194: The undercurrent below the steps and the misalignment of spiritual energy

Darkness surged beneath the steps, like a crumpled piece of inky black silk.

Liu Shan stared at the darkness, the Light and Darkness Power at his fingertips flickering slightly. That wisp of Lingmai Power earlier was too faint, like a candle in the wind, fleeting, yet undeniably real—it was Lin Qingxue's unique, blue-gold aura, carrying the scent of Luoxia Valley's biye flower.

But the grey shadow clearly said she was above the steps.

"Did you hear that?" Liu Shan's voice was tight as he turned to Liu Zhi and Shi Yan.

Liu Zhi shook his head blankly, "Hear what? There's nothing but the wind."

Shi Yan, however, frowned, listening intently for a moment, his expression gradually growing solemn. "Something's wrong. The Qi of these steps... it's pulling downwards."

As he spoke, he picked up a small stone and threw it into the darkness below the steps.

The stone disappeared into the darkness without a sound of landing or any echoing collision, as if silently swallowed by something. A subtle ripple spread across the surface of the darkness, and after it dissipated, that faint wisp of Lingmai Power reappeared, a little clearer than before.

"She's down there." Liu Shan's heart sank, and he tightened his grip on the Sword of Light and Darkness. "Qingxue's Qi is down there."

"No way?" Liu Zhi scratched his head. "That door just now clearly led upwards. She can't have just drilled into the ground out of nowhere, can she?"

"Not the ground." Elder Xuan Jin's voice carried an unprecedented wariness, his golden body taut like a fully drawn bowstring. "This is a 'Mirror Staircase'. On the surface, it looks like it goes up, but in reality... up and down are reversed."

Mirror Staircase?

Liu Shan suddenly remembered the reflections in the Mirror Domain. Those reflections moved opposite to their originals, yet shared the same space. Could these steps be the same?

"So that grey shadow was lying to us?" Liu Zhi's face instantly darkened, his short saber drawn. "Damn it, daring to mess with us?"

Shi Yan shook his head, his gaze falling on the bricks of the steps. "Not necessarily a lie. Look at the patterns on these steps."

The bricks of the steps were carved with runes similar to the Star Core imprints, but upon closer inspection, the direction of the runes was reversed—patterns that should have rotated clockwise were now coiling counter-clockwise, like an inverted painting.

"These runes... are a variation of the 'Soul Guiding Formation'." Shi Yan's fingertip gently brushed over the runes. "Ancient texts say this Formation can distort space, making the intruder's perception of direction misaligned with the actual direction. The grey shadow might not have lied; it might have been deceived by the Formation itself."

In other words, Lin Qingxue thought she was going up, but in reality, every step she took was leading her deeper into the darkness below the steps.

This thought made cold sweat instantly break out on Liu Shan's back.

He no longer hesitated, turning and walking towards the darkness below the steps.

"Wait!" Shi Yan quickly pulled him back. "It's too dangerous! We don't know what's down there. Going down rashly..."

"We can't just watch her fall." Liu Shan interrupted him, his determination unwavering. "Her Lingmai Power is weakening. Any later and it will be too late."

He broke free from Shi Yan's hand and was the first to step onto the first step of the staircase.

The moment his foot landed, a powerful pulling force came from below, as if invisible hands were dragging him downwards. The scene before him began to distort—the steps, originally extending upwards, gradually curved in his vision, eventually connecting end to end, forming a closed loop, and at the center of the loop was that bottomless darkness.

"It really is reversed." Liu Shan took a deep breath, and Light and Darkness Power condensed into a light cushion beneath his feet, barely stabilizing his body. "You two follow, be careful of the runes underfoot, and don't let the Formation lead you astray."

Liu Zhi and Shi Yan exchanged glances, no longer hesitating, and followed him onto the steps. Elder Xuan Jin circled above their heads, his golden flames illuminating the path ahead, vigilantly watching the surrounding darkness.

With each step downwards, the coldness in the air intensified, colder than the mist in the tunnel, carrying a damp, decaying scent, as if they had entered an Ancient Tomb untouched for a thousand years. Faint sounds occasionally came from the darkness, like someone grinding their teeth in a rock crevice, or chains dragging on the ground, yet the source of the sound was never visible.

"Liu Shan, look!" Liu Zhi suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the darkness on the left.

In the darkness, a blurry figure vaguely appeared, its back to them, walking down the steps. The figure wore a blue cloth skirt, with long hair reaching her waist, and her steps were faltering—it was Lin Qingxue!

"Qingxue!" Liu Shan's heart surged with joy, and he quickly sped up to catch her. "Wait for us!"

The figure seemed to hear his call, her steps faltered, but she didn't turn back. Instead, she quickened her pace, heading deeper into the darkness. Her skirt brushed against the bricks of the steps, stirring up a string of blue-gold light dots, which was the source of that wisp of Lingmai Power.

"Why isn't she turning back?" Liu Zhi was a little puzzled. "Did she not hear us?"

Shi Yan's expression, however, grew increasingly solemn. He suddenly pulled Liu Shan back. "Something's wrong. Look at her feet."

Liu Shan looked closely and saw that Lin Qingxue's feet were not stepping on the steps, but were suspended in the air, as if being lifted by something, floating forward in the darkness. Beneath her skirt, faint strands of grey-black threads could be seen, climbing up her ankles, identical to the threads of resentment from the Heart Origin!

"It's threads of resentment!" Liu Shan's heart tightened abruptly. "She's still being controlled!"

He no longer cared about the pulling force, and Light and Darkness Power erupted as he rushed towards the figure. "Qingxue! Wake up! It's me!"

Just as he was about to catch up to the figure, it suddenly stopped and slowly turned around.

There was no expression on her face, her pupils were filled with grey-black patterns, identical to the grey shadow on the door. But at the corner of her mouth, there was a strange smile.

"I got you." She spoke, her voice neither Lin Qingxue's nor the grey shadow's, but a new, childishlytender voice.

The moment her voice fell, her figure suddenly transformed into countless grey-black threads, like a giant net, covering Liu Shan and the other two!

"Watch out!" Liu Shan shielded Liu Zhi and Shi Yan behind him, sweeping the Sword of Light and Darkness horizontally, splitting open a gap. But there were too many threads, rushing forward one after another, quickly enveloping the three in a translucent cocoon.

The darkness outside the cocoon began to surge violently, and countless pairs of eyes emerged from the darkness, their pupils grey-black, originating from the same source as the threads on the cocoon, staring intently at the three inside the cocoon.

"What in the world is this thing?" Liu Zhi swung his saber at the cocoon, but the blade bounced off, leaving only a shallow white mark.

"It's 'Stairway Soul'." Shi Yan's voice was bitter. "Ancient texts say that all consciousness devoured by the Mirror Staircase will transform into Stairway Soul, appearing in the image of the person the intruder cares about most, luring more people to fall."

In other words, the figure just now was not Lin Qingxue at all, but merely bait created by the Stairway Soul using her Qi.

Liu Shan's heart sank to rock bottom.

What about the real Lin Qingxue?

Why would her Qi appear here? Had she already... This thought had just emerged when he forcibly suppressed it.

Impossible.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. If the Stairway Soul could mimic her Qi, it meant she had indeed been here, and might even be nearby.

"What are these threads afraid of?" Liu Shan asked, Light and Darkness Power circulating within the cocoon, searching for the threads' weakness.

"They're afraid of power from the same source." Shi Yan suddenly remembered something, pulled out a small jade bottle from hisPregnant, and poured out three blue-gold Medicinal Pills. "These are 'Spirit Pills' I refined using the Lingmai powder Miss Qingxue left behind earlier. Perhaps they can attract the true Lingmai Power."

Liu Shan immediately took the Medicinal Pills and swallowed them without hesitation.

The Medicinal Pills melted upon entering his mouth, and a familiar blue-gold Qi spread down his throat, resonating with the Light and Darkness Power within him. The threads outside the cocoon seemed to be stimulated, beginning to tremble violently, their grey-black light flickering.

More importantly, that faint wisp of Lingmai Power reappeared, this time no longer intermittent, but forming a clear trajectory, coming from the depths of the darkness outside the cocoon, as if guiding their direction.

"Over there!" Liu Shan's eyes lit up, and Light and Darkness Power fused with the blue-gold Qi, condensing into a sharp cone of light, which fiercely pierced one side of the cocoon!

"Pfft!"

The cone of light pierced through the cocoon, and the grey-black threads scattered as if burned, revealing a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Go!"

Liu Shan was the first to rush out of the gap, following the trajectory of the Lingmai Power, rushing towards the depths of the darkness. Liu Zhi and Shi Yan followed closely, while Elder Xuan Jin cleared the way ahead, his golden flames burning away the obstructive threads.

The Lingmai Power became clearer and clearer, and they could even smell the familiar scent of biye flower.

At the end of the darkness, a faint blue-gold light appeared.

Liu Shan's heart pounded faster and faster as he quickened his steps, rushing towards the light.

The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually transforming into a blue-gold barrier. Behind the barrier, a curled-up figure could vaguely be seen—it was Lin Qingxue!

She seemed to be in a deep sleep, the dust seed on her brow no longer flickering, and faint blue-gold Lingmai Power gently surrounded her, forming a fragile shield, resisting the surrounding grey-black threads.

"Qingxue!" Liu Shan's heart swelled with joy, and he reached out, wanting to pass through the barrier and pull her out.

Just as his hand was about to touch the barrier—

The barrier suddenly flickered violently, and a line of distorted characters appeared in the blue-gold light:

"Don't touch me—danger."

The moment the characters dissipated, Lin Qingxue's eyes snapped open.

In her pupils, there were no grey-black patterns, no familiar warmth, only a pure, icy blue-gold, like two burning fragments of a Star Core.

She looked at Liu Shan, her mouth devoid of any expression, only a dead silence of calm.

Then, she slowly raised her hand, and blue-gold Lingmai Power condensed in her palm, forming a sharp blade of light, aimed at Liu Shan outside the barrier.

Liu Shan's heart instantly skipped a beat.

He could feel that the power on that blade of light was pure, powerful, carrying a destructive aura... that did not belong to Lin Qingxue.

What shocked him even more was that the direction of the blade of light was not towards him, but towards her own heart.

As if what she intended to do was not attack, but... self-destruction.