Chapter 1759: What is the Purpose

When Li Yan reached the spot where he had last sensed them, he was stunned. Even extending his Divine Sense another hundred li downward revealed nothing but empty space. The abyss was bottomless.

‘They haven’t reached the bottom. They changed direction suddenly… Did they spot me?’

Li Yan hovered in the darkness, filled with suspicion. Yan Qingchen’s concealment was already impressive. Here, where every direction looked the same, even Li Yan couldn’t find any landmarks. If he were in their position and didn’t know he was being followed, how would he have known when to change direction?

He stood in place, carefully studying his surroundings…

Yan Qingchen was now flying alongside Liu Siyu. Once he slowed down, the others caught up.

“Brother, are we almost there?” Liu Siyu asked softly.

She found it strange as well. In the pitch blackness, there was only the cliff wall on one side and the icy draft from below. During their descent, everyone had been scanning for landmarks for their own safety, yet no one had found any. Why had Yan Qingchen turned so suddenly?

“Yes, it should be close.”

Yan Qingchen slowed even further, as if confirming his position. In one hand, hidden within his sleeve, he held a copper-coin-sized object. Within its square hole, black and red currents of air were spinning silently. As he moved forward, the black current grew darker and more profound…

The three behind them sensed Yan Qingchen’s scan and remained silent, though they too were on high alert. No one had reported any new dangers outside the hall, but they had never been here. They were all cunning veterans who would never trust rumors in a strange place.

Furthermore, they didn’t entirely trust Yan Qingchen. They only believed about thirty to forty percent of what he said. They were here because the rewards were satisfactory and because a cultivator’s life was about taking risks for opportunities. They suspected Yan Qingchen couldn’t handle this alone, and that whatever treasure he was after must be truly extraordinary.

Since the meeting point was the Inheritance Ancient Hall—a place under Huangqi Valley’s control—Yan Qingchen couldn’t easily set a trap. And they hadn’t brought their entire life savings; killing them wouldn’t yield much. More importantly, Yan Qingchen appeared far wealthier than them; what could they possibly have that he wanted? In Huangqi Valley, the only things worth stealing were heavenly flames or ancient pill formulas, and they had neither.

In the darkness, Yan Qingchen made several more turns without warning, leaving the other four completely confused. After about half a stick of incense, they stopped before a steep cliff.

It was pitch black. A mortal would have been blind and paralyzed with fear. The three behind sensed the bottom of the abyss was still about four hundred li below. They were in the middle of a vast, empty darkness, with the cliff just a few fathoms away. The wall was mostly bare black rock, with sparse, stunted vegetation.

Right in front of them was a tiny tree growing horizontally out of the cliff. It wasn’t even a proper tree; it looked like a thin branch with three or four smaller twigs and a few sharp leaves. Its roots were exposed, dangling weakly against the rock, as if a strong breeze could carry it away.

Yan Qingchen was staring at this tiny tree. His gaze drew the others’ Divine Senses to it as well.

There was a long river about a li wide, winding down from above and curving away toward the lower reaches. The sky here was a dark yellow, which gave the water a murky, amber hue. The banks were covered in pebbles of various sizes, but these stones shimmered with a rainbow of crystalline light.

They formed two brilliant embankments that turned the underworld-like river into a scene of strange beauty, almost like a dream. The water splashed gently as it flowed downward…

Aside from the river and its glowing pebbles, everything else was shrouded in endless darkness. It looked like a brilliant galaxy had fallen from the sky, the only light in the void.

“Sister, we’ve been walking from the source for six days. Everything looks exactly the same. This river is extraordinary, but we haven’t found any more clues. I don’t know how far it is to the end. The light here suppresses Divine Sense to within ten thousand li, so we can’t see what lies ahead.”

Amidst the sound of the water, two figures approached from upstream at a steady pace. A clear, refined voice broke the eternal rhythm of the river.

The two graceful figures, illuminated by the rainbow light of the pebbles, looked even more beautiful and carried a strange, ethereal glow. They were dressed in identical yellow gowns, their faces, hair, and outfits exactly the same. They were even the same height.

They were the Ming sisters. They were hovering an inch above the ground, their Divine Senses carefully scanning their surroundings, which slowed their pace.

“Based on what we were told, we are in the right place. However, they weren’t entirely sure of what was inside; they only deduced there would be a river of light. Everything else was too fragmented to confirm. We still have over two months; don’t worry. At this pace, we can finish exploring the river.”

Ming Qi spoke calmly. She was constantly comparing their findings with her internal data, hoping to find more accurate deductions. Her personality was more steady than her sister’s, who was starting to grow anxious.

“Sister, it’s been so long. What could possibly be left?”

“Precisely because we don’t know, we have to find out. If we can get what is here and bring it back, we might change our current situation. We analyzed so much information to find this one clear clue. We must do our best.”

Ming Qi spoke softly, but she was already wondering what to do if two months weren’t enough. Would they risk staying? Legend said that once the hall closed, the dangers outside would multiply. Eerie ghosts—supposedly the souls of the ancient sect’s cultivators—would appear. They were only suppressed by the laws that entered when the hall was open. Once the gate closed, even the hall wasn’t safe. The yellow light would become violent, dangerous even to Body Integration cultivators.

But they had found this secret information in a fragmented jade slip. Following their analysis, they had found this eerie river and entered successfully. They had been here for days without danger, suggesting this was a secret realm within a secret realm. Perhaps it would remain safe even after the hall closed.

Ming Qi was considering staying if they didn’t finish their search. Otherwise, they would have to wait hundreds of years for the next opening. She didn’t think her sister would leave without her. If they stayed and survived until the next opening, they could easily make up a story—that they were trapped in an unknown place and were teleported out when the hall reopened. Huangqi Valley would believe it, as they knew hidden places existed. And by then, they would have already taken what they came for.

The real worry was how to smuggle the treasures out. Everyone would suspect they had found something.

‘I’m thinking too far ahead. I should focus on the present.’

Ming Qi pulled back her thoughts. They might die here, so thinking about the future was meaningless. This place felt safe, but it was eerie. The darkness on the banks was impenetrable. If they tried to walk more than a li away from the river, they hit an invisible barrier where the light met the dark. They hadn’t tried to force their way through yet.

The two sisters continued downstream, their voices fading into the distance…

Before the dark cliff, Yan Qingchen had already cast nearly a hundred incantations. They were incredibly complex, each hand seal taking at least five seconds to form. Once they appeared, they flew toward the tiny tree, yet the tree showed no reaction whatsoever.

The people behind him didn’t speak, but they began to wonder if he had the wrong place.

“This tree has no spiritual energy. We saw many such trees on the way down…” a middle-aged cultivator whispered to the others via voice transmission. He suspected Yan Qingchen had made a mistake.

“Brother Qian is right, but Junior Brother Yan was very decisive in the final stretch. He must have a way to sense it. Let’s wait.”

This was the late-stage cultivator who had been with Yan Qingchen since the selection. He and Liu Siyu had spent more time with the man and knew his methods better. Yan Qingchen was meticulous; he wouldn’t keep casting spells if there were no reaction unless he knew what he was doing. Perhaps the timing wasn’t right, or perhaps he needed to finish the entire sequence to trigger it.

But to the other two veteran elites, Yan Qingchen looked like he was stubbornly trying to force a result.

Liu Siyu remained silent, her eyes filled with adoration as she watched the figure she was obsessed with. Yan Qingchen’s lips were pressed thin, his eyes fixed on the tree.

If one paid close attention, they would notice that every hand seal he cast landed in a different spot on or around the tree. None overlapped. If these seals were connected by Divine Sense, they would form a massive, complex seal.

Now, only thirteen spots remained empty. Liu Siyu had noticed this, and her eyes flickered with anticipation. The others were focused on the tree, waiting for Yan Qingchen to tell them to act. They didn’t bother trying to memorize his hand seals; without the verbal incantations, it was a waste of mental energy.

Yan Qingchen ignored them. His hands moved like the wind, light flickering from his fingertips like distant stars in the night, filling the remaining empty spots one by one…