In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

"..." The woman's lips twitched, and she struggled to her feet, leaning against the boulder. "Then why are you making a move again?"

"Because you look like you can still be saved," Lin Qiye said. "Besides, you have injuries, and what injured you shouldn't have been this beast."

The woman's expression changed slightly.

She was silent for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, "Are you a cultivator who accepted the quest from the Bone Ridge?"

"Yes."

"Then you can go," the woman said, her voice tinged with weariness. "This mission is not one you can handle. That thing at the foot of the ridge is far more terrifying than those gentlemen in the Holy City think."

"You came up from down there, you should know what's down there," Lin Qiye said, looking at her. "Tell me."

The woman glanced at him, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately just shook her head: "Knowing too much leads to a quick death. I advise you to turn around and leave before you go down there. Your bone spear is good, but that thing down there can't be dealt with by a bone spear alone."

After she finished speaking, she dragged her injured leg and limped towards the direction outside the ridge.

He took a few steps, then stopped without turning back: "Ironwall City, the Gu family, Gu Qingshuang. If you really want to hear what happens next, come find me in Ironwall City. But don't blame me for not warning you—once you hear it, you won't be able to get away."

After she finished speaking, her figure gradually disappeared among the hills.

Lin Qiye stood there, watching her figure disappear, then looked down at the corpse of the giant beast on the ground, his gaze calm.

The Gu family of Iron Wall City.

He recalled the "Night-blooming Jasmine" commission on the mission marker—issued by the Gu family of Ironwall City. And Gu Yan, the young head of the Household Registration Department, happened to share the same surname.

This storyline is getting more and more interesting.

He didn't immediately enter the rift, but instead dealt with the giant beast on the ground first—breaking open its scales, taking out a fist-sized beast core with a dark blue luster, and putting it in his pocket. Although this thing wasn't very useful to him, it was still worth something whether he studied it, traded it, or sold it for money.

Then, he walked back to the edge of the crack.

He didn't jump immediately, but crouched on the edge, closing his eyes to sense for a moment. The aura deep within the rift was chaotic—there was the stench of strange beasts, the scorching smell of sulfur, and a faint, almost imperceptible fluorescent blue light. That light made the emblem on his palm slightly warm, as if he had touched something familiar.

He thought of the heart in the crevice of Blackwind Valley, and the runes on the altar of the Azure Bone Mountains.

That same scent again.

He opened his eyes, but instead of going down, he turned and left the depression.

He walked about a mile along the way he had come from when he suddenly stopped.

An elderly man with one arm was sitting on a large rock in front of them.

The old man wore a faded, grayish-brown robe, the torn left sleeve hanging loosely. He held a pipe in his right hand, smoking it slowly and deliberately. He looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with gray hair, but his cloudy eyes held a shrewd glint, unlike those of an ordinary old man.

Lin Qiye stopped and looked at him.

The old man exhaled a puff of smoke and spoke first: "Young man, have you been down that crevice?"

"No," Lin Qiye said. "I took a look."

"Smart." The old man nodded. "Nine out of ten people who go down to that place never come back. The fact that you're standing here talking to me means you're better than most people."

Who are you?

The old man took another puff of his cigarette. "The Holy Temple, the Purification Department, Ancient Dust." He paused, then added, "To put it bluntly, it's the department that specifically manages those filthy things. The pollution in this area—Bone Ridge, Black Wind Valley, Azure Bone Mountains—is all my job."

Lin Qiye's eyes flickered slightly: "That woman from the Gu family just now also came up from below."

"Gu Qing Shuang?" The old man tapped his pipe. "Once that girl makes up her mind, nothing can change it. She's been chasing Blood Raven for years, and this time she almost lost her life."

"Blood Raven?"

"You don't know?" The old man glanced at him. "Blood Ravens, the most troublesome group in the Lost Lands. They specialize in searching for ancient artifacts, and they're ruthless, willing to touch anything. Recently, they've set their sights on something underground here. If they manage to pry it open, the entire Lost Lands will suffer."

Lin Qiye was silent for a moment: "What do you mean by 'pry open'?"

The old man didn't answer immediately. He stood up, tucked his pipe back into his belt, looked at Lin Qiye, and his tone suddenly became solemn: "Beneath this land lies an ancient seal. What it seals is more terrifying than anything we've ever seen. And that seal is being pried open little by little."

"who?"

"The one who pried it open is in the Holy City," the old man said. "That's all I can say."

He dusted off his robe, turned to leave, but stopped after a couple of steps without looking back: "Young man, let me give you a piece of advice—you have a family to support, it's not worth getting involved in this mess. This water is very deep."

Lin Qiye looked at his hunched back and said, "I didn't want to wade through in the first place."

The old man did not turn around.

"But someone's already got their eyes on me," Lin Qiye said. "Dark Viper, have you heard of it?"

The old man paused for a moment.

After a moment, he spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of something unreadable: "The waters of the Holy City are deeper than you see. Take care."

After saying that, he didn't linger and his figure gradually disappeared among the hills.

Lin Qiye stood there, looking in the direction the old man had disappeared, his gaze deep.

Purification Bureau. Ancient Dust. Blood Raven. Seal. Holy City.

These clues slowly strung together in his mind—the heart in the crevice of Black Wind Valley, the altar in the Canggu Mountains, the underground passage in the Kugu Ridge. They were hundreds of miles apart, but they were like beads on a rope, strung together one by one.

The other end of the rope was held in the hand of someone in the Holy City.

He withdrew his gaze, and instead of immediately returning to the Holy City, he took a few steps in the direction he had come from, and then stopped.

Ironwall City is southwest of the Holy City, and Drybone Ridge is two hundred li southwest of the Holy City. Ironwall City is even further away.

He thought for a moment, then changed direction.

Let's not go to the Holy City yet.

He was going to Iron Wall City to see Gu Qingshuang.

He needed to get to the bottom of Blood Raven's matter—Dark Viper was eyeing the fragment in his hand, and Blood Raven was trying to pry open the seal underground; these two groups might actually be on the same side.

He walked slowly, but each step was steady.

A faint warmth emanated from the emblem on my palm, the nascent form of bloodline resonance.

He could vaguely sense the presence of the children of the Holy City.

He quickened his pace.

He needed to reach Ironwall City before nightfall.