Wizards begin with Occlumency.

The imperial court… no… the palace knows more about Dead Man's Valley than anyone thinks.

As a trusted confidant of the Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors, Angel knew more inside information than the court officials who had conspired with him to plot against Governor Hu.

The angel actually knew that the most special thing about the Valley of the Dead was that the Longevity Peach plant grew by absorbing human life force.

The reason for sending martial artists into the valley to explore was not because the court was unwilling to lose its power, nor because the court intended to reduce the influence of the martial arts world.

They just wanted to feed that longevity peach tree.

Only after the peaches are fully fed can the contents buried under them be unearthed.

According to royal secrets, the last time they finally met the conditions and were about to unlock the item, it was thwarted by a near-death Immortal martial artist at the peak of the Void Realm.

Once the longevity peach is removed from the peach tree, the seal under the tree roots will take effect again.

There is no way to retrieve that item now.

This time, the time had finally come for the Valley of the Dead to unleash that item once more, and Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong decided to nip the threat in the bud.

Sending martial arts practitioners into the Valley of the Dead, ostensibly for exploration but actually to deliver food, is one of many methods employed.

The angel pondered for a moment, lost in thought, and stopped paying attention to the surveillance footage.

"Sir... there's something going on."

At this moment, a local civil official who had defected noticed that no one else had noticed anything amiss, gritted his teeth, and spoke up to warn them.

"Um?"

The angel glanced at it with displeasure.

His gaze, devoid of any murderous intent, nearly sent the civil official's soul flying out of his body.

During this period, the officialdom of this province has experienced one earthquake after another.

You never know when or why someone will be removed from office, imprisoned, or die a tragic death.

Many more family members of convicted officials have joined the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau).

Many of the former sisters-in-law and nieces fell into prostitution and became involved in it.

The civil official even took the time to visit and offer his condolences, engaging in in-depth conversations and leaving behind some sincere gifts.

The civil official was even more frightened when he thought of his weeping sister-in-law and niece.

He feared that if he didn't fare well, his wife and daughter would also end up in the same situation, relying on the help and donations of others to survive.

However, it was too late to be afraid now. The official gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, the two daughters of Hu Shengqing, whom you were focusing on, have both disappeared."

"Um?"

The angel was furious upon hearing this and immediately glanced at the surveillance footage.

It was discovered that the five-person team and Hu Songqi were nowhere to be seen in the footage.

"What happened?"

After staring intently at the surveillance footage, which showed nothing but the valley forest, for a long time, the angel finally asked in a low voice.

The civil official replied, "Hu Shengqing's illegitimate daughter entered the peach grove, while his biological daughter's party entered a white mist, after which they could no longer be seen."

"Yeah?"

"I agree."

The angel gave the resolute-sounding official a few deep looks, then grinned: "Good! You're quite good!"

"Thank you for the compliment, sir."

The civil official knelt down with a thud and kowtowed.

"Hahaha……"

Upon seeing the scholar, who usually prided himself on his integrity, be so servile in front of him, the angel couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh.

This feeling is so amazing!

"Rise. I, the Grand Eunuch, recommend you for the position of Deputy Military Governor. I hope you will not disappoint His Majesty, the court, or even me!"

"Thank you, sir."

The civil official kowtowed again before standing up and declaring, "This humble official will follow Your Excellency's lead without question."

"Okay. No problem."

The angel nodded in agreement and went back to watching the surveillance footage.

He wanted to see just how much trouble Hu Shengqing's two daughters could cause.

The bigger the commotion, the better.

Only in this way can Hu Shengqing's plot to rebel be completely exposed, and only then can Hu Shengqing be killed without causing any public outcry.

The civil servant let out a long sigh of relief.

Not only did he save his life, he was also promoted three ranks.

Not bad, not bad, it was worth the risk I took.

I'll be returning to the city tonight and sharing this good news with my former sisters-in-law and nieces, hoping to bring some joy to their tragic lives.

In the Valley of the Dead.

Hu Songqi entered the peach grove/cliff and immediately lost consciousness.

The five-person team walked safely across the cremation site, following the ice crystal path created by Hu Suqi.

However, at the end of the path, there was a thick fog.

Link sensed that the thick fog had no other harmful effect besides providing cover.

This was a perfect opportunity to escape the court's surveillance, so he led his team straight in.

The two biggest challenges of walking in fog are reduced visibility and difficulty breathing.

Since they are large particles, the respiratory system will spontaneously defend against them.

However, these two points are not a problem for the five-person team.

Without being told, Hu Suqi used her magic to summon a fist-sized ball of light, which hung in front of her and illuminated all directions.

At the same time, Link finally made his move, using a secret technique to construct five air-filtering light shields.

"What kind of magic is this?"

Hu Suqi played with the invisible yet substantial air filter in her hand, quite amazed.

She increasingly felt that Link's magic was truly a system of its own, a kind of magic completely different from all other magic, Taoist magic, ancient witchcraft, and evil magic.

"Just use it. It can't be explained in a few words."

Link wasn't being overly protective of his work; he simply couldn't explain it clearly.

Now, when he uses magic, apart from teleportation, he has deeply considered the principles behind it after being instructed by Li Shuwen.

At other times, it's mostly in "I think" mode.

For example, right now.

Link pondered the need for something to filter the air and thus grasped this secret technique.

It is called a secret art rather than witchcraft because Link knows that if the principles are not clear and cannot be widely applied, it cannot be called witchcraft.

"oh."

Hu Suqi didn't press for details. She simply put the air filter mask on her face to experience it firsthand, hoping to deduce the principle behind it.

Many of the ancient witchcraft techniques she mastered were derived from these ancient witchcraft artifacts through this method of reverse engineering.

"Junior brother, where do we go next?"

At this moment, Senior Brother Shi spoke up to ask.

After entering the mist, the five-person team had been standing still for quite some time, at Link's signal.

Now that the problems of low visibility and difficulty breathing have been resolved, we should continue on our journey.

"Wait a little longer."

Link replied, while gesturing for the others to look ahead.

Shi Shixiong, Min Ruohua, and Xu Huiyun, three pure Immortal martial artists, only realized, after being reminded by Link, that the mist was not just a simple mist.

The scenes before them kept changing, and there was never a fixed outcome.

"What's going on?"

Senior Brother Shi immediately voiced his doubts.

Min Ruohua and Xu Huiyun of the Mingxin Sword Sect pricked up their ears, eager to know the reason.

Link smiled and said, "You'll have to ask Sister-in-law Suqi about that."

"Um?"

Senior Brother Shi looked at Hu Suqi.

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do anything!"

Hu Suqi glared at Senior Brother Shi and said irritably.

You believe whatever your junior brother says?

Seeing this, Link didn't rush to explain his meaning, but instead focused on the constantly changing scenes ahead in the fog.

A moment later, Link shouted, "Watch out, make sure you keep up with me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Link took a step forward and stood in front of him, freezing the surrounding space.

All four were elites among elites. Having been warned beforehand, they immediately followed suit.

Having confirmed that everyone was in the same space, Link withdrew his mental energy that had been used to stabilize the surrounding space.

With a whoosh.

It was as if a mirror had shattered.

Shi Shixiong, Hu Suqi, Min Ruohua, and Xu Huiyun then realized that they were standing under a towering peach tree.

"This is?"

Pointing to the towering peach tree in front of her, Hu Suqi was so excited that she could hardly speak.

The same applies to Shi Shixiong, Min Ruohua, and Xu Huiyun.

The Longevity Peach Tree, which over three thousand martial artists had explored for more than a month without even touching, suddenly appeared before them, which was truly unbelievable.

"This is the longevity peach tree."

Link calmly answered the four people's questions, but his gaze was fixed on a tree root.

They didn't even bother with the corpse that held the highest secret tortoise of evil witchcraft.

"How did we get here?"

Shi, acting as a mouth double, asked Hu Suqi, Min Ruohua, and Xu Huiyun the question they were all eager to know the answer to.

Link chuckled: "Because this peach tree wants to see us, it has given us an opportunity within the rules. Let's see if we can seize it."

After saying that, Link didn't go on to explain further, but just stared at the tree root.

Hu Suqi seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.

Upon noticing this, Senior Brother Shi immediately changed his target, asking his girlfriend, "Suqi, what are you thinking about?"

"Um."

Hu Suqi nodded, organized her thoughts, and, meeting the three people's probing gazes, opened her mouth slightly, "There are probably many reasons why the Valley of the Dead is so difficult to enter. But there has always been a theory that the Valley of the Dead is a relic left behind by ancient sorcerers or even shamans from the prehistoric era. I just used spells consecutively, and they were ancient shamanistic spells that leaned towards orthodox sorcery, which may have triggered the valley's selection mechanism."

"Is that so?"

Senior Brother Shi frowned slightly, still somewhat unable to understand.

Xu Huiyun of the Mingxin Sword Sect suddenly said, "Then...does that mean that when martial artists enter the valley, it's like bandits entering a city, and they will encounter resistance and counterattacks?"

"That's one way to understand it."

Hu Suqi confirmed Xu Huiyun's guess.

"oh."

Xu Huiyun nodded blankly, "No wonder so many people have died and still haven't been able to get in here."

"Come with me."

Just as the four were about to continue their conversation, Link made a new move.

He walked toward the peach tree root that he had been staring at for a long time.

The four of them quickly followed.

The roots of the Tongtian Peach Tree are as wide as a two-way four-lane road.

The five people stood in front of the slightly arched tree roots, as if they were standing under a bridge.

The space formed by the arched tree roots resembles a bridge arch.

"Hey! There's a door here!"

After getting to know each other for a while, Xu Huiyun finally dared to speak and reveal her true nature.

Min Ruohua, who was like a sister and a mother to her, noticed this but did not stop it.

The relationship between the Mingxin Sword Sect and the Bajiquan Martial Arts School can be described as exceptionally close.

If even the disciples of the Mingxin Sword Sect can't let loose in front of the direct disciples and their spouses of the Bajiquan Martial Arts School, then what would become of them?

That's how it should be!

"Yes, there is a door here."

Looking at the hatch with its very familiar design, Link felt somewhat lost.

What exactly is the state of this world?

Just when he thought he had a deep understanding of the world, something "strange" would pop up.

This applies to evil witchcraft, ancient witchcraft, and so on, as well as magic and Taoist arts.

just now……

Link actually saw a hatch of a wizarding world interstellar warship!

The belief that this was a real world, not a fictional illusion, had been largely established and was being shaken without anyone noticing.

Is it true? Or false?

I can't tell the difference anymore.

"Junior brother, what's wrong?"

Seeing that Link's mood was a bit off, Senior Brother Shi asked him with concern.

"I'm fine, senior brother, I just thought about some things."

Link took a deep breath and regained his composure.

Hu Suqi's eyes flickered, as if she were deep in thought.

"So...should we go in?"

Xu Huiyun, unaware of the change, asked somewhat timidly.

Min Ruohua sighed inwardly, thinking that she had spent too much time in the mountains and lacked experience in dealing with people.

After sighing, Min Ruohua said, "Senior Brother Shi, Junior Brother Lin, we've traveled for so long, I want to rest for a while, I'm a little tired."

"Hmm? Are you tired?"

Xu Huiyun was somewhat puzzled.

Her senior sister's cultivation level was higher than hers, yet she wasn't tired. How could her senior sister possibly be tired?

I'm tired.

Min Ruohua glanced at Xu Huiyun with a stern face and no expression.

Instantly, a chill ran up my spine from my tailbone to the back of my head, and the fear of being dominated by my senior sister surged into my heart.

"I'm tired! I'm tired! I'm tired too!"

Xu Huiyun repeatedly echoed her senior sister's words.

"Then let's take a break."

Before Link could speak, Senior Brother Shi made the decision first.

Link agreed and accepted their kindness.

Since the situation here was unclear, I did not sit on the ground, but stood.

Seeing that Link was lost in thought again, Senior Brother Shi gave Hu Suqi a wink, led her aside, and whispered, "What's so special about this door? Why did my junior brother seem a bit off after seeing it?"

Hu Suqi replied with a strange expression, "This door reminds me of a legend. Perhaps my junior brother's change is related to this legend."

"What legend?"

"Legend has it that the shamans of ancient times were not born naturally among humans, but descended from the sky."

"Wait! Shamans aren't human?"

"Shamans are human, but the earliest shamans in ancient times were not native humans."

"What you're saying is making my head spin. What do you mean by not being native to this world? Are you some kind of extraterrestrial visitor?"

"The legend goes that the earliest shamans in ancient times were visitors from outer space!"

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Shi's expression became just as strange as Hu Suqi's.

After a long while, Senior Brother Shi swallowed hard and said with some difficulty, "Could it be that my junior brother is also a visitor from outer space?"

Hu Suqi nodded almost imperceptibly, recalling Link's elusive and unique secret techniques.

She did indeed have that suspicion.

Otherwise, there would be no way to explain the origin of those secret techniques.

Hu Suqi had learned a great deal about Link's life over the past ten years through her senior brother Shi, and she was certain of one thing.

That is, before the Li Sisi incident, Link had never used a single secret technique.

Senior Brother Shi was still in shock, his mouth moving as he muttered to himself:

"Visitors from outer space?" (End of Chapter)