172: Chapter 172: Sumimoto...

On the ruins.

Wu Li stood in place, watching the direction in which the little ghost had disappeared, and remained silent for a long time.

"Nascent Soul."

Wu Li took a deep breath, suppressing the sense of dread.

Then he suddenly remembered the time mentioned by the little ghost.

"Has it already been three years? If so, then over at Taiyue Mountain..."

Thinking of this, Wu Li's expression darkened. He spread his wings and took flight, intending to leave, but just at that moment, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Hm?"

Wu Li's perception was now extremely sharp; since he felt something was wrong, there must definitely be an abnormality.

Wu Li retracted his wings, landed back on the ruins, and narrowed his blood-red pupils slightly.

"Blood Pupil, activate."

"Hum~"

The Blood Pupil on his forehead snapped open, and scarlet light surged out like a tide, sweeping across the entire ruin.

The Three Transformations: Profound Insight, capable of breaking Restrictions and perceiving the essence of all things. In an instant, the ruins of Feiliu Workshop became transparent within the vision of the Blood Pupil.

Wu Li's gaze did not linger on the surface.

He looked deep down, passing through rubble, soil, and layer upon layer of rock strata.

Feiliu Workshop was built on a cliff; the underground structure was far more complex than he had imagined.

There were abandoned mine shafts, naturally formed fissures, and secret chambers left behind by Cultivators from unknown eras.

One layer, two layers, three layers.

The light of the Blood Pupil traveled downwards, penetrating nearly a hundred zhang of rock strata.

Then, Wu Li saw it.

At the very depths, a wisp of Demonic Qi lay quietly, like a hibernating snake, curled up in the darkness, motionless.

Beneath the Demonic Qi, there was also a sign of life.

Wu Li furrowed his brows.

He felt he had seen that Demonic Qi somewhere before.

He stared at that Demonic Qi for a long time, the scarlet light in his Blood Pupil sweeping over it repeatedly, until he suddenly remembered. The corners of his mouth slowly curled up, revealing a meaningful smile.

"Haha."

Wu Li laughed aloud, his voice echoing across the empty ruins, carrying a hint of surprise, a touch of playfulness, and an indescribable excitement.

"I wonder, can we call this 'enemies crossing paths on a narrow road'?"

Wu Li retracted his Blood Pupil and squatted on the pile of rubble, his claws tapping lightly against his knees. He stared at the ruins beneath his feet, his mind racing.

He was in no hurry to act, nor was he in a hurry to leave. He just squatted there, his blood-red pupils reflecting the rubble-strewn ground.

Wu Li did not hesitate.

He stood up, the fire halberd sprung from his palm, blade facing downward, and he slammed it into the ground.

Demon Power surged along the shaft of the halberd into the earth.

"Boom!!"

Rubble exploded, soil churned, and a passage leading underground was forcibly carved out by him.

With the fire halberd clearing the way, debris piled up on both sides, and the soil collapsed beneath his feet.

Wu Li descended all the way, his Blood Pupil glowing with scarlet light in the darkness, illuminating the path ahead.

The distance of a hundred zhang was covered in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

At the very bottom was a naturally formed underground cavern.

It was not large, only a few zhang in circumference. Water droplets seeped from the surrounding stone walls, and the air was filled with a damp, musty smell and a faint scent of blood.

In the very center of the cavern, a humanoid figure was curled up on the ground, wrapped in a layer of dark red light barrier. The barrier was covered in cracks, as if it might shatter at any moment.

Wu Li put away the fire halberd, squatted down, and stared at the figure with his blood-red pupils.

This person was none other than the Feiliu Workshop Master, Master Mo Yuan.

Master Mo Yuan's face was now gaunt beyond recognition; his cheekbones protruded, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his skin was gray, like a corpse that had been left out for too long.

He was wrapped in a robe whose color could no longer be discerned. The robe was covered in scorch marks and holes, revealing skin covered in hideous scars.

Wu Li's Blood Pupil swept over Master Mo Yuan's entire body, and he frowned slightly.

The old thing's condition was even worse than he had expected.

At Master Mo Yuan's Dantian, the demon core had cracked, and the Demon Power inside was slowly leaking out like a punctured water bag.

At least half of his Meridians were severed, and the remaining ones were twisted and deformed, with Demon Power stuttering and stalling as it tried to move through them.

Even more serious was his Sea of Consciousness. The palm strike from the Nascent Soul Cultivator had not only shattered his body but had even caused cracks in his Divine Soul.

He was still alive, but that was all he was—merely alive.

Wu Li stared at Master Mo Yuan for a few breaths, the scarlet light in his Blood Pupil swirling slowly.

Three years ago, when Supreme Elder Xiao Wancheng crushed Feiliu Workshop with a single palm, everyone thought Master Mo Yuan had died.

Unexpectedly, this old thing had used some unknown method to escape with his life right under the nose of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

But while he had escaped, the price was evident. With his demon core cracked and Meridians severed, in this state, relying only on his current method of healing, even if he were given a hundred years, he might not recover even half of his former strength.

"Hum~"

Master Mo Yuan's eyelids twitched, then he struggled to open them. His murky pupils focused on the figure crouching before him, recognized him, and then he revealed a bitter smile.

"I really didn't expect this."

Master Mo Yuan's voice was as raspy as sandpaper grinding against stone, every word accompanied by an airy wheeze.

"To be the first to find me, it actually turned out to be you."

Wu Li crossed his arms, his blood-red pupils fixed on him, his body leaning slightly forward like a hunting falcon ready to pounce at any moment. He did not lower his guard.

Although this old thing looked half-dead, his foundation as a Late Stage Third-Order existence was still there; who knew if he was still hiding some life-saving trump card?

"Indeed."

Wu Li's voice was flat, a faint, ambiguous smile hanging on the corners of his mouth. "In your current state, Workshop Master Mo, it would be better to just be dead."

Master Mo Yuan did not speak.

Wu Li's claws tapped lightly on his upper arm, the light in his Blood Pupil locked firmly onto Master Mo Yuan's entire body, not missing any subtle changes.

"You are holding on so desperately here, but... what are you waiting for?"

As soon as the words fell, Master Mo Yuan's expression changed.

From the beginning, Wu Li had thought Master Mo Yuan was merely struggling to survive. Hiding underground, protecting himself with that broken light barrier, slowly healing, slowly recovering, waiting a hundred or eighty years to come out. This was the choice of most people who were critically injured and near death.

But the moment Master Mo Yuan opened his eyes, Wu Li realized he had been wrong. All the power inside this old thing had been mobilized. The remaining Demon Power was squeezed out from the cracks and surged through his Meridians; although half of his Meridians were severed, he was pushing the remaining ones to their absolute limit.

His demon core was cracked, and by gathering back the leaking Demon Power, he risked shattering the already damaged core entirely. Such a situation was not consistent with a state of healing. This was clearly just holding on to his last breath, waiting for something.

Master Mo Yuan was silent for a moment, his murky eyes staring at Wu Li, before he spoke.

"Although there is enmity between you and me, it has not reached the point of mutual destruction."

"I advise you to leave."

Wu Li did not move.

His crossed arms did not loosen, and the scarlet light in his Blood Pupil did not dim. He just squatted there in front of Master Mo Yuan, a distance of one zhang, the two of them staring at each other across a light barrier that was about to shatter.

"Leave?"

Wu Li repeated the word, the curve of his mouth unchanged. "Are you thinking of my well-being, Workshop Master Mo?"

Master Mo Yuan did not answer. His eyes were fixed on Wu Li, and in his murky pupils, that pair of blood-red eyes were reflected.

"Leaving is not impossible."

"Since that is the case, why not do this: I see that you are also nearing your end, so why don't you give me the thing behind you, and I will keep it for you."