Chapter 473 - 480: The Peculiar Human-Faced Flower

With their objective unified, they took out a map and looked it over.

Song Wanning’s gaze swept over every location on the map, finally settling on the barrier’s border.

"For now, all we can do is circle the border and look for an opportunity."

After all, the map didn’t indicate a location where the barrier could be opened. They would have to rely on luck for now.

"Alright, let’s go!"

Baili Shang took out his Flying Magical Treasure, and with Song Wanning aboard, they sped off into the distance.

In the time that followed, the pair flew along the furthest edge of the border. Meanwhile, rumors about Song Wanning began to spread throughout the Central Domain. Most painted her as a terrifying figure. Her methods were said to be sinister, and she herself was described as a ghoulish, fanged demon, so frightening she could make toddlers burst into tears!

As for the Huo Family, they were focused entirely on pursuing Huo Jinchuan. After all, those treasures were far more important than Song Wanning. If the treasures were truly lost, Huo Yang’s position as Clan Leader would be over for good.

This put Huo Jinchuan in a state of untold misery. He was tormented to the point of a mental breakdown; his Dao heart had long been unstable, and cracks had begun to appear.

He was now singularly focused on absorbing Song Wanning’s fortune. ’Only by doing this,’ he thought, ’can I rely on that incredible luck to change everything.’

But the Huo Family’s pursuit gave him no room to breathe, let alone lure Song Wanning into an array to absorb her fortune. It was nothing more than a fool’s dream.

’To hell with it. I need to focus on escaping with my life.’

’As long as I’m alive, there’s still hope.’

...

「Three months passed in the blink of an eye.」

The border of the vast Central Domain was simply too long. Even traveling day and night on the Flying Magical Treasure, Song Wanning and Baili Shang had only covered half the distance.

They would occasionally encounter other dangers and Cultivators along the way, which caused further delays.

One day, Song Wanning and Baili Shang came across a strange-looking flower, the likes of which had never been recorded in any known text.

But the flower exuded a strange aura that piqued their interest.

Baili Shang landed the Flying Magical Treasure. The two of them cautiously approached the flower and began to study it.

The flower was entirely white.

But at its center, where the pistil should be, was something resembling a human face.

Its inky-black eyes even emitted a faint, eerie glow, making it incredibly unsettling to look at.

"What is this thing?"

Song Wanning frowned. Her instincts told her something was amiss.

Baili Shang’s expression also turned serious. He carefully took out a stick and prodded the center of the flower.

The eyes in the flower’s center instantly blinked, making it look even more grotesque.

The two exchanged an involuntary glance. ’This flower is truly bizarre. It’s as if a real person is trapped in its center...’

’If that’s really the case, then...’

They quickly spread their Divine Senses across the area and discovered that there were quite a few of these flowers nearby.

However, this was the only one with an unusual center.

"I remember seeing a lot of flowers like this along the border, just in different colors... We didn’t notice anything unusual before, but looking at it now, it seems like quite a coincidence."

’Could the similar flowers growing all along the border be connected somehow?’

’And could the barrier be related to these flowers?’

’And what’s the deal with this strange flower center?’

Too many questions surfaced in their minds at once, but their intuition told them this flower was anything but normal. Perhaps it was the key to a breakthrough.

"Baili Shang, do you know of any way to seize a person’s fortune?"

Song Wanning couldn’t help but connect these anomalies to Huo Jinchuan. She had always known what he wanted, but she had no idea about the specific method he planned to use.

"Plundering fortune?"

Baili Shang’s expression darkened instantly, as he had clearly recalled some related records.

"To plunder another’s fortune, the most reliable method is to set up an array to trap someone with exceptionally strong luck. First, you must obscure the deed from the heavens, then slowly drain the person’s fortune. Only by doing this can you avoid a backlash."

"Back in the Ancient Times, a Sect relied on this sinister method to plunder the fortunes of many, but in the end, the entire Sect suffered a backlash and was wiped from existence."

"Could someone in this day and age have mastered such a sinister method?"

His heart sank. ’Both my fortune and Song Wanning’s should be quite strong,’ he thought. ’Could someone be targeting us?’

Meeting his questioning gaze, Song Wanning nodded with a grave expression.

"Huo Jinchuan brought us here for a different reason than Huo Yang. His true goal was never to resurrect his mother, but to absorb our fortunes."

"What?"

Baili Shang froze, and his expression instantly darkened.

’The audacity of Huo Jinchuan! To dare use such a sinister method... Is he that desperate to ascend that he’s gone mad?’

But he quickly calmed himself. He did not doubt Song Wanning’s words in the slightest.

He immediately began surveying the area, trying to find any traces of an existing array.

Song Wanning didn’t disturb him. ’This flower is truly sinister,’ she thought. ’I must be extremely careful.’

But after a long while, Baili Shang returned, his brow furrowed.

"I can confirm it. There isn’t a single trace of an array for a thousand li in any direction."

"Is that so? Then it seems this isn’t Huo Jinchuan’s base of operations."

Song Wanning nodded. Having ruled out that possibility, she went back to studying the flower in front of her.

After studying it for a long time without finding anything, they decided to stay put and observe it for a while longer.

They found a spot on a large, nearby tree to settle in, keeping their Divine Senses constantly fixed on every little flower in the vicinity.

A bizarre scene finally unfolded as moonlight fell that night.

A white mist began to seep from the flowers, followed by a series of contorted faces struggling to emerge from the pistils.

They desperately absorbed the moonlight, expressions of pleasure appearing on their faces.

But what was even more terrifying was that all the faces were identical...

The bizarre scene sent a chill down Song Wanning’s spine.

’What in the world are these monstrosities?’

’And what kind of Evil Cultivator technique is this?’

The sight made Baili Shang’s skin crawl. The identical faces, each with a different expression, were utterly unnerving in the darkness.

"Could this be some kind of Soul Cultivator technique?"

He sent a voice transmission to Song Wanning. If it wasn’t a Soul Cultivator technique, there should be different faces in the flowers. After all, most Evil Cultivators relied on absorbing the cultivation and vital essence of many different Cultivators, not just fixating on a single person to drain dry.

Song Wanning agreed that it was the only logical explanation. The two of them felt a wave of relief that they had taken measures to conceal themselves; otherwise, the soul would have likely already discovered them.

’To be able to disperse one’s Divine Soul here and nurture it like this, this person’s Soul Power must be astonishing, and their Cultivation level can’t be low.’

They just hadn’t figured out what the other party’s goal was.

’If it were just a matter of increasing Soul Power, they wouldn’t need to use such a sinister method. This person must have some other objective!’

So, the two could only hide carefully in the tree, watching as the Divine Souls continued their absorption until the moon disappeared from the sky.