Shangguan Yulin said, "Boss, if you disagree, then we'll go together! Anyway, we can't let you go on an adventure alone!"
"We agree!" others chimed in.
Zi Lingling nodded helplessly and said, "Alright then!"
Before dawn the next day, Zi Lingling quietly left the Ye family, carrying Ye Lingyuan in "Chong'er" on her back, accompanied by Old Du and Shen Liuxing.
At the same time, Xuanyuan Xun went to pay his respects to Ye Zhan, informing him of the impending great calamity of the Azure Star and Zi Lingling's departure to the Ghost Realm.
Ye Zhan was shocked upon hearing this and immediately convened the Ye family elders. He informed them of the Azure Star's great calamity and instructed them to cooperate fully with Xuanyuan Xun and his team in gathering strength, preparing for the world-ending disaster.
Subsequently, Ye Zhan entrusted the family's affairs to the Grand Elder and then galloped towards the former residence of the Jing family in the City of Chaos.
In the past, his mistake had led to Jing Yulan's disappearance and Ye Lingyuan's solitary upbringing.
Now, he could not allow his daughter-in-law to face danger alone; he did not want the tragedy of the past to repeat itself.
Meanwhile, upon leaving the Zhantian Domain, Zi Lingling summoned Long'er, who transformed into his dragon form and sped towards the Chaos Domain.
Half of Long'er's bloodline had evolved into Azure Dragon blood, awakening the dragon race's innate divine ability of space traversal.
Thus, in just half a day, Zi Lingling, Old Du, and Shen Liuxing had returned to the Chaos Domain.
Zi Lingling first found Xu Rongwei, inquired about the location of the Jing family, and instructed Xu Rongwei to continue preparing for the world-ending calamity.
Then, Zi Lingling, Old Du, and Shen Liuxing directly used a short-distance teleportation formation to arrive near the Jing family residence. They employed an invisibility formation to conceal their presence and infiltrated the former Jing family compound.
After the Jing family's destruction, their former residence had become a haunted house. A chilling wind perpetually blew, and even cultivators avoided it, fearing bad luck.
Therefore, no one discovered the presence of Zi Lingling, Old Du, and Shen Liuxing.
Soon, the trio found the rockery mentioned by Ye Zhan. Without hesitation, they lifted the small grass and located the well.
Zi Lingling took out two Nine Yang Pills and offered them to Old Du and Shen Liuxing, saying, "Take these. Nine Yang Pills are extremely yang pills, capable of resisting the extreme yin and cold energy in the water."
She then took one herself.
Shen Liuxing chuckled, "Sister Zi, aren't you being a bit too cautious? Although the water is incredibly cold, can't our spiritual energy shields handle it?"
Zi Lingling shook her head. "If I'm not mistaken, the water in this well is Extreme Yin Heavy Water. Its inherent yin and cold energy cannot be resisted by mere spiritual energy. You might not have noticed, but the Ye family head has accumulated a considerable amount of cold poison. It's likely due to this Extreme Yin Heavy Water eroding his spiritual energy shield."
"This Extreme Yin Heavy Water is that sinister?"
Shen Liuxing looked shocked and quickly swallowed the Nine Yang Pill.
Zi Lingling smiled, saying nothing. She put down "Chong'er," opened it, fed a Nine Yang Pill to Ye Lingyuan's mouth, sealed "Chong'er" again, and slung it back on her shoulders. With a leap, she plunged into the well.
Old Du, after consuming a Nine Yang Pill, followed Zi Lingling into the well.
Shen Liuxing hesitated for a moment, called out, "Wait for me," and also jumped in.
The three descended rapidly and soon reached the barrier Ye Zhan had spoken of.
Zi Lingling nodded to Old Du and Shen Liuxing, then rushed into the barrier. Old Du and Shen Liuxing followed closely.
Thanks to the Nine Yang Pills, none of them felt cold.
They used their spiritual energy to dry their clothes and, led by Zi Lingling, proceeded towards the teleportation array mentioned by Ye Zhan.
Both Zi Lingling and Old Du, being Imperial Formation Masters, immediately recognized that the teleportation array was undamaged.
The three stepped onto the teleportation array, and Zi Lingling quickly inserted spirit stones, causing the array to glow.
Just as Ye Zhan had said, after a moment of dizziness, they arrived at the cave.
The cave was pitch black, but cultivators' eyesight was already extraordinary, and with the added benefit of divine sense, everything within the cave was clearly perceived.
The three moved forward and soon reached the cave entrance.
Of course, having been warned by Ye Zhan beforehand, they did not disturb the spiritual energy within the cave.
The cave entrance, due to the great battle between Ye Zhan and Chu Hezhou in the past, was completely blocked.
Zi Lingling carefully probed the area outside the cave entrance with her divine sense and discovered someone guarding it.
Zi Lingling transmitted a message to Old Du and Shen Liuxing, saying, "There's someone outside. I wonder if it's one of the Ten Great Ghost Envoys that the Ye family head mentioned."
Old Du transmitted back, "Girl, what is that person's cultivation level?"
Zi Lingling replied, "Late stage God King realm!"
"No significant issue! Let's not disturb the earth and stones. We can just use a formation to teleport!" Old Du suggested.
"Yes! We'll do as you say." Zi Lingling agreed.
Shen Liuxing, with no knowledge of formations, naturally offered no differing opinion.
They acted immediately. Zi Lingling swiftly completed a short-distance teleportation formation.
The formation pulsed slightly, and the trio found themselves outside the cave.
The sudden appearance of three people caught the guard at the cave entrance completely off guard.
"You..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was bound by Zi Lingling's Ghost King Vine, which even intelligently covered his mouth.
Zi Lingling's gaze was cold. "From now on, I don't want to hear a single superfluous word. I ask, you answer. Understand?"
The man nodded frantically, his face filled with terror. It wasn't that he was cowardly, but he hadn't even seen how he was captured.
Zi Lingling willed it, and the Ghost King Vine released the man's mouth.
As soon as his mouth was free, the man instinctively tried to scold Zi Lingling and the others, "You are..."
"Slap!"
Before the man could finish his sentence, the Ghost King Vine whipped his mouth fiercely, directly tearing his lips and causing them to swell rapidly.
Zi Lingling gave a cold smile. "I told you, I don't want to hear any nonsense. First question: Is this the Ghost Realm?"
The man nodded quickly.
When one is at the mercy of another, the wise know to comply.
Zi Lingling nodded and asked, "Second question: Are you one of the Ten Great Ghost Envoys?"
The man quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes! I am Sun Bu Er, the eighth of the Ten Great Ghost Envoys!"
Zi Lingling asked with a half-smile, "Very good! Third question: Where is the Ghost Emperor?"
Sun Bu Er's eyes darted around, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Zi Lingling's warning, "Do you know that the vine binding you is a thousand-year-old Ghost King Vine with sentience? So, think carefully before you speak."