Moonlight, like flowing water, cast a silver-white ribbon down from the sky. It swayed lazily, resembling the delicate gauze draping from the pale arms of a celestial maiden in the Moon Palace. The "gauze ribbon" connected to the secret treasure gate, slowly pulling open a crack. The crack widened bit by bit, revealing a view straight into a fairyland.
Rainbow light streamed from behind the door. White cranes flapped their wings every now and then, and spiritual deer bleated softly. Countless palaces and pavilions stretched into the distance, with spiritual flowers and immortal herbs competing in brilliant colors...
This scene under the moon appeared peaceful and breathtaking. Yet the more beautiful it seemed, the starker the contrast it formed with their immediate surroundings.
Innumerable empty spirits swarmed wildly from every direction, converging on the spot. At every passing moment, exhausted cultivators fell prey to them, becoming their food. Miserable shrieks and agonized wails echoed endlessly, accompanied by sickening crunching and chewing sounds that made one's teeth set on edge.
These cultivators were devoured completely—flesh, bone, marrow, and even their souls—leaving nothing behind in the mortal world.
Shi Yu's group was also struggling to hold out.
Although the Buddhist light naturally countered the empty spirits, it couldn't withstand such a massive, endless horde charging at them. The light couldn't dissolve them fast enough, and every so often, a few broke through to attack. Standing back-to-back, each of them held a stack of fire-attribute spirit talismans given by Shi Yu, doing their best to dispatch the lunging entities.
Noticing Qingzhou's spiritual energy draining and sweat dripping from his forehead, Shi Yu quickly stuffed a few Qi-Restoring Pills into his mouth and took the clay Buddha statue from him. “Let me.”
Qingzhou frowned, taking a moment to stabilize his breathing with the help of the medicinal energy. “Ah Yu, your spiritual Qi is unstable. Let me—”
“Don't push yourself.” Shi Yu gave him a reassuring look and poured her spiritual Qi into the statue.
Strangely enough, maintaining the statue's Buddhist light consumed a vast amount of spiritual Qi. Shi Yu strained to channel her spiritual power—which hadn't yet been fully converted into dual Yin-Yang Qi—expecting it to be a grueling task. To her surprise, a gentle, soothing warmth radiated from where her palm touched the statue. Though her spiritual Qi was steadily draining, the wild, chaotic turbulence in her body gradually smoothed out.
Did the clay Buddha statue actually possess such an effect?
Astonished, Shi Yu decisively seized the opportunity. While maintaining the power output for the Buddhist light, she drew upon the exceptionally dense and pure Yin energy of the full moon to resume converting her dual Yin-Yang Qi.
The chaotic noises around her gradually faded, growing faint and distant. Within the spirit lake in her meridians, Shi Yu could clearly hear the crisp, resonant hum of the two energies pulsing together.
Beneath the yellow sprout of her Dao Foundation, the spirit lake—once churning with turbulent waves due to clashing spiritual Qi—slowly quieted down. As her mental cultivation technique circulated, the liquid Qi unconsciously separated into two distinct black and white currents, forming a small Yin-Yang Taiji diagram across the lake's surface. At a glance, it looked no different from the Life and Slaughter Springs inside the Fate-Tapping Bell.
Yin Qi and Yang Qi revolved slowly and endlessly within it. The once cold and stubborn Yin Qi gradually softened inside the Taiji diagram, attracting and blending with the Yang Qi to form a harmonious force.
Noticing this progress, Shi Yu was overjoyed. She accelerated the circulation of her technique, causing the dual Yin-Yang Qi to spin faster within the Taiji diagram. She felt her spiritual power growing alongside it, as if she had stepped into a wondrous state of enlightenment.
Immersed in the flow of the two currents, she gradually realized that while her dual Qi appeared distinctly divided, they were intimately fused. As the energy flowed from her spirit lake into her meridians, it was no longer separate Yin and Yang, but a chaotic, murky, yet unimaginably pure power—possessing both the subtle grace of Yin and the formidable might of Yang.
This power surged endlessly within her body like a boundless river, ebbing and flowing like tides, at times wild and tempestuous, at others calm and serene.
The conversion of her dual Yin-Yang Qi was complete.
In her dantian, the spirit lake expanded dramatically. Her previously depleted spiritual Qi now circulated on its own in a continuous loop, causing the Buddhist light—which had begun to dim—to flare brilliantly once again.
With the Buddhist light blazing brightly, the pressure on Qingzhou and the other two instantly eased.
Mo Tong looked over and exclaimed in delight, “Ah Yu, you succeeded in your cultivation?!”
Shi Yu offered a slight smile and nodded. “Just good luck.”
With that, she turned her eyes toward the secret treasure gate with a frown. By now, the crack in the door had widened enough to allow one person through at a time.
However, the gruesome deaths of the cultivators who had tried to enter over the past few days were still fresh in everyone's minds. Wary and cautious, the crowd waited for someone else to step forward first to ensure it was safe before making a move.
This stalemate didn't last long. A cultivator whose arm had been bitten off by an empty spirit saw that he couldn't hold out any longer. Gritting his teeth, he leaped across the marsh, sprinting over the water toward the secret treasure gate.
The instant his hand touched the crack, a powerful force yanked him inside, and he vanished beyond the gate without a trace.
Seeing that the door no longer swallowed people alive like before, the crowd rejoiced. They surged forward, their desire and yearning for the immortal secret treasure instantly overcoming their fear of the empty spirits. Fearing they would fall behind and lose the upper hand, cultivators used every trick in the book, not hesitating to strike down those ahead of them.
A few cultivators flashed murderous glints in their eyes, flinging out their artifacts to instantly kill those on the verge of entering. Stepping over the corpses, they rushed inside.
“Despicable scum!”
“Hahaha, we shall take our leave first!”
Their actions drew furious curses from many, yet plenty of others followed suit. In an instant, chaotic slaughter erupted everywhere.
The path of cultivation was one of defying the heavens—a relentless struggle against heaven and man alike.
Still, slaughtering others so wantonly was contrary to morality and bound to incur karma.
“...” Shi Yu let out a quiet sigh in her heart. She looked at Qingzhou and the other two, and seeing them nod with grave expressions, her clear eyes narrowed. “Let's go.”
With a flick of her wrist, she unfurled a stack of radiant spirit talismans for protection and stepped out onto the marsh.
Some cultivators had intended to target them as well, but seeing that this group possessed substantial wealth and formidable aura, they couldn't gauge what hidden trump cards they might still hold. Unwilling to act recklessly, they let Shi Yu's party reach the gate safely.
The moment they drew near, the space around the crack distorted violently, and a powerful suction force surged out.
Shi Yu and the others felt their bodies pulled uncontrollably toward the opening. Immense power churned behind the gate, and the paradise within flickered in and out of view.
“Careful! Don't get separated!” Fearing the gate might act as a teleportation mechanism that would scatter them, Shi Yu called out softly. The four of them gripped each other's hands tightly.
The aura emanating from inside did not feel like a simple immortal miracle, but possessed an indescribable air of strangeness and danger... Shi Yu's brows knitted slightly, but having no other choice, she let the overwhelming pull sweep them inside.
A blinding white light burst before her eyes, making Shi Yu feel dizzy. Qingzhou held her hand with a firm, steady grip, easing the sense of panic amidst the disorienting, spinning world.
When she opened her eyes again, the scenery had completely changed.
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