Xie Zhaolin stared at the teleportation array that had appeared before her, a faint smile tugging at her lips. So there really is a shortcut!
She crouched down to examine the array's patterns, her fingertip gathering a strand of divine sense as she traced the flow of its runes. The array's structure was incredibly intricate, its core set with ten grooves clearly meant for spirit stones.
"Transmission distance is about three hundred zhang, direction is straight down…" she muttered softly, sketching across the runes with her finger. The endpoint should be the very bottom of Blackwater Abyss.
Shuang Ling padded closer, its nose brushing against the edge of the array. She rubbed its head, then kept studying the activation method. It didn't take long to discover the condition: ten high-grade spirit stones, placed simultaneously, or the backlash would be severe.
"Ten high-grade spirit stones…" she sneered, "no wonder that gray-robed man wasn't afraid of being found."
After all, a single high-grade stone was enough to bankrupt an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even for a Golden Core cultivator, ten stones weren't a small amount. Only someone from a major sect's upper ranks or a wealthy loose cultivator could casually afford it.
Xie Zhaolin pulled out ten flawless spirit stones from her storage ring, each one brimming with dense spiritual energy. As the former chief disciple of Hehuan Sect, this little expenditure was nothing to her.
"Prepare for teleportation." She set the stones into place one by one, while sending instructions through her beast contracts.
Xue Xiao, though weak, stubbornly flew to her shoulder. Shuang Ling and Dian Diao took their positions at her sides, while Teng She coiled around her wrist, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
The moment the last stone was slotted in, the array flared with a blinding blue light. A crushing suction swallowed her, the world twisted, and her vision spun wildly. She felt her body being torn apart and reassembled, her ears ringing with the hum of space twisting. The process lasted no more than three breaths. When her feet finally hit solid ground again, a wave of bone-piercing cold enveloped her.
Xie Zhaolin opened her eyes—and instantly staggered back a step in shock.
The teleportation array was surrounded by heaps of bones, packed so tightly they formed a wall around her. There had to be hundreds at least. The most terrifying part was their skulls. Every single one faced the array, their hollow sockets staring straight at its center as if watching every person who dared arrive here.
"What the…" Her skin prickled with goosebumps, hands instinctively forming a seal.
Xue Xiao flared its feathers, letting out a sharp, warning cry.
Forcing herself calm, she first sent Shuang Ling and Dian Diao scouting through the piles. They darted between the bones, searching carefully. After a short while, their message returned—no living creatures, no ghostly aura.
Only then did she relax a little and kneel to examine the remains. She quickly noticed something odd: every pile of bones lined up perfectly with one of the array's nodes.
Xie Zhaolin brushed her fingers over a skull. It was icy cold to the touch, yet held no lingering spiritual energy, nothing more than an ordinary corpse's bones. She checked several more. Same result. No refining, no ritual markings, no yin energy clinging to them.
"Strange…" she frowned, eyes flicking between bones and array.
The placement was too exact to be random. They weren't sacrifices, they weren't array materials… it was more like someone had arranged them here on purpose.
Shuang Ling pawed at a skull, then gave a puzzled whimper.
She walked over and saw words etched into its jawbone: "Outer Sect Disciple Zhao Ming of Xuantian Sect."
Her eyes narrowed. She quickly checked more remains. Another bore the words: "Inner Sect Disciple Zhou Yu of Qingxia Sect."
The more she searched, the more names appeared, each bone marked with an identity. And every single one… had been a sect disciple in life.
"Is this… a warning?" Her heart sank.
Displaying the bones of countless sect disciples here was no different than flaunting war trophies. Worse, judging by the weathering, some of these bones had been here for nearly a century.
Xie Zhaolin pressed her lips into a thin line. There were too many mysteries in this place. But since the bones weren't dangerous, she had no intention of wasting time. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sealed mark fragment in her sea of consciousness. The gray-robed man's aura was still distant, over a hundred li away. For now, he posed no threat.
"Let's move." Her voice was calm as she strode forward, her beast souls falling into formation.
The ground was covered in fine black gravel, crunching underfoot. The deeper she went, the thicker the yin energy became, each breath biting at her bones.
Xue Xiao ruffled its feathers uneasily on her shoulder, while Shuang Ling's tail stood on edge.
Xie Zhaolin slowed, divine sense stretched to its limits. Fragments of broken artifacts littered the path—splintered flying swords, cracked jade pendants, charred talisman paper. The remnants of those who had come before. Dark runes writhed across the cave walls. At times, they bulged outward, forming twisted faces that dissolved moments later.
"Chirp!" Shuang Ling suddenly bristled, lunging toward her right.
Almost at the same moment, a shadow burst from a rock crevice. She sidestepped instantly. The thing scraped past her sleeve and scorched the wall behind her. A black, serpentine wraith hissed into view.
Dian Diao shot forward in a flash of lightning, but the black snake twisted away with eerie agility. Xue Xiao dove from above, talons aimed at its skull. The serpent writhed in midair, snapping around with terrifying speed, fangs bared for Xue Xiao's throat.
Xie Zhaolin snorted coldly, silver light blooming at her fingertips. A razor-thin strand of light lanced out, piercing the snake's seven-inch mark. Its body froze, then shattered into black mist. Shuang Ling spat a fox flame, burning the mist away completely.
"Keep moving." Her voice was quiet, but her eyes were sharper than before.
That black serpent had at least mid-stage Foundation Establishment strength, and in this suppressive environment, it hadn't been easy to kill.
The path ahead grew darker still. She drew out a luminous pearl, its gentle glow pushing back the shadows. She knew light might attract more trouble, but she had no choice. Her five beast souls circled protectively, alert for danger.
Yet strangely, after that serpent, no further attacks came. The eerie calm gnawed at her nerves. She'd sensed countless threats above, hiding in the cliffside hollows. These restrictions shouldn't vanish just because of depth. There was no reason the upper path teemed with danger, while the lower path lay utterly still.
This unnatural silence felt less like safety and more like… something had deliberately swept the area clean.