Chapter 447
Hidden Moon's Cave
Standing at the cabin door, Li Hanshan glanced back at the dark red flying boat that was shrinking, and his curiosity and gossip-loving heart ignited.
Yin Yue and that woman are half-sisters, sharing the same father but different mothers. Yin Yue is the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Sect, while the other woman is a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator, and they are vying for the Holy Maiden's position. The sisters' struggle is intertwined with the sect's power shifts, like a chessboard that is constantly being stirred up, with each piece carrying its own calculations and resentment.
But he didn't intend to ask any more questions about these gossips. What concerned him more was the probing look in that "younger sister's" eyes just now, which went far deeper than the sweet admiration on the surface. She was clearly suspicious of something.
The flying boat continued to venture deeper into the Heavenly Demon Sect. The terrain beneath their feet changed from continuous mountain ranges to more treacherous canyons and deep valleys. The concentration of demonic energy in the air grew increasingly higher, and even the protective shield on the surface of the flying boat began to gleam with a very faint dark gray sheen.
Occasionally, one could see several grand palace complexes scattered among the mountain ridges. The roofs of these palaces were covered with dark red glazed tiles, and numerous spirit bells hung from the eaves, emitting a low and lingering sound in the demonic wind. Li Hanshan memorized these landmarks one by one deep in his sea of consciousness, accumulating references for possible future troop mobilizations.
After flying for about half a day, Yin Yue's flying boat began to slow down. A solitary mountain peak appeared in the distance, steeper than the surrounding mountains. The mountain resembled a dark longsword stuck upside down in the earth, with sheer cliffs on all sides, except for a narrow stone path winding upwards on the north side.
The top of the mountain was shrouded in a layer of silvery-white light membrane. The texture of that light membrane was different from any defensive formation he had seen in the Immortal Alliance before. It was more restrained and calmer, like a bronze mirror that had been polished repeatedly.
The flying boat slowed down outside the silvery-white light membrane. Yin Yue took out the black token engraved with the character "Saint" from her sleeve and injected spiritual power into it.
The dark gold patterns on the token's surface lit up, and the silver-white light membrane, upon touching the token's light, was parted by an invisible hand, slowly receding from the center to both sides, revealing a gap just large enough for the flying boat to pass through.
After passing through the crevice, the flying boat landed on a leveled stone platform on the mountaintop.
The stone platform was approximately a hundred feet square, its surface paved with dark blue-green rocks and intricately carved with spirit-gathering array patterns. Low stone walls surrounded the platform on three sides, inside which grew several unidentified dark-colored spirit trees, their canopies rustling in the demonic wind. To the north of the platform was the entrance to a cave dwelling seamlessly integrated with the mountainside, above which was carved an ancient character for "Saint," the same script as that on the Hidden Moon Token.
Yin Yue leaped off the flying boat and stood on the stone platform. She turned around, her gaze falling on Li Hanshan, who was following closely behind, and nodded slightly to signal him to follow.
Li Hanshan jumped off the flying boat and followed her into the cave. The passage after the entrance to the cave was much wider than expected, with luminous pearls embedded in the stone walls on both sides, emitting a cool white light.
At the end of the passage was a huge stone chamber with a dome several meters high and smooth, mirror-like walls. In the center stood a large stone platform and several stone stools. Deeper inside the chamber, another passage led to a room further inside, from which one could vaguely see the mist from the spiritual spring seeping out.
After entering the stone chamber, Yin Yue raised her hand and cast a spell. A silvery-white spiritual energy shot out from her fingertips, rapidly traveling along the four walls of the stone chamber, activating the restrictions engraved deep within the rock walls one by one.
Li Hanshan could feel that the silvery-white light membrane surrounding the entire mountain peak became thicker the moment the restriction was activated, like a fortress that had been repeatedly reinforced.
After doing all this, Yin Yue turned around, her gaze falling on Li Hanshan's face. She was silent for a moment, then spoke in her clear and steady tone: "You will stay here for a few days. Do nothing for these few days, just be my demon slave. Do not leave the area of this cave, and do not contact anyone. You can start when I tell you to set things up."
Standing in the center of the stone chamber, Li Hanshan could sense that the restrictions on this cave dwelling were extremely precise, more complex than any private cave dwelling he had ever seen in the Immortal Alliance.
Yin Yue had clearly been operating in this cave for a long time. The structure and logic of those restrictions were similar to those of the Flowing Light Array and the Heavenly Demon Blood Array, but they were more concealed and more discreet.
A question arose in his mind: the specific timing of the teleportation array's deployment, the choice of coordinates for this cave within the Heavenly Demon Blood Array, and what exactly Yin Yue was waiting for.
But he didn't ask any further questions. He simply nodded, his voice as steady as ever: "Okay."