Scattered stones lay ahead, and the ghost-like wails of the piercing wind were chilling to the bone.
In a corner, Pang Jian remained silent, staring woodenly at the pile of rocks, waiting for the newcomer to unravel the predicament before them.
"Old Han, can you break the formation?"
Zhou Qingchen called out as he dismounted the Single-horned Rhinoceros and approached the pile of rocks, curiously looking around.
With no crowd to block his view, he immediately noticed the corpse of Yao Qi lying supine on the ground within the stones, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Someone died here?"
Ning Yuanshan, who had not mentioned this earlier, explained somewhat awkwardly, "He was coveting the artifacts left by a Blood Moon cultivator, and we didn't know that the pile of rocks was actually a mysterious array, so..."
Zhou Qingchen smiled brightly, showing understanding, "Had we come here and Old Han wasn't with us, the people below, seeing that the Blood Moon cultivator had died and left ownerless artifacts, would probably have been unable to resist as well."
Having said that, he looked again towards the corpulent Han Duping.
After observing the stones nearby, Han Duping joined them, speaking with ease, "Breaking the array should be no problem, but it will take some time. Once the array is broken and the dense chill within dissipates, the weaker Beast Evils will naturally vanish."
"Oh, that reminds me."
After thinking for a moment, he questioned Ning Yuanshan and Ning Yao if they knew the specific forms of these "Beast Evils."
Ning Yuanshan earnestly explained that they were common wild animals from the mountains, then pointed at Pang Jian nearby, adding, "He is a local hunter from the Solitude Mountain Range, familiar with the wild beasts that roam here, and knows the general strength levels of these animals."
"Young man, what kind of wild beasts have you seen near the gorge? What is their strength and ferocity like?" Han Duping was quite polite as he smiled and inquired of Pang Jian.
Pang Jian gave a brief description of the common wild pigs, packs of White Wolves, and pythons and other wildlife around the gorge.
Listening, Han Duping nodded slightly, reassuringly stating, "They are all ordinary wild beasts, not Ferocious Beasts or Spirit Beasts. The Evil they become after death should be easy to deal with, nothing to fear."
Wild beasts, Ferocious Beasts, Spirit Beasts.
Pang Jian was taken aback, aware of the existence of wild beasts in the mountains, but having never heard of Ferocious Beasts and Spirit Beasts before.
Noting his confusion, the chubby Han Duping casually explained the differences among the three.
"In our Fourth Realm, many places also have nature's spiritual energy."
"However, the layer of the world beneath our feet is filled with spiritual energy mixed with plenty of impurities. Some impurities contain deadly toxins and hallucinogenic power, which are actually quite dangerous."
"Like us human cultivators, we can gather spiritual energy to enhance our own strength, and some wild beasts can also absorb nature's spiritual energy into their bodies, causing themselves to undergo a transformation."
"After we absorb spiritual energy, we must eliminate the dross that comes with it to avoid harm to body and mind."
"If wild beasts do not know how to purge the impurities from the spiritual energy, they cannot gain wisdom. Even if this makes them powerful, they can only be considered Ferocious Beasts. Ferocious Beasts are savage and bloodthirsty, and it's very difficult for us to communicate with them."
"Spirit Beasts, on the other hand, can expel the impurities in their bodies just like we can. As Spirit Beasts grow stronger, they often possess extraordinary intelligence and can communicate with us normally."
Han Duping expounded in detail.
After his explanation, Pang Jian understood that the Divine Bird lingering around his house must be one of those Spirit Beasts.
"Alright, give me some time, and I'll start breaking the formation now."
Han Duping signaled to everyone to patiently wait.
Once again, he stepped forward alone, not entering the stone pile directly but first tried to manipulate smaller rocks nearby to understand the pattern of the array.
As he was busy at work, Zhou Qingchen also spoke with Ning Yuanshan and Ning Yao about the great changes in the Upper Realm.
The newly arrived Zhou Qingchen deliberately ignored He Ziren, as if the young master of the He family was simply invisible to him.
The previously arrogant and haughty He Ziren, faced with such a personage, managed to keep his composure and did not react angrily to the snub.
"The Zhou Family..."
As Pang Jian's thoughts turned, he recalled the seven leading Qi Refiner families that dominated the Fourth Realm, acknowledging that the Zhou Family was second only to the Dong Family, making it one of the strongest and most formidable families in these lands.
The Ning Family and the He Family, however, ranked after the Dong, Zhou, Shangguan, and Ouyang Families, with the Ning Family ahead of the He Family.
The He Family was only slightly stronger than the bottom-ranked Su Family.
The rankings of the seven major families of the Fourth Realm were not set in stone and could change if a powerful individual emerged from one of the families, potentially moving them up in rank.
However, this often only happened with the families in the rear—Shangguan, Ouyang, Ning, He, and Su Families.
The front-running Dong and Zhou Families had reportedly not changed their rankings for hundreds of years, firmly occupying first and second places.
Since Zhou Qingchen was from the Zhou Family, it was no surprise that He Ziren could maintain his composure despite being ignored by him.
"The shattered remains of the Heaven Phoenix were rumored to contain a mysterious legacy within one of the bones. Many of these bones scattered across the Third and Fourth Realms, even many sects and powers of the Upper Realm, were searching for the possible legacy-bearing Divine Bone."
"As for those that fell in the Solitude Mountain Range... In my view, it's highly unlikely that they contain that Divine Bone."
Zhou Qingchen shared secrets of the Upper Realm.
When Pang Jian heard "Heaven Phoenix" and "Divine Bone," he immediately paid attention, confirming that the huge dry bones that fell from the Upper Realm to the Solitude Mountain Range were the remains of the Heaven Phoenix.
"A Divine Bone with a legacy?"
He felt that the translucent, jade-like bone that killed the Divine Bird might just be the legacy-bearing Heaven Phoenix Divine Bone.
However, he only saw the vision of countless runes bursting forth like shining diamonds when the Divine Bone killed the Divine Bird; where the bone went afterward, he did not know.
"Those who died in the Solitude Mountain Range from the Star River Alliance, Blood Moon, and Yin Spirit Temple, were killed either because of the Divine Bone or due to the spread of the Mysterious Fog!" Zhou Qingchen added.
Hearing him mention "Mysterious Fog," the faces of those from the Ning Family, Zhou Family, and even He Ziren grew unsightly.
It seemed that the "Mysterious Fog" slowly spreading north towards the Solitude Mountain Range was the true source of their fear, more terrifying than death at the hands of the Star River Alliance, the Blood Moon, or the Yin Spirit Temple.
"Mysterious Fog."
Pang Jian's brows raised. The northernmost area of the Solitude Mountain Range, a region rumored to be closest to the Boundary Wall, had been designated as forbidden territory by his father, who had explicitly prohibited him from entering.
After his father's disappearance, because he still needed to take care of his sister, Pang Lin, he never dared to be too adventurous, and thus he had never set foot there.
He also vaguely knew that the vast majority of cultivators in this world seemed to be filled with dread towards the "Mysterious Fog."
Regardless of the Lower Realm or the Upper Realm.
"It's done!"
As everyone spoke, Han Duping, standing before a pile of rocks in the distance, shouted loudly. Soon after, a "boom" was heard as he seemed to have toppled a massive boulder.
"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"
Trapped within the pile, a cold chilling wind whistled out from the gaps in the rocks, emitting increasingly sharp and piercing howls.
As the fierce wind scattered, it also brushed against Pang Jian, making him instantly feel an icy chill and he couldn't help but shiver.
It was at this moment.
The bronze plaque beneath his clothes heated up, and the "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell" he had been focusing on recently began to activate quietly.
The "Spirit Pot" he visualized in his dantian seemed to gradually turn into a dark green hue in his consciousness.
Suddenly, as the ice-cold and chilling wind, like fog, passed by his side, it was fiercely drawn back towards him, as if attracted by some strong magnetic field.
Threads of cool power also seeped from the eerie cold wind into his Spiritual Sea within the dantian.
Pang Jian looked astonished.
He consciously sensed and felt that there were now some ice fragments in his Spiritual Sea, filling the "cotton-like" dregs within.
The "ice fragments" possessed a strange alien power and, upon contact with the "cotton," both surprisingly dissolved.
Pang Jian gently closed his eyes, feeling that within this yin chilling power, there was also a portion of spiritual energy.
The yin chilling power, like sediment within a current, seemed to be the impurities that everyone spoke of.
"Everyone, be careful. The stray spiritual energy contains Mysterious Yin Power, which is not something you can withstand. Those who are not cultivating special spells and rashly absorb Mysterious Yin Power into their bodies will only suffer unbearable pain," Ning Yuanshan warned.
There was no need for his reminder; aside from Pang Jian, no one else dared to attempt to absorb the spiritual energy within the cold yin wind, all too aware of the potential loss outweighing any gain.
"Mysterious Yin Power?"
Pang Jian's mind stirred.
The alien power within the "ice fragments" was now cleansing the "cotton" in his Spiritual Sea, making it clear and clean.
And he did not experience the excruciating pain as described by Ning Yuanshan.
"Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell!"
He inwardly praised the marvelousness of the spell, and his gratitude towards Sun Bin, who was now of unknown fate, grew a little.
In a remote spot far from the others, he silently, discreetly drew the eerie cold air into his body.
As the cold breath scattered with the wind, everyone's attention was on the pile of stones, on Han Duping, and no one noticed Pang Jian standing in the corner.
"It's about time."
Accompanied by the thunderous sound of shifting rocks, the portly Han Duping finally dared to move from the exterior towards the interior of the stone pile.
At this moment, the shrill howling from inside the pile suddenly stopped.
Soon, Han Duping reached the body of the deceased Yao Qi, looked at the bloody hole in his forehead, and then glanced at the white paper fan.
On the paper of the fan, where there once were verdant bamboo stalks, they had all now turned blood red.
Han Duping's gaze then fell on the corpse holding the white paper fan and said, "These few Blood Moon folks... their cultivation level is approximate to ours, merely at the Meridians Channeling Realm. The real big shots are all searching for the Heaven Phoenix Divine Bone in the Upper Realm because that's where the Divine Bone is most likely to appear."
"After all, the Divine Bone carries the miraculous legacy of the Heaven Phoenix, and there are more geniuses in the Upper Realm."
As if to bolster his own spirits, Han Duping, before the disordered pile of stones where the yin energy had dissipated, stared at the white paper fan for a moment before planning to reach out and take it.
"I trust Han's abilities and judgment," said Zhou Qingchen, tall and muscular, with a rather relaxed demeanor, smiling, "The dead are the same realm as us and have been dead for a while, and even the Mysterious Yin Power has dissipated. There's nothing to be afraid of."
As he spoke, he climbed back onto the Single-horned Rhinoceros and led the way towards the stone pile.
With his movement, the people from the Zhou Family who had followed him no longer hesitated and immediately chose to keep pace with him.
"Ning Yao, there may still be dangers inside," He Ziren suddenly cautioned.
Ning Yao did not acknowledge him; after exchanging a glance with Ning Yuanshan, she led the people of the Ning Family in as well.
Suddenly, outside the stone pile, only He Ziren and Pang Jian were left.
Hiding in the corner, Pang Jian continued to cultivate with the overflowing "Mysterious Yin Power," seeking to purge the dregs and impurities in his Spiritual Sea in a short time and become a true Qi Refiner.
"Kid, do you think they'll all end up dead inside like Yao Qi did?"
...