Yin Long sat in front of Yin Yu so he was hit straight on by her charming smile, but perhaps as was to be expected by the man who could even ignore Lan Yun's blatant approaches, he only nodded his head slightly.

"That's good. I won't interfere in whatever choice you've made, but make sure that it's not a choice you'll regret."

He didn't know exactly what choice Yin Yu had made, what conclusion she came to in the end, nor did he ask. In the end, it was her choice and hers alone. As her friend, it wasn't his job to interfere but to observe, time itself would reveal what choice she had made, as well as what end it would lead to. Yin Yu also didn't state what choice she had made, leaning back slightly and stretching her arms upwards, looking as carefree as you could get.

"I won't. Honestly, I feel lighter and freer than ever before, never knew that something as simple as making a choice could make you feel like this, it's as if I dropped all the weight that held me down."

She looked as if she didn't have a care in the world, but Yin Long could feel that his soul was already draining her life force. It sapped a bit from the trees and grass around him, but with the wellspring of lifeforce that was Xiao Yin Yu right in front of it, how could it not take advantage of it?

Yin Long frowned slightly, Yin Yu had said that it was fine, but he wasn't the kind of person that felt comfortable draining the life force of his own friends. Of course, halting the draining process was easy, he just had to heal his soul. But the soul was the most integral part of every living being, healing it was easier said than done, just the fact that Yin Long could automatically drain the surrounding life force to repair his soul was already scary enough.

"Oh well, may as well use another one."

Yin Long shook his head lightly as he came to the conclusion, draining someone's lifeforce would heavily impact their life span and future cultivation prospects, he was not willing to put a friend through that. She had already proven that she would just move over to him to facilitate the healing of his soul, leaving him with no choice but to pull a bottle of pills from his interspatial ring.

"Tha...Are those really what I think they are?"

Yin Yu couldn't help but stammer slightly as she looked at the pills that Yin Long had brought out, that mark resembling four wings folding around an eye was really just too eye-catching. Yin Long didn't even bother trying to hide them or lie about them, rolling one into his palm while putting the remaining three away.

"Wings of the Divine Soul. You won't move, so I'll have to use a bit more drastic measures to expedite the repair of my soul."

Wings of the Divine Soul, one of the greatest soul-based cultivation resources that existed in this world. Just creating one pill required the blood of two different Divine Beasts that specialized in the soul, they were so expensive that you couldn't really buy one just because you wanted one, you had to wait for it to arrive at an auction or the like. Yin Yu couldn't help but swallow, traces of a bitter expression surfacing on her face.

"Four of them even... seems like we've all underestimated your backing, almost makes me feel embarrassed to have acted so high and mighty after giving you one of my pills."

Even the Lang clan of the past would have to sever an arm and a leg if they wanted to buy just two Wings of the Divine Soul, yet Yin Long currently had four on his person. But Yin Long shook his head softly, he knew the truth about why he had these pills.

"No, no one has underestimated it. These pills were given to me by someone because they thought that I'm someone that I'm not. There's no telling what they'll do if they learn the truth."

Province Emperor Starblood had only given Yin Long six of these divine pills because he thought that Yin Long was the reincarnated Lord of Everburning Trees, it was all to help him reach his old peak. But Yin Long was just Yin Long, he couldn't be the reincarnated Lord, couldn't be a great personage or great sinner, he was just Yin Long.

"...That misunderstanding, is it tied to the Netherworld energy?"

Yin Long hadn't gone into any specifics, but Yin Yu was still able to reach the correct conclusion. Netherworld energy was either the vilest thing in the world or the mark of a saviour, it all depended on who you asked. And those who had thrown their lot in with those from the Netherworld knew that there was no other path for them, so they would be willing to do whatever they could to aid those from the Netherworld.

"Yes. But I'll tell you right now, I am not someone from the Netherworld. It was a complete coincidence that I got a hold of this Netherworld energy, nothing more."

It really was nothing more than a coincidence, or perhaps calling it a choice was better. It was a coincidence that one of his missions involved a Netherworld gate, but it had been his choice to draw that sinister energy in with his parasitic soul. He knew this would draw the energy into his soul, but he had still done it, and to this day, he did not regret it. As for Yin Yu, she simply shook her head at his declaration.

"Whether you got it through coincidence or because you escaped from the Netherworld, do you really think it matters any longer? You put your life on the line for me, if I were to judge you or disdain you because of some energy you used or your origins then I would be the height of scum. You've showcased who you are, and I've decided to throw my lot in with you, nothing else matters any longer."

The laws you used, the energy you utilized, the place you came from, what did all of those things matter compared to who you were as a person? Even if Yin Long did turn out to be from the Netherworld, the things he had done wouldn't change, who he was wouldn't change, at least not to her, it would just turn him into a blinding sun that rose from the mud.

Yin Long didn't show it on his face, but he was actually feeling a bit gratified that Yin Yu was thinking like this. After all, wasn't he the same when it came to Lan Yun? She was apparently a doll created by the Celestial World to hunt down those that escaped from the Netherworld, a weapon to kill him. But to him, that didn't matter in the slightest, she was his Lan Yun, no matter where she came from.

Yin Yu turned her head slightly after she finished making her statement, her gaze landing on the flickering space a short distance away from them. Her fingers traced her chest, specifically the area where the silver scale had merged with her.

"Say, how long do you think we have before we need to return? I can sense that small amounts of energy are continuously leaking out from the scale, but I'm not proficient in the law of space so I can't tell the time limit we have."

The silver scale was their tether, it was the only way for them to return to the land of fractured space. But for it to serve that role, it obviously needed a bit of energy, otherwise, how would it properly tear open this flickering space and send them back?

Yin Long closed his eyes and sank his senses down to the silver scale, enveloping it and inspecting the leaking energy that was tainted with the law of space. It hadn't lost any energy earlier, but now it was dribbling out little by little, if it continued at this rate then it would probably be out of energy in a little over a month.

But Yin Long had a small thought, if it just needed energy tainted by the law of space, wouldn't his Qi be adequate? Space and sword, those were the two laws that had originally tainted his parasitic soul, others had joined them in time, but those two were still the ones he was most proficient with.

So he tried it out, he guided what little remained of his own Qi towards the scale, slowly forcing it directly into it through the areas that were leaking energy. And sure enough, the scale accepted it all without issue, refilling the lost energy and momentarily returning the scale to its original state. He kept an eye on it for a bit longer, opening his eyes again when he felt confident enough.

"There doesn't seem to be a time limit. Well, not with me around at least. I can fill it up with my own Qi since it's tainted by the law of space, so when it's about to run out I can just fill it up. So even if Tao Tiankong wants to wait by that spatial rift, he'll have to wait for as long as we want to wait."

Of course, not having a time limit didn't mean that Yin Long was fine with staying here forever. The championship may have a few traps placed into its rules, but it would still end sooner or later, and at that point, he would miss the chance to meet up with Lang Huo.

"I'm gonna focus on recuperating now, you should do the same. Goldie, eat these, they should help your recovery."

Yin Long tossed out a few beast corpses from his interspatial ring as he spoke, Jin Wang was a Demonic beast so just like with humans, eating Qi-infused flesh like this was the same as eating a tonic for him. Jin Wang opened his mouth and started to draw in the corpses, Yin Long stuffing the amber pill into his own mouth and closing his eyes to focus on his own recovery.

The effects of the pill were almost instantaneous, his soul's perception shooting towards the sky as every second felt like it was drawn out for several hundreds of seconds longer than normal. This was one of the main effects of the pill, it sped up your soul's perception of time while also increasing the speed at which it acted, it was like being in a soul-cultivation paradise.

Of course, as it was made from soul-based Divine Beasts, it also served as an amazing tonic for your soul, which was the effect that Yin Long was aiming to take advantage of at this moment. The faintly amber and reddish energy that the pill turned into seeped into his seven-coloured soul, allowing it to slowly grow back to its normal size while also filling up all the cracks that had started to spread across it.

Coupled with the life force his soul was constantly drawing in his soul was well on the way to recovery. As for the wounds on his body, his Netherworld energy could take care of them, he just had to make sure that he maintained a proper balance so that the Netherworld energy didn't grow too intense.

This simple fact was probably the one that would frighten his enemies the most if they should learn about it. He had torn open his body and soul to escape, but actually healing them wouldn't take too long, especially when you considered the severity of the wounds. He was like an unrelenting zombie, he'd be up and about to grasp at your throat again before you knew it.

"But the price...it really is beyond what I expected..."

Yin Long couldn't help but mutter to himself, only he knew the cost of his rapid recovery. Inside his soulsea, the apocalyptic amount of Netherworld energy that had once covered the sky had shrunk drastically, if he were to guess then he would have to say that about 2/3rds had been used up during the escape and the healing process. The sky-covering energy had shrunk to a point where Yin Long could measure it with just his gaze, if he used it like he normally did in a fight then he felt like he would probably only have enough left for three uses.

His sword-shaped soul had a small portion of black from when it was tainted by the Netherworld energy, so if he wanted to then he could have his Qi take on the same properties as the Netherworld energy. But the times he needed the Netherworld energy to heal his wounds was generally whenever he was out of Qi.

The temporary increase in strength also wouldn't be possible if he lost the last vestiges of this Netherworld energy, he wouldn't have an abundance of energy to force his strength upwards after all. He could still use the yellow law to push his strength upwards, but the balance it required was far more precise than what the Netherworld energy needed so it required a good deal more focus on his part.

Yin Long continued to observe his soulsea with his mind, a part of his consciousness spread throughout the surroundings so that he could keep an eye on his body while also making sure that no enemies approached them. Thanks to this, he saw that Yin Yu and Jin Wang's wounds finished recovering before his. But that was only to be expected, their wounds were a fair bit smaller than his, he had born the brunt of everything after all.

The two didn't leave the area after their wounds finished recovering, they instead raised their vigilance and kept an eye on the surroundings. The moment a beast drew close, they finished it, not allowing it to get within a hundred metres of Yin Long. Quite a few beasts wandered over in the time Yin Long focused on his recuperation, it seemed like the place they had ended up contained its fair share of Demonic beasts.

Five days after Yin Yu's wounds finished recovering, a total of 11 days after they arrived in this forest, the last crack in Yin Long's soul closed up. His soul had returned to its normal size, the yellowish-silver sea of Qi resting quietly beneath it. But all his weapons were gone, not a single sword remained in what he had dubbed his Netherworld Armory, and even his actual sword had broken.

He would be lying if he said that he wasn't a bit disheartened, especially over the loss of his white sword. But he didn't regret his choice, if anything he regretted being so weak that he failed to protect his main sword and had to sacrifice his other weapons. He could recreate all the weapons he had lost, save for the white sword, but the fact that he had been forced to sacrifice them would not change.

"Ha~ah, Teacher Xiang would definitely curse me if he knew that I allowed my swords to break."

Yin Long opened his eyes with a soft mutter and a sigh, he still remembered the most important lesson that Bai Xiang had ever taught him. He was the sword, his soul and body were the blade and everything he could grasp was his weapon. If his sword broke, he would die, if his sword didn't break, he would be immortal.

"You've finished recovering? That's scarily fast, Tao Tiankong would probably be fuming with anger if he knew just how fast you were. But it's good that you're done, now we can finally figure out where we are and what to do next."

The voice of Xiao Yin Yu reached Yin Long practically the same moment he opened his eyes. Her hand was pressing down on the head of a bat-like Demonic beast, lightning flowing from her palm and into the brain of the beast. It spasmed uncontrollably for a bit before it fell still, grey matter leaking out from the corners of its eyes.

Jin Wang snatched up the corpse and swallowed it whole after Yin Yu jumped off of it, there wasn't a single corpse in their surroundings thanks to the two's routine. But unlike the previous times they had done this, Jin Wang let out a low growl after he devoured the corpse, one of his claws scraping the earth.

"You know where we are?"

Yin Long couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he understood what Jin Wang was trying to say. They had barely stepped out of this section of the dense forest they had arrived in yet Jin Wang had already figured out where they were? Could it be that this particular location had some ties to the Suanni Lion bloodline that flowed in Jin Wang?

Jin Wang nodded his head slightly with another low growl, tossing it sideways once to indicate that they should follow him. Yin Yu tossed a glance at Yin Long, who simply stood up from his seated position and brought out a new white robe so that he could finally switch out of the rags he was currently dressed in.

"Alright, let's see where we are then."

He stretched his body a few times as he spoke, stepping forward after his joints stopping making crackling sounds. Jin Wang turned and started to walk, Yin Long and Yin Yu following his sauntering gait. They quickly reached a section of the forest where the crowns of the trees were a bit less dense, allowing some light to reach the earth while also allowing them to see the sky above them.

But to Yin Long's surprise, there was no sky above them, no glimmer of blue and no soft white clouds. There was only a sturdy earthen wall covered in faint lines of dark green vines, a massive shining crystal embedded in the earthen ceiling above them and sprinkling light down onto the land beneath it.

Yin Yu looked a bit clueless, but Yin Long's eyes narrowed sharply as he saw the earthen dome above them. He put some strength into his legs and jumped up to the nearest branch, quickly scurrying to the very top of the tree. And once he broke through the final layer of leaves, he could properly see his surroundings.

A vast forest hidden within an earthen dome, a few rivers sneaking around and forming lakes, several mountains scattered about in the forest, and a single large triangular mountain with two smaller ones beside it serving as the centrepiece of the land. It was a familiar scenery, so familiar that he couldn't help but be caught off guard, a somewhat dumbfounded look on his face as he dropped down to the earth again.

"Undereath Forest, we actually ended up in Underearth Forest?"