He Lan Tianxia

The rapid changes here surprised not only Jiang Heluo Xie and his group, but also one person: the white-haired woman.

The white-haired woman relentlessly pursued Murong Junlan and his companions throughout their journey. She followed them to the Broken Bridge, then fell into Black Overlord Valley, letting out a mournful scream before disappearing from sight. As for the white-haired woman later in the cave, she was merely an illusion created by Azi to deceive Murong Junlan and his group; she was not the real white-haired woman. In fact, the flower demons in Black Overlord Cave were masters of using various illusions to fool their opponents.

The white-haired woman fell from the broken bridge. She could have escaped the predicament using her light-footed skills, but unexpectedly, there was a hunting trap where she landed. Several gleaming sharp knives were stuck in the trap. The white-haired woman fell from a height with great force, and stepped on the sharp knives. She felt a sharp pain. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and had excellent light-footed skills, so she did not break the bones in her foot. However, the sharp knife tips caused her a serious injury. Fearing that Black Tyrant and his men would pursue her, she endured the pain and fled from Black Tyrant's cave. When she returned, the Guqin Terrace underwent a sudden change.

A creature of the Kunlong? The white-haired woman gazed at the murmuring water of the Guqin Terrace, lost in thought. She looked around, not finding the Black Tyrant Flower Demon, and leaped onto the large rock where Murong Junlan and the woman had been sitting. Everything was safe and sound. Even stranger, the branches and leaves that had been shattered by the wave-like blades had miraculously grown back to their original state. Apart from the pebbles Black Tyrant had brought scattered on the ground and the flower demon's wounded blood, everything else had returned to normal.

The white-haired woman searched the Guqin Terrace but found nothing. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she heard hurried footsteps approaching. She immediately hid behind a large tree and saw Jiang He and Luo Xie leading three horses. On the horses' backs seemed to be a large bag of tempting fruit. Jiang He, who was leading the Red Hare, said...

"Shanyu, am I right? There seemed to be a huge commotion here just now?"

"Yes, it's gone so quickly. Strange." Luo Xie looked left and right, bent down and picked up a drop of blood from the ground, smelled it, and said, "He's injured. I wonder whose blood it is."

"Let's look over there," Jiang He suggested. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly shouted loudly towards the valley, "Prince Murong, Princess Consort, where are you?"

"Prince Murong, my queen, my queen, where are you?" Even if Murong Junlan had objections, Luo Xie wouldn't change his tune. Now that he couldn't find anyone, he became even more unrestrained.

The valley echoed, making the vast valley seem even more empty. Suddenly, in a flash, the food bag on the horse's back disappeared. Jiang He, who was protecting it beside him, hadn't even reacted yet, but Fire Hare leaped forward.

"Black Overlord, what kind of coward are you, resorting to underhanded tactics? Come out if you dare!" Luo Xie waved his longsword wildly in the air a few times.

The food was gone. It was meant for them to share with Murong Junlan, but now that they couldn't find him and the food was gone, their stomachs immediately began to rumble, and the hunger grew stronger. Jiang He looked around; there was no fruit on the trees, so he could only look in the water. Just then, a startled snake darted out. Jiang He reacted quickly, grabbing two stones and throwing them, hitting the snake's head and about three inches from its body. The snake struggled a few times, trying to escape, but Luo Xie slashed off its head with his sword, and a spurt of snake blood gushed out. Luo Xie's longsword was stuck in the snake's neck, and with a swift pull of his short knife, the snakeskin was easily peeled off. The snake's body continued to writhe; this kind of wilderness survival skill was a piece of cake for the two of them. Soon, the aroma of roasted snake meat filled the air. This time, the two dared not be careless. One roasted the snake while the other held his sword, ready to defend against any sudden attack on their food.

After filling their stomachs, the two began searching for Prince Murong Junlan again. Little did they know that Azi had been watching them from afar while they were roasting snake meat, and the white-haired woman who had just snatched the food had quickly fled to the other side of the mountain to enjoy some fruit.

At this moment, Black Tyrant was in her cave, sipping tea, but her thoughts drifted to the Ancient Qin Pool. She had been in this cave for quite some time, several hundred years, yet the Ancient Qin Platform had always been quiet; such an earth-shattering commotion had never occurred before. Black Tyrant frowned, utterly perplexed, a feeling that the world was about to change. What was frightening was that she had no premonition whatsoever. After much deliberation, Black Tyrant decided to open the ancient secret passage.

As night fell, Azi returned, saying she hadn't found Murong Junlan and the woman and had come back to report. Black Tyrant immediately ordered Azi to seal all the cave entrances, and then she specially set up a restriction at the entrance of the ancient secret passage. The cave was more secure than ever before, and all the flower fairies took their positions, fearing that any mistake would be blamed by Black Tyrant.

"Azi, you guard the entrance to the secret passage and do not allow anyone to enter. If you do not see me come out after three days, release three streams of purple mist into the passage. If I do not return to the black mist, then bring people in to rescue me."

"My lord, this is unacceptable." Azi looked worried. She didn't know what treasures were in the secret passage, but Black Overlord's words suggested there was danger inside. Azi quickly stepped forward and sincerely said, "My lord, may I take you with me?"

"No need," Black Tyrant refused quickly.

"My lord, please be careful. I am at your service." After saying this, I took up my sword and stood guard at the entrance of the secret passage.

The entrance to the secret passage was located at the innermost part of the cave, hidden by two huge rocks. If Black Tyrant hadn't brought it up, even Ah Zi, who had always served him closely, wouldn't have known about its existence.

"Boom!" Black Tyrant pressed on the cave entrance, and the secret passage door slowly opened. Black Tyrant flashed inside alone, and with a flick of her hand, the secret passage door slammed shut again. Azi dared not look inside, but she clearly felt a chill rush towards her.

As soon as Black Tyrant entered the secret passage, she reverted to her original form as a Black Tyrant Flower. She stretched out her vines and moved forward, careful not to move too quickly, lest she disturb the rock paintings on either side of the cave walls. The rock paintings were strange; they were all depicting the same type of tyrant flower, the colors ranging from light to dark, lifelike, with butterflies and dragonflies carved on them. At first glance, the butterflies and dragonflies seemed to come alive. Black Tyrant didn't stop, continuing to move forward at a leisurely pace. After a short while, at a corner, a sudden burst of black mist enveloped her completely. However, Black Tyrant quickly emerged from the mist, but this time, the entire Black Tyrant Flower was noticeably larger than before.

The Black Tyrant Flower continued to move forward, its trembling petals already sensing the Black Tyrant's secret delight. After another three cups of tea's time, another plume of black mist erupted, even denser than before. As usual, the Black Tyrant was enveloped in the mist, then emerged again, repeating this cycle five or six times. The Black Tyrant was five or six times larger than before. At this moment, the Black Tyrant had moved to a mountain spring. The difference here was that the rock paintings along the way suddenly disappeared, and the four cave walls abruptly transformed into four Black Tyrant Walls, identical to the ones in the Wubei Kingdom, only three more in size, exuding a much more oppressive aura.

Black Tyrant rolled out of the black mist and immediately transformed into human form. Before she could even stand up, a gust of fierce wind blew by, and she nearly fell. Black Tyrant grabbed onto a vine, stubbornly trying to stand up, but a violent gust of wind, accompanied by flying sand and stones, swept in. Black Tyrant, who had just straightened up, lost her balance and fell into the mountain spring with a whoosh. Suddenly, a whirlpool appeared in the water and forcefully sucked Black Tyrant in.

At this moment, Black Tyrant was a bit confused. She knew that there were three mist channels in the secret passage to enhance her power, but she had never seen any record of a mountain spring. As for how a mountain spring could appear in the secret passage, she was still in a daze. Now that she had been pulled in by the mountain spring, she was dizzy and couldn't even tell which way was which. Just when Black Tyrant didn't know what to do, a strong force suddenly pulled Black Tyrant into another unfathomable unknown abyss. A cold sensation rushed towards her, and Black Tyrant panicked completely.

The abyss seemed very deep. Black Tyrant felt as if she had fallen a great distance. By the time she felt her feet touch the ground, she estimated that she had been drinking a cup of tea for an hour. Black Tyrant's first sensation upon landing was stepping on something soft and fluffy, but extremely cold. Startled, Black Tyrant immediately transformed back into a flower and curled up.

Finally, she fell. Staring at the unbelievable sight before her, Black Tyrant was stunned. She had actually fallen into a Black Tyrant Flower even larger than herself, leaving her speechless for a long time. She reached out and touched the large flower, a sudden feeling of familiarity welling up inside her. Could this be the greatest secret of the ancient passage? Was this flower her ancestor?

"Black Tyrant, listen carefully. The man and woman outside are here to take my life, oh no, they're here to take yours too. Now, the only thing you can do is marry that Prince Murong to escape this disaster."

"What? Marry him?" Black Tyrant thought he had misheard.

"Yes, you heard me right." The voice repeated.

"Who? Who are you? Why should I listen to you?" Black Tyrant looked around warily. Apart from the big black Tyrant flower under its buttocks, there were only hard, cold stone walls.

"I am you, and you are me. I live in ancient times, and you live in the present." The voice seemed to come from the other side, yet it also seemed to come from all around, very ethereal.

"I, a flower demon overlord who has been around for hundreds of years, want me to marry a mere mortal? You wish!" Black Overlord scoffed, his face full of disdain.

"Remember, you only get one chance. If you don't want to be wiped out, do as I say." After saying that, the Black Tyrant flower under his buttocks suddenly disappeared, and the Black Tyrant's buttocks landed hard on a large rock, causing excruciating pain.

"Marry him? What a joke." Black Tyrant was both amused and exasperated. Putting everything else aside, asking her to marry someone who came to take her life—had she lived too long and become confused?

Black Tyrant circled the cave but found nothing of value. Could it be that the secret manual of this forbidden area, which she had dared not trespass upon, contained only one sentence? A sentence demanding that she marry a mere mortal? That was outrageous, utterly insulting! Black Tyrant, seething with anger, furiously pounded on the cold stone walls of the secret passage. Still not satisfied, she swept away some rubble, finally disturbing the previously silenced voice, which slowly spoke:

"Don't think too highly of yourself. That man is at a much higher level than you. If you get a kiss from him, you can break through and advance to the third level."

What? It sounds somewhat useful, and the benefits are quite attractive. However, getting Black Tyrant to fall in love with someone for no reason is impossible, let alone advancing to level three, even level eight would be difficult for her. But sometimes, feelings are strange. After hearing what that ancient voice said, Black Tyrant suddenly had the idea of ​​seeing Murong Junlan. As soon as Black Tyrant left the secret passage, she immediately ordered Azi to capture Murong Junlan, even though she knew that Murong Junlan and that woman seemed to have disappeared at the Ancient Qin Terrace.

Strangely enough, that night was particularly eerie. As soon as night fell, Black Tyrant noticed a cold wind blowing by. As the night deepened, Black Tyrant realized that what was different tonight was the sudden change in the celestial phenomena. Two moons suddenly appeared in the dark sky, both crescent moons at the beginning of the month, exuding a chilling and ominous aura. Anyone who made a move was in danger of being swallowed up by the gloom.

The waning crescent moon, a scene of desolate desolation, was precisely the moment of Black Tyrant's greatest triumph. At this moment, Black Tyrant was driven by an burgeoning, restless desire within her, a desire to unleash it all, to release it freely in this world. Black Tyrant stretched out her hands, and a sudden whistle rang out. Then, a flat area stretched forward at a visible speed, its end marked by two crescent moons hanging obliquely in the sky. The celestial phenomena were utterly desolate. Simultaneously, mournful wolf howls rose and fell, long and desolate, sending chills down one's spine. Black Tyrant breathed deeply into the desolate atmosphere of this sudden change in the world. She even transformed into a gigantic Black Tyrant Flower, blooming alluringly, her divine energy greedily flowing between the two crescent moons, wantonly decaying, yet the flower grew ever more delicate and alluring.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept by, and a creature resembling neither a Kun nor a fish leaped into the air, its gaping maw rushing towards the two crescent moons. The world instantly plunged into darkness. Black Tyrant didn't have time to retract the flat ground she had extended—her reliance for absorbing the essence of heaven and earth—and she didn't even have time to unleash her deadly Moonflower Poisonous Technique before being swallowed whole by the gaping maw of that creature, neither Kun nor fish…

In fact, although Black Tyrant had lived here for hundreds, almost thousands of years, she did not know that this creature, which was neither a Kun nor a fish, was the guardian of the Guqin Terrace and had been dormant for hundreds of years. Recently, the arrival of Murong Junlan and the woman, two people with deep roots, awakened it from its hundred-year dream and brought it back to the mortal world.

The Black Tyrant, who had been swallowed, encountered two people: Murong Junlan and the woman. The two were sitting opposite her, staring at her in astonishment, as if she were an alien and this was their territory.

Murong Junlan and the woman were taken aback for a moment, then exchanged a knowing glance, before greeting Black Overlord in a completely emotionless tone: "Lord Black Overlord, we apologize for our intrusion. We simply wish to borrow a flower from you to help a friend recover his power."

Borrow a flower? Hmph, easy for you to say. It's her life, you know! But Black Tyrant wasn't going to say that. If she did, the other person would still take it anyway, so what's the point of talking? She calmed her anger slightly and sat there expressionless.

“My friend really needs this, if possible,” Murong Junlan repeated.

Black Tyrant had imagined countless scenarios of facing Murong Junlan, but she never expected to meet him in this way. Her original plan was to bind Murong Junlan in his cave, humiliate him from a position of superiority to take his life, then imprison him and drain his blood daily to advance her cultivation. Now, it seemed all her previous fantasies were just that—fantasies. She could now clearly feel Murong Junlan's immense pressure; one hand cannot move, and she had to lower her stance to avoid being captured. Fortunately, Murong Junlan didn't attack her, but Black Tyrant wasn't one to give up easily. She suppressed her anxiety and feigned composure.