"Forget it. As long as you’re okay." Xiao Mo didn’t press the issue. "So, what are you looking at over here?"
"There’s sothing beneath this lava," Wangxin said softly.
"What is it?" Xiao Mo asked.
"I don’t know." Wangxin shook her head. "But I can just feel sothing down there."
The mont Wangxin finished speaking, the earth began to tremble violently. The magma in the deep pit churned without cease, and fissures snaked across the ground.
"Go!"
Xiao Mo had a terrible feeling and grabbed Wangxin’s hand, pulling her back.
But it was too late.
In the span of a single breath, the entire plain collapsed. Everyone plumted downward, falling into the magma.
His consciousness blurred.
When Xiao Mo opened his eyes, all he could see was a stretch of Chaos.
The feeling was incredibly strange.
You could see your own hands and feet clearly, and your vision was completely unobstructed, yet before you was nothing but a vast emptiness.
"Wangxin!"
"Si Li!"
Xiao Mo walked forward, calling their nas, but there was no response.
After walking for a long ti, Xiao Mo still hadn’t seen a single soul.
"Xiao Mo..."
After an unknown amount of ti, Wangxin’s voice sounded from behind him.
Xiao Mo turned to see Wangxin jogging toward him.
But just as Wangxin was about to touch him, Xiao Mo’s brow furrowed. His longsword left its sheath, and he slashed down in a single motion!
The "Wangxin" before Xiao Mo dissolved into nothingness, scattering on the wind.
"An illusion, just as I thought."
Xiao Mo sheathed his longsword and continued walking forward.
"Young Master, co save ... Young Master..."
Before long, Xiao Mo saw Si Li being besieged by several Cultivators.
Xiao Mo walked up and cut down the Cultivators.
"Thank you so much, Young Master. You’ve saved my life again."
Si Li breathed a sigh of relief. The hand she held behind her back clutched a short sword as she walked to Xiao Mo’s side.
And just as Si Li was about to stab him, a flash of a blade streaked past, and "Si Li" also dissolved into nothingness.
Xiao Mo spent about another incense stick’s worth of ti in this Chaos.
The longer he stayed here, the more his consciousness blurred, and the more his mind began to wander.
"Master..."
A familiar voice called out again. Xiao Mo looked over to see Jiang Qingyi standing before him.
"Qingyi..." Xiao Mo called out softly.
"Master, I’ve finally found you..." Jiang Qingyi walked forward step by step. "Master, you made search for so long."
"Xiao Mo..."
At the sa ti, another voice—one he would never forget—sounded from behind him.
Turning around, he saw Ruxue, tears streaming down her face, walking toward him step by step. "Xiao Mo... I miss you so much... Why did you leave behind... Xiao Mo... say sothing..."
Looking at them, Xiao Mo gripped his longsword tightly.
He knew it was all fake, but his fading sanity told him they were real.
Just as he was about to be completely subrged in the illusion, Xiao Mo steeled himself and stabbed the longsword toward his own heart.
Xiao Mo’s eyes shot open. He found himself lying on stone tiles, with Wangxin kneeling beside him, looking at him with concern.
"Xiao Mo, you’re awake..." Wangxin’s heart leaped with joy.
"Mm."
Xiao Mo sat up and looked around. All the other Cultivators were lying on the ground, deep in slumber.
It was a massive cavern, surrounded by rock walls with no visible exit.
Looking up, he saw the magma was sohow floating above his head.
"What happened?" Xiao Mo asked, his head aching slightly.
"I don’t know..." Wangxin shook her head. "That magma was an illusion. After you fell from the surface, you fell asleep just like everyone else. I was the only one who remained awake."
"I see..." Xiao Mo took a deep breath to calm his thoughts.
Xiao Mo guessed that he must have been trapped by a Heart Demon.
But Wangxin possessed the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart. Her own heart was exceptionally pure and clear, completely immune to Heart Demons, so it was only natural that she remained conscious.
"Young Master... Young Master, don’t... I’m shy... Aiya~ Young Master~~~"
Just as Xiao Mo got to his feet, Si Li’s voice drifted over from nearby.
Xiao Mo looked over and saw her drooling, the corners of her mouth curled up. Who knew what she was encountering in her Heart Demon.
Xiao Mo’s brow twitched. He picked up his scabbard and smacked Si Li with it. The bone-deep pain from the Blood Evil Qi jolted her awake instantly.
Si Li opened her eyes and froze for a mont when she saw Xiao Mo. "Eh? Young Master? Why am I here? Weren’t we at Ten Thousand Flowers Peak? You were just about to take into your room."
"Stop dreaming and get up!" Xiao Mo kicked her once and ignored her.
"Xiao Mo, can you lend so Spirit Stones? I want to set up an Array and see if I can use the Heart Sutra to wake the others..." Wangxin tugged on the corner of Xiao Mo’s sleeve.
"I’m afraid it’s too late." Xiao Mo shook his head. "Look."
Wangxin followed Xiao Mo’s gaze. One by one, the Cultivators were sinking completely into their slumber, their Life Fires extinguishing.
The dead Cultivators transford into motes of Spiritual Power and converged on the giant rock in the center of the cavern, as if becoming its nutrients.
A few Cultivators managed to wake up through their own willpower, but they were ultimately in the minority.
In less than half an incense stick’s worth of ti, out of the more than three thousand Cultivators, fewer than one hundred had woken up.
"CRACK!"
The sound of cracking stone echoed through the cavern.
Everyone looked up. The giant rock before them was covered in cracks, as if sothing was about to break out of it like a shell!
"ROAR!"
Following a beastly roar that echoed through the cavern, the giant rock shattered completely, and an Exotic Beast charged out.
"Chaos?"
Si Li jumped in fright.
It had the form of a dog, with long fur and four legs. It resembled a bear but had no claws, and it had eyes but could not see—almost identical to the legendary Chaos!
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