chapter 20

Su Yu listened to the clamor in his mind and turned his attention to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Evils within his inner domain.

According to the Ink Beast, expanding the Abyss depended on cultivating malevolent ghosts and spirits within it. The more beings it housed and the denser the Yin energy accumulated, the more power it would grant him. This would eliminate the need for him to supply Yin energy to sustain the Mountain Sealing Stele—it could operate independently.

Previously, the massive reserves of Yin energy from Nanwu Mountain had been sufficient to heal his injuries and sustain the stele for only a few days. The gnawing hunger he felt was undeniable. Though still manageable for now, if it worsened, his body wouldn't last long.

In simpler terms, the easiest way to nourish the Abyss was to capture more ghosts.

With that thought, Su Yu glanced at the pale humanoid figure crouched by the window, surrounded by a faint aura of dissipating Yin energy. It felt like such a waste.

Zhang Fugui shivered uncontrollably. Why did he feel like the blind man's gaze held something... else?

Su Yu's tone was flat. "Go back."

Zhang Fugui: "???" Go back where?

Su Yu attempted to follow the Ink Beast's instructions and pulled Zhang Fugui back toward the Abyss. In one swift motion, Zhang Fugui was dragged into the Abyss of Ten Thousand Evils again. The Ink Beast hadn't lied—Su Yu's will indeed dictated the Abyss entirely. Glancing at a motionless corpse nearby, Su Yu decided to pull it into the Abyss as well. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

Seeing the ghost and the corpse return to the Abyss, the Ink Beast remarked, "So..."

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a noise from outside.

The Ink Beast's eyes narrowed, and it stopped talking as it scanned the surroundings. "No one's coming this way. The sound seems to be from outside the window."

The room within the spirit vessel was large. Following the Ink Beast's guidance, Su Yu moved to the window and pushed it open. The heavy pane creaked, and the sound outside became clearer.

Standing at the window, Su Yu saw a spirit vessel docked not far away.

"That should be a Su family spirit vessel," the Ink Beast said.

Su Yu recognized it instantly. He could tell it was a Su family vessel.

The Su family's vessels were notably different from those of the Qi family. While the Qi family's array patterns were intricate, they lacked the profound complexity of those on the Su family's vessels. The spirit vessel he was currently aboard happened to be docked adjacent to the Su family's.

"There are over ten defensive arrays on this vessel's surface alone," the Ink Beast observed, noting Su Yu's interest. "No wonder the young master can't compete with them. The Su family's expertise in spirit vessel techniques runs deep. You share the same surname—are you related to them?"

"You talk too much," Su Yu replied.

The Ink Beast fell silent.

It was an excellent vantage point: secluded, yet offering a clear view of the Su family's spirit vessel.

Su Yu lowered his gaze, his unblinking eyes seemingly fixed on the closest vessel. He focused first on the vessel's array patterns. Perhaps it was the so-called innate spiritual vision linked to his dantian, but from his initial attempts at deducing ghost-sealing hand seals to analyzing the damaged arrays on the Qi family's vessel, and now observing the Su family's, he always felt a sudden clarity when concentrating on array patterns.

What others considered complex or challenging merely required him to spend more time observing. It was as if these arrays were far from unfathomable to him. Had he studied these techniques before? He didn't think so—he had no memory of learning about arrays. Yet for some reason, he found himself unusually patient with them.

What secrets did the Su family's spirit vessel techniques hold?

Su Yu quietly observed the vessel outside. After finishing with one, he prepared to examine another for comparison.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn to a vessel partially obscured by others, located between the Qi and Su family vessels. The moment he laid eyes on it, a wave of fatigue washed over him, reminding him of the first Su family spirit vessel he had encountered at the Nanwu Mountain entrance. That vessel seemed... different from the others.

Sensing his thoughts, the totem within his mind began spinning faster. The Ink Beast yelped as if its tail had been scorched. Turning around, it saw the totem spinning wildly and the dormant crimson-gold threads in Su Yu's eyes reemerging without his notice.

"Wait!" the Ink Beast shouted. "Su Yu, your eyes!"

Su Yu immediately closed his eyes and clutched his abdomen, forcing himself to stop observing the vessel.

Meanwhile, at the Nanwu Mountain docking site, a white-haired elder standing by a spirit vessel suddenly grew alert. His sharp gaze swept toward the Qi family vessels. All he saw were a few docked vessels, yet the sensation of being watched lingered.

Had he imagined it?

Since the Su family elder's death within the mountain, the Su family had dispatched four spirit vessels and several influential elders to negotiate with Xuanyu Manor, the faction now overseeing Nanwu Mountain. With the increased number of Su family vessels present, the one initially used to transport Su family cultivators had gone unnoticed.

"What's going on with Xuanyu Manor? Denying us entry to Nanwu Mountain is one thing, but using our vessels to transport the injured?"

"Why not let the Qi family's damaged vessel handle it?"

"I heard their vessel's been repaired again. Why couldn't it just stay broken?"

Nearby Su family cultivators grumbled in dissatisfaction.

When he heard that the Qi family's spirit vessel had been repaired, he looked over at the busy figures of the repair cultivators with mild surprise. He had taken a closer look as he passed by earlier. The damaged array on the Qi family vessel was in a particularly obscure location, likely caused by a shattered core spirit stone. Fixing it would have required locating the array's core node, a process fraught with complications. He hadn't expected them to identify the node so quickly. Stroking his beard, he remarked, "The Qi family's shipwrights are impressive. That spot isn't easy to find."

Hearing this praise, a nearby Su family cultivator, who had just been badmouthing the Qi family, glanced over. Seeing the white-haired elder, he took a few steps away and muttered with disdain, "Why does Elder Qi always talk up others..."

Elder Qi withdrew his gaze, refraining from engaging with the other cultivators. He stayed where he was, waiting to transport the injured cultivators back to Tianyuan City.

He belonged to a different faction from the current Su family leadership. Ever since Su Jinglan, the eldest daughter of the Su family, perished in a secret realm over a decade ago, and Su Cang took over as the family head, those aligned with Su Jinglan's faction—like Elder Qi, who had been a guardian of the family's spirit vessels—were either dismissed or sold at high prices to other influential families. Few remained in the Su family.

The Su family of today was no longer the Su family of Su Jinglan's era.

If not for the Su family's preoccupations at the time, Elder Qi wouldn't have been tasked with piloting such an old spirit vessel to transport the young master to Nanwu Mountain.

"The younger cultivators today are quite capable. Their ship-repairing techniques have also improved. I wonder how many more years we have left to stay in the Southern Region," Elder Qi murmured as he stroked the vessel, a hint of nostalgia in his tone. "Back when the eldest daughter was around, we flew across the four seas of Donghuan together."

At that moment, a commotion drew his attention. Turning his head, he saw a group of cultivators approaching. The exclamations of nearby cultivators caught his ear.

"A healer from the Valley of Divine Medicine?"

"They say they came across news of Nanwu Mountain's troubles while traveling and decided to come here..."

Of the Four Gates and Eight Great Families, Xuanyu Manor of the Four Gates was renowned across the Donghuan seas for its beast-taming techniques, while the Valley of Divine Medicine was celebrated for its healing arts. Over half of its members were healer-cultivators who devoted themselves to mastering medical techniques. They roamed the Donghuan seas year-round and were widely regarded as the most reputable sect among the Four Gates. The valley maintained good relations with all the major powers of Donghuan.

The Valley of Divine Medicine was known for its exceptional healers, far surpassing those of other medical sects in Donghuan. It was said that even a healer at the Golden Core stage could treat Nascent Soul cultivators, their medical skills bordering on the miraculous. The valley's master was a near-immortal figure whose interventions were said to reverse even death itself.

Hearing that a healer from the Valley of Divine Medicine had arrived, Xuanyu Manor's cultivators immediately sent someone to greet them and escorted the healer to the spirit vessels of the Su and Qi families.

The young healer wore a simple medical robe, resembling the descriptions of the Valley of Divine Medicine's healers. A medicine basket hung from their waist, and they exuded a calming aura. The only oddity was the mask that completely obscured their face. It was unusual to see such a uniquely attired healer, which drew a curious crowd.

Elder Qi suddenly found the young healer vaguely familiar. Before he could delve further into the thought, he saw the healer being led by Xuanyu Manor cultivators toward the Qi family's spirit vessel to attend to the injured.

Aboard the Qi family's spirit vessel, Su Yu pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviate the dryness and soreness in his eyes. Since leaving the depths of Nanwu Mountain, this was the first time his spiritual vision had left him feeling so fatigued.

He couldn't help but recall the brief glimpse he had of the spirit vessel's arrays earlier. The formation on that unique vessel was significantly different from those on other Su family vessels. Its outermost layer alone contained hundreds of additional confusing patterns. Such a complex array was likely more specialized and durable than the standard defensive formations.

As Su Yu pondered, his fingertip absentmindedly traced patterns on the bed. A small-scale diagram of the Qi family vessel's array gradually appeared on the surface.

Once the array pattern was complete, Su Yu waved his hand to disperse it, causing the gathered Yin energy at his fingertip to dissipate as well.

"Why waste Yin energy studying defensive formations? You're not going to die," the Ink Beast grumbled, lying listlessly within his dantian. The totem had just spun again, greedily consuming a chunk of Yin energy. With only the two of them to fend for themselves, they couldn't afford to squander resources on pointless endeavors. Changing its tone, the Ink Beast tried to persuade him, "Studying formations can wait until we've caught more malevolent ghosts. None of these arrays are as powerful as the Abyss of Ten Thousand Evils' Mountain-Sealing Formation..."

Su Yu frowned. "Mountain-Sealing Formation?"

"Of course! I'm an ancient beast, after all. Did you forget the seal at Nanwu Mountain? That was one of the Mountain-Sealing Stele's formations," the Ink Beast said smugly. Then, dragging its words out, it added, "But with your current state, even a human array tires your spiritual vision. To analyze a Mountain-Sealing Formation, you'd need to increase your strength. Otherwise, we'd starve to death before you even glimpse its essence..."

Su Yu's brows knit tighter.

Sensing his interest in formations, the Ink Beast seized the opportunity. "I just deduced that those malevolent spirits fleeing Nanwu Mountain headed north. We still have time to catch them!"

Just then, the sound of approaching footsteps and clinking jade ornaments broke the silence outside.

The door to the spirit vessel's cabin opened, and Qi Yan entered with several other cultivators. Their footsteps echoed unevenly, drawing Su Yu's attention. He turned to face the door, sensing a mix of spiritual energies converging at the entrance.

"So many people?!" The Ink Beast squinted its eyes. "Wait, there's someone else at the back."

Ignoring the cultivators from the Qi family, Su Yu's gaze passed through the visible spiritual energy and fixed on a hidden presence behind them.

Spiritual energy in a cultivator's body typically condensed into small clusters. From what Su Yu had observed and with the Ink Beast's explanations, he had come to distinguish between the spiritual clusters of cultivators and the chaotic energy of vengeful ghosts like Zhang Fugui. For cultivators who hadn't formed a Golden Core, their spiritual energy was scattered, while Golden Core stage cultivators, like Qi Yan, had a solid core at the center of their energy clusters.

But the spiritual presence behind Qi Yan wasn't a Golden Core. Instead, it had condensed into a small, unique humanoid form.

What is that...? Su Yu couldn't help but focus his attention. Unconsciously, the totem within him began to revolve again. As it rotated, his vision grew sharper, stripping away the layers of chaotic energy and revealing more of the humanoid figure's essence.

"Don't use your spirit sight on him!" the Ink Beast shouted in alarm.

The condensed humanoid figure was wrapped in fierce lightning, with streaks of dark gray light shimmering faintly around it. Behind the figure, a barely discernible sword emerged. Before Su Yu could get a clearer view, the lightning suddenly flared, and the humanoid figure's eyes snapped open. A crushing, unparalleled pressure surged forth, bringing an unprecedented sense of oppression. Su Yu's eyes instantly seared with pain.

Qi Yan, who had just entered with his group, froze mid-step when he saw the young man's pained expression, the fan in his hand halting mid-sway. "What's going on?"

The other Qi family cultivators rushed forward in a flurry, anxious to check on the young man.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Su Yu endured the intense pain and retreated, his body colliding heavily against the ship's wooden wall with a loud thud.

At that moment, a calm voice rang in everyone's ears—

"Don't touch him."

A figure stepped past the other cultivators and, in the blink of an eye, appeared beside the boy on the bed.

Before anyone could react, the figure reached out and grabbed Su Yu's wrist.

The sudden restraint triggered a sense of danger in Su Yu's heart. He struggled instinctively, breaking free from the grip. But in the next moment, the figure's other hand swiftly caught his wrist again, and a decisive force sealed his meridians. Almost immediately, an unfamiliar spiritual energy surged into his body!