Several green ants were scooped up by an axe.
Suddenly lifted off the ground, the ants were momentarily dazed. After hesitating for a while, they resumed their busy activities along the edge of the axe. Tian Fangfang stared at the small creatures on the axe blade and turned to Men Dong, asking, “Junior Brother, what exactly is the Liu Huan Ant you mentioned? I see that apart from glowing, these little things don’t seem any different from ordinary ants.”
“This is no joke!” Men Dong shouted, finally drawing the attention of those around. He looked at the ants on the Qianyang Axe with a trace of fear in his eyes. “These are Liu Huan Ants, which live by feeding on Liu Huan Grass. The Liu Huan Ant itself is not terrifying; what’s truly terrifying is the Liu Huan Grass. Once Liu Huan Grass blooms, it emits a deadly fragrance. If someone with low cultivation smells this fragrance, their desires will become endless, and they will… they will…”
Tian Fangfang looked at him with curiosity. “And then what?”
“They will have their meridians burst and their souls perish.”
“That’s so terrifying!” Tian Fangfang was startled. “Isn’t there any antidote?”
“There is, but only if…” Men Dong bit his lip, seemingly finding it hard to say.
Gu Baiying’s eyes were sharp as he coldly stared at him. “Only if what?”
“Only if the two people who smell the flower have high cultivation and are a man and a woman. If they practice dual cultivation, harmonizing yin and yang, they can temporarily suppress the meridian burst. However, this is only a temporary measure. Once the dual cultivation starts, the poison will spread deeper, and in the end, the two will be unable to stop, lost in their desires, until they both die.”
Upon hearing this, Tian Fangfang gasped. “What a lewd poison plant!”
Once this poisonous plant blooms, anyone who smells it was bound to die. Either one person would be suffocated by their own desires, or two people would die from overexertion in their dual cultivation. There was no way to survive.
“Now that Senior Sister Zanxing and Junior Brother Mu have both disappeared, if they encounter Liu Huan Grass blooming,” Tian Fangfang exclaimed in shock, “won’t it be a major disaster?”
“You’re only realizing this now!” Men Dong scolded. “This is exactly what I was worried about!”
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a boom sound. Turning around, he saw Meng Ying holding the black Moon Soul Sword, striking fiercely at the ground. Noticing everyone staring at her, Meng Ying frowned and said, “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go save them!”
“That’s not the issue, Senior Sister,” Tian Fangfang said helplessly. “Even if you can shatter this place with your sword, we still don’t know how to enter the Spirit Realm or how to get in!”
Just then, a bright light flashed in front of them. Tian Fangfang instinctively blocked with the Qianyang Axe, but saw Gu Baiying spin his spear, causing several Liu Huan Ants on the Qianyang Axe to fall to the ground.
“Isn’t it true that where there is Liu Huan Grass, there are Liu Huan Ants?” The young man thrust his spear into the ground, causing the surrounding spiritual artifacts to clatter down. With barely concealed anger in his eyes, he said coldly, “These ants should be able to help us find a way into the Spirit Realm. I refuse to believe we can’t find Yang Zanxing following them.”
*
A sweet fragrance filled the air.
This fragrance was hard to describe; it was neither like floral scent nor fruity scent. The sweetness lingered at the tip of the nose, as if it could seep into every inch of one’s bones, even making the heart feel numb and tingly.
Zanxing had already sensed that something was off.
Mu Cengxiao had just picked the fruit from the Sacred Tree, and flowers had started blooming all around. The bright, emerald-like glow seemed somewhat strange.
She turned to Mu Cengxiao beside her and asked, “Senior Brother, do you feel something is wrong?” But she was stunned before she could finish.
Mu Cengxiao’s face had turned slightly red.
He was usually devoted to his cultivation and, while not exactly antisocial when he wasn’t practicing, he was more reserved compared to the noisy Men Dong, the arrogant Gu Baiying, and the talkative Xuan Lingzi. He appeared to be the type who quietly worked on great achievements. Since joining the Taiyan Sect, despite the endless rumors, he remained unaffected. It was rare to see him lose his composure.
But now, he was indeed not calm.
Mu Cengxiao undid two buttons on his collar, showing a hint of frustration on his face, though he hadn’t realized it himself. He only replied to Zanxing, “Something wrong? I just feel a bit hot.”
“Hot?���
Zanxing shivered, and an unsettling thought immediately crossed her mind.
At the Summit of the Nine Heavens was a male-oriented power fantasy novel with Mu Cengxiao as the protagonist, who is constantly either fighting battles or being pursued by beautiful women. Since the book was written quite early, during a time when censorship was not as strict, the author frequently pushed boundaries, incorporating suggestive and ambiguous scenes every few chapters.
Scenes like being seduced by a demoness for an inexplicable night of pleasure, encountering a temperamental beauty and being forced into a fake marriage and consummation, or accidentally consuming certain herbs and facing meridian burst and death if not dual cultivating… and so on. Given her years of experience in reading such texts, she suspected that this flower most likely had some issues and might be part of a contrived plot to push her into an intimate scenario with Mu Cengxiao.
The problem was, she wasn’t one of Mu Cengxiao’s eight wives, so this plot shouldn’t be happening to her!
Perhaps that was why, despite the flower’s scent, she had not had any particularly strong reactions so far.
With this in mind, Zanxing decisively turned to Mu Cengxiao and asked, “Senior Brother, are you feeling hot all over? Is your mood agitated?”
Mu Cengxiao nodded.
“Is there a surge of energy in your kidney, disturbing your clear orifices?”
Mu Cengxiao’s face became somewhat uncomfortable as he slightly nodded.
“Is your desire insatiable, with your mind clouded?”
Mu Cengxiao replied, “Hmm?”
Zanxing pointed to the blooming, glowing flowers. “There’s something wrong with that flower! You’re having these reactions because you inhaled its fragrance. If you inhale more, it will only make things worse.”
Mu Cengxiao’s expression suddenly turned cold. Without waiting for Zanxing to say more, he tightly gripped the God-Slaying Blade and slashed. The blade, sharp and chilling, shattered the vibrant flowers on contact, turning them into countless glowing fragments that scattered around.
Mimi suddenly let out a sharp scream. Scratching with its claws, a white object rolled in front of Zanxing.
It was a jade bracelet, its jade color warm and smooth, clearly something a woman might wear.
Zanxing’s heart skipped a beat. Why would there be a woman’s jade bracelet here? Suddenly, she had an idea. She tightened her grip on the Panhua staff and moved towards the tangled vines, forcefully stabbing the staff into them.
The soil here was very loose, and with a slight pry, it turned over immediately. Beneath the surface lay many glittering objects—hairpins, hair ornaments, rings, belts, and even numerous Qiankun Bags. Underneath these items were piles of ominous skeletal remains.
The flower bed was filled with corpses.
Zanxing couldn’t help but take a few steps back.
“This place is problematic,” Mu Cengxiao’s face turned pale. He pulled Zanxing back, saying, “With so many people having died here, it’s probably not as simple as it seems.”