Ren Sangsang froze for a moment when Xu Mu actually stepped off the path toward the molten river.
She instinctively reached out a hand to stop him—
she hadn't expected him to be that reckless.
Was he really risking his life just so she'd have to call him Dad?
But her hand stopped midway, for what she saw next left her dumbfounded.
Xu Mu wasn't falling—he was walking through the air.
Beneath his feet shimmered an invisible path; every step distorted the air slightly, rippling like heat waves.
Within moments, he reached the bend ahead and vanished from sight.
Everyone nearby stared in shock.
Ren Sangsang's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Wait, what just happened? That guy can fly?"
"Could that be... the Qiankun Sect's Cloud Step?" Sun Ziqiang muttered, frowning.
"The Qiankun Sect? Wasn't that the one that vanished completely during the Ming–Qing period?" the bald elder beside him asked.
"According to the records, yes."
Sun nodded calmly. "But the movement art looked identical. I've seen it in our department archives — Qiankun disciples could walk on air."
"Whoa! There's more people coming!"
Everyone turned toward the voice.
From afar, a young man appeared — messy hair, clear eyes, and carrying a woven urea-fertilizer bag.
Sun Ziqiang blinked in confusion.
"What's going on? Don't tell me the ruin's entrance has been exposed?"
"Seems like a crowd's coming in anyway," said Chen Xuan with a grin as he approached.
"I'm Sun Ziqiang, intermediate cleaner. Which sect are you from?"
"I don't belong to any sect. I grew up under my master's guidance." Chen Xuan stopped before them.
"My master's name was Chen Yunshen."
"What?! You're Senior Chen's disciple?"
Sun's eyes widened in shock.
"Brother Sun, who's Chen Yunshen? Never heard of him," Ren Sangsang asked curiously.
"I'll put it simply—two of our High-Level Cleaners personally went to invite him to join the department. He refused them both."
"What?!" Ren Sangsang was stunned.
The others were just as shocked.
Even high-level cleaners couldn't convince him? Just who was that man?
"It's true," Chen Xuan said softly, eyes dimming. "But he didn't refuse out of pride. My master already knew… he didn't have long to live."
Sun Ziqiang nodded; he knew that Senior Chen had passed three years ago.
"Is there no way across?" Chen Xuan asked, looking at the molten river.
"We've sent someone to fetch a drone," Sun explained. "We'll scout the far side before we move.
Oh—by the way, someone just flew across earlier."
"Flew? Don't tell me that was Brother Mu?"
Ren Sangsang's brows arched. "Yeah, that guy called himself Xu Mu or something—from the Righteous-Something Sect…"
"Righteous Demon Sect," Chen Xuan corrected, chuckling.
Ren Sangsang murmured, "Didn't think that sect actually existed."
Just then, a familiar silhouette appeared above the lava once again.
Whoosh!
Xu Mu descended gracefully back onto the shore.
"Brother Mu!" Chen Xuan waved happily.
"You're here?" Xu Mu greeted with a faint smile—unsurprised. It was the protagonist, after all.
"Why'd you come back? No path ahead?" Ren Sangsang asked impatiently.
If too many people entered, their mission could fail.
"Elder Sister, I didn't reach the other side, but aren't you—"
"Dad!" Ren Sangsang blurted without hesitation. "Dad, is there a path over there?"
"...Huh?" Xu Mu blinked.
This woman actually kept her word?
So honest she put most men to shame.
Who would've guessed that behind that aloof, untouchable exterior hid such pure straightforwardness?
"Elder Sister, aren't you afraid your father will get mad hearing you say that?" Xu Mu asked awkwardly.
"It's fine. My dad's dead."
"...What?" Xu Mu was speechless, waving a hand. "Yeah, there's a path ahead."
"Then why come back?" Ren Sangsang asked again.
"The distance is a bit long—I'm making preparations."
Of course, he couldn't admit he'd miscalculated. He'd spent too many steps trying to look cool at first—walking slowly, two steps to move a single meter. By the time he realized, his remaining steps wouldn't cover the whole gap.
"Let's go."
He grabbed Chen Xuan by the shoulder and stepped forward—
his figure blurred, vanishing several dozen meters away in a flash.
Within seconds, he was gone.
"Looks like there is a passage on the other side," the quiet young swordsman said.
He drew the sword from his back—its sheath ending in a sharp, steel spike fit for battle.
With sword in one hand and sheath in the other, he leapt forward—
not straight across, but toward the molten wall at the side.
Clang!
The sheath pierced deep into the rock wall. Hanging there, he gripped it with one hand as molten heat shimmered below him.
Then he pulled it free and leapt again, this time driving his blade into the cliff.
Step by step, he climbed sideways along the jagged rock, moving steadily into the depths.
Even carrying someone, Xu Mu's balance didn't falter.
Soon, the far side came into view.
Whoosh!
He landed on solid ground and set Chen Xuan down.
"Brother Mu, that was insane! If I were a girl, I'd totally join your harem!" Chen Xuan joked, hoisting his woven bag back up.
"Don't tease me. Come on—let's move." Xu Mu chuckled and shook his head.
With the main character along, finding treasure would surely be easier.
"Got it."
They followed the three-meter-wide path quickly forward.
After two hundred meters or so, they stopped short—three corpses lay sprawled ahead.
Each wore a black robe.
Xu Mu and Chen Xuan crouched beside them to inspect.
"Brother Mu, fatal wounds," Chen Xuan said, examining one whose face bore a long scar.
Xu Mu saw the same—his target's throat was pierced clean through.
He stripped off the corpse's robe and put it on.
"Looks like danger ahead. Better to disguise ourselves."
Chen Xuan nodded, doing the same.
As they moved on, the scene ahead froze them in place.
The path broke off again—but across the molten river, dozens of round stone pillars jutted from the lava, spaced three or four meters apart.
Atop the central pillar sat a man in black, cross-legged, a long black sword resting beside him.
"Is this… a trial stage?" Xu Mu murmured under his breath.