"Fellow Daoist Mo flatters me. It was merely a stroke of luck, not cleverness," Xiao Yifeng replied, his tone cool and detached.
Before the echo of his words had even faded, their small boat bumped against the dock of the opposite shore. The moment they made contact with land, Xiao Yifeng grabbed Su Miaoqing’s wrist. Without a backward glance, the two of them shot into the sky like arrows leaving the bowstring.
Mo Shuiyao, who had yet to even disembark, was left standing on the prow, grinding her silver teeth in frustration.
She had intended to use her earlier show of goodwill to leverage another ride from Xiao Yifeng. She hadn’t expected this man to be so utterly immune to her charms. He didn’t just ignore her; he treated her like empty air. The moment he hit dry land, he took his coquettish Junior Sister and fled as if escaping a plague.
Mo Shuiyao’s ample chest heaved violently with suppressed rage. In what way is this humble girl inferior to that clueless little girl?
High above, Xiao Yifeng led Su Miaoqing eastward for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. Then, checking to ensure they were unobserved, he abruptly banked hard, tracing a wide arc through the clouds to double back toward the west.
The moment they had stepped onto the shore holding the Reincarnation Stone Tablet, the oppressive restrictions of the Immortal Abode vanished. The heavy gravity that bound others to the earth was non-existent for them; it was as effortless as flying in the outside world.
Xiao Yifeng stood atop the crimson glow of the Luo Hong sword, while Su Miaoqing was borne aloft by her floating crimson sash. They cut through the wind with incredible speed.
Naive as Su Miaoqing was, she sensed something was amiss. Xiao Yifeng’s familiarity with the Reincarnation Immortal Abode was terrifyingly precise—it went beyond mere intuition. Yet, she bit her lip and remained silent, choosing to trust him implicitly.
As they soared over a desolate mountain ridge, Su Miaoqing looked down. Her face paled.
Below, the crimson ridge was crawling with thousands of monstrous beasts chasing their shadows. A cacophony of feral barking rose from the earth like a wave.
These were not ordinary hounds. Their eyes glowed with the color of coagulated blood, and their maws were filled with jagged, yellowed fangs. Spikes of bone pierced through the rotting fur on their backs. Most horrifying were their bellies—gaping, hollow cavities where one could see the withered organs pulsing inside, festering and vile.
Every single one of these beasts possessed the aura of the Foundation Establishment realm, with a frightening number of larger alpha dogs emitting the pressure of the Golden Core stage.
They snapped their jaws at the sky, hacking up beams of necrotic green bile.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The vile energy shot upward, but because Xiao Yifeng and Su Miaoqing were flying at such a high altitude, the attacks fell short. The duo banked left and right, effortlessly weaving through the dissipating green mist.
Xiao Yifeng urged the sword faster, and they soon left the ridge behind. The frantic barking of the horde faded into the distance.
"Xiao Feng... what exactly were those things?" Now that they were alone, Su Miaoqing reverted to using his name.
"Have you ever heard of the legends of the Underworld?" Xiao Yifeng’s voice was grim. "That was Evil Dog Ridge. Legend says those dogs are the manifested souls of animals that died unnatural deaths—lives cut short or abused by humans. Their resentment prevents them from reincarnating. They wait on the ridge to tear apart any soul that attempts to cross."
"It is fortunate we can fly," Su Miaoqing whispered, a shiver running down her spine. "If we were on the ground..."
Xiao Yifeng clicked his tongue, a look of genuine regret crossing his face. "A pity. I don't know the location of the control tablet for Evil Dog Ridge. If I could have taken that one as well, I could have cranked up the difficulty for those following us."
Without the Reincarnation Stone Tablet, the other cultivators would be suppressed by the Abode’s laws. They would be forced to traverse the ridge on foot, or barely hovering above the ground, putting them right within snapping range of those jaws. Unlike Xiao Yifeng, the dogs couldn’t fly, but their sheer numbers were a death sentence for the grounded.
Xiao Yifeng continued to weave a complex path through the air, turning left and right in a dizzying pattern that left Su Miaoqing completely disoriented.
She didn't know that the terrain below was a massive, ancient maze. Walking in a straight line was possible, but it was a path of extreme hardship. Combined with the Evil Dogs, perhaps only one in a hundred cultivators would survive the direct route.
When Xiao Yifeng had flown east upon landing, it was a deliberate misdirection. If Lingyun, Mo Shuiyao, and the others believed him and headed east, they would eventually reach the destination—but only after traversing a massive, dog-infested detour.
Since our cultivation is lower, Xiao Yifeng calculated coldly, I must force them to waste time and energy.
After following a series of obscure aerial markers known only to him, a strange mountain peak loomed ahead.
"Xiao Feng, look! That mountain... it looks like a rooster!" Su Miaoqing pointed ahead, her eyes wide.
"Of course it does, Senior Sister," Xiao Yifeng chuckled, admiring her resilience. Most girls would still be trembling from the dogs, but she was already sightseeing. "That is Golden Rooster Mountain."
The mountain was shaped distinctly like a crowing rooster. One ridge formed the arched back, and the jagged peak formed the high comb. The sides of the mountain were honeycombed with dark caves, within which lurked the deadly "Golden Roosters"—beasts just as vicious as the dogs.
To cross, one had to climb up the rooster’s back and traverse the narrow ridge to the comb.
As they approached, they saw that the base of the mountain was also surrounded by a pack of stray Evil Dogs that had wandered over from the neighboring ridge.
"Xiao Feng! There!" Su Miaoqing suddenly cried out. "Another stone tablet!"
Xiao Yifeng looked at her, surprised. Once was luck. Twice was coincidence. But three times? Su Miaoqing had spotted every hidden tablet before he did. Is this the innate ocular prowess of the Phoenix bloodline?
He followed her gaze. Indeed, amidst a swarm of pitch-black dogs, a black stone tablet was driven into the earth. It was obscured by the writhing mass of beasts, explaining why he had missed it.
"It’s right in front of us. Not taking it would be a crime," Xiao Yifeng mused. Controlling the tablet meant maintaining the suppression on his rivals.
"Senior Sister, wait here in the air. I will go down, grab the tablet, and return."
Su Miaoqing’s expression dimmed. "Xiao Feng... before we entered, I promised to listen to you. But I am not baggage to be carried. I am a cultivator at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment. I want to help you."
Xiao Yifeng paused. He realized that his constant protection had inadvertently hurt her pride. The Phoenix was a proud creature, and Su Miaoqing was competitive by nature.
"Senior Sister, I never thought of you as a burden," he said softly. "I simply wished to spare you the danger."
"I know," she shook her head, her eyes burning with determination. "But I can fight."
Xiao Yifeng grinned, the cynicism fading from his eyes. "Alright. Then cover me, Senior Sister. We need to be quick before the others catch up."
"Understood!"
Xiao Yifeng flipped his hand, gripping the hilt of Luo Hong. The ancient sword hummed, the Immortal Slayer spirit within thirsting for blood. He dove.
High above, Su Miaoqing spread her arms. Spiritual energy surged, manifesting as a torrential rain of fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Meteor after meteor slammed into the ground, exploding in bursts of crimson flame. She swooped down like a hawk, weaving through the air and drawing the attention of the pack.
"Over here, you ugly mutts!"
Dozens of Evil Dogs, enraged by the fire, abandoned their posts and chased after her, spitting volleys of green bile. Su Miaoqing danced through the barrage, nimble as a swallow, leading the bulk of the horde away.
Seizing the opening, Xiao Yifeng accelerated toward the tablet inscribed Golden Rooster Mountain.
A remaining guard of two dozen dogs, including two Golden Core alphas, noticed him. They roared, unleashing a dense net of green energy spheres.
Xiao Yifeng didn’t slow down. Luo Hong flared with blinding light.
"Scram!"
Dozens of phantom swords materialized around him, forming a protective cyclone that shredded the incoming energy attacks. He slashed forward, the sword intent heavy and sharp.
Clang! Clang!
The Evil Dogs were terrifyingly durable. The sword qi struck their hides with the sound of metal on metal, leaving only shallow gashes. Unfazed, the beasts leaped into the air, jaws snapping at his throat.
Xiao Yifeng’s eyes turned cold. He pointed a finger at the heavens.
"Heaven’s Punishment!"
The sky above the tablet darkened instantly. A formation array unfolded, and a deluge of sword qi poured down like torrential rain. It was a bombardment of pure destruction.
With his cultivation now at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, the power of the Heaven’s Punishment was devastating. The formation pulverized the ground, smashing the dogs aside and breaking their formations.
In that split second of chaos, Xiao Yifeng landed. His hand slammed onto the cold surface of the stone tablet.
Heave!
He ripped the tablet from the earth, threw it into his storage ring, and reignited his sword light. Before the two Golden Core beasts could recover from the shockwave, he was already rocketing back into the sky.
"Senior Sister! I have it! Let's go!"
Seeing his signal, Su Miaoqing didn’t linger. She banked sharply, shaking off her pursuers with a burst of speed and rendezvousing with Xiao Yifeng in the upper atmosphere.
Below them, the army of Evil Dogs barked in impotent fury, jumping futilely at the clouds.
"Can't catch us! Can't catch us!" Su Miaoqing looked down, giggling. "Serves you right, you monsters!"
Her laughter rang out like silver bells, clear and melodious against the gloomy backdrop of the Underworld.
Xiao Yifeng watched her taunt the zombies and slapped a hand to his forehead.
Senior Sister, please... show a little respect for the horrors of the Reincarnation Immortal Abode.