Chapter 784 - 358: Planning an Escape Route, River of Blood

After that, she had gone to the border between Great Qi and the Wang Family to fight the Wang Family Cultivators.

But now that the two powers had made peace, she naturally no longer needed to guard Great Qi’s border.

Beside her stood another woman who looked similar, but with a stronger aura.

Through Qi Yao’s introduction,

Li Chang’an learned,

that this was her elder sister, the Eldest Princess of Great Qi, Qi Yunjin.

Qi Yunjin possessed an extraordinary bearing. She was graceful and noble, elegant and poised, exuding an air of nobility far beyond that of an ordinary person.

She smiled. "Daoist Li, you broke the thirty-thousand-year-old precedent of the Cyan Wood Divine Pagoda, prompting our Great Qi ancestor to bestow an additional reward. I have long wished to make your acquaintance, and today, I finally have the honor."

"It was merely a stroke of luck."

Li Chang’an replied gently, a smile on his face.

After some conversation,

the two were formally acquainted.

"I wish Daoist Li the best of luck on this trip."

Qi Yunjin had no intention of entering the Demon Sect stronghold with the Purple Mist Sect Cultivators. She piloted her Flying Ship and slowly returned to her original position.

Besides the Flying Ships of the Purple Mist Sect and the Great Qi Immortal Dynasty, there were two other Flying Ships present.

They belonged to the White Tiger Sect and the Yellow Sand Sect, respectively.

The leader of the White Tiger Sect group was their Saintess, Cui Baiying. She had seen Li Chang’an before at Thousand Treasures Valley.

The one in control of the Yellow Sand Sect’s Flying Ship was Chang Jun, the second disciple of Huang Sha True Monarch.

Due to past conflicts,

both kept their Flying Ships where they were and made no move to speak with Li Chang’an.

Afterward, Li Chang’an and Zi Xi discussed the specifics of this Demonic stronghold.

Zi Xi informed him, "The Demonic cultivators have been operating here for a long time. The inside is filled with layers of Arrays and countless dangers. Many Righteous Cultivators have entered before, but they either died or became trapped. Few have made it out alive."

It was precisely because it was too dangerous that they had delayed entering.

She had originally been waiting for a Quasi-Tier Four Array Master.

However,

now that Li Chang’an had arrived, there was no need to wait any longer.

Zi Xi was not yet aware that Li Chang’an had become a Tier Four Array Master.

In her eyes, Li Chang’an’s Array Dao Skill was quite impressive, making him one of the best among Quasi-Tier Four Array Masters. He should be more than capable of handling the Arrays here.

After a brief discussion,

the group set off and entered the Snow Domain Mountains.

The Flying Ships of the other Nascent Soul Influences remained where they were, unmoving.

On the White Tiger Sect’s Flying Ship.

One of the Guests asked Cui Baiying, "Saintess, should we act together with the Purple Mist Sect?"

Cui Baiying shook her head slightly. "No. I have invited Yan Hao, the Quasi-Tier Four Array Master from Five Dragon Mountain. Daoist Yan’s Array Dao Skill is stronger than that Li Chang’an’s. We will go in after he arrives."

Just as she spoke,

a streak of light cut across the sky and landed on the White Tiger Sect’s Flying Ship.

Yan Hao had arrived!

Beaming, he asked Cui Baiying,

"Daoist Cui, I hope I’m not late?"

"Daoist Yan, you’ve arrived at the perfect time!"

Cui Baiying smiled and immediately piloted the Flying Ship forward.

Along the way, she brought up the matter of the Arrays.

"I’ve heard that Daoist Yan has made rapid progress in the Array Dao recently, and that your Array Dao Skill far surpasses that of other Quasi-Tier Four Array Masters."

"It was merely a stroke of luck."

Yan Hao replied with a humble expression.

He explained that the reason for his astonishing progress was guidance from a certain senior.

Cui Baiying asked, "Daoist Yan, could it be that you’ve taken an Array Dao Grandmaster as your master?"

"I wanted to become his disciple, but that senior was unwilling to accept me."

Yan Hao sighed, a bitter look on his face.

Cui Baiying was a little curious about the identity of this senior.

"Daoist Yan, is that senior... perhaps a Loose Cultivator?"

"I cannot speak of this matter. Please forgive me, Daoist Cui. That senior has always been low-key and does not like others knowing of his strength."

Yan Hao knew Li Chang’an’s personality, so he remained tight-lipped and did not reveal his true identity.

Seeing this, Cui Baiying didn’t press the matter.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Li Chang’an, Zi Xi, and the others had already ventured deep into the mountain range.

Before them was a colossal wall of ice.

A great, bloody river flowed out from a fissure in the ice, its waters filled with the corpses of Cultivators from both sides.

That fissure was the entrance to the subterranean Land of Corpse Nourishment.

"We’re here."

On the Flying Ship, everyone’s expression was a little grim.

A moment later,

they leaped off the Flying Ship one after another, transforming into streaks of light and entering the fissure.

An intense chill and the thick stench of blood assaulted them instantly.

Li Chang’an’s expression was wary. He landed beside the Blood River and spread his Divine Sense to probe the surroundings.

Before him,

were more than ten tributaries of the Blood River.

This crimson water gushed from the deepest parts of the Corpse Nourishing Land, an amalgamation of the blood of countless Cultivators, staining the ten-thousand-year-old ice on both banks a bloody red.

Every tributary was filled with bloated, severed limbs.

After a brief discussion,

they followed the third tributary deeper into the vast subterranean world.

The further they went, the more pronounced the chill became.

"GURGLE..."

In the Blood River beside them, bloody bubbles would occasionally surface, as if some kind of monster lurked within.

They hadn’t gone far before they discovered the bodies of more than ten Purple Mist Sect disciples.

Most of the bodies were horribly mutilated, scattered along both banks of the Blood River.

Wu Shuo sighed. "I warned them that this place was filled with danger and not to act rashly, but they wouldn’t listen and insisted on entering ahead of us."

Clearly,

these Purple Mist Sect disciples had encountered powerful Demon Sect Cultivators.

The expressions on their faces before death were mostly of terror, though a few showed grim determination.

"Retrieve!"

Zi Yun waved her fair hand, gathering the remains of the many disciples, intending to take them back for burial.

The path ahead grew colder and darker, and the number of corpses they saw along the way gradually increased.

In just a quarter of an hour,

they had collected the remains of several hundred disciples from various sects.

Perhaps due to the extreme cold and the constant vigilance, everyone was tense, their hearts beating much faster than usual.

"THUMP-THUMP... THUMP-THUMP..."

Li Chang’an frowned slightly and pressed a hand to his chest.

In a place like this, a rapidly beating heart seemed perfectly normal.

But he faintly sensed that something was wrong.

He immediately sent a Sound Transmission to Zi Xi: "Saintess, have everyone stop. We’ve already been caught in an Array."