“This world is heading towards destruction…”
“The Spiritual Energy is depleted, everything is beyond redemption…”
In the pitch-black void, a massive dark shadow nestled in darkness murmured softly, its deep and penetrating breath echoing in the darkness.
In the void, there were six other shadows lurking.
They whispered among themselves, their fragmented voices intertwining and echoing, merging into some sort of haunting murmur like a nightmare.
Li Muyang stood amidst this eerie and grim darkness, subconsciously pinching his own thigh.
There was no sensation of pain…
Was this a dream?
His eyes widened in astonishment.
He had just succeeded in Foundation Establishment, and before he could even celebrate, how came such a bizarre nightmare?
In the darkness of the void, Li Muyang furrowed his brow slightly, trying to awaken his consciousness.
He remembered that he was on the Flying Boat returning to the Sect, and it was nearly arriving at the Demon Sect headquarters.
While traveling, he played video games, trying to beat “Deadly Wild Grass”, and cultivated with the Jade Marrow Spirit Liquid from his Qiankun Ring.
He was only a step away from reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, and with ample cultivation resources now at his disposal, he established his Foundation with ease.
He had also grown quite familiar with the Spirit Energy circulation diagram of the Nether Demon Manual.
Now, the route of Spiritual Energy circulation in his body had wholly switched to the Ghostly Demon Technique. Abandoning his original inferior entry-level cultivation technique, his speed and efficiency of cultivation had greatly improved.
Everything was moving in a positive direction.
But to have such a strange and bizarre nightmare right after Foundation Establishment?
In the darkness of the void, Li Muyang’s brow furrowed slightly.
He looked at the six shadows in front of him, subconsciously wanting to back away.
Though it was a nightmare, he instinctively did not want to disturb these six fearsome shadows.
But at that moment, one of the shadows caught his attention.
“… Cang Su Three from the Demon Sword City has awakened, yet remains unable to communicate.”
The shadow that spoke was shrouded in a black robe, its face and gender obscured, but its fingers beneath the robe were pale and slender, one of which wore a red gem ring with the character “六” on it.
Between its fingers, it pinched another ring strangely familiar to Li Muyang.
A ring with the character “三” and set with a blue gemstone.
Li Muyang’s gaze fixated on the ring with the blue gemstone, and he became still.
“… Unable to communicate?”
The largest shadow in the darkness let out a low, cold huff.
“Is it a failed Spirit Descent of a deity? Or the revival of a True Immortal? Why, after so much time, is there still no communication?”
Confronted with the question, the shadow wearing the “六” red ring answered calmly, “A strange power has masked all traces and divine foreknowledge of Cang Su Three, rendering it impossible to deduce, locate, or communicate with.”
“It seems to be hidden outside the realm of heaven and earth, not within this world.”
“My Life Extension Technique has no effect on it.”
“Judging from various signs, this newcomer who has received the position of Cang Su Three seems to be in some danger… Should we continue the contact?”
The shadow wearing the “六” ring looked towards the others in the darkness.
Its words, like pebbles tossed into a lake, instantly caused a ripple of commotion.
The shadows in the pitch-black void started arguing once again.
They seemed to be arguing fiercely, but Li Muyang’s ears ached from the noise, and he couldn’t make out a word of their quarrel.
Only at the end did he faintly catch a fragment of the argument.
“… Pass on the ring to him, if he is willing, he will naturally converse with us.”
“If he is unwilling, then act as if there is no Cang Su Three in this world…”
…
In the morning light, Li Muyang opened his eyes bewilderedly, his gaze somewhat vacant.
The overly deep and eerie nightmare left his brain feeling dizzy.
What were all these nonsensical dreams, with not a shred of logic to them?
Li Muyang rubbed his throbbing temples and gave a wry smile.
Was he under so much pressure lately that he had started having nightmares?
The voice outside was Guan Xiaoshun’s.
“Bro Li, breakfast is ready, and today we have pigeon blood soup~~~”
The simple lad from the border town was very enthusiastic about food.
Pigeon blood, from a low-level spiritual bird, contained spiritual energy within its flesh, and not only was the soup delicious after being cooked, but it was also beneficial for cultivation.
According to the show-off young Cheng Feiyang, even Inner Sect Disciples couldn’t afford such delicacies at every meal.
But on this trip back to the Demon Sect headquarters, Li Muyang and his company were having such fine foods three times a day, almost every meal.
Ning Wan’er said that it was a reward from Elder Yan to the few surviving Inner Sect Disciples.
After all, these disciples aboard the flying boat had followed Elder Yan to Demon Sword City, and they too had gone through many dangers, with due credit for their contributions and hardships.
It was only reasonable for Elder Yan to secure special treatment for all the Inner Sect Disciples so generously.
And with delicious food at every meal, the food-loving Guan Xiaoshun naturally wouldn’t miss a single one.
Furthermore, every time it was mealtime, he would call out to Li Muyang, who was immersed in cultivation in the room next door, to join him.
Hearing Guan Xiaoshun’s voice, Li Muyang responded perfunctorily.
“Alright! I’ll be there in a sec!”
He rolled out of bed, ready to head out.
He had played video games too late into the night, not knowing when he had fallen asleep, only to have such a bizarre nightmare afterward.
Read latest stories on empire
It must have been the eerie and strange atmosphere of Black Cloud Fort that caused Li Muyang’s nightmare.
Muttering about the creepy vibe of Black Cloud Fort, Li Muyang got up and stretched.
But the next second, Li Muyang froze.
Next to his pillow lay a ring and an Immortal Sword, quietly resting there.
That Immortal Sword was none other than the Startling Swan Immortal Sword he had stored in his Qi Sea within the Dantian.
Without his active summons, the sword should not have appeared.
Yet there it lay, quietly beside his bed, with a ring next to it.
In the deep blue gemstone set in the ring, a character for “Three” was clearly visible.
Was this… the ring from the dream?
Li Muyang was momentarily stunned, hastily using the Startling Swan Sword Technique to retract the sword back into his Dantian.
He then picked up the ring that had mysteriously appeared and a strange thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
—Could last night’s nightmare actually have been real?
A group of weird and eerie shadows forcibly pushing a ring, representing “Azure Lodging Three,” onto him?
What the hell!
Are they insane?
The figures in that nightmare were all shrouded in gloom, clearly no good folks.
They might even be the kind of evil doomsday organization destined to become cannon fodder for the protagonist.
Was he inexplicably entangled by an evil organization?
Li Muyang picked up the ring with the deep blue gem and examined it closely, widening his eyes.
However, a system prompt suddenly popped up in his field of vision.
[Special artifact detected—Azure Lodging Three’s Ring]
[Do you wish to condense the artifact?]
[Yes/No]
“Huh? This thing can trigger the system?”
Li Muyang was somewhat surprised.
So far, the only artifact that could trigger the system’s functions was the Startling Swan Immortal Sword.
But the Startling Swan Immortal Sword is an Immortal Artifact!
If this ring could trigger the system… could the ring also be an Immortal Artifact?