The trio navigated the dim, freezing void mist. The world around them was a vast expanse of nothingness, their only guide the positioning compasses in their hands.

“Found it! Look over there!”

Zhuang Qingyun suddenly perked up, pointing excitedly into the distance.

Qi Yuan and Tu Ruoxu followed his gaze. In the darkness, a faint luminescence rippled, forming a slowly rotating, invisible vortex—a deep, abyssal portal.

As they flew closer, a scent of decay and ancient rot wafted from the vortex’s depths.

Qi Yuan, who possessed the full memories of the Slaughtering Daoist, suppressed a knowing smile and nodded. “It seems this is the true entrance to the cave abode. Let’s go in.”

He didn’t just know this was the entrance; he knew exactly what lay beyond. A powerful killing formation and an army of Blood Fiend Puppets specially cultivated by the Slaughtering Daoist waited inside. Entering alone would be risky.

That was precisely why he had invited these two enthusiastic “volunteers.”

Tu Ruoxu and Zhuang Qingyun were desperate for the Slaughtering Daoist’s legacy. They wouldn’t be satisfied unless they saw it for themselves. And with Qi Yuan—who essentially had “map hacks” enabled—leading the way, these two were just along for the tour. Their primary function was to serve as meat shields if things went south.

“Hold on. Don’t rush.”

Tu Ruoxu stopped them with a grave expression. He retrieved several ancient copper coins from his sleeve. “Let me perform a divination first.”

He tossed the coins into the air, chanting a low incantation.

Clatter.

The coins fell back into his palm. Tu Ruoxu stared at them, his brows knitting together into a tight frown.

“Hexagram Ten: Lü. Heaven above, Lake below. The superior man treads on the tail of a tiger. Unfavorable for action.”

“Senior Brother Tu, what does that mean?” Zhuang Qingyun asked anxiously. “Is it dangerous?”

Tu Ruoxu narrowed his eyes, pondering for a long moment before shaking his head. “It is not a Great Misfortune. It counts as a Minor Misfortune with hidden traces of Minor Auspiciousness. It suggests the journey will be fraught with obstacles. We must proceed incrementally. Only through extreme caution can we turn bad luck into good.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Zhuang Qingyun let out a breath, his confidence returning. “We’ve made so many preparations; we are the definition of caution. That means the hexagram is actually good! What are we waiting for? I’ll lead the way!”

He made a move to charge in, but Tu Ruoxu grabbed his arm.

“Junior Brother Zhuang, wait! Before we left, I cast another divination. It stated that this journey requires companions to move in unison.”

Tu Ruoxu pointed at the vortex. “Furthermore, this portal lies due West. Today, the Seven Red Breaker Star dominates this direction. It is a vector of Great Omen. We absolutely cannot enter facing this way.”

Zhuang Qingyun looked confused. Even Qi Yuan was baffled.

“Fellow Daoist Tu,” Qi Yuan interrupted, “the Slaughtering Daoist’s cave only has one entrance. If we don’t go in here, where are we supposed to go?”

Tu Ruoxu hummed in thought, then gritted his teeth.

“Since the direction is unlucky, we shall simply invert our approach. We have Mind’s Eye Talismans on our backs, allowing us to see behind us. Therefore, we should face away from the door and fly in backwards.”

“By doing so, we technically enter from the East relative to our bodies, confusing the cosmic alignment and avoiding the malicious aura of the West.”

“Brilliant!” Zhuang Qingyun slapped his thigh. “As expected of Senior Brother Tu! Who else could come up with such a strategy?”

Fly in… backwards?

You’re a goddamn genius.

The corner of Qi Yuan’s mouth twitched. He was starting to suspect that teaming up with these two might have been a mistake.

However, he wanted this over with. Arguing would only waste time.

“Fine,” Qi Yuan sighed. “Let’s do it Fellow Daoist Tu’s way.”

The three mighty cultivators turned their backs to the menacing vortex. Then, with synchronized precision, they moonwalked backward into the abyss.

A moment of dizzying vertigo later, the trio appeared in a dim, sepia-toned valley.

The landscape was dead and desolate. Cracked earth and grey hills stretched to the horizon, devoid of color or life, radiating an atmosphere of apocalyptic decay.

Before Qi Yuan could even get his bearings, Tu Ruoxu had already whipped out a thick notebook from his sleeve. He began flipping through pages furiously, muttering to himself.

“Spiritual Qi is thin… suspect long-term abandonment.”

“No formation attack upon entry… indicates we are not in the danger zone yet. Proceed to Plan Seven.”

“Plan Seven… Plan Seven…”

He found the page, his eyes lighting up.

“According to Plan Seven, our first priority is to establish a secure campsite. We must set up tents before dark. We need at least three layers of warning arrays outside the perimeter.”

Tu Ruoxu looked up, serious. “To confuse potential enemies, we will construct seventy-two decoy tents arranged in the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams formation. A mix of real and fake targets.”

“Once the base is secure, we will use it as a center point to slowly explore outwards, inch by inch, until we locate the core region…”

What the hell is this plan?

Qi Yuan stared at him. “Fellow Daoist Tu… according to this plan, when will we actually reach the core area?”

Tu Ruoxu tilted his head, calculating. “That depends on our progress. If everything goes smoothly… we should reach the periphery of the core zone in about two or three years.”

“Two or three years?!”

Zhuang Qingyun gasped before Qi Yuan could speak. “Why so long?”

Tu Ruoxu shrugged, his face a mask of solemn duty. “Intelligence suggests this place is a deathtrap. One wrong step means death. We must be prudent.”

“Only by advancing step-by-step can we ensure absolute safety.”

“Three years is nothing. I prepared enough recovery pills to last ten years. Even if there is zero Qi here, our cultivation won’t regress.”

Zhuang Qingyun nodded fervently. “Senior Brother Tu is wise! Such foresight! I admire you!”

Two or three years?

Just to reach the periphery?

Qi Yuan’s face turned green. Isn’t this nonsense?

He had put his own quests on hold to rush here and grab the loot. Meanwhile, these two were planning to move in and start a family.

A snail could crawl across the continent faster than these guys!

Forget it. Qi Yuan realized these two “geniuses” were hopeless. In this world, you really could only rely on yourself.

He sighed inwardly. Without a word, he ignited his escape technique and shot into the sky, leaving them behind.

As he flew off, he dropped a single, casual sentence over his shoulder:

“You two stay here, don’t move. I’m going to go find you some oranges.”

“Fellow Daoist Qi!”

Zhuang Qingyun panicked, making a move to chase him, but Tu Ruoxu held him back.

“Senior Brother Tu! How can we let the Supreme Mystery Holy Scion adventure alone?” Zhuang Qingyun frowned. “We invited him! If he dies, how will we explain it to the Supreme Mystery Sanctuary?”

Tu Ruoxu smiled calmly, his tone filled with certainty.

“Fellow Daoist Qi is young and vigorous. It is inevitable that he is a bit impetuous. However, he didn’t become a Holy Scion by being a brainless brute.”

“Once he realizes how impossible it is to proceed alone, he will obediently come back. Let’s start setting up camp. That way, when he returns in defeat, he’ll have a safe place to sleep.”

Zhuang Qingyun nodded, enlightened. “You’re right. Young people need to experience hardship to learn. If they don’t hit a wall, they won’t know the height of the heavens and the depth of the earth. He’ll learn his lesson soon enough.”