Translator: CinderTL

Song Wen felt like a lone boat before a colossal ocean wave. Enveloped by the gale, he was utterly powerless, forced to drift with the wind as the surging currents pushed him toward the abyss.

Fortunately, the Lightning Serpents had vanished, leaving only the raging gale.

He channeled all his energy into activating the Blood Sea Seal, conjuring a thick blood shield around himself that offered temporary protection.

After plummeting through endless darkness for an unknown duration, Song Wen suddenly sensed a shift in the gale’s direction, changing from a vertical descent to a diagonal plunge.

With a muffled thud, the blood shield slammed against what felt like an impenetrable wall of copper and iron.

The immense impact shattered the blood shield into crimson droplets, which were instantly pulverized by the gale and vanished without a trace.

Song Wen’s heart clenched, the shadow of death instantly engulfing him.

Without the blood shield’s protection, he was now hurtling toward that same impenetrable barrier.

If even the Blood Sea Seal couldn’t withstand the terrifying impact, how could his mortal flesh possibly endure?

"Master, descend further! There’s no gale below," Shadow Void’s voice echoed urgently in Song Wen’s mind.

Hearing this, Song Wen channeled his divine sense deeper into the abyss while simultaneously activating the Life Substitution Art.

Another muffled boom echoed as Song Wen’s physical body shattered into pieces.

Guided by the shadow void, Song Wen’s divine sense pierced through a mere ten-zhang-thick layer of gale and discovered a pitch-black void.

There was no gale here, not even air or dust—nothing but absolute nothingness.

Precisely because of this void, nothing could obstruct Song Wen’s divine sense.

Aided by the Life Substitution Art, Song Wen’s form abruptly materialized within this dark realm.

He realized that the Life Substitution Art, which he had activated in the throes of near-death, had not only transported him beyond the gale’s reach but had also propelled him straight downward by approximately two thousand li.

Two thousand li above, endless gales cascaded from the heavens, pouring into two colossal caves, each spanning over a thousand li in diameter.

These caves weren’t carved into the rock walls but hung suspended in mid-air. Rather, they were situated on a massive, immeasurable boulder protruding from the cliff face.

Notably, the two caves weren’t adjacent but separated by a distance of roughly seven to eight hundred li.

Song Wen glanced nervously at the two caves, then began to survey his surroundings.

He found himself in what seemed like a void. There was nothing in any direction—above, below, left, right, or behind—only endless darkness.

Having barely survived his descent, he decided to explore downward.

After all, based on his and Leng Zhi’s group’s speculation, the bottom of the abyss might contain a significant quantity of Pure Origin Heavenly Dew.

As for how to escape, Song Wen wasn’t worried. He simply needed to wait for the gale to reverse direction and surge upward, then ride the wind out.

Just as he was about to move, the two caves above erupted with a deafening roar, as if divine thunder were shattering the rock walls.

Immediately afterward, countless Lightning Serpents surged forth, spewing upward into the void.

"This... could the gale be changing direction again?" Song Wen murmured to himself.

The previous time the gale had shifted, countless Lightning Serpents had appeared in the abyss.

Moreover, Leng Zhi had urgently fled the abyss upon seeing the Lightning Serpents, even abandoning Song Wen and his companions to stabilize the tornado and increase her escape speed.

"Isn’t the gale supposed to change direction every hour?" Song Wen frowned deeply. "Why is it shifting so quickly this time?"

Though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly how long they’d been falling, it certainly hadn’t been an hour.

Moreover, the last directional shift had occurred nearly fifteen minutes early; otherwise, the four of them, who had been meticulously tracking the time, wouldn’t have found themselves in such dire straits.

As Song Wen had predicted, the gale began to visibly weaken with the emergence of the Lightning Serpents.

Suddenly, a cold glint pierced through the swarm of serpents, plummeting downward.

Song Wen’s eyes sharpened—it was Heng Ziping.

The cold glint was the massive sword he used to clear a path.

Heng Ziping had clearly suffered greatly from the Lightning Serpents. The Sword Qi protective shield formed by his three flying swords was severely weakened, its Sword Qi dissipating rapidly, leaving it on the verge of collapse.

Immediately following Heng Ziping, two more figures appeared: Xue Cong and Leng Zhi, descending hand in hand.

Xue Cong channeled all his energy into activating a shield that enveloped both of them, while Leng Zhi wielded a three-foot-long bronze mace. The mace crackled with Thunderlight, shattering the surging Lightning Serpents one by one.

Watching the three figures plummeting toward him, Song Wen’s expression darkened.

Their luck was almost absurd. They had arrived precisely during a brief lull in the gale’s shifting currents; otherwise, a collision with the cave walls would have shattered them into pieces. The terrifying impact force was far beyond what a Void Refinement Stage cultivator could withstand.

"Fellow Daoist Gou Jun, you’re still alive? I’m surprised the gale didn’t drag you into those caves," Heng Ziping said, sheathing his massive sword and swallowing two medicinal pills.

"I’m not dead," Song Wen replied coldly. "It seems that disappoints you, Fellow Daoist Heng!"

"Your life or death is of no concern to me," Heng Ziping said, stopping a hundred miles from Song Wen and glancing up at the two figures descending from above. His gaze turned icy. "However, Leng Zhi’s betrayal demands retribution. Gou Jun, shall we join forces to eliminate her?"

Xue Cong and Leng Zhi had also halted their descent, hovering five hundred miles above Song Wen and Heng Ziping.

"Heng Ziping, I’ve already formed an alliance with Fellow Daoist Xue Cong," Leng Zhi said. "You alone stand no chance against the two of us."

A hint of disdain flickered across Heng Ziping’s face.

"Xue Cong is nothing but a useless wretch who entrusts his life to others. Leng Zhi, you must be blind to ally yourself with such a fool!"

Xue Cong’s eyes widened, his gaze piercing Heng Ziping like a sharp arrow.

"Heng Ziping, don’t be so arrogant! The outcome of this battle remains uncertain!"

"Just as I thought—a truly incompetent wretch," Heng Ziping sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "Xue Cong, Leng Zhi has already betrayed you once. How dare you ally with her again? Aren’t you afraid of being double-crossed?"

"You..."

Veins bulged on Xue Cong’s forehead, and his spiritual power surged violently, yet he dared not strike.

Heng Ziping ignored him, turning his attention to Song Wen.

"Gou Jun, will you join forces with me or not?"

"Your life-and-death struggle is none of my concern. I won’t interfere in your affairs," Song Wen replied coldly, his eyes devoid of emotion. "Furthermore, if you’re going to fight to the death, do it far away from me. I don’t want to attract unnecessary trouble."

"Gou Jun, what do you mean by this? Are you hoping we’ll exhaust ourselves so you can swoop in and claim the spoils? Or are you just as cowardly and useless as Xue Cong?" Heng Ziping pressed.

(End of the Chapter)

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