Chapter 118: The Cultivation Technique Reappears

Three months later.

"Master, how are you feeling?" Little Yan wore a rare, serious expression.

Qu Yiqiu stretched her limbs, frowning slightly. "I feel pretty good for now."

"Then let's try again!" Little Yan’s solemn expression remained unchanged despite her words.

Qu Yiqiu nodded gravely, her eyes flashing with a mix of determination and anticipation. She took heavy steps, slowly walking out of the confined prison cell. As she stepped over the threshold, she glanced down at her fair ankles before withdrawing her gaze and pressing forward.

Little Yan said solemnly, "This time, it will surely succeed!"

Qu Yiqiu steadied herself, gazing toward the hall ahead where Su Xichen had been slaying demonic beasts. The hall was oval-shaped, with the floor tiles carved with colorful demonic flowers, their heavy petals spreading all the way to the edge of the floor seam before her. She took a deep breath and turned her head to look at her back and shoulders.

If the silver chains that had once bound her ankles were as thick as saplings, then the dozens of bronze chains coiled around her body were each as thick as a century-old tree. And at the end of these bronze chains lay nothing but unfathomable void and darkness.

"Compared to these bronze chains, the silver ones I burned off my ankles are hardly worth mentioning," Qu Yiqiu sighed, shaking her head.

She had originally thought that burning the silver chains on her ankles would be enough to leave this place and find Su Xichen. Yet, after the silver chains were incinerated, she hadn't even reached the hall when over a dozen massive bronze chains erupted from her back, dragging her back to the cell.

Little Yan urged, "Master, have the Azure-Purple Sparrow Phoenix Fire release its Nether Fire. You will definitely make it across this time!"

The Azure-Purple Sparrow Phoenix Fire, floating nearby, trembled, eyeing the bronze chains on her back with fear. Qu Yiqiu looked at the shrinking flame and tempted it with a promise: "As long as you burn through these bronze chains this time, I will prepare your favorite Fire Essence as a reward when we return!"

The Azure-Purple Sparrow Phoenix Fire’s eyes brightened. It raised its head, let out a cry, and inhaled deeply, swelling to several times its size. Suddenly, it spewed forth a raging inferno, engulfing Qu Yiqiu in a terrifying, crimson blaze.

Qu Yiqiu stared intensely at the chains on her back.

*Crack!*

"It broke!" Qu Yiqiu and Little Yan exclaimed in delight simultaneously.

The Azure-Purple Sparrow Phoenix Fire, not waiting to witness the moment, shrank back into Qu Yiqiu’s dantian. It needed to rest.

Qu Yiqiu was overwhelmed with excitement. After being locked up for over three months, she could finally leave this tiny patch of ground!

"Master, hurry and test if you can reach Su Xichen!" Little Yan had been bored to death these past three months.

Su Xichen had not been seen since the day he took Qu Yiqiu’s storage bag.

"Right, I need to see what that fellow Su Xichen is actually up to!" Qu Yiqiu clenched her fists, her face full of annoyance. They had agreed on a few days, but now three months had passed without a trace of him! Could he have escaped on his own?

Qu Yiqiu’s expression shifted slightly. In a fit of temper, she stepped over the floor seam and planted her feet on the multi-petaled demonic flower. "It really worked!" She felt a surge of joy, though not overly surprised. According to her and Little Yan’s research, every time the chains appeared, they only restricted her for a certain distance.

"Congratulations, Master!" Little Yan happily spun around on its eyeball.

A cold smirk played on Qu Yiqiu’s lips. "Su Xichen, what kind of trick are you playing?"

She darted forward, crossing the hall in the blink of an eye, and reached the corner where Su Xichen had vanished. A vast expanse of stars greeted her eyes. Ancient, mysterious, and obscure characters drifted through the endless void. It was as if a gate to another world had been opened; Qu Yiqiu and Little Yan were filled with astonishment.

"Is this where Su Xichen has been staying? It looks... actually not bad!?" Qu Yiqiu frowned, shifting her gaze to a three-story crimson tower floating in the void to her right.

"What is that thing?" Upon seeing the red tower, Little Yan nearly couldn't contain itself from rushing out.

No sooner had Little Yan spoken than a series of circular platforms made of spider lilies began to emerge in the void between Qu Yiqiu and the red tower, as if welcoming her.

Qu Yiqiu did not hesitate. "Let’s go over and see," she said as she moved. Perhaps the key to escaping lay within!

She landed at the entrance of the red tower, and the spider lily platforms vanished instantly. Qu Yiqiu looked back once before stepping into the first floor. Inside the massive tower, rows of red-walled prison cells lined both sides. The central hall was filled with various torture instruments, dripping with blood and glowing with eerie flames. She could even see her own massive shadow cast against the red walls.

"Another prison? Is this where the Demon Race keeps other races captive?" Qu Yiqiu’s voice echoed through the empty chamber.

Little Yan shook its head, frowning. "I only know a little bit about the affairs of the Demon Race."

"There is a different kind of dungeon here!" As she spoke, Qu Yiqiu’s spiritual sense spread out, discovering a hidden passage at the front of the hall. She rushed over, and while running, she kept checking her back to ensure no strange chains were forming, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw none.

Two candles burned on either side of the hidden passage, but they cast no light, only a chilling, gloomy wind. Gazing down the deep, purple-brick stairs, Qu Yiqiu hesitated before walking in.

The light on the stairs flickered intermittently. The monsters and ghosts carved into the stone walls bared their fangs, looking so ferocious that they seemed ready to leap off the walls and swallow any intruder whole. Qu Yiqiu vigilantly summoned her defensive shield, letting the Cloud-Weave Brocade hover above her head, shedding colorful light to protect her.

"The door is open!"

She reached the end of the stairs and stood before a heavy stone gate supported by white pillars, feeling a sense of surprise.

Little Yan sniffed, remarking, "The white pillars don't fit in with the prison here. They haven't been built for long."

Qu Yiqiu frowned. "Perhaps Su Xichen built them." He must have already seen what was inside. It seemed the way out was not here.

Qu Yiqiu walked slowly to the center of the dungeon, examining the dark, irregular stone platform for several rounds.

"The characters on this are so familiar. Aren't they the same ones from that incomplete cultivation manual you were studying, Master?" Little Yan asked in surprise.

Qu Yiqiu broke into a sudden smile. "Little Yan is right. I happen to be able to understand eighty or ninety percent of the cultivation technique written here."

Little Yan’s eyes lit up. This technique had appeared inexplicably in the hidden passage—it might just be the way out!

"Master, hurry and cultivate this technique!"

Qu Yiqiu chuckled. "Right! That is exactly my intention."

On the top floor of the red tower, thorny demonic flowers climbed the eerie, heavy stone gate. Their triangular green leaves resembled snakes, their sharp tips aimed at the person before them, poised to strike.

Su Xichen, dressed in blue, stood suspended in mid-air. As he moved his palms, Qu Yiqiu’s storage bag suddenly flew open, and low-grade spirit stones and ironware continuously spilled out. The green leaves twisted, and with the vines, they leaped up. In an instant, countless tendrils wrapped around Su Xichen, encasing him like an egg.