The stone moved like a living statue, shifting through the area and heading straight for a pile of rubble. Evan Yang watched curiously and noticed there was a tunnel among the rocks.
The tunnel was pitch-black, and since divine sense couldn't be used, Evan Yang had to rely on Phantom Spirit Birds. These birds quickly flew inside.
After the stone giant reached the tunnel, the Phantom Spirit Birds went in as well.
Evan Yang kept an eye on the stone giant while waiting for the Phantom Spirit Birds to return. The stone giant acted strangely—after arriving at the tunnel, it started picking up rocks and tossing them inside, one after another. After about ten rocks, it turned and left. Evan Yang was startled and quickly hid himself.
He hid by the roadside, not daring to make a sound, knowing he couldn't withstand an attack from this monster. The stone giant slowly turned around and walked away, then jumped up from below to the top, passing right by Evan Yang.
Only after the stone giant walked far away did Evan Yang relax. He wanted to go check out the tunnel, but worried it might contain some monster, so he hesitated. But the Phantom Spirit Birds returned with news that he couldn't ignore—there seemed to be a strange flower inside, with nine snow lotus petals. Though he wasn't sure what it was, the nine petals reminded him of the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus, so he decided to investigate. He went invisible and entered the tunnel.
As soon as he entered the cave, he felt frustrated—as if a powerful force was pulling him downward, much faster than ordinary falling speed.
Evan Yang managed to steady himself and let himself descend slowly, but even so, he was dropping fast—comparable to his thousandfold speed. If he didn't resist, he'd be falling at ten-thousandfold speed, which was terrifying.
So he kept falling like that. Meanwhile, the stone giant noticed Evan Yang was missing and started searching frantically, looking everywhere but couldn't find any trace of him.
"Roar!" the stone giant bellowed in anger.
The stone giant searched everywhere for Evan Yang, but Evan had already landed below. His foot stepped onto the rocks, nearly shattering from the impact, and he struggled to steady himself, activating Night-Eye.
Evan Yang realized he'd fallen from a great height, and it was impossible to fly back up. With his current strength, he couldn't even start flying before he'd drop again.
"Damn it," Evan Yang cursed inwardly. Since he was already inside, he could only look for another way out, so he began feeling around among the rocks below.
The rocks were everywhere, noisy and chaotic. Evan Yang couldn't figure out why that strange creature kept throwing rocks down here. He muttered as he walked.
Fortunately, walking here didn't feel like there was any gravity, but as soon as he jumped, a massive force would pull him down.
"Damn it," Evan Yang grumbled, pushing forward until he finally made it out of the chaotic rocks and saw a tunnel ahead.
Following the Phantom Spirit Birds' guidance, Evan Yang moved forward. Sure enough, among some scattered rocks ahead, a faint light was flickering.
Evan Yang approached slowly and finally saw what was on the rocks—it was a flower, with nine lotus petals joined together.
"Is it the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus?" Evan Yang wondered aloud, then released Richard and Lora.
Richard, feeling a bit out of sorts after coming out, asked, "Where are we?"
"Look at what's ahead," Evan Yang said.
Richard and Lora looked in the direction Evan Yang indicated. When they saw the flower, both were stunned.
Wasn't this exactly what they'd been searching for?
"What is this?" Richard exclaimed.
"This should be the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus," Evan Yang replied.
"That's strange. Why is the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus growing in such a dark place? Where are we, anyway?" Lora asked suspiciously.
Evan Yang said, "This place is pretty tragic, but for now, there's no way out. We have to cure Bianca Snow first."
"Why?" Richard asked in shock.
Evan Yang thought for a moment, then explained everything to Richard and Lora. Both were amazed, worried for him, and found it unbelievable. "Alright, let's not waste time. Let's bring Bianca Snow out first," Evan Yang said.
Richard nodded and released Bianca Snow. Lora, using the faint light, lit a fire—but as soon as the fire was lit, Evan Yang and Richard noticed the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus starting to change. Seeing this, Evan Yang quickly shouted, "Put out the fire!"
Lora, not knowing the reason, quickly put out the fire and asked curiously, "What happened?"
"Looks like this flower is afraid of fire. No wonder it grows in such a dark place," Evan Yang said.
"That was close," Lora exclaimed after hearing this.
Fortunately, Evan Yang had been using Night-Eye and could clearly see the flower's changes, allowing him to react in time.
Richard had already taken Bianca Snow out of the Space Ring. Evan Yang looked at her and said, "Let me unseal her first."
Richard and Lora watched as Evan Yang slowly melted the ice. As Bianca Snow gradually woke up, she looked at everyone curiously and asked, "What's going on?"
"We found it," Richard said excitedly, pointing at the lotus.
Bianca Snow looked at the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus and exclaimed, "It's real—there really is a Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus!"
"Do you know how to use it?" Evan Yang asked Bianca Snow.
Bianca Snow replied excitedly, "It's simple, just eat it raw."
"Oh? It's that simple?" Evan Yang hadn't expected that the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus could just be eaten raw, so the three of them waited for Bianca Snow.
Bianca Snow reached out, plucked a petal, and ate it. As soon as she swallowed it, her body changed color.
Everyone around was stunned. After the color faded, Bianca Snow plucked another petal, and her body changed to another color. This continued for all nine petals—nine different colors. When the last color faded, Bianca Snow opened her eyes and said, "It's done."
Richard was so excited he hugged Bianca Snow and said, "You're finally alright!"
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Bianca Snow hugged Richard back, overwhelmed. She never expected her illness could really be cured. "I can't believe you actually found the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus," she said.
Speaking of the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus, Richard turned to Evan Yang and said gratefully, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me. Seeing you like this makes me happy," Evan Yang said with a smile.
Lora was so moved by Richard and Bianca Snow's reunion that she was brought to tears.
After Bianca Snow and Richard finished embracing, Bianca Snow asked, "Where are we, anyway?"
"I don't know," Evan Yang sighed.
Richard and Lora frowned after hearing this. They knew there was no way to fly out—because of the gravity.
Bianca Snow was confused, but after Richard explained, she finally understood.
The three humans and one demon beast didn't know what to do. Evan Yang wasn't about to sit around and wait for death, so he said to Richard, "You three go into my tower first. I'll look around nearby and see if there's any way out."
Richard, Lora, and Bianca Snow nodded, then went into Evan Yang's tower.
After putting them all into the tower, Evan Yang felt he'd completed his task. He sighed inwardly, "I wonder how Hannah Nangong is doing."
He remembered agreeing to meet Hannah Nangong at the inn, but he'd been gone for days. Now Evan Yang was truly worried about her.
He even wondered if Hannah Nangong was still waiting at the inn, foolishly hoping he'd return.
"What's wrong with me? She's a Celestial Immortal, so she should be able to take care of herself," Evan Yang said helplessly, shaking his head.
He pulled himself together and continued down the tunnel, wanting to see where it led.
He kept walking and walking, until he reached a dead end. This surprised Evan Yang. "Strange, why is there no path? And why does the Nine-Heaven Ice Lotus grow here?"
All these questions filled Evan Yang's mind. After thinking for a while and failing to figure it out, he turned back. With no path forward, he could only look for a solution at the exit.
After a while, he returned to the exit. There, Evan Yang looked at the rocks below and wondered, "What's under these rocks?"
So Evan Yang sat nearby, observing. The next day, he heard noises from above and quickly retreated. Soon after, rocks started falling—ten in total, thundering down.
After the ten rocks fell, nothing else happened. Evan Yang wondered, "Strange, what's going on here?"
Evan Yang couldn't understand why the stone giant kept throwing rocks here, and each rock was as big as a person.
With this question in mind, Evan Yang walked over. After confirming no more rocks would fall, he began investigating below. "Strange, rocks keep falling every day, but why doesn't the pile get higher?"
Feeling something was off, Evan Yang decided to mark the location and continue observing the next day.
The next day, more rocks fell. But before they landed, the previous rocks mysteriously dropped lower, and the new ones covered them.
After the ten rocks fell, Evan Yang went over to investigate below. He started digging, but there were too many rocks—it would take forever to reach the bottom. He pressed against the wall, tried to tunnel up, but couldn't. He tried going down, but that didn't work either. So he kept moving the rocks bit by bit, slowly making progress.
Evan Yang kept squeezing through the gaps between the rocks. The next day, when more rocks fell, he felt as if something below was pulling them downward, so they dropped lower.
After the sound of the ten rocks faded, Evan Yang continued. He didn't even realize that more than half a month had passed.
During this half month, Evan Yang kept moving downward day by day. The deeper he went, the harder it became, so he only managed to descend a few kilometers each day.
But Evan Yang became more certain there was something unusual below. Otherwise, how could the rocks drop at the same time every day?
With these questions, he kept moving downward. After a few more days, Evan Yang finally sensed something below.