Searching for My Beloved Across Thousands of Miles

"It's ruined! Everything is ruined!"

In the small courtyard, Jiang Xin stared at the empty stone table, wailing loudly, tears streaming down her face. Now she felt nothing but regret—deep, profound regret.

As she cried, she slapped her own face with her hands. "Jiang Xin, oh Jiang Xin, just tell me, why were you so gluttonous? Now look what happened—you've eaten all the antidote!"

"It's all over now!"

"Without the antidote, what am I supposed to do?"

"Boo hoo hoo... I'm doomed..."

Jiang Xin slumped over the table, tears dripping down her cheeks, soon forming a small pool on the surface, reflecting her face full of remorse.

"If I could do it all over again, I'd definitely only eat two..."

"No, three. No, no, four... right, at most four... no, five, five would work too. Five should be enough to last until that Heartless Man comes back."

Jiang Xin muttered to herself, counting on her fingers, then suddenly remembered that she didn't have a single one left. Instantly, regret overwhelmed her, and tears poured down like rain.

"Here I am, the mighty Nine Nether Empress!"

"And now—"

"I'm going to die because of my own gluttony!"

Her voice was bitter and mournful, yet drawn out and plaintive—enough to make listeners cry and hearers grieve.

Jiang Mingyue, who had been imitating Qu Yuan in the lake, could finally take it no longer.

With a splash, she leaped out of the lake, landing on one foot atop the tear-soaked table, glaring angrily at Jiang Xin.

"Stop crying, you worthless thing!"

"The great Nine Nether Empress, crying like a baby? How embarrassing! You're dragging my face through the mud!"

Jiang Xin shot her a glance, sniffled, and turned her head away with a huff.

"It's not you who's about to die, so of course you can stand there talking smugly. But what about me? I'm in the prime of my life—I just reincarnated not long ago, and I haven't even had a chance to enjoy life yet..."

"Boo hoo, why is my fate so cruel..."

"Right after being reborn and barely starting to cultivate, I was forced into marriage. I thought I was finally going to have a good life, but then I got poisoned. Every day I'm on edge, and on top of that, I have to wash clothes, cook, warm the bed, and take care of a kid. And now, I've eaten myself to death because I couldn't control my cravings."

The more Jiang Xin spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, her tears flowing like a stream.

"I am the most miserable person under heaven."

"I'm as bitter as the wild grass beneath cartwheels, as bitter as the Goldthread tucked in the cracks of a rock."

"Wahhh!!!"

This series of wails and howls gave Jiang Mingyue a splitting headache. Her little willow-leaf brows knitted into a deep frown, her cheeks puffing up as she stretched out her chubby little hand, pointing at Jiang Xin and scolding her.

"You idiot, what's there to cry about?"

"It's not like you're out of the antidote forever, and it's not like you're dying right this second. Do you have no hands, no legs, no mouth? You still have the strength to cry, don't you?"

"Why not just go find him and get the antidote?"

At these words, Jiang Xin's crying abruptly stopped.

She froze, lifted her head, and stared blankly at Jiang Mingyue's face, round as a steamed bun, muttering under her breath, "R-right... that's right. The Heartless Man only went to the ruins. I can totally go find him there."

Her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

The grievances and bitterness from moments ago vanished like clouds after a sudden rain.

"That's right, there's still a chance. There's still a chance."

"As long as I can find that Heartless Man within this month, I can get the antidote and keep living."

Jiang Xin rallied her spirits, clenching her small fists.

"Hehe!"

"I'm going to survive, damn it!!!"

Meanwhile, far away in the Central Province, Ye Shu, who had just stepped into the small world of the ruins with the Mo family, suddenly turned his head, looking back toward the direction of home.

"Huh? Why do I suddenly feel a pang in my chest? Is some great terror thinking of me?"

"Ah, forget it. Never mind."

"I wonder how that Silly Wife of mine is doing at home. This trip will take who knows how long. Although I hand-rolled ten special Rainbow Candies from the Cloud Scent Pavilion, they should be enough to keep her settled, right?"

Ye Shu patted the candy pouch on his chest and muttered softly.

"Surely no one would be foolish enough to eat them all, would they?"

"What kind of lunatic would do something like that? That Silly Girl can't be that stupid, can she?"

He shook his head, dismissing it as just homesickness from being far away, then turned and followed the Mo family's steps into the hazy glow of the ruin's entrance.

With a flash of light, the scene before them suddenly opened up.

What lay ahead was a lush, primitive jungle, with countless birds soaring in the sky, second-tier demon beasts roaming everywhere, common spiritual herbs scattered about, and a golden sun hanging in the heavens. The land was vast and expansive, almost no different from the outside world.

The only difference was the suffocatingly dense spiritual energy.

Just one day of cultivation here was equivalent to ten days of hard work in the outside world.

Such was the foundation of a true immortal clan.

They possessed the ability to open up small worlds, uprooting spiritual veins from the main realm and placing various fortunes and blessed lands inside them, nurturing them for ten thousand years so that future generations could enjoy the benefits.

It was also because Ye Shu had once split the Central Province with a single sword strike, coincidentally tearing open a corner of this small world, that it had appeared ahead of schedule.

"Such rich spiritual energy."

Mo Yu and the others from the main branch, already accustomed to the family's own small world, showed little surprise, but the disciples from the collateral branches were far less composed.

Someone had already crouched down, carefully digging through the soil, revealing a section of a pure white root with a faint golden luster. He immediately gasped.

"A Golden Thread Jade Ginseng! At least three hundred years old!"

"There's more here! A cluster of Purple Vein Spiritual Mushrooms!"

"Heavens... this place is covered in spiritual herbs. One step lands on a plant, two steps on a patch. This isn't a ruin—this is a paradise!"

This was why so many people loved exploring ruins.

First rule of the cultivation world: the older, the stronger. The older the herbs, the higher their potency.

In such a ruin, long undiscovered, all kinds of rare herbs had gone unplucked for years, their age astonishingly high. Any single one taken outside could fetch a sky-high price.

The disciples from the collateral Mo family branch couldn't hold back anymore.

They were rubbing their hands together, ready to loot the place the moment they set foot on the ground.

"Don't be so undignified."

Seeing them with eyes glowing green, Mo Yu smiled faintly. "This is nothing. Such small things already dazzle you?"

"Follow this young master, and countless rewards await you."

"This is merely the surface of this world. Come, let me show you what real wonders are!"

With that, he flicked his sleeves and rose into the air.

The disciples of the collateral branch exchanged glances, but gritted their teeth and followed.

This small world was far more vast than they had imagined.

Along the way, they passed mountains, rivers, plains, deserts—everything was present, as if it were a complete world of its own.

It took them nearly a full day of travel to finally arrive.

"We're here."

Mo Yu landed in a vast stretch of desert, flicking his sleeves and clasping his hands behind his back.

The greatest opportunity within this relic was the inheritance site of the Nine Nether Empress. And the barren desert before them was the final barrier blocking the path to that inheritance.

Everyone craned their necks to look around, but all they saw was a vast expanse of yellow sand.

"Young Master Mo, there's nothing here at all," someone said.

Hearing this, Mo Yu smiled faintly.

"If something stands out prominently yet is incredibly precious, then it could never fall into your hands."

In the original work, this relic was hidden extremely deep!

It was only by chance—when the male and female leads were fighting someone in this area and accidentally fell into quicksand—that they discovered the Nine Nether Immortal Palace buried deep underground.

But to him, who had the full map of the area revealed, so-called secrets were merely safeguards the treasures used to avoid being taken by outsiders, ultimately ensuring they belonged to him.

He suddenly lifted his foot and stomped down hard!

Boom!

The yellow sand burst apart, and the ground beneath everyone's feet vanished. All of them plummeted downward, falling who knows how deep until they finally felt solid ground beneath them.

A shaft of light streamed down from the hole above. Looking up, they saw in the hazy illumination a magnificent palace standing silently before them. Steps of green stone, pillars of white jade, eaves that curled upward like wings, and beams adorned with intricate carvings. Though covered in dust and cobwebs, it could not hide its former splendor and grandeur.

On the plaque above the palace gate, several bold characters were grandly inscribed——

The Nine Nether Immortal Palace!

Staring at the inheritance site so close at hand, Mo Yu couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Indeed.

With the Chosen One not around, he was invincible!