Yiren Travels Together

The imperial palace of the Great Yin Immortal Dynasty had appeared inside the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury. It was truly strange.

During the Primordial Era, the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury had still been small. It had gradually evolved into its current vast size and remained hidden within the Dragon Spine Mountain Range ever since.

And although the Great Yin Immortal Dynasty had also been in eastern Cang Province, it had not been near the coast. It had lain hundreds of thousands of miles away. Many ruins of the dynasty still remained there, and cultivators often went to explore them, hoping to unearth some treasure from the immortal dynasty.

Xu Yan listened as he surveyed the palace hall.

It was towering and magnificent. Though a million years had passed and it was in terrible disrepair, its imposing aura remained undiminished. The enormous dragon throne at the head of the hall still carried a faint imperial majesty.

"As for the way out, I only arrived here an hour ago. I was cultivating just now and haven't had a chance to look for one," Qin Yiren said. As someone with an Extreme Yin meridian constitution, this place was a treasure ground for her.

"Thank you for telling me all this, Fellow Daoist Qin."

Xu Yan turned around and asked gravely, "Fellow Daoist Qin, this place is exceptionally strange. There may be demons or evil spirits lurking here. Shall we travel together, so we can watch each other's backs?"

Qin Yiren nodded slightly, seeming to weigh the pros and cons.

"All right."

In the end, she nodded.

She seemed aloof by nature, but like him, she was extremely cautious. Ever since they met, her hand had remained on the small sword case. If Xu Yan made even the slightest untoward move, those black needles would already be flying.

Xu Yan thought to himself and didn't rashly use his spiritual sense to probe her cultivation.

But judging from the move she had just made, she had to be at least at the Fifth Pulse Opening Stage. Having her accompany him would be a great help.

The two fell silent and began searching the palace hall.

In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, they had thoroughly searched the place. There were no Spirit Treasures or other valuables.

Ruined walls and rubble lay everywhere.

They crossed the ruined hall and cautiously continued deeper inside.

Who knew how vast this underground space was? The distance stretched empty and far into the distance. The stone walls on either side stood more than three hundred zhang apart, and the ground was damp, with black moss crawling everywhere.

From deeper within came the howling of a sinister wind, raising goosebumps.

There was only one path here.

But before long, it split into two..

Xu Yan stopped and quietly activated the Miaoyuan Edict in his palm. His spiritual sense rippled into the branching paths, sensing the subtle currents of the world's energy.

"Let's take the left. There's no life force on the right; it seems to be a dead end," Xu Yan said gravely.

Xu Yan sensed no trace of energy from the outside world within the right-hand passage. It was clearly a sealed dead end, and he also sensed an unsettling aura of ghosts and evil spirits.

Qin Yiren paused, then nodded. "All right!"

She was so cautious that she waited for Xu Yan to go in first before following him.

The left-hand passage was a hundred zhang wide and stretched into the distance, its destination unknown.

The farther in they went, the narrower the passage became.

At last, it was only ten zhang wide!

The two proceeded carefully for half an hour. Then the sound of a water droplet reached their ears, conspicuous in the stillness underground.

Xu Yan sensed that the energy in the air had grown several times denser.

Qin Yiren beside him had evidently sensed it too.

They immediately pressed on.

They came upon another ancient hall. It was smaller than the two Xu Yan had passed earlier.

The hall was arched, and a tattered beaded curtain, now dark as black iron, hung at its entrance.

Someone had dug a pool in the center of the hall. Xu Yan couldn't tell what it was made of; it was milky white. A million years had passed, yet it showed no sign of wear.

The pool brimmed with spiritual energy, and its water was about half a zhang deep. The dripping sound came from water falling from the stone ceiling above.

Many skeletons lay here.

A few skeletons were even submerged in the pool. They were like fine jade, forming a stark contrast with the ghastly bones Xu Yan had seen earlier.

"Could this... have been where the concubines of the Great Yin Immortal Dynasty bathed?" Xu Yan glanced at Qin Yiren beside him and asked offhandedly.

"It looks that way."

Qin Yiren spoke calmly. Her cool gaze lingered on the spirit pool, and a hint of wonder appeared in her eyes. "The energy in this pool is pure and spotless, distilled from the essence of the earth's veins and accumulated over countless ages."

Xu Yan nodded.

This pool water was even more precious than the Earth Treasure Spirit Spring. It was distilled from the essence of the earth itself and was exceedingly rare.

Qin Yiren seemed thoughtful, then spoke again. "Fellow Daoist Xu, how about we cultivate here for a few days?"

Xu Yan frowned at her.

Shouldn't their first priority be finding a way out?

They could simply scoop up the pool water in a green bottle. Staying here to cultivate seemed pointless.

"Wouldn't it be unwise to cultivate here?"

As Xu Yan wondered this, he studied Qin Yiren. A trace of discomfort seemed to flit across her face, but it wasn't because of what he had just said. She had shown the same expression several times along the way.

Seeing this, Xu Yan furrowed his brow and used his spiritual sense to examine her. They had traveled together for a while, and both had lowered their guard. They might even become fellow disciples of the Ziwei Dharma King someday. There was no need or reason for them to remain wary of each other, let alone turn on one another.

"Are you injured?"

Xu Yan noticed that the meridians in her body seemed damaged. She had internal injuries as well as external ones. No wonder her face was a little pale. He had assumed it was because of her Extreme Yin constitution.

"Mm."

Qin Yiren glanced up at Xu Yan. A trace of weariness showed on her cool face as she nodded.

She had been so cautious because she feared Xu Yan would find out she was injured and seize the chance to kill her and take her belongings.

"Why didn't you say so earlier, Fellow Daoist Qin? You should treat your injuries first," Xu Yan said.

Qin Yiren was silent for several breaths. Her gaze turned hesitant, and her voice grew much softer. Looking away, she asked, "Fellow Daoist Xu, could you step outside for a moment? I need to tend to my external injuries."

"Oh, all right!"

Xu Yan left the hall without hesitation.

After an incense stick's time, Qin Yiren's voice came from inside, telling him he could come back in.

Xu Yan went in and saw that she had already put on her silver Daoist robe. She was sitting cross-legged in the spirit pool, submerged up to her waist.

A pungent medicinal salve lay on the poolside.

What kind of external injury couldn't be healed with qi, blood, and spiritual power, and required this kind of salve?

Few cultivators carried salves for external injuries.

But Qin Yiren was a direct descendant of Heaven's Capital City. This Immortal Treasury expedition was no ordinary affair; it concerned cultivation at the Dao Academy. She had come well prepared, with everything in her Qiankun Bag.

Xu Yan thought to himself.

In the spirit pool, Qin Yiren was circulating her cultivation art. The pool's vast energy continually converged into her body, while the Yin energy from the surrounding world was drawn by her Spirit Meridian and surged toward her.

With talent and Root Bone like hers, cultivating here would be like advancing a thousand miles in a day.

At that moment, Xu Yan also sensed her Dao Attainment: the peak of the Sixth Pulse Opening Stage, with signs that she was about to break through.

As he watched, Xu Yan's gaze suddenly flickered. He stared at her left hand, which was gripping a familiar jade pendant.

"Isn't that... the Primordial Yin Treasure Jade?!"

Xu Yan looked stunned, completely taken by surprise.

The Primordial Yin Treasure Jade he had sold to the Langya Treasure Pavilion had somehow ended up in her hands.