Valley of Death

The atmosphere within Prince Yong's Manor was deathly cold, a lingering chill clinging to every corner. Su Min sparked Nanming Lihuoi once more, casting a faint golden warmth across the room and muttering under her breath at Xie Yingying.

That troublesome woman—clearly capable of restraining her frigid aura completely—insisted on letting a sliver of it leak out, as if trying to cultivate the image of some lofty, untouchable immortal.

Fortunately, Cao Yuanmu had stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm, so the cold didn't bother him much. But the same couldn't be said for the ordinary mortals sharing the room; their lips were turning blue.

Su Min had half-expected that Xie Yingying wouldn't care, but to her surprise, the moment her flame appeared, the other woman silently reined in her aura.

"What's the current status of that creature?" Su Min asked, her tone steady.

She hadn't been wholly focused when refining her last batch of pills, having left a thread of her consciousness free for monitoring the situation. Prince Yong had been updating her diligently, knowing full well that she was the only one who could handle the emerging threat. Worse, the creature's lair was situated near Yongzhou City—his own stronghold.

If it truly awakened, his domain would be the first to fall. He didn't need Su Min to urge him to act; he was already deeply invested.

"So you're saying it's begun absorbing corpse qi at a faster rate?" Su Min frowned. "It's trying to break free within the month? What's the rush?"

A corpse demon born crippled by nature, rushing its awakening? Was it eager to die?

Then again, this one had reached the Golden Core stage in undeath. There was a real chance it retained a shard of its former consciousness—twisted, but dangerously sharp. Prince Yong was visibly uneasy. A Golden Core corpse demon was a nightmare: cunning, brutal, and cursed with dark power. But only the two standing before him had any hope of stopping it.

He had three Foundation Establishment cultivators on his side, and while Master Mo had a longstanding bond with them and acted as their voice in the martial world, and Master Hui Ming would never sit idle in such a crisis—none of them could be fully relied on. He still remembered the horror atop the Yongzhou walls twenty years ago. Against such evil, no one but these two had proven themselves.

Even Master Mo was just a representative. Only Su Min—of those outside the ancient royal bloodline—had earned the right to stand alongside the lineage of the Prince Yong, whose inheritance stretched back centuries and claimed dominion over tens of millions.

"Three days from now will be the full moon," Su Min said slowly. "If that creature absorbs lunar essence, it could stabilize its flawed foundation. Whatever it loses by awakening early, it will more than reclaim under the moon's blessing."

"I see..." came Xie Yingying's voice from behind her, thoughtful and calm.

Su Min fell silent for a moment, pondering her companion's words. This sort of detail hadn't been mentioned in the game-world's lore. It might've been hidden in some obscure item description, like those soul games loved to use. But she'd never played them—of course she wouldn't know.

"I'm ready to act whenever. What about you?" she asked.

A few months' difference meant little to her. Cultivation was not a path for the impatient. She had just stabilized her breakthrough and wouldn't rush toward the later Foundation stage. Besides, against a corpse demon with a shaky Golden Core foundation, her current cultivation paired with techniques designed to counter such beings was more than enough.

Xie Yingying didn't even blink.

"I'm ready. I'll hold its attention. All corpse demons carry a chilling yin aura—their attacks won't do anything to me. You focus on offense. Your Nanming Lihuo will burn through it like paper."

"Then there's no need to wait. Let's leave now," Su Min said briskly. She was never one for delays. The creature had only just begun its awakening. If they struck now, they might be able to sever it before it reached its peak.

"In that case, this Prince, on behalf of the Eight Prefectures and Three Counties—and its millions of residents—, offers our deepest gratitude," the Prince Yong said solemnly.

~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~

The others in the room followed his lead, rising to their feet in unison and offering Su Min and Xie Yingying a formal bow. Even Xie Yingying was taken aback by the gesture. In that moment, she began to understand why Su Min's reputation carried such weight.

"That's enough. You don't need to be so formal," Su Min said. "What's more important is that you keep people away from the site. Once the fight begins, neither of us can guarantee control over the battlefield. Anyone nearby will be swept up and likely killed."

"Understood," the prince replied. He took a deep breath but held his tongue.

Before he could say more, the two women vanished in a blur of motion, already gone.

Not long into their journey, Xie Yingying broke the silence.

"After this, do you want to seal yourself with me? I know your Su Clan still holds a grudge against that old witch from the Hehuan Sect. But you could settle that after you reach Golden Core. You know as well as I do—sealing oneself at Foundation stage is far easier than doing so after forming a core."

Su Min paused.

"You still remember that after all these decades?" she asked softly. "But there's no need. I've already made my preparations. Three hundred years from now, we'll meet again on Golden Core Avenue."

She had a good guess at what Xie Yingying was really offering—a piece of her precious Sealing Crystal, something invaluable. But the reason was clear: she wanted someone to walk that treacherous path alongside her. Their spiritual paths were opposites, their inheritances utterly distinct. They wouldn't clash. And in that long, dangerous journey toward immortality, an ally was no small gift.

But for Su Min, the offer held little meaning. From the moment she created her avatar, she had chosen the Path of Longevity. She had no intention of wasting a sealing crystal—she would simply cultivate, sip her tea in peace, and let time pass as it must.

"Very well," Xie Yingying said, sensing Su Min's certainty. "Just don't forget your grudge. If you never settle the score with that hag, the resentment will turn into a heart demon."

Both women were far from naïve. They knew when to press and when to step back.

Eventually, they arrived at a barren land, not a single blade of grass in sight.

"This is the so-called Valley of Death. After that last emperor's blood sacrifice, this place was shrouded in corpses for centuries. Any living thing that approached met a gruesome end. But now, as the monster absorbs the corpse energy, life is slowly returning."

Kneeling, Su Min observed the barren ground—where tiny green sprouts had begun to emerge.

The corpse energy had dissipated, and the Valley of Death's range was shrinking.

"We wait atop the ridge," Su Min said. "We're strong enough to ignore lingering corpse qi, but there's no need to alert it too soon. Once it shows itself, we strike and end this quickly. And the full moon's energy might give you a slight boost too."

Xie Yingying nodded. "Understood."