Chapter 317 : Unknown
Three days passed in a flash, during which Yun Qingyue never emerged from her room.
Jiang Mo had wandered outside her door several times, but whether due to effective soundproofing or Yun Qingyue's unwillingness to respond, the door had never opened even once. Having dropped such an enormous revelation, Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu also seemed to feel that time was needed for digestion and reconciliation, thus they hadn't appeared these few days, nor had they rashly disturbed Yun Qingyue.
After two or three days had passed this way, the time had arrived to disguise themselves and head to Skyreaching Peak—the reason they had remained in the Nine Abyss Sect was to observe what the sect planned next, making this journey essential.
Shortly after daybreak, Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu came downstairs, standing in the main hall, gazing at Yun Qingyue's tightly closed door.
Qingyu's face no longer showed its customary coldness, displaying rare hesitation, as if debating whether to knock.
Zhu Baiyi was more straightforward: "I'll knock. This is important business."
Just as her words fell, a soft "creak" sounded as a door opened. However, it wasn't Yun Qingyue who emerged, but Jiang Mo from next door. Upon seeing the two, she paused briefly, greeted them, then glanced toward the neighboring door. Seeing it still closed, she went over and knocked twice, reminding: "Senior Sister, it's time."
Yun Qingyue must have been prepared; before Jiang Mo could knock a third time, the firmly closed door opened. She walked out, cold and serene, showing no emotions, seemingly no different from usual.
No, there was a difference—she deliberately avoided Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi, not even casting a glance at her master.
Qingyu felt some distress. Though uncertain how to face Yun Qingyue, this was after all the disciple she had raised with her own hands. The master-disciple relationship had once been exceptionally close, but now... At this thought, she couldn't help but transfer her resentment, glaring at the culprit beside her.
Zhu Baiyi noticed this and felt somewhat uncomfortable, though her expression revealed nothing. She addressed everyone with formality: "It's been three days. Today we must go to Skyreaching Peak to meet with the Nine Abyss Sect members, though we don't know where we'll go afterward. With our cultivation levels, we needn't worry too much; we just need to be careful not to expose our identities."
The group responded tepidly, though each employed their techniques to transform their appearances. Notably, Yun Qingyue, who had previously struggled with transformation techniques, had somehow practiced during these three days and now executed the transformation flawlessly.
Observing this, Jiang Mo both marveled at her aptitude and regretted her own diminished usefulness, her gaze toward her Senior Sister brightening threefold.
Yun Qingyue naturally noticed this, turning to glance at Jiang Mo before withdrawing her gaze: "Let's go."
With these words, Yun Qingyue was the first to leave the pavilion, with Jiang Mo following closely behind. Whether an illusion or not, Jiang Mo felt her Senior Sister seemed considerably colder toward her this time... Had her Senior Sister transferred her anger onto her? But she clearly hadn't done anything, and this was an old grudge between the two elders—how could it possibly be blamed on a tiger not even a hundred years old?!
Jiang Mo couldn't understand, eventually consoling herself that her Senior Sister was simply in a bad mood and had no energy to pay attention to her. Once this matter passed, her Senior Sister's treatment of her would certainly return to normal.
After the two left, Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi didn't delay either. Exchanging a glance, they followed.
With a wave of her hand, Zhu Baiyi retrieved the pavilion, after which they all flew toward Skyreaching Peak.
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Apart from their somewhat bizarre aesthetic, demonic cultivation sects differed little from righteous path sects in many respects.
For instance, the plaza atop Skyreaching Peak, except for the mountain's different color and slight variations in architectural decoration, greatly resembled the plaza on Mount Tianyang. The most succinct description would be "vast." Similarly, the Nine Abyss Sect disciples gathered on the plaza, aside from a few lone wolves, were as gossipy as ordinary people. Clustered in small groups, all manner of rumors circulated among them.
The four arrived neither early nor late. Finding a corner to stand in, they overheard numerous disjointed conversations—
"Have you heard? The Grand Elder and the disciples he took with him—all their soul lamps shattered a couple of days ago."
"Just two days ago? I heard that about ten days ago, some people infiltrated the sect using the Grand Elder's name? The sect even issued an arrest warrant. I wonder if they caught those people."
"I heard from someone in the Enforcement Hall that they caught some, but who knows if they got them all."
"Who cares whether they're all caught or not? We're about to leave anyway, and this has nothing to do with us."
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with us? The Grand Elder led a team before, and they all disappeared. The disciples summoned by the sect last time had cultivation no lower than ours. Where do you think we're going this time? Could it be... Pah, pah, pah! No way."
"Alright, don't worry needlessly. The sect has acted many times, stumbling only once. It was just a coincidence. Though the Third Elder is leading us this time, in terms of cultivation, the Third Elder is no worse than the Second Elder. There definitely won't be any problems."
"Quiet, quiet! The Third Elder has arrived."
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With this warning, the previously noisy plaza immediately fell silent. The disciples who had been scattered across the plaza gradually converged toward the center—their numbers weren't particularly large; similar to when the Nine Abyss Sect's Grand Elder had led a team to the Merperson Island, this gathering also comprised about fifty people.
Jiang Mo's group naturally followed the crowd toward the plaza center. Upon drawing near, they discovered that the Nine Abyss Sect's Third Elder was actually a female cultivator. Moreover, she seemed unconcerned with appearances, being extraordinarily gaunt, her final concession apparently being the maintenance of normal skin tone.
Even so, her extreme thinness gave her a somewhat gloomy air, causing people to instinctively hold their breath when her gaze swept over them.
The Third Elder scanned the crowd with a single glance, then coldly stated: "Two are missing, arriving even later than me. No need to wait."
This "no need to wait" clearly boded ill, as everyone who had come had not only accepted the mission in advance but had also received half the contribution points upfront. If those two hadn't met with misfortune but still failed to arrive on time, they would likely face the sect's reckoning... Everyone understood this, and though their hearts tightened, not a single person stepped forward to plead for mercy.
In fact, the Third Elder didn't give anyone time to intervene, immediately producing a scroll from her sleeve—it looked familiar, once again a collective teleportation scroll. Was the Nine Abyss Sect really this wealthy?!
Jiang Mo internally questioned this, while even Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi's expressions subtly changed as they exchanged glances.
As a Peak Master of the Xuanqing Sect, Qingyu had some understanding of the sect's treasury. To her knowledge, the sect indeed possessed various treasures passed down through generations, including teleportation scrolls. But such items diminished with each use, and unless absolutely necessary, the sect would never casually deploy them.
The same applied to the Crimson Blood Sect; as its leader, Zhu Baiyi knew the sect's treasures intimately. As fellow demonic path sects with seemingly comparable strength, even with the Nine Abyss Sect's recent rise, there was no logical reason for such a sudden increase in resources.
Both felt some internal turbulence, but they had no time to investigate or think further. They watched as the Third Elder unhesitatingly tore open the scroll, releasing a white light that swiftly engulfed everyone gathered on the plaza. When the light faded, all those on the plaza had vanished, leaving latecomers who arrived moments later to find they had missed their opportunity.
Meanwhile, beneath the white light's cover, Jiang Mo's group experienced teleportation for the second time, now somewhat accustomed to it. Not feeling anxious, they slightly narrowed their eyes, perceiving only a brightening and dimming of light before reopening their eyes to find themselves in another world entirely.
The air was dry, everything golden as far as the eye could see—they stood in the middle of a desert.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo glanced at her Senior Sister beside her, feeling somewhat wistful—she remembered how they had once walked through a desert in the Canglán Secret Realm. She had found spirit crystals in that desert, captured a puppet heart, and entered a trial ground with her Senior Sister, where they had even obtained the Four Beast Seal.
Clearly, though, this desert wasn't the one from the Canglán Secret Realm, nor was this any secret realm. Looking around, she saw only sand dunes, without any distinguishing features to determine their location.
Perhaps guessing Jiang Mo's confusion, Yun Qingyue suddenly said softly: "It's the North Abyss."
As the name suggested, North Abyss was located in the northern part of the Xuantian Continent, named for the deep crevice resembling an abyss in the far north. However, the entire North Abyss was vast, consisting of more than just a single crevice; slightly to the south lay extensive deserts and gobi, stretching westward. Those who had visited the North Abyss knew that the spiritual energy here was particularly violent, making it easily distinguishable.
One issue was that the desert of the North Abyss was indeed vast, without particularly conspicuous landmarks, making it easy to get lost. The only fortunate aspect was that flying wasn't prohibited here, and cultivators didn't require food or water, so even getting lost for eight or ten years wouldn't be problematic.
Jiang Mo wasn't entirely ignorant; she had heard various rumors about the North Abyss and could now confirm their location by sensing the spiritual energy. Due to its violent spiritual energy, the North Abyss wasn't suitable for most cultivators' practice, making it only slightly less desolate than the extreme west... Why had the Nine Abyss Sect specifically dispatched an elder to lead a team here?
This question had barely circulated in Jiang Mo's mind before she formed a guess, immediately transmitting a message to the three: "From the extreme south to the extreme north, that sealing formation from years ago—does the North Abyss also have some special suppression site?"
Though she addressed all three, Jiang Mo's gaze fell only on the two elders. As a sect leader and a peak master, they naturally possessed more information than ordinary people. Especially Zhu Baiyi, who was not only the Crimson Blood Sect Leader but also carried monstrous beast heritage, should reasonably know more about these past secrets.
However, upon hearing this question, Zhu Baiyi shook her head and responded: "This is a secret. To prevent future attempts to selfishly open the seal, information about the suppression locations was never circulated, and now no one knows anymore."