A gust of mountain wind blew past.
Ye Fan felt a chill run down his spine...
He couldn't maintain his cool for more than three seconds...
Ye Fan sheepishly got up and slunk back towards the tent.
After getting dressed and tidying up his storage bag, Ye Fan decided to go look for the little demoness.
Even though the symbiotic contract between him and the little demoness had vanished.
Given what had happened last night, he still owed her an explanation.
As for what to say or do when he met her...
He'd worry about that after finding her...
He had a feeling the little demoness's sudden disappearance was rather inexplicable.
...
Somewhere in the cultivation world.
Er Ha, having just completed a mission, was mourning an unfortunate comrade with his subordinates.
Suddenly, his dog head gave a jerk!
He realized the contract with his master had vanished!
Or rather, that person was no longer his master!
Er Ha's expression immediately turned serious, and he began to ponder with a frown.
Five seconds later, his thinking was complete!
Everything was normal!
...
On the other hand, the little fox's eyes revealed a complex emotion.
There was joy, and also worry...
The joy stemmed from the fact that the pet contract on its body had disappeared!
From this moment on, it was completely free!
It thought it should be very happy and excited right now.
And indeed, it was very happy and excited at this moment.
But for some reason, its heart began to worry about that "bad master"...
Why had the contract suddenly vanished?
Had something happened to that scoundrel?
No, no, no!
What business is it of mine if something happened to him? I should be happy!
Yet, it couldn't help but worry a little...
...
"Little Fox Sister, what's wrong?" Er Ha asked immediately, sensing the little fox's abnormality.
"Brother Ha, it seems like our bad master is in trouble..." the little fox said weakly. "The contract between us has vanished, and I can no longer sense his presence... Do you think something might have happened to him?"
"Don't worry, Little Fox Sister!" Er Ha extended a paw and patted the little fox's head. "Master is very powerful, nothing will happen to him."
"Then why did he suddenly cancel the contract with me?"
"Great Er Ha has analyzed this, don't worry, everything is normal!"
"Oh..."
Although the little fox felt that Er Ha had said something, yet said nothing at all.
However, out of trust, it chose to believe Er Ha.
If Brother Ha said it was fine, then it was fine!
"I've detected the presence of more allies, let's go!"
Er Ha stood on the coffin and shouted with gusto.
The five-person squad immediately hoisted the coffin, emitting indistinguishable howls with excitement.
"Awoo awoo awoo!"
...
The Grand Liang Imperial Palace.
The two elders who were lecturing suddenly stopped.
Their contorted features relaxed, gradually returning to normal.
The wisdom in the Second Elder's eyes vanished, replaced by a chilling glint!
Master Xie Yan's eyes became uneven in size.
Even his left eye, which had always darted about erratically, strangely stilled.
The two instantly flew into the courtyard and looked in one direction.
"He has awakened," Master Xie Yan said without preamble. "But it seems he hasn't fully awakened yet."
The Second Elder narrowed his eyes.
"The times... are about to change..."
...
After speaking, the two returned to their state as mental powerhouses.
The two old men looked at each other in confusion, patting their bald heads.
"Master, weren't we in the middle of a lesson? Why did we come out to the courtyard?"
"I don't know either, it's so strange?"
Since they couldn't figure it out, they stopped thinking about it.
The two old men exchanged a smile and returned to the Pill Tower.
...
The Blazing Sun Mountain Range.
The Purple Cloud Sect's encampment.
Wang Yang sat by the spiritual field, engrossed in a book on pill theory.
Recently, he had encountered a bottleneck in his alchemy, so he planned to seek a breakthrough from the fundamentals.
He remembered his master had once instructed him when he was lucid.
If you find yourself at a bottleneck in alchemy, seek answers in the foundational knowledge.
When you reach a new height and revisit these basic principles, you will open a new world.
What you thought you had learned was merely your own presumption.
Alchemy is a profound and great discipline. A lifetime may not be enough to comprehend its entirety, let alone truly master it.
True masters always approach knowledge with the most humble of hearts.
Later, through countless breakthroughs, Wang Yang understood his master's words more and more.
Perhaps he was too engrossed in his reading to notice his surroundings.
At some point, a faint black mist enveloped the spiritual field.
At first glance, it bore some resemblance to demonic energy.
But upon closer inspection, a significant difference was apparent.
This black mist was far more pure and despair-inducing than demonic energy!
It was filled with a destructive aura that devoured all things!
The black mist grew denser and thicker!
The small grasses around the spiritual field had withered away at some point.
A passing field mouse instantly turned into a desiccated husk!
...
Finally!
The black mist left the confines of the spiritual field and surged out in all directions!
Wherever it passed.
All things were annihilated!
Let alone weeds or animals, even the very earth beneath their feet turned a despairing, pitch black!
And Wang Yang, who was closest, naturally did not escape.
The black mist flowed along his feet and began to spread over him.
His clothes and even the skin beneath them instantly turned a pitch black!
His skin rapidly shriveled, losing all vitality!
In less than the blink of an eye, the black mist had reached his waist!
Suddenly!
A faint black light also appeared on Wang Yang's body.
These black lights met the encroaching black mist and merged perfectly!
The next moment.
The black mist retracted at a speed even faster than it had arrived!
Not only did the black mist here recede.
All the black mist that had spread out earlier retracted.
Finally, all the black mist coalesced into a single point and retreated beneath the spiritual field.
The previously withered weeds regained their vitality, turning lush green.
The shriveled, dead field mouse also swelled back up like a balloon.
The restored field mouse shook its head in confusion and continued on its way.
As this black mist dissipated, the black light on Wang Yang's body also vanished.
"Achoo!"
Wang Yang, who had been reading, suddenly sneezed.
"Strange, why do I suddenly feel a bit cold..."
Wang Yang muttered and buried his head back in his book.
...
The Yunhua Empire.
As dusk settled, Ye Fan finally stopped.
He had searched the entire vicinity but still couldn't find any trace of the little demoness.
Ye Fan knew he probably wouldn't find her.
Given the little demoness's personality, she wouldn't just leave without a word, especially after their intimate encounter.
His intuition told him that the little demoness was in trouble!
Ye Fan rubbed his temples, a headache forming.
After all, they had spent so much time together.
Now that the little demoness had vanished without a word, he found himself feeling unaccustomed to it.
Especially under these circumstances where her life was uncertain...
However, judging by the demonic phantom she had conjured back then, her survival shouldn't be a major issue...
...
That night.
The moon was round tonight.
Ye Fan lay sprawled on the cold ground, gazing at the moon in a daze.
Previously, he had refused to cultivate for fear of being backstabbed by the system.
He feared a repeat of past misfortunes if he cultivated.
Now that the system, a major source of his worry, was gone.
Ye Fan suddenly felt an emptiness.
He just didn't know what to do with himself for the moment...
Continue his suicidal tendencies?
Theoretically, it should be fine now.
But the problem was, his previous recklessness was due to fear of the system's schemes. Now that the system was gone, seeking death seemed pointless.
Especially after realizing he might have been manipulated, Ye Fan felt that dying like this would be a waste.
At the very least, he had to find out who the mastermind was and see what kind of creature it was!
But how should he go about finding them?
Don't forget, this was the cultivation world!
If he wanted to do anything, he couldn't do it without cultivation!
At that point, not only would he be unable to uncover any mastermind, but even a low-level demonic beast or a minor accident could spell his doom.
After all, he was still essentially a weakling, liable to kick the bucket at any moment.
What if he started cultivating?
He still had so many amazing cultivation techniques in his head, any one of which could send the entire cultivation world into collective ecstasy.
Furthermore, he had almost cultivated all of these to their peak before, so going through them again should be incredibly easy.
But the problem was, the system had exploded precisely because it detected that his physique was unsuitable for cultivation.
If that were the case, then this path was also a dead end.
His current situation seemed rather awkward...
After pondering for a while, Ye Fan got up and sat in a meditative posture.
Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well give it a try!