Chapter 547 - 554: Trace of Liu Lan Yi

"Ptooey—"

Liu Lan Yi spat calmly, spraying a mouthful of bloody spittle all over Gong Ye’s face.

Gong Ye didn’t get angry. Instead, a smile crept onto his face.

"It’s been years, and you’re as stubborn as ever."

He looked Liu Lan Yi up and down, forced to marvel at the woman’s tenacious life force.

Anyone else would have died long ago from such torture. Yet she remained spirited and recovered quickly.

"That thing... where on earth did you hide it?"

He leaned in close to Liu Lan Yi, asking the question once more.

He’d lost count of how many times he’d asked. All he knew was that the woman was tight-lipped and refused to talk.

Worse, her Divine Soul was protected by some kind of mechanism. He couldn’t forcibly search her memories without risking mutual destruction.

But for the sake of his ascension, he couldn’t take such a risk. He had resolved to torture her slowly, but who would have thought she could endure for so many years?

Even as her enemy, he had to admire Liu Lan Yi’s powerful will.

"I’ve told you before, I don’t know!"

Liu Lan Yi’s gaze was fearless, even filled with contempt.

The vast gulf in their Cultivation levels did nothing to diminish it.

That look was simply too galling.

A flash of fury crossed Gong Ye’s eyes. He snatched a nearby Soul Capturing Nail and viciously drove it into Liu Lan Yi.

In the next instant, Liu Lan Yi convulsed in agony, the color draining from her face.

But she clenched her jaw, refusing to scream no matter how excruciating the pain, clinging to her last shred of dignity.

Seeing this only enraged Gong Ye further. He grabbed the various torture instruments nearby and subjected Liu Lan Yi to each of them all over again.

Liu Lan Yi, already extremely weak, felt her aura dim even more.

But even so, she held on by a thread, not uttering another sound until she finally passed out.

It was the same scene all over again. Annoyed, Gong Ye flew into a rage.

The other prisoners in the Water Prison suffered for it. For a time, the dungeon was filled with bloodcurdling screams that would make anyone tremble.

After finally reigning in his anger, Gong Ye took one last, deep look at the unconscious Liu Lan Yi.

’It’s not like I’m ascending anytime soon. We’ll just see who can wait longer.’

’I refuse to believe it. If she can endure for ten years, can she endure for a hundred? A thousand?’

’One day, her will is bound to break!’

Gong Ye left.

The unconscious Liu Lan Yi hung motionless on the wall for a long time, looking as if she were dead.

It wasn’t until the next morning that she gradually regained consciousness.

The Water Prison was a sunless pit. Liu Lan Yi lowered her gaze, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.

’When I ascended, my teleportation point was incredibly unlucky. I ended up in the Demon Clan Territory.’

’I happened upon a fortuitous encounter and decided to take a chance, but who would have known I’d end up captured by Gong Ye and imprisoned here.’

She had spent most of her time since ascending living miserably in this Water Prison.

’At first, I worried I wouldn’t be able to hold on. But miraculously, that bead my martial-niece Song Wanning insisted I take as my own can actually convert other types of energy.’

’Take Demonic Qi, for instance. I can’t absorb it directly, but after the bead converts it, it becomes Spiritual Energy. Not only can I absorb it with ease, but it even accelerates my Cultivation.’

’So, despite being locked away, I’ve been secretly cultivating all this time. With the bead’s help, I’ve even managed to conceal my true Cultivation, making it seem like I’m still at the Early Stage of Void Refining, just as I was when I first ascended.’

Every time she thought of this, Liu Lan Yi felt immense gratitude toward Song Wanning. If not for her, she would have died here long ago.

’I just wonder if that girl has ascended yet?’

’If she has, I hope she doesn’t have my rotten luck. I was trapped here before I even had a chance to meet my Senior Sister.’

"Sigh—"

A long sigh echoed through the Water Prison, which then fell into an eerie silence.

Liu Lan Yi closed her eyes and began to secretly cultivate again.

...

「A few months later」

Song Wanning finally arrived at the border of the Demon Clan Territory.

Passing the Demon Race’s boundary marker, she was met with a dense wave of Demonic Qi. The Spiritual Energy in the air thinned rapidly, suppressed by the demonic presence.

Song Wanning looked around with curiosity. The trees of the Demon Race were enormous. Every single one seemed to exude an ancient aura.

They truly towered into the clouds.

Since this was the border, there were almost no Medicinal Herbs to be seen. She figured they had likely been picked clean by humans from nearby.

Most of the Demon Race in the Spirit Realm organized themselves by bloodline, which was equivalent to the human "family" system.

For a Demon Cultivator of an ordinary bloodline, the peak of their lifetime achievement might only be reaching full transformation.

Only those lucky enough to awaken the bloodline of a divine beast had a chance to ascend.

Even awakening a tiny fraction of it meant a limitless future.

This was all because the tribulations for Demon Cultivators were exceptionally difficult.

The slightest mistake could lead to complete annihilation, so many Demon Cultivators preferred to lord over others in the Spirit Realm rather than risk the tribulations.

Song Wanning had already researched the Demon Race, so she casually pulled out a map to examine it.

Back in the spacetime fragment, she had promised that senior she would find his descendant.

Now, following the guidance she’d been given, she could indeed sense a faint reaction.

Meanwhile, the Three Lives Mirror clearly showed the invader’s location.

But Song Wanning didn’t act rashly. ’I’m not part of the Demon Race. If I just waltz in looking for someone, I’m afraid I’ll become a target for the entire race.’

’No matter how powerful I am, I can’t withstand a frenzied beast tide. I need to think this through carefully.’

She first found a cave to rest for a while, then began to inspect the sphere in her Dantian.

Immortal Qi, Yin Qi, Demonic Qi, and Spiritual Energy were all gathered there as one. ’So,’ she wondered, ’is there a way for me to absorb Demonic Qi too?’

’If I can, then I won’t have to hide while I’m in the Demon Clan Territory. It’ll be much harder for anyone to discover me!’

No sooner said than done. Song Wanning immediately sat down cross-legged and began trying to absorb the Demonic Qi.

She had thought it would be easy, but when she actually tried to absorb it, she found that wasn’t the case at all.

Her previous experiences had been special circumstances where the ambient energy was extremely dense. This cave, however, was a far cry from those fortuitous encounters.

But Song Wanning didn’t give up. ’If it’s not dense enough, I’ll just have to spend more time on it.’

’The first step is always the hardest. As long as I can successfully absorb even a little bit of Demonic Qi, the rest will be simple.’

And so, she immersed herself in her cultivation, striving to peel away threads of Demonic Qi and forcibly draw them into her body.

...

Several hours passed, and Song Wanning remained motionless inside the cave.

Outside, however, there was a stir.

"Brother Jiu, are you sure that thing is here?" a gorgeously dressed man with a snakeskin wrapped around his waist asked doubtfully.

"We’re talking about a treasure that can awaken the Flood Dragon bloodline. How could it possibly be in a godforsaken place like this?"