Chapter 23

Chapter 23

In the pitch-black expanse, a figure darted swiftly through the shadows.

Stopping before a cavern adorned with glowing stones, the figure gazed at the entrance. Amidst the shimmering glow of the luminous rocks, a faint spiritual light could be discerned, causing the man's handsome and stern countenance to betray a barely noticeable hint of delight. This was quickly replaced by a renewed sense of caution.

"Whoo-whoo~~"

Beside the man, a black-furred beast, resembling a leopard, emitted a low, whistling sound, seemingly urging him to hurry inside.

Ning Zhezhou lowered his gaze to the urging Yinming leopard at his side. In this cold and dark space, the creature was virtually indistinguishable from its surroundings, save for its eyes that shimmered in the darkness, imbued with the power of the Netherworld, giving the impression that it could effortlessly draw one into its depths if not approached with caution.

He gently patted the leopard's head and reassured, "There's no need to rush."

Though the Yinming leopard was anxious, seeing Ning Zhezhou's cautious demeanor, it could only dig its claws into the ground and wait patiently.

After probing for a while and confirming the safety within the cavern, Ning Zhezhou led the leopard inside.

The cavern was incredibly deep, reaching several dozen zhang in height. Luminous glowstones were embedded in the mountain walls, casting a chilly blue light that illuminated the entire space. This allowed them to clearly see the massive, slumbering beast lurking in the heart of the cavern, its eyes closed as if asleep.

Upon encountering such a colossal beast, Ning Zhezhou's expression froze slightly, instinctively on guard. Fortunately, he could sense that no life force remained in the creature. Nonetheless, the lingering aura of a powerful high-ranking beast was enough to instill fear in anyone, making it impossible to share the same space with its corpse.

The terrifying aura after death was a testament to its formidable strength in life.

This was the corpse of an at least King-level demonic beast that had reached the transformative stage, equivalent to a cultivator above the Sovereign Emperor Realm.

Despite being unsure of how many years had passed since its demise, the corpse was incredibly well-preserved. Its fur stood on end like needles, showing no signs of decay, while the demon bones encapsulated all its cultivation, rendering them incredibly hard.

The Netherworld leopard let out another low growl, its gaze filled with longing and a hint of caution as it stared at the beast's remains.

Ning Zhezhou reassured, "No rush, it's yours."

With that said, he stepped forward to retrieve the corpse. A demonic beast was a treasure, even in death, and especially one of this high rank that had achieved transformation.

Just as he stowed it away in his storage bag, Ning Zhezhou swiftly turned around, brandishing his sword before him as he shouted, "Who's there?"

The Netherworld leopard reacted swiftly, lurking in the darkness like a phantom's shadow. Its figure vanished yet seemed omnipresent, already locking onto the intruder outside the cavern.

A silhouette materialized before the entrance of the cavern.

The arrival was an elegant young man dressed in a light blue brocade robe, with well-defined eyebrows and piercing eyes, his hair tied up with a jade hairpin, adorned with a green jade pendant on his forehead, and a jade flute hanging from his waist. He exuded an extraordinary air, his demeanor cold as he appraised Ning Zhezhou with a mixture of scrutiny and nonchalance, bearing the aura of someone accustomed to power - not someone nurtured by a humble background.

Ning Zhezhou's gaze sharpened. He immediately realized that this person was not from Dongling Kingdom. He was familiar with the younger generation of cultivators from his country, but had never seen this individual before. Coupled with the recent murders of Dongling cultivators in the Scale Platform Hunting Valley, he had inferred that many outsiders had infiltrated the valley during its opening.

These foreign cultivators possessed high cultivation levels, but their intentions were unclear. They didn't seem to be here for training or treasure hunting; some even disdained the resources of the Scale Platform Hunting Valley. Moreover, many cultivators had fallen at their hands, leading to suspicions that they might simply be here for the thrill of killing.

As a royal disciple of Dongling Kingdom, Ning Zhezhou had a duty to protect its cultivators. He had intended to intervene when he witnessed a conflict between these outsiders and Dongling cultivators, but the sudden appearance of a cave abode drew everyone's attention, leaving him no time to act or inquire about the outsiders' motives.

The newcomer studied Ning Zhezhou for a moment before declaring with absolute certainty, "Dongling's Ning Zhezhou, of the Ning clan."

Ning Zhezhou looked at him calmly and asked, "Senior, who might you be?"

"I am Yin Xingheng, from the Holy Martial Hall."

Ning Zhezhou's expression shifted slightly, his heart roiling with surprise, though he managed to conceal it from his face.

Yin Xingheng's lips curled into a faint smile. "I assume you've heard of the Holy Martial Hall. This time, we, the sons of the Holy Martial, have come to Dongling in search of the Chosen One."

Ning Zhezhou was no fool; he quickly grasped the meaning behind his words and asked, "I'm one of the candidates for the Chosen One this time?"

"Indeed."

Ning Zhezhou looked at him with an uncertain expression, not speaking for a long while.

***

The wind swept across the ground, humming softly in their ears.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

Ning Yuzhou slowly opened his eyes, and the pain that accompanied his regained consciousness overwhelmed him, making him keenly aware of the excruciating ache throughout his shattered bones. However, alongside the pain, there was another unfamiliar sensation.

He could finally sense the ubiquitous Primordial Spirit Energy in the air.

Seeing that Ning Yuzhou had regained consciousness, Qianshu was relieved and hastily fed him a few more spirit pills, including a Bone-Forming Pill.

After falling from such a dizzying height, it was fortunate that Ning Yuzhou, an ordinary person without cultivation, had only broken his bones; death would have been the more severe outcome.

Enduring the unbearable pain of his bones regenerating as if being gnawed by thousands of ants, Ning Yuzhou croaked, "Did you see Ah Chu?"

Quan Shou fell silent, not responding.

A bad premonition stirred within Ning Yuzhou, his voice turning sharper as he asked, "Where's Ah Chuo?"

Quan Shou gave him a glance and struggled to say, "Mistress... she's dead."

"It can't be!" Ning Yuzhou declared, only to suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood in the next moment. His already pale face turned even more ashen.

Quan Shou looked at him anxiously and hurriedly fed him a few spirit pills. He spoke carefully, "Your Highness, I'm not lying to you. When Your Highness was found, you still had a faint breath left. But Mistress had sustained severe injuries and fell from above. Her body couldn't withstand it, and she... had no signs of life left."

At this point, Quan Shou couldn't bear to look at Ning Yuzhou's expression.

Ning Yuzhou lay on the ground, his empty gaze fixed on the impenetrable dark ceiling above.

Quan Shou watched him with concern. A few days ago, after they entered that light gate, they never expected that the teleportation array on the other side would be a random one, scattering them all. They wandered around in the maze for a long time but couldn't find their way out. Eventually, without knowing how, the maze suddenly collapsed, revealing a massive dark space below. They all tumbled down from the maze.

Fortunately, they were all cultivators. Though they had fallen from a height of tens of thousands of feet, and some were injured and disheveled, they weren't in any danger to their lives.

After the Quan Lin Guards regrouped, they hurriedly followed the bond they shared with Ning Yuzhou to locate him. Never did they expect to find one person dead and the other injured when they finally reached them.

For Wen Qiao, the newly acquired wife, Hidden Hunt had only interacted with her for half a month. In his memory, she was a frail and aloof young lady, appearing delicate and in need of protection. Although he couldn't understand why his master would bring along someone so vulnerable and in need of safeguarding into the Scale Platform Hunting Valley, it was clear that the master held great concern for her, going as far as to tend to her health and devise cultivation plans tailored for her. Everything revolved around her, including this very journey into the Scale Platform Hunting Valley.

When had Hidden Hunt ever seen his master take such interest in someone? He knew then that the master held deep affection for this wife bound by a childhood marriage contract.

Yet, the lady was now dead.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Ning Yuzhou's voice, hoarse with emotion, broke the silence. "What happened to her body?"

Hidden Hunt snapped back to reality and hurriedly replied, "It was taken away by a monster resembling a rabbit."

Ning Yuzhou turned to look at him, his gaze faint yet chilling enough to send a shiver down Qianshou's spine. The man forced himself to continue, "I failed, my lord. I couldn't determine where that demonic beast came from. It was incredibly swift and possessed unimaginable strength. While I was rescuing you, it dragged away Lady Wen's remains. I've already dispatched other Qianlin Guards to search for them."

Ning Yuzhou remained silent, still lying on the ground with tattered clothes soaked in blood—both his and Wen Qiao's.

Qianshou stood guard, not daring to speak without permission given the silence.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, save for the soft whisper of wind that moaned like mournful cries. In the distance, the gentle trickling of water could be faintly heard.

They were in an underground chamber, vast and spacious. Not only was there an underground river, but also numerous caves inhabited by demonic beasts and rare spirit herbs of high rank, which were seldom seen outside this place.

This was clearly beneath the cave abode. Judging from the surroundings, Qianshousu inferred that it might be where the owner of the cave abode usually conducted their activities.

From this, one could also speculate that the owner of the cave abode was likely an advanced demon cultivator. The maze above was merely a deception for outsiders, while this place was the true lair of the demon cultivator. As for why the cave abode had suddenly appeared and caused such a commotion, with the limited information currently at hand, Qianshousu couldn't analyze the reason.

While Qianshousu was pondering over the underground space, he abruptly sensed a violent surge of primordial essence energy coursing toward them.

Startled, he turned his head to look at the motionless person lying on the ground.

Without him realizing, Ning Yuzhou had closed his eyes, allowing the primordial essence energy to flood into his body frenziedly. His aura was undergoing a transformation.

With a resounding thud, as though breaking free from some constraint, Ning Yuzhou transformed from an ordinary mortal who couldn't cultivate into a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment realm.

After a while, Ning Yuzhou opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

Despite his severe injuries, the moment he became a cultivator, the primordial essence energy in the heavens and earth changed his flesh and bones, nourishing his injured organs and shattered bones. His wounds were healing at an astonishing pace.

Qianshousu gaped at him in shock. "Your Highness..."

Ning Yuzhou said coolly, "The constraint within my body has been broken. I can cultivate now."

He spoke with an air of nonchalance, as if it was an ordinary matter, showing no signs of ecstatic joy.

"How can that be?" Qian Shou was unsure whether this was a good or bad turn of events and expressed his concern. "Didn't you say that the seal could only be broken after your coming-of-age ceremony…?"

There was still a year left. Why would the seal break ahead of time? Could it be due to the severity of his injuries? Or was there something in this cave dwelling that could break the seal?

"No," Ning Yuzhou said softly, placing a hand on his chest with a complicated expression. "It's Ah Chuo's blood."

Qian Shou let out an "ah" and looked at him in confusion, unsure if he had heard correctly.