But before Chief Mira could finish her sentence, Ryan Ling had already dashed out. No matter what kind of crisis he ran into now, as long as he could recover what he was looking for, any price he paid would be worth it!
After nearly half an hour on foot, Ryan smoothly reached the edge of the so-called Lovers’ Gorge. In the Immortal World, anyone at Heavenly Immortal or Divine Immortal level is basically reduced to mortal status here—most of the time, even flying with magic tools is a struggle, so you’re stuck walking.
“What a spectacular place!” Ryan glanced around, feeling the feng shui here was off the charts. This was no ordinary spot, and what really blew his mind was the weird sense of déjà vu.
“The entrance should be up ahead!” Ryan spotted that this was a pretty sizeable valley, and the whole place was brimming with an aura of strangeness. But that aura was definitely leaking out from some part of his own body—and it had to be way bigger than just a severed finger!
Without hesitation, Ryan charged straight into the valley entrance. In the blink of an eye, he started slowly falling. Looking around, everything was just like Chief Mira had described—beautiful, covered in blooming flowers, fresh and fragrant everywhere. The place was so refreshing it made you want to take a deep breath and just chill!
But right when Ryan was getting comfy, a freakishly strong whirlwind suddenly whipped up inside the valley. It was creepy as hell and came straight for him. Ryan figured this was exactly what knocked Chief Mira out for three days and nights!
Ryan couldn’t afford to get messed up by it, or things would go seriously wrong!
Right then, Ryan tried to block the wind with his immortal power, but he instantly realized this force was insanely strong—maybe even his Golden Immortal self couldn’t handle it. As the whirlwind slammed into him, his body took a brutal beating, and he could barely keep his balance. He was about to drop into the endless abyss, and if that happened, he’d be totally screwed!
Suddenly, Ryan had an idea—he tried to use Primeval Heavenwood to anchor himself. But the whirlwind was way too strong; the moment the tree appeared, it got wrecked, branches falling everywhere. Even those crazy-strong roots couldn’t dig into the ground—they were all left dangling in midair. Basically, not even Primeval Heavenwood could bail him out this time.
“What now?” Ryan was totally at a loss in this life-or-death moment.
But just as he was about to get knocked off the cliff, a thought flashed through Ryan’s mind—these whirlwinds must be coming from that missing part of his own body, and right now it was treating him like an enemy. If he could let it know he was actually ‘one of its own,’ maybe he could turn things around!
So, at this critical moment, Ryan instantly released the aura of his severed finger. It was a desperate move, but the second he did it, those wild whirlwinds just froze on the spot—like they couldn’t believe what they were sensing.
“There’s hope!” Seeing this sudden change, Ryan finally felt a little more confident.
And what really blew his mind was, instead of attacking him, those whirlwinds turned into a gentle force, slowly supporting Ryan from all sides!
Next thing he knew, his whole body was gently lowered, landing him safely at the very bottom of the valley. Ryan felt a wave of relief—clearly, the aura now saw him not just as a friend, but almost as family!
And right as he landed, that familiar, powerful aura started swirling around, like it had been waiting here for ages—just for Ryan to show up.
Ryan didn’t hesitate. He followed the pull of that aura, and as he walked about a hundred meters, he suddenly spotted a weird charm carved into the rock wall. It had a handprint on it, and Ryan could feel some energy nudging him to press his right hand against it.
No second thoughts—this was clearly some kind of identity check. Ryan slapped his hand onto the charm, and instantly, the whole thing split in two and the solid rock wall swung open to reveal a huge doorway.
Ryan knew he’d passed the test. The open door was basically rolling out the welcome mat, and inside, the aura was even thicker, packed with pure essence. If he could absorb all that, his power would skyrocket! Thrilled, he didn’t hesitate for a second and stepped right through.
Once inside, Ryan felt like he’d stumbled into another dimension. Everything was bathed in bizarre golden light—way more intense and mysterious than your average Golden Immortal glow. Whatever this power was, it was on a whole other level. He couldn’t even put it into words!
Not that Ryan cared—he just kept moving forward. Crossing a corridor and a little stream, he found himself in a hidden grove of purple bamboo, solemn and otherworldly. Right in the middle stood a thatched hut, and all the aura and essence seemed to be pouring out from there!
Ryan’s heart was pounding again—no doubt about it, what he was looking for had to be inside that hut.
“Awesome!” Ryan picked up the pace and, in just a few seconds, was already at the hut’s door. The moment he arrived, the hut swung open all on its own.
“Anyone home?” Ryan called out instinctively, but the place was totally dead—no response, just a heavy, eerie silence. Still, that intense aura kept tugging at him, so without a second thought, he stepped right inside!
But stepping in was a whole new level of shock. Ryan nearly jumped out of his skin—there, right in the middle, was a massive, freaky crystal coffin, covered in fresh flowers.
Ryan instinctively didn’t dare get too close, but the strongest aura was clearly coming from that coffin. Even if some demon or ghost was sealed inside, he had to check it out.
As he got closer, Ryan suddenly realized there was a jaw-droppingly gorgeous female corpse lying inside. She was dressed head-to-toe in red bridal clothes, with a red veil over her face. Ryan couldn’t see her features clearly, but somehow he just knew she was stunning—way more beautiful than Chief Mira. Plus, there was this subtle seductive vibe coming off her that nearly made even Ryan zone out, and his willpower was supposed to be rock-solid! He managed to snap out of it pretty quick, though.
Whatever he was looking for had to be in the coffin, and to be precise, it was probably under the corpse. If he wanted to get it, he’d have to move her—there was no way to reach the bottom otherwise!
With no other options, Ryan reached out to open the coffin. To his surprise, it was ridiculously easy—a gentle touch and the lid swung right open!
Up close, the female corpse was even more breathtaking, and a faint, enchanting fragrance wafted from her body—enough to make any man lose his mind. Honestly, Ryan felt like she wasn’t dead at all, just sleeping!
“Sorry about this!” Ryan apologized, then reached out to move her. But just as he did, the red veil over her face suddenly slipped and fell...