Han Ying was indifferent to any area, as nothing could harm him anyway, and he strode forward.
The rest hurried to keep up.
After walking for a while, they encountered the first danger, a peak level 3 Spirit Cat, equivalent to a Nascent Soul late-stage cultivator. This was something no one could handle except Han Ying.
A water flow wrapped around the Spirit Cat's body, slowly tightening.
The Spirit Cat sensed danger and meowed pitifully, begging for mercy. Its seductive gaze seemed to say to Han Ying, 'Don't want that ugly cat, take me instead, I'm prettier.'
Admittedly, compared to the furry, long, white, doll-like Spirit Cat, it did fit human aesthetics better than Luo Li.
Luo Li: "!!!"
How dare you!
Luo Li leaped up and delivered a Meow Punch.
The Spirit Cat, having taken a blow, continued to meow pitifully at Han Ying.
'My lord, look at her, how fierce she is, unlike me, so gentle~'
Han Ying didn't intend to keep another cat, nor did he intend to kill it. The water flow transformed into a palm and tossed it far away. As soon as it landed, the Spirit Cat scampered off in a flash.
They continued forward. Perhaps sensing they were not to be trifled with, no one else dared to obstruct them.
Slowly, the vegetation became sparser, and Yan Jue frowned as he checked the map.
'I hope we took a wrong turn, otherwise this could very well be Sector G. Sector G is very dangerous.'
Jinx.
Han Bingjing stepped on something, and the group suddenly fell.
"Ahhh!"
Han Ying landed steadily, the water flow catching the others.
"Where is this? It's so dark!" Han Bingjing complained, then suddenly remembered, "Yan Jue, where's the mist-blue bead I gave you earlier? Hurry and get it out!"
"That bead?" In the darkness, Han Bingjing couldn't tell that Yan Jue's expression wasn't good.
"Yes, hurry and get it out!" Han Bingjing urged.
"Oh, I took it for artifact refining, but the refiner's skill wasn't enough, and it was ruined." Yan Jue waved it off indifferently, appearing calm. "I never knew how to tell you, so I just never did."
"Alright." Han Bingjing was a little disappointed, but artifact refining failures were common, so she didn't dwell on it.
"That was a gift my daddy gave me for my tenth birthday! Not only was it beautiful and could glow, but it could also control water. If you hadn't begged me for so long, I wouldn't have parted with it!" However, she was still unhappy and complained.
"Sorry, sorry, I'll compensate you with other gifts I prepared." Yan Jue apologized readily.
"I forgive you." Han Bingjing didn't linger on the matter.
In the darkness, no one noticed Han Ying subtly touch a jellyfish that had appeared on his shoulder at some point. Soon, the jellyfish vanished again.
"Take these." Yan Jue produced several glowing magic artifacts and distributed them among the group.
Han Ying raised his hand to refuse.
"Right, you don't need them." Yan Jue wasn't bothered and took the artifacts back.
The group didn't know where they were, so they simply proceeded along the path ahead. There was no spiritual energy here, and they couldn't waste immortal power on travel.
Although it was dark, there wasn't much danger.
The most dangerous thing was the small pebbles underfoot; one wrong step and you'd fall flat on your face.
After walking for a long time, it remained dark ahead.
"Momo, I'm tired." Ye Luoli leaned weakly against Han Ying.
"My lord, I'm tired too." Shui Qingli, not to be outdone, hugged Han Ying's leg.
"Momo." After Ye Luoli reached the Golden Core stage, Luo Li also leaped to become a peak level 2 Spirit Beast, able to speak human language.
"I can carry them." Luo Li, having been carried by Ye Luoli all along and with plenty of energy, hopped down and her body rapidly grew.
"Brother, I'm tired too," Han Bingjing said. She had never walked such a long distance and was also exhausted.
"Han Ying." Yan Jue felt sympathetic and called out to Han Ying, his meaning self-evident.
"Let's rest for a while." Han Ying didn't force them to continue and stopped.
After resting for a bit, they set off again.
Walking and stopping, they traveled for an unknown amount of time before finally emerging from the darkness.
"This area isn't marked on the map." Yan Jue flipped through his map, his expression grim. "I don't know if it's because it hasn't been discovered, or because no one has ever returned alive."
"The Evil Mist feeds on fear," Han Ying said slowly.
That dark area was filled with black mist. Whenever their emotions fluctuated, it would react, but it was too subtle for anyone but Han Ying, with his powerful soul, to notice.
Based on this phenomenon, Han Ying recalled the corresponding entity: the Evil Mist.
It feeds on fear; the more afraid the prey, the stronger it becomes. According to ancient texts, a strand of Evil Mist once rapidly grew in a mortal city and almost destroyed the entire cultivation world.
And that space they were just in was full of Evil Mist.
Perhaps because Han Ying was there, the group acted more arrogantly than usual, completely devoid of fear. By chance, they managed to leave safely.
"So that's how it is." Everyone understood and couldn't help but sigh in relief, thankful for Han Ying's presence. Otherwise, they would never have gotten out. If for no other reason than their sense of direction alone – even without any fear, they wouldn't have been able to leave in such a short time.
"That mist was probably protecting something. Now that we've passed the danger, what's left should be the reward." Han Bingjing looked around, baffled. "It's just that this place doesn't look like it has any rewards."
The reason was none other than the fact that it was a dilapidated palace. Truly dilapidated, it had collapsed.
One could tell it was a palace only from the partially decayed edges. It clearly wasn't a place where treasures would be found!
Han Ying looked behind the palace, as if something there was attracting him.
"Momo, what's wrong?" Luo Li leaped onto Han Ying's shoulder and also looked behind the palace, but found nothing. She asked, "Is there something there?"
Hearing Luo Li's voice, the others looked at Han Ying. Seeing he didn't answer, they also looked behind the palace.
"Momo." Ye Luoli seemed a little scared and moved closer to Han Ying.
"Wait for me here." He tucked Luo Li into Ye Luoli's arms, and Han Ying vanished in a flash.
"Han Ying, wait!" Yan Jue tried to call out to Han Ying, but he had already disappeared, so he had no choice but to give up.
Having lost their protector, the remaining little ones, exposed to the heavy rain, shivered in place, waiting for their protector to return.
Only Shui Qingli was an exception. The little one's face was puffed out in apparent anger that Han Ying hadn't taken him along.
About an hour later, Han Ying returned. Ye Luoli, Luo Li, and Shui Qingli, with their sharp eyes, noticed something was amiss.
Well, the luster of the hair accessory was slightly brighter than before, and the patterns on the clothes were also slightly different, with more intricate patterns.
The fabric of the clothes also seemed better than before, and the subtly visible cloud patterns were in slightly different positions.
Conclusion: Momo/Momo/My lord had changed his hair accessory and his clothes!
Further conclusion: Momo/Momo/My lord must have gotten his clothes dirty and his hair accessory disheveled!
Final conclusion: There was a hidden space there, which was either dangerous or very dirty!
"Where did you go?" Yan Jue asked.
Han Ying shook his head, unwilling to answer.
Yan Jue and Han Bingjing didn't ask further.
Shui Qingli, Luo Li, and Ye Luoli naturally wouldn't probe into matters Han Ying didn't wish to discuss.
"Let's go, there's nothing here." Han Ying turned to leave.
"Ah? Oh! Alright!" The others immediately followed.
They wandered around, trying to find something worth taking and a way to leave.
Heaven favors the persistent; Han Bingjing stepped on a Teleportation Array again, instantly teleporting herself and Yan Jue away.
Han Ying immediately pulled the three non-humans along. However, upon arriving, they couldn't find the two figures. Apparently, the Teleportation Array was too ancient, and its destination had become unstable.
"We need to find them quickly." Han Ying frowned, taking out the map and comparing it with the surrounding environment.
Then he confirmed that this area did not belong to any of Sectors A, B, C, D, E, F, or G.
"My lord, I can sense a large amount of water there; it should be a sizable lake." Shui Qingli tugged on Han Ying's robe and pointed in a direction.
"Let's go and see." Han Ying had no clue how to find Han Bingjing and Yan Jue. Shui Qingli had now found something unusual, so of course, they had to investigate.
Han Ying, along with a doll and a cat, followed the young Syreni Lud's instructions towards the lake.
"Is this a lake? This is the sea!" Ye Luoli exclaimed, looking at the boundless water.
"It's not the sea, it's freshwater," Shui Qingli corrected earnestly, his chubby little face incredibly cute. Han Ying casually pinched it, and Shui Qingli immediately hugged his hand and nuzzled it.
"Eh?" Ye Luoli looked at him in surprise. "I meant its area is as vast as the sea."
Shui Qingli nodded, indicating he understood, and said no more.
Han Ying's divine sense extended as far as possible into the lake, but he found nothing except some minor monsters.
Han Ying frowned slightly, his divine sense continuing to spread downwards, still finding nothing.
Could this be just an ordinary lake?
Wait...
The spiritual energy fluctuations here seem a bit off...
Let's look again...
Found it!
Han Ying, with a doll in his left hand, a fish in his right, and a black cat perched on his shoulder, jumped into the lake. The Ruohan Sword led the way, and anything blocking their path, whether intentional or unintentional, was met with a sword strike, allowing those behind to swim directly towards their destination.
Han Ying was like a fish in water. A water flow enveloped Ye Luoli and Luo Li to prevent them from choking, and soon they reached their destination. The Ruohan Sword immediately softened and wrapped around Han Ying's arm. Han Ying sent a surge of spiritual energy, activating the mark, and they instantly vanished from their spot.
Once their feet touched solid ground, they found themselves in a magnificent palace.
Before Ye Luoli and the other two could get a good look at the palace's environment, the Ruohan Sword and Han Ying moved simultaneously.
There was nothing in front of them, yet where the Ruohan Sword cut across the ground, blood flowed with the water, accompanied by sharp screams, causing Ye Luoli and the other two to instinctively cover their ears.
More and more blood appeared, gradually covering the entire floor and beginning to creep towards the three.
Only when every inch of the floor was permeated with blood did Han Ying and the Ruohan Sword stop.
"What were those things?" Luo Li asked, rubbing her aching ears.
"Ghosts," Han Ying said, looking at the blood-stained Ruohan Sword and moving away in disgust. The three then noticed that he had been flying all along, precisely to avoid touching the blood.
The Ruohan Sword dutifully went to a corner, shook itself, flung off the blood, and then returned.
"How can ghosts have blood?" Ye Luoli was confused. Ghosts have no physical bodies; what use is blood to them?
"The Spectre race, their skin changes color, belonging to the ghost clan," Han Ying explained.
"Oh!" The three nodded repeatedly, having learned something new!
The dangers within the palace had been cleared. A door suddenly appeared, and having no other choice, the group could only enter it.
Inside the door were a group of puppets. Han Ying didn't want to waste time and quickly dealt with them, smashing them all to pieces with torrents of water.
Another door. Pushing it open, they found a group of Demon Beasts inside.
...
A total of eighteen doors, each containing various monsters, all of which Han Ying resolved with brute force in a few moves.
As if they had passed some sort of trial, they were transported to a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters.
"The spiritual energy here is so abundant!" Ye Luoli, Luo Li, and Shui Qingli exclaimed.
The spiritual energy was so abundant that it formed a visible mist.
Han Ying vanished in a flash and returned shortly.
"How is it?"
"This place is likely for cultivation. Once one reaches the Nascent Soul stage, they can leave." Han Ying was a little dejected.
"It's okay, Seven Seven and I will stay. Momo, you and Shui Qingli go find Han Bingjing and Yan Jue first," Ye Luoli suggested.
"No problem." Han Ying remained expressionless but didn't leave. "They carry many treasures, it's a rare opportunity. I'll stay and accompany you."
They wouldn't die anyway, just suffer a bit.
Ye Luoli and Luo Li were deeply moved, but still said, "Momo/Momo, it's fine if you leave."
Han Ying just shook his head, then took out four cushions, sat cross-legged on one, and closed his eyes to begin cultivating.
If he wanted to leave, he would have to tear this space apart, which would not only cause the spiritual energy within to dissipate but might also attract other troubles.
It was better to stay, as they wouldn't die.
Ye Luoli and Luo Li exchanged glances and also sat on cushions to cultivate.
Shui Qingli only listened to Han Ying; he did whatever Han Ying told him to do and didn't consider others. At this moment, he had already chosen a cushion closest to Han Ying and began cultivating.
Han Ying watched as they all entered a state of cultivation. He calmly opened his eyes, casually put down a Spirit Gathering Formation, then casually took out a bed and lay down, preparing to take a nap.
The curtain fell, blocking the view of the others.
When he woke up, five years had passed.
Ye Luoli and Luo Li were still cultivating.
Shui Qingli, already at the Nascent Soul stage, wasn't wholeheartedly focused on cultivation and was now idly watching Han Ying with his chin propped in his hand.
Han Ying lifted an edge of the curtain, took out a book, and beckoned. Shui Qingli eagerly climbed onto the bed, snuggling close to him to read the same book together. It was a book documenting all sorts of things.