Wandering Swordsman |

As Shen Mo recited in a deep voice, it seemed as if a wind from ancient times blew across time and space into the ice cave:

"I, Xuanyuan Ling, wielding the Heavenly Demon Totem, traverse the Three Absolute Lands, and journey westward in search of the Dao."

"This is an extremely cold place. I leave these words in the ice, to be given to the chosen one in the future."

......

"If you are to succeed the Heavenly Demon God, upon seeing this text, do not fear the wind and snow that bite your bones, nor the abyss that devours your soul."

"Continue your journey westward! Fate will lead you to the place where I have perfected the 'Heavenly Demon Divine Art'."

......

"I have devoted my life to studying the changes of heaven and earth, and I will finally complete this work in the far west."

As soon as the words were spoken, Shen Mo stood there stunned. In an instant, countless mysteries suddenly became clear—no wonder the previous Heavenly Demon God Hua Shenyong disregarded his own life and insisted on going west! He was not looking for treasure, nor was he on an adventure, but rather following in the footsteps of the first Heavenly Demon God, trying to complete that unfinished legacy!

No wonder I could never find the 108th totem back then, no matter how hard I searched in the Demon Refining Mountain!

It turns out that it had already been taken away by Xuanyuan Ling himself, becoming the key to unlocking the secrets of the far west!

Hua Tianyou was already trembling with fear: "My lord... so we've been walking the same path that the first Heavenly Demon God walked!"

Shen Mo slowly closed the parchment booklet used for translation. He looked out at the blizzard outside the ice cave, his voice low yet thunderous:

"Let's go, let's continue our journey."

At that moment, he felt an added sense of mission.

This trip was no longer just about fulfilling a promise to Hua Tianyou.

He wants to find the "Heavenly Demon Divine Skill" that the first Heavenly Demon God Xuanyuan Ling completed in the far west!

Despite the wind and snow hitting their faces, they stepped out of the ice cave, each step as firm as iron.

Behind them, the ice cave in the blizzard gradually shrank as they walked further away, eventually returning to silence.

Ahead, the snowfield stretched endlessly, and the canyon lay in sight. The gears of fate were slowly turning because of his footsteps.

Four months later, the snowstorm gradually subsided.

Shen Mo and Hua Tianyou finally stepped out of the last icy ridge of the snowfield. Looking back, the vast expanse of ice remained deathly silent, as if no one had ever ventured into this frigid and desolate region. Ahead, the terrain suddenly sank, revealing countless enormous rift valleys stretching across the sky.

Those canyons are bottomless, with sheer cliffs on both sides as if cleaved by a giant god, covered in jagged black rocks, barren of any vegetation.

Even more terrifying is that a layer of grayish-green miasma lingers in the valley year-round, thick as fog, churning endlessly, and gleaming eerily in the sunlight. This miasma is not ordinary damp poison, but rather a mixture of rotting corpses, poisonous springs, miasma moss, and the yin energy from the earth. Inhaling even a single breath can cause anything from festering meridians to bleeding from all seven orifices, turning one to skeletal remains within three days.

Inside the canyon, poisonous plants are everywhere—the "Bone-Eating Vine" with purple stems and black leaves entwines the rock walls, and touching it will cause the skin to ulcerate.

The "Soul-Eating Mushroom," as big as a bowl, grows in damp rock crevices. Its spores are dispersed by the wind and can cause hallucinations and madness.

There is also the "Blood Kiss Orchid," which is entirely crimson red. Its flowers bloom like lips and have an alluring fragrance, yet they can numb the heart with every breath.

Poisonous insects are everywhere – the "armored scorpion" the size of a fingernail lurks under the sand and gravel, its stinger containing deadly poison that can pierce gold and split stone.

The palm-sized "shadow centipede" slithers silently among the rock crevices, biting people without a sound.

The most terrifying creature is the "mist bat" that perches atop the valley. Its wings spread like an umbrella, and its wing membranes secrete venom that corrodes the rocks wherever it drips.

Hua Tianyou stood at the valley entrance, gazing at this hellish scene, his face ashen. He suddenly recalled the horrific sight he had witnessed at the ten locations surrounding the canyon when he returned from the far west years ago—

That was an elite army from the far west, three thousand iron cavalry, clad in black armor and carrying dragon banners, attempting to open up a canyon passage and conquer the outside world.

But they were wiped out after only ten miles of penetration.

What Hua Tianyou saw with his own eyes: piles of white bones at the mouth of the valley, layer upon layer, some still clutching broken knives, some tearing at each other, their eyes frozen in extreme fear.

Even more bizarrely, the bones did not rot; instead, they were permeated by miasma, turning into a bluish-black hard shell, resembling statues of suffering.

Even the bones of warhorses were covered in poisonous mushrooms, and the saddles were crawling with bone-eating ants...

That wasn't a battlefield; it was the entrance to hell.

"My lord..." Hua Tianyou's voice was hoarse, trembling with barely concealed emotion, "Back then, the army from the far west sent three thousand Xuanjia soldiers into the valley to scout... and not a single one survived. Even their corpses became lairs for poisonous creatures. This canyon... is simply not fit for human travel!"

Shen Mo listened quietly, his eyes calm and undisturbed. He raised his hand and lightly brushed his sleeve, revealing not a trace of frost or snow on his black robe—after four months of trekking across the snowy plains, he remained untouched by dust, and now, facing this poisonous abyss, he strolled as if in a leisurely garden.

"Poisonous miasma or white bones," he said calmly, "are just signposts left by our predecessors."

Before he finished speaking, he had already stepped into the canyon.

In an instant, the gray-green miasma rushed in like a living creature, trying to penetrate his seven orifices. Within three inches of Shen Mo's body, black energy quietly circulated, forming an invisible barrier—the Qi of the Heavenly Demon—which repelled the miasma.

However, the poisonous insects remained unfazed.

An armored scorpion leaped out of a crevice in the rock, its stinger piercing Shen Mo's ankle; several shadow centipedes dangled from the top of the rock, their venomous jaws wide open; in the distance, miasma bats flapped their wings, their venom raining down like rain!

Shen Mo did not stop, and lightly waved his left hand.

A jet-black sword aura swept out silently, instantly turning all the poisonous insects within a ten-foot radius into dust. The venom didn't even have time to hit the ground before it was vaporized into white smoke by the demonic energy and dissipated.

Hua Tianyou followed closely behind, holding his breath and circulating his Heavenly Demon True Qi to its limit, condensing it into a protective shield as thin as a cicada's wing around his body.

Even so, Hua Tianyou still felt a stinging sensation on his skin and a burning sensation in his eyes—he understood that the miasma in the canyon was slowly eroding his protective true energy!

Shen Mo walked with ease, his clothes untouched by the poisonous fog, as if this canyon that had swallowed thousands of troops was nothing more than an ordinary mountain path.

Even more remarkably, wherever he went, the miasma would automatically retreat three feet, poisonous insects would cower in the crevices of the rocks, and even the miasma bats that occupied the valley tops would flap their wings and flee far away, not daring to approach.

Hua Tianyou was deeply shaken, as if a stormy sea had crashed against the shore.

This canyon is a dead end for mortals, but for the lord... it is just another road to travel.

The wind howled upwards from the valley floor, carrying with it the stench of rotting bones, the cloying sweetness of blooming poisonous flowers, and some indescribable whisper—like the wailing of the dead, or the call of the abyss.

The towering cliffs on both sides reach into the clouds, their black rocks as if carved by a knife and axe, crisscrossed with cracks, resembling the scars left by the giants after their battle.

What's even more breathtaking is that what lies before us is not a single canyon, but countless crisscrossing canyons, like a dense spider web, like a deep, locked labyrinth.

Looking out, canyons stretch as far as the eye can see, and abysses connect one another.

Some are as narrow as a sliver of sky, barely allowing one to pass sideways; others are over a hundred feet wide, with a dark and bottomless valley; some meander like a dragon, while others are as straight as a sword.

On the rock face, poisonous vines hung like curtains, their purplish-black spots resembling festering sores; the stream at the bottom of the valley shimmered with an eerie green light, its waters murmuring softly, yet devoid of any living creature. Furthermore, miasma swirled through the valley, as if the entire land was breathing death.