Liu Tianyun and Qinglan Daojun confronting each other was no accident.
Qinglan Daojun's true form was a spiritual entity born in the most spirit-rich mountain streams, having also spent days and nights with the mysterious chaos energy. Therefore, he was exceptionally sensitive to spirit energy and chaos energy.
The moment he entered the Cosmic Secret Realm, he sensed the anomaly within. The Cosmic Secret Realm was not devoid of spirit energy; rather, all of it had gathered in the four corners—east, west, north, and south—making the spirit energy within the realm exceedingly scarce.
What Qinglan Daojun found even more astonishing was that the Cosmic Secret Realm, once the abode of deities, should have contained chaos energy, yet there was not a trace of it here. Chaos gave rise to the Heavenly Dao, birthed all things, and nurtured intelligence. Considering the Cosmic Secret Realm's previous rejection of the inhabitants of the Divine Enlightenment Small World, Qinglan Daojun couldn't help but speculate and headed south, the closest direction to him.
Simultaneously, Liu Tianyun had just finished examining the formations in the west and east.
"Shall we go to the south or the north next?" Liu Tianyun asked Yun Youyue.
Yun Youyue twirled the bone ring on her finger, undecided. She clearly felt her destiny lay to the south, yet she also felt a sense of unease.
"Hahahaha... Your death is probably near!" Yuan Bingxin shrieked in Yun Youyue's mind. "You killed Yun family members and harmed the eighteenth young lady of the Yun family. Do you think the Yun family will let you go?"
Yun Youyue said grimly in her sea of consciousness, "Shut up! Do you think you'll live if I die? The Yun family discovered my secret, so naturally, they want to kill me."
Pitiable Yun Ya and Yun Hai. After learning from Yun Buyu that Yun Youyue was a member of the Yun family, they treated her with utmost sincerity. Yet, in Yun Youyue's words, they didn't even deserve to have their names mentioned. Or perhaps, Yun Youyue hadn't remembered their names at all.
Yuan Bingxin said, "Who cares if you kill Yun family members? Yun Youyue, my mother is almost here to find me. If you're smart, hurry up and find a way to release me!" Of course, if possible, she would rather seize Yun Youyue's body. After all, Yun Youyue now possessed the cultivation of a Saint Realm. Even though Yuan Bingxin knew that Yun Youyue's Saint Realm cultivation was greatly inflated, she was still tempted. However, she was completely suppressed by Yun Youyue at the moment and couldn't possibly overpower her. She could only find a way to escape first and then plot further.
But how could Yun Youyue not know her intentions? She sneered, "Dream on! I'm telling you, behave yourself, or I don't mind wasting some fate to completely refine you!" After speaking, Yun Youyue ignored Yuan Bingxin, who was jumping with rage in her sea of consciousness, and lowered her head to ponder carefully for a long time.
Finally, she said, "Let's go south."
Liu Tianyun remained noncommittal; the south and the north were the same to him.
"When did Ying Wuxiong leave these four formations?" Liu Tianyun suddenly asked.
Yun Youyue looked at him with a half-smile, "Do you think I would know?" She then let out a sneer.
Liu Tianyun showed no unusual reaction to her mocking and sarcastic attitude, replying with a gentle smile, "After all, Miss Yun is no ordinary person. What if Miss Yun knows some secrets?" Although he said this, Liu Tianyun understood that Yun Youyue also did not know how Ying Wuxiong had left behind his trump cards in the Cosmic Secret Realm. Just as Liu Tianyun still didn't know why Ying Wuxiong cared so much about Ying Wumo.
As the master of a continent, Ying Wuxiong naturally had more than one son besides Ying Wumo. Yet, Ying Wuxiong favored Ying Wumo the most. Even after Ying Wumo's death, he used heavenly defying methods to allow Ying Wumo's soul to return through the trials of the three souls (heaven, earth, man) and employed an ancient grand formation to resurrect him.
"Although I don't know, I do have some guesses," Yun Youyue said softly. "Ying Wuxiong has lived for so many years; he must have some means that reach the heavens. The last time the Cosmic Secret Realm appeared, it happened to be in Chongyuan. Perhaps he did something then..."
"Impossible!" Liu Tianyun retorted. "At that time, he was merely in the Nascent Soul stage, not even the master of Ying Wuzhou. Where would he have had such great ability to do all this?" If nothing else, the countless Void Beast Core Dan placed on the formations in the east and west alone represented a considerable cost. Liu Tianyun did not believe that the Nascent Soul stage Ying Wuxiong could afford it.
As he spoke with Yun Youyue, they had already arrived at the southernmost point. The moment they approached, it was as if they had fallen into a vortex of spirit energy. Countless streams of spirit energy surged towards them, pouring in from above. The fatigue of Liu Tianyun and Yun Youyue's journey vanished instantly.
Even though Liu Tianyun had already been to the east and west and knew what lay in these four directions, he was still momentarily stunned by the scene to the south.
Void Beast Core Dans were piled layer upon layer around the boundary wall, forming an arc with a diameter of about a hundred meters and a height of about thirty meters. A rough estimate showed at least two hundred thousand Void Beast Core Dans here, some still bearing distinct bloodstains, a truly horrifying sight. Around the Beast Core Dans, apart from the spirit energy vortex, which was so dense it seemed solidified but was actually spinning madly, there was nothing else out of the ordinary.
Yun Youyue took a few steps forward, then a few steps back, before finally standing still. She took out a palm-sized obsidian Jundao stone and tossed it high into the air. "If the Ying Wuxiong of that time didn't have such ability, then he must have gained new opportunities in recent years—Who's there!"
Yun Youyue's sharp shout was followed by a wisp of blue smoke drifting past. The obsidian Jundao stone in mid-air was about to fall into the hands of this blue smoke when a red lotus bloomed, enveloping the entire blue smoke beneath its huge, scarlet petals.
"Qinglan!"
Liu Tianyun grabbed the obsidian Jundao stone and threw it to Yun Youyue. "Hurry and continue!" Then, he engaged Qinglan Daojun in combat!
Qinglan Daojun intuitively felt that the obsidian Jundao stone was extremely important and immediately reached for it again. However, he was desperately intercepted by Liu Tianyun. In just a moment, Yun Youyue placed the obsidian Jundao stone in its designated spot.
"Boom!"
Black and gold lines, appearing from nowhere, snaked out and instantly occupied the area, constructing a vast and ominous formation. Fierce resentment gathered in the center of the Void Beast Core Dans, and a black pillar of light shot up from the ground!
"What are you trying to do!"
Qinglan Daojun's usually indifferent face showed a flicker of anger. He could clearly see that this massive pillar of light was absorbing the dense spirit energy of the place. The spirit energy was rapidly decreasing, while the resentment was growing wildly. It was clearly a method of nurturing resentment with spirit energy! This was a blatant defiance of heaven!
"Daojun Qinglan also has moments of such concern?" Yun Youyue said sarcastically. "I thought Daojun was a deity without fear or love, without emotion or righteousness, and that nothing could stir Daojun's emotions?" If Yun Youyue harbored an overwhelming hatred towards Bai Shengyi and Qin Si, then towards Qinglan Daojun, the stabilizing force of Shenqi Mountain, she harbored a clear killing intent! She resented that Qinglan Daojun had chosen to help Bai Shengyi instead of her back then.
"Liu Tianyun, if you kill Qinglan, I will help you become a Saint!" Amidst such resentment, Yun Youyue coldly threw down a statement.