191: Chapter 191 The Ring Phenomenon

Deep within the Luoxia Mountain range, by a clear stream, Ye Tian leaned against a large tree, panting heavily.

He was covered in blood, his green robes tattered and torn, revealing the wounds beneath.

The deepest wound stretched from his left shoulder to his ribs, the flesh mangled and wreathed in a faint black mist. This was the sinister power left by the tall assassin's Ghost Shadow Slash, which was continuously eroding his life force.

Ye Tian's face was as pale as wax, his aura weakened to the extreme, and the vortex of Five Elements True Essence within his Dantian was nearly depleted.

Forcibly breaking through the Ghost Soul Valley's trapping formation, enduring the full-strength blow of two True Martial Fourth Level assassins, and finally burning a portion of his Five Elements Origin to smash through a cliff wall to escape had cost him a heavy price.

At this moment, even maintaining his basic Protective Aura was exceptionally difficult.

"Cough..."

He spat out a mouthful of clotted blood laced with black strands, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

This was a relatively open river valley with lush vegetation, but the terrain was flat with no high ground to defend and no hidden caves or dense forests to hide in.

It was by no means a good place for healing.

"I must recover some True Essence as quickly as possible..."

Ye Tian gritted his teeth, forcing himself to sit cross-legged. He painstakingly retrieved several jade bottles from his qingxuan ring and, without bothering to distinguish them, poured all the Medicinal Pills for healing and True Essence recovery into his mouth.

The pills entered his stomach, turning into streams of warmth that rapidly replenished his True Essence.

He immediately circulated the Star Qi Induction Art while simultaneously activating the Five Elements Sword Body, using all his strength to repair his damaged Meridians and expel that Evil Qi.

A tearing pain came from his internal organs, and his Meridians felt as if they were being scorched by fire, but Ye Tian didn't even flinch. He gritted his teeth and guided the Five Elements True Essence to repair his wounds bit by bit.

The residual Astral Power from the star core also surged spontaneously, accelerating the recovery.

About an hour later, Ye Tian slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air.

His face was still pale, but his aura had stabilized slightly. The most serious wounds had stopped bleeding, and the black mist was temporarily suppressed.

However, the internal damage remained severe; his Meridians were damaged in multiple places, and his True Essence was less than thirty percent recovered.

To fully recover, he would need several days of quiet rest.

"Shadow Calamity Tower... what ruthless methods!"

A cold light flickered in Ye Tian's eyes. Recalling the trap in Ghost Soul Valley, he still felt a lingering fear.

The enemy was meticulous and ruthless, far exceeding his expectations.

He struggled to stand up, his Divine Sense spreading out to carefully search the surroundings.

Valleys, dense forests, streams... within a radius of several miles, there was no aura of any human Cultivator, aside from the occasional low-level Yao Beast passing by.

"Senior Brother Lei... Senior Sister Luo... where on earth are you?"

Ye Tian's brow furrowed, a strong sense of worry rising in his heart.

Lei Zhen was heavily poisoned, and his combat strength was greatly diminished.

Luo Qiushui was also injured.

In the depths of the Luoxia Mountain range, which was fraught with danger, they were acting alone and could encounter disaster at any moment.

Whether it was pursuers or the powerful Yao Beasts in the mountains, any encounter could be fatal.

"I must find them as soon as possible!"

Ye Tian knew he couldn't stay here for long either.

Those two assassins would never give up and could catch up at any time.

In his current state, if he encountered those two again, he would surely die.

He forced himself to gather a breath of True Essence, preparing to choose a random direction to search.

Suddenly, his qingxuan ring emitted a burst of blue lightning!

"Hmm?!"

Ye Tian was startled and immediately sent his Divine Sense into the qingxuan ring.

In a corner of the storage space, a simple and ancient ring that he had almost forgotten was quietly floating in the air, its entire body emitting a dazzling blue lightning light!

This lightning light was not disorganized; instead, it condensed into a beam of light, pointing in a certain direction!

This ring was exactly the item he had discovered years ago in that wooded hollow not far from the Ye family home!

At that time, this ring had triggered an anomaly in the chaos bead, as if there was some connection between them.

However, no matter how he tried afterward, the ring never reacted again, so he had stored it away in the qingxuan ring.

He never expected that this long-dormant ring would suddenly erupt with such an anomalous vision!

"This ring... why would it suddenly glow?"

Ye Tian was suspicious, his eyes fixed on the lightning pointer. "What is in the direction it's pointing?"

He tried to communicate with the ring using his Divine Sense, but there was no response.

Within that lightning light, there seemed to be a trace of pure lightning Origin aura, completely different from his own Five Elements True Essence or Astral Power.

"Something related to the chaos bead... would never act up without reason!"

Ye Tian's eyes flickered as he quickly weighed the pros and cons.

Right now, staying here was very dangerous; he could be caught by those two assassins at any moment.

While following this sudden guidance meant an uncertain future, it might also offer a glimmer of hope!

This ring shared the same Origin as the chaos bead. Its guidance might contain an Opportunity, or perhaps it might even resonate with Senior Brother Lei Zhen's lightning-based Cultivation Technique?

"I'll take the gamble!"

Ye Tian was by no means an indecisive person and made his decision immediately!

Following the direction pointed by the ring's lightning, his figure turned into a streak of green light and sped away!

The Luoxia Mountain range was filled with deep forests and dense trees, and the terrain was complex.

Ye Tian endured the pain, weaving through the trees, crossing streams, and climbing cliffs.

The deeper he went, the greater the astonishment in Ye Tian's heart.

After racing for about an hour and crossing a steep mountain ridge, a vast swamp appeared ahead.

Miasma filled the swamp, where poisonous insects crawled, and bubbles gurgled up, emitting an uncomfortable aura.

The ring's lightning pointed straight into the depths of the swamp!

"A swamp?" Ye Tian's brow furrowed deeply.

Such places were usually extremely dangerous, filled with toxic miasma, quicksand, and Vicious Beasts.

In his current state, venturing into it carried immense risk.

But the ring's lightning grew slightly more intense; he couldn't turn back now.

"Since I'm here, I might as well face it!"

Ye Tian expanded his Five Elements protective shield. Though it was dim, it barely managed to keep the miasma out, and then he plunged into the thick fog of the swamp.

Visibility inside the swamp was extremely low, and Divine Sense was also heavily suppressed.

Ye Tian could only rely on the ring's lightning to determine his direction as he moved forward cautiously.

Beneath his feet was soft mud, and from time to time, hidden poisonous insects or fierce beasts would attack, only to be instantly killed by his sharp finger techniques.

After moving forward for another half hour, the surrounding fog gradually thinned.

Suddenly, the scene ahead opened up!

In the center of the swamp, there was actually a solitary black stone mountain!

The stone mountain wasn't high, but it was entirely pitch-black, shimmering with an inky luster.

The beam of lightning from the ring finally fixed upon a cave entrance at the base of the stone mountain!

The cave entrance was pitch-black and seemed bottomless, with a faint airflow emerging from within.

Upon reaching this spot, the ring's lightning stopped pointing and instead emitted a steady glow.

Ye Tian stopped at the cave entrance, concentrating to sense the interior.

No obvious dangerous aura emanated from within the cave.

"What is inside this cave?"

Ye Tian's eyes flickered, and he tried to probe with his Divine Sense, but it was blocked by an invisible barrier and could not penetrate deeper.

He looked back at the danger-filled swamp and then at the mysterious cave before him.

"Whether it's a blessing or a curse, there's no avoiding what's meant to be."

He restrained his aura, pushed aside the scattered rocks at the entrance, and stepped into the cave.

Shortly after he entered the cave, two dark figures sped to the edge of the swamp in the distance and stopped where Ye Tian had previously stood. It was the two Shadow Calamity Tower assassins!

"The aura disappears here!"

The tall assassin's face was grim as his gaze swept across the vast swamp. "Could he have escaped into this Dead Soul Swamp?"

"Go in and search! He's heavily injured, so he definitely couldn't have gone far! Even if he's been fed to the poisonous creatures in the swamp, we must find his body!"

The short assassin said harshly.

The two of them activated their protective evil light and quickly plunged into the swamp.