Genius in the whole system: The useless young lady dominates the world

"Phantom, are you really sure you don't want to come with us?" Lu Lingxi asked again, her gaze fixed on Phantom, trying to read something from his expression.

Phantom lowered his head, his hands clenched tightly together, his knuckles white from the force. He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and raised his head to say, "Master, I... I can't go there. That dry well... there is what I fear most."

"What are you most afraid of?" Lu Lingxi frowned. "What is it?"

Phantom's body trembled slightly, his eyes filled with fear and struggle: "I...I don't know. But I can feel a power there, a power that terrifies me. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself, I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

Zhuque stepped forward, patted Huanying on the shoulder, and comforted her, "Huanying, don't be afraid, we're here. No matter what happens, we'll face it together."

Huan Yue nodded and said, "Yes, Huan Ying, you are not alone. We will protect you."

Looking at his companions, Phantom felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He knew they genuinely cared about him, but the fear in his heart remained.

“Master, you may go,” the phantom said. “I will wait for you here. If… if I really can’t control myself, then… then don’t worry about me.”

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Lu Lingxi said. "We're a team, how can we abandon you? Here's what we'll do, we'll go together, but you'll stay behind us and keep a certain distance. If there's any real danger, you can evacuate in time."

Phantom wanted to say something, but Lu Lingxi Yao interrupted him: "It's decided then, let's go."

After saying that, Lu Lingxi Yao took the lead and walked towards the dry well, followed closely by Zhuque and Huanyue. Huanying hesitated for a moment, but finally followed.

The four arrived at the dry well. The well was about two meters in diameter, with moss growing on the walls. The bottom was dark and bottomless, and a chilling aura emanated from it, making them feel a chill down their spines.

“There’s definitely something wrong with this dry well,” Suzaku said. “I can sense a very strong demonic aura.”

“The ancient tree said that the vibration frequency of this dry well is the same as that of the ancient jade in the swamp,” Lu Lingxi said. “It seems that this dry well is very likely related to that mysterious organization.”

"Master, are we really going down?" Huan Yue asked, her voice tinged with unease.

“Of course,” Lu Lingxi said, “We must find out the truth.”

After saying that, Lu Lingxi leaped into the dry well. Zhuque and Huanyue followed suit. Huanying stood by the well, hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted her teeth and jumped in.

After the four jumped into the dry well, they felt a sudden dizziness, as if they had entered a time tunnel. A moment later, they landed on solid ground.

"Where is this..." Suzaku looked around and found that they were at the entrance of a canyon.

The canyon is flanked by towering cliffs, covered with jagged rocks and barren of vegetation. A narrow passage winds its way forward and disappears into the mist.

At the entrance to the canyon stands a broken boundary marker, inscribed with four large characters: "There is a path to the Yellow Springs." However, these four characters have been cleaved in two by a sword, and faint traces of sword energy remain at the cut.

“This sword energy…” Lu Lingxi stepped forward and carefully examined the sword marks on the boundary marker, “It’s Flying Snow Sword Energy!”

"What?" Suzaku and Huan Yue stared wide-eyed in surprise. "Could someone have been here before?"

“Moreover, this person also used the Flying Snow Sword Technique,” ​​Lu Lingxi Yao said. “What exactly is going on?”

Just then, the surrounding mist suddenly changed, with specks of light floating in the mist, like fireflies.

"What are these?" Huan Yue asked curiously.

"Watch out!" Lu Lingxi suddenly exclaimed, "There's something wrong with these lights!"

Before she could finish speaking, Huan Yue suddenly exclaimed, "Young Master Nalan! Young Master Nalan, what's wrong?!"

A familiar figure appeared in the mist before Huan Yue; it was Nalan Rongzhi. However, Nalan Rongzhi was pale, blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth, and he was swaying precariously.

"Young Master Nalan!" Huan Yue tried to rush over, but Lu Lingxi Yao grabbed her arm.

“Illusory Moon!” Lu Lingxi Yao exclaimed, “That’s an illusion!”

"An illusion?" Huan Yue was taken aback. Upon closer inspection, he realized that Nalan Rongzhi in front of him was indeed somewhat illusory, not like a real person.

“These glowing spores will make people see their most feared images,” Lu Lingxi Yao said. “What you see is the scene you fear most: Rong Zhi dying from poisoning.”

"I……"

Huan Yue lowered his head, his eyes filled with sadness. Perhaps it was because he sensed Lu Ling Xi Yao's longing and worry for Nalan Rong Zhi that Huan Yue was affected by her emotions, which led him to see the terrifying scene. He was the first spirit beast that Lu Ling Xi Yao had contracted, and he had been with Lu Ling Xi Yao the longest. Therefore, Lu Ling Xi Yao's emotions often affected Huan Yue as well.

Just then, Suzaku exclaimed in surprise, "Master, look!"

Lu Lingxi looked in the direction Zhuque was pointing and saw that scarlet liquid was seeping out of the rock walls of the canyon. The liquid flowed on the rock walls and formed a series of strange patterns.

“This is…” Lu Lingxi took a closer look and discovered that these patterns were exactly the same as the red spider lily patterns on the ancient jade in the swamp!

"How could this be?" Suzaku said. "Could this place also be related to that mysterious organization?"

“It seems we’ve come to the right place,” Lu Lingxi said. “There must be some secret hidden here.”

Just then, Suzaku suddenly said, "Master, my flames..."

The flames in Suzaku's hand condensed into ice crystals within the mist! These ice crystals refracted the surrounding light, forming illusory images in the air.

Upon closer inspection, Lu Lingxi Yao discovered that these images were actually roads leading into the depths of the canyon! Moreover, there were as many as seventy-two such roads, each looking exactly the same, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake.

"Seventy-two overlapping mountain paths..." Lu Lingxi frowned. "What's going on here?"

"Master, which path should we take?" Suzaku asked.

Lu Lingxi did not answer. She closed her eyes and slowly released her dark spiritual power, which spread across the ground, corroding the rocks and soil.

A moment later, Lu Lingxi opened her eyes and said, "Come with me."

She led the group to a spot where a bronze tile was exposed, with strange characters engraved on it, which looked like some kind of ancient language.

“These are demonic script!” the phantom suddenly said. “I recognize these characters.”

"Oh?" Lu Lingxi looked at the phantom. "What does it say?"

Phantom carefully examined the words on the floor tiles and said, "It says... 'Only the darkness can guide the way.'"

"Only the darkness can guide the way forward..." Lu Lingxi repeated this sentence, lost in thought.

Just then, the shadows beneath everyone's feet suddenly changed. During the battle, their shadows would occasionally appear in modern attire, as if they came from another time and space.

"This is..." Suzaku looked at his own shadow in surprise, "What does this mean?"

"Why are those outfits so strange?" Huan Yue also found it unbelievable.

“That’s modern attire!” said Lu Lingxi, a modern person. “But this is not the time to think about these things. We must find a way out as soon as possible.”

She continued to use her dark spiritual power to corrode the ground, searching for other bronze tiles. Soon, they found several more tiles. The demonic characters on the tiles connected together to form a sentence: "Only the dark night can guide the way. Where the heart leads, the feet will follow."

“Where my heart leads, I will go, even in simple shoes…” Lu Lingxi murmured to herself, “What does this mean?”

Just then, black blood seeped out again from the rock walls of the canyon, flowing on the ground and congealing into patterns.

Upon closer inspection, Lu Lingxi Yao discovered that these patterns were identical to the detection array she had previously constructed, all exhibiting a "heartbeat" frequency!

"It's that pattern again!" Suzaku exclaimed. "What does it mean?"

“I don’t know.” Lu Lingxi shook her head. “But one thing is certain: there must be a huge secret hidden beneath the Youlan Medicine Market and in this mysterious canyon.”

"Master, what should we do now?" Huan Yue asked.

“Keep moving forward,” Lu Lingxi said. “No matter what dangers lie ahead, we must find out the truth.”

She led the group deeper into the canyon, following the direction indicated by the bronze floor tiles. The fog grew thicker and the surrounding scenery became increasingly eerie.