Chu Fan was slightly stunned.
He didn't say anything more.
He knew it was highly unlikely that Cui Fu would abandon him. The old man was sometimes easygoing and other times incredibly stubborn.
However, upon closer thought, his company wasn't entirely without purpose.
When two powerful forces clash, it often results in a mutually destructive scenario.
At a critical moment, such as when both sides are severely depleted and injured, unable to overcome each other, he could step in to finish off or further cripple the opponent, thereby turning the tide.
The only current difficulty was the uncertainty of when the opponent would appear.
Considering his plans for tomorrow, Chu Fan didn't dwell on it further. In fact, he preferred the opponent not to show up too soon.
This trip, as long as the strange poison could be resolved, what was a Grandmaster of the Eighth Rank?
At that point, even two of them wouldn't pose any difficulty.
Considering all aspects, he immediately contacted Fu Piaoyao, asking her to appear before him as quickly as possible.
From his tone, Fu Piaoyao sensed that something was amiss. Ten minutes later, she arrived with Cui Yue, standing before Chu Fan.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Fu Piaoyao asked nervously.
"Take Cui Yue, let's go visit Yunshan Sect. We're going on a long trip, and we don't know when we'll be back!"
Fu Piaoyao wasn't foolish and immediately understood that Chu Fan wanted her to take Cui Yue to Yunshan Sect for safety.
She hesitated, wanting to ask how strong the enemy was this time. But as the words formed on her lips, she felt that given Chu Fan's personality, her questions might not yield the answers she desired, so she held back.
"Xiao Yue, come here!" Cui Fu also called his daughter aside to give her instructions.
He knew that Chu Fan was doing this to prevent the opponent from finding them and harming the women after they had left.
A Grandmaster of the Eighth Rank could potentially kill the two women simply by releasing his aura.
Furthermore, they could be captured, forcing him and Chu Fan to reveal themselves.
Leaving this place was indeed the most secure course of action.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Fu Piaoyao and Cui Yue didn't dare to delay and immediately packed their belongings and left Nanyun City.
Chu Fan and Cui Fu didn't waste any more time at the Treasure Pavilion. They silently departed through the back door and headed directly to Yunshan Sect.
Less than half an hour after they left, the elder whom Qin Tianhu had seen on the surveillance video appeared outside the Treasure Pavilion.
Seeing that the Treasure Pavilion was locked, he narrowed his eyes. He stood in place for about five minutes before turning to leave.
Munan Sect.
As Chu Fan and Cui Fu entered the courtyard arranged for their stay, Chu Fan's phone rang.
Seeing that it was Qin Tianhu, he pressed the answer button.
"Did you provoke someone from the Underworld King Hall?"
"I've found out. That person earlier was from the Underworld King Hall, and their primary target was you!"
"Their strength is Grandmaster of the Eighth Rank. They are extremely dangerous!"
Chu Fan replied calmly, "I know!"
He wasn't overly concerned about the opponent looking for him. He then asked, "Did you find out what he did before?"
When he parted ways with Qin Tianhu earlier, Chu Fan had specifically instructed him to investigate where Qin Tianhu had gone before his departure and why he was injured.
Upon arriving in Nanyun City, the opponent hadn't come to find him first but had gone directly to kill Qin Tianhu.
Considering the relationship between the Qin family and the Underworld King Hall, Chu Fan suddenly had a seemingly unlikely guess.
However, his intuition told him that sometimes, the more impossible something seemed, the more likely it was to be true.
"It's not clear yet. Currently, we only know he was originally from the Underworld King Hall. This time, he likely did something that incurred a killing blow from the Underworld King Hall!"
Chu Fan hummed, hung up the phone, and sat on a stone stool, lost in thought.
Although the clues he obtained were subtle, he was now mostly certain that his guess was close to the truth.
He was a member of the Underworld King Hall, yet he was killed by a powerful figure from the same organization.
From this situation, Chu Fan deduced that Qin Tianhu must have clashed with a powerful figure from the Underworld King Hall before meeting him.
He was now wondering if Qin Tianhu's actions were related to him.
That night, Cui Fu couldn't rest.
He didn't stay with Chu Fan in the small courtyard but went to the mountaintop outside the gate of Munan Sect to sit.
He worried that the Grandmaster of the Eighth Rank from the Underworld King Hall might track them down here.
By sitting on the mountaintop with an excellent view, he felt that if the opponent did find them, he could discover them at the first sign and warn Chu Fan.
The night passed.
At dawn, just as the sky was clearing, a group set out.
At Munan Sect, the Second Elder remained in charge of the sect. Li Kuangshan brought Li Yitong and two juniors, Huaishan, intending to let them experience the outside world.
Their destination was the depths of the Kunhua Mountain Range to the east.
As they walked, listening to Li Kuangshan's explanations, Chu Fan felt a surge of emotion, holding great hope for this journey.
A long, long time ago, the depths of the Kunhua Mountain Range were occupied by a force called the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.
As the name suggested, the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect dealt exclusively with poison.
They not only developed numerous strange and peculiar poisons but also concocted many antidotes.
However, even the most powerful forces eventually succumbed to the passage of time.
After the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect was destroyed, a valley filled with venomous insects remained.
Li Kuangshan had read in an ancient text that deep within the Poison Valley, there remained a peerless spirit medicine cultivated by the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.
Anyone who could obtain that peerless spirit medicine would become completely immune to all poisons.
Being immune to all poisons should make it easier to resolve the poison Chu Fan was dealing with.
Furthermore, Li Kuangshan speculated that the poison Chu Fan encountered might even originate from the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.
Grandmasters, what powerful beings they were.
A poison that could easily kill a normal person was as trivial as eating a meal for a Grandmaster.
In this era, the poisons that could threaten a Grandmaster, Li Kuangshan said, generally originated from the Poison Valley. There were also many shady organizations that specifically collected toxins from the Poison Valley to assassinate and harm cultivators of the Grandmaster level and above.
He was willing to lead Chu Fan there because he himself had harbored this idea for a long time.
However, alone, he didn't dare to enter the Poison Valley.
Now, with Chu Fan, a powerful Grandmaster, and his need for an antidote, he had readily agreed when Chu Fan inquired.
As the leader of Munan Sect, he was constantly thinking about the future of the sect.
While in seclusion, Li Kuangshan had pondered what would happen if he were to perish and Munan Sect faced pressure from a strong enemy.
If their strength was inferior to the opponent's, destruction was inevitable.
But he didn't want the sect, which had developed to this point with such difficulty, to be destroyed.
After deep consideration, he suddenly realized that the only way to prevent Munan Sect from being destroyed was for the sect to possess something that could deter top-tier Grandmasters.
Poison was a good form of threat, which was the original purpose of his desire to enter the Poison Valley.
His primary objective in this expedition was to find a poison that would make even top-tier Grandmasters retreat.
With a poison capable of killing top-tier Grandmasters, Munan Sect would at least possess some self-preservation ability, even if faced with pressure from a powerful enemy.
...
After five days of travel.
The five of them finally stood at the entrance of the Kunhua Mountain Range.
"Wow, this is so beautiful!"
"It's so spectacular! This scenery, seeing it with your own eyes is much more impactful than watching it on TV!"
Li Yitong and Huaishan looked ahead in shock.
The crisscrossing mountain ranges twisted and turned, like giant dragons coiled on the ground, creating quite an impact at first glance.
Humans, in comparison, were infinitesimally small.
Li Kuangshan suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the right, saying, "Do you see that stone tree?"
"That location is the secret realm entrance of the Dugu family, one of the five great families."
"It's best not to linger around there. There's a Grandmaster of the Eighth Rank with incredible swordsmanship guarding the stone tree. He's eccentric and attacks anyone who gets close!"
Cui Fu and the others nodded. Chu Fan's gaze flickered, as if contemplating something.
The Poison Valley was located in the darkest part of the mountain range's depths, and it would take a long walk. Therefore, the group didn't linger at the entrance and immediately headed towards the deepest part.
Due to the harsh environment, the further they went, the slower their pace became.
Chu Fan and the others were fine, but it was difficult for Li Yitong and Huaishan, who were less powerful.
Under normal circumstances, with the strength of Chu Fan and Li Kuangshan, they could easily lead the two forward quickly, but they did not do so.
The stated purpose of bringing the two young disciples out was to broaden their horizons, but in reality, it was for tempering.
Tempering—how could it be called tempering without personally experiencing hardship and difficulties?
Therefore, even though Chu Fan was eager to reach the Poison Valley to find what he was looking for, out of respect for Li Kuangshan, he had to suppress his impatience and control his speed.
Only after they had ventured deep enough that Li Yitong and Huaishan could no longer proceed due to their limited strength did Li Kuangshan make a move, and their pace suddenly increased.
After much anticipation, their destination, the Poison Valley, finally appeared before them.
It resembled a swamp, and the environment at first glance gave one a strong sense of aversion.
On the black ground, various venomous insects crawled incessantly, including snakes that were colorful but only as thick as a finger, and large centipedes as long as an arm...
"Damn, any one of these venomous insects could kill dozens of people!"
Even as a Grandmaster, Cui Fu felt a prickling sensation on his scalp at the sight of the dense array of venomous insects.
In his decades of life, this was the first time he had seen so many venomous insects.
Li Yitong and Huaishan stared blankly, their faces already pale, and their legs uncontrollably trembling slightly.
At this moment, they truly regretted accompanying them.
Chu Fan's expression was calm. Knowing that what he sought was deeper within, he took a step forward, his foot sinking into the muddy ground filled with black water.
"Dad, maybe Huaishan and I should wait outside!"
"Going in won't help, and we might even become a burden!"
Seeing that they were about to enter the Poison Valley, Li Yitong began to falter.
Li Kuangshan stared at his daughter with a look of disappointment in her lack of ambition.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he nodded and said, "Then you and Huaishan can wait outside. Remember not to wander off, as there are many dangers around!"
Finally relieved of the need to enter the Poison Valley, Huaishan and Li Yitong eagerly nodded.
Cui Fu was about to follow Chu Fan when his voice came from ahead: "You stay outside too, and keep an eye on them. There are a few people with questionable origins hiding around here."
Li Kuangshan's eyes clearly moved.
He hadn't expected Chu Fan's perception to be so sharp. He hadn't even sensed the presence of others nearby, yet Chu Fan had already perceived them first.
"Mr. Cui, I'll trouble you then!" Li Kuangshan cupped his fists in thanks to Cui Fu.
Cui Fu smiled and waved his hand: "No trouble. You guys go ahead, I'll handle the outside!"
"It's not like I'd be much help inside anyway!"
His main purpose for this trip was to accompany Chu Fan; he had no other objectives. Therefore, whether he entered the Poison Valley or not was irrelevant to Cui Fu.
Besides, if he had a choice, he truly didn't want to enter.
This place looked unsettling.
It was safer to stay outside.
Further away, several heads peeked out from behind rocks.
Seeing outsiders approach, a few people narrowed their eyes, assessing their strength and intentions.
Li Kuangshan also noticed these people but ignored them, pretending not to see them as he quietly followed behind Chu Fan.
At this moment, looking at the situation ahead of Chu Fan, his heart was filled with shock.
Although it was his first time in the Poison Valley, Li Kuangshan had conducted thorough research. He knew that the venomous insects in the Poison Valley were very fierce and would attack anyone moving in the vicinity.
As a Grandmaster, he could resist the toxins of most venomous insects, but that didn't mean he feared no venomous insects.
There were numerous venomous insects in the Poison Valley, including some cultivated during the time of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. These types of venomous insects could completely threaten Grandmasters.
Therefore, before setting out, he had specifically prepared insect repellent to drive away the obstructing venomous insects.
Unexpectedly, with Chu Fan leading the way, the insect repellent was completely unnecessary.
He himself seemed like a walking insect repellent.
As he approached, the venomous insects on the ground seemed to sense danger. Each one either quickly crawled away or burrowed into the mud.
Li Kuangshan considered himself well-traveled, but what was happening before his eyes was still difficult to comprehend.
He had been with Chu Fan the entire way, and he knew for a fact that Chu Fan had not taken any precautions before entering the Poison Valley.
In the distance, the few people hiding in the area to capture venomous insects looked as if they had seen a ghost, their eyes wide with astonishment.
Like Li Kuangshan, they couldn't understand what Chu Fan had done to scare away the fierce venomous insects.
When two of them recovered their senses, greed flickered in their eyes.
They knew very well that if they could obtain Chu Fan's method of making venomous insects retreat, finding treasures deep within the Poison Valley would be effortless.
However, upon sensing Li Kuangshan's Grandmaster aura, they could only suppress this greed.
With only the strength of a Grandmaster, daring to intercept a Grandmaster was akin to seeking death.
Chu Fan perceived the astonishment of everyone but felt helpless.
Because, at this very moment, even he himself didn't know what was happening.
When he stepped directly into the Poison Valley filled with venomous insects earlier, it wasn't because he knew these insects would avoid him, but because he was supported by a powerful force, and he had the strange poison within him, rendering him fearless of these insects.
Furthermore, hope lay in the depths. Would he shrink back for fear of being bitten by venomous insects?
Since learning that there was hope of resolving the strange poison here, he was eager to rush into the deepest part to find the so-called peerless spirit medicine.
It was for this reason that he had fearlessly walked into the Poison Valley.
He just hadn't expected that the venomous insects, which made Li Kuangshan, a Grandmaster, tread so carefully, would show fear towards him.
Could it be because of the strange poison?
After thinking it over, the only possibility Chu Fan could think of was the strange poison within him.
The strange poison was too powerful, so powerful that it made these venomous insects fearful.
This situation made him feel a surge of anxiety.
If the strange poison was so potent, then finding something to cure it within the Poison Valley would likely become a futile hope.