31: A sliver of darkness hung in the sky, the qi as deep as a prison.

When the last ray of the setting sun was cut off by the cliffs, the Yixiantian Gorge was already immersed in ink-like darkness.

The cliffs on both sides interlocked like the fangs of a giant beast, leaving only a narrow slit above, through which the cold light of a few sparse stars leaked down.

Lin Yang stood at the pass, holding the horse's reins, his dark robes billowing loudly in the mountain wind. A damp, earthy smell lingered in his nostrils, mixed with a faint trace of blood—that was the scent of danger.

"Young Master, there is the scent of blood in the wind."

Liu Qingluan's voice trembled. She clutched Liu Hongluan's hand. The sisters' shadows were stretched thin by the lantern, plastered against the moss-covered stone wall like two withered leaves that could be swept away by the wind at any moment.

Lin Yang raised his hand to press against the firewood blade at his waist. The temperature of the hilt seeped through his palm, but it could not suppress the restlessness in his Sea of Consciousness.

The chaos star core was vibrating at an unprecedented frequency, as if an ice pick were repeatedly chiseling into his brain, warning of a terrifying power far exceeding the Xiantian Realm.

He looked up toward the depths of the gorge, where the darkness was as thick as ink. He could vaguely hear the sound of rolling gravel, as if something were crawling out from the shadows.

"Hide behind that boulder; no matter what you hear, do not come out."

Lin Yang shoved the lantern to Liu Hongluan and lowered his body to hide in a recess in the cliff wall.

His Metal Element True Essence flowed quietly, making his vision clear in the darkness—more than twenty black shadows were climbing along the cracks in the cliff, moving as swiftly as apes, their blades and axes glinting coldly under the starlight.

The man in the lead was exceptionally burly, his bare back glistening with oil in the dim light. A scar running diagonally from his left shoulder to his right waist looked like a twisted snake, rising and falling with his breath.

He carried a rusty ghost-head blade in his hand. Although the blade did not move, a faint, greenish-grey current of air swirled around it. Wherever it passed, the vines on the cliff withered at a visible rate, and even the air seemed frozen, carrying a bone-chilling sense of oppression.

"Protective Aura..."

Lin Yang's heart contracted violently.

This was the first time he had felt the pressure of the Gang Qi Realm at such close range. It was not the condensation of Xiantian Realm true essence, but a power bordering on a "Rule," capable of directly eroding the surrounding life force.

The vibration of the star core grew more intense, as if warning him: this was a life-or-death tribulation far exceeding his current Realm.

"Boss, that kid is right ahead!"

A monkey-like bandit lowered his voice, pointing toward where Lin Yang was hiding, "Elder Lin said, we must see the person alive, or see 'that thing' if he's dead!"

The burly leader let out a scoff, his triangular eyes shining terrifyingly in the darkness: "A brat at the fourth level of the Innate stage, and he's worth me making a trip myself? Brothers, take him alive, drinks on me!"

The bandits chuckled, and the sound of footsteps approached from all directions.

Lin Yang could clearly hear the sound of their boots grinding over the gravel and feel that greenish-grey Protective Aura flooding in like a tide, pressing against his chest until it felt stifled, and the circulation of his true essence became sluggish.

He took a deep breath and tapped his fingertips rapidly against the stone wall—that was the signal for Liu Qingluan.

The next moment, a rustling sound erupted from both sides of the gorge. Countless withered vines burst forth from the cracks in the cliff, coiling like green chains toward the front row of bandits.

This was a trap Liu Qingluan had set in advance using Wood Element True Essence. Now, suddenly triggered in the darkness, it achieved a rather unexpected effect.

"Damn it, it's an ambush!"

The monkey-like bandit screamed as he was tripped by the vines. Just as he was about to struggle, he was choked by the hallucinogenic herb powder scattered by Liu Hongluan, causing tears and snot to stream down his face.

"Small tricks."

The burly leader let out a cold snort and swung his ghost-head blade casually.

The greenish-grey Protective Aura acted like an invisible blade, instantly shredding the vines coiling toward him. When the broken vines hit the ground, they were already charred black like charcoal.

He looked up toward the recess where Lin Yang was hiding, his triangular eyes narrowing into slits: "Come out. Hiding like a rat, what kind of man are you?"

Lin Yang knew he couldn't hide any longer.

He stepped out of the shadows clutching his firewood blade. The light of the lantern illuminated his young but calm face: "Black Wind Stockade? How much did Lin Hongfeng pay you to send you here to die?"

The leader grinned, revealing two rows of yellow teeth, and the scar behind his shoulder looked even more hideous in the lamplight: "Benefits? Once I get the treasure you're hiding, I'll be able to enter the Misty Immortal Palace as an honored guest, and by then, the entire Qingshi Town will be mine!"

He stomped forward, and the greenish-grey Protective Aura suddenly expanded, causing the gravel on the cliff to fly up with a rustling sound, "It's a pity, kid, you have a thin life; you won't have the fortune to see that day."

Before he finished speaking, the ghost-head blade in his hand suddenly turned into a streak of greenish-grey light, slashing over with a sharp whistle that tore through the air.

The Protective Aura condensed into a half-foot-long blade edge in front of the weapon. Wherever it passed, the ground was plowed into a deep trench, and the soil churned as if boiling—this strike was already far beyond the limits of what the Xiantian Realm could withstand.

Lin Yang's pupils contracted sharply. His Earth Element True Essence erupted beneath his feet, and a half-zhang-high stone wall instantly rose in front of him.

But with a loud "bang," the stone wall shattered like paper. The remaining force of the Protective Aura blade edge did not diminish, grazing his shoulder and drawing a spray of blood before slamming into the stone wall behind him, blasting out a bowl-sized pit.

The scent of blood permeated the air.

Lin Yang clutched his bleeding shoulder, feeling half his body go numb. The vibration of the chaos star core was almost about to flip his Sea of Consciousness—this was the Gang Qi Realm; its mere residual power was enough to severely injure him at the fourth level of the Innate stage.

In the darkness, Liu Hongluan's sobbing was swallowed by the mountain wind. Liu Qingluan covered her mouth tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.

The leader watched Lin Yang's staggering figure and let out a coarse laugh: "Fourth level of the Innate stage? In front of me, you're no different from an ant!"

He approached step by step, the greenish-grey Protective Aura spreading like thick fog, shrouding the entire pass, "Kneel down and beg for mercy now, and I might let you die a quick death."