Chapter 112: United in Adversity

Liang Yan felt the world spinning violently; he could neither open his eyes nor catch his breath. After a period of hazy unconsciousness, he was suddenly jolted by a violent impact against his back, realizing he had fallen to the ground.

His entire body ached as if it were falling apart, and he could not even stand. He lay there, silently circulating his internal cultivation method to mend his injuries. As the blue and gold spiritual energy flowed through his limbs and bones, the pain gradually dissipated.

Only then did he realize that the seemingly earth-shattering finger strike from the Golden Core cultivator had not actually caused him significant harm; it had merely temporarily sealed his ability to move. Now that the power of that strike had faded, his spiritual energy was fully restored, and his injuries were no longer severe. He slowly stood up and began to scan his surroundings.

He found himself on a square stone platform surrounded by an endless abyss, with a narrow path extending from the platform into the distance. If that were all, he might not have been so concerned about the uncertain future. However, along both sides of the path, deep red flames were burning fiercely. The flames exerted a tremendous pressure on him, instinctively signaling danger—they were clearly no ordinary fire.

Just as he raised his hand to cast a spell to test the power of the flames, an unusual sound erupted from the air above. Liang Yan turned quickly to see a streak of fiery red light appear out of nowhere, trace an arc in the air, and land squarely on his platform.

As the red light dispersed, the figure of a young woman was revealed. She wore blue robes, had her hair tied in two braids, and possessed a distinctive beauty mark below her left cheek. It was none other than the blue-clad girl he had glimpsed earlier, who had been brought by the sickly scholar Li Zheng.

Like Liang Yan when he first arrived, she was currently lying on the ground, unable to move. Liang Yan glanced at her and saw her spiritual energy surging violently, clearly working to regulate her internal injuries. Although she was pinned to the ground, she bit her lip, her large eyes fixed on Liang Yan with a look of wary hostility.

Seeing this, Liang Yan shrugged helplessly and smiled. "There is no need to worry, miss. We have no grudge between us, and I am not one to take advantage of others in such a state."

Seeing that he truly stood aside with his hands behind his back and made no untoward moves, the girl felt slightly more at ease and turned her focus back to healing her injuries. Like Liang Yan, her wounds were not severe; within half an incense stick of time, she had fully recovered. Once free, she leapt up and stood two yards away from him.

Seeing that her hostility had diminished but her guard remained high, Liang Yan touched his nose in embarrassment and remarked, "Do I really look like such a bad person?"

The girl remained indifferent to his self-deprecating comment. She leaned against the edge of the platform, keeping a close watch on his every move while observing their surroundings. However, when her gaze fell upon the deep red flames on the stone bridge ahead, her body trembled uncontrollably, and a flash of deep terror crossed her eyes before she quickly composed herself.

Liang Yan, a perceptive man, could not have missed her momentary lapse. He asked solemnly, "Do you know the secret of these deep red flames?"

...

At almost the same moment Liang Yan and the blue-clad girl were in their standoff, in a mysterious space somewhere unknown, an endless ocean stretched out. In this vast, boundless expanse, there was only a pale blue sea and a pitch-black sky; nothing else existed.

Floating on the surface of this endless sea was a single lotus leaf, upon which two figures sat. One was a young man in white Confucian robes with a jade belt, looking dashing and suave—this was the scholar Ji Lai. The other was a woman in a pink fur-lined garment, beautiful and charming—it was Murong Xuewei, who had once fought against Liang Yan.

The two sat facing each other, drifting on the ocean waves atop the lotus leaf.

"This place is so strange. Brother Ji, with your vast knowledge, do you know anything about it?" Murong Xuewei asked, testing him as she watched the man before her.

"Haha, you overestimate me, Miss Xuewei. I am but a mere scholar; how could I be so knowledgeable?" Ji Lai shook his head, looking at the woman with a smile. "Besides, there is nothing wrong with this place. It is said that having a beauty by one's side is a pleasure for the spirit. However, I must remind you, Miss Xuewei, that this vast ocean is highly disadvantageous for your Iron Corpse. Unless necessary, I would advise against acting rashly."

At these words, Murong Xuewei blushed, sheepishly withdrawing her right hand from behind her back, and sat in silence on the lotus leaf.

"Haha! Since we are in the same boat, we should help each other. Why should we turn on our own?" Ji Lai laughed.

"Easy for you to say!" Murong Xuewei snorted coldly. "We are trapped here, life and death unknown, while the others have likely plundered all the treasures and left us here to die!"

"As for that..." Ji Lai pondered for a moment, then said with a strange expression, "If you wish to know the current status of the others, it is not impossible."

"You are just bragging," Murong Xuewei glanced at him, clearly disbelieving.

"Heh!" Ji Lai smiled lightly and produced a crystalline, transparent orb from his storage bag. The orb, the size of an infant's fist, was placed on the lotus leaf between them. With a flick of his sleeve, the orb shimmered with brilliant light, and moments later, an image appeared within it.

Murong Xuewei stared intensely. The image showed a forest where two people were walking side by side: one was the sickly-looking scholar, Li Zheng, and the other was an old woman with crane-white hair. Murong Xuewei knew her all too well, and she gasped in shock, "Aunt!"

Stunned, Murong Xuewei looked up at Ji Lai and asked, "How can you see the situation of others?"

"As for that, forgive me for not explaining. Before entering this place, I secretly took a wisp of life energy from everyone, which allows me to catch a glimpse of them. This also indicates that their current location is not too far from ours; otherwise, this spell would not be effective."

Murong Xuewei felt a chill in her heart, recalling that Granny He had once told her that the cultivation method Ji Lai practiced was extremely bizarre and should not be taken lightly. Seeing this now, she realized there was indeed substance to the warning. With this in mind, she set aside her contempt and suppressed her own schemes, turning her gaze instead to the transparent orb between them.