Outside the Shanbu Villa, Xu Xiaoqing strolled alone through the small town, observing the strangely shaped houses and the yokai around her, letting the warm sunlight bathe her.
The atmosphere was inexplicably warm.
"What's wrong with me?"
Xu Xiaoqing looked up at the soft sun hanging in the sky, her mood still a little low.
Suddenly, she saw a green meteor streak across the sun, flying directly towards Buzhou Mountain.
"Hmm? What is that?"
Seeing the green meteor, a strange tremor arose in Xu Xiaoqing's heart, a desire to chase after it.
However, this place was in the semi-spiritual realm, and outside lay the void. The sun and moon themselves were projections from Earth.
Phenomena like meteors were rare even on Earth, let alone in the semi-spiritual realm.
And it was broad daylight!
The appearance of a green meteor under these circumstances was truly strange.
"Xiaoqing!" At this moment, Ye You, with Su Ruoxue, walked out of the villa. Seeing Xu Xiaoqing gazing at the horizon, he called out to her.
Xu Xiaoqing turned around, "Senior?"
Ye You asked, "What are you looking at? So engrossed?"
Xu Xiaoqing did not hide it, saying, "I, I saw a green meteor streak across the horizon and fall towards Buzhou Mountain."
"A green meteor?"
Ye You was startled, "Are there meteors in the semi-spiritual realm?"
"What are you two talking about?" Ye Ling also emerged from the villa, asking with a smile.
Su Ruoxue smiled at Ye Ling, "We're discussing meteors."
"Meteors?" Ye Ling was surprised, "Where would meteors come from in this semi-spiritual realm?"
"Senior, I don't know if it was an illusion, but I just saw a green meteor streak across the sky and fall towards Buzhou Mountain."
"A meteor falling towards Buzhou Mountain?" Hearing Xu Xiaoqing's words, Ye Ling's brow furrowed slightly, suddenly feeling that this matter was not simple.
The reason he kept Xu Xiaoqing by his side was his suspicion that she was connected to that mysterious key.
Now that Xu Xiaoqing had spotted a strange meteor, if the truth was as Ye Ling suspected, then that green meteor might be the key to finding the key!
With this thought, Ye Ling said, "We were planning to go to Buzhou Mountain anyway. Since Xiaoqing discovered a strange meteor, let's go and take a look."
After all, the Shadow Hall had arrangements at Buzhou Mountain, and Xu Changqing's Xuanyuan Sword had also flown to Buzhou Mountain. Regardless, they had to go and see Buzhou Mountain.
Xu Xiaoqing hesitated, "But Buzhou Mountain has been sealed, and it's currently in divine concealment. If we go from here, we won't be able to reach Buzhou Mountain."
Ye You smiled, "Actually, there is another way to go to Buzhou Mountain."
"Xiao You, you know another way?" Ye Ling was quite surprised.
He had originally planned to forcibly tear open space and break into Buzhou Mountain. Since Ye You now had a way to enter the sealed Buzhou Mountain, he wouldn't need to resort to violence.
After all, this was just the semi-spiritual realm, and space was not as stable as on Earth. Places like Buzhou Mountain had even weaker space. Forcible entry might even cause the entire semi-spiritual realm to collapse.
It would be troublesome if the scene of Gonggong shattering Buzhou Mountain were to repeat itself.
"Of course!" Ye You nodded with a smile, then took out his previous map. "Legend has it that Buzhou Mountain is the pillar of heaven and earth, connecting heaven and earth. Although Buzhou Mountain is not that exaggerated in reality, it does connect the three realms."
"From the Immortal Realm above to the Underworld below, its waist is the human world."
Ye You spread out the map and continued, "The semi-spiritual realm where we are now is located below the waist of Buzhou Mountain. Even if it is sealed, we can still reach Buzhou Mountain from the Underworld."
"As far as I know, the Underworld has an entrance that directly leads to Buzhou Mountain. That place is never affected by the seal. If we go from there, we will definitely be able to get there."
"And to the northwest of Mount Shu, this is the Youming Pool."
Ye You pointed to a dark pool northwest of the map, "This Youming Pool is the entrance from this semi-spiritual realm to the Underworld."
Su Ruoxue listened, somewhat dazed, "So... we're going to the Underworld now?"
She was originally an ordinary person and was very afraid of ghosts. Now, asking her to go to the Underworld was simply...
Ye Ling comforted her, "Ruoxue, just stay with me, and I will protect you."
"If you are really scared, I can send you back to Jiangcheng first. I will place a restriction on you then, and people from the Shadow Hall won't be able to harm you."
"I..." Hearing Ye Ling's words, Su Ruoxue hesitated.
Although she was quite afraid of ghosts, she wanted to adventure with Ye Ling even more.
Going to the Underworld with Ye Ling now, seeing worlds she had never seen in her life, this was the best opportunity for her to accompany Ye Ling!
After a moment of hesitation, Su Ruoxue gritted her teeth fiercely and made up her mind, "I'm not going back, I'll go with you!"
Ye You smiled, "Great! With Sister Ruoxue accompanying us, we won't be bored along the way!"
Seeing that Su Ruoxue was going, Ye Ling asked Xu Xiaoqing again, "Xiaoqing, are you okay with going to Buzhou Mountain from the Underworld?"
"N-no problem..." Xu Xiaoqing nodded repeatedly, "I'll follow the seniors."
Ye Ling nodded, "Very good. Since everyone has decided to go to Buzhou Mountain from the Underworld, let's set off for the Youming Pool!"
The crowd echoed in unison, "Okay!"
...
Mount Shu, Northwest, Youming Pool.
This is the place where the semi-spiritual realm connects to the Underworld. The surrounding environment is cold, and stray souls often linger.
Xu Xiaoqing came to the edge of the pool and saw a pool of black water, exclaiming, "This is the Youming Pool... Although I often heard my senior brothers talk about this spring, I didn't expect this pool of water to be so black!"
Ye You was surprised, "Xiaoqing, you haven't been here before?"
Xu Xiaoqing shook her head, "Although the Youming Pool is northwest of Mount Shu, stray souls often linger here. It is said that a ghost king from the Underworld lives at the bottom of the pool, specializing in devouring living people. Even the elders within Mount Shu, except for coming here to collect Youming Fruits needed for alchemy, do not come here on weekdays."
"My cultivation is low, and my master and the others do not allow me to come."
"Youming Fruit?" Ye Ling raised an eyebrow, "Is this medicinal ingredient also found here?"
"Mmm-hmm..." Xu Xiaoqing nodded, "According to my senior brothers, this is the only place in the world that grows Youming Fruit. The Youming Pills refined with Youming Fruit can overcome the yin energy of evil spirits and are essential pills for subduing demons and eliminating evil."
"Senior, have you heard of Youming Fruit?"
"Yes." Ye Ling nodded, "I've used it before."
There was also Youming Fruit on the East Xuan Continent, but on the East Xuan Continent, Youming Fruit was not used to refine Youming Pills, but to refine Youxin Pills for strengthening the foundation and cultivating the origin. Low-level cultivators who took it could build a solid foundation, preventing unstable roots in future cultivation.
However, on the East Xuan Continent, Youming Fruit was a very rare medicinal ingredient. Usually, only core disciples of top aristocratic families were qualified to take Youming Pills.
Ye Ling was lucky to have collected a Youming Fruit back then and refined a Youxin Pill.
The way Mount Shu uses Youming Fruit to refine Youming Pills, only to resist the yin energy of evil spirits, was a complete waste of a good thing!
With this thought, Ye Ling smiled and said to the three women, "Since there is Youming Fruit here, let's pick some while we're at it. I'll refine a Youxin Pill for each of you, which will be beneficial to all of you."