Huang'er accepted the essence of the Wood Spirit Spring, giving a slight nod of her delicate brow. A hint of gravity entered her clear eyes as well. She knew full well that yin-evil entities served to stimulate and amplify the Curse of Shared Fates Across a Hundred Lifetimes, which meant she had to treat this matter with the utmost caution.
She had been tormented by the Curse of Shared Fates since childhood and had long since grown resigned to her own fate. But things were different now. If something happened to her, it would inevitably affect Jiang Chen.
Huang'er refused to let her own troubles hold Jiang Chen back.
Jiang Chen activated his Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil and surveyed the area. The valley was shrouded in a perpetual gray haze, as though sunlight could never reach this place. The entire landscape radiated a bone-deep eeriness.
Time waited for no one. Jiang Chen exchanged a glance with Huang'er. "Let's go."
They had just entered the valley floor when a voice called out from behind: "Friend Huang, please wait."
Jiang Chen didn't even need to turn around to identify the speaker — it was King Shangping, the organizer of the alliance.
But Jiang Chen didn't slow his steps. The last thing he wanted while crossing this valley was to invite complications. Without looking back, he said, "King Shangping, the open road stretches wide — each of us goes his own way."
His tone made it perfectly clear he had no intention of dealing with King Shangping.
King Shangping was momentarily taken aback. He smiled bitterly. "Friend Huang seems rather hostile toward this King. As for myself, I hold a genuine admiration for Friend Huang. There is an opportunity I've come across, and I'd like to share it with you."
Jiang Chen never turned around, leaving behind nothing but a string of cold laughs. "Keep it for yourself. This young master has little interest in your so-called opportunities."
King Shangping hadn't expected the other party to give him absolutely no chance at all, and a flash of irritation crossed his mind. But he knew well that this was precisely the moment he could not afford to show frustration — otherwise, all his plans and ambitions would collapse entirely.
Jiang Chen had no interest in listening to King Shangping's nonsense. Although he didn't know exactly what King Shangping wanted from him, his instincts told him that King Shangping was far less friendly than he appeared on the surface.
…
"My Lord Yin Demon Lord, King Shangping has entered the Valley of Ten Thousand Corpses, and that cultivator surnamed Huang has entered as well. Based on my earlier deductions, it is highly likely that King Shangping intends to move against this Huang-surnamed cultivator." The subordinate communicated with the Yin Demon Lord through a secret art.
"My, my — both are figures of interest to this Sovereign. I never expected them to gather in the same place." The Demon Lord clucked his tongue in admiration.
"Should we make our move now?" the subordinate asked.
"No rush. Let them weaken each other first. Then we can strike and eliminate them one by one. By the way, how far are the others from here?" the Demon Lord continued.
"I have laid numerous traps along the route. Once they spot them, they'll be guided here step by step, just as the Demon Lord commanded. I separated them by order of arrival to prevent them from flooding in all at once, which would be unfavorable to the Demon Lord's plan."
"Hmm, well done. Continue as planned. Keep an eye on the Wood Demon clan's movements at all times — they will certainly not allow this Demon Lord to enjoy the feast alone."
"Understood."
…
"Huang'er, seal off your five senses and six consciousnesses. I'll guide you through." Jiang Chen's voice dropped to a low murmur. All around them, the eerie mist thickened, and within it, shadowy phantoms flickered like ghosts.
The deeper they ventured into the valley, the more suffocating the yin-malicious qi became. An ordinary person would have been consumed by the yin energy the moment they set foot here.
Even for cultivators, most who entered this place would be hard-pressed to survive. The sheer intensity of the yin-malicious qi was far beyond what average cultivators could withstand.
Jiang Chen had to remain vigilant not only for the threats around them, but also for King Shangping trailing behind.
This forced them to move at a crawl. He didn't dare go faster — at high speed, he'd have little time to react to sudden developments.
At this pace, breaking through the valley would take at least one or two hours, and that was only under favorable conditions.
Obviously, nothing was likely to go smoothly.
As Jiang Chen walked, he suddenly noticed the ground on both sides trembling continuously. Between the shifting clumps of earth, row after row of tombstones were pushing their way to the surface.
If they were ordinary tombstones, there would have been nothing to worry about.
But these were anything but ordinary. Strange characters were carved into every single one, as though they were summoning calls from the depths of hell itself.
While Jiang Chen was still studying them, the tombstones — as though sprouting legs of their own — began to shift. One by one, they rearranged themselves, and in the blink of an eye had formed the embryonic shape of a formation array, trapping Jiang Chen and Huang'er in place.
Jiang Chen's gaze turned cold as he stared at the tombstones.
His Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil shot forth a piercing beam, punching straight through the tombstones and deep into the ground below. Beneath the surface, each tombstone was being rapidly shoved into position by several skeletal figures.
"Hmph, playing tricks!"
Jiang Chen was about to strike when the sound of wind reached his ears — King Shangping and his subordinate had caught up. Jiang Chen suppressed the urge to act and stepped aside, regarding King Shangping with a half-smile. "King Shangping, these tombstones seem rather peculiar. I'll leave it to Your Highness to display your divine abilities."
King Shangping assumed a serious expression. "This place is indeed strange. Why don't we join forces?"
Jiang Chen shook his head. "It would be inconvenient for me to act. I'll have to trouble King Shangping."