Chapter 595 516: Senior Brother, How Can I Forget You?

After the four of them disguised their appearances and finished their preparations, Bei Lingyin manipulated the Runes of the Teleportation Array and initiated a targeted teleport.

...

...

BZZZZ—

A slight pulling sensation was followed by a wave of dizziness.

When Pei Yuhang opened his eyes again, he felt as if the world before him was shrouded in a gray veil. The sky had suddenly darkened, and visibility had dropped drastically.

Moreover, the air was filled with a faintly acrid smell, like the scent of rusted metal mixed with a damp sea breeze.

Pei Yuhang had done his homework beforehand and knew that this climate, heavily polluted by Demonic Qi, undoubtedly meant they were near the Endless Sea.

"Master?"

"Brother Pei?"

The moment they teleported, Qing Yueqiu and Nangong Jin instinctively looked for Pei Yuhang.

Once she confirmed Pei Yuhang was right beside her, Qing Yueqiu joyfully stepped forward and took his hand.

Nangong Jin stood a couple of steps away. Her limpid, autumn-water eyes faltered for a moment upon seeing Qing Yueqiu and Pei Yuhang's clasped hands.

She then subtly lowered her gaze, hiding the flash of gloom that crossed her eyes.

"Yueqiu, stop being so clingy with Sword Immortal Pei for a moment. We should get going."

Bei Lingyin reminded them with a light cough.

The moment her voice fell, Nangong Jin was the first to follow.

Pei Yuhang watched Nangong Jin's somewhat solitary back for a moment, then led Yueqiu to follow as well.

The four followed Bei Lingyin to an exit guarded by several heavily armored soldiers.

"Name?"

"Xu Shiheng, Chairman of the Lucky Merchants Association. I'm here to deliver food supplies to Lan City."

"Chairman Xu! My apologies, my apologies. This is just a routine inspection."

Upon hearing that Bei Lingyin was in the food business and confirming her information was correct, the guard's tone immediately became much friendlier and more courteous.

He ordered the others to clear a path and watched as Bei Lingyin's group of four departed.

Once they entered the city, Bei Lingyin said to the other three:

"The people who took the Blood Skull Chalice said they will hand the Holy Grail over to us on Ghost-Back Mountain, which lies on the border between Lan City and the Demon Race's territory."

"If we hurry over now, we can be back before sunset."

Nangong Jin had once roamed the world alone with her sword and was rich in experience.

She instinctively asked, "Are you sure this isn't an ambush?"

Bei Lingyin raised an eyebrow, somewhat speechless. "We're a professional espionage and intelligence organization, you know. We use all sorts of secret codes during handovers."

"Besides, every envoy of Yama Hall has a Restriction carved into them. If anyone tries a Soul Search or reveals secrets to an outsider, the Restriction will activate."

"For a hundred years, no one has ever been able to pry a secret from the mouth of a Yama Hall envoy. So I'm certain that the ones meeting us are our people. There won't be any problems!"

She declared confidently, patting her Little Dao Fruit.

Seeing Bei Lingyin so sure of herself, and not being the type to argue, Nangong Jin said no more.

If they could just get the item and report back immediately, Nangong Jin would be happy to see it... In any case, she was already exhausted from this trip.

Right now, she just wanted to go back and have some quiet time alone.

...

...

Four streaks of light shot across the sky, silently avoiding Lan City's monitoring Grand Array as they headed toward a dark mountain range in the distance.

When viewed from above, the mountain resembled a dark giant lying down, its ridge like his arched back, which is why people called it Ghost-Back Mountain.

Bei Lingyin held a Compass, searching the skies above Ghost-Back Mountain for the location of the Yama Hall envoys.

Pei Yuhang, however, frowned slightly as he looked at the thick miasma blanketing the mountain range before them.

"My Spiritual Perception... it's completely blocked by this miasma."

"This is the demonic miasma unique to the Endless Sea. It can disrupt the Spiritual Perception of all Cultivators."

Seeing that Pei Yuhang was also worried, Bei Lingyin turned back and offered an explanation.

Pei Yuhang shook his head. "I know about this miasma, but it should be concentrated within the Endless Sea or near the coastline. Ghost-Back Mountain is still a considerable distance from the coast. How could the miasma have drifted all the way here out of nowhere..."

Bei Lingyin wasn't a fool. After hearing Pei Yuhang's words, even she, who had always been so confident in her organization's members, began to hesitate.

'Miasma that should be out at sea suddenly appearing in the mountains in such large quantities... something is definitely not right.'

Just as Bei Lingyin was wavering, the Compass in her hand suddenly began to tremble violently.

This Compass was given to her by the Yama Hall Master. Its purpose wasn't to locate the Yama Hall envoys, but to locate the Blood Skull Chalice in their hands.

After using the Compass to confirm there was no issue with the Blood Skull Chalice, Bei Lingyin could take the Holy Grail and report back.

"The Compass is reacting! The Holy Grail is down below!"

Seeing the mission objective appear, Bei Lingyin didn't have time to think and immediately flew down.

Behind her, Pei Yuhang reached out and stopped Qing Yueqiu and Nangong Jin.

"Yueqiu, Junior Sister, you two stay up here in the sky. I'll go down with Bei Lingyin and take a look."

Seeing his disciple and Nangong Jin part their lips as if to say something more, Pei Yuhang gave them a gentle smile, signaling for them not to worry.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine... Besides, up here in the sky, you have a wider field of view. You can stand guard for me and Bei Lingyin."

Hearing Pei Yuhang say this, Qing Yueqiu and Nangong Jin nodded and watched him depart.

By the time Pei Yuhang caught up to Bei Lingyin, she had already found the Yama Hall envoys.

The envoy standing at the very front was holding a black box. He gently opened it, revealing half of a black-and-red skull, as translucent as crystal, before Bei Lingyin.

In that instant, Pei Yuhang also smelled an incredibly dense, metallic scent of blood. But unlike the fragrance of his own Pure Yang True Blood, the stench wafting from this blood skull was nauseatingly foul.

"This is the Blood Skull Chalice. The Demon Race enshrines it in the Temple of Ten Thousand Demons. On the last day of every year, the Chalice secretes Holy Blood, a substance countless demons drool over."

"After diluting the Holy Blood to a degree the body can absorb and refine, any member of the Demon Race who drinks it will experience a massive surge in their Cultivation. Normally, only those with a royal bloodline are qualified to drink it."

The Yama Hall envoy said in a low voice.

"Mm, thank you for your contributions to Yama Hall. I will report your merits to the Hall Master afterward."

Bei Lingyin raised her hand in a gesture of respect used within Yama Hall.

The Yama Hall envoys before her seemed to have a delayed neural response, hesitating for two seconds before raising their hands in the same gesture to return the salute.

It was this momentary pause that made Pei Yuhang narrow his eyes, sensing that something was wrong.

He stepped closer to them and smelled a very damp, fishy sea odor.

The Demon Race's territory is generally located within the Endless Sea. Since these envoys were undercover there year-round, it was normal for them to carry the smell of the sea.

However, mixed in with this fishy smell was a hint of a musty, rotting odor. It was a very particular scent that most people might not notice.

But Pei Yuhang had encountered this smell several times before.

The Dragon Corpse on Tree Sea Dragon Island, and... the resurrected Ancient Cultivators, Vortex Daoist and the Sword Demon!

'It's the Chosen Organization's Spirit Core Rejuvenation Technique!'

'These Yama Hall envoys were resurrected, which is how they were able to contact Bei Lingyin without triggering the Yama Hall Restrictions!'

"Fall back!"

The instant Bei Lingyin took the black box, Pei Yuhang grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back in a rapid retreat.

The joints of the Yama Hall envoys twisted like puppets or zombies with a cringe-inducing "CRACK-CRACK" sound, and then they shattered the air with a step and gave chase.

But before they had taken two steps, a hazy, illusory moon-colored Sword Qi and a golden Sword Qi woven with a dragon and phoenix came crashing down from the sky, completely engulfing them!

It was Qing Yueqiu and Nangong Jin.

Upon seeing Pei Yuhang's rapid retreat, the two women, as if of one mind, launched their attacks without the slightest hesitation to provide cover for him!

But following the two sword cries, the entirety of Ghost-Back Mountain began to tremble.

The jet-black forest surged like ocean waves, and countless pairs of crimson eyes opened in the darkness.

Pei Yuhang pulled Bei Lingyin over to regroup with the other two women. He looked at Ghost-Back Mountain, which seemed to have come alive, and said in a low voice:

"It's a Demon Race army, numbers unknown... They were hiding beneath the demonic miasma, and now they have us surrounded!"

"I'm sorry..."

Bei Lingyin hadn't expected Pei Yuhang and Nangong Jin to be right. Now that she had led everyone into an ambush, she was filled with immense guilt.

Nangong Jin's eyes were downcast. After a moment of silence, she took out a small porcelain vial.

After raising her hand and drinking the crimson blood from the vial, a pink blush spread across the young woman's pale skin. Her weakened body, nourished and enveloped by the Pure Yang Essence Blood, was revitalized with vigorous life.

With a soft cry, Nangong Jin opened her eyes again, and the aura of a Void Refining Peak expert enveloped the entire Ghost-Back Mountain.

"No matter. I will get you out!"