The two had reached an agreement on their goal and immediately took out a map to study it.
Song Wanníng's gaze swept over every location marked on the map before finally resting on the border of the barrier.
"For now, we can only patrol along the boundary and look for opportunities," she said.
After all, the map did not indicate any place where the barrier could be opened, so they had to rely on luck.
"All right, let's go!"
Baili Shang summoned a flying treasure, and with Song Wanníng, they rose into the air, stirring up dust behind them.
Over the next period, the two flew along the outermost border. Meanwhile, many rumors about Song Wanníng spread throughout the Central Domain. Most described her as terrifying—not only using sinister methods but also having a ghostly face with fangs, frightening even children to tears.
As for the Huo clan, they were relentlessly chasing after Huo Jinchuan. Those treasures were far more important than Song Wanníng. If the treasures were truly lost, Patriarch Huo Yang's position would be completely over.
Huo Jinchuan was suffering immensely. His mind was collapsing under pressure, his will unstable and cracked. He was now fixated on absorbing Song Wanníng's Luck. Only with that kind of overwhelming Luck might he be able to change his fate.
But the Huo clan's pursuit left him no chance to catch a breath. Let alone lure Song Wanníng into a great array to absorb her Luck—that was just a fool's dream.
Forget it, survival came first.
As long as he lived, there was still hope.
...
Three months passed in the blink of an eye. The vast Central Domain's border was too long. Even traveling day and night on flying treasures, Song Wanníng and Baili Shang had only covered half the distance.
Occasionally, they ran into other dangers or cultivators, which caused further delays.
One day, they encountered a peculiar flower unlike anything recorded in the ancient texts.
This flower gave off a strange aura that caught their interest.
Baili Shang descended with the flying treasure, and the two carefully approached to examine it.
The flower was pure white throughout.
At its core, however, was something resembling a human face.
Even its dark eyes shimmered with a faint eerie glow, making it extremely unsettling.
"What is this thing?" Song Wanníng frowned, an instinctive sense of wrongness stirring.
Baili Shang's expression also turned serious. He carefully poked the flower's core with a stick.
The eyes blinked at once, making it all the more bizarre.
The two exchanged a look. This flower was truly strange; the core seemed to be trapping a real person.
If that were true, then...
Their divine senses quickly spread around, only to find many similar flowers nearby.
But only this one flower's core showed any abnormality.
"I remember there are many flowers like this along the border line, just different colors… We didn't notice anything unusual before, but now, putting it all together, it seems like more than a coincidence."
If similar flowers grew along the border, could there be a connection?
Could the barrier be linked to these flowers?
And what was going on with this strange flower core?
Too many questions arose in their minds, but intuition told them this flower was definitely abnormal—perhaps the key to breaking the deadlock.
"Baili Shang, do you know any way to absorb someone's Luck?"
Song Wanníng had to connect Huo Jinchuan with this abnormality. She had always known his intentions, but not the exact method.
"Stealing Luck?"
Baili Shang's face darkened suddenly, as if recalling related records.
"To steal someone else's Luck, the most reliable method is to set up an array to trap the person with strong Luck. First, conceal the Heavenly Secrets, then gradually drain their Luck to avoid backlash.
In ancient times, some sects used such sinister methods to steal Luck from many, but in the end, the entire sect was destroyed by the backlash.
Could there really be someone today who still masters such a forbidden technique?"
His heart sank. Thinking of himself and Song Wanníng, both with strong Luck, was someone after them?
Song Wanníng received his questioning look and nodded seriously.
"Huo Jinchuan brought us in, but his goal was never to resurrect his mother. He wanted to absorb our Luck."
"What?"
Baili Shang froze, then his face turned grim.
Huo Jinchuan was audacious to use such a forbidden method. Was he mad with desire to ascend?
But he quickly calmed down. He did not doubt Song Wanníng's words in the slightest. He immediately began scanning their surroundings, trying to find traces of an array.
Song Wanníng did not interrupt him. This flower was definitely sinister. She had to be extremely careful.
After a long while, Baili Shang returned, frowning.
"I can confirm there is no trace of any array within a thousand miles."
"Is that so? Then this is not Huo Jinchuan's base."
Song Wanníng nodded upon hearing this. Having ruled that out, she resumed studying the flower. After a long time without discovering anything, the two decided to stay a while longer to observe. They found a spot in a nearby big tree to rest, keeping their divine senses covering every flower nearby.
When night fell and moonlight bathed the land, a strange scene finally unfolded. White mist started to rise from the flowers, followed by grotesque faces struggling to emerge from the flower cores. They desperately absorbed the moonlight, showing faint expressions of pleasure.
Even more terrifying was that all the faces were exactly the same.
The eerie sight sent chills down Song Wanníng's spine.
What kind of Monster was this?
What kind of demonic cultivation was involved?
Baili Shang's scalp tingled as he watched the identical faces making different expressions, seeming extremely creepy in the moonlight.
"This must be some kind of Primordial Soul cultivation method?"
He sent a voice transmission to Song Wanníng. If it wasn't soul cultivation, these flowers would show different faces, since demonic cultivators usually absorb energy from different cultivators rather than focusing on one person.
Song Wanníng agreed. This was the only explanation.
They both felt grateful for their precautions. Otherwise, their souls might have already been discovered.
The person capable of dispersing their Primordial Soul here and nurturing it must have an astonishing soul power and cultivation.
But what was this person's real purpose?
If it was simply to increase soul power, such a strange method would be unnecessary. There had to be another motive.
The two could only hide carefully in the tree, watching these souls absorb energy until the moon disappeared.