If I stay in the Hehuan Sect, I'll live off the pampered daughters of the Heavenly Pride Sect.

The terrain of the hilly canyon became increasingly narrow, with the reddish-brown rock walls on both sides appearing as if cleaved in two by an ancient powerful being, allowing only three people to walk side by side.

Mo Chengyue had three layers of high-level concealment talismans affixed to his body.

Walking at the very front of the group, his divine sense spread out forward like a giant, transparent net.

He spent a whole half-day choosing this road.

It's not a main road, not a treasure area, and even monsters wouldn't bother making their home in this godforsaken place.

He likes places like this.

The more desolate, the safer; the more remote, the longer one can live.

"Junior brother, did you deliberately choose the most difficult path?"

Yu Jianhuan stepped on the gravel, her rose-purple skirt covered in a layer of dust, her tone full of accusation.

"It's not the hardest route, it's the safest," Mo Chengyue replied without turning his head.

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that you might find a spirit stone if you take the main road."

"But there might be three late-stage Core Formation monsters squatting on the main road, waiting for you to deliver your goods to their door."

Mo Chengyue spoke at a steady pace, like a private tutor patiently explaining principles to a young child.

"You won't find anything by taking this road, but you can save your life."

Yu Jianhuan pouted, her lips painted with bright red lipstick, and couldn't find a rebuttal for a long time.

Su Qingying brought up the rear of the group, with the Azure Spirit Sword held horizontally beside her.

His cool gaze swept across the crack between the two rock walls, his lips twitched slightly, but he didn't speak.

She knew that Mo Chengyue was right.

This man has never been greedy since he entered the ruins.

Do not covet opportunities, treasures, or the thrill of killing enemies.

He only coveted one thing.

Alive.

The narrow path through the rocky cliffs gradually widened, and the road surface changed from smooth stone slabs to uneven, gravelly slopes.

Hidden among the dark red moss are dense, barbed reefs, like rows of upside-down short blades.

Mo Chengyue's steps remained unchanged, his stride steady, and his breathing even.

But his divine sense had already detected an extremely subtle anomaly thirty feet ahead.

Jin Qiaoqiao's pace changed.

She walked to Yu Jianhuan's right, and the iridescent light in her long, dark hair dimmed slightly.

The right hand hangs naturally at the side, and the angle of the left shoulder is slightly lower than when walking normally, by half an inch.

The penetrating wound reopened.

Mo Chengyue did not turn around, did not stop, and his expression did not even change.

The moment his right foot touched the ground, an extremely pure wisp of pure Yang true energy seeped into the rock strata beneath his foot.

It silently spread along the cracks in the rubble within a ten-zhang radius in front of it.

The faint cracking sound was perfectly masked by the sound of the wind.

The jagged, protruding reefs were shattered one by one by the vibration of the true energy, turning into neat fragments that filled the pits underfoot.

When Jin Qiaoqiao reached this section of the road, the feel of it was smoother than any of the previous sections.

Her golden phoenix eyes flickered, and she glanced down at the excessively smooth stone surface beneath her feet, which had been "naturally weathered," without saying a word.

But the right hand holding the hairband unconsciously clenched for a moment.

Yu Jianhuan walked beside her, her upturned phoenix eyes taking in everything.

She stared blankly at the road surface beneath her feet, which had clearly been artificially treated.

Looking at the back of the man in front of me who hadn't even turned his head, the first thought that welled up in my heart wasn't one of being moved.

It's vinegar.

The kind with extremely high purity.

Her pace quickened suddenly, and the hem of her rose-purple skirt billowed in the wind, creating a beautiful arc.

She darted to Mo Chengyue's left side in two quick steps, her soft, boneless body pressing against his arm, wrapping around him like a ribbon.

"Junior brother."

Her voice was sickeningly sweet, her phoenix eyes were half-closed, and the beauty mark at the corner of her eye gleamed slightly red in the sunlight.

"My legs are so sore from walking for so long."

Mo Chengyue's eyelid twitched.

"You, a cultivator at the peak of the early Core Formation stage, have your legs aching after walking such a short distance?"

"It's just sour, you know girls have weaker constitutions."

Yu Jianhuan's fingers drew circles on his forearm, her nails, painted with henna, brushing against the lines of his sleeve, lightly and gently.

"I saw you secretly repairing the path for that bird, what about my compensation?"

She brought her face even closer, her warm breath brushing against Mo Chengyue's ear.

"We can't show favoritism, can we, junior brother?"

Mo Chengyue flipped his right hand inside his sleeve.

He placed a round, plump, high-grade Rejuvenation Pill, exuding a faint sweet fragrance, between Yu Jianhuan's slightly parted lips.

Yu Jianhuan paused for a moment, still holding the pill in her mouth.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, its sweet spiritual energy flowing directly into the dantian, gently soothing the fatigue and soreness in the limbs and bones.

Before she could swallow the sweetness, she felt a light but firm force on her waist.

Mo Chengyue's hand had somehow landed on her soft, boneless waist, his fingers slightly tightening as he gave it a squeeze.

The lingering warmth of the pure yang energy seeped through the thin fabric of her dress, making her feel weak on one side.

"The compensation is done, calm down." Mo Chengyue's voice was indifferent as he withdrew his hand from her waist, his pace remaining unchanged.

Yu Jianhuan's phoenix eyes curved into two crescent moons, and his nails, painted with henna, loosened from his sleeve.

Satisfied, he retreated to his original position, humming an off-key tune while savoring the lingering sweetness of the pills in his mouth.

Su Qingying, who was at the back of the line, saw this shameless scene clearly.

She snorted and turned her face away.

The Azure Spirit Sword trembled slightly in her hand, a kind of indescribable irritation emanating from it.

The fingers gripping the sword tightened, then slowly loosened.

She didn't say anything, but her pace quickened unconsciously by half a beat, shortening the distance between her and the group in front of her by two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

The four of them wandered through the most remote and desolate corners for the better part of an hour.

During this time, they encountered two ancient remnants of formations. Su Qingying found the core node of one of them by accurately grasping the gaps between the formation patterns and broke it open with a single sword strike.

As soon as a wisp of smoke rose from another hidden poisonous fog trap, Yu Jianhuan's fingertips were already circulating rose-colored spiritual power, drawing the poisonous fog ten feet away and turning it into ashes.

As Jin Qiaoqiao passed by a dark ditch, a flash of golden vertical pupils appeared in her phoenix eyes.

He whispered three steps to the left, and Mo Chengyue moved as instructed.

The rock layer three inches below their feet collapsed, revealing a cave large enough to swallow an adult cultivator.

No nonsense, no unnecessary communication.

They were so in sync, like old partners who had worked together for ten years.

At the end of the hilly canyon is an unnamed highland where the view suddenly opens up.

The greyish-white sky spread out overhead, while in the distance, the dark gray mountain ridges stretched out in undulations.

A faint trace of ancient spiritual energy lingered in the air. Compared to the lurking danger in the inner core area, the quiet here was almost unreal.

Mo Chengyue stopped at the edge of the high ground and turned to look at the three women who had followed him.

"Rest here and have something to eat."

He took out three jugs of spiritual spring water from his storage bag and handed them to the three people.

Yu Jianhuan took the water bottle and gulped down two mouthfuls, while Su Qingying held the bottle with both hands and sipped her water slowly.

Jin Qiaoqiao unscrewed the lid of the pot with one hand, took a sip, and then narrowed her phoenix eyes, savoring the unique taste of the human beverage.

A rare moment of peace.

Then it was shattered in the next instant.

From the southeastern horizon, a muffled surge of spiritual energy pierced through the thick, gray-white clouds.

It sounds like thunder, yet it's not thunder; its frequency is extremely low, but it's continuous.

Mo Chengyue stopped moving.

His hand holding the kettle hovered in mid-air, and he squinted as he looked in that direction.

The clouds in the far distance were torn open with one crack after another.

Occasionally, bursts of light, a mixture of pink and dark black, would flash through the cracks.

Within that pink fluctuation of spiritual energy, there was a faint, almost imperceptible, tremor of rhythm.

The dark, demonic energy was domineering and arrogant, like a hungry beast chasing its prey.

The collision trajectory of the two forces presents a highly irregular arc.

One side was fleeing, the other was pursuing; each encounter carried an aftershock of energy powerful enough to tear space apart.