Myriad Heavens Soul Search

Beneath the night sky, a black-robed figure slowly dissolved into a puddle of black water.

Yang Xiao opened his Heavenly Eye again. Under its illumination, every blade of grass and every tree within a hundred li came into view.

His face grew increasingly grim. His failure to find Lei Miaoyan left him deeply agitated, and he followed Shen Laodao to the next area to continue searching.

"Yang Xiao, a Living Spirit Realm powerhouse is coming! Run!" Shen Laodao stared ahead in terror. A middle-aged man in black robes was flying toward them, with six or seven Spirit Corpses floating beneath him. Every one of them exerted a pressure that threatened Shen Laodao's life.

These Spirit Corpses were at least in the Soul Seed Realm.

Yang Xiao turned toward Shen Laodao, only to find him gone. Looking back, he saw that Shen Laodao was already eight hundred li away. He had definitely squeezed out every ounce of strength he had possessed since the womb to achieve that speed.

"Damn it."

Yang Xiao cursed under his breath, turned, and ran. This newcomer was definitely one of Corpse Soul Mountain's higher-ups, very possibly its mountain lord himself. Even a thousand li away, he made Yang Xiao feel a suffocating pressure.

With Shrinking Earth to Inches, every step carried him flashing forward. He absolutely could not take to the sky now; that would make him far too conspicuous a target. Fortunately, Earth Masters fled on foot.

The black-robed man arrived where they had been, glanced at the two puddles of black water and the corpse on the ground, and pointed in the direction they had fled.

Four Spirit Corpses behind him roared and pursued the two men.

Hearing the roars, Yang Xiao glanced back. That single glance nearly frightened his soul out of his body. Two of the four Soul Seed Realm Spirit Corpses were flying toward him.

He desperately wanted to say that he was only a little Qi Gathering Realm cultivator. Did they really have to be so cruel to him? Could they not see the Soul Seed Realm powerhouse beside him? Could they not put a little more effort into dealing with that fellow?

Perhaps his prayers worked. The two Spirit Corpses chasing him stopped, and the one on the right gave him a disdainful look before turning to pursue Shen Laodao. This nearly scared the fleeing Shen Laodao's soul out of his body. His legs trembled, and his speed doubled again.

Roar!

The roaring drew closer and closer. The cold, deadly edge behind him left Yang Xiao afraid to look back. He was slower than the Spirit Corpse to begin with, and Shen Laodao had gained a head start on him. The Spirit Corpse was now only a meter or two away.

If he had not kept changing direction with Shrinking Earth to Inches as he ran, it would have caught him long ago.

He gritted his teeth. The Soul Seed Realm Spirit Corpse had far deeper magical reserves than he did. If he kept running like this, sooner or later he would exhaust his power and be torn in half.

Yang Xiao took out the Dragon Horn and stopped. He activated his Bloodline Peak Demonic Will, and his scarlet eyes made him look more like a Spirit Corpse than the Spirit Corpse itself. The pale black mist around him was almost invisible in the darkness.

The Spirit Corpse stopped in midair ten meters away, baring its foul-smelling fangs. The corners of its mouth curled ever higher, as though it were mocking him.

Yang Xiao stared fixedly at it. Unlike the ones he had encountered before, this Spirit Corpse possessed intelligence. It even mocked him like a human.

Roar!

The Spirit Corpse threw back its head and roared. Corpse qi battered the spiritual energy within ten li, and an evil wind swept through heaven and earth.

Yang Xiao shivered in the sinister wind. Suddenly, the Spirit Corpse vanished into thin air, and pitch-black claws appeared at his chest.

As he was sent flying backward, a wicked smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for.

The Dragon Horn in his right hand blazed with light. White radiance illuminated the darkness, and a thirty-meter white dragon flew out, swallowing the Spirit Corpse in one gulp. The white dragon danced through the sky as agonized roars rang out from within its body.

Half a quarter-hour later, a pitch-black corpse fell from the sky, and the white dragon dissolved into spiritual energy that dispersed in all directions.

Yang Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, only for weakness to surge through his body. The Spirit Corpse had clawed his chest, and black blood flowed down it. Worse still, activating the Dragon Horn had exhausted all the spiritual energy within him.

The overwhelming weakness made his body rebel, and dizziness washed over his mind. Yang Xiao shook his head. He could not sleep yet. If the black-robed man caught up, he would be dead.

Putting away the Dragon Horn, Yang Xiao took out a hundred earth vein crystals and slowly sank into the ground. He used his last remaining magical power to bury himself a hundred meters below the surface.

For his safety, he also made two small ventilation holes. Only after placing the Earth Vein Crystals around himself did Yang Xiao slowly close his eyes.

A bitter smile appeared on his face as he drifted into sleep. The Spirit Corpse's claws had clearly been poisoned. He did not know whether his healing ability could cure this toxin. Perhaps this sleep would last forever.

After an unknown amount of time, Yang Xiao gradually regained consciousness. Every time he recovered from an injury, his body felt wonderfully light, as though he had just emerged from the womb. Spiritual energy flowed into him from all around, restoring his four-hundred-thousand-li Qi Sea to its former state.

Breaking through the ground, he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight. He did not know how many days he had spent unconscious.

Anxiety rose in his heart. So many days had passed, and he had no idea how Senior Sister Lei was doing.

As for Shen Laodao, he was not particularly worried. There was something uncanny about the man. When they had gone up the mountain, he had even managed to fool Chen Wuyou. Yang Xiao had a feeling that three Spirit Corpses would not be able to kill him.

He found a tall mountain nearby and stood at its summit, where clouds and rosy mist lay within reach.

Yang Xiao sat cross-legged and took out the notebook Lei Miaoyan had "lent" him. He had not wanted to use this method until the very last moment.

The carefree heavenly master chapter contained a heavenly art called Myriad Heavens Soul Search. With an object a person had handled regularly for years, it could locate them.

Though powerful, this method could only search within ten thousand li for him. Once used, the notebook would turn to ashes.

This notebook held great significance for Yang Xiao. Perhaps it was what people in his previous life had called a token of love.

—Wishful thinking on Yang Xiao's part.

He flipped through the notebook, found a page recording Senior Sister Lei's cultivation, and tore it out.

"All things in the heavens, wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning, heed my command and swiftly find this person!"

The paper burned rapidly in the air, and Yang Xiao's vision followed the winds and clouds to a certain place.

Three mountain peaks stood there. His vision reached the point where the Three Peaks converged, then sank downward. Deep underground, he saw a gentle woman in a white dress sitting in meditation.

Blood stained Lei Miaoyan's chest red. Streams of Earth Vein Qi rose from the surroundings and flowed into her body.

Just then, Yang Xiao's vision abruptly vanished. When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the summit, and the paper before him had turned to ashes.

Yang Xiao flew south. He had not expected to find Senior Sister Lei on his first attempt, though that was also because they were not far apart.

He found the three mountain peaks. They stood between Corpse Soul Mountain and Falling Blossom City, and he had seen them on his way there.

Yang Xiao arrived where the Three Peaks converged. The surrounding ground looked as though a pair of enormous hands had torn it apart, revealing the Blue Stone House below. It was precisely the house Senior Sister Lei had created with Gather Earth to Build a House.

Flying underground, Yang Xiao stopped before the Blue Stone House. An Earth Vein Grand Formation surrounded it, preventing him from entering.

Lei Miaoyan's injuries were severe. She would probably need a long time to recover.

He raised a Yellow Stone House nearby, restored the ground above to its original state, and remained there to guard Lei Miaoyan.

Day after day passed. Standing outside the Blue Stone House, he could sense that Lei Miaoyan's injuries were improving. Perhaps she would emerge before long.

He returned to the Yellow Stone House and, as usual, took out a few Earth Vein Crystals to meditate and cultivate.

Four hundred and fifty thousand li, five hundred thousand li, six hundred thousand li.

One day, the door of the Blue Stone House slowly opened, and a gentle woman stepped out. She was very beautiful, and she smiled upon seeing the Yellow Stone House beside hers. Her smile felt like a cool breeze brushing against one's face.

Although Yang Xiao was cultivating, he kept part of his attention on the Blue Stone House. Seeing Senior Sister Lei emerge, he immediately stopped cultivating and ran outside.

"Senior Sister." Yang Xiao's heart raced at the sight of Lei Miaoyan, and his handsome face slowly reddened.

"Thank you, Junior Brother," Lei Miaoyan said softly. She opened a passage out and walked up to the surface. "Let's head back first."

Yang Xiao looked at the notebook in his Storage Ring. When he had been unable to see her, he had kept wanting to find an opportunity to return it. Now that he had found her, he suddenly felt reluctant to part with it.

Following behind Lei Miaoyan, he returned to Worry-Free Mountain.

At the sight before them, both frowned. There was not a single person on the mountain.

They exchanged a glance and went to knock on the doors separately. After knocking at four or five houses in succession, they still found no one.

Then Yang Xiao knocked on Wang Huhu's door, and a little girl with pointed canine teeth emerged.

Wang Huhu looked as though she had not slept in ages. Two dark, panda-like circles hung beneath her eyes.

Suddenly, Wang Huhu rubbed her eyes, trotted up to him, grabbed his arm, and bit down.

Yang Xiao froze, but the sharp pain in his arm told him that the Wang Huhu before him really was... biting him.

"Let go." Yang Xiao pinched Wang Huhu's little ear.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Wang Huhu cried out in pain and released his arm. "Yang Xiao, you really aren't dead!"

"Obviously." Yang Xiao pinched Wang Huhu's cheek. "If I were dead, could I be standing here talking to you?"

Wang Huhu had bitten hard. Her pointed canines in particular had left deep marks in his arm.

Wang Huhu said, "Shen Laodao came back and said a Soul Seed Realm Spirit Corpse was hunting you down. Master was so worried that he sent every disciple on the mountain out to save you."

Yang Xiao was stunned. He had not expected Chen Wuyou to care so much about him. Then he reconsidered. When Butcher had visited last time, their relationship had been exposed. It was perfectly normal for Chen Wuyou to be so nervous. After all, the entire mountain might... be wiped out.

Just then, Lei Miaoyan came up behind him and said, "We're back now. Let them know they can return to the mountain."

Yang Xiao nodded, flew into the sky, and bowed toward the heavens.

"Heavens, please open your eye!"

The clouds and mist dispersed, and a black Heavenly Eye the size of a washbasin opened. It radiated spiritual light, illuminating heaven and earth. Hanging in the sky like a small sun, it was visible from anywhere within ten thousand li.

—The Carefree Sect's exclusive summoning art, Heavenly Eye Summoning Order.

Yang Xiao maintained it for half a day, and the Carefree Sect's disciples returned one after another. Shen Laodao was the last to arrive, leisurely stepping along with Shrinking Earth to Inches. There was no sign of injury on him.

Sure enough, Shen Laodao had somehow escaped the pursuit of the three Spirit Corpses.

Seeing both disciples return safely, Chen Wuyou smiled. Upon hearing that Lei Miaoyan had been injured, he hurriedly took out a large pile of healing pills and pressed them into her hands.

When he turned to Yang Xiao, however, Chen Wuyou's expression hardened. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this was?" he scolded. "I only told you to investigate. Who told you to go searching for someone around Corpse Soul Mountain?

"If you died out there, what would happen to the Carefree Sect?

"No, you'll have to write me a Guarantee Letter later. State that if anything happens to you, it has nothing to do with the Carefree Sect. Then if that uncle of yours comes, I'll at least have an explanation."

The corner of Yang Xiao's mouth twitched. Such unequal treatment. It was not as though he had entered through the back door; he merely had a powerful "uncle."

Afterward, Chen Wuyou really did drag Yang Xiao off to write a thousand-word Guarantee Letter. Its contents left Yang Xiao questioning his life.

"Master, what is Corpse Soul Mountain's background? Why does it frighten you so much?" Yang Xiao asked quietly. There was clearly something wrong with Chen Wuyou's attitude.

Hearing this question, Chen Wuyou knitted his brows. With his hands clasped behind his back, he turned away from Yang Xiao and said, "There's nothing frightening about Corpse Soul Mountain itself, but the cultivation methods they practice are rather strange.

"Especially the Soul Master, one of their two mountain lords. His cultivation method bears a strong resemblance to one passed down from the Netherworld Divine Palace."

"The Netherworld Divine Palace!"

Cries of alarm came from behind them, and a group of disciples sucked in cold breaths.

"Is the Netherworld Divine Palace very powerful?" Yang Xiao asked quietly. He knew nothing about the cultivation world.

"Powerful doesn't begin to describe it. It's the nightmare of us Great Zhou cultivators, known as the foremost of the Three Great Dark Forces. If Corpse Soul Mountain's mountain lord really came from the Netherworld Divine Palace, we absolutely must not provoke him," someone behind him said. Yang Xiao remembered that this person seemed to be the Yu Domain Lord's youngest son.

Even a family member of one of the eight Domain Lords feared the Netherworld Divine Palace so deeply. It truly must have been terrifying.

Yang Xiao was about to ask for more details, but Chen Wuyou waved a hand and sent everyone away.