Luan Ling took some restorative supplies, but not long after they set off again, she gradually fell to the back of the group. Sensing something was wrong, Si Zhuo was just about to move behind her when she suddenly stumbled. He caught her arm with one hand and pulled her upright—only to feel how frighteningly hot her body was.

 

“I feel like… I can’t quite catch my breath.”

 

Luan Ling bent forward, looking up at Si Zhuo weakly. She looked exactly like a feverish mortal—burning hot, drained, and barely holding herself together.

 

Everyone turned back. The moment they saw her condition, Li Xiao made a decision.

 

“No. We can’t go any further. Something is seriously wrong with Junior Sister.”

 

Luan Ling shook her head. “I can… go back on my own.”

 

“If we split up now,” Si Zhuo said coldly, “we’ll only die faster.”

 

He crouched down and lifted her onto his back. Once she had something to lean on, Luan Ling seemed to lose all remaining strength, collapsing against him without even the energy to joke or protest.

 

“How did Senior Sister suddenly get this bad?” Situ Meng frowned anxiously. “We didn’t even run into an attack.”

 

Zhu Yin immediately took out her flute and tried to heal her, but the effect was minimal. Without hesitation, everyone decided to return to Heaven at full speed.

 

“This is strange,” Li Xiao said as he hurried forward while trying to contact the Heavenly Realm. “We were still able to speak with our teacher before entering. Why is there absolutely no response now?”

 

This was completely different from yesterday. Their connection to Heaven had been entirely severed—likely due to some abnormal magnetic field in the area.

 

“Senior Sister,” Li Xiao asked Zhu Yin, “was this really where you contacted the teachers last time?”

 

Zhu Yin nodded. “Yes. The aura here was chaotic then, but not like this.”

 

“That’s bad,” Li Xiao realized. “Could it be that our arrival today actually triggered some kind of rule within this mountain range?”

 

“But if it’s a rule,” Situ Meng asked, “why was only Senior Sister Luan Ling affected while the rest of us are fine?”

 

Li Xiao couldn’t answer that. The priority now was simply to get out and find a place where they could reestablish contact with Heaven.

 

As they rushed back at full speed, Si Zhuo suddenly stopped.

 

“We’ve already been here.”

 

He frowned. “Based on timing, we didn’t go that deep, and we even sped up on the way back. We should’ve reached the entrance by now.”

 

A looping maze.

 

Si Zhuo immediately turned to Zhu Yin. “Senior Sister, take care of her. I’ll go up and take a look.”

 

When faced with a spatial loop, the solution was simple—go above it.

 

Flying in the mortal realm consumed a great deal of divine power for gods, but if he revealed his true form as a dragon, the restrictions would classify him as part of the mortal realm. Dragons were meant to fly, so the cost to him would be minimal.

 

Zhu Yin supported Luan Ling as Si Zhuo transformed into a dragon and shot upward. But to everyone’s shock, once he vanished into the thick clouds overhead, he never came back.

 

Si Zhuo would never abandon them without a word. Even if he were seeking reinforcements, he would have left a message. This disappearance could only mean he’d encountered something unexpected.

 

“Great,” Li Xiao muttered bitterly. “We just said we couldn’t split up—and the moment we hit a loop, we forget everything.”

 

There was no time for regret. Li Xiao said to Zhu Yin and Situ Meng, “You two stabilize Junior Sister. I’ll try to break this formation.”

 

Zhu Yin circulated energy to sustain Luan Ling. Situ Meng used healing techniques. Li Xiao closed his eyes and formed seals—but his divine perception was completely disrupted here. Unable to pinpoint the source of the maze, he could only probe blindly.

 

At last, he found an abnormal connection point. After clearing it, he opened his eyes immediately.

 

“Move! I’ve broken it!”

 

Zhu Yin lifted Luan Ling and rushed forward. Situ Meng followed closely. Li Xiao stayed at the rear, repeatedly glancing back for Si Zhuo—but the moment he turned his head again, his blood ran cold.

 

The maze was gone.

 

But so were the other three.

 

He had returned to the original path.

 

Where were they now?

 

Zhu Yin and Situ Meng soon realized they were back in the same place again—except this time, Li Xiao was gone.

 

Zhu Yin glanced around and analyzed calmly, “It seems that even if we don’t want to separate, it has plenty of ways to force us apart.”

 

“Could it be,” Situ Meng asked, “that to escape this maze, each of us has to break it individually—like Senior Brother did?”

 

Zhu Yin shook her head. “With Junior Sister’s condition, she won’t last long enough for that. We can’t leave her side.”

 

Situ Meng nodded repeatedly. Zhu Yin set Luan Ling down again and said, “Continue channeling energy into her.”

 

If they couldn’t contact Heaven, then they’d try the underground instead.

 

Zhu Yin summoned a konghou. As the original form of Wu Xiang, it wasn’t just a powerful stringed weapon—it could also call forth signals tied to her bloodline.

 

The music rang out. The ground trembled faintly. Souls and bones emerged from below, gathering around her. By the time the piece ended, not a single living god had appeared.

 

Just as she was about to try another method, a voice rang out—like a lifeline.

 

“Immortal Lady?!”

 

Earth Immortal Nian Xin stared at the mountain of bones before her. Human and animal remains formed a circle around Zhu Yin, with souls floating above them. The scene was spectacular—and terrifying.

 

“Where… is this?”

 

She looked around in shock, then confusion—more lost than the three from Qilin Hall.

 

Zhu Yin frowned. “You’re not the Earth Immortal assigned to this area?”

 

Nian Xin glanced at the countless bones. “This deep in the mountains? I’ve been stationed in the mortal realm for two hundred years, and I barely encounter any human deaths at all.”

 

Indeed, there were more animal remains here than human ones.

 

Zhu Yin studied her silently. Nian Xin quickly understood.

 

“I finally went back to the underworld to submit a report,” Nian Xin explained. “Then some alarm triggered down there—everything nearly fell into chaos. I was trying to hide when I was suddenly summoned here.”

 

Zhu Yin closed her eyes briefly.

 

Not only had they failed to send a message out—they’d dragged another god into this mess.

 

Nian Xin looked around and finally noticed Situ Meng and Luan Ling sitting on the ground.

 

“This young god doesn’t look well,” she said worriedly. “Her divine consciousness is in complete disarray.”

 

Zhu Yin opened her eyes. “You can sense her divine consciousness?”

 

Nian Xin nodded, puzzled. “Of course. Gods sensing divine consciousness is only natural, isn’t it?”

 

Perhaps because she’d come from the underworld, Nian Xin’s perception wasn’t affected at all.

 

“Go check her,” Zhu Yin said immediately.

 

Though she still didn’t fully understand the situation, Nian Xin knew it was urgent and knelt down without hesitation.

 

As she examined Luan Ling, her brow slowly furrowed.

 

“Immortal Lady,” she said carefully, “this Divine Lord’s consciousness is… strange.”

 

“How so?”

 

“It’s hard to explain. Her body is here. On the surface, her consciousness seems to be here too—but in reality, only the shell remains.”

 

“Can you tell where her consciousness is?”

 

Nian Xin closed her eyes again, clearly struggling. After a long while, she opened them and looked in a single direction.

 

Deeper into the mountains.

 

Which meant—they had no choice but to keep going.

 

Zhu Yin turned to Situ Meng. “Protect Luan Ling. Nian Xin and I will clear the way. Remember—do not break this connection.”

 

She gestured to a nearby skeleton. One hand clutched her sleeve, the other held onto Situ Meng. The sight was eerie—but it was a spell-link, ensuring they wouldn’t be separated again.

 

Given the circumstances, if the underworld was in turmoil, someone might come looking for Nian Xin. They couldn’t retreat—only move forward and retrieve Luan Ling’s consciousness.

 

The bones and souls Zhu Yin had summoned now formed a protective barrier. The commotion was loud enough that at least no one would vanish silently again.

 

But the deeper they went, the more Zhu Yin felt the drain. It wasn’t as severe as Luan Ling’s condition, but it was becoming taxing.

 

Situ Meng and Nian Xin were clearly experiencing the same.

 

And just then, Zhu Yin sensed a familiar aura.

 

A demon—the cunning one they had encountered when entering the mountains.

 

“Senior Sister!”

 

Demonic winds erupted. Darkness fell instantly.

 

Situ Meng tried to rush forward, but Nian Xin grabbed him tightly.

 

“If you charge in now,” she hissed, “what happens to the girl on your back?!”

 

Situ Meng glanced desperately toward the storm, then at Luan Ling’s tightly shut eyes. No matter how unwilling he was to separate again, they couldn’t just stand here.

 

He made his decision and carried Luan Ling away from the range of the demonic winds.

 

They never saw Zhu Yin again.

 

“It’s doing this on purpose,” Situ Meng said hoarsely. “Separating us one by one.”

 

He felt that familiar helplessness again—watching teammates disappear before his eyes.

 

As the youngest disciple and usually the support, he knew this was the moment he had to shoulder responsibility.

 

“We keep moving,” he said firmly to Nian Xin. “And remember—if we run into another demon, no matter what, we move together.”

 

Nian Xin met his gaze and nodded.

 

Situ Meng fed Luan Ling a pill to replenish spiritual energy. Just as he prepared to continue forward, his vision suddenly went black.

 

His body collapsed.

 

With his last bit of awareness, he turned to look at Luan Ling, wanting to wake her—

 

Then his eyes closed.

 

Nian Xin looked down at the two unconscious gods. She raised her hand, lifting Luan Ling into the air, sensing her divine consciousness.

 

Slowly, she smiled.

 

“Twenty years,” she murmured softly.
“You finally came back here.”