts.

These dozens of nations, along with the endless forbidden lands, grasslands, and mountain ranges surrounding them, formed a vast continent known as Southern Heaven.

But that was far from the end.

At the very edge of the map, at the limit of one's sight.

There was a blue region marked "Boundless Sea."

This sea had no borders and no end, only several vague outlines of islands.

Beside it was a line of small text: Deep within the outer sea, high-level sea clans lurk. Even Nascent Soul cultivators risk perishing.

Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

Emperor Xue Ye slumped onto his dragon throne, feeling utterly dizzy.

"Th-this is only a map of one continent?"

He looked at the remote Yue Kingdom, then at the despairingly immense territory of the entire Southern Heaven Region.

Even combined, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire were probably not as large as the fiefdom of a somewhat smaller cultivation family in this place called Southern Heaven.

"No wonder."

Ning Fengzhi shook his head with a bitter smile.

"No wonder even a random low-level rogue cultivator could casually mention sects with hundreds or thousands of disciples."

"With a world this vast, it would be no surprise for it to produce so many powerful experts."

Within Spirit Hall.

Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze turning incomparably profound.

He saw the place marked "Boundless Sea."

The image of Zhao Wuji being swallowed whole by that Poison Jiao surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.

"A sea region where even Nascent Soul cultivators risk perishing..."

A bitter smile touched Qian Daoliu's lips.

The Sea God Island they had been so proud of probably did not even count as an inconspicuous reef before that Boundless Sea.

Having his entire worldview opened up like this left him feeling even more deeply powerless than witnessing those spells capable of destroying heaven and earth.

In the image, Qian Renxue removed the jade slip from her forehead, her chest rising and falling violently several times.

She closed her eyes and tried to process the immense amount of information she had just seen.

"The Southern Heaven Region..."

She clenched the jade slip in her hand, determination flashing in her eyes.

Though this world was vast enough to inspire fear, Qian Renxue had never been someone who retreated in the face of hardship.

The young mistress of Spirit Hall, the inheritor of the Six-Winged Angel.

The pride in her bones would not allow her to become a mortal at others' mercy in this unfamiliar world.

"I need to find somewhere to settle down first and figure out how to convert soul power into the spiritual power they mentioned."

Having made up her mind, Qian Renxue no longer lingered.

Following the map's directions, she headed down a secluded path beyond the market.

She planned to leave Yellow Maple Valley's sphere of influence first, find shelter in a town inhabited by mortals, and avoid the black-robed youth's eyes and ears.

The sun set in the west.

Its afterglow dyed the distant mountain ranges blood-red.

Wrapped in her cloak, Qian Renxue left the market's boundaries and entered a dense bamboo grove.

The bamboo grove was quiet.

Only the rustling of bamboo leaves in the breeze could be heard.

As she walked.

Qian Renxue suddenly stopped.

A breeze swept past, carrying several withered yellow bamboo leaves.

Qian Renxue raised her head. Her phoenix eyes beneath the hood radiated icy coldness.

"You've followed me all this way. Aren't you going to come out?"

Her crisp voice echoed through the silent bamboo grove.

There was no response. The only sound around her remained the rustling of bamboo leaves in the wind.

Qian Renxue sneered.

"Since you like skulking around, I'll force you out!"

Before her words had faded, she suddenly raised her right hand. A brilliant golden flame erupted from her palm.

"Go!"

The golden fireball shot like a meteor, carrying scorching heat as it smashed directly into a dense cluster of bamboo several dozen meters to her right.

Boom!

Flames soared into the sky as more than a dozen thick green bamboo stalks were instantly blasted into charcoal.

At the very moment the fire flared up, two gray figures sprang from the burning bamboo like ghosts.