178: Strange Phenomenon at the Valley Entrance: Phoenix Blood Vine

The pressure of the Incarnation Stage Demon Emperor completely dissipated, leaving only the rustling sound of wind passing through the leaves in the mountain forest, along with the slightly hurried breathing of the five people.

The relief of surviving a catastrophe and the strange connection brought about by the resonance of their Divine Souls flowed silently through the air.

Lin Xuan quickly suppressed the fatigue of his Divine Soul and scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes, confirming that the terrifying existence had indeed departed.

"This place is not suitable for a long stay; we must enter the Qiwu Valley area as soon as possible," he said in a deep voice, his tone brooking no doubt.

Everyone knew how dangerous the previous trial had been; if not for Lin Xuan's quick wit in triggering the resonance of the Origin, they would have already faced Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering by now.

Hearing this, they all forced themselves to rally their spirits.

Su Wanqing walked silently to Lin Xuan's side, her cold, clear eyes lingering for a moment on his slightly pale face before she handed him an ice-blue Medicinal Pill: "This is a Soul-Condensing Pill; it can help restore Divine Sense consumption."

"Many thanks." Lin Xuan took it, feeling the slight coolness from her fingertips and the subtle concern, and his heart warmed.

Qu Feiyan also drew near, her charming eyes darting between him and Su Wanqing, her red lips curling slightly, but she did not tease as usual, only saying in a low voice: "Just now... thank you, Junior Brother."

She was referring to how Lin Xuan had used the Tai Chu Spiritual Energy of the Origin to neutralize the violence of her Blood Fiend Demon Soul during the Divine Soul resonance, which had benefited her greatly.

Gongsun Yu directly hugged Lin Xuan's arm, her small face still somewhat pale, yet filled with reliance and lingering fear: "Big Brother Lin, that scared me to death just now... thank goodness you were there."

Lin Xuan patted the back of her hand and said gently: "It's all in the past now. Everyone, hurry and adjust your breathing; we are leaving immediately."

The five of them found a relatively hidden spot behind a giant rock, took their Medicinal Pills, and each began to circulate their Cultivation Technique.

After being tempered by the "Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Wind" and the earlier resonance of the Origin, although their Divine Soul consumption was immense, the Divine Soul power of everyone seemed more condensed, and their control over their own strength had subtly improved by a fraction.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick later, everyone had recovered more than half of their state.

Lin Xuan stood up first and led the four of them forward cautiously, following the direction last indicated by the Incarnation Stage Demon Emperor.

The further they went, the taller and more ancient the surrounding trees became; the leaves and branches of many trees exhibited a strange dark red color, as if they had been scorched by fire or soaked in some kind of ancient blood.

The air was filled with a faint, strange fragrance mixed with the scent of something burnt, making one feel uneasy.

Scattered pebbles that shimmered with a faint red light began to appear on the ground.

Yun Shang bent down to pick one up, and after carefully sensing it, exclaimed in a low voice: "Senior Brother Lin, these stones contain a trace of extremely thin but exceptionally pure... fire-attribute energy; it even seems to carry a trace of pressure?"

Lin Xuan took the pebble and probed it with his Divine Sense; the System prompt sounded immediately: [Detected Ore 'Red Flame Stone' containing trace amounts of 'Phoenix Blood Essence Qi', caused by long-term exposure to Phoenix Qi. Can be used to refine fire-attribute Magic Treasure or assist in Cultivating specific fire-type Divine Ability.]

"It is Phoenix Blood Essence Qi." Lin Xuan handed the pebble back to Yun Shang. "Keep it well; it might be useful. It seems we are very close to Qiwu Valley."

Sure enough, after traveling less than a mile further, the scene before them suddenly opened up!

A huge valley entrance, seemingly shrouded by an invisible force, appeared before them.

The entrance was not a natural mountain pass, but was formed by two giant stone pillars, a hundred zhang high, pitch-black throughout yet still standing tall, resembling the trunks of parasol trees!

The stone pillars were covered in mysterious and incomprehensible natural patterns, faintly forming the image of a Phoenix soaring and a hundred birds paying homage, exuding an aura that was desolate, ancient, and majestic.

Between the two stone pillars, it was not empty; rather, there was a translucent, red-gold light curtain that rippled slowly like water waves.

On the light curtain, blurry Phoenix phantoms flashed by from time to time, emitting energy fluctuations that made one's heart palpitate.

"Is this the entrance to Qiwu Valley?" Qu Feiyan narrowed her beautiful eyes, feeling the pressure coming from the light curtain. "This Restriction... is likely not simple."

Lin Xuan's expression was solemn; he could feel that the level of power contained within this entrance Restriction was extremely high, far beyond what he could forcibly break through right now.

The three "Danger" characters marked on Daoist Master Miao Dan's incomplete map were by no means an exaggeration.

He tried to move his Divine Sense closer to the red-gold light curtain, but it was like a clay ox entering the sea—instantly swallowed, completely unable to probe the situation inside.

"It seems that a special method or... a token is needed?" Su Wanqing looked at Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan's heart stirred, and he took out the dark red wood core he had obtained from the Phoenix-nest wood.

The moment the wood core appeared, its surface suddenly lit up with a warm red light, creating a subtle resonance with the red-gold light curtain at the valley entrance, causing it to vibrate slightly.

"It really works!" Gongsun Yu said, pleasantly surprised.

However, although the wood core reacted, it did not trigger the light curtain to open.

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment, then tried to inject his own Tai Chu Spiritual Energy, which contained a trace of Phoenix Qi, into the wood core.

"Hum—!"

The red light of the wood core flared brilliantly, and a miniature Phoenix phantom soared from the wood core, emitting a clear and melodious Phoenix cry (though there was no sound, it echoed clearly in everyone's Divine Soul), and then it plunged into the red-gold light curtain!

The light curtain was like the surface of a lake into which a stone had been thrown; the ripples intensified suddenly, and the center slowly rotated, forming a red-gold vortex channel that only allowed one person to pass through at a time!

"The passage is open! Enter quickly!" Lin Xuan shouted in a low voice, transforming into a streak of light and shooting into the vortex first; Su Wanqing, Qu Feiyan, Gongsun Yu, and Yun Shang followed closely behind.

Just as Yun Shang, the last one, stepped into the vortex, the passage shrank violently, and the red-gold light curtain returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened.

The instant they entered Qiwu Valley, a surge of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, more than ten times denser and purer than outside, mixed with a scorching and ancient aura, rushed toward them!

Everyone felt their entire bodies lighten, as if every pore was cheering.

However, before they could even see the scene inside the valley, another unexpected change occurred!

"Chi chi chi—!"

Several dark red shadows shot out like lightning from the crevices of the rock walls on both sides, aiming straight for the five of them!

They were strange insects resembling centipedes, but with wings, their entire bodies covered in crimson armor, and with ferocious mouthparts; each one exuded an aura comparable to the Early Golden Core Stage!

"Careful! It's the 'Red-Winged Fire Centipede'!" Qu Feiyan, being the most knowledgeable, recognized them instantly; the yaoguang immortal sound zither was already in her hands, and an invisible sound blade swept out, shattering the armor of the few Fire Centipedes rushing in front and sending them flying backward.

Su Wanqing's frost silence sword left its sheath, and the moonlight-like sword light, like a long ribbon, instantly froze and shattered the Fire Centipedes attacking from the left.

Gongsun Yu's thunder urgency sword triggered the Chaos Thunder Gang, and purple electric snakes danced wildly; the extremely Yang and extremely rigid thunder was the nemesis of such Yin fire poisonous insects; amidst the crackling sounds, several Fire Centipedes turned into charred remains.

Lin Xuan did not take action; his gaze passed over these swarming insects and scanned sharply toward the depths of the valley.

These Fire Centipedes were merely an appetizer; the real danger was likely still ahead.

However, just as his gaze swept across a certain inconspicuous stone forest on one side of the valley, shrouded in faint red mist, his pupils shrank violently!

He saw that in the depths of the stone forest, a vine about the height of a person, dark gold and blood-colored throughout, winding like a dragon, but with leaves shaped like Phoenix feathers, was growing quietly.

On the vine body, several liquid droplets like rubies, with what seemed to be golden flames flowing inside, had naturally condensed, exuding an immensely powerful Qi and blood energy and a trace of ancient pressure that made even him feel palpitations!

[Warning! Detected high concentration of 'Ancient Phoenix Essence Blood' aura! Target: Phoenix Blood Ancient Vine (Mature Stage)! The 'Phoenix blood crystal' it condenses contains Origin Essence Blood, with a value far exceeding ordinary phoenix blood vine! But its guardian...]

The System prompt had not yet finished when a sharp, ear-piercing hiss, filled with violence and greed, suddenly exploded from the depths of the stone forest!

"Hiss-roar—!"

A terrifying Demonic Qi, far exceeding the Golden Core Peak and faintly touching the threshold of the Nascent Soul, erupted with a boom!

The red mist surged, and a huge figure covered in dark red scales slowly rose from the stone forest, a pair of scarlet vertical pupils locking tightly onto the five of them, especially... the piece of Phoenix-nest wood core in Lin Xuan's hand that was still emitting a faint Phoenix Qi.