Several green ants were scooped up by the axe.

Suddenly lifted from the ground, the ants were bewildered for a moment, hesitating in place for a while before continuing their busy work along the axe blade. Tian Fangfang stared at the little creatures on the blade and turned to ask Mendong: “Junior Brother, what exactly are these Liuhuan ants you just mentioned? I see these little things are no different from ordinary ants except they can glow.”

“This is no joke!” Mendong shouted, finally drawing everyone’s attention. He looked at the several ants on the Qianyang Axe, his gaze revealing some fear: “These are Liuhuan ants that live by eating Liuhuan grass. The Liuhuan ants themselves aren’t scary, but the truly terrifying thing is the Liuhuan grass. Once the Liuhuan grass blooms, it releases a deadly fragrance. Those with low cultivation who smell this fragrance will have endless desires and will… will…”

Tian Fangfang looked at him curiously: “Will what?”

“Will have their meridians explode and die with their souls scattered.”

“That terrifying?” Tian Fangfang was startled: “Isn’t there any antidote?”

“There is, unless…” Mendong bit his lip, seeming to find it difficult to speak.

Gu Baiying’s gaze was sharp as a blade, staring at him coldly: “Unless what?”

“Unless the two people who smell the flower fragrance have sufficient cultivation and are a man and a woman. Through dual cultivation between male and female, yin and yang unite to suppress the meridian explosion, but this is only temporary. Once they engage in dual cultivation, the toxicity spreads deeper. In the end, the two cannot stop, losing themselves in passion until both die together.”

Hearing this, Tian Fangfang gasped: “What a perverted, poisonous grass!”

Once this poisonous grass bloomed, anyone who smelled it would surely die. Either one person would be suffocated by their desires, or two people would exhaust themselves to death through dual cultivation. Either way, there was no path to survival.

“Now that Junior Sister Zanxing and Junior Brother Mu have disappeared together, if they encounter the blooming Liuhuan grass,” Tian Fangfang was greatly alarmed: “Won’t something terrible happen!”

“You only just thought of this!” Mendong scolded: “Wasn’t this exactly what I was worried about just now?”

As soon as he finished speaking, they heard a “boom.” Turning around, they saw Meng Ying holding the black Yuepo sword, fiercely striking the ground with one slash. Seeing everyone staring at her, Meng Ying frowned: “Then what are we waiting for? Why aren’t we going to rescue them quickly?”

“No, Senior Sister,” Tian Fangfang said helplessly: “Even if you can shatter this place with your sword, we don’t know how to enter the spiritual domain or how to get in!”

Just as she was speaking, a bright light stabbed toward them. Tian Fangfang instinctively blocked with the Qianyang Axe, but saw Gu Baiying spin his long spear in his hand, and the several Liuhuan ants on the Qianyang Axe fell to the ground.

“Don’t they say where there’s Liuhuan grass, there are Liuhuan ants?” The young man planted his spear on the ground, causing the piled spirit artifacts nearby to clatter and tumble down. His eyes carried barely visible anger as he spoke coldly: “These ants must have a way to enter the spiritual domain. Follow them, and I refuse to believe we can’t find Yang Zanxing.”

……

The air was filled with a sweet fragrance.

This fragrance was hard to describe—it wasn’t like a flower scent or a fruit fragrance. That sweetness lingered at the tip of the nose, as if it could penetrate every inch of bone, making even the heart feel tingly and numb.

Zanxing had already sensed something was wrong.

Mu Cengxiao had just picked the sacred tree fruit when the surrounding flowers bloomed. Looking at their azure glowing appearance, there was something eerie about them, no matter how you looked at it.

She turned her head to ask Mu Cengxiao beside her, “Senior Brother, do you feel something’s not right?” As soon as she finished speaking, she was stunned.

Mu Cengxiao’s face was somewhat flushed.

He usually devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation. When not cultivating, though he wasn’t exactly antisocial, compared to the chattering Mendong, the arrogant Gu Baiying, and the rambling Xuan Lingzi, he always seemed somewhat taciturn, appearing to be the type who accomplished great things in silence. Since joining the Taiyan Sect, despite rumors flying everywhere, he remained unmoved. It was rare to see him in an unquiet state.

But now he was somewhat unquiet.

Mu Cengxiao unbuttoned two clasps on his collar, showing some irritation on his face, though he hadn’t noticed yet. He only answered Zanxing: “Something wrong? I just feel a bit hot.”

“Hot?”

Zanxing shuddered, and an unpleasant thought immediately surfaced in her mind.

“Nine Heaven Summit” was a male-oriented novel with Mu Cengxiao as the protagonist, filled with nothing but fighting and being pursued by beauties. Because it was written so early, when censorship wasn’t as strict as now, the author found various ways to push boundaries, inserting ambiguous romantic scenes every few chapters.

Things like being seduced by a demon woman and inexplicably spending a night together, or encountering a temperamental master and being forced into a fake marriage with a wedding night, or accidentally consuming some plant that would cause meridian explosion and death through seven orifices bleeding without dual cultivation… and so on. Now, with her years of reading experience, these flowers and plants were most likely problematic, probably arranged to forcibly create romantic scenarios between her and Mu Cengxiao.

The problem was, she wasn’t one of Mu Cengxiao’s eight wives! This plot shouldn’t happen to her, no matter what!

Perhaps this was why she had no particular reaction except smelling the flower fragrance until now.

Thinking of this, Zanxing decisively looked at Mu Cengxiao: “Senior Brother, are you feeling feverish all over now? Emotionally excited?”

Mu Cengxiao nodded.

“Kidney yang excessive, disturbing the clear orifices?”

Mu Cengxiao’s expression became somewhat uncomfortable, and he nodded slightly.

“Insatiable desires, lust overwhelming reason?”

Mu Cengxiao: “Hm?”

Zanxing pointed at the blooming luminous flowers: “Those flowers are problematic! You’re having these reactions because you inhaled the flower fragrance. I’m afraid inhaling more will only make you less clear-headed.”

Mu Cengxiao’s expression suddenly turned cold. Without waiting for Zanxing to say more, he directly gripped the Mieshen Saber and swept it across. The Mieshen Saber’s edge was sharp and cold; those delicate flowers instantly shattered upon touching the blade, turning into countless glowing fragments scattered around.

Mimi suddenly let out a sharp cry, clawed at something, and a white object rolled to Zanxing’s feet.

It was a jade bracelet, warm and lustrous jade, apparently worn by a woman.

Zanxing’s heart stirred. How could there be a woman’s jade bracelet here? She suddenly thought of something, gripped the Panhua Stick, and walked to the entangled vines, forcefully stabbing the stick into them.

The soil here was very soft. With just a slight pry, it immediately turned over, revealing many golden glittering objects underneath—hairpins and ornaments, rings and belts, and even many Qiankun Bags. Beneath all these objects were white bones.

Under this flower grove, there were dead people everywhere.

Zanxing couldn’t help but retreat two steps.

“There’s something wrong with this place.” Mu Cengxiao’s expression changed drastically as he pulled Zanxing backward: “So many people have died here. I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”