94: Chapter 94 Exploring the Caverns in the Wasteland, Encountering a Rogue Cultivator and Hearing Secrets

The next day, before dawn.

Ye Qing quietly left the Old Hunchback Inn, blending into the dim streets of Jinsha Market that had not yet fully awakened.

He still maintained his disguise as a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator, wearing grey-brown hemp clothes and a bamboo hat to cover his face, looking completely unremarkable.

Leaving the market gate, he identified the direction and headed unhurriedly toward the dangerous area in the west shrouded in yellow dust, known as the "White Bone Wasteland."

Leaving the oasis, he went deep into the sea of sand.

The wind and sand gradually grew stronger, blowing so hard that one could not open their eyes, and the world was a Chaos of pale yellow.

An ordinary Qi Refining Cultivator would likely find it difficult to take a step here and would need to protect their body with magic power to move forward.

Ye Qing walked with steady steps, seemingly not fast, yet he left a string of very shallow footprints on the sandy ground that were quickly erased by the wind and sand. His figure flickered in the wind and sand, as if merging with this desolate land.

After walking for about half a day, the color of the sand sea ahead gradually turned grey-white.

Pale animal bones and human bones, eroded into strange shapes by the wind and sand, began to appear sporadically on the ground, and a faint, lingering aura of decay and coldness filled the air.

The White Bone Wasteland had arrived.

It is said that this place was an ancient battlefield a long time ago, where corpses piled up like mountains and grievances did not dissipate. Over the years, eroded by Yin Qi and Evil Qi, it formed the desolate and eerie scene it is today.

Above the wasteland, there was no obvious vegetation, only some low, pale and strange mosses and lichens. The wind and sand here also seemed to become cold and sticky, and the wailing sound seemed to be mixed with faint weeping and roaring, disturbing people's minds.

"Yin Qi, Evil Qi, and Death Qi are mixed... It really is a good place for raising corpses and gathering ghosts. No wonder the 'Bone Demon Sect' has a stronghold here." Ye Qing spread out his Divine Sense, cautiously sensing every inch of land around him, avoiding several areas where the Yin Qi was particularly thick and where powerful ghosts were suspected to be hiding.

According to the vague description of the manager of the Wind Letter Pavilion, combined with his own speculation about the strange phenomena such as "earthquakes," "black light," and "Dragon roars and ghost cries," he headed roughly toward the northeast of the center of the wasteland.

The deeper he went, the more bones were scattered on the ground, and they became larger and more complete. Some even maintained the posture of struggling and fighting before death, which was chilling.

The cold and dead aura in the air became stronger, and the suppression on his Divine Sense gradually increased. Ye Qing maintained his Divine Sense range within five hundred zhang to ensure the accuracy of his investigation.

He continued forward for dozens of miles.

On the horizon ahead, a huge black rift valley appeared, as if torn apart by an invisible giant force.

The rift valley was hundreds of zhang wide and bottomless. The cliffs on both sides were steep, presenting an ominous pitch-black color, with rugged strange rocks and countless white bones embedded in the rock walls vaguely visible. In the valley, thick, inseparable grey-black Yin Evil Qi continued to rise and roll like mist, mixed with little phosphorus fires, flickering uncertainly.

"A ground crack... It seems this is the place. The earthquake three days ago opened this place up." Ye Qing stopped his footsteps, hid behind the skull of a huge, unknown beast, and observed carefully.

On the edge of the rift valley, there were already traces of many Cultivators' activities.

In several relatively flat places, there remained ruins of simple camps, extinguished campfires, and some charred traces and fragments of Magical Artifacts left by fighting and casting spells.

In the air, besides the Yin Evil Death Qi, there were also several spiritual power fluctuations of varying strengths remaining, showing that many groups of people had gathered, conflicted, or entered the rift valley not long ago.

"It seems the news spread quite quickly, and someone has already arrived first. I wonder if it's a Loose Cultivator, or people from the 'Bone Demon Sect', or... the Yao Race?"

Ye Qing was not surprised. There is never a shortage of adventurers in valuable places. He released his Divine Sense and cautiously probed toward the bottom of the rift valley.

The Yin Evil Qi severely eroded the Divine Sense. After probing a hundred zhang, he felt sluggish and stinging. He could only vaguely sense that there was a huge space at the bottom of the valley, and the Yin Qi was as thick as liquid. The deeper part was completely blocked by a powerful and chaotic Restriction power, making it difficult to investigate.

"There is definitely something strange below. The power of the Restriction is strong, and there seems to be more than one layer. If the Spiritual Vein is down there, I'm afraid it won't be easy to get." Ye Qing pondered in his heart and did not go down immediately.

He decided to observe the periphery of the rift valley first to see the situation.

Just at this moment, there was a sound of breaking through the air and conversation from afar.

Ye Qing immediately restrained his aura and completely hid his figure in the shadow of the huge beast skull.

A moment later, three escape lights flew from the other side of the wasteland and landed not far from the edge of the rift valley.

They were three Cultivators, two men and one woman, all dressed as Loose Cultivators, with cultivation levels ranging from Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to Late Stage. They looked vigilant, scanning the rift valley and the surrounding environment, obviously also coming after hearing the news.

"Big Brother, is this the place? It looks pretty evil." One of the thin, sharp-eyed Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivators whispered, looking at the rolling black Yin Evil Qi, feeling a bit scared.

"It can't be wrong. That black light and the movement three days ago were right here. There must be treasures below, otherwise the people from the 'Bone Demon Sect' and those Yao Race brats wouldn't be sneaking around here." The one called "Big Brother" was a burly Foundation Establishment Late Stage Body Cultivator with a fierce face. He licked his lips, and a trace of greed flashed in his eyes.

"But... the situation below is unknown, and the Restriction seems very strong. Didn't a team go down yesterday and never come back up?" The only female Cultivator, with an ordinary appearance and Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation, looked worried.

"The bold are stuffed to death, the timid are starved to death!" The Body Cultivator Big Brother snorted, "We will just wander around the periphery and pick up some leaks. I heard that the Yin Qi below is heavy, maybe we can dig up 'Yin Underworld Stones', 'Ghost Crying Vines', and the like, which can also be sold for a good price. If we really encounter a tough character, we will just run. This wasteland is so big, can we be blocked to death?"

The other two heard this, seemed to be persuaded, and nodded.

The three discussed for a moment and finally decided not to go down into the rift valley first, but to explore along the edge of the rift valley to see if there were any other entrances, or to pick up some Yin-attribute Materials scattered on the periphery.

The direction they chose happened to pass by the huge beast skull where Ye Qing was hiding.

Ye Qing held his breath and focused, reducing his sense of presence to the lowest, like a stubborn stone.

The three did not discover him, carefully exploring while whispering to each other.

"Big Brother, do you think there is really a Spiritual Vein below? Or an Immortal Cave of an ancient Cultivator that was sealed?" The thin Cultivator asked curiously.

"Who knows. But I heard that the Inner Sect Deacon of the 'Bone Demon Sect' went down personally two days ago, bringing several experts, and hasn't come up yet. To let such a person take action personally, it must not be ordinary goods." The Body Cultivator Big Brother lowered his voice.

"I heard," the female Cultivator suddenly interjected, her voice even smaller, "it seems it's not just a Spiritual Vein or an Immortal Cave... Didn't that half-crazy Loose Cultivator who escaped earlier shout something about 'Earth Dragon turning over, ten thousand ghosts wailing'? Some knowledgeable old people guessed that there might be a... 'yin vein' sealed below! And it's the kind with a high grade!"

"A yin vein?" The thin Cultivator gasped, "That thing is a treasure for Cultivating Demonic Techniques, Ghost Dao, and Corpse Refining! No wonder the 'Bone Demon Sect' is so concerned! If it's true, then below..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" The Body Cultivator Big Brother glared at him, looking around vigilantly, "Whether it is a yin vein is still a question. Even if it is, it won't be our turn. The 'Bone Demon Sect', the Yao Race, and all kinds of monsters and ghosts who heard the news are staring at it. It's good enough if we can get some scraps."

"Then why is the Yao Race here to join in the fun? Don't they dislike places with heavy Yin Qi?" The female Cultivator was puzzled.

"Who knows. Maybe there is something else below besides the yin vein? Or the Yao Race wants to spoil the good deeds of the 'Bone Demon Sect'? Anyway, the water is very muddy. We will act according to the situation, and if the situation is not right, we will withdraw immediately."

As the three of them talked, they gradually walked away and began to search for possible Yin-attribute Materials in some places where bones were piled up.

Ye Qing remained hidden, but his mind was quickly analyzing the information he had obtained.

"The Inner Sect Deacon of the Bone Demon Sect took people down and has not returned. There are also people from the Yao Race active in the vicinity. There is suspected to be a 'yin vein' below, and the grade is not low. It seems the risk is greater than expected, but the opportunity may also be greater."

"A yin vein is of great benefit to the Cave Heaven World to complete the 'Netherworld' and 'Nirvana' rules. If it can be swallowed and integrated, the Cave Heaven will definitely be able to go one step further, which will be of infinite help to my condensation of the Nascent Soul."

"However, the Restriction below is strong, and there are forces like the Bone Demon Sect and the Yao Race involved. It is unwise to break in by force. Perhaps... I can wait for them to fight until both sides are injured, or find a flaw in the Restriction, and then sneak in when the opportunity arises?"

Just as he was pondering, a burst of rapid breaking-through-the-air sounds and exclamations and angry shouts came from the other side of the rift valley!

Immediately followed by fierce spiritual power collisions and explosions!

"They are fighting!" Ye Qing's eyes narrowed, and his Divine Sense swept over quietly.

I saw that on the opposite side of the rift valley, about two or three miles away, seven or eight figures were fighting in a melee.

One side was three people, all wearing black robes embroidered with pale white skull patterns. They were Disciples of the "Bone Demon Sect". The leader had a cold aura, reaching the Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage, and the other two were also in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. They controlled Bone Magical Artifacts, sprayed poisonous smoke, and summoned several skeleton Puppets with ghost fires jumping in their eye sockets, attacking viciously.

The other side was four Cultivators with messy clothes but tacit cooperation. Looking at their moves and the faintly radiating Demonic Qi, they were clearly four transformed Yao generals in disguise! Two of them were Wolf Yao, one was an Eagle Yao, and one seemed to be a Snake Yao who was good at poison arts, all with cultivation levels in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. They were agile, their Demonic Techniques were strange, and they were fighting evenly with the Disciples of the Bone Demon Sect.

Not far from the battlefield, in an inconspicuous rock crack on the edge of the rift valley, faint earthy yellow and grey-black spiritual light flickered alternately, and a trace of more pure and obscure Earth and Yin dual-attribute Spiritual Qi was leaking out from there.

"That place... could it be a weak point of the Restriction, or a secondary entrance?" Ye Qing's heart moved.

It seems that these two groups of people also came for the things under that crack, encountered by chance, and started fighting directly.

"Fight, the more lively the better." Ye Qing was happy to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, while carefully sensing the Spiritual Qi leaking from that crack.

The quality of the Spiritual Qi was extremely high, although it was thin, it was mellow in essence, carrying the heaviness of the earth and the coldness of the netherworld, which was quite consistent with the description of the "yin vein".

"It seems the news is not false. There is indeed a high-quality Earth and Yin dual-attribute Spiritual Vein here, sealed by ancient Restrictions, which recently appeared cracks due to the earthquake, and the Spiritual Qi leaked out, attracting covetousness from all sides."

He silently evaluated the battlefield situation and the situation of the crack, and gradually had a vague plan in his heart.

In his body, the eight-thousand-zhang Cave Heaven seemed to have sensed the homologous, high-quality Earth and Yin Spiritual Qi from the outside world, and sent a trace of eager throbbing.

Xing Hao raised his head next to the star core, his dark golden pupils looked in a certain direction of the "sky" of the Cave Heaven, as if he could also sense something, and made a puzzled low cry.