He Huan Sect...

Two pink-clad women descended from their swords outside of the He Huan Sect's main gates. When they input their spiritual energy, the gates automatically swung open. Then, the two quickly strode inside. 

There were still young disciples here who hadn't left. They exclaimed when they saw the newcomers, "Sect Master!" 

Even if the newcomer was wearing a peach blossom mask, there was only one person in the He Huan Sect at the Nascent Soul stage.

The one trailing behind Si Ruyu was Lou Qiongzhi, who was previously at the Nuan Yan Pavilion with her.

Si Ruyu moved swiftly as she asked, "Has there been any changes in the disciples' soul-bound lamps?" 

The disciples followed her in the direction of the ritual hall. They could not help but ask, "No! Has something happened?"

Si Ruyu's expression was serious. She didn't answer. Walking into the ritual hall, she observed the soul-bound lamps of all the He Huan Sects disciples. She input spiritual energy towards the one that belonged to Chi Muyao only to be repelled. This meant she could not ascertain Chi Muyao's current condition. 

At this time, a young disciple stepped forth and collapsed on to her knees in front of Si Ruyu. "Sect Master...Little Shige's soul-bound lamp did dim for a few days, but it's fine now..." 

Si Ruyu looked at the soul-bound lamp, then at the young disciple. Finally, she let her get up.

The He Huan Sect had a very hands off approach towards their disciples. There were practically no rules to follow. 

Only a handful of junior disciples were left at the Sect, and they only came to check on the soul-bound lamps in their spare time. Only when something happened would they send a Sound Transmission Talisman to Si Ruyu. 

However, there weren't many times that were convenient for her to receive these missives as she was at the Nuan Yan Pavilion. The young disciples knew to bother her only as a last resort.

Moreover, it was common for the lamp of a disciple to flicker occasionally if their cultivation became unstable.

Many times, they would only make an official report when the soul-bound lamp was extinguished. They only learned Chi Muyao was missing three months after the fact and searched for a while to no avail. At least the state of his lamp reassured them. 

Si Ruyu took one last look at Chi Muyao's lamp before walking out. "To the Qing Ze Sect."

The He Huan Sect disciples looked at each other. Lou Qiongzhi ended up reluctantly saying, "Sect Master, they probably won't welcome us."

After all, the He Huan Sect was a notorious existence in the Demonic Faction. 

"Who cares if they don't!"

Xu Ranzhu hurried over when Si Ruyu was halfway outside. "Shizu, why have you come back? What happened?"

The Nuan Yan Pavilion felt that the appearance of the ancient Heavenly Punishment was scandalous and buried news of it. Few uninvolved knew what happened, so it was not surprising those of the He Huan Sect didn't catch wind.

Si Ruyu only learned of the situation from Yu Yanshu and was immediately furious.

Those jackasses just fed the disciples like fodder to the formation?? How could they do something so heinous? 

Worst of all, Chi Muyao as well as several disciples of the third house were also swept inside. 

How could she not care when she watched them all grow up?

Si Ruyu, also known as Zhi Shan Heavenly Venerable, simply returned to the He Huan Sect to see if there were any problems with Chi Muyao's soul-bound lamp.

After making sure the lamp was still on, she decided to head to the Qing Ze Sect.

In the Demonic Faction, the He Huan Sect was no more than a small sect beneath the notice of the Qing Ze Sect.

After all, they were someone even the Yao Sect could bully.

Yet when Si Ruyu arrived, the person who came to see her was Xi Lin himself, surprisingly enough. 

Xi Lin was also obviously not having a good time. His entire person seemed to be immersed in a mire of gloom, a shroud of melancholy covering his visage.

How could he not care about his own son?

"I heard that the Young Sect Master was also caught in the formation. Do you have any countermeasures?" Si Ruyu asked. 

Xi Lin was also nursing a grudge. He was so angry that he paced back and forth in the room. "Countermeasures? Like triggering the wrath of heaven once more and feeding another eighty-one people in to save them? Are you suggesting the rest of my men are fodder?"

 "They've already been inside for thirty-seven days. Over forty soul-bound lamps have been extinguished at the Nuan Yan Pavilion. If things continue like this..." 

Xi Lin urgently asked in a growl, "How can we possibly attract the Heavenly Punishment? You didn't just come here to ask about the situation, did you?" 

"There are methods." Si Ruyu replied, "Guan Nan has many miscellaneous books in his collection. I once read one that mentioned a way to attract the Heavenly Punishment, but it requires some effort and comes at a price. Still, it's better than sitting and twiddling our thumbs."

"Tell me." Xi Lin finally looked at the woman in pink wearing a peach blossom mask.

Si Ruyu tossed a scroll in front of Xi Lin. "I will be at the He Huan Sect for now. If you need anything, come find me."

Xi Lin perused the scroll. "There will be no need to trouble your Sect. My Qing Ze Sect will take care of this matter."

"My disciple is also inside."

"You mean my son's cultivation partner? We'll save him as well."

Si Ruyu couldn't help but give Xi Lin a look, a little surprised that this old monster actually agreed.

However, that child Chi Muyao has always been likeable. It wasn't too surprising for him to gain Xi Lin's recognition.

She did not overstay her welcome and left with her disciple.

As soon as Si Ruyu left, Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen ran in. Song Weiyue practically roared, "Is there a way to save the Young Sect Master?!" 

They had obviously been eavesdropping, Even several of the Palace Masters could barely restrain themselves from running inside to see the contents of the scroll.

The Zun Yue Palace Master grit his teeth as he came over, lamenting the fact that he was illiterate.

Xi Lin didn't show the scroll to those two brats. He simply stated, "Since the seclusion cave residence has already been prepared, you two should fuck off and form your golden cores. Otherwise you won't be of any help."

Zong Sichen and Song Weiyue were so worked up they refused to go into seclusion. Their resolve was finally shaken. Zong Sichen asked, "Will we be able to help then?" 

"That's right. This method requires some effort." 

Hearing that, Zong Sichen and Song Weiyue hurried off to go into seclusion.

* * *

Bracing himself against the wall, Chi Muyao slowly walked forward.

He deliberately closed his eyes and moved forward with his other senses alone, so as to minimise distractions.

He thought the Eighty-one Plates of the Mausoleum was a series of eighty-one small rooms, but he discovered he couldn't have been more wrong. There were six thousand, five hundred and sixty-one rooms here, and only eighty-one were safe rooms. 

In addition, those eighty-one rooms were randomly generated. It was possible for a door that used to lead to a death room to lead to a safe room next time. 

There was no discernible pattern to the appearance of the safe rooms. The entire formation reeked of unruliness.

Worst of all, those eighty-one safe rooms didn't spawn every time, which meant you sometimes had to go through two death rooms to get to the next one. If your luck was bad, it could even be seven or eight death rooms in a row. 

Your only option was to choose the least deadly of the death rooms.

Even if you arrive at a safe room, you had to enter the next room before the formation shifted, lest the room you were currently in change into a death room.

Plus there were still ancient wandering spirits in the formation looking to steal their bodies. They had to be vigilant during their search for safe rooms.

What one in ten odds of survival? This was a formation meant to kill. Either the rumours about this formation were wrong, or Su You has tampered with it.

Chi Muyao couldn't discern which door led to a safe room either. He could only calculate which direction was auspicious or not and choose based on that.

A gamble.

Those who entered this formation gambled with their lives at stake. 

He and Xi Huai were constantly on the move in these six thousand-five hundred plus rooms. What were the odds of finding each other in this situation?

Chi Muyao could only grit his teeth and persevere. As long as there was still a ray of hope...

Still, the longer it took, the more frustrated he grew. 

There it was again, that unexplainable feeling of melancholy.

This feeling came from the Colourless Yunni Deer. It gradually seeped into his sea of consciousness. The beast's remnant soul probably sensed something that resonated with it, and then guided Chi Muyao in that direction. 

However, blind faith could only suffice for so long. After walking aimlessly for what seemed like forever, his divine sense unable to sense the exit, his eyes failing to distinguish direction, he could only rely on his most basic perceptions to walk. 

When he grew tired, he sat down in place to meditate and rest.

For convenience's sake, and because he rarely encountered others in the formation, Chi Muyao simply took the Thousand Treasure Bell from his qiankun bag and hung it on his waist. 

He retrieved the Storage Box from the Bell and ingested a couple of pills.

He once thought that Xi Huai had given him a bunch of useless pills, but then he realised their benefits. These pills saved his life before, when his spiritual power was depleted.

He was still very weak after losing Su You by entering the next room, and his healing ability had yet to be fully restored. Thus, he used pills and ointments to heal himself. 

The pills helped him recover quickly. The ones he was taking at the moment were supplementary ones that suppressed fatigue.

When he finished resting, he looked at the supplementary core forming pills in the Storage Box and fell into silence. 

This wasn't the first time he thought about simply finding a relatively safe place to enter seclusion and try to reach the Golden Core stage.

Golden Core stage cultivators were basically the upper echelon of power within the formation. The only Nascent Soul stage senior seemed like he wasn't long for this world. He had probably already perished.

If he could successfully form a golden core, he would be better able to protect himself.

However, the number one worry on his mind was Xi Huai. Was he still safe? If Chi Muyao wasted time in seclusion, it would delay him from finding Xi Huai.

At this time, he sensed something and quickly put away the Storage Box. He used the wall to get up.

As soon as he did, someone charged at him with a sword in hand. Chi Muyao quickly dodged with the He Huan Sect's Sprinting Technique, sprinting ten feet away in an instant.

Turning back, he saw the man with his sword coming after him again. 

He got a good look at him this time and asked in confusion, "Tang-shixiong?" 

Tang Ming looked at him with sword in hand and frowned slightly. Then he smiled after a moment's pause. "Oh, it's Chi-shidi."

The two were both silent for a while. Chi Muyao quietly took out his solid formation plate.

Tang Ming noticed this and huffed again, attacking with his sword.

Chi Muyao continued to dodge using the Sprinting Technique. While doing so, he also pushed spiritual energy into the solid formation plate to unfold the formation within. 

This was Tang Ming, but also not Tang Ming. 

Tang Ming was currently possessed.

First of all, Tang Ming's initial attack was too ruthless to be a sword technique of the Nuan Yan Pavilion.

Secondly, Tang Ming clearly didn't recognise him for a beat. He was probably looking up memories about Chi Muyao in his sea of consciousness before he replied. 

The last oddity was his expression. Tang Ming has always been an ass-kissing lackey, but unbridled arrogance was in his eyes just now. He looked at Chi Muyao as if he was an ant.

An ancient soul.

The word 'ancient' inspired a subconscious fear in people due to the association with ancient powers.

 However, Chi Muyao couldn't retreat. He could only stand his ground. 

He found the defensive artefact Xi Huai gave him in the Thousand Treasure Bell. Although it was less capable than the Golden Clock, its defense was extremely high.

Tang Ming's sword strike was blocked out of thin air two inches in front of Chi Muyao.

Chi Muyao took advantage of this time to complete his formation.

The most suitable choice for the current location was the Twenty-Four Killing Fine Needle Formation.

The formation would condense spiritual energy into needles and send them out in small barrages. The attack was as subtle as a spring breeze, one laced with fine needles silently piercing into every crevice.

It was even more difficult to see the needles with the naked eye in a dimly lit environment like this. 

If Tang Ming used his divine sense to probe, Chi Muyao has already taken out another artefact to act as interference.

"Parlour tricks." Tang Ming sneered after taking a look at the formation. He struck the formation eye with a burst of spiritual energy, obliterating it.

Chi Muyao was taken aback. The other party was clearly familiar with formations. He had a bad feeling about this. 

Formations were the only offense he could muster. If they were not sufficient, then...

Just when Chi Muyao was recovering from shock, he suddenly noticed a green fluorescent light.

That light headed straight for the middle of Tang Ming's eyebrows, causing Tang Ming violently wave his hands to drive it away. "Fuck off!"

Chi Muyao took the opportunity to once again use the solid formation plate to set up a formation, assisting the green fluorescent light's assault on Tang Ming.

More and more green fluorescent lights gathered, forming five channels.

Chi Muyao couldn't help but be shocked on closer inspection. There were Green Underworld Stream-fires in this formation!