She wore a complex Miao silver headdress, with silver tassels hanging over her eyes, obscuring most of her face. It only revealed a pair of fox-like eyes with a half-smile, and lips painted with a deep purple rouge.
Around her, many righteous cultivators who prided themselves on their profound self-control were secretly observing her from the corners of their eyes.
Their Adam's apples bobbed, their gazes burning with desire.
Yet, no one dared to step forward and strike up a conversation.
Because just half an hour ago, a blind rogue cultivator tried to flirt with her.
As a result, before he even got within thirty feet, his entire body silently and inexplicably melted into a puddle of foul-smelling black water.
However, in Gu Yang's eyes, the current state of the Holy Maiden of the Southern Border seemed a bit off.
Her eyes seemed somewhat hollow and unfocused.
It was as if she were being controlled by someone.
...
Rumble!
Just then, the earth suddenly began to tremble violently.
An ancient, desolate aura surged forth from deep underground.
The originally dim sky was instantly torn apart by a pillar of black light shooting up into the heavens.
"It's open!"
"The entrance to the forbidden grounds is open!"
The crowd instantly boiled over with excitement.
In the center of the mass grave, the ground slowly split apart like a giant mouth.
The entrance to an ancient, ruined underground palace, exuding a terrifying pressure, was revealed to the world.
And at that entrance, a ten-zhang tall headless Qilin stone statue stood quietly in the wind and sand, like a gatekeeper from hell.
"Charge!"
"The exotic treasure is mine!"
Reason was fragile in the face of greed.
Countless streaks of light rushed madly toward that pitch-black entrance like moths to a flame.
Screams instantly rang out.
The dozens of cultivators rushing at the forefront, the moment they got within a hundred zhang of the headless Qilin, had their bodies sliced apart by something invisible.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
Blood splattered, and severed limbs flew everywhere.
That was not ordinary air at all, but the Wind of Extinction formed by countless tiny wind blades.
Gu Yang stood in the distance, watching coldly.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the Chou hour.
Waiting for this group of cannon fodder to wear down the sharp edge of the grand formation with their blood.
Even more so, waiting for... the person holding the key to scout the path first.
In the crowd, Mo Bufan's figure also disappeared.
He didn't rush in; instead, like a venomous snake, he silently slipped into the shadows, sneaking toward a specific direction.
The night sky was like a shroud soaked in clotted blood, pressing heavily over the Immortal Burial Forbidden Grounds.
The screams gradually became sparse.
The Zi hour had arrived.
Before Gu Yang's eyes, lines of small, blood-red text that only he could see faintly emerged in the void.
[Daily Intelligence Refreshing...]
[Today's Intelligence is as follows:]
[White Intelligence: Su Wanyin, the Holy Maiden of the Hehuan Sect, faces the upcoming Blood-Soaked Dharma Battle with very few cards left to play. The sycophants who used to surround her are now watching from the sidelines, and some have even secretly defected to her arch-nemesis. Su Wanyin falls asleep every night hugging an old gray robe stained with the scent of an unfamiliar man. In her dreams, she longs for that man with absolute power to appear again and carve a path through the thorns for her.]
...
[White Intelligence: Mo Bufan's portable grandpa, the Blood River Demon Venerable, has contacted a hidden piece of the Blood River Sect who has been lurking in the Righteous Alliance for years—the early-stage Golden Core cultivator Daoist Xueku. This person disguised himself as a rogue cultivator and brought a group of demonic disciples into the forbidden grounds, with the goal of escorting Mo Bufan straight to the core area and helping him seize the Evernight Empress's fortuitous encounter.]
...
[Blue Intelligence: The truth behind the hollow eyes of Lan Caidie (Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment), the Holy Maiden of the Southern Border, has been analyzed. Li Qingzhe (Late-Stage Foundation Establishment) used the ancient Gu technique Marionette Play to plant a child-mother corpse Gu inside her, temporarily sealing her consciousness and turning her into a Gu puppet with only combat instincts. Only the Concentric Gu, long extinct in the Miao border, can break this situation. Several Gu bugs are sealed in a hidden compartment of a side hall in the southeast corner of the inner palace of the Immortal Burial Forbidden Grounds [Click to view coordinates]. Li Qingzhe stumbled upon the hidden compartment while searching for treasures and obtained the Concentric Gu, but did not rescue Lan Caidie immediately; instead, he attempted to refine her into a higher-level Lifebound Gu Slave.]
...
So that's how it is.
I was wondering why Lan Caidie looked so strange.
It turns out she was controlled by Li Qingzhe using Gu techniques.
Since it's Blue Intelligence, intercepting it should yield 20 Destiny Points.
20 points is quite a lot.
Moreover, the intelligence said there are several Concentric Gu bugs, which should be enough to save Su Wanyin's master and Lan Caidie.
...
[Blue Intelligence: Deep in the outer periphery of the Immortal Burial Forbidden Grounds, there is a hidden Corpse Rearing Ground [Click to view coordinates]. Growing there is a three-thousand-year-old Nine-Leaf Soul-Returning Herb. This herb grows in places of extreme Yin but contains boundless life force. It is the main material for refining a Scapegoat Puppet and can forcefully sustain a breath of life when one is heavily injured and on the verge of death. Mo Bufan, under the protection of Daoist Xueku, is rushing there at full speed. He plans to consume this herb to make full preparations for refining the Evernight Empress later.]
...
"Nine-Leaf Soul-Returning Herb..."
This is a great life-saving item.
In this dog-eat-dog cultivation world, having an extra life means having an extra trump card.
"This leek Mo Bufan is growing delightfully well."
Since I know about it, there's no reason to let him have it.
Plus, there are 20 Destiny Points.
However, that early-stage Golden Core Daoist Xueku is a problem.
[Green Intelligence: Within the underground palace corridors deep in the outer periphery of the Immortal Burial Forbidden Grounds, there are three unexpired lethal mechanisms hidden. These mechanisms are the Gui Water Yin Thunder Array and the Bone-Corroding Soul-Melting Light personally set up by the Evernight Empress back in the day. Buried deep beneath the blue bricks of the walls, their power is enough to instantly severely injure or even annihilate an early-stage Golden Core cultivator. Because the array patterns have been eroded and hidden by time, ordinary people find it extremely difficult to detect them. But if one uses the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Flame as a catalyst and injects a trace of the fire seed into specific long-bearded ghost-faced lampstands on both sides of the corridor, they can be activated at will. [Click to view coordinates]]
...
Oh, there are also mechanisms...
Gu Yang looked thoughtful...
...
Three quarters past the Chou hour.
The gloomiest moment between heaven and earth.
The originally noisy outer periphery of the Immortal Burial Forbidden Grounds had now become eerily quiet.
Near the entrance of the Immortal Burial Forbidden Grounds.
A half-buried stone statue appeared before Gu Yang's eyes.
It was a Qilin.
Only, its head had been severed by some unknown sharp weapon. The cut was as smooth as a mirror. After thousands of years of wind and frost, it had not grown a single trace of moss, but instead faintly revealed a heart-palpitating dark red color.
"This is it."
Gu Yang took a deep breath without the slightest hesitation.
"Buzz."
A cluster of faint blue flame leaped out from his fingertips.
That was the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Flame after being devoured and assimilated by the Great Sun True Fire. Although it was now a vassal of the Great Sun True Fire, under Gu Yang's deliberate control, it stripped away its extremely Yang outer shell, revealing only the purest and most chilling origin aura.
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
