Chapter 534: Master...

Several days later, Xiao Mo finally reached the region where Jiuyou Mountain had once stood. The once towering Jiuyou Mountain had already been leveled to flat ground in that earth-shaking battle.

Now, in the very place where the mountain had stood, there was in its stead a deep and fathomless abyss.

Above that abyss, layers of black cloud were packed densely together, like heavy slabs of lead pressing down upon the horizon.

These were no ordinary storm clouds, but were formed of spiritual energy so concentrated it had nearly solidified.

Judging from the sheer richness of spiritual energy in this place alone, it could genuinely be called a blessed sanctuary of the first order yet a blessed sanctuary required more than rich spiritual energy to establish.

Though the spiritual energy here was abundant, it was far too wild and ungoverned, rampaging through the air like a beast that had been caged for ten million years, crashing against everything around it.

Even with each breath, Xiao Mo could clearly sense something scorching within it, as though the very air were on fire.

Xiao Mo drew close to the edge of the abyss and looked downward. The vast, bottomless pit looked back at him like a cold and merciless eye, sending a chill along his spine.

This abyss was indeed sealed fast by an ancient formation.

To construct a sealing formation of this scale and this complexity, Xiao Mo privately estimated, would have required at least ten cultivators of the Ascension realm working in concert at a minimum.

But even so, through that ancient seal, he could still clearly sense the overwhelming bloodline pressure flowing up from the depths of the abyss.

Beyond that surging bloodline presence, however, Xiao Mo also had a faint sense of something else mingled within it.

Two entirely different forces seemed to be intertwined, opposing each other, deep in the bowels of the abyss.

But with his own limited understanding, he could not make out what they were.

"I wonder what Elder Xiao has noticed from looking at it?"

Just as Xiao Mo was studying the abyss intently, a voice sounded beside him.

"My respects to Senior Jin." Xiao Mo turned and saw Chen Jue's uncle, Jin An, standing there, the same Ten Thousand Demons Alliance elder he had reported to after completing his first scouting mission.

"Ha ha ha, Elder Xiao is always so well-turned out and dignified." Jin An said with an easy, warm laugh. "We are now both elders of the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance and therefore equals. There is no need to be so formal."

"Senior Jin is more than a thousand years my elder. A proper measure of respect is only fitting." Xiao Mo was outwardly deferential while keeping his distance in a way that left no visible trace.

And while the two of them were exchanging pleasantries, Xin Xiao'er, Song Xiu, and Chen Jue walked over together.

The moment Chen Jue caught sight of Xiao Mo, a cold laugh rose inwardly.

In Chen Jue's view, with the exception of himself, whose cultivation was only at the peak of the Golden Core realm, everyone else present was at the Nascent Soul realm, while Jin An and Song Xiu had even reached the peak of it.

He wanted to see whether Xiao Mo, who had only just barely entered the Nascent Soul realm and had not yet had time to consolidate his foundations, would be able to walk out of here alive.

Beyond Xiao Mo's group, more and more cultivators were also making their way to the vicinity of the Jiuyou Abyss.

Word of the Jiuyou Mountain hidden realm had by now spread through nearly all of the Demon Realm.

As a result, cultivators from major sects, wandering cultivators who drifted with no fixed home, and quite a few human cultivators who had long suffered under oppression all rushed toward this place, eager to seize whatever sliver of opportunity might present itself.

Before long, five more brilliant streaks of light cut across the horizon and descended steadily onto the wide plain.

These five were all human, four men and one woman.

The four men each appeared to be around six hundred years of age based on their bone structure, and all four had reached the Nascent Soul realm.

The young woman, however, appeared to be barely past twenty, and the Dao resonances flowing around her had also entered the Nascent Soul realm.

In an instant, the eyes of a great many cultivators on the plain turned, without prior arrangement, toward this human young woman.

Though she wore a thin veil that obscured her true features, her entire person radiated a quality of transcendent refinement, as though she were a celestial being descended from the heavenly courts.

And even dressed in a simple, unadorned Daoist robe, her graceful and slender figure was impossible to conceal.

In particular, her eyes, arrestingly beautiful fox eyes by nature, eyes born with an inherent bewitching quality, were at this moment carrying a cool and detached quality that spoke of single-minded devotion to the Dao.

This combination of coolness and enchantment only made her more captivating, quietly stirring in those who looked at her a desire to see that composure broken.

"Little Sister Junmeng, just stay behind us and leave things to us this time." A human man named Ji Shaohuan spoke in a tone of deliberate warmth and ingratiation.

"That is right, Little Sister Junmeng. Even though you have reached the Nascent Soul realm, you only broke through a month ago, and your footing is not yet fully stable. You must remember not to push yourself." Another man holding a folding fan took up the thread, his manner cultured and refined, though a barely perceptible eagerness was visible in his eyes.

"Indeed, this hidden realm is no small matter. We must all be cautious, advancing one careful step at a time."

"Whatever happens, I will make sure Little Sister Junmeng is kept safe, and I will not allow you to suffer even the slightest harm."

They talked over one another, each trying to distinguish themselves in the young woman's eyes, all hoping to win her favor.

But Gui Junmeng only gave a small nod, offering no more than that.

Her eyes blinked slowly, her gaze sweeping in a gradual arc across the wide plain, as though searching for something.

At last, Gui Junmeng's gaze came to rest, quietly, on a particular man.

At the same moment, Xiao Mo's own gaze happened to drift in Gui Junmeng's direction.

Their eyes met, unexpectedly, across the distance.

Though Gui Junmeng was wearing a veil, those eyes, nearly identical to Jingci's, were ones Xiao Mo could not have forgotten.

He was slightly surprised within himself that she had come here as well.

Gui Junmeng gave Xiao Mo a small nod. Xiao Mo returned it, and then he shifted his gaze away, as though it had been nothing more than a passing glance between strangers.

"Little Sister Junmeng, do you know that man?" Zhou You, noticing the small exchange between Gui Junmeng and Xiao Mo, asked with puzzlement.

"Mm." Gui Junmeng only gave a flat sound in response.

"Hmph! A human who runs with demons. What a disgrace to our kind!" Ji Shaohuan said in a cold voice, his expression full of contempt.

"Brother Ji is right!" Xie Lingxiao followed up quickly, his tone even sharper than Ji Shaohuan's. "Not only does he refuse to serve the human cause, he goes and fights on behalf of the demons instead. Someone like that is more contemptible than any demon!"

To all this chatter, Gui Junmeng appeared to pay no attention whatsoever, her eyes still resting in the direction where Xiao Mo stood, her expression as calm and undisturbed as still water.

A tremendous boom.

Just as Gui Junmeng was still looking toward Xiao Mo, a deafening crash came roaring up from the depths of the Jiuyou Abyss.

A creature formed entirely of black flames surged up from the bottom of the abyss, its wings spreading wide, blotting out the sky.

In an instant, the ancient formation sealing the abyss above cracked open in a vast rent.

And at the same moment, somewhere deep in Xiao Mo's inner mind, a sound drifted through, faint as smoke and half-formed as a waking dream, "Master..."