"This person didn't kill me, so there's even less reason for him to lie to me. Besides, based on my own experiences over this past period, I feel that what he said is mostly true. If I were to charge out blindly, wouldn't I be walking right into a trap?" Su Hong's thoughts raced.
The time was almost up. This was the moment to make a decision.
Su Hong deliberated for a moment, glanced toward the exit, and a cold, proud look crept across the corners of his lips. In the end, he turned around with resolve. Instead of heading toward the exit, he flew deeper into the mountains.
Clearly, Su Hong intended to stay within the Black Nightmare Mountains rather than leave.
Though doing so carried an enormous risk. If the formations and restrictions around the perimeter were sealed, it would mean he could never leave—unless the restrictions were reopened.
The environment inside the Black Nightmare Mountains was exceptionally hostile. Surviving for ten days or half a month was already extremely difficult. Staying there long-term would be a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.
Yet Su Hong had no other choice at this moment.
He would rather take those odds than walk out and face a wrongful execution.
……
Time rewound a few days earlier. In the distant Duowen Divine Kingdom, some two to three hundred thousand li from the Rejuvenation Island Domain, a rich and beautiful island lay shrouded in mystery amid the surrounding seas.
This island belonged to the Xuan family of the Duowen Divine Kingdom. It was not particularly large—roughly the same size as the Tiangui Kingdom.
However, the spiritual energy here was extraordinarily abundant, like an immortal mountain rising from the ocean. Gemstone-blue waters set off a gemstone-blue sky, and with the addition of all manner of divine radiance and luminous mists, the scenery was rendered almost heavenly.
The Xuan family were the masters of this island.
At that moment, in some hidden realm within the Xuan family's territory, a middle-aged man dressed in servant's robes stumbled out through the door of a cave dwelling, his expression full of panic.
"It's terrible, it's terrible!"
"Something terrible has happened! Young Master Rui—Young Master Rui, his… his life-bound soul lamp has shattered!"
This news landed like a bomb, rocking the entire island.
Countless Xuan family patriarchs and old monsters crawled out from every corner, their faces etched with deep confusion.
"What did you say? Say that again!" One of the family elders seized the servant by the collar. "Repeat what you just said."
The servant stammered, his face drained of all color. "It's… it's Young Master Rui. Something has happened to him."
The other elders had no patience for further explanation and swarmed inside, rushing into the sacred cave dwelling where the life-bound soul lamps were kept.
Every powerful faction maintained such a place. Important members of the family each had a life-bound soul lamp housed in the family's sacred sanctuary.
If anything went wrong with the person, the lamp would signal the fact.
And these life-bound soul lamps were always being watched over.
When the Xuan family elders burst in, they immediately saw that Xuan Rui's soul lamp had utterly shattered on the spot. In an instant, everyone looked as though they had been struck by lightning, staring dumbfounded at the sight.
"How can this be?"
"Something really happened? Dammit! What's going on?"
The family elders were on the verge of losing their minds. Xuan Rui was not the family's only genius, but within his age group, he was indisputably the most powerful one. Moreover, the potential he displayed made the Xuan family feel he was a once-in-a-millennium talent worth nurturing.
The Xuan family had staked a great deal on Xuan Rui. Even many of the family patriarchs regarded him as the apple of their eye—someone who would one day shake the world on the Xuan family's behalf.
Yet who could have imagined that Xuan Rui had actually fallen?
More and more Xuan family powerhouses arrived in succession. Even the Xuan family patriarch was alarmed.
At that moment, the patriarch's face was shrouded in dark clouds. The elders flanking him were all gritting their teeth.
"Xuan Rui went to the Rejuvenation Island Domain, didn't he? That Rejuvenation Island Domain has been currying favor with the Duowen Divine Kingdom for some time now, repeatedly inviting all eight great families to pay a visit."
"Could it be the Rejuvenation Island Domain's doing? Do they have that kind of audacity?"
"Damn it! Whether it was the Rejuvenation Island Domain or not, they cannot escape responsibility for this!"
"The Rejuvenation Island Domain, the Rejuvenation Island Domain!" someone growled through clenched teeth, already planning in his mind how to retaliate against them.
The patriarch's fury eventually gave way to a measure of calm. He raised a hand, signaling for silence.
"Everyone, the eight great families agreed to send representatives to the Rejuvenation Island Domain together. Each family sent three talented youths, accompanied by their respective powerhouses. Under normal circumstances, no one along the route would dare ambush a convoy from the Duowen Divine Kingdom. Are the other soul lamps intact?"
"For now, yes. The others' lamps are all fine."
The Xuan family patriarch nodded. "Since the other lamps are all undamaged, this suggests that this may have been an accident. During the trip to the Rejuvenation Island Domain, the eight great families' geniuses were to undergo a trial. Could it be that something unexpected happened during the trial?"
"Impossible! If there was going to be an accident, Xuan Fei and Xuan Yong are both weaker than Xuan Rui, and they're both fine. How could something happen only to Xuan Rui?"
"Exactly, Patriarch. In a backwater place like the Rejuvenation Island Domain, how many dangers could there really be? How many of the family's treasures did Xuan Rui bring with him this time? And he himself is so cautious and so talented—say that something went wrong during the trial? I don't believe it."
"Precisely. If even Xuan Rui ran into trouble, then out of all those geniuses from the eight great families, how many would emerge unscathed? Xuan Rui has always been ranked fifth on the Duowen Divine Kingdom's genius rankings—no, drifting between fourth and fifth, right?"