From Time Immemorial, Only Newcomers' Laughter Is Heard

The Silent Abyss lay amid a mountain range, the endless mountains seeming as though they had been cleaved apart by a single sword stroke.

Upon the earth, it had left behind a scar several miles wide and a thousand miles long.

On both sides of the Rift Valley stood sheer, vertical cliffs where even birds found it hard to land.

Gusts of sinister wind constantly blew out from the depths of the Rift Valley, turning the surrounding area deathly still, devoid of grass, trees, birds, or beasts.

The Gongsun Family's stronghold had been built beside the cliff, covering dozens of miles. Walls protected the stronghold, and a clan-protecting formation had been set up around it.

Outside the stronghold stood a small town, with vast fields scattered around it. It was where the Gongsun Family's mortals lived and multiplied.

Song Wen passed through the small town and arrived before the Gongsun Family's gate.

Cultivators constantly came and went through the gate.

Song Wen observed the gate for a while, then abandoned the idea of forcing his way in.

There was no need to storm the Gongsun Family over a few Worry-Forging Mushrooms and thereby provoke the Corpse Demon Sect.

Song Wen turned around and returned to the small town, making his way to the cultivator market within it.

Though it was called a market, it was really just a street in the town.

Aside from a small number of Rogue Cultivators, nearly everyone coming and going in the market belonged to the Gongsun Family.

Song Wen visited several spirit herb shops in succession, but failed to buy any Worry-Forging Mushrooms.

After searching to no avail, Song Wen entered a cultivator tavern.

Most of those coming and going in the tavern were Gongsun Family cultivators. Song Wen intended to find a breakthrough