279: anxious Lin Qingxue

Outside the Secret Realm, in front of the wooden house.

Seven days had passed.

Luo Tianying sat cross-legged on the grass far from the wooden house, her face so gloomy it was almost dripping water.

She had tried countless times, but could not mobilize a single shred of Demonic Essence, nor could she leave this damned space.

The Green-Haired Girl spent most of her time sitting on a rattan chair in front of the wooden house, swinging her little legs, reading an ancient book of unknown origin with great relish, occasionally letting out crisp laughter, as if she had completely forgotten her existence.

Whenever Luo Tianying tried to ask about Yao Delong's situation or test the possibility of leaving, the girl would toss out a sentence without even raising her head:

"Noisy!"

"Shut up, little demon!"

"If you make any more noise, I'll throw you to feed the fish!"

"What's the rush? Waiting to collect a corpse or waiting to scavenge? Save it!"

Her sharp tongue and undisguised contempt made Luo Tianying so angry she almost vomited blood, but she was helpless, forced to suppress the resentment and anxiety in her heart, living each day like a year.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Death Basin.

Several figures were searching anxiously along the edge of the basin, which was filled with gray fog and deathly silence.

They were Lin Qingxue, Yue Shan, Han Yun, and the two Late Nascent Soul Stage Elders brought by Senior Sister Liu—Elder Qingsong, with a refined face and steady aura, and Elder Hongfu, who still retained her charm and had sharp eyes.

The other two Elders had gone to deliver the news that Luo Tianying was a secret agent of the Demonic Sect, and the other was guarding the unconscious Xiao Huohuo and Lin Shishi.

"Senior Sister Liu, it's here!"

Lin Qingxue pointed to the thick, impenetrable gray fog ahead, her beautiful eyes filled with worry and urgency.

"To cover our retreat, Senior Brother Yao lured that demoness, Luo Tianying, into this area! After the terrifying explosion that day, they... they disappeared!"

Liu Ruyan, dressed in a simple and elegant long dress, furrowed her delicate brows, Qiong Shuang covering her beautiful face.

"Luo Tianying... she really is a secret agent of the Demonic Sect! To have hidden so deeply that even the Sect's detection treasures were deceived! Damn it!"

She looked at the deathly gray fog basin, feeling the heart-palpitating aura of extinction emanating from it, and her heart sank.

"Let me try!"

Yue Shan let out a low roar. His injuries had mostly recovered thanks to the Spirit Medicine brought by Liu Ruyan.

He strode to the edge of the gray fog, took a deep breath, and his massive Nascent Soul Perfection Divine Sense poured out like a tide, cautiously probing into the gray fog!

However, he only made it less than fifty miles in!

"Pfft!"

Yue Shan's face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering backward, his eyes filled with horror.

"Such... such a terrifying Divine Soul attack! My Divine Sense... was crushed in an instant!"

"Let me!"

Han Yun stepped forward. Her cultivation was at the Late Nascent Soul Stage, and her Divine Sense was more condensed.

She closed her eyes and focused, her Divine Sense turning into a tough, fine thread, slowly probing inside.

Seventy miles... eighty miles... eighty-five miles!

Han Yun's face grew paler and paler, her body trembled slightly, and cold sweat seeped from her forehead.

Finally, at about ninety miles deep, she let out a muffled groan. Her Divine Sense had suffered a heavy blow and was instantly retracted. She shook her head with an ugly expression.

"That's the limit... Any deeper, and my Divine Sense will surely be severely damaged! The depths of this gray fog... I'm afraid even a Spirit Transformation Cultivator would find it hard to force their way in!"

Elder Qingsong and Elder Hongfu also tried, but the results were worse than Han Yun's; they could only reach sixty or seventy miles before having to withdraw.

"Senior Brother Yao... could he really be..." Elder Hongfu's voice carried a hint of unbearable grief.

"No!"

Lin Qingxue shook her head violently, her ice-blue eyes filled with stubbornness and conviction.

"Senior Brother... he must have a way! He promised he would come back!"

She disregarded everyone's objections, rushed to the edge of the gray fog again, her Early Nascent Soul Stage Divine Sense exploding with full force, gritting her teeth as she probed inside!

"Junior Sister Qingxue!" Han Yun exclaimed.

Having only gone less than thirty miles in, Lin Qingxue's delicate body shook violently, her face turned pale as paper, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. It felt as if her Divine Sense had been sliced by countless sharp blades, the excruciating pain almost causing her to faint!

But she still clung on, trying to sense a trace of Yao Delong's aura.

"Enough!"

Liu Ruyan flashed and appeared behind Lin Qingxue, pressing a palm to her back. A gentle yet powerful Yuan energy poured in, forcibly cutting off her Divine Sense connection and steadying her.

Looking at the blood at the corner of Lin Qingxue's mouth and the stubbornness in her eyes, Liu Ruyan felt a pang of pain in her heart.

"This place is extremely dangerous; Divine Sense cannot penetrate it." Elder Qingsong stroked his beard and said in a deep voice, "But judging by its range, the diameter is no more than two hundred miles. If Junior Brother Yao is truly inside, he might come out from another direction. Why don't we split up and search carefully along the edge of this basin? Perhaps we can find some clues!"

"That's the only way!"

Liu Ruyan nodded, her eyes filled with even more worry. She glanced at the deathly gray fog, then at the weak Lin Qingxue in her arms, and silently recited in her heart: "Junior Brother Yao... you must come out alive!"

The group immediately split into two teams. Liu Ruyan, Lin Qingxue, Han Yun, and Qiong Shuang formed one group, while Elder Qingsong, Elder Hongfu, and Yue Shan formed another. They began a carpet search along the edge of the two-hundred-mile-wide Death Basin. Every inch of land and every trace of abnormal energy fluctuation became the focus of their attention. The hope was slim, but no one was willing to give up.

Meanwhile, in that mysterious space, the Green-Haired Girl in front of the wooden house seemed to have sensed something. She raised her little face from the ancient book, her big green eyes looking toward the entrance of the Heart-Knocking Path where white light flowed, and a faint arc appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine steps... seven days... Hmph, passable. What comes next is the true 'Questioning of the Heart'..."

On the outskirts of the Death Basin, the gray fog was like an eternal curtain, shrouding everything in deathly silence and despair.

"Slow down, Qiong Shuang!"

Han Yun watched the white stream of light speeding through the low air ahead, leaving trails of afterimages, and couldn't help but call out a reminder. That stream of light was Qiong Shuang, the White Flood Dragon, who had shrunk her size. At this moment, she was like the most precise radar, sticking to every inch of land along the edge of the gray fog, frantically searching for any trace of Yao Delong's aura.

"Awooo!"

Qiong Shuang let out a short, anxious cry, her speed not slowing down in the slightest. Her ice-blue vertical pupils were filled with unprecedented anxiety and effort.

Having never had a companion before, she had accepted Yao Delong as her Big Brother. This Big Brother not only gave her shiny treasures (Spirit Stones, Magic Treasures) and refined delicious Medicinal Pills for her, but never looked down on her greedy nature!

In her simple understanding, Big Brother was the best person in the world!

Now, to save them, Big Brother had been chased into this ghostly place by that bad woman, and his life or death was uncertain. How could she not be anxious?

Previously, seeing Yue Shan, Han Yun, and the others try to use their Divine Sense to probe the depths of the gray fog, she had wanted to help too.

She carefully approached the gray fog, tentatively extending the tip of her snow-white dragon tail into it.

However, an indescribable, terrifying power that felt as if it would freeze and crush her Soul instantly passed through her scales and flesh, acting directly on her demon soul!

"Awoo—!"

With a shrill cry of pain, Qiong Shuang recoiled as if scalded by boiling oil, quickly pulling her tail back, her ice-blue vertical pupils filled with terror. Yao Beasts naturally had weaker Divine Souls, and this Extinction Soul Tide was simply her nemesis!

She couldn't help with exploring the gray fog, but searching the outskirts? This was her specialty!

She was going to turn this damned basin edge upside down!

On the other side, Liu Ruyan supported Lin Qingxue, who was pale but still had a stubborn look in her eyes. Elder Qingsong and Elder Hongfu carefully investigated every area with abnormal energy fluctuations. Yue Shan was like a human bulldozer, blasting open suspicious rocks and mounds to check them. The hope was slim, but no one gave up.