Chapter 162: Beneath the Abyss

Lin Zhan found it somewhat strange. Ever since Shui Xinxin's avatar was suppressed within his white bone pagoda, she had never mentioned it once. Had she truly forgotten about it, or was that avatar merely a disposable creation to begin with?

However, according to Lin Zhan's observations, the Shui Xinxin inside the bone pagoda appeared to be a completely normal "person." She could move and walk around inside, and her cultivation level was merely restricted, preventing her from breaking out.

This matter remained buried in Lin Zhan's heart; since Shui Xinxin did not bring it up, he chose not to ask.

Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. In the final round of the Blazing Flame Mountain Range's disciple grand competition, out of the original three hundred disciples, some had died and others had withdrawn, leaving fewer than thirty remaining.

As if driven by some mysterious summons, these surviving disciples were now converging from all directions toward the center of the Southern Light Abyss.

The central region lay at the very deepest depth of the abyss.

Unlike the gloom outside, this place was rather different. Countless leaping ghostly little flames drifted through the air; when bright, they resembled thousands of household lamps, and where sparse, they looked like fireflies on a summer night.

Lin Zhan, with Shui Xinxin by his side, stood on the final small stone ledge near the bottom and gazed out. Two shadows swayed from side to side amidst those clusters of fluorescent light...

Fewer than thirty people were left, but these were the ultimate elites of the Five Peaks!

Although the group of Sword Burial Peak disciples led by Wu Shan had been completely wiped out, they were merely a fraction of Sword Burial Peak. Wu Shan had been assigned a specific mission, while several of his senior martial brothers were participating in the disciple grand competition with single-minded focus.

Those individuals were the true elite disciples of Sword Burial Peak.

Lin Zhan did not yet know whether Qin Qingxuan was still alive, and right now, his greatest anticipation was to see her as soon as possible.

In this abyssal wasteland, aside from the ghostly flames, there were subterranean winds blowing from unknown directions—at times fierce and biting, at times gentle, and occasionally falling completely silent.

Lin Zhan took a step forward, paused, and looked back at Shui Xinxin.

"Why did you stop? I'll keep following you, don't worry..." Shui Xinxin's stubborn lips curved up slightly, her bright and clear eyes filled with unyielding conviction.

The task entrusted to her by her master—to protect and assist Lin Zhan—perhaps only truly began from this moment onward.

Yet, judging by the current situation, she knew she was very likely to become a burden to Lin Zhan. Therefore, when he looked back at her, she forced an expression of resolute determination to put his mind at ease.

Lin Zhan turned around and leaped forward, soaring like a giant bird with wings spread wide, diving toward the depths of the abyss.

Shui Xinxin followed closely behind, conjuring multiple afterimages in the air. One afterimage advanced while the trailing ones dissolved and reformed ahead—this was her movement technique. Because she was preternaturally fast, the sky seemed bridged by a rainbow composed of her illusions...

Landing side by side, Lin Zhan found that the surrounding environment and the ground beneath their feet consisted entirely of volcanic terrain. Gray, white, black—colors of all kinds were present, shaped in arbitrary patterns without any actual paths to follow. They could only rely on slow exploration. However, the spiritual energy here was exceptionally dense, and rare medicinal herbs that were scarce in the outside world could be seen growing luxuriantly everywhere.

Such places were often favored by fierce beasts as lairs, so Lin Zhan secretly transmitted his voice via divine sense to Shui Xinxin, urging her to remain vigilant of her surroundings to prevent unexpected dangers.

A slight commotion came from the corner ahead to the right. When Lin Zhan and Shui Xinxin rushed over, they found two disciples of the Heavenly Strong Peak lying flat on the ground. Near them, a patch of ground where a plant should have been growing now only left behind an empty pit.

Lin Zhan inspected the corpses and found that their bodies were still warm. Aside from the fatal wounds, there were no other injuries, and none of their belongings were missing. This indicated that they had died during that very commotion just moments ago, and the attacker had merely taken away a certain medicinal herb.

What kind of vital medicinal herb could be more fiercely contested than competition points?

As for medicinal herbs and spiritual plants, Lin Zhan had casually gathered a few earlier, and none of them seemed worth risking one's life over.

Lin Zhan squatted down and carefully examined the empty pit. He noticed that the soil and rocks within the pit were vastly different from the surrounding ground, indicating that it had not originally grown on the surface. It was highly likely that this medicinal herb had only recently emerged.

Growing deep underground and only newly surfaced—what kind of precious treasure could this be?

And why was it able to emerge right now? There was likely some extraordinary reason behind this occurrence.

Lin Zhan recalled the earth-shattering tremor outside the Youjue Underground Palace and the giant black tentacles that had appeared afterward. A chill still ran down his spine whenever he thought of it, and he had wanted nothing more than to avoid it. Could this be related to that terrifying entity?

For the time being, Lin Zhan had no way to verify this conjecture.

The situation had grown somewhat complicated because divine sense was restricted here. Those ghostly flames only provided illumination in relatively open areas, while behind the volcanic rocks and in the corners, everything remained pitch-dark and gloomy, concealing who-knows-what.

"This place is terrifying; it's the ugliest terrain I've ever seen!" Shui Xinxin finally couldn't help complaining.

She had no idea why she had come here, and neither did Lin Zhan, but they shared the exact same intuition: this was precisely the place they needed to be.

Indeed, the terrain here was exceptionally ugly. Mountains didn't look like mountains, and the ground didn't look like ground; flat land was practically nonexistent. The most wondrous thing was that the growing plants managed to survive relying solely on spiritual energy.

The two continued to expand their search radius. This was no longer a simple search; it felt as though some invisible, mysterious guidance was directing their path, converging them toward a single destination.

A sudden, earth-shattering roar caught them completely off guard. The entire ground violently trembled, accompanied by a fierce, violent gale that almost knocked the two off their feet. Shui Xinxin tightly hugged Lin Zhan's arm as they scrambled together into a recessed crevice in the rock face...

Howling black winds swept past the opening of the crevice. Lin Zhan could clearly see the outer rock layers being peeled away layer by layer, demonstrating the terrifying ferocity of the wind.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of warmth against his chest and realized the little loli had pressed herself tightly into his arm. Due to the narrowness of the rock fissure, their bodies were pressed flush against each other.

Of course, Lin Zhan harbored no improper thoughts toward the little loli, so he shifted slightly, moving his body a bit further outward to make things more comfortable.

However, this movement placed his body even closer to the outer edge of the rock fissure, where the wind blew with the greatest fury.

The black wind, carrying a bone-chilling frost, continued to rage. Suddenly, Lin Zhan saw a shadow flash across one end of the rock wall. Immediately after, a long-haired hand appeared, tightly gripping the opposite wall, followed by the agonizingly slow emergence of a head that looked neither human nor beast. However, this creature's efforts ultimately proved futile against the overwhelming pressure of the wind; its grip slipped, and in an instant, it vanished without a trace... (To be continued.)