Chapter 48

Wei Shizhe's leap into the Ghost Gate Abyss was not a momentary impulse but a carefully calculated move. About seventy feet down from the cliff, there was the snow cave where the Yellow Dragon had met its end. There were two main concerns: first, how to slow down his descent to avoid missing the cave entrance; second, how to avoid alarming the monsters in the abyss, especially the two human-faced doves that had just flown away.

The first issue was easy to solve. The Dragon-Seeking Sword could cut through iron like butter, and by embedding it into the cliff, he could stabilize himself. Although it was a bit of a waste of a divine weapon, he had no other choice. As for the second issue, he could only leave it to fate and take his chances.

The Dragon-Seeking Sword was shorter and more flexible than ordinary flying swords, only about a foot and a half long. With a light thrust, it sank into the cliff, trembling slightly as it held Wei Shizhe suspended in mid-air. He moved his toes to find a protruding rock, used it for leverage, and with his left hand, pulled out the Dragon-Seeking Sword. He then slid down the cliff a few feet and thrust the sword back into the rock. Repeating this process, he quickly descended into the Ghost Gate Abyss.

Above him, the clouds swirled, and he faintly heard a cold laugh: "Qiluo... escaped... lucky... obediently..." He thought, "The girl transformed from the human-faced dove is called Qiluo? Who has such a good appetite to target her?"

Estimating that the entrance to the snow cave was nearby, he steadied himself and took a deep breath. Suddenly, a scream echoed in his ears, and a human-faced dove fiercely attacked him, opening its blood-red mouth with rows of sharp teeth, almost capable of swallowing his head in one bite.

Was it the one that had escaped first, or the one he had knocked out? To him, all human-faced doves looked the same. The iron rod was a blunt weapon, and he couldn't use it effectively while hanging in mid-air. As he pulled out the Dragon-Seeking Sword with his left hand, he thrust the iron rod into the cliff with his right. He slashed upward with the sword, cutting the human-faced dove from its chest to its head, splitting it in two. Without waiting for the body to fall, he immediately activated the Penglai Bag to absorb it, kicked off the cliff, and continued his descent.

In a moment, he reached the seventy-foot mark. He aimed for the cave entrance, curled his body, and dove into the snow cave. As long as Qiluo didn't pursue him, he would be safe for the time being.

The slightly hoarse cold laugh still echoed in his ears, and the more he thought about it, the more familiar it sounded. Wei Shizhe suddenly remembered Qi Du from the Pingyuan Sect. It must have been him who arrived in time to save his disciple. He looked at the Dragon-Seeking Sword and the Penglai Bag on his hand, thinking that if Qi Du had intervened, the human-faced dove girl named Qiluo would not have fared well. It would be best if they both suffered and ignored him.

An ordinary man is not guilty, but one who possesses a treasure is. This was an unshakable truth.

Wei Shizhe returned to the stone chamber where the Yellow Dragon had meditated and practiced. Leaning against the stone wall, he felt his qi points empty and his body exhausted. The battle with Qiluo had drained him of all his strength, and if she had been more accustomed to killing, he might have been dead the moment they met. The Ghost Gate Abyss was indeed perilous. He wondered if his junior sister had left and whether she would be foolish enough to come back for him.

Numerous chaotic thoughts swirled in his mind, and Wei Shizhe closed his eyes, feeling drowsy. Suddenly, a loud boom shook the snow cave, and debris rained down. After a long while, it finally settled. Wei Shizhe pressed his ear to the stone wall and listened intently. The sound of intense battle and triumphant laughter came from above, along with the shrill cries of Qiluo and Qi Du, who were using their great powers in a life-and-death struggle.

At this level of combat, even a slight touch could be fatal. It was safer to stay in the snow cave and continue his cultivation. Wei Shizhe took off his clothes and neatly folded them into a crevice in the stone wall to prevent damage. He then took out the flesh of the human-faced doves from the Penglai Bag and resumed his raw meat and blood diet.

In the snow cave, day and night were indistinguishable. Every seven days, the pill poison would flare up, and he used this to mark the passage of time. After several months, he had eaten both human-faced doves and a large striped tiger, and he had opened the "Jinshuo," "Zhongshu," and "Jizhong" qi points, connecting all nine qi points of the Governor Vessel. The flow of qi became more intense, and the earth qi of the艮 (Gen) element subtly refined his body, giving his skin a metallic sheen. The wounds on his back, repeatedly torn by the rocks, had healed completely without leaving any scars.

The flesh of the beauty python suppressed the pill poison and could not be wasted. Wei Shizhe felt he had hidden long enough and it was time to go out and find more monster flesh. He dressed neatly, shouldered the Dragon-Seeking Sword, and carried the iron rod, carefully climbing out of the snow cave and up the Ghost Gate Abyss using withered vines.

The Ghost Gate Abyss was eerily silent, with no screams of human-faced doves in the mist, making the silence unsettling. Wei Shizhe climbed up the cliff, but nothing happened.

However, the scene before him made him gasp. The entire mountain top had been flattened, and the surroundings looked like a bombed-out wasteland, with no intact land or trees. He could easily imagine how fierce the battle between Qi Du and Qiluo must have been.

He felt a sense of unease, a heavy feeling in his chest. "I must become stronger, I must become stronger!" This thought had never been so intense.

Wei Shizhe took one last look, imprinting everything in his mind, and turned to leave the Ghost Gate Abyss, heading back.

About ten steps from the Yin-Yang Ridge stone marker, a blue wolf carrying a girl rushed toward him through the wind and snow. It was as if the events of several months ago were repeating. Qin Zhen, tears of joy streaming down her face, threw herself into his arms and clung to him tightly.

Her body was light and soft, almost weightless. She only managed to say, "Senior Brother, I finally waited for you..." before losing consciousness.

Wei Shizhe picked her up and stepped over the stone marker, entering a different season. From mid-summer to harsh winter, the cold wind raged, and the snow blocked the mountains. He hesitated for a moment but decided not to return to the Ghost Gate Abyss. He tightly held his junior sister, found a sheltered cave, swept away the snow, and gently placed her in a nest of grass.

She had lost weight, her chin was sharp and painful to look at, her face was haggard, and her hair was dry and yellow. Wei Shizhe couldn't resist kissing her dry lips, then went into the forest to gather some dry branches and started a warm fire.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Zhen smelled the aroma of roasted meat, as if in a dream. She kept her eyes tightly closed, afraid that if she opened them, the dream would end.

A familiar and warm hand caressed her face, and Qin Zhen trembled with excitement, tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay, nothing to worry about. Get up and eat some meat—look at you, you've lost so much weight!"

Qin Zhen stared at her senior brother, seeing herself in his eyes, unsure what to say. After a long while, she slowly got up, knelt on Wei Shizhe's lap, and whispered, "Senior Brother, I have opened seven qi points and connected the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian. I am cultivating the Dao embryo."

Wei Shizhe frowned and said, "You are too hasty. Seven is too few. Even if you form the Dao embryo, it will only be of inferior quality. With your talent, you should open at least thirteen qi points."

"But I can't wait any longer... Senior Brother, will you marry me?"

Her heart pounded as she waited for Wei Shizhe's response.