Chapter 124: Soloing the Dungeon

Subtly and imperceptibly, the "older brother" became increasingly disconnected from his own body. He struggled to control the immense power he had attained through his cultivation, while the "younger brother" grew more and more synchronized with the physical form.

Watching from within the illusion, Yun Qing realized the gravity of the situation: Qin Yan had foolishly invited a guest he could not easily dismiss. The "younger brother" coveted his body, yet Qin Yan remained entirely oblivious to these intentions, convinced only that his brother would do anything for him—just as he was willing to sacrifice everything for his brother.

It wasn't until one day that he realized he was no longer at the Qin estate, but in a place where the sun never shone. His brother spent his time refining pills, reading scripts in a language Qin Yan did not recognize. His brother was truly remarkable; he had become a master alchemist. He assumed this was another of his father’s villas, as he could sense his father’s presence here—but not that of Bai Wuyou. It was a place where his brother could cultivate in peace.

As time slipped by, Qin Yan fell into a deep slumber. One year, two years, ten, twenty, a hundred—he spent it all in a hazy, dreamlike state.

"Brother! I have finally succeeded in my cultivation. I can finally avenge Mother."

"Is that true? That’s wonderful. I wanted to avenge her myself, but the power in my body is too immense; I can hardly control it."

"Brother’s vengeance is my vengeance. But Bai Wuyou is powerful; I need Brother’s help to succeed."

"What help do you need?"

"I fear that during the battle, Bai Wuyou might use some trick to force you to suddenly emerge. If that happens, we will be no match for her."

"I promise I won't emerge. But I don't know what methods she might use."

"Brother, leave the body for a moment. It would be safer if I go to seek revenge alone."

"Very well!"

The next time Qin Yan regained consciousness, he was deep underground, trapped in a daze, endlessly feeding and laying eggs. He seemed to grasp his wretched situation, and his hatred erupted, filling the underground lair with poisonous miasma until Yun Qing’s Soul-Dispelling Orb scattered his spirit.

Yun Qing’s heart remained heavy for a long time; she found it difficult to judge the tragedy of Qin Yan. Qin Feng’s primal instinct had been to seek descendants. Perhaps his error lay in failing to make a clean break with Bai Wuyou before seeking a mortal woman—or perhaps, after hundreds of years together, it was not so simple to just walk away.

Was the mortal woman at fault? When Qin Feng sought her out, he surely did not tell her, "I have a wife; give me a son." She had borne a son for a man and lost her life for it. According to Qin Yan’s investigation, it was Bai Wuyou’s doing. In this world where the strong reign supreme, everyone believes the life of a Nascent Soul cultivator and a mortal are not equal, yet those who protected her were also buried alongside her. Bai Wuyou paid no price for this; perhaps her own perspective was too narrow, too blinded. Perhaps, years ago, Bai Wuyou should have either refrained from acting or finished the job by not letting Qin Yan go.

Judging by Qin Yan’s memories, the jade slip containing the forbidden art was likely given to him by Bai Wuyou. This not only cost Qin Feng and his son their lives, leaving them to live in a state worse than death, but also led to the deaths of many innocent villagers in Rizhao Town. Over the past century, there were likely many others whose lives were cut short because of it. The entity currently inhabiting Qin Yan’s body still lurks within the cultivation world, and one can only imagine how many more it will harm.

If Qin Feng knew how things had unfolded, one wonders if he would have regretted marrying Bai Wuyou in his youth. Whether Bai Wuyou was doing well now, Yun Qing did not know, but she could not fathom it. Even if he were her husband, he was an independent being; if he had his own thoughts, why not simply let him go? With her high cultivation and hundreds of years of life ahead, could she not have lived a brilliant life without Qin Feng? Why soil her own hands and indirectly cause the deaths of so many? Does cultivation not concern itself with karma?

Qin Yan’s soul had dissipated, and with it, his resentment. Yun Qing, her strength still low, finally snapped out of the hallucinatory trauma. Enduring the throbbing discomfort in her head, she surveyed her surroundings. The sky was dark and the air thick with mist. Aside from a pile of firewood in front of her, there was nothing else; the scene felt ethereal and indistinct.

Four words hung in the air: "Illusionary Instance Dungeon."

Mission Prompt: Find and rescue the trapped villagers in the village (0/4). Countdown: 1:29:40.

Liu Liu was gone.

She remembered the dungeon’s time limit was three hours. That meant the illusion she had just experienced had lasted an hour and a half. Checking the system logs, she confirmed it: an hour and a half had indeed passed. Killing the unknown-level Qin Yan had granted her 50,000 experience points, a level-up, and quite a few items.

The *Wuji Manual: Qi Refining Chapter*—a jade slip. Excellent. She hadn't even thought to look for it, yet here it was.

A Seventh-Grade Spirit-Restoration Pill, a medicine for Golden Core cultivators; she would save that for later.

A Powerful Cleansing Agent. Mosquitoes fear spiders, and as the mother-insect boss, it was no surprise it possessed something to counter spider-silk adhesive. She was just in need of this to repair her mosquito swatter.

Checking herself, the original owner’s clothing seemed slightly damaged. While not destroyed, it no longer felt as comfortable as before.

Beyond these items, Yun Qing had many questions. For instance, after the Soul-Dispelling Orb was used, the mother-insect seemed to still be alive. And, the soul summoned by Qin Yan’s forbidden art must have had significant cultivation. Qin Yan had hardly cultivated, yet his health bar was higher than Xiao Haoran’s. That soul’s cultivation was likely even higher. Was it currently using Qin Yan’s body to mingle with the upper echelons of the cultivation world?

These were concerning questions, but not ones she could resolve immediately.

With only a little over an hour left in the dungeon, her priority was to clear it. Yun Qing walked toward the nearby pile of firewood: "Igniting the bonfire will disperse the mist."

Knowing that the soul-corpses would appear once the fire was lit, Yun Qing took a deep breath. She looked at the large blade in her hand, now deformed and with zero durability—a result of a clash with the mother-mosquito before entering the dungeon. At level 39, she lacked a matching weapon. The only weapon she had prepared in the post-natal stage was her mosquito swatter. She had intended to buy or forge a new weapon in town, but her level had skyrocketed before she had the chance.

Fortunately, the repair tools for the swatter had been picked up by Liu Liu. For now, she had to pin her hopes on using the swatter to kill the soul-corpses. If it proved too difficult, she would abandon the mission and wait for the time to run out. She hoped that with Qin Yan’s soul gone, she would no longer be under mental suppression and could retreat into her cave dwelling to avoid further danger.

Lacking a weapon, simply giving up without trying was not her style. Yun Qing walked to the firewood and lit it.

The firelight dispelled the misty haze, and a small path appeared on her mini-map, marked with red dots.

"Roar!" Four soul-corpses appeared.

Soul-corpse, level 39.

When she had come here with Ye Xiaolang last time, he was level 39 and she was level 29; the dungeon had averaged their strength, making the soul-corpses level 37. Now that she was alone, their level was 39.

Four soul-corpses—a gang of them against her alone? No way.

Yun Qing took out a small pebble and silently calculated the aggro range of the soul-corpses. She moved carefully, striking the closest one. Taking advantage of the others' distraction, she lured a single level 39 soul-corpse away. After leading it a safe distance so the others wouldn't be alerted, she stopped retreating and charged toward it. As she closed the distance, she leaped into the air, performing a high somersault to land behind the creature. Before it could react, she raised her mosquito swatter, pressed the adhesive button, channeled her internal energy, and struck the creature across the back.