"Yin Corrosion Mist? And an improved version?" Ling Chuan brow furrowed slightly as he considered the name.
Yin Corrosion Mist was a notorious poisonous miasma within the Cultivation Realm, feared by many for its insidious nature. It's usually formed in extreme yin lands where death and cold converged, and it's capable of corroding protective spiritual light, contaminating the magical treasure spirituality, and even slowly seeping into a cultivator body to damage their very foundation.
"It's more concealed and faster spreading. The toxicity is a bit weaker than the natural version, but…" Xie Zhaolin voice was flat and calm as she explained the properties. "It's much easier to ignite heart fire with this. It won't kill them outright, but it will make them restless and anxious. They will be unable to enter deep meditation and completely incapable of maintaining perfect aura concealment for long."
This was a "good thing" she had recently dug out of Butcher storage bag. It's likely a leftover treasure from some rogue cultivator who specialized in playing with lethal poisons.
"That is right," Ling Chuan said, looking at her with some surprise at her quick recognition. "If we combine the two together, as long as one of them can't hold back or slips up…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious to both of them. They didn't need to wipe out the entire group. They only needed to seize one person precisely amid the ensuing chaos and force out Yu Xiaotang whereabouts or extract other critical information.
"The problem is that once this thing is activated, the range is huge. The beasts and demonic creatures it attracts might also reach our own hiding spots. This place is concealed, but there is no guarantee that nothing will get drawn over to us."
"It's fine," Xie Zhaolin replied calmly, dismissive of the risk. "The wider the range, the more pressure it puts on them. We just need to choose our positions in advance and prepare proper defenses for ourselves.
You go west, and I will go east. We will activate them at the same time. The spread will be wider that way, and it will make it harder for them to judge the source of the disturbance. After that, we will regroup at the agreed spot and watch what happens."
She didn't care in the slightest whether these Hehuan Sect disciples lived or died in the canyon. Whether they suffered heavy casualties had nothing to do with her goals. The one who had once shared sect ties with them was Yun Qingyue, who had already died under Yu Xiaotang schemes, not Xie Zhaolin. Now, they're just targets, chess pieces, and tools to be used to extract information about their Young Sect Master. If a tool was useless or became an obstacle, then destroying it was only natural.
Time began to flow slowly again as they moved into position. One hour passed, then two. Night deepened over the rift valley, and the mist within the Bewildering Soul Rift Valley seemed to grow thicker and more cloying.
Inside the sunken area, the Hehuan Sect disciples remained on high alert, but their nerves had been stretched tight for too long and were beginning to fray.
"Senior Sister Hua, how much longer do we have to wait here?" a mid-Golden Core female cultivator asked softly, unable to hold back her restlessness. "When is the Young Sect Master… coming to meet up with us?"
"What are you rushing for?" Hua Wuying snapped at her. Her brows were tightly knit, and her tone was impatient and sharp. "Young Sect Master message was clear. Elder Hua is badly injured and needs her personal protection while recovering. Do you think she can just leave that easily?"
She scanned the small area and saw anxiety and irritation etched onto many of the faces around her. Her own irritation flared in response to their weakness. Didn't she want to reunite with the Young Sect Master as soon as possible? This cursed place had thin spiritual qi, a harsh environment, and unknown dangers lurking everywhere. It's pure torture to sit still.
"But… we have already waited almost five days…" another younger female disciple muttered under her breath. "This rift valley feels creepy. I keep feeling like something is watching us from the shadows…"
"Feeling? Can your feelings feed you?" Hua Wuying shot her a fierce glare. "All of you, stay sharp! Young Sect Master ordered us to stay put, conceal ourselves, and not act on our own. Are you deaf, or are you planning to disobey her orders?"
Her words made several of the wavering disciples fall silent in fear. Yu Xiaotang held immense authority in their hearts now, especially after everything that had happened recently. Almost no one dared to question her orders lightly.
"Exactly, Senior Sister Hua is right." Liu Shaoyu spoke lazily from the side, her voice carrying her usual mocking tone. "Young Sect Master told us to wait, so we wait properly. There is no real danger anyway. It's better than running around and bumping into those monsters outside."
As she spoke, she deliberately glanced toward the rift valley entrance, as if some terrifying beast really lurked just beyond the rocks.
"Senior Sister Liu is right," someone echoed, though fatigue and unease still seeped into their voice.
"Hmph, it's good that you understand," Hua Wuying snorted, suppressing her own irritation for the moment. She knew Liu Shaoyu was just being sarcastic, but keeping morale steady mattered more right now than arguing. "Stay alert. Rotate the sentries. Those of you not on watch, focus on regulating your breathing. Once the Young Sect Master and Elder Hua stabilize their injuries, they will come get us."
However, not long after her words fell—
"Huh?" A female disciple at the early Golden Core stage, responsible for watching the west, suddenly sniffed at the air. "That is weird. Why does it smell… strange out there?"
"What smell?" Hua Wuying became alert immediately, her hand moving toward her weapon.
"I can't really say… it's kind of bloody, but also… it makes my skin crawl…" The disciple rubbed her temples, looking distressed.
"I smell it too. And it feels stuffy in here. My spiritual energy circulation doesn't feel as smooth as it did before," another disciple said, her voice rising in pitch.
"Not good! It's poison! Be careful!" Hua Wuying reacted instantly, her Hua Wuying combat experience showing through the panic. She shouted sharply while raising her protective spiritual light. "Everyone, hold your breath, focus your minds, and circulate your techniques to resist it!"
But it's already too late for a perfect defense. The improved Yin Corrosion Mist had seeped in silently long ago, carried by the natural drafts of the canyon. Its toxicity wasn't strong enough to kill, but the restless, irritating sensation clung to them like a bone-gnawing parasite, corroding everyone state of mind.
"My head is spinning…"
"So annoying! Why won't it stop?"
Unease spread through the group like a plague, fueled by the heart fire ignited by the mist.
Right then—
"Roar—!"
A violent beast roar erupted from deep within the rift valley, echoing off the stone walls!
Immediately after, heavy running sounds and overlapping roars echoed from afar. The noise came from both the west and the east, closing in fast, as if large numbers of beasts were being drawn in by something irresistible and were converging on the area in a frenzy.
"Beasts!"
"Don't panic!" Hua Wuying forcibly suppressed the rising panic and the increasingly fierce, nameless anger in her chest. Her gaze swept across the group, and her heart sank when she saw fear already creeping onto many of their faces. The poison effect was far stronger than she had expected it to be.
"Form up! Heavenly Fragrance Bewildering Formation!" she nearly roared the command. "Use the terrain and hold the line! There may be many beasts, but most are low rank. As long as our formation doesn't break, we might hold them off. Charging out rashly and getting scattered, then being pincered by beasts—that is the real road to death!"
In the distance, at a concealed observation point tucked away from the path.
"They're… choosing to hold their ground?" Ling Chuan said in surprise. "Instead of breaking out while the beasts haven't fully surrounded them and the formation can still run, they want to tank poison and a beast tide head-on? Do they really think they can hold?"
This was completely different from what he had expected of the flighty Hehuan Sect.
"It's Yu Xiaotang order," she said quietly. "They aren't holding the line. They're… carrying out orders."
"Carrying out orders? In this situation, staying put is basically waiting to die," Ling Chuan said, his voice confused.
"That is why I am adding more fuel."