Chapter 177: Finding a Local to Ask for Directions

A year later. At the Dagan border, north of Southern Frost.

Halfway up a nameless peak, a thin layer of snow had accumulated at the entrance of a cave dwelling. Wind poured in from the mountain ridge, carrying the damp, cold air unique to the south.

Inside the cave dwelling, Jiuyou sat cross-legged. The golden spiritual light surrounding him slowly drew inward. The final trace of light sank into his dantian, settling like the last ripple fading on a still lake.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his palm. A wisp of Daoyang magical power flowed slowly between his fingers, its color warm and its texture heavy—more than twice as dense as his former Nether Capital magical power. He sensed it for a moment, and only after confirming his foundation was completely stable did he slowly withdraw the energy.

"The Daoyang Ten Palaces Art... I certainly didn't choose wrong," he murmured to himself.

This magical power was indeed far more solid than before. His foundation was firm, and he no longer suffered the hidden danger of a baleful aura backlash. His only regret was that he could no longer rely on devouring souls to rapidly advance his cultivation. But weighing the pros and cons, the benefits still outweighed the drawbacks.

He stood, walked to the cave entrance, and gazed south. At the edge of his vision, the mountains dipped low beneath heavy clouds, faintly revealing a landscape swirling with wind and snow. He had thought about this many times while in seclusion: his trip to Southern Frost was for nothing else—either to hunt the soul essence of a Grade-Ten Great Demon, or to locate the Daoyang Sect and pry into its secrets.

Southern Frost was perilous. Based solely on the information he had gathered over the years, there were no fewer than thirty great demons above the eighth-rank in Southern Frost, with even more hidden deep within its heartland. But he was well aware of this. He had no desire to engage in pointless struggles; he only needed to place his pieces at the crucial points.

However, one matter remained unresolved—the exact location of the Daoyang Sect. He had learned the name from the Ancient Records of the Azure Sun Sect and from Youming.

But over the past year, the information he had managed to uncover was mostly fragmented and unclear. Some said it had been the number one sect in Southern Frost ten thousand years ago, allegedly overseen by a Deity Transformation Cultivator at the time. Others claimed it had met with an unknown disaster and vanished overnight. As for more specific clues, the trail went cold once he reached this area.

"I still need to ask a local."

He took one last look at the southern horizon, then withdrew his gaze. His figure blurred, transforming into a golden longsword that shattered the snow piled at the cave entrance as it streaked southward.

Wind whipped past him, carrying shards of ice and snow, as if Southern Frost were welcoming its guest in its own unique way.

...

A few days later, the night wind carried flurries of snow over the mountain ridges. The moon was largely hidden behind thin clouds, casting a dim light that painted the snowy ground in a hazy, grayish white.

Near the border of Southern Frost, nestled within a continuous snowy mountain range, a modest market town hid in a col. Deep within the market town, a courtyard sat halfway up the slope, built to follow the terrain. Its walls were low, its gate half-open, and a dim yellow lamp glowed from inside.

Jiuyou landed silently in the courtyard.

He pushed open the door.

Inside, a slender woman stood with her back to the door, changing her clothes. Her fingertips rested on an untied sash. Hearing the noise, she snapped her head around. A flash of panic crossed her face, and her voice came out sharp and abrupt.

"Who—"

The back of her neck tightened as a force struck her from behind. It wasn't heavy, but it accurately seized her vitals. Before she could fully turn around, her consciousness plunged into darkness, like an oil lamp snuffed out by the wind.

Jiuyou withdrew his hand, glancing at the unconscious woman slumped on the bed. He had cast the "Dream Entry Spell". In her dreams, he interrogated her about the Daoyang Sect, but unfortunately, the gains were limited. She only knew that the Daoyang Sect was located deep within Southern Frost, but couldn't pinpoint its exact location. It seemed the people of this region only held a vague impression of the name.

"The south," Jiuyou repeated softly, his tone betraying neither disappointment nor anything else. "As good as saying nothing."

He casually snatched the Storage Pouch from the woman's waist and kicked her onto the bed. His gaze swept the room, finally landing on a bluestone brick in the corner. He walked over, lifted the stone, and revealed a small hidden compartment beneath, neatly stacked with hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

Jiuyou didn't give it a second look. With a sweep of his sleeve, he gathered all the spirit stones.

As dawn approached, a sliver of morning light slipped through a gap in the window paper and fell across the woman's face.

Her eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes. Her mind felt groggy, as if she had just extracted herself from a long, hazy dream she couldn't quite remember.

She lay dazed for a moment as her awareness gradually returned. She soon realized she was lying on the bed with her clothes half-open and a faint, lingering ache in her backside. Her heart seized. She jolted upright and hastily patted herself down. Her clothes were still on, and she hadn't been violated. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then sensed something was wrong. She looked down, then reached for her waist, only for her fingertips to grasp empty air.

Her Storage Pouch was gone.

Her expression darkened. Her gaze instinctively darted to the stone brick in the corner. She hurried over, flipped it open, and found the space underneath completely empty. Slowly squatting down, she stared blankly at the hollowed-out compartment for a long time. Then, as if her spine had been pulled out, she slumped onto the floor.

"Who did this..." Her voice was hoarse, tinged with the bewilderment of someone half-awake. "Exactly which great expert came all this way just to mess with me?"

As she sat in a daze on the floor, the Communication Jade Plaque on the table suddenly lit up. She scrambled up, grabbed the jade plaque, and a burst of noisy voices flooded out.

"What the hell happened last night? I was knocked out, and my Storage Pouch is gone! Even the savings I've hidden for years have been completely cleaned out!" a man groaned in frustration.

"Same here! I just dreamt of a blurry shadow, and when I woke up, everything was gone!" another voice chimed in.

"It's not just us... Fellow Daoist Li, the master of the neighboring Linghuang Market, got hit too!" another person said. "Do you think some passing Nascent Soul senior is just having a laugh at our expense?"

"Oh no, the treasure vault at my Qingyun Market was cleaned out as well! Hurry up and check your own vaults!" someone interrupted anxiously.

Listening to the commotion, the woman was struck by a sudden realization. Her expression, which had harbored a trace of schadenfreude moments before, changed drastically. She shoved the jade plaque into her robes and, without even bothering to pull on her outer coat, dashed out of the courtyard.

A moment later, she stood at the entrance to the market town's treasure vault. The heavy stone door had been forcefully dismantled and left leaning against the doorframe, with several clean cuts on the hinges. Even the array restrictions placed upon it had been violently torn apart and utterly destroyed. The interior of the vault was completely bare; it looked as if even the dust on the shelves had been casually wiped clean.

She stood in the doorway, staring into the emptiness, speechless for a long time.

The morning wind poured in through the open doorway, blowing her disheveled hair and carrying the damp chill of unmelted snow. A few bird calls drifted from the distance, making it seem as if nothing had happened overnight. She sat alone on the steps, staring at the plundered vault.

"Gone... It's all gone..." she murmured softly.

The sky had fully brightened, and people gradually began to stir within the market town. Meanwhile, she sat alone on the steps in front of the treasure vault, looking as if every drop of vitality had been drained from her body.