?
Mo Shuiyao’s face lit up with delight. She accelerated, swooping down before the stone stele and reaching out to seize it.
However, when her fingers closed around the cold stone and she heaved, the stele remained immovable as a mountain. Instantly, alarm bells rang in her mind.
Without a second thought, she released her grip, spun around, and slashed the Moon Blade behind her in a defensive arc.
Clang!
A massive force rebounded against her blade, sending her flying backward.
Mo Shuiyao reacted instantly, utilizing her movement technique. Her figure flickered like a phantom, reappearing dozens of meters away. Heart pounding, she looked back at the spot she had just occupied.
Standing there was a monstrosity—neither human nor ghost.
Xiao Yifeng’s pupils constricted as he assessed the creature. The figure was draped in tattered, rotting rags. Slowly, it turned around, its gaze locked on Mo Shuiyao with undisguised salivation.
"Heh heh heh... It has been an age since I’ve laid eyes on such a supreme beauty," the creature croaked, its voice like grinding stones. "Just looking at you sets my blood on fire."
Under his lecherous, predatory gaze, Mo Shuiyao felt a wave of nausea.
The man was hideously ugly, possessing a pointed mouth, jagged fangs, and long, tapered ears. His bulbous eyes protruded from their sockets, making him look no different from the feral ghosts of the abyss. However, his physique was burly and imposing, though his hands had withered into skeletal claws.
The eccentric glared fiercely at the two intruders. With a wave of his hand, the Reincarnation Stone Stele flew obediently into his grasp.
He had already refined it. No wonder Mo Shuiyao couldn't move it.
"Who are you? You shouldn't be among those who entered the Immortal Abode this time," Mo Shuiyao demanded, her voice grave.
"Who am I? Heh... heh heh... I’ve forgotten who I am," the eccentric rasped, a manic edge entering his voice. "By my rough count, this is the third batch of lambs I've seen enter this slaughterhouse."
Xiao Yifeng and Mo Shuiyao’s expressions changed drastically. This meant the creature was a cultivator who had entered during one of the previous openings—decades ago—and never left.
It was unbelievable that someone could survive in this environment for so long.
While the Immortal Abode allowed for spiritual power recovery, the ambient Qi was tainted with sinister ghostly energy. Absorbing it over a long period without a way to purify it would inevitably corrupt a cultivator, turning them into something inhuman—just like the monster standing before them.
"So, Your Excellency is a senior who entered the Immortal Abode in the past. Why didn't you leave?" Mo Shuiyao asked.
"Leave? If I could leave, do you think I would stay in this hellhole?" The eccentric suddenly exploded in rage, his voice rising to a shriek. "Hahahaha! This Immortal Abode is a scam! A trap! Once you walk through those gates, there is no way out!"
Mo Shuiyao hadn't expected such a volatile answer and stood frozen, glancing at Xiao Yifeng in bewilderment.
"There's no need for alarmist talk," Xiao Yifeng said coolly, stepping forward. "I suspect Your Excellency simply lost your jade pendant and became trapped here."
Seeing Mo Shuiyao’s confusion, he explained via voice transmission, "The jade pendants are our anchor. If they are destroyed, we become no different from the wandering ghosts of this place."
The eccentric’s eyes narrowed. "Kid, you seem to know quite a bit about this place. If you know what's good for you, scram. This seat is in a good mood today and doesn't wish to kill you. After being bored for fifty years, it would be a waste to break all my toys at once."
The color drained from their faces. This monster was not just powerful, but twisted. It seemed his previous victims had suffered horrific fates.
They released their Divine Sense to probe his strength, but it was like sinking a stone into the ocean—no feedback whatsoever.
The eccentric noticed their action and sneered. "Save your energy. You cannot see through my cultivation. Now, little girl, I’ll give you two choices."
He licked his lips, his gaze crawling over Mo Shuiyao. "One: Submit obediently and become this seat's Furnace Cauldron. Two: Let me capture you, rip out your soul, and refine you into a puppet. Though, honestly, puppets are boring."
A look of reminiscence crossed his face, followed by regret. "The two women from the last batch refused to cooperate and committed suicide. I refined them into puppets, but they were so fragile... I crushed them in a fit of anger after less than ten years."
Mo Shuiyao’s face turned ashen.
The eccentric continued, leering, "You are far too beautiful. This seat can't bear to turn you into a cold puppet. Hurry up and choose. I haven't touched a woman in thirty years."
"Vile beast! I choose the third path: killing you!" Mo Shuiyao shouted.
The Moon Blade beside her surged forward, splitting into countless crescent blades that slashed toward the monster.
The eccentric’s expression turned icy. "Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit. No matter. I'll capture you and break you in slowly!"
He leisurely raised a claw-like hand and flicked his fingers.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The incoming blades were knocked away as if they were nothing more than annoying flies.
Then, he vanished.
Teleportation.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared directly behind Mo Shuiyao, his claw reaching for her shoulder.
Mo Shuiyao broke into a cold sweat. She reflexively stabbed her short dagger backward, while her body seemed to lose all its bones, collapsing into a swirl of flower petals that scattered in every direction.
The petals regrouped near Xiao Yifeng, coalescing back into Mo Shuiyao’s graceful form. However, her dress had been torn at the shoulder, revealing pale, fragrant skin.
"Chanmian Pavilion!" The eccentric brought the scrap of fabric he had torn from her dress to his nose, inhaling deeply with a look of intoxicated ecstasy. "I never expected a disciple from the Chanmian Pavilion. Marvelous. You girls know the most tricks."
Mo Shuiyao’s heart sank into the abyss. "You are a Nascent Soul cultivator! How can a Nascent Soul exist here?"
The eccentric laughed maniacally. "I forgot! You new arrivals are restricted to the Golden Core stage. But I entered before these rules applied to me! So, beauty... will you submit now?"
Mo Shuiyao’s face was grave. She hadn't expected to face a Nascent Soul expert. In a zone restricted to Golden Core, he was essentially a god. Even if his mind was degraded, his cultivation base and Teleportation ability made him invincible.
Was there truly no escape? To become the plaything of such a disgusting monster... she would rather die.
"Fairy Mo, if you don't want to become his toy, listen to me," Xiao Yifeng’s voice suddenly rang in her mind.
She showed no outward reaction, maintaining her glare at the monster, but secretly replied, "Fellow Daoist Wuchen, what is your plan?"
"The Celestial Ladders behind us," Xiao Yifeng transmitted rapidly. "The rules of the formation state that only one person can occupy a single ladder at a time. If you can run onto one of them, he cannot chase you on the same path. You only have to deal with him once you reach the palace hall."
Hope flared in Mo Shuiyao’s heart, but it was quickly dampened by reality. The nearest ladder was dozens of meters away, and a teleporting Nascent Soul monster stood between them.
"Fairy need not worry. I will create an opening for you," Xiao Yifeng added.
Xiao Yifeng wasn't acting out of charity. He knew that if Mo Shuiyao fell, he and Su Miaoqing would be next. If this monster laid eyes on Su Miaoqing—his "white moonlight"—the consequences would be unthinkable.
His strategy was cold and pragmatic: use Mo Shuiyao as bait. Focus the monster's lust and aggression entirely on her, forcing a chase up the ladders and away from where Su Miaoqing would eventually arrive. Mo Shuiyao was the perfect distraction to keep the monster occupied.
Having agreed on the plan, Mo Shuiyao’s demeanor suddenly shifted. She let out a charming, bell-like laugh.
"I never expected Senior to be a distinguished Nascent Soul expert. In that case... serving you wouldn't be such a humiliation for this slave."