The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Tang Lian was still frowning. "Be that as it may," he said seriously, "I still think it's better to report to the Elders now. Our mission is to investigate, not to take action!"

Tang Xian looked displeased. "We're going back after just looking at some black fog? I can't show my face in the sect like that. Besides, if we only report a black fog, they'll probably dock most of our contribution points. The points are different if we kill a demonic beast. And if it's the Demon Race, the points are even better!"

Tang Lian wavered. 'He's right,' he thought. 'Being scared off just because our Divine Sense can't penetrate a black fog... it's too humiliating.'

Just then, Qiu Cai spoke up. "Senior Brother Tang, you can send a Communication Flying Sword to notify the sect while we all investigate together."

Tang Xian grinned. "That's a great idea!"

Tang Lian considered this for a moment, then nodded. "However, I think one person should go into the fog first to see if it's dangerous."

Tang Xian's gaze swept over the group. "So, who's it going to be?"

Tang Lian spoke up. "Don't bother looking, little brother. Of course I'll go. My cultivation is the highest. If the worst should happen, I'll be in the best position to handle it!"

Tang Xian quickly shook his head. "Big Brother, in that case, we might as well all go together. We can better watch out for each other that way."

Qiu Cai smiled faintly. "Senior Brother Tang, we all accepted the same mission. We can't let you monopolize the credit. It's best we all go together!"

Chen Dong watched them for some time. 'They seem like rookies,' he thought. And he wasn't wrong. During the great war back then, the three had been Golden Cores assigned to stay behind and guard the sect. Now, the missions inside the Guardian Array were all left for Cultivators with less experience fighting the Demon Race. More experienced Cultivators would choose missions outside the Guardian Array, where the rewards were much more generous.

At Qiu Cai and Tang Xian's insistence, a consensus was reached: everyone would enter the black fog together.

Chen Dong, for his part, had no objections. He was here looking for an opportunity to break through to the Golden Core Stage, so a bit of danger was welcome. Besides, from what he understood, the entire Guardian Array had already been scoured by Nascent Soul Stage experts from the three major sects. No matter how dangerous things got, three Golden Core Stage Cultivators should be able to handle it.

After Tang Lian sent out the Communication Flying Sword, he first tried to cast spells to disperse the black fog. But whether he used a Sword Slash, manipulated the wind, or tried to burn it away with fire, the fog remained. It even showed faint signs of spreading.

The three leaders decided to split the twenty-person team into three rows, with one Golden Core Cultivator at the head of each. They would enter the black fog simultaneously.

Chen Dong and Li Zhixuan were both assigned to Tang Xian's row. They were placed at the very back, separated from Tang Xian by four other people.

Upon entering the black fog, Chen Dong's first impression was of the silence. It was utterly still; there wasn't a single sound.

Next, he realized his Divine Sense was being severely suppressed. He could only see about a meter in front of him, and his Divine Sense could only perceive things within a three-zhang radius. This was despite his Divine Sense being comparable to that of a Late-stage Golden Core Cultivator. A sense of foreboding washed over him.

Chen Dong sent a mental message to Li Zhixuan. "Xiaoli, what's your perception range?"

Li Zhixuan's reply came back: "Four zhang!"

'This was a Daoist at the Ninth-Layer of the First-Grade Golden Core—the absolute pinnacle of the Golden Core Stage—and even he could only perceive four zhang. The three Golden Cores leading us must have an even smaller range.'

Within the range of his Divine Sense, Chen Dong saw Tang Lian in the first row open his mouth as if to shout, but no sound reached him. By reading his lips, Chen Dong made out the words: "This black fog isn't poisonous, but it's too bizarre! Everyone, fall back!"

But then Chen Dong watched as Tang Lian spun around in place before leading his entire row deeper into the fog.

'Losing sound is one thing,' Chen Dong thought, 'but didn't he just say to fall back? Why did he spin around and head deeper in?'

The middle row was led by Qiu Cai. She also seemed to be shouting, but no sound carried. Her anxious expression suggested she was trying to use a voice transmission. Ultimately, she too followed in the direction Tang Lian had gone.

'This black fog doesn't just obstruct Divine Sense; it blocks the five senses too,' Chen Dong concluded. 'Especially sound. It's like the fog just absorbs it completely, preventing it from traveling at all.'

Tang Xian also realized something was wrong. He was caught in a dilemma, not knowing whether to advance or stay put. When he looked back, he saw nothing but black fog; he couldn't even tell which way they had come from. He wanted to go after Qiu Cai's group, but he couldn't sense any trace of them at all.

He could only bite the bullet and pick a direction he thought Tang Lian had taken. In a fog like this, where the person right in front of you could vanish in an instant, flying was out of the question. Their only option was to walk cautiously on the ground.

At the same time, Tang Xian sent a voice transmission to his group, telling everyone to stick close to him.

Chen Dong couldn't get his bearings either. He could feel the black fog swirling as if it were flowing. 'Any direction you think you're headed is constantly shifting,' he realized.

For now, his only choice was to stick close to the senior brother beside him.

The group of seven, led by Tang Xian, walked for an unknown amount of time. Within the black fog, even the passage of time seemed to blur. However, by calculating the flow of True Qi within his body, Chen Dong estimated they had been walking for about four hours.

A dilapidated earthen hut appeared within the three-zhang range of Chen Dong's Divine Sense, then another, and another. It seemed the group had stumbled upon a village.

The village was completely deserted. 'That makes sense,' Chen Dong thought. 'The villagers would have fled to escape the demons long before they were dealt with. It's normal for it to be empty.'

This whole affair had started when over a dozen people from the surrounding villages had gone missing, one after another. They were never seen alive again, and no bodies were ever found. The remaining villagers assumed they had been eaten by demonic beasts and reported the incidents to the nearest city, which in turn reported it to the Cyan Sky Sect.

Such incidents were common in the early days after the All Heaven Guarding Array was established. Typically, the major cities would arrange shelters for villagers to escape the demonic threat. Once the demons were eliminated, the villagers would be allowed to return. The Cyan Sky Sect was extremely proficient at handling these situations. Moreover, the demons that remained now weren't very powerful, so these tasks were left for less experienced members to get some practice.

But what Chen Dong and his group had encountered this time was far from ordinary. This was a black fog that enveloped several villages and was capable of disorienting even Golden Core Stage Cultivators.