Chapter 162: Deep Underground

　　“Let’s go. We won’t be able to make it in awhile.”

　　The girl in pink dug out a spirit vessel from her storage bag and injected it with spirit qi. Instantly, the ship emitted two beams of light.

　　It was a middle-grade spirit weapon!

　　Even though flying swords and spirit vessels were both spirit weapons, flying swords were the easiest to refine. Comparatively, spirit vessels were much more complex.

　　Since the girl in pink whisked out a middle-grade spirit weapon right from the start, her cultivation definitely wouldn’t be too low.

　　With the augmentation of the spirit qi, the spirit vessel expanded rapidly and floated in front of them.

　　The girl in pink was the first to leap in followed by the four Foundation Establishment Cultivators of Southern Mountains Sect and the itinerant cultivator.

　　Hesitating slightly, Su Zimo was the last to board the vessel.

　　The spirit vessel disappeared from where it was into the depths of the night.

　　Before long, it left Chiyu City and sped towards the North without showing any signs of stopping.

　　The sky was sparse and the night was quiet. However, Su Zimo was far from at peace.

　　He had the feeling that this trip was far from simple. In fact, they might even meet with unprecedented danger!

　　“May I know what sect you’re from, miss?” On the spirit vessel, Su Zimo asked in a seemingly casual manner.

　　“Why?”

　　The girl in pink smiled and quipped, “Why are you suddenly so concerned about me?”

　　“Nothing. I was just curious to see if I’ve heard of it before.”

　　“Hmm… my sect is definitely not any weaker than Ethereal Peak. Do you want to make a guess?” The girl in pink’s reply easily avoided the question.

　　Naturally, Su Zimo was not foolish enough to make blind guesses.

　　Even if he could guess correctly, the eccentric girl in pink may not admit to it.

　　The entire journey was silent.

　　Nearing midnight, the skies around them became darker. Suddenly, the girl in pink said, “Let’s alight here and walk the rest of the way.”

　　The other five people did not have any objections. Su Zimo did not say anything as well, merely following them and surveying his surroundings for any activity.

　　After walking a few miles, a barren and dilapidated land suddenly appeared before them.

　　The moment Su Zimo stepped foot into the place, he felt something strange.

　　The spirit energy in his dantian seemed like it was restrained by a mysterious power, preventing him from using it here.

　　“What’s going on?”

　　Su Zimo was secretly shocked and instinctively looked towards the girl in pink.

　　Right then, as though she felt something, the girl in pink suddenly turned back and said with a strange glint in her eyes, “There’s an ancient spirit lock formation beneath this inheritance ground. Any form of spirit energy will be locked at this place.”

　　“That means to say, all spirit arts are rendered useless at this place alongside talismans and spirit weapons.”

　　Su Zimo was enlightened – that was why Gu Xi asked him about his melee combat skills!

　　Within the perimeter of the ancient spirit lock formation, it was useless even if one had all eight meridians unlocked – physical strength was what mattered!

　　“Boom!”

　　Suddenly, a boom echoed out from beneath and the ground shook. Everyone’s expressions changed as they hurriedly stabilized themselves.

　　Crack! Crack! Crack!

　　Right after, gigantic cracks appeared on the surface. It was deep and dark within, emitting a faint black fog. Under the musk of the night, it looked extremely sinister and creepy.

　　There was even a faint smell of blood mixed in the black fog.

　　If someone were to stand in the air and look down, they would be able to see an inexplicable horror!

　　The outline of the inheritance ground was like a gigantic body with all limbs and its head intact. In fact, two eerie beams of light shone vaguely from the region where the head was supposed to be, as if those were someone’s eyes!

　　The large cracks intertwined within that outline like massive blood vessels, finally gathered at the heart of the body!

　　It was as though a powerful lifeform was awakening deep underground, emanating a terrifying aura that left one trembling!

　　“Yan’er, t-this… doesn’t seem like a good place beneath. Is your sect’s inheritance really here?” The Southern Mountains Sect whose name was Wu Xiangming asked with a quivering voice.

　　“Yes, it’s right here,” The girl in pink replied with a smile, not afraid in the slightest bit.

　　Wu Xiangming forced out a chuckle. “W-Why don’t we leave for now? I-I think that t-there’s something wrong with t-this place. It d-doesn’t seem right.”

　　At that moment, he seemed to have broken free from the girl in pink’s bewitchment and gained a momentary clarity of mind stemming from his deep fear of death.

　　The girl in pink’s eyes dimmed. Lowering her head, she asked dejectedly, “Brother Wu, aren’t you going to help me anymore?”

　　Wu Xiangming sank right in once more.

　　“How could that be!”

　　He puffed his chest and replied righteously.

　　Everyone else chimed in, “Yan’er, don’t worry. You’ve still got us!”

　　Su Zimo watched the entire process without saying a word.

　　Of the seven people present, he was the calmest person apart from the girl in pink.

　　It wasn’t because Su Zimo was confident and daring that he did not fear the weird phenomenons at the inheritance ground.

　　Su Zimo had a clearer understanding of things because he was watching coldly from the sidelines.

　　He was very particular about where he stood.

　　Even though it seemed like he was moving along casually, he was never more than five steps away from the girl in pink!

　　If anything were to happen, Su Zimo had confidence that he would be able to capture the girl in pink right away.

　　As though she had realized something, the girl in pink suddenly turned to Su Zimo and commented with a fake smile, “Brother Zimo, you’re so close to meee.”

　　Su Zimo smiled and did not reply.

　　The girl in pink continued, “Let’s head down from here. We might encounter danger down there, so be careful everyone!!!”

　　With that, the girl in pink was the first to jump through a pitch black crack!

　　Su Zimo narrowed his gaze. In a flash, he followed closely behind and was the second to jump.

　　With their spirit energy restricted, none of them were able to fly.

　　As he did not know how deep the crack was, Su Zimo pushed his palms against the walls after jumping down to try and control his speed of fall with the use of friction.

　　At the same time, he looked towards the girl in pink.

　　She was extremely agile and tapped against the walls lightly with her feet constantly, as though she was a fairy dancing off the edge of a cliff.

　　In the blink of an eye, the girl in pink and Su Zimo landed one after another.

　　Right on the heels of them was the four Foundation Establishment Cultivators of Southern Mountains Sect and that itinerant cultivator.

　　All five of them were body-tempering cultivators with extraordinary physique. As such, none of them met with any injuries.

　　In that crack, there were only two paths front and back. The girl in pink hesitated slightly before pointing in a direction and walking in front of everyone.

　　Before long, a fork appeared in the road ahead.

　　This was the intersection of two cracks.

　　In the middle of the intersection laid a corpse. Its eyes were widened and it had a blood-red sword scar at its glabella. Since it was still dripping with warm blood, it was clear that the person had not died for long!