PS: Making up for yesterday... It's Monday, brothers, please throw some recommendation votes my way if you finish reading. The current stats are truly bleak~ tears running down face

"Hmph!" A figure shot forward, but the closer Nie Kong got, the more he felt something was amiss. Why was the path running right alongside the green wall circular?

A moment later, Nie Kong murmured, "Qingyue, is this really a road?"

This path was also green, stretching endlessly toward the horizon, its end unseen. It was nearly twenty meters wide, yet formed a distinct cylindrical shape, its surface dotted with small protrusions, resembling a rope magnified countless times. "Perhaps... maybe..."

Qingyue was already somewhat dumbfounded. Hearing Nie Kong’s voice, she stammered for a moment, her small face full of suspicion. "It looks like a vine, but strangely, Grandma can’t sense the slightest breath of grass or vine from it. I truly can't figure it out!"

Nie Kong remained silent, merely nodding slightly.

He felt the same way; this path seemed to have grown out of the ground and then coiled upwards around a massive trunk like a vine. As far as his eyes could see, Nie Kong could find absolutely no point of support between the road and the green wall.

But if it truly were a vine, it was damnably huge!

A twenty-meter-diameter vine?

Even seeing it firsthand, Nie Kong would have struggled to believe it. Shaking his head, Nie Kong grabbed a small protrusion on the path's surface. Whatever it was, he would know once he pried it off. In an instant, a green light flashed in Nie Kong's palm, but the protrusion didn't budge an inch.

Nie Kong was astonished. He channeled almost all the spiritual energy within his body and tried prying again with renewed force, yet the protrusion remained unchanged.

"Huh? Pfft!" Seeing this, Qingyue’s curiosity skyrocketed. "Nie Kong, let me try!"

As she spoke, Qingyue leaped from Nie Kong’s shoulder and drifted toward a protrusion. Her small, exquisite body gradually transformed into a dense mass of azure energy, completely enveloping the bump.

Immediately, the azure energy began to fluctuate violently.

"Boom!"

With an explosive sound, a massive force spread outward with the surging azure energy. However, it had no effect on Nie Kong; the force slipped neatly past him on both sides the moment it brushed his body. Nie Kong couldn't help feeling a flicker of anticipation; with this little thing’s Soul Realm spiritual power, it should be effective, right?

"So hard!"

Qingyue’s surprised voice sounded. The azure energy coalesced back into the shape of the little girl, but the protrusion on the road hadn't even had its surface scratched.

Nie Kong and Qingyue stared wide-eyed at each other, seeing shock reflected in the other's gaze.

Although Qingyue didn't have her true form, her Soul Realm spiritual power was genuine, and now, unconstrained by the 'Spirit Sealing Tablet,' she could fully exert her Soul strength. To think that even she couldn't affect such a small thing was utterly inconceivable.

After a long moment, Nie Kong suddenly laughed. "Forget it. Whether it's a road or a vine, let's walk on it and see; maybe we'll understand."

Qingyue hopped back onto Nie Kong's shoulder in a few quick bounds, placing her hands on her hips, muttering somewhat indignantly, "If Grandma were still at the Heaven Spirit Realm..." "..."

Amidst Qingyue's grumbling, Nie Kong stepped up onto the path.

Although the road was smooth and rounded, its diameter was nearly twenty meters, and the incline was slight. Walking on it, Nie Kong was very stable, with no fear of suddenly slipping off.

Unconsciously, Nie Kong had risen nearly a thousand meters above the ground. His view was much broader, but the area visible to his eyes was still just endless flatland.

The confusion in Nie Kong’s eyes deepened...

The sky here was clear, yet there was no sunlight. Aside from the green wall and the hard road, there was nothing else around, nor any sign of life. Nie Kong couldn't even sense vitality, yet the continuously undulating inky-green blood told him this must indeed be the Yin Ruins.

Had he truly fallen into an illusion?

"If I can't sense vitality, then I'll try cultivating!"

Nie Kong suddenly stopped in his tracks. Under Qingyue's puzzled gaze, he sat cross-legged, his acupuncture points trembling, and began circulating the "Yin-Yang Spirit Devouring Art."

In less than two seconds, Nie Kong abruptly snapped his eyes open. His gaze was fixed, his face pale as paper, as if he had witnessed something utterly terrifying.

"Nie Kong, Nie Kong..."

Qingyue was thoroughly startled. She flew over and grabbed Nie Kong’s ears with both hands, shouting loudly to try and wake him. But Nie Kong's soul seemed to have left his body; there was absolutely no reaction. Qingyue’s eyes darted around. She floated in front of Nie Kong’s face and forcefully poked his glabella with one finger.

"Ah!"

As if his consciousness had suddenly returned, Nie Kong cried out in pain. Qingyue’s finger had directly attacked the spiritual thought contained within Nie Kong's spirit seed. The spiritual thought was linked to the mind, and Nie Kong's mind was intensely stimulated, allowing him to awaken. However, the instant pain generated was beyond words.

Yet, Nie Kong paid no mind to how Qingyue had woken him. His mind was entirely filled with shock. Although the "Yin-Yang Spirit Devouring Art" had only run for a short time, the scene he perceived in that brief moment had stunned Nie Kong to the extreme.

This place wasn't devoid of vitality; rather, it was brimming with vitality everywhere. It could be said that this entire space was constructed from life force.

If the vitality within Nie Kong's body was a stream, then this space was a boundless ocean—there was almost no comparison between the two.

The moment he circulated the "Yin-Yang Spirit Devouring Art," the vitality within Nie Kong stirred restlessly, almost merging like a stream into the ocean, ready to be assimilated by this space. Nie Kong immediately stopped circulating the spiritual art; otherwise, in those few seconds, Nie Kong would cease to exist in this world.

Qingyue clutched her skirt, hovering like a tiny sprite before Nie Kong's nose, asking curiously, "Nie Kong, what did you discover just now?"

"I discovered an absurd amount of vitality! I almost returned to the heavens and earth!"

Nie Kong snapped back to reality, standing up with a wry smile. "Qingyue, let's speed up. I want to see if this place is truly an illusion or if this road is really that long!" Saying this, Nie Kong willed it, and spheres of spiritual energy burst forth beneath his feet, sending his body shooting forward like a meteor.

"Return to the heavens and earth?"

Qingyue muttered those four words, then suddenly seemed to understand something. She cried out and landed back on Nie Kong's shoulder, pouting angrily. "Nie Kong, judging by your words just now, you almost made Grandma return to the heavens and earth with you too? Damn 'Life and Death Spirit Seal,' I really suffer..." "..."

Amidst Qingyue's angry shouting, Nie Kong pushed "Shifting Flower Evasion Technique" to its limit, tearing across the circular road like lightning, leaving trails of afterimages flickering in his wake.

"Nie Kong, look over there!"

After traveling for an unknown period, just as Nie Kong's spiritual energy was about to run out, Qingyue’s excited shout suddenly rang out.

"Hmm?" Nie Kong, who had been rushing with his head down, paused, involuntarily turning to look at Qingyue. Then, following the direction of her small finger, he saw that at the distant horizon, a much wider road seemed to jut out horizontally from the tall green wall.

After running for so long, the scenery finally showed a change. Nie Kong couldn't help feeling a surge of ecstasy, rushing toward it like a gust of wind. When he reached the base of that road, Nie Kong realized it was also circular, with a diameter of at least several thousand meters, and it was still very far away.

Nie Kong couldn't help but ask, "Qingyue, can you float up and take a look?"

"You want Grandma to go up and look?"

Qingyue looked at Nie Kong with the gaze one reserves for an idiot, pontificating with an air of seniority, "Little fellow, Grandma resides in your beast token, you know. I don't have a true form. Once I enter your beast token and move more than ten meters away from you, I will instantly have my soul scattered. Are you tired of living?"

"There’s such a rule?"

Being looked down upon by the little medicine spirit again, Nie Kong forced a dry laugh. "Since that's the case, let's keep moving forward. There must be more roads like this."

Saying that, Nie Kong took a small medicine bottle from his pet bag. It contained ten fourth-grade spiritual pills, 'Hundred Spirit Pills,' which restored spiritual energy—all gifts from Gu Changgong.

After taking one pill, his spiritual energy recovered by nearly half. Nie Kong continued to move rapidly using the "Shifting Flower Evasion Technique." The appearance of the road above had rekindled hope in Nie Kong's heart...

About an hour later, Nie Kong stopped dead in his tracks, stunned.

This time, another road with a diameter of several thousand meters was exposed in Nie Kong's sight. However, this time it didn't appear above the circular path he was on; it was beneath it. The small circular path intersected with this larger one and continued to hug the green wall, winding ever upward.

Qingyue suddenly spoke up: "Nie Kong, I have to remind you, this road seems to be the one we saw down below."

Nie Kong was startled, then realized with a jolt. "You mean this wall is also circular? All this time, we’ve been walking upwards by circling around it?"

No wonder, when he was underground, following that green wall never led to an end; it seemed he had just been walking in circles around it.

"Exactly!"

"Circular wall..." "Qingyue, let’s walk down this large road and see. If it’s a dead end, we’ll come back and continue upward along the smaller path." "I was thinking the same thing." "..."

This time, it didn't take long before two smaller roads branched off from the left and right sides of the path beneath their feet. Nie Kong hesitated only briefly before continuing forward along the main road. The number of smaller paths branching off to the sides increased, and slowly, Nie Kong noticed that the diameter of the road beneath his feet had shrunk to around a thousand meters. Moreover, the even smaller paths branching off those sides were vaguely visible in Nie Kong's sight.

Nie Kong grew more and more astonished the farther he walked. He couldn't resist poking Qingyue's little belly on his shoulder: "Qing..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qingyue’s body collapsed at the touch, falling to the ground with a soft thud. Nie Kong was shocked and was about to bend down to pick her up when Qingyue floated up unsteadily on her own, her expression one of utter shock, her voice slightly stuttering. "Nie Nie Kong... a tree... a tree..."

Nie Kong had never seen Qingyue so flustered. He turned back in surprise. The next moment, Nie Kong's body swayed, and he nearly fell to the ground. After a long moment, Nie Kong managed to steady himself, but he couldn't help but gasp sharply, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

There was no green wall before him; what stood there was clearly a giant tree!

An incredibly towering giant tree!

And the road beneath his feet was actually a branch of that giant tree!...