You've Been Too Loose for Too Long

"Demonic aura?" Cui Hao gazed at the misty expanse of Yunmeng Marsh before them, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Why didn't I sense anything?"

Chen Baiqing let out a soft sigh. "Sometimes, if you just reflect on your own cultivation level, you'll find the answer to a great many things."

At this, Cui Hao looked at Chen Baiqing with a wronged expression. "Senior Sister, are we heading in now?"

"Not yet. We'll wait for Wang Chuan and Li Huazhu. Judging by the time, they should be back from gathering intel soon."

Chen Baiqing stepped out of the carriage, using her spiritual energy to levitate herself slightly rather than stepping directly onto the ground.

The reason was simple: Yunmeng Marsh was thick with moisture. Any semblance of a road was reduced to a muddy mess, and the off-road areas were essentially bogs.

The path they were on was no exception. Even their fastidious spirit horse had been thoroughly defeated by the conditions, its coat now plastered in mud.

Chen Baiqing gazed at Yunmeng Marsh, shielded by towering mountains in the distance, her expression turning somewhat solemn.

The periphery of Beiju Luzhou—the region bordering the Central Continent—and its deep interior were practically two different worlds.

In the borderlands near the Central Continent, the customs and architecture heavily mirrored those of the Central Continent itself.

However, the deeper one ventured into Beiju Luzhou, the more the continent revealed its true, primordial nature.

The interior of Beiju Luzhou was barely developed. The further in one traveled, the rarer it became to see towering walls or bustling cities.

Going deeper felt like stepping into an ancient, untamed wilderness.

The people here lived mostly in scattered villages. Only in areas where goods were exchanged did customary trading posts emerge, and even then, transactions were almost entirely done through barter.

The local spoken languages also grew incomprehensible. The dialects of Beiju Luzhou were incredibly diverse and complex, though fortunately, they seemed to share roots with the official language of the Central Continent. Still, trying to converse directly usually resulted in blank stares from both parties.

However, with the help of some hand gestures, basic communication was still possible.

Fortunately, the locals were exceptionally honest and plain-spoken.

Chen Baiqing had observed them closely. The locals didn't discriminate against outsiders, and they genuinely extended a helping hand to anyone they saw in need.

At least in these village settlements, she hadn't seen a single beggar—a common sight in other lands.

The intelligence reports claiming that the people of Beiju Luzhou were pure-hearted and universally kind were evidently true at a single glance.

Beyond this, what set Beiju Luzhou apart from the other great continents was its incredibly complex and unorthodox system of faith.

The three major teachings—Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism—only held some sway near the borders of the Central Continent. Further inland, their presence vanished completely.

In their place was a pantheon of varied deities: Mountain Gods, Water Gods, Marsh Gods, and the like.

The locals would sculpt idols for all of them.

Chen Baiqing had studied these idols. They were entirely distinct from the norm; almost all of them were clearly derived from demons.

A Mountain God might be depicted as a fierce, bipedal tiger, its claws morphed into hands gripping a mountain staff that symbolized its divine authority.

A River God might be represented by an aquatic turtle or a fish.

Unlike in other continents, no matter how fierce a deity's visage might be here, their idols were always humanoid.

Shrines were likely the most common structures in Beiju Luzhou. However, the vast majority were built in a highly rudimentary fashion, with many deities carved into only vague approximations of their forms.

Often, a simple incense burner placed before the idol was considered sufficient. In worse cases, a small patch of earth was cleared out and the idol was left completely exposed to the elements, without even a roof to shield it from the wind and rain.

Despite this, these rustic, wilderness shrines enjoyed incredibly flourishing incense offerings.

In fact, incense was the most highly sought-after commodity in all of Beiju Luzhou.

Whenever anyone traveled, carrying incense was an absolute necessity.

The concept of an abandoned or unrecognized temple didn't seem to exist here; the only prevailing rule was to pray at every single shrine one encountered.

This particular custom reached its absolute zenith in the lands surrounding Yunmeng Marsh.

There were no mortal dynasties or empires in the vicinity of Yunmeng Marsh. The authority to govern and punish the populace had fallen entirely into the hands of the head priests of the grand temples.

Cultivators were exceedingly rare; the occasional one spotted was invariably a traveler from outside the region.

Yunmeng Marsh seemed to possess no native cultivators whatsoever. It was as if the cultivation world had intentionally forsaken this place.

Or perhaps, the Yunmeng Pavilion monopolized the recruitment of any local youths who possessed spiritual roots.

However, whenever she inquired about this, no one could give her a straight answer.

Chen Baiqing exhaled softly.

All these signs indicated that the Yunmeng Pavilion held near-absolute dominion over Yunmeng Marsh, allowing them to isolate the region entirely from both the cultivation world and mortal dynasties.

After all, Yunmeng Marsh was a fertile land teeming with fish and rice. No expanding mortal dynasty would naturally ignore such a bountiful territory.

Yet within this very Yunmeng Marsh—a place the Yunmeng Pavilion guarded as fiercely as its own exclusive domain—how could an evil cultivator at the Soul Formation realm dare to infiltrate it?

This mission location must have been specifically handpicked by Li Moze.

Or perhaps Li Moze himself couldn't make sense of it, and suspected that the Yunmeng Pavilion had been infiltrated by fiends, much like the Buddhist sects had been.

If disciples of the Xuanqing Heaven Sect were to delve into its secrets, there was no guarantee they would make it out safely.

But she was different. She was a disciple of Chu Xingchen.

If she were to run into disciples of the Yunmeng Pavilion and reveal her identity, even if they didn't roll out the red carpet, they would still have to politely escort her out—perhaps even provide a protective detail.

Furthermore, the Yunmeng Pavilion would likely be far more tolerant of her conducting an investigation than they would be of the Xuanqing Heaven Sect.

Chu Xingchen's sole target was the fiends, and by extension, so was hers.

The Sect Master of the Xuanqing Heaven Sect truly knew how to squeeze the utmost value out of his assets.

"Cui Hao, deal with the spirit horse," Chen Baiqing instructed. "Yunmeng Marsh is likely patrolled by Yunmeng Pavilion cultivators. If we barge in recklessly, we'll probably be politely escorted back out within two days."

"From here on out, we will proceed into Yunmeng Marsh entirely on foot, keeping our spiritual energy completely concealed at all times."

Lu Lingyi also stepped down from the carriage. Hearing Chen Baiqing's plan, she nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense. Leader, I memorized the regional maps on our way here. Thirty miles west of our current position is a fairly large settlement. We can head there first to gather intelligence."

Chen Baiqing gave a slight nod. "Contact Wang Chuan and the others. We will rendezvous there."

Lu Lingyi cupped her hands in compliance. Stepping backward, she tapped her toes lightly against the ground and gracefully drifted away.

Cui Hao dismounted and took the reins, sending a telepathic message to Chen Baiqing: "How should I handle it? Kill it? This spirit horse isn't dumb; if we just let it go, it might run amok."

Hearing his transmission, Chen Baiqing sighed softly and turned her gaze directly toward the spirit horse.

Sensing something, the spirit horse turned its head to meet her gaze.

A faint purple light flickered in the depths of Chen Baiqing's eyes.

A moment later, the spirit horse raised its hooves and trotted off toward the east.

Seeing this, Cui Hao offered an awkward smile. "Senior Sister's methods are brilliant as always."

"It is not that my methods are brilliant; it is that you have been slacking off for too long," Chen Baiqing replied. She retrieved two absurdly thick tomes from her spatial ring and held them out to him.

"You used to be a scholar. You know that the classics, histories, philosophies, and literary collections are the best tools for understanding the human heart and learning how to handle affairs."

"The path of cultivation is no different. If you simply read more, you would know exactly how to handle these situations."

"These contain the fundamental common knowledge of the cultivation world. Eldest Senior Sister passed them down to me, and now I am passing them to you. Study them well. Understanding these things will only benefit you in the future."

Cui Hao looked at the two massive volumes and accepted them without complaint, stowing them away in his own spatial ring.

Seeing how readily he accepted them, Chen Baiqing added, "I have already memorized everything in those books. I will test you on the material in a few days, and I certainly hope you won't be drawing blanks."

Cui Hao broke into a grin, his tone brimming with confidence. "Don't worry, Senior Sister. When it comes to studying, I'm a natural genius."

"That's good. Let's head out." Chen Baiqing turned and headed toward the western settlement. After walking a few steps, she spoke up anyway, "Don't think your Senior Sister is being overly harsh on you."

Cui Hao followed behind Chen Baiqing. Hearing this, he immediately replied:

"I understand. If it were anyone else, let alone giving them a book, Senior Sister probably wouldn't even spare them a single extra word."

Chen Baiqing did not look back, nor did she say anything more.