The canyon, about a hundred meters wide, was flanked by peaks thousands of meters high, casting it into deep, shadowy gloom.
As soon as Ye Qiu and Master Longbrow entered, a chill gripped them, making them shiver.
As Venerable Realm experts, they shouldn’t feel cold under normal circumstances.
“What heavy yin energy!”
Master Longbrow’s eyebrows were already frosted over as he spoke.
“Need a coat?” Ye Qiu asked.
“No need. This old Taoist can ward off the chill with a talisman.” Master Longbrow pulled out a talisman, clutched it in his palm, and felt a trace of warmth.
Ye Qiu activated his Nine-Turn Dragon Art to resist the yin energy.
They pressed forward.
After about three hundred meters, a stone stele appeared ahead.
The stele, roughly three meters tall, bore three blood-red characters:
“Valley of the Dead!”
Master Longbrow started, “So this is the Valley of the Dead. No wonder the yin energy’s so intense.”
“You know this place?” Ye Qiu asked.
Master Longbrow said, “My master, the former head of Dragon Tiger Mountain, came here once.”
“Oh?” Ye Qiu was surprised.
“My master said Kunlun has many forbidden zones, and the Valley of the Dead is one of them,” Master Longbrow continued. “He said countless beings are buried here. When he came, he didn’t venture deep and turned back, warning me not to enter lightly before reaching the King Realm.”
Ye Qiu thought for a moment, “Old man, why don’t you wait here?”
Master Longbrow’s eyes widened, “Little brat, what’s that supposed to mean? You think I’m afraid of dying?”
Ye Qiu clarified, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m saying it’s better if I go in alone than risk both of us.”
“Hmph, you clearly think I’m scared,” Master Longbrow huffed, dissatisfied. “I’m telling you, I’m going into the Valley of the Dead, no question.”
“It’s just a canyon, what’s the big deal?”
“We’ve come out alive from plenty of dangerous places before.”
With that, Master Longbrow strode forward.
Ye Qiu followed closely.
After another kilometer, Master Longbrow stopped abruptly, “Little brat, look ahead.”
Ye Qiu looked up and saw wolf pelts and bear bones scattered around, along with desolate graves, exuding a sinister, deathly aura.
“Strange. This place is perpetually frozen—how are there wolves and bears?” Ye Qiu wondered.
Master Longbrow said, “Kunlun is one of the world’s most mysterious places. This isn’t surprising.”
“I’m worried we’ll encounter something eerie.”
“In short, this place isn’t simple. Let’s be cautious,” Master Longbrow warned.
“Mhm,” Ye Qiu nodded.
They continued on.
The snowstorm intensified, and the canyon’s dimness limited even their enhanced vision to a fifty-meter radius.
After a bit more walking, Ye Qiu suddenly dashed to a rock.
“Little brat, what’re you doing? Wait for me!” Master Longbrow caught up, spotting a basin-sized flower growing on the rock.
The flower was pristine white, lotus-like, and breathtakingly beautiful.
Master Longbrow blinked, “Is this… a Kunlun snow lotus?”
Ye Qiu said, “This snow lotus is at least three hundred years old.”
Three hundred years?
A treasure!
Master Longbrow’s eyes lit up. He swiftly plucked the snow lotus, holding it proudly, “This one’s mine.”
Ye Qiu didn’t mind.
They continued deeper into the canyon.
After a while, Ye Qiu stopped before a cliff, looking up.
“What’re you looking at?”
Master Longbrow followed his gaze, spotting another snow lotus thirty meters up the cliff.
This one was half a meter wide, pure and radiant, each petal crystalline, emitting a faint fragrance.
“A thousand-year snow lotus!”
Ye Qiu’s eyes gleamed with interest.
A thousand-year spiritual medicine!
“Little brat, I came all this way for you, suffering in this place. Don’t fight me for this snow lotus.”
*Whoosh!*
Before Ye Qiu could respond, Master Longbrow shot up, swiftly claiming the thousand-year snow lotus.
Ye Qiu still didn’t protest.
They pressed on.
A few kilometers later, another thousand-year snow lotus appeared.
“Little brat, you’ve got so many treasures already. Let me have this one!”
Master Longbrow grabbed it again.
Now there was a problem. The snow lotuses were large, and carrying them on his back like a turtle shell was cumbersome.
“How about I store them in my Qiankun bag?” Ye Qiu offered.
“No trouble needed,” Master Longbrow refused without hesitation.
He was mainly worried that if the snow lotuses went into Ye Qiu’s hands, he’d lose them.
What to do?
Master Longbrow racked his brains and came up with a brilliant solution—eat them!
No sooner said than done!
He devoured the lotuses voraciously. In moments, two thousand-year snow lotuses and one three-hundred-year one were gone.
“How’s the taste?” Ye Qiu asked.
“Pretty good, like honey,” Master Longbrow licked his lips, still craving more.
“Shameless,” Ye Qiu shot him a disdainful look, and they continued.
Along the way, besides countless creature bones, they found seven more thousand-year snow lotuses.
Master Longbrow, using every excuse, claimed all seven, eating them as they went, saying, “The Valley of the Dead is a great place. I regret coming late.”
Two hours later, a tenth thousand-year snow lotus appeared.
“Little brat, I’ve calculated—this one’s fated for me,” Master Longbrow said shamelessly.
Ye Qiu snapped, “Old man, you’ve taken so many already and still want to steal this one? Have you no shame?”
“Little brat, if I eat just one more thousand-year snow lotus, my cultivation will break through,” Master Longbrow said. “Give me this one, and I swear, no matter how many we find later, I won’t take any.”
Ye Qiu said, “You said it. If we find more and you try to grab them, don’t blame me for getting rough.”
“I swear, I won’t fight you for them,” Master Longbrow said, then lightning-fast, plucked the snow lotus and ate it.
By now, they’d traveled hundreds of kilometers through the canyon, finding no trace of Ye Wushuang, and the canyon seemed endless.
They kept moving forward.
Half an hour later, they finally exited the canyon.
“Little brat, look at that!” Master Longbrow pointed ahead, shouting in shock.
Ye Qiu looked up.
His eyes widened in astonishment.
