In the void of Baiyue Canyon, the array pattern of the Three Wolves Worshiping the Moon emerged.
Every time this pattern appeared, it meant the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue grew more mature, and the Heaven and Earth Dao became a tad more intense.
"Such a commotion, so large, I’m afraid it will attract many unknown enemies. But without the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue, Sisi’s foundation will be insufficient due to my poor constitution, and her cultivation in this life will definitely be flawed."
The little girl in her arms was playing exceptionally happily, yet Feng Lingqing’s heart was filled with worry.
She looked up from time to time toward the distance, where the location of the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue—the Baiyue Ancient Forbidden—lay.
Having stayed in Baiyue Canyon for nearly a year, although her health had been declining and her injuries had not healed, Feng Lingqing had gained a thorough understanding of the environment and the locations of the arrays within the canyon.
Here, the environment was perilous, and danger lurked everywhere. Ahead, there was an Ancient Prohibition, and beside it, a stele. Although the stele appeared ordinary, it was filled with endless killing intent.
Such killing intent was exceptionally terrifying.
Feng Lingqing saw the stele standing there, lonely without anything out of the ordinary, and she finally let out a slight sigh of relief.
She had a way to avoid the stele’s killing intent and obtain the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue, but she believed that other cultivators would definitely not be able to do this.
The stele was indeed the greatest obstacle to obtain the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue, but at this moment, it had become the greatest guardian for Feng Lingqing.
Feng Lingqing glanced at the stele again, ready to silently wait for the right moment to come, but suddenly, weird fluctuations occurred in the distant Ancient Array, a sensation that made her feel indescribably uneasy.
She gritted her teeth and immediately mustered the last vestige of her strength, carrying Sisi and flying towards the Moon Worship Stele.
The stele was three meters high, resembling an enlarged tombstone, yet there were no characters or runes on it, presenting a blank space.
The blank stele occasionally radiated unknown Tao Rules’ light, revealing a certain bloodthirsty and murderous aura.
Feng Lingqing silently waited. When the killing intent kept emerging, at that moment, ancient runes appeared on the wordless stele. Feng Lingqing instinctively recognized and understood their meaning.
"Earth Killing Mechanism, Breaking Dao in a continuous chain."
"Heavenly Killing Mechanism, White Bones form mountains."
"Tao Laws Killing Mechanism, calamity for the Universe."
Each rune evolved into a Secret Technique, and within these changes, Feng Lingqing seized that sliver of life force and transformed into a stream of light that entered the stele.
The stele was also a channel, but only this one method could directly lead into the core land of the Ancient Prohibition where the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue was located.
She believed that not many cultivators would understand this method. Even if they did, it would take them half a day to enter the next time.
Without passing through the stele, one would have to traverse the treacherous dangers of the Ancient Prohibition step by step, a difficult journey.
This process would surely be accompanied by numerous life and death dangers, thus the stele was equivalent to a guardian of the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue for Feng Lingqing.
After Feng Lingqing entered the stele, she immediately appeared in the core land of the Baiyue Ancient Forbidden.
Here was still a canyon, but within the canyon was a Cold Pond.
The waters of the Cold Pond were so deep as to appear black, clear and bright to a fearsome degree, because the waters of the Cold Pond were too still, still as dead water.
Floating in the middle of the pond was a stalk of immortal grass, the very Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue.
The Spirit Grass seemed to possess spirituality, branching into nine parts, each with only one leaf.
Each leaf, like a maiden Fairy’s silhouette, was very ethereal and beautiful, but also a bit eerie and terrifying.
If one made eye contact with this Spirit Grass, it was as if nine fairies were gazing tenderly at the onlooker, causing a stirring of the soul.
This was the characteristic of the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue—bizarre, evil, incredibly beautiful yet terrifying.
Once the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue truly matured, each leaf would separate from the branches, adopting the ’Flying Sky’ posture and movement, but would neither fall nor drop into the water, as if an invisible force bridged the void between them.
Currently, the leaves of the Immortal Spirit Grass had not yet separated from their branches, meaning the Spirit Grass was not yet mature.
"Almost there... just one more transition of the Three Wolves Worshiping the Moon array pattern, and the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue will be ripe, the time is but a day away. Endure this day, and Sisi will be completely healed."
Feng Lingqing stared at the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue, murmuring to herself.
"I hope, I hope that the stele can withstand others’ attack for one day. With a one-day gap, I will definitely be able to get the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue."
Feng Lingqing gazed out dreamily over the Cold Pond in the canyon, while the little girl in her arms had obediently fallen asleep.
Her pert little nose breathing in and out, her cute little mouth sucking intermittently, as if in her dreams, she was savoring something delicious.
Her grey-black eyelashes curled up slightly, fine and long, incredibly lovely.
That faintly curved willow leaf eyebrow, that white forehead glowing with a hint of spirituality, that cute little face that so resembled Zhou Yan...
Feng Lingqing stared at the little girl in her arms and for a moment forgot all about the Immortal Spirit Grass of Baiyue; she was utterly spellbound.
Feng Lingqing extended a finger, lightly touching Sisi’s forehead where there was a slight indentation, like a miniature sword’s mark.
If not for touch, it would have been invisible even to the naked eye.
But as the child’s mother, Feng Lingqing was well aware of this mark.
"What is this after all? Or did ’he’ also have such a mark, and I simply never noticed before? I really want... really want to see ’him’ one more time, to know how ’he’... has been doing."
Feng Lingqing mumbled to herself, then, she gave a bitter smile. Nowadays, she looked even worse than an ordinary old lady, while ’he’... shone so brightly...
Feng Lingqing let out a long sigh, casting aside those unrealistic fantasies.
She knew Zhou Yan would never abandon her for her aged appearance and body, she was even more certain of Zhou Yan’s love for her, which was no less than anyone else’s, but she couldn’t overcome her own hurdle; she felt too worthless, too inept, and too... insignificant.
"Baiyue Ancient Forbidden!"
"So this place really exists!"
"It seems we’re really in trouble this time."
Yun Shu walked over with her snake-like waist, standing on one side of Baiyue Canyon, looking at the ancient stele in front of her with a somewhat complicated expression.
"On our way here, we also captured many natives; why don’t we just throw them in to scout the path?"
Ying Han said in a deep voice.
Behind her stood nearly a hundred male and female cultivators, their Cultivation sealed. These cultivators were all strong, possessing Sword Spirits and even Sword Void Realm strength, yet they had all been bound.
Man Cheng stared at the stele for a long time but could not figure out the answer.
He nodded, saying, "I had the same thought too. It seems we have no other choice."
As he spoke, he turned around to address the young men and women managing the group of cultivators in their team, "Lu Qing, Feng Gan, and Zhao Qian, bring six of the natives here."
Hearing this, the two men and one woman cultivators immediately reached out into the void and grabbed six people from the group of still escorted cultivators.
They hoisted the six natives as easily as if they were carrying chickens, walking towards the Ancient Array.
Among those six natives, four were young males, all clad in combat armor made from tree bark, while the two female natives wore equally ancient bark armor, which, despite its style, was actually quite aesthetic — not only pleasing to the eye but also full of ancient spiritual charm.
"This is the ’Earth Killing Mechanism’; entering means certain death. Let’s throw in six people first and see the reaction."
Yun Shu said calmly, her eyes fixed intently on the ground beyond the stele, which looked indistinguishable from any ordinary ground, but everyone present knew that it was the most dangerous place of all.
Lu Qing smiled. He looked at the male and female cultivator he was holding and a cruel smile appeared on his face, saying to one of the women, "I told you, submit to me as my servant concubine, and you refused. Hmph, now even if you kneel and beg for mercy, there’s no chance left."
The woman in the ancient bark dress gave the man a cold look without saying a word.
From beginning to end, her demeanor remained icy.
Lu Qing laughed, his expression turning more ferocious as he suddenly exerted tremendous strength from his hand, releasing the seals on the two of them, but at the same time, he abruptly threw them behind the stele.
At that same moment, Feng Gan and Zhao Qian also hurled the natives they held into the midst of the Ancient Array.
"Splash, splash, splash—"
In that instant, of the six cultivators thrown into the Ancient Array, three were immediately shattered, their bodies torn by the Array’s lethal force to the point of being indistinct wrecks of flesh and blood.
But the other three, despite severe injuries and blood drenching their bodies, somehow managed to withstand the attack.
Yun Shu’s eyes suddenly brightened as if she had discovered something, and she quickly made a move towards those who were still intact.
A Sword Light shot out like a net, poised to entrap the three people within it.
However, having seen their companions killed, the three natives’ eyes went wild, and they simultaneously detonated their Sword Spirits.
"Hmph! I knew you would do this!"
Ying Han scoffed, and the token in her hand suddenly emitted a mysterious white light. The freed strength of the three natives was immediately restrained once more.
The three had pale faces, and their eyes couldn’t help but fill with sadness and despair.
"Qi Meng, I’m sorry, I was wrong. It was me who didn’t listen to you, insisting on contact with them, and now I’ve ended up ."
"Ming Qiu sister, it’s okay, life and death are predestined. It’s a pity we couldn’t find any more ways out, to take Miss and the young master away... It’s all because of my incompetence."
"What a pity, I wasn’t able to successfully Cultivate Forget Love Swordsmanship as Uncle Wang Chen taught me, otherwise I would never let these villains triumph."
The three prisoners down on their knees, the sole surviving young male overflowing with regret in his eyes.
"Ming Cheng, it wasn’t your fault, it was my rashness that led me to trust these beasts in human clothing."
Named ’Ming Qiu,’ the woman’s eyes were dim, filled with hatred for the ruthless cultivators, yet she was powerless to do anything.