Excessive ferocity due to caution

Inside the palace, an atmosphere of unease grew stronger, like a drop of water falling from a glacier. With each crevice it passed through, it grew larger until finally, the drop of water on the glacier converged into several streams, bypassing the steep terrain. These streams eventually merged again into a long river, rushing endlessly!

Zhao Yi felt a dense, terrifying aura approaching him. He gripped his long sword tightly, his expression calm.

Finally, that powerful and eerie aura reached the doorway.

A pair of pale hands pushed open the inner courtyard gate.

An unfamiliar face came into view.

She was a young woman.

She had delicate features and looked much younger than Su Qingyao and Chris.

Except for those eyes that have seen the world's hardships.

After pushing open the door, Zhao Yi saw that a long path leading to an unknown destination in the inner courtyard was filled with corpses, all of which were the spawned ghosts and monsters, and their deaths were gruesome.

When the two met again, the previous harmony was gone, and instead, there was a tense atmosphere.

"My name is Yunfang."

"It seems you've found yourself in the same predicament as me."

The woman spoke slowly.

Zhao Yi carefully examined Yun Fang. Both of them had experienced the incident with the red lacquered wooden door and had also been affected by the ominous aura, so they were very clear about each other's situation.

"It's not that we're in dire straits; it's just a necessary step."

Yun Fang strode towards Zhao Yi, standing only ten steps away from him, with a powerful aura emanating from her.

It wasn't that she was deliberately intimidating, but rather that someone whose strength had reached such a level had a deterrent effect on all living beings with every move she made!

Cultivators who follow the path of evil will be far stronger than cultivators who are masters of the same realm!

At this moment, Yunfang's strength was almost catching up with that of the monster Fengnan.

"If you believe it's the inevitable path, then why did you wake me up in the first place?"

Yunfang's tone carried a hint of displeasure.

She paid a heavy price to 'die' in order to escape the lock of the red lacquered wooden door.

But now, a tomb raider came up with a shovel, leveled her grave, dug out her bones, and slapped her awake with several hard slaps.

She would never have been so easy to talk to if the two of them hadn't already gotten to know each other.

Faced with Yun Fang's powerful aura, Zhao Yi remained unmoved, like a pine tree on a cliff, standing alone and majestic.

"Because I found a solution to the problem."

Yunfang was taken aback by Zhao Yi's words.

Have you found a solution to the problem?

A look of surprise appeared in her eyes.

Do you know what you're saying?

Zhao Yi took out Ren Wudi's "Slay Me Technique" and threw it to Yun Fang.

He had already pushed the door open and entered.

Yunfang:

"Have we shaken off the bad luck?"

Zhao Yi shook his head:

"Unknowable."

"But I'm going to go check the other side of the door."

Yunfang remained silent for a long time.

"Do you also do things you're not sure about?"

"Perhaps... things are even worse on the other side of the door?"

Zhao Yi:

"How long do you think you can hide?"

Yun Fang said indifferently:

"If it weren't for you, I could have kept hiding forever."

Zhao Yi laughed.

"However, people like me will only keep coming in droves."

"If it's not me today, someone else will awaken you someday. If you are captured by the Church of the Skull and they discover your extraordinary nature, do you think you can escape?"

"Your assumption... was flawed from the start."

Yunfang fell silent again.

How could she not understand this principle?

But she had no other choice.

Many people are more afraid of death the stronger they are.

This fear of death does not stem from death itself, but from the fear that all one's past efforts will have been in vain.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Yunfang chose to seal herself away.

This is a form of escapism, but it also leaves one with a glimmer of hope.

Now, Zhao Yi's words have awakened Yun Fang, making her wonder if she will ever meet someone like Zhao Yi again if she chooses to fall asleep again.

Does she have another chance to solve the problem?

After a long silence, Yunfang asked Zhao Yi:

"Why don't you go in yourself?"

Zhao Yi explained:

"Of course I have to go in and wake you up, because I need a protector."

"When I enter the other side of the red lacquered wooden door, that side may reveal an eerie aura carrying an ominous presence, which will take over my body."

"Therefore, I need you to help me protect my body until I return... or die."

Yunfang looked at the "Slay Me" technique in her hand and pondered for a moment.

"it is good."

She agreed.

It's rare for someone to volunteer to take the risk for her, and she happens to be observing it all, which will be of great help to her future path!

The two withdrew from the spiritual world first. Zhao Yi planted the Touch of Oblivion on Yun Fang to help her suppress the evil within her. Afterward, Yun Fang shared with Zhao Yi her experiences and observations from her journey down the path of evil.

"All the spiritual practices I've encountered are related to evil."

"My master, my grandmaster, they all walked this path."

Yunfang and Zhao Yi described that the world she used to live in was a world where cultivation and the supernatural coexisted. In that world, embarking on the path of evil cultivation was an unavoidable and inevitable path.

Because in Yunfang's cultivation system, there is no concept of a ruler.

"So in our region... once one's cultivation reaches a level like mine, one will choose to exile oneself to the depths of the starry sky."

Yunfang said.

"In my time, history records that some predecessors, instead of self-exile, forcibly broke through to higher realms, resulting in the creation of terrifying world-destroying nightmares. If it weren't for some sages who sacrificed themselves to take it into the depths of space, it's hard to imagine what the world would have become!"

Zhao Yi asked:

"Are there any predecessors who successfully broke through to the Evil Realm?"

Yunfang remained silent for a long time.

"What's recorded in history does happen... but you know, who really knows whether what's recorded in history is true or false?"

"Everyone who breaks through to the Evil Realm will exile themselves to the depths of the starry sky. No one has ever truly returned. Therefore, I do not believe that what is recorded in history books is true. Moreover, many other fellow cultivators who have reached the later stages are the same. So in our place... the higher one's strength, the more desperate one is about the future. After the storms and rains, one cannot see any light."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi felt a sense of awe and respect.

"So, in the end, you still chose this path?"

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Yunfang's lips.

"I don't want the young people in the sect to embark on their journey with the same despair and fear I did. Since we've already come this far, we might as well take one more step forward. What if we succeed?"

She was rather pessimistic, and seeing that Zhao Yi was also afflicted by misfortune, she felt mostly sympathy.

It's pitiful that such a prodigy, in the end, also succumbed to the ravages of misfortune.

PS: First update.

The next chapter should be before 10 o'clock.