Yu Mi didn’t know when she had fallen into darkness.
A pitch-black world where she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, emptiness stretching in every direction. She felt like a wandering ghost drifting alone in that dark.
Darkness always stirred her fear. She did not fear death, but she feared the dark. The moment her eyes couldn’t see, she could no longer control the panic and terror inside.
Instinctively, she wanted to find something to lean on, some way to escape this darkness—then, at a glance, she saw a strand of light seeping through the dark.
That light slowly drew closer.
Bao Gu, dressed in pure white, walked toward her, her whole body shrouded in a soft, gentle glow. She looked at Yu Mi with eyes full of tenderness and said,
“Senior Sister, don’t be afraid.”
The light was gentle, yet it swept away the darkness, and with it, the fear pressing down on Yu Mi’s heart.
Those gentle eyes, that cool, exquisite face, that faint, quiet smile made Yu Mi’s own lips unconsciously curve.
“You finally came out of seclusion?” she asked.
She lifted a hand to touch that face as smooth and flawless as mutton-fat jade—but when her hand fell, it passed straight through that faint, glowing figure.
The person before her blurred in an instant, as if she would vanish or drift far away at any moment.
Panic and terror surged up and filled her chest.
“Bao Gu!” she shouted.
She reached out, trying to grab that fading figure—only to clutch at empty air.
A blinding light pierced through the dark. Voices sounded by her ear. The world was no longer silent and empty.
A dream?
Yu Mi opened her eyes and saw the Duobao Spirit Monkey squatting at her bedside, its little head tilted up, big black eyes blinking at her.
Hua Sheng was sitting on a stool by the bed.
“You’re finally awake,” she said. “Your injuries are already healed, but you just wouldn’t wake up. I was afraid your soul had taken another hit…”
Yu Mi steadied herself and only then realized she was in the small courtyard halfway up Lingyun Peak.
She rubbed her forehead and sat up—then suddenly remembered being captured by Ba, and then Bao Gu appearing out of nowhere.
Her eyes flew wide.
“Bao Gu has come out of seclusion?”
Her expression sank. She hastily got off the bed.
“Where is Bao Gu now?” she asked.
She had fallen into Ba’s hands. If Bao Gu went to save her and clashed head‑on with that utterly inhuman thing, how could that end well?
Seeing Hua Sheng’s expression turn strange, Yu Mi’s voice grew urgent.
“Where’s Bao Gu? How is Bao Gu?”
As she spoke, she had already taken out the transmission jade talisman Bao Gu had given her and tried to contact her with it—but it was like sinking a clay ox into the sea: no response at all.
Yu Mi’s heart dropped to rock bottom.
She rushed out of the courtyard and headed straight for the main peak’s Xuantian Hall.
She ran through the rear of Xuantian Hall into the soul‑lamp hall. The moment she stepped through the main doors and into the courtyard, she saw that the doors to the inner hall were open. Inside stood her Grandmaster, Martial Uncle Feng, Senior Nanshan, and even her reclusive, long‑absent Holy Aunt and Little Martial Aunt.
With a single glance Yu Mi could see they were standing in a large formation, using the array and a soul lamp to calculate someone’s whereabouts.
Yu Mi’s heart tightened. She strode quickly inside, and at once her gaze fell on the soul lamp in the center of the few of them.
On that lamp was carved Bao Gu’s name, and from it faintly emanated an aura she knew all too well. Yet the flame on the lamp was so weak it seemed like it might go out at any moment, and no image appeared above the soul lamp at all.
Something had happened. Something really had happened to Bao Gu.
Yu Mi stood at the doorway, not daring to interrupt in the slightest.
Half a stick of incense later, they withdrew their power.
Zi Yunshu let out a dispirited sigh.
Zi Tianjun’s face was dark, full of pain.
Nanshan Yijian was frowning in silent thought.
The Demon Saint’s delicate brows were slightly furrowed, her expression thoughtful.
Feng Yi turned his head, saw Yu Mi, and beckoned to her.
“What’s going on?” Yu Mi asked.
As the words left her mouth, she realized her voice was dry and rough, like it had been ground out through coarse sand. She forced her mind to steady, then lifted her head to look at the few of them.
“I need to know Bao Gu’s situation,” she said. “In detail. Everything.”
Zi Tianjun told Yu Mi, in concise terms, what had happened after Bao Gu learned Yu Mi was in trouble. When he finished, he fell silent.
The Demon Saint spoke.
“At the moment we can only use the soul lamp to confirm that she is alive or dead,” she said, “but we cannot determine her exact location. As for Bao Gu’s whereabouts, the greatest possibility is that she took Ba with her and exiled it into the void.”
Yu Mi had thought that at worst Bao Gu had fallen into Ba’s hands and would suffer some torment. She had thought Bao Gu would use taking Ba to find Holy Aunt as bait, drag Ba around in circles, then find a way to shake it off—or wait for Yu Mi to go rescue her.
She had never imagined Bao Gu would choose the path of taking Ba and exiling it into the void.
Some sects, when dealing with traitors of extremely high status or people who had committed unforgivable atrocities, yet could not be executed outright because of their position, would choose to exile them into the void.
Those exiled into the void almost never returned alive. It was a road of nine deaths and one life—if that. A path of no return.
Ba had no humanity and was capable of anything. Bao Gu, in Ba’s hands, drifting through the void—Yu Mi couldn’t even imagine how Ba might torment her.
Yu Mi thought of the pain of fine divine metal chains piercing through bone, thought of wounds that never healed and a body in constant agony, thought of Ba eating people right before her eyes and stuffing human flesh into her mouth—
How could Bao Gu bear that?
Seeing Yu Mi stand there pale and speechless, Zi Yunshu grew worried. She walked up to Yu Mi.
“At least we can be sure Bao Gu is still alive,” Zi Yunshu said. “She has the Xuantian Sword suppressing her body, and there are life‑preserving things in the Void Treasure Realm. On top of that, she’s always been resourceful. It’s not certain she can’t survive this.”
Yu Mi forced herself to calm down. She glanced at the soul lamp.
“I want to go to the Desolate Ancient Mountains again,” she said.
She bowed slightly in farewell as she spoke, then turned and walked straight out of the hall.
The Demon Saint paused for a moment, then called out,
“Yu Mi.”
She caught up to Yu Mi in a few steps and took out a delicate little knife, then slit her own wrist.
That flawless, tender skin immediately welled with bright red blood. A faint, penetrating fragrance spread through the air. Just a breath of it made the mind clear and bright, as if all evil thoughts and worldly vexations had been washed away.
The heavy, needle‑prick pain in Yu Mi’s heart seemed to ease a little under that scent.
But her expression didn’t relax at all. Instead it shifted sharply.
“Holy Aunt, what are you doing?” she exclaimed.
The Demon Saint collected the blood dripping from her wrist into a jade bottle and handed it to Yu Mi.
“I know you won’t rest unless you go search the Desolate Ancient Mountains,” she said. “I won’t either.
“I can’t handle Ba, and I definitely can’t fall into Ba’s hands, so I can’t go. Take my essence blood and use your cultivation to transform your appearance into my original form. If Ba is still in this world, she will definitely show herself.
“If Ba doesn’t appear, Yu Mi, don’t think about anything else. Take people and turn the Desolate Ancient Mountains upside down, inch by inch. If you dig up anything, contact me immediately.
“I know you’re worried about Bao Gu, but listen carefully: the Bao family has done good deeds for generations. All that accumulated merit has fallen onto her alone. Her fortune is deep, and she carries great destiny. She is not someone fated to die young.”
She paused, then continued,
“If my guess is right, as long as she stays alive, she will find a way to go to the Upper Realm. A few days ago I contacted the Grand Princess. After hearing about Bao Gu, the only thing the Grand Princess said was: ‘In the Upper Realm, the void is a very good place to temper oneself.’”
Hearing this, Yu Mi’s heart finally settled a little.
She nodded hard, turned, and was about to leave.
The Demon Saint called her again.
“Yu Mi.”
She looked at Yu Mi and said,
“If Ba hasn’t left with Bao Gu but instead captured her and is lurking, waiting for an opportunity… on this trip, if you fall into Ba’s hands, I won’t be able to save you. Whether you live or die will depend on you alone.”
Yu Mi nodded lightly.
“I understand.”
She hesitated a moment, then took off the jade pendant Bao Gu had made for her, the one that allowed her to freely enter and exit the Xuantian Library Pavilion, and placed it in Zi Yunshu’s hand.
“Little Martial Aunt, this jade pendant carries the future of the Xuantian Sect…”
Before she could finish, Zi Yunshu had already put the jade pendant back in Yu Mi’s palm.
“Yu Mi,” Zi Yunshu said, “don’t let Bao Gu down.”
Yu Mi understood what Zi Yunshu meant. She gave a slight nod, turned, and walked toward the square in front of Xuantian Hall, where she struck the great drum on the left side.
From the old days of the Xuantian Sect to the present Xuantian Sect under its new name, there had always been a tradition of disciples sparring and competing on the Xuantian Square. Even on rest days when there were no large or small tournaments, the vast square was still usually packed with disciples exchanging pointers.
The great drum of Xuantian Hall was a law‑drum used to summon the sect’s disciples. Once it sounded, its echo spread to every corner of the Xuantian Sect.
Aside from those on duty and on patrol, every Xuantian disciple who heard the drum hurried to Xuantian Square. Not only the disciples of every peak came, even the various peak lords, people of high status and rank, were summoned by that sound and now stood in orderly rows with their disciples.
When Yu Mi had first become Young Sect Master of the Xuantian Sect, she had thought it was only an empty title. Only when the number of Xuantian disciples grew and things were no longer as simple as “we all get along because of old ties” did she gradually realize the advantages of being Young Sect Master.
Like now—if she weren’t the Xuantian Sect’s Young Sect Master, to mobilize manpower she’d either have to ask the Sect Master to issue an order, or go personally from peak to peak. But right now, as long as the Sect Master didn’t stop her, she could use every resource the Xuantian Sect had.
Yu Mi stood on the tall steps outside Xuantian Hall, looking down at the disciples who’d hurried over and now stood in neat ranks.
She drew five hundred disciples in the Nascent Soul stage from the various peaks, along with three peers who had broken through to the Deity Transformation stage—Lu Lei, Zhao Tianpeng, and Wen Zixuan—and opened the Xuantian Sect’s domain gate to head to the Desolate Ancient Mountains to search for traces of Bao Gu and Ba.
When they reached the Desolate Ancient Mountains, Yu Mi had the Xuantian disciples split into teams of ten and spread out, each team supported by one of the three Deity Transformation first‑stage cultivators—Lu Lei, Zhao Tianpeng, and Wen Zixuan.
As for herself, she took out the jade bottle containing the Demon Saint’s essence blood and cast a spell, transforming that blood into the Demon Saint’s true original form and fixing it between heaven and earth.
A lotus appeared in the sky, crystal‑clear and flawless, as if it had washed away all evil in the world. The moment it surfaced over the mountains, a strange agitation swept through the entire Desolate Ancient range.
Plants on the ground with eyes growing from their stalks, beasts of bizarre shapes, strange birds flying in the sky—all of them went mad, lunging frantically at the lotus formed from the Demon Saint’s essence blood.
The instant they touched the light radiating from the lotus, the flesh and blood on their bodies turned into blood‑fiend death‑qi and they dropped to the ground as lifeless piles of bone. Yet they still surged forward like moths to a flame, throwing themselves at the lotus one after another.
Countless white bones fell from the sky with a clattering roar like a torrential downpour. Before long, a massive mountain of bones rose below.
Cultivators who rushed over after hearing the commotion were all shocked and horrified by the sight.
Yu Mi stood where she was and waited.
She waited until dark, then waited until dawn. She waited until the essence blood in the jade bottle was completely burned up and the holy lotus formed by that blood and her spell faded thinner and thinner and finally disappeared.
Ba never appeared.
Bao Gu never appeared.
Yu Mi felt as if someone had driven a knife straight through her chest. Her heart hurt—sharp and raw—and at the same time felt scooped clean, leaving nothing but boundless rage and a grief too deep for words.
When she saw the last wisp of the lotus phantom disperse, tears burst out of her eyes.
At that same instant, blazing flames suddenly erupted from Yu Mi’s entire body. Like a phoenix reborn in fire, she shot into the depths of the Desolate Ancient Mountains. She summoned the Nanming Lihuo Sword and began crazily hacking at one mountain peak after another, setting fires everywhere she went.
“Ba, get out here!” she screamed. “Ba, come out! Come out!”
The flames burning on her body distorted the air around her. The sword qi she slashed out carved deep ravines into the ground.
Her voice grew hoarse as she roared,
“Ba, get out here! Come out!”
That spirit‑infused shout traveled far into the distance, echoing through the dead, empty world of the mountains.
But that voice was only filled with grief and despair.
No matter how strong Ba was, it was nothing to fear. At worst, Yu Mi could die with her. What was truly terrifying was that she couldn’t even find her—that Ba refused to even give her the chance to strike, the chance to struggle.
Yu Mi raced madly through the Desolate Ancient Mountains. Whenever she saw one of the strange creatures Ba had created, she rushed in like a lunatic, chopping it to pieces and then burning it to ash.
But what use was that?
Everywhere Yu Mi passed became scorched earth.
In the end, when she had exhausted her spiritual power, Yu Mi collapsed to her knees. She tilted her head back and screamed,
“Bao Gu—!”
She stared up at the empty sky as tears streamed down like rain, blurring her vision.
Only now did she truly feel it, deep in her bones:
From this moment on, there was no longer anyone in this world called Bao Gu.
From this moment on, there was no longer someone who thought of her day and night and insisted on staying by her side, no longer someone who called her “Senior Sister,” no longer someone who would appear in the dark, take her hand, and say—
“Senior Sister, don’t be afraid.”
No more…
In the past, when she was wandering outside, no matter what she went through, she always knew that Bao Gu was safe back in the Xuantian Sect.
But now…
Yu Mi roughly wiped away her tears, swallowed some pills to restore her spiritual power, and stood up again.
She gathered the Xuantian Sect disciples, then called in additional manpower from Wang Ding, and on top of that mobilized all the resources of the Kan Gang, assembling a total of one million people to excavate the Desolate Ancient Mountains.
She didn’t know exactly what she was digging for.
But Holy Aunt had told her to dig. Bao Gu had vanished in the Desolate Ancient Mountains. The mountains were also Ba’s lair.
So she felt she had to dig.
Maybe—just maybe—she could find a useful clue and bring Bao Gu back.
