Chapter 98: Smoke Prefecture Governor

"Are those golden mark veins on him?" Yao Yin asked.

Yin Twenty-Four's eyes narrowed, and she said coldly, "I'm afraid so. Otherwise, how could he, with an Eight-Spring cultivation, defeat a Nine-Spring Pure Immortal Body with a hundred silver veins?"

Yao Yin said, "But I heard that forging even one or two golden mark veins is an extraordinary achievement. He has one, two... countless of them..."

Li Weiyi suddenly burst out laughing. "I understand now! We were drawn by that purple Cistanche and stumbled into this Ash region. But why could we see it from the spider den? If I'm not mistaken, we'll need its help to get back."

"It is the root and source of everything!"

Under the illumination of the golden mark veins on his body, the illusions in the Ash region could not deceive Li Weiyi's Heavenly Sight.

He found the correct location of the purple Cistanche. It wasn't ahead, but behind him, next to a distant dune. It was probably several miles away, but its purple glow was visible from afar.

It was like a purple divine lamp, illuminating the depths of the darkness.

"Let's go. Stay close behind me. Don't fall behind, and don't be affected by other illusory thoughts."

Li Weiyi maintained his golden mark veins and golden Heavenly Sight. He glanced at Yin Twenty-Four and Yao Yin, his expression freezing, and immediately withdrew his gaze, not daring to look a second time.

With one hand forming a hand seal and the other holding the Yellow Dragon Sword, he led the way, walking quickly towards the dune where the Cistanche was located.

After the three had walked several hundred meters, a wind suddenly picked up.

A rustling sound filled the air.

The wind stirred up the black sand, and numerous sparks flew out from beneath it, emitting a scorching light, like unextinguished bonfires. As the wind blew, the ash-like sand ignited.

It wasn't just in one spot, but appeared in large patches.

Yao Yin said nervously, "I remember now! Grandfather once said that in the Ash region, ash is just the surface; the most terrifying thing is the embers."

"What embers?"

Li Weiyi dared not turn around.

The mind art taught by his Spirit Master was too difficult, making it hard to control at will. Other Grand Mind Masters' mind power eyes weren't this sinister; how could they possibly see right through gauze?

Yao Yin stopped abruptly, pointing in horror at a burning dune ahead, and stammered, "Ember spirits... humanoid ember spirits..."

Li Weiyi had already seen them: six humanoid figures had appeared on the dune about a mile away.

They varied in height; the tallest were three or four meters tall, while the shortest were like children. Their bodies, seemingly made of burning ash, glowed intensely in the wind, continuously emitting sparks.

It was too strange; they didn't resemble living beings at all.

"They're coming... Run!"

Li Weiyi gasped, immediately employing the Pure Void Cicada Sprint, and rushed at top speed towards the Cistanche.

Behind him, Yin Twenty-Four grabbed Yao Yin, unleashing the speed typical of a Five-Seas Realm cultivator, covering several meters in a single stride.

The six Ember Spirits were incredibly fast. As they charged, sparks filled the sky like a rain of fire in the night. They let out inhuman roars, and the entire Ash region became shrouded in sand, with fierce winds howling.

Yin Twenty-Four was filled with extreme regret, regretting agreeing to Li Weiyi bringing Yao Yin here. Those six Ember Spirits were far beyond her current cultivation level; if they encountered them, how could they possibly fight?

Clang! Clang!

A giant camel, three or four meters tall, appeared out of thin air, semi-corporeal, with its head held high and its fur gleaming.

Li Weiyi sat bare-chested on it, extending a hand to her.

Yin Twenty-Four took his hand, and using the momentum, carried Yao Yin onto the camel's back with her. She naturally had questions, but now was certainly not the time to satisfy her curiosity.

Escaping this place was the immediate priority.

A whistling sound filled their ears; the camel's speed was actually faster than some exotic beasts.

They figured it would only take a few breaths to reach the base of the dune where the Cistanche was located.

"Howl!"

The largest Ember Spirit let out a long howl, then spat out a long dragon formed from gathered sparks. It moved through the air, rapidly pursuing the camel ahead.

Yin Twenty-Four turned and stood up, mobilizing the spiritual energy within her body and continuously injecting it into a mirror-shaped artifact.

A bright beam of light shot out from the mirror's surface, colliding with the fire dragon.

"Boom!"

The fire dragon exploded, transforming into a spectacular and dangerous rain of fire.

Li Weiyi unfurled a ghost banner, releasing dark mist to block all the falling fire rain.

As they got closer to the Cistanche, Li Weiyi's eyes narrowed. He then realized that ahead lay a dry ancient riverbed, over a hundred meters wide, with a seven to eight-meter drop between the banks and the riverbed.

The Cistanche was growing on a large yellow-mud boat beached on the riverbed, its roots embedded in the skull of a skeleton.

The camel stopped at the bank. Li Weiyi dared not proceed.

The scene before him was too eerie; something felt wrong about it. He suspected he might have been deliberately lured here, trapped already within the spider den.

Yin Twenty-Four's gaze focused. "A dry, great river in the Ash region, that yellow-mud boat... nothing about it seems normal. Are you sure we should go?"

Li Weiyi frowned, glancing back.

The six Ember Spirits roared ceaselessly, quickly catching up.

"I... I'll try," Yao Yin suddenly said. "Grandfather said that I'm destined to have some sort of connection with the Ash region..."

She stood up on the camel's back, facing backward, and then activated her special bloodline. A chilling aura, so cold it made Li Weiyi and Yin Twenty-Four's skin ache, emanated from her.

Crack! Crack!

A dense cracking sound of ice resonated from Yao Yin's jade-white skin. Cracks spread upwards from her fingertips and feet, past her slender neck, and across her flawless, beautiful face.

The cracks culminated in her sapphire-like eyes.

Whoosh—

From her eyes, a cyan glow illuminated the darkness, and a faint, clear cry resounded as a chilling energy surged towards the six Ember Spirits.

The six pursuing Ember Spirits, sensing the aura of their fated nemesis, all stopped simultaneously, then slowly retreated.

After only a moment, blood streamed from Yao Yin's eyes, and she collapsed weakly back onto the camel's back, falling into Yin Twenty-Four's arms.

Li Weiyi had distinctly felt an extraordinary demonic aura erupt from her just now. Somewhat astonished, he looked at Yin Twenty-Four.

"Don't look at me! I only found out today that she had such a move hidden." Yin Twenty-Four stroked the ice cracks on Yao Yin's body. Seeing her eyes tightly closed and her breath barely a thread, her heart ached terribly.

Li Weiyi said, "You didn't know this? Aren't you her sister?"

"Cousin!"

Yin Twenty-Four corrected him, her gaze then falling upon the yellow-mud boat beached on the riverbed. "Her condition is very bad; she might not make it. Last time in the spider den, when her Ice Soul Cold Qi erupted, she only survived because you fed her a piece of Cistanche. I think we might not have any other choice..."

"Say no more, I understand. Let's go!"

Li Weiyi was not an unfeeling person.

Moreover, to leave this Ash region, they would have to investigate that yellow-mud boat anyway.

The camel leaped, jumping onto the dry riverbed.

The riverbed was full of pebbles, with only a thin layer of black sand, finally giving them a sense of solid ground beneath their feet.

The yellow-mud boat, about thirty meters long, retained only a basic hull structure, appearing extremely simple. Perhaps it had been beached there for so long that its complex structures had decayed into mud.

Arriving below the boat, Li Weiyi stored the camel into the Evil Camel Bell. He glanced back and saw the six Ember Spirits standing on the opposite riverbank, eyeing them menacingly but not daring to enter the riverbed.

"I shouldn't have been so greedy. This world is stranger and more dangerous than I imagined," Li Weiyi lamented.

With that sigh, Li Weiyi looked at Yin Twenty-Four, who was holding Yao Yin. "You wait down here. I'll go scout ahead."

"What's the use? If we can't escape, we'll die anyway."

Yin Twenty-Four tapped her toes, leaped up, and landed on the yellow-mud boat first.

She placed Yao Yin on the ground, and holding the mirror-shaped artifact, cautiously walked towards the skeleton at the bow. Having risen to become an 'Invisible Person', Yin Twenty-Four was naturally brave, but at this moment, her back grew colder and colder, and her head and feet felt icy.

This was because the skeleton, which had been sitting there for an unknown number of years, wore a purple official robe that was spotless, as if it had just been put on.

Under the illumination of the purple glow from the Cistanche growing above its head, the official robe shimmered, and the cloud-dragon emblem on its chest was lifelike, the dragon agile and soaring through clouds.

Inside the official robe was only a skeleton, dead for an unknown number of years.

Li Weiyi leaped onto the boat a moment later, looking towards the bow. He found Yin Twenty-Four actually searching through the skeleton, completely uninhibited, and couldn't help but feel immense admiration.

"Find anything?"

Li Weiyi only walked over after confirming there was no danger.

From the pocket of the skeleton's official robe, Yin Twenty-Four pulled out a golden imperial decree. When she opened it, magical characters appeared. After reading it carefully, she said, "He truly was a Provincial Governor, matching the emblem on the robe... This is his letter of appointment... The Governor of Yan Prefecture..."

"Yan Prefecture was one of the Nine Prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Nine Li Tribe a thousand years ago, and it has long since been swallowed by the Netherworld of the Dead. Could he have been dead for a millennium, yet why did he arrive by boat and die here?"

Li Weiyi looked at the winding, wide riverbed. "Could it be that this ancient river connects to Yan Prefecture from underground?"

"That's a possibility."

On the imperial decree, Yin Twenty-Four found crucial information: "He is indeed a figure from a thousand years ago. The conferral signature is 'Zen Sea Gazing Mist,' and it bears her Emperor's Seal."

The four characters 'Zen Sea Gazing Mist' greatly stirred Li Weiyi. He quickly stepped forward, saying, "Let me see."

After handing the imperial decree to Li Weiyi, Yin Twenty-Four continued searching. Beneath the skeleton's right hand, she discovered a square treasure box. Immediately, an excited expression appeared on her face. "This... this wouldn't be the legendary Provincial Governor's Seal, would it?"

"Why so excited? You're not going to use it to take office, are you?" Li Weiyi closed the imperial decree and chuckled.

Since there was no danger, his mood naturally improved greatly.

Yin Twenty-Four said, "You truly don't understand anything! A Provincial Governor, capable of suppressing an entire prefecture, relies on two most important treasures: the official robe and the seal. Both are incredibly precious artifacts."

"The official robe represents defense and speed. Look at the cloud dragon on the emblem – legend has it that a real dragon soul is sealed within it, serving as the Governor's mount. You should know that Zen Sea Gazing Mist once slayed a dragon, divided its soul into three hundred parts, and then refined them into three hundred sets of Provincial Governor's robes."

"The Provincial Governor's Seal, on the other hand, is primarily for offense, capable of shaking mountains and moving peaks."

"These three hundred sets of battle gear, a thousand years ago, made the rule of the Lingxiao Palace as stable as a rock. All those demon kings and countless sects were suppressed into dormancy. Unlike now, where the Provincial Governors are like clay figures, and no one takes them seriously."

Li Weiyi immediately stopped his nonchalance and quickly stepped closer, saying very seriously, "Before we entered the spider den, you said everything inside would be mine."

"I only said the Cistanche was yours; I wouldn't take a single bit of the medicinal treasure."

Yin Twenty-Four opened the treasure box containing the official seal. After taking out the seal, her joy immediately vanished, and she sighed, "It's yours, then. But the silver I owe you will be settled!"

"Deal!"

Li Weiyi, of course, knew this was a huge gain, so he readily agreed.

Yin Twenty-Four's cunning plan succeeded, and she chuckled, "I forgot to tell you, the Provincial Governor's robe and seal on him have already fallen dormant."

"You should know that before every Provincial Governor took office, Zen Sea Gazing Mist personally activated these two treasures, allowing them to possess combat power. Once their term ended, both treasures would automatically fall dormant and had to be returned to the imperial court."

"A thousand years ago, the reason the Lingxiao Mortal Realm experienced chaos and nearly all three hundred prefectures fell was largely due to Zen Sea Gazing Mist's disappearance, which led to the Governors' terms ending one after another, and their official robes and seals losing their power."

"If the Provincial Governors had still possessed the power of their robes and seals, protecting one or two hundred prefectures should not have been a problem. It wouldn't be like now, with only twenty-eight prefectures remaining."

"No take-backs! Anyway, my debt of several hundred million copper coins is now erased!"

A hundred thoughts spun in Li Weiyi's mind; he suddenly thought of many things. Finally, he nodded, his gaze fixed on the Cistanche growing from the skeleton's skull. He wanted to know how it could project itself into the spider den.