Chapter 55

Before Fu Yan could even raise her eyes to look toward the place in the tunnel that had suddenly collapsed, she saw Bai Yueli before her swiftly lower her gaze. Then, without any warning, she actually fainted just like that.

“Senior Sister?” Fu Yan was startled. Thinking Bai Yueli had been injured, she immediately reacted quickly and reached out, preparing to catch the falling figure.

In the next moment, Fu Yan swiftly supported Bai Yueli by the shoulders. She quickly bent one knee and half-knelt on the ground, catching the falling person fully in her arms.

“Senior Sister! Senior Sister!” Perhaps because she had been frightened, Fu Yan could not help calling out to Bai Yueli in her arms twice more in some panic, but the person in her embrace still gave no response.

She had no time to worry about anything else. Fortunately, Fu Yan quickly calmed down. She hurriedly reached out to check Bai Yueli’s aura. Only after quite a while did she finally let out a breath of relief.

Over by the cave entrance, Shui Liuqing had just been hesitating over whether she should go out first. Now, she was also frightened by this sudden scene. Without any hesitation, she lifted her feet and swiftly ran over.

“What happened to Senior Sister Bai?”

Seeing the figure before her suddenly collapse, Shui Liuqing quickly asked in worry. But during the fight with the huge snake just now, although the two of them had not gained much advantage, neither had been injured either.

Hearing this, Fu Yan finally raised her eyes and slowly said, “Senior Sister is not seriously hurt. The aura inside her body is very steady. It is as if she has calmly fallen asleep.”

“Fallen asleep?” Shui Liuqing revealed a face full of astonishment. Clearly, she understood every word Fu Yan said, so why did she feel that once they were put together, she could not understand the sentence at all?

How could Bai Yueli suddenly fall asleep? Moreover, for cultivators like them, even if they fell asleep from exhaustion, their perception of the outside world and their vigilance would not be too weak.

Yet Bai Yueli before her looked no different from someone who had fallen unconscious, with almost no awareness left.

Toward Shui Liuqing’s doubts, Fu Yan did not give a definite answer. After all, she also had not figured out what exactly had happened. However, she could be certain that Bai Yueli’s body indeed had no problem. It was not because she was too tired, nor because she had suffered some serious injury.

But that made it even stranger. Bai Yueli should not have fainted for no reason. She must have been affected by something.

Thinking of this, Fu Yan suddenly seemed to think of something. She swiftly raised her eyes and looked at the flowers that had just been revealed. At the place where the tunnel had collapsed just now, two enormous flowers had already been exposed.

The flowers were very strange. From top to bottom, they were a dark-gray color. Petal after petal was slowly blooming outward. The two flowers seemed not to have truly and completely bloomed yet, but were in a half-open state. Judging by their posture, however, fully blooming was only a matter of time.

For these flowers to be able to grow here, they definitely could not be anything ordinary.

Fu Yan remembered that after the tunnel suddenly collapsed just now, it was precisely because these two flowers appeared that Bai Yueli had suddenly fallen into a “coma.” For some reason, she suddenly felt that it should be because of these two flowers.

At the side, Shui Liuqing had originally thought Fu Yan would continue explaining. But seeing that the other party did not continue, she guessed that Fu Yan probably had not yet figured out the cause either.

However, since Fu Yan had said Bai Yueli’s read the original at bailiantales.com body had no issue, Shui Liuqing also let out a breath of relief. Just as she was thinking about something, she saw Fu Yan’s gaze suddenly land on the wall.

Shui Liuqing paused slightly and could not help following her gaze. She saw that the two flowers on the wall had already opened halfway. It seemed it would not take long before they completely bloomed.

“This flower…” Looking at the dark-gray flowers before her, Shui Liuqing could be certain that this was the first time she had seen them. Yet these flowers gave her a somewhat familiar impression. She immediately could not help murmuring aloud.

Hearing Shui Liuqing’s voice, Fu Yan finally withdrew her gaze. She turned and raised her eyes to look at Shui Liuqing beside her, asking, “You recognize them?”

Hearing this, Shui Liuqing shook her head truthfully, but then explained, “This is also my first time seeing this kind of flower, but I always feel as if I’ve seen it in some ancient text before. I just can’t remember for the moment.”

After she finished speaking, Fu Yan paused. She was not in a hurry to keep asking. Instead, she raised her eyes again and carefully observed the two flowers on the wall.

Although Fu Yan did not recognize this kind of flower, she could roughly infer some things. This was Demonic Miasma Gorge. Ordinary spiritual herbs of heaven and earth could not possibly grow here, especially underground. After all, for normal flowers to bloom, they needed at least some sunlight.

Moreover, because the corpse of that demonic creature from the legend was buried beneath the gorge, dense demonic energy would be released underground all year round. A flower that could grow in this kind of environment—one name instantly appeared in Fu Yan’s mind.

“I remember!”

At this moment, Shui Liuqing at the side also seemed to suddenly think of something. She immediately could not help saying somewhat excitedly, “If I remember correctly, this is a Yin Demon Flower.”

The Yin Demon Flower only grew in places with dense demonic energy. Generally, after powerful demonic read the original at bailiantales.comcreatures died, this kind of dark-gray flower would grow near their corpses. They would use the demonic creature’s corpse as nourishment and slowly mature and bloom within the demonic energy.

The name that appeared in Fu Yan’s mind was exactly as Shui Liuqing said. This flower should be the legendary Yin Demon Flower.

“But…” Shui Liuqing’s gaze could not help falling again on Bai Yueli in Fu Yan’s arms. With puzzlement on her face, she continued, “I remember that although the Yin Demon Flower is also an extremely rare treasure, it is completely useless to ordinary cultivators like us. If forcibly absorbed, it would instead cause a certain backlash.”

Those who could be affected by the Yin Demon Flower were only demon beasts and ordinary demonic creatures. This was probably precisely the reason that huge snake had chosen to live here. So looking at Bai Yueli, Shui Liuqing still could not figure out why she would be affected.

Seeming to see Shui Liuqing’s doubts, Fu Yan suddenly said lightly, “For demonic cultivators, the Yin Demon Flower would also be an opportunity.”

As soon as these words fell, Shui Liuqing was startled. Her eyes could not help widening of their own accord. She looked at Fu Yan somewhat tremblingly and said, “Master means… Senior Sister Bai… she is a demonic cultivator?”

Shui Liuqing felt that this thought was too frightening. As one of the top geniuses of the entire Northern Region, how could Bai Yueli possibly be a demonic cultivator? But if she continued thinking along the path Fu Yan’s words led her, this guess was not that absurd.

After all, when Yin Demon Flowers bloomed, they released a faint pollen. Ordinary cultivators would not be affected by this pollen. Only demonic creatures, demon beasts, and demonic cultivators would be affected.

Bai Yueli was definitely not some demon beast or demonic creature. Then the only remaining possibility was the last one.

After stammering out her guess, Shui Liuqing felt that this realization was truly something her heart could hardly bear. If the matter of Bai Yueli being a demonic cultivator became known, the entire Northern Region would probably be swept into another storm of blood and violence.

At this moment, in Shui Liuqing’s subconscious, the matter of Bai Yueli being Read on BaiLianTales a demonic cultivator seemed to have already become fact.

“Master, we…” Thinking of the relationship between Bai Yueli and Fu Yan, Shui Liuqing had just prepared to continue asking Fu Yan what to do when she suddenly consciously closed her mouth.

After all, the matter of demonic cultivators was no small thing. It would be better for her to pretend she knew nothing. As for how to choose, she would leave that to Fu Yan herself to decide.

Thinking of this, Shui Liuqing finally felt her frightened heart slowly calm down.

From Shui Liuqing’s shock to her calm, Fu Yan did not speak again. She merely gently lifted Bai Yueli in her arms, then slowly walked toward the Yin Demon Flowers.

At this time, the Yin Demon Flowers had already bloomed two-thirds of the way. They were only a little away from fully blooming. Fu Yan did not show much expression. She only gently leaned Bai Yueli against the wall, quietly placing her between the two Yin Demon Flowers.

After doing all this, Fu Yan slowly stepped back. Meeting Shui Liuqing’s somewhat astonished gaze behind her, she said lightly, “Don’t think too much. Senior Sister is not a demonic cultivator.”

Shui Liuqing: “…” Fu Yan had clearly guided her thoughts just now, yet now she was saying that everything she had guessed was false?

“Then why…” Shui Liuqing glanced at Bai Yueli beneath the Yin Demon Flowers. Since Bai Yueli was not a demonic cultivator, then what was Fu Yan doing?

Putting Bai Yueli between the Yin Demon Flowers was obviously so that when they bloomed, Bai Yueli could perfectly absorb the power of the Yin Demon Flowers. Only for demonic cultivators would this count as a grand opportunity.

Bai Yueli was indeed not a demonic cultivator, but the Yin Demon Flowers Read on BaiLianTaleswere also a great tonic for her, because Bai Yueli was different from ordinary people. “Senior Sister has a pure-yin body.”

Hearing this, Shui Liuqing finally revealed an expression of sudden realization. How had she forgotten such an important matter? Bai Yueli had a pure-yin body. It seemed she could indeed absorb the Yin Demon Flowers.

“So that’s how it is. You really scared me to death. I genuinely thought Senior Sister Bai was a demonic cultivator!” Thinking of this, Shui Liuqing could not help letting out a breath of relief. Although she was not too certain whether it was true or false, since Fu Yan had said so, she naturally believed it unconditionally.

Fu Yan turned back and glanced at Bai Yueli. After confirming that the Yin Demon Flowers were about to fully bloom, she also smiled slightly. After all, to Bai Yueli, this was a great opportunity.

As long as Bai Yueli successfully absorbed the power of these two Yin Demon Flowers, Fu Yan believed that Bai Yueli’s strength would definitely rise another level. The time before she broke through to the Dao Integration stage probably would not be too far off either.

Before long, the two Yin Demon Flowers finally fully bloomed. Bai Yueli, leaning against the wall, also slowly floated upward. In only a moment, Bai Yueli in midair opened her eyes again.

Seeing this, Fu Yan could not help smiling as she called to her, “Senior Sister, these are Yin Demon Flowers. You have a pure-yin body, so you can safely absorb the power of the Yin Demon Flowers.”

Bai Yueli, who had suddenly awakened, only paused slightly. Very soon, she reacted. She nodded toward Fu Yan below. Only then did she swiftly meditate in midair, seeming already prepared to begin absorbing the power of the Yin Demon Flowers.

Very soon, the vast tunnel returned to peace again.

Seeing that Bai Yueli had already immersed herself in cultivation, Fu Yan finally withdrew her gaze. Just as Shui Liuqing at the side was somewhat enviously looking at Bai Yueli, a voice transmission sounded in her mind.

“Give me the other strand of black qi.” It was Fu Yan’s voice.

Shui Liuqing could not help freezing. Only after quite a while did she understand what Fu Yan meant. Although she was somewhat puzzled as to why Fu Yan suddenly wanted this, Shui Liuqing still took that strand of black qi from her storage spirit ring and handed it to Fu Yan before her.

After Fu Yan accepted the porcelain bottle, she had no intention of examining it closely. She only casually placed it at her waist, then looked at Shui Liuqing again and transmitted, “That pill you gave me last time, the one that can suppress the black qi—does it have a certain time limit?”

Hearing this, Shui Liuqing thought Fu Yan was once again unable to use her true essence and could not help explaining somewhat anxiously, “It seems to have a time limit, but I’m not too certain exactly how long it lasts. Has it flared up again, Master? I’ll go refine a new suppressing pill right now.”

Because of all the things that had happened during this period, Shui Liuqing had temporarily forgotten about this matter. She had not had time to refine a second suppressing pill. Now that she heard Fu Yan mention it, she was still somewhat panicked.

Unexpectedly, Fu Yan opposite her shook her head. “There’s no need for now. First seize the time to recover your peak strength here. After Senior Sister finishes absorbing the Yin Demon Flowers, we will probably leave Demonic Miasma Gorge directly.”

Although Shui Liuqing did not quite understand Fu Yan’s meaning, she still nodded blankly. She also knew that now that Fu Yan had broken through to late Illumination stage, among the three of them, she was probably the weakest. If she did not hurry and recover her strength, she would likely drag them down again when they left.

Thinking of this, Shui Liuqing did not hesitate either. Very soon, she listened to Fu Yan’s words and also began meditating on the spot, continuing to recover and regulate her breath.

The huge snake was dead, so this vast tunnel should not have any danger. Moreover, Shui Liuqing was here keeping watch. Looking at Bai Yueli over there, Fu Yan felt much more at ease.

Seeing that the two people inside the tunnel had both begun cultivating, Fu Yan did not hesitate either. Very soon, she directly turned and left the place. Shui Liuqing, who was recovering, naturally sensed it. However, since Fu Yan did not say anything, she did not ask aloud.

After leaving the tunnel, Fu Yan lightly weighed the porcelain bottle in her hand. She remembered Shui Liuqing saying that there had been three strands of black qi like the one in her [Read on BaiLianTales]qi sea, so there was something she needed to personally verify.

After the strand of black qi in Fu Yan’s qi sea absorbed all the demonic energy inside the huge snake, it returned to its former quiet state, calmly floating above her qi sea. It also did not continue blocking the connection between her and her qi sea.

However, the calmer the black qi behaved now, the more Fu Yan felt that something was wrong.

After all, Fu Yan had clearly seen just how tyrannical that black qi was. With such a tyrannical and mysterious thing remaining in her qi sea, no cultivator would be able to feel at ease.

If the power of this black qi could be used by her, that would naturally be the best outcome. But what Fu Yan feared most was that not only would it be unusable by her, it would instead devour her bit by bit.

No one knew the origins of the black qi, but Fu Yan had heard Shui Liuqing say that she had discovered three strands of black qi in the same place. One had been used during an experiment, one was in Fu Yan’s qi sea, and the final strand was now in Fu Yan’s hand.

However, after personally witnessing the black qi’s domineering nature, Fu Yan kept feeling that something was wrong. This black qi was clearly so tyrannical. How could three strands of black qi coexist in the same place? If that were truly the case, they should definitely devour one another.

But according to Shui Liuqing’s words, they had not acted against one another. That was why the more Fu Yan thought about it, the stranger she found it. Therefore, she needed to verify the guess in her heart.

Very soon, Fu Yan followed the underground passage from earlier and arrived at the bottom of the first trench. This place was still extremely calm. Only the scalding bubbling sounds came from the lava below.

Lowering her head to look at the quiet lava below, Fu Yan could only sit at the cave entrance and wait silently. She was waiting for the lava to erupt demonic energy again.

Although Fu Yan did not know the pattern of the lava’s eruptions, from those tentacled monsters and the huge snake in the tunnel, it could be seen that the lava should [stolen content]erupt quite frequently. So she could only quietly hope that during the time Bai Yueli spent absorbing the Yin Demon Flowers, it would erupt demonic energy once more.

As time slowly passed, the lava below still showed no sign of erupting. Fu Yan did not know how long had gone by. Just as she calculated that Bai Yueli should be almost done absorbing the flowers and was preparing to give up waiting,

the lava below finally changed.

A powerful wave of heat swiftly surged upward. Then, the lava showed the same signs as the previous eruption. It began boiling intensely. In less than two breaths, a dense wave of demonic energy swiftly erupted from below.

In that instant, Fu Yan directly opened the stopper of the bottle containing the final strand of black qi. At the same time, she also felt the strand of black qi inside her body become excited again.

Then, in the next second, a strange scene appeared.

Inside the vast trench, the demonic energy swiftly erupting upward seemed to receive some powerful suction force and rapidly rushed toward Fu Yan. Then, just as it had inside the huge snake’s body earlier, that demonic energy swiftly entered her body. In the end, all of it was absorbed by the black qi again.

However, the strand of black qi inside the porcelain bottle in her hand did not move at all, as if it had no interest in the demonic energy whatsoever.

Very soon, this eruption ended again. This time, more than half of the demonic energy had been absorbed by the black qi inside Fu Yan’s body. As for what successfully drifted upward, there was naturally very little left.

Fu Yan expressionlessly resealed the porcelain bottle in her hand. Although the result of this verification was already within her expectations, it still made her somewhat surprised.

Because the black qi in her qi sea and the other two strands of black bailiantales.comqi Shui Liuqing had discovered at the same time were completely not the same thing. In other words, the so-called suppressing pill had no effect on it at all.

This strand of black qi was like a big boss living inside her qi sea. Maybe one day, if it became unhappy, at best, it would prevent her from using her true essence. At worst, whatever it wanted to do, Fu Yan probably would not be able to stop it.

Perhaps the only fortunate thing at present was that it did not seem to have any bad intentions. Moreover, after these two times absorbing demonic energy, it seemed very satisfied, comfortably lying inside her qi sea.

This understanding made Fu Yan feel as if she had raised a child inside her qi sea. Only by letting it eat and drink its fill would it not run out to interfere with her cultivation. But she was not a demonic cultivator, so where was she supposed to find demonic energy to feed it every day?

Thinking of this, Fu Yan immediately felt her head swell. Before finding a way to resolve this, she could only hope that after eating and drinking its fill this time, it would remain quiet for a while.

After putting away the other ordinary strand of black qi again, Fu Yan finally turned and prepared to return to the tunnel to reunite with Bai Yueli and the others. Unexpectedly, they seemed to have already come looking for her.

“Senior Sister, did absorbing the Yin Demon Flowers go smoothly?” After seeing Bai Yueli’s figure, Fu Yan directly spoke first.

Bai Yueli nodded. After thinking for a moment, she asked again, “How did you know that a pure-yin body could also absorb Yin Demon Flowers?”

After all, even Bai Yueli herself was not too certain about this matter.

This question did stump Fu Yan somewhat. She could not possibly say that she had something of a god’s-eye view and understood the pure-yin body very clearly. Pausing slightly, she finally smiled and explained, “I only once read some related descriptions about the pure-yin body in a book.”

This was not false. She had indeed learned it from a book.

Bai Yueli: “…”

In any case, seeing that Bai Yueli did not continue asking, Fu Yan still let out a breath of relief.

“This Demonic Miasma Gorge is very strange. Since everyone is fine now, we should hurry and leave this place first.” Fu Yan looked at the two approaching and could not help slowly saying.

In truth, this trip to Demonic Miasma Gorge had still been very worth it. Not only had they rescued Shui Liuqing, but Fu Yan had also discovered some things about the black qi, and Bai Yueli could also be considered to have obtained an opportunity.

Hearing this, Bai Yueli and Shui Liuqing naturally had no objections and both nodded.

And so, very soon, the three of them swiftly flew out from the tunnel and directly arrived above the gorge. At this time, it seemed to be a new day outside again, with the sun having just risen.

The three also had no intention of continuing to stay. They directly returned along the original route. On the way out, aside from encountering attacks from several poisonous creatures, everything went fairly smoothly. As for the person who had chased Shui Liuqing before, he had probably escaped long ago, so they did not encounter him again.

Only by noon did Fu Yan and the others finally slowly walk out of Demonic Miasma Gorge.

Calculating carefully, four or five months had already passed since they descended the mountain to train after the ranking competition ended. Before long, it would be the sect competition of the entire Northern Region. So the three decided that it was time to return to the sect together.

After leaving Demonic Miasma Gorge, Fu Yan and the others directly flew toward ​bailiantales.com​the Shuiling Sect. Before long, they arrived near Shadow Forest.

Looking from afar, Fu Yan saw that below, everything was covered in a dense, black mass. Countless true essence fluctuations came from all around, as if fierce battles were taking place everywhere.

“What happened?” Shui Liuqing looked around and could not help asking aloud.

After seeing the situation below, Bai Yueli could not help furrowing her brows slightly. Only then did she slowly explain, “It should be a large-scale beast tide from the demon beasts in Shadow Forest.”

Hearing this, Fu Yan also remembered that when their escort team had passed through Shadow Forest back then, the demon beasts there had indeed all behaved somewhat abnormally. So it turned out that it had led to such a large beast tide.

There were many ordinary villages and towns near this area. To mortals, a beast tide was an enormous catastrophe. Fortunately, cultivators from all directions had already rushed over one after another to provide support.

Bai Yueli looked at the battle situation below and swiftly instructed, “We split up and support them!”