"The entrance is here. The narrowest point only lets one person slip through sideways. The core yin node is at the deepest part of the rift valley, where the death qi is the heaviest. There's no mistake."
The sword spirit didn't dare slack off. A pinpoint of icy blue light condensed at the sword tip and rapidly carved across the hard bluish stone of the slab. A sharp, rhythmic scraping sound rang out through the air. Fine stone dust scattered as clean, precise lines appeared in quick succession under the spectral blade. In the blink of an eye, a detailed terrain map took shape on the stone surface. When it etched the final marker, its blue glow dimmed slightly. It was clearly overexerted from the effort.
Chen Jinshu swept her gaze over the slab, confirming that the route was feasible and far from the core area of Medicine King Valley, so it shouldn't draw much attention from the patrolling disciples.
…
The next day, inside the inner district of the Medicine King Valley marketplace. She had changed into a plain gray linen dress, her aura suppressed to mid-Foundation Establishment. To avoid suspicion, she strolled unhurriedly toward the northwest, in the general direction of Heilie Valley.
But just as she stepped out of the inner district, the voices drifting into her ears froze her in place. Her heart clenched without warning, and a powerful sense of unease burst forth in her chest.
"Did you hear. At the valley entrance… that thing at the entrance…"
"Shh. Keep it down. Medicine King Valley has completely lost face over this…"
"That's brutal. A female cultivator, nailed up there for public display. Who did she offend to end up like that?"
"I heard her surname is Zhou!"
Hearing this, she quickly stepped forward and stopped the two cultivators mid-conversation, asking with forced curiosity, "Who were you talking about just now. What happened at the valley entrance?"
The two were clearly intimidated by the mid-Foundation Establishment aura radiating from her. They froze for a moment, looking dazed.
"Well… it's over by the western waste grounds. There was an old array master living alone there, surname Zhou. Early this morning, she was found nailed to the stone monument at the main entrance of the Medicine King Valley marketplace!"
"Not a single inch of her body was intact. They say she trespassed into some forbidden area and was killed by enforcement disciples."
"Ah… truly miserable."
As he spoke, the cultivator couldn't help but shake his head and sigh at the tragedy.
The other person couldn't help chiming in. "It wasn't just death. It was public execution. Her clothes were completely torn to shreds."
"Her face actually looked young and beautiful, but that body…"
"Ah, such sin."
"The people from the Law Enforcement Hall only just took her away a short while ago…"
"Calm down," she said softly, though the words were meant for herself.
Her body staggered as she struggled to steady her mind, forcefully suppressing the turbulent emotions surging within. She truly hadn't expected Zhou Wanning to act nothing like what she had written in her farewell letter, finding a quiet place to cultivate and spending the rest of her life in peace. Instead, the woman had gone to seek revenge against Lin Xiao.
The realization struck her hard.
Chen Jinshu immediately rushed toward the valley entrance.
The massive mouth of the Medicine King Valley marketplace was formed by two towering blue-gray stone peaks, sheer as if they had been cleaved by blades and axes. A lofty stone monument stood at the center, engraved with five ancient and imposing characters: Medicine King Valley Marketplace.
At this moment, beneath the monument, a chaotic smear of dark red blood soaked into the rough stone base. It hadn't yet fully dried, gleaming with a glaring, sticky sheen under the sun. It almost overwhelmed the faint medicinal fragrance drifting out from the marketplace.
Several disciples wearing the robes of the Medicine King Valley Law Enforcement Hall were pinching their noses as they cast cleansing techniques, washing down the base of the monument and the surrounding ground. Occasionally, cultivators passing by from afar would turn pale, cast a hurried glance, then quickly lower their heads and leave, as if even one extra look would taint them with misfortune.
She stood among the flow of people. Her gaze swept over the glaring dark red stain, and her eyes instantly grew hot, the corners tinged with a faint pink.
"Stupid. Truly stupid."
"Instead of recovering properly and preserving her life, she actually ran off to throw herself at Lin Xiao."
Her voice trembled, thick with sobs she struggled to suppress. She truly hadn't expected Zhou Wanning to be even more resolute than she had imagined.
From the moment the woman chose to leave her array inheritance behind, she had already decided to perish together with Lin Xiao. Yes. With such a stubborn temperament, how could she tolerate Lin Xiao continuing to exist in this world? It was just that she had been far too reckless. Her injuries hadn't recovered. How could she possibly be a match for a Jīndān Zhēnrén like him?
Lin Xiao's Golden Core might have been piled up with pills, but one thing he said wasn't wrong. A Golden Core was still a Golden Core.
Chen Jinshu lingered for a moment, silently mourning the woman for a few breaths before turning away.
She continued heading northwest. For reasons she couldn't explain, her steps unconsciously quickened. Her figure became like a wisp of weightless green smoke, swiftly cutting through the air.
Before long, she arrived at the yin convergence entrance marked by the sword spirit.
The surroundings were filled with gray-yellow poisonous miasma so thick it was almost solid. The Yinshan Sparrow transformed into a slender streak of green-red light, silently circling several zhang ahead of her. Its sharp eyes pierced through the miasma, searching for any abnormal aura or spiritual fluctuations.
The deeper she followed the route, the more deathly silent the surroundings became.
Before she even reached the location of the Yin Marrow Jade, a sharp clang rang out. The Yinshan Sparrow flying ahead let out a faint warning cry.
Chen Jinshu stopped instantly, completely suppressing her aura.
As the dense fog ahead dispersed, she saw the bird perched atop a massive black boulder. Its small body was taut, eyes locked on a narrow cave entrance half concealed by several huge fallen rocks. The entrance was pitch black. Threads of icy death qi seeped out, at least ten times denser than the miasma outside.
"Could this be where the Yin Marrow Jade is hidden?"
She recalled the route carved onto the stone slab. This place matched it exactly. She didn't approach right away. Instead, she carefully extended her divine sense into the cave.
The chaotic, filthy aura in the surroundings tried to disrupt her divine sense and will. But the green lotus mark between her brows flashed with light, and a cool, resilient force instantly severed the invasive thoughts.
Very quickly, the scene inside the cave became crystal clear within her sea of consciousness.
The cave wasn't deep. At its end was a natural stone chamber several zhang wide. Twisted, desiccated corpses were scattered in the corners. Judging by their clothing, they were unmistakably low-level Law Enforcement Hall disciples of Medicine King Valley. Their bodies were shriveled and blackened, as if every trace of moisture and vitality had been drained away. Extreme terror was frozen onto their faces.
On the ground was an eerie formation drawn in fresh blood that hadn't yet fully dried. At the center of the formation lay a small mound of shattered spirit stones, their spiritual energy already completely devoured. At the edge of the formation, a figure clad in moon-white brocade instantly entered her sea of consciousness.
"So Lin Xiao actually found this place. No wonder he has been hiding in Heifeng Pass all this time. Turns out he found a real treasure."
Heilie Valley wasn't far from Heifeng Pass. In fact, the two were extremely close.
To find a location so near the Yin Marrow Jade, he was clearly hiding even more secrets.
Her gaze turned cold. She could tell that although he wasn't in critical condition, his aura was recovering at an extremely strange rate. The wounds on his body were visibly healing.
"A cripple whose Dao foundation has been destroyed dares to come kill me just because he swallowed two pills? You really think that trash array of yours can trap a Golden Core?
In the eyes of a Golden Core, Foundation Establishment is nothing but ants!"
He snarled like a madman, his blood-red eyes darting around, madness filling his gaze. His eyes swept over the shriveled corpses of the Law Enforcement Hall disciples on the ground. He licked his lips, greed overflowing in his eyes.
"You even brought these useless things to block me? Perfect. They will top up my vitality!
Once I refine these so called 'human pills' and stabilize my realm, that Chen bitch and that old bastard from Medicine King Valley are both dead!"
===
Okay, that's all for this time's exception gift. I will head back to AO3 now and return to my primary roadmap. I still have drafts ready, probably enough for a few days to a week of chapters for this novel.
See you on the other side. Don't worry, I will come back here once everything there is settled.
28 Jan
Reiya
Ciao~