Aftermath of the Storm, Nothing Gained

The flame storm covered a vast area, likely spanning hundreds of miles. Sweeping forward with immense force, it threatened to catch up with everyone in its wake, despite their quick response in scattering to flee.

Sensing the world-destroying scalding air currents behind her, Shi Yu's heart sank.

With no time to think, she ran forward at full speed. Her spiritual Qi drained rapidly as she drove it to the limit. She also activated speed-enhancing spirit talismans, employing every method at her disposal just to buy time and delay being overtaken by the storm.

Fortunately, after running a few more miles, a crimson mountain came into view ahead. Because the entire world was a boundless expanse of crimson, the mountain before her was no exception, blending seamlessly with the surroundings from afar and becoming noticeable only upon closer approach.

At the base of the mountain lay a concealed, deep cave, slightly taller than a person. Given the current situation, this cave was a natural refuge.

Delight flickered in Shi Yu's eyes. Disregarding her spiritual Qi consumption, she picked up her speed and dashed toward the cave. But right then, a sharp gust of wind struck from behind as a surge of spiritual Qi clung to her like glue, pushing and pulling her until she lost her balance. She stumbled awkwardly, nearly crashing to the ground.

Shi Yu looked up just in time to see Pei Yanji leap off the ground, riding a streak of light past her and darting into the cave first.

Pei Yanji gave her a cold sneer, then waved his hand to seal off the cave's entrance completely.

Behind her, the fiery red storm raged across the land like a rabid beast, closing in like a fiendish deity with growing ferocity and malice. Having been tricked by Pei Yanji, murderous intent boiled in Shi Yu's eyes, yet she could only gnash her teeth and sprint into the distance once more.

The flames licked at her heels as the storm, bearing boundless might, swallowed the ground inch by inch toward her.

Shi Yu tried pulling out a Spirit Wandering Talisman, but when she funneled spiritual Qi into it, it failed to activate. She could only give up in helplessness. The Spirit Wandering Talisman is a Teleportation Talisman containing a trace of space laws... In this minor realm of the Yanyang Spiritual Realm, space laws don't work...

The storm behind her grew increasingly massive, threatening to devour her whole. As she fled, Shi Yu constantly felt her physical stamina draining and her mental energy whittling away.

Telling herself this, Shi Yu slapped various defensive spirit talismans onto her body while straining to run out of the storm's reach, searching for cover anywhere within her field of view.

However, the flame storm was truly unstoppable. In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, before Shi Yu could find a place to hide, the aftermath reached her feet. Roaring thunder rumbled in her ears, and a powerful suction pulled at her from behind, immobilizing her feet. Unable to control her direction, she could only let the storm devour her.

Despite Shi Yu's desperate struggles, the storm's aftermath blasted her into midair. Searing pain tore through her from all sides, no different from passing through molten lava. Before long, tossed and tumbled violently in the air, Shi Yu could bear it no longer; her consciousness slipped away, and everything went black.

...

Inside a vast cave, Yin Wenzhou, Qin Qingmu, and the others huddled together, trembling as they listened to the flame storm raging outside like roaring thunder.

“C-Can this mountain hold up?” One person's face was pale. Remembering the flame storm that had swept over and the apocalyptic scene that blanketed the sky, his heart pounded with terror.

“It... it should be fine, right?”

Aside from Qin Qingmu, the others were all members of the Hengze Prefecture Alchemist Association. When everyone scattered for their lives earlier, they had stayed together, fleeing in the same direction. Luckily, bare mountains were fairly common in the Yanyang Spiritual Realm, so it did not take long before they spotted this cave and scrambled inside in panic.

Qin Qingmu stood close to Yin Wenzhou, looking at him relatively calmly. “Brother Yin, when you entered the Yanyang Spiritual Realm in previous years, were there ever such terrifying storms?”

As the daughter of the City Lord's Mansion, although this was her first time inside the Yanyang Spiritual Realm, she possessed quite a bit of information. None of her intel had ever mentioned that such apocalyptic storms occurred in the realm.

Qin Qingmu already knew the answer in her heart, but she could not help seeking confirmation from Yin Wenzhou.

Sure enough, Yin Wenzhou shook his head, his face somber. “Never.”

Everyone's faces turned pale as they cursed their bad luck, dismayed that a danger that had never occurred before had struck right on their first visit. This was truly...

At such a critical juncture, Yin Wenzhou did not hold back and voiced his speculation directly: “In the past, the Yanyang Spiritual Realm was fairly peaceful—no spirit beasts or demon beasts, no maze arrays or toxic miasmas. It was considered a very safe secret realm. This time, I suspect it's because the realm is on the verge of collapsing and disintegrating, making it extremely unstable.”

Hearing this, anxiety filled everyone's hearts. “Who knows what's waiting for us after this storm passes?”

“I only hope no more accidents happen so we can observe the spiritual fire in peace.”

“If this continues, will we fail to even catch a glimpse of the spiritual fire?”

“Pui, pui, pui! Don't jinx us!”

...

When Shi Yu woke up, her whole body throbbed with pain, as if she had been ground by a millstone. She wanted to move, but her limbs felt weak and her joints felt broken, as though a crushing weight pressed down on her. Her throat was bone-dry, making breathing difficult, with every breath feeling like the scrape of a blade.

Fortunately, the terrifying storm had passed, leaving absolute silence around her.

When she was swept up by the storm's aftermath, she had used every defensive measure at her disposal—the automatically triggered shield of her Flowing Radiance spirit robe, various defensive spirit talismans, and so on. Moreover, because she had managed to flee to the very edge of the storm, she hadn't borne the full brunt of its power, allowing her to keep her life.

Even so, she was in terrible shape.

Shi Yu forced her eyes open and looked around, but she had no idea where the storm had carried her.

This space was a vast expanse of crimson in every direction, lacking any distinctive landmarks to identify her location. Even telling directions was extremely difficult.

Recalling her purpose for coming, Shi Yu sat up and gritted her teeth against the pain, muttering, “I need to find the spiritual fire first.”

Recalling what Yin Wenzhou had said earlier, the Yanyang Xuancang Flame was lively by nature and shifted locations constantly. By attuning oneself to the surrounding spiritual Qi, wherever the fire aura was most concentrated, that was where it lay.

Shi Yu did not dally. Taking advantage of having no one around to guard against, she immediately sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and calmed her mind to sense her surroundings.

An incense stick's time later, she opened her eyes with a bitter smile.

“What am I supposed to do now...”

Under the influence of the storm's aftermath, when her spiritual sense spread out, all she sensed was chaotic spiritual Qi filled with violent, erratic energy in every direction. It was completely impossible to discern which direction had the dense fire aura or where the Yanyang Xuancang Flame was located.

Elsewhere, whether it was Yin Wenzhou's group, Pei Yanji, or the other alchemists who had scattered for shelter, all faced the exact same predicament.

...

The Yanyang Tokens were crafted using special methods, allowing them to resonate with the Yanyang Spiritual Realm so that token holders would not be rejected by the realm and could stay inside safely.

However, every Yanyang Token differed in the number of restrictions inscribed on it and the amount of spiritual Qi it held. Naturally, their durations differed, meaning everyone could stay in the spiritual realm for different lengths of time.

Outside the Yanyang Spiritual Realm, Qin Yu, Yin Shixiu, and the others waited.

Now, five days had passed, and the first batch of alchemists was due to emerge.

The black hole in midair still persisted, breathing in and out with a rhythmic cadence. Its aura was now restrained, unlike when it had first appeared with howling gales that threw everyone into chaos.

At noon, the black hole suddenly contracted, spitting out several figures.

With a wave of their sleeves, Yin Shixiu and Qin Yu sent out spiritual Qi that caught the individuals smoothly, bringing them safely to the ground.

Instantly, eyes from all around gathered on them, everyone eager to know if these few had gained anything inside the spiritual realm.

Yin Shixiu spoke up, “Young friends, how were your gains?”

He was merely asking out of routine, expecting them to reply with humble or subtly satisfied answers.

To his surprise, the few exchanged glances, all hanging their heads dejectedly.

“We... didn't even catch a glimpse of the spiritual fire. We were busy fleeing for our lives the whole time. What gains could there possibly be?”

Having this hard-won opportunity end so abruptly filled them with intense regret, along with a bit of unwillingness and disappointment.

Hearing this, Yin Shixiu and Qin Yu exchanged a glance, then frowned and asked, “Fleeing for your lives? What happened in there?”

The group chimed in one after another, recounting everything that had transpired over the past five days since entering the spiritual realm.

“...Before we could bring that vicious evil cultivator to justice, a flame storm swept over...”

“For the next five days, we cautiously emerged from the cave to attune ourselves, but we were interfered with by the storm's aftermath and couldn't sense the concentration of fire aura at all.”

“Even as we traveled in one direction trying to escape the range of the storm's aftermath, we still... still couldn't find anything or sense a thing.”

In the end, one of them almost burst into tears. “In these five days, the few of us didn't even catch a glimpse of the Yanyang Xuancang Flame, let alone observe it to comprehend Intent!”

At this, Yin Shixiu and the others furrowed their brows even deeper.