299: Discovering Tu Xiong's trail

The silver streak of light that Situ Jun had transformed into sped across the plain. The whistling wind in his ears carried a hint of chilling cold, scraping against his face like a knife.

Below, the green grass swayed gently like waves, with translucent dew reflecting faint spiritual light. An ordinary Cultivator might have stopped to admire this otherworldly scenery, but Situ Jun had no such intention.

His Divine Sense was like a fine spider web, repeatedly scanning within a radius of dozens of miles. Not a single inch of land, a wisp of Spiritual Qi fluctuation, or even a slight change in the breeze escaped his perception.

Regrettably, he still hadn't sensed Tu Xiong's aura, nor had he discovered any clues related to the Secret Realm Legacy.

The deeper he went into this space, the denser the Spiritual Qi in the air became, even reaching a point of near-solidity. As he inhaled it into his lungs, even his Meridians felt as comfortable as if they were being soaked in warm water.

Yet, within this comfort, there was a faint hint of eeriness.

The green grass along the way became increasingly lush, and the color of the blades changed from emerald to deep green, with some even developing faint black edges.

Even stranger, the dew on the grass blades was gradually tinged with a layer of extremely faint gray mist. That gray mist contained a weak yet domineering Yin-cold Qi. If a low-level Cultivator were to inhale it, their Meridians would likely be eroded unknowingly, eventually leading to their body exploding.

"Daoist Ming Ya specialized in Yin-attribute Cultivation Techniques. Although the Spiritual Qi in this Secret Realm is pure, it is also mixed with the residual Yin-Evil Force from his Cultivation."

Situ Jun thought to himself, his gaze becoming wary.

The spiritual power around his body circulated slightly, forming an invisible barrier on his surface to isolate the Yin-cold Qi permeating the air.

This barrier seemed thin, yet it was indestructible; not even a trace of Yin-Evil Force could penetrate it.

The mountains ahead drew closer. They towered majestically, their peaks piercing the clouds and shrouded in a thick layer of mist.

That mist was no ordinary water vapor but was formed by the fusion of dense Spiritual Qi and Yin-Evil Force, presenting a bizarre grayish-black color.

Situ Jun attempted to probe it with his Divine Sense, only to find that as soon as his Divine Sense touched the mist, it encountered great resistance. It felt like sinking into a quagmire, barely able to extend a few miles before being bounced back by an invisible force, making it impossible to investigate the depths of the mist.

"There's something wrong with this mist; it's likely a Restriction set by Daoist Ming Ya."

Situ Jun frowned and was about to speed up to force his way through the mist when his Divine Sense suddenly captured a familiar Spiritual Sense fluctuation—it was weak but unique, belonging exactly to Tu Xiong!

Joy rose in his heart as his Divine Sense followed that fluctuation. He saw a hidden rock crevice at the foot of a nearby mountain peak.

The crevice was narrow and deep, concealed by thick vines. If not for that Spiritual Sense fluctuation, no matter how sharp his Divine Sense was, he might not have discovered it.

Inside the crevice, a silver sound transmission talisman was pressed into the gap by a black stone. The sound transmission talisman faintly emitted a Spiritual Sense aura from the same source as Tu Xiong.

Situ Jun's eyes narrowed, and his figure suddenly accelerated like an arrow leaving a bow, sweeping toward the sound transmission talisman. He was extremely fast, passing through the thick layer of mist in an instant.

The moment he passed through the mist, the scene before him changed abruptly.

Below was a massive valley filled with jagged rocks of strange shapes. Some resembled hideous ghosts, some like soaring eagles, and others like coiled Dragons. Every rock was carved with faint runes that shimmered with weak spiritual light under the nourishment of the Spiritual Qi.

Situ Jun landed in the valley, walked quickly to the rock crevice, pushed aside the vines, and took out the silver sound transmission talisman.

The sound transmission talisman felt slightly cool in his hand, and the Spiritual Sense fluctuation on it was clearly identifiable—it was indeed left by Tu Xiong. Moreover, this sound transmission talisman was set with a special Restriction; if an outsider picked it up and didn't use a specific method to open it, the Talisman would self-destruct, leaving no information behind.

Situ Jun did not hesitate. A trace of spiritual power rose from his fingertip as he carefully probed into the sound transmission talisman.

He shared a Master-Servant Contract with Tu Xiong, so Tu Xiong's Spiritual Sense Restriction was not set against him. He didn't need to break the Restriction on it at all.

As the spiritual power was injected, the sound transmission talisman trembled slightly, and a familiar voice rang in his mind:

"Master, I knew you would find this place, so I left this sound transmission talisman and the Seal Technique to enter the core of this space. Not only is the Secret Realm Legacy there, but it is also the core of this space. However, I cannot refine this Space Core, so I can only leave clues and wait for Master's arrival..."

With a slight movement of spiritual power from his fingertips, Situ Jun carefully placed the warm Jade Talisman into the depths of his Storage Pouch. The faint spiritual light remaining on the Talisman's body flashed once inside the pouch before vanishing.

He lowered his eyes in contemplation, his Divine Sense searching for the place Tu Xiong had mentioned.

A moment later, a low cliff that blended perfectly with the surrounding mountains—so much so that even birds wouldn't spare it a second glance—was identified as the place Tu Xiong had described.

The spiritual power around his body suddenly surged. Situ Jun pushed off with his toes, his figure sweeping out like an arrow from a bow, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

In less than the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, the low cliff was right before him. He abruptly withdrew his spiritual power, his figure pausing in the Void Realm for a moment before slowly landing on the open ground in front of the cliff.

"This is the place."

Situ Jun's voice carried a hint of certainty. His gaze was like a torch, firmly locked onto the seemingly normal stone wall ahead.

The stone wall was dusty and gray, its surface covered in weathered cracks and scattered patches of withered yellow moss. It looked identical in texture and color to the rocks on either side; even up close, one would only think it was an ordinary cliff face.

But Situ Jun knew that Tu Xiong would never send the wrong message. He focused his mind, recalled the opening method recorded in the Jade Slip, and quickly formed hand seals. With his index and middle fingers pressed together, spiritual power flowed rapidly at his fingertips, quickly condensing into a complex silver rune.

The moment the rune took shape, the surrounding air seemed to freeze. Tiny points of light flickered on the surface of the rune, like stars in the night sky.

"Go!"

Situ Jun's eyes narrowed, and he gave a low shout. The rune flew from his fingertip, accurately pressing against the void an inch in front of the stone wall.

"Buzz—"

The moment the rune touched the void, a low hum suddenly rang out. A circle of pale blue light ripples spread out with the rune as the center, like a stone thrown into a calm lake. The ripples layered upon each other, distorting the surrounding air into a watery state.

Even more startlingly, the originally empty void actually began to reveal a pitch-black entrance about ten feet wide amidst the swaying light ripples.

Chaos-colored mist swirled around the edges of the entrance, like crushed nebulae, while the interior was a darkness so thick it wouldn't dissipate. Wisps of dark gold light darted through the Chaos mist like leaping electric arcs.

Every flicker carried subtle spatial fluctuations, as if containing some profound and mysterious Law of space. It felt as though any slight carelessness would result in being swept into a Time-space Turbulence.