23: Chapter 23 Mu Qingyao

Tie Xiong grabbed Qing Guo with one hand and Huang Tao with the other, forcefully throwing both of them into the horde of "zombies" behind him.

"Ah... Tie Xiong... you...!"

"Ah... ah...!"

They never expected Tie Xiong to do such a thing. Completely unprepared, they were quickly torn to shreds, only managing to let out a single scream before their demise.

Such ruthless methods would surely shock Ning Yuan if he saw them, completely contradicting his impression of Tie Xiong.

In Ning Yuan's view, Tie Xiong was just a lecherous, useless second-generation rich kid who relied entirely on his father to throw his weight around.

Now it seemed Tie Xiong might not be as worthless as Ning Yuan had thought—at the very least, he wasn't a complete fool.

Seizing the opportunity, Tie Xiong accelerated his escape. From start to finish, he didn't even blink, proving himself utterly cold-blooded.

A cold glint flashed in Tie Xiong's eyes, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it: "Kid, next time we meet will be your death!"

With that, he sped up again, his figure vanishing in the blink of an eye.

After losing their targets, the "zombies" dispersed. Two of them picked up the mangled corpses and headed toward the bone mountain.

...

Somewhere

After shaking off his pursuers, Ning Yuan rested here, taking out a Medicinal Pill to restore his Spiritual Qi.

Perhaps due to the black mist, the Spiritual Qi within the Qingyun Sect was extremely thin, completely unlike what he remembered.

In such an environment, quickly restoring Spiritual Qi was only possible by consuming Medicinal Pills. Relying on the sparse Spiritual Qi alone was utterly futile.

Fortunately, Ning Yuan had a decent stock of Medicinal Pills, so he didn't need to worry about running out for now.

After about half an hour, Ning Yuan's Spiritual Qi was fully restored to its Peak state.

Even his cultivation had reached the Peak of the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, just one step away from a Breakthrough to the Middle Stage.

This could be considered a blessing in disguise!

"You... come... help... me...!"

Just as Ning Yuan was about to get up and leave, a faint, almost imperceptible voice reached his ears, carrying a sense of weakness.

"You... hurry... I... strength...!"

"Not... much left!"

At first, he thought he'd misheard, but the voice continued intermittently, convincing Ning Yuan it was real and not a figment of his imagination.

This immediately put Ning Yuan on high alert. He scanned his surroundings, covering the area with his Divine Sense.

"Who's there? Stop playing tricks—I can see you!"

In this perilous environment, a sudden voice urging him to approach—did it really take him for a fool?

Ning Yuan thought to himself: "Not even bothering with bait, and still trying to trick people? That's a serious fail!"

The voice grew urgent: "You... hurry! I... can't hold... on much longer!"

Ning Yuan remained unmoved. Such a clumsy trick would never fool him.

But the next words from the other party made Ning Yuan unable to stay seated.

"Great disaster... approaches...! He... is... recovering!"

Ning Yuan asked urgently: "Who is 'he'?"

"You... hurry...!" the voice came again.

Damn it!

You're not saying anything, just telling me to come over—what's the point of that!

Where am I supposed to go?

Just as Ning Yuan was mentally ranting, a route map suddenly appeared in his mind, clearly marking a location.

It left Ning Yuan utterly stunned. Was this even possible?

He'd just been wondering where to go, and now the route map was delivered right to him. Talk about being considerate!

Ning Yuan called out loudly: "Who are you, really?"

After a while, there was no further sound from the voice. It seemed its strength had been exhausted, leaving it unable to speak again.

Judging from the conversation, it likely knew part or even all of the truth. Ning Yuan might be able to get some help from it.

Perhaps it could even break the current deadlock!

With that thought, Ning Yuan decided to go. Even if it might be a trap, he couldn't afford to hesitate now.

From the moment he entered, there had been no turning back.

He checked the route map and found the location wasn't far from where he was.

Activating the Heaven Treading Steps, his figure vanished from the spot, reappearing elsewhere. After a few more flashes, Ning Yuan gradually moved away.

A few minutes later, Ning Yuan stood before a palace that had mostly collapsed. This was the location marked on the route map.

It was also the most intact palace Ning Yuan had seen so far—at least half of it was still standing.

Though the larger part hadn't collapsed, it was still dilapidated, with traces of battle, giving a precarious impression.

The palace's scale hinted at its former grandeur, making its current state all the more lamentable.

But Ning Yuan only sighed briefly before stepping through the palace gates and entering.

Glancing around at the equally ruined interior, Ning Yuan headed straight for the rear hall.

According to the route map, his target should be in the rear hall.

But when Ning Yuan entered the rear hall, he found only some broken furniture and dust swirling in the air.

"I'm here! Where are you?"

Seeing this, Ning Yuan couldn't help but suspect he'd been tricked. Something might suddenly jump out and attack him.

Just as Ning Yuan was on high alert, the voice came again, and he could now tell it belonged to a woman.

"Left side... has... Teleportation Formation...!"

Hearing this, Ning Yuan looked to the left, frowned slightly, and walked over. With a wave of his hand, he swept the dust off the ground.

Clear Formation patterns immediately appeared on the ground, but Ning Yuan couldn't tell if it was a Teleportation Formation or some other Formation.

"Place Spirit Stones and perform Hand Seals!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a set of Hand Seals appeared in Ning Yuan's mind, and the speech was no longer fragmented.

Was her earlier weakness just an act to lure him in, and now she was showing her true colors?

But at this point, there was no turning back.

Gritting his teeth, Ning Yuan took out hundreds of Spirit Stones, placing them one by one in the corresponding positions on the Formation patterns. After setting them, he steeled himself, stepped onto the Teleportation Formation, and performed the Hand Seals.

The Formation erupted with a brilliant light, and Ning Yuan vanished from within it.

When Ning Yuan regained consciousness, he found himself in a cave, with the sound of dripping water in his ears.

Seeing the scene before him, Ning Yuan couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly, feeling an indescribable sensation in his heart.

"Mu... Qingyao?"

Not far ahead was a pool, emitting a faint white glow that hinted at its extraordinary nature.

But what made Ning Yuan's pupils contract wasn't the pool itself, but the woman soaking in it.

A green dress clung to her slender, graceful figure, shimmering with a faint light identical to the pool's glow.

Her beautiful face was an exact match for a certain figure in Ning Yuan's memories, without the slightest difference.

She was the former Saintess of the Qingyun Sect, Mu Qingyao.