Jiu Baiyun’s gaze quickly locked onto the second bridge pier from the left.
The river water had long been stained a thick, ink-like color by the filthy blood, emitting a suffocating stench, but the area three feet above the waterline on the pier was still relatively dry.
At least, that was the case by comparison.
Time was extremely tight.
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s demonic power was rapidly draining away under the suppression of the “Palm Filth’s” miasma.
The thin layer of demonic light covering her body surface had already begun to flicker unsteadily.
“Hurry up! That thing… it seems to have moved!”
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s voice was somewhat panicked, carrying a hint of alarm.
Hearing this, Jiu Baiyun’s heart tightened.
The corner of his eye glanced towards the depths of the blood mist.
The mountain-like silhouette of the “Palm Filth” seemed to undulate slightly.
Two of the enormous pustules covering it ruptured at that moment, stirring up a gust of nauseating, foul-smelling wind.
Jiu Baiyun was well aware of the danger here and didn’t hesitate any further.
He pushed off with his feet, his figure transforming into a blurry white streak as he swiftly rushed to the base of the target bridge pier.
The cold stone wall felt rough to the touch, mixed with congealed blood clots and some kind of slimy moss.
After a quick inspection, he could easily spot a brick whose color was slightly darker, with subtle, artificially carved marks along its edges.
This was it!
Jiu Baiyun immediately concentrated a speck of demonic power at his fingertip and carefully probed into the seam at the brick’s edge.
Scrape…
The faint friction sound was exceptionally clear in the ruins, where only eerie, low moans could be heard.
Jiu Baiyun held his breath, his movements becoming even more cautious.
Although Nanfeng City had become ruins, many eerie beings wandered within.
He didn’t want to attract all those eerie creatures with this little sound.
But extracting the Jade Token would also require considerable effort.
“Hurry! It’s really waking up!”
Before he was even halfway done, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s voice rang out, filled with unprecedented gravity.
Jiu Baiyun harbored no illusions.
The corner of his eye swiftly swept towards the depths of the blood mist.
The silhouette of the “Palm Filth” trembled violently.
Countless enormous pustules covering it exploded one after another.
Foul, putrid pus rained down like droplets, sizzling with corrosive sounds as it fell on the broken walls and rubble, raising acrid green smoke.
Simultaneously, several nearby eerie creatures that had been gnawing on remains abruptly stopped their movements.
Their rotting heads swiveled in unison towards the direction of the bridge pier, their empty eye sockets locking onto Jiu Baiyun’s blurry figure.
Seeing this, Jiu Baiyun couldn’t afford to care anymore and hurriedly sped up his actions.
“Got it!”
Under the continuous scraping of his demonic power, Jiu Baiyun’s fingertip finally touched a cold, hard object.
He immediately hooked it out.
A square Jade Token, about the size of a palm and covered in dust, was forcibly pried out from the brick’s hidden compartment.
Before Jiu Baiyun could examine it closely, the nearest eerie creatures let out hoarse howls, their rotting limbs accelerating as they lunged forward.
“Go!”
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s voice was urgent.
While Jiu Baiyun was prying out the token, she hadn’t been idle.
Even though the right to use the body belonged to Jiu Baiyun, she could still expand her perception outward.
Almost instantly, she projected the escape route she had just mapped out into Jiu Baiyun’s mind.
“Thanks!”
Jiu Baiyun didn’t hesitate either.
His figure flashed.
Three snow-white illusions identical to his form suddenly burst forth, rushing in different directions, immediately drawing the attention of those eerie creatures.
Then, Jiu Baiyun’s body faded into an almost transparent gray shadow, swiftly darting along the route in his mind.
Since the Yao Fox Demon Venerable had already planned the route for him, there was nothing to hesitate about.
Jiu Baiyun had utmost trust in her perceptual abilities.
If her perception wasn’t strong, he wouldn’t have spent decades chasing her only to end up in a mutual standoff where both were severely wounded.
Soon, Jiu Baiyun reached the edge of Nanfeng City.
Spotting a gap, Jiu Baiyun directly charged through it.
The nauseating, foul wind of the Nanfeng City ruins and the immense oppressive feeling brought by the awakening of the “Palm Filth” were rapidly left behind.
But Jiu Baiyun still didn’t dare to linger.
Generally, after an eerie creature massacre event, within a short period—one day at the least, several days at most—sect members would inevitably come to handle it.
Jiu Baiyun really didn’t want to deal with those eerie beings who called themselves “immortals” right now.
He didn’t know how long he had run.
Only after confirming that Nanfeng City was no longer in sight did Jiu Baiyun finally stop.
Feeling the emptiness within his body, Jiu Baiyun gasped for breath and half-joked.
“As expected of you. Your demonic power is really suited for escaping.”
“What else? If I didn’t hone my skills in fleeing, should I have waited for you ‘immortals’ to capture me and refine me into pills?”
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s tone was displeased, and one could vaguely sense her gritting her teeth.
If not for the state of this world, she would never have trained the art of escape to such a profound level.
“Let’s get this straight, I’m not an immortal like them!”
Hearing her say “you immortals,” Jiu Baiyun’s brow couldn’t help but twitch, feeling somewhat displeased.
He wasn’t like those “immortals” who could transform into twisted forms.
“Fine, fine, you’re not~”
“But I truly didn’t expect that even after cultivating to that realm, you’d still be a normal person~”
This time, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s tone carried a hint of helplessness and amusement.
Jiu Baiyun, however, shook his head and didn’t say anything more on the matter.
He looked up at the sky…
Hmm, there was still some time before nightfall.
Finding a relatively clean rock to sit on, Jiu Baiyun held the Jade Token in his palm and examined it carefully.
Although the token felt cool to the touch and had a substantial weight, its entire body showed a dull, grayish hue.
Its edges even had a rough, rock-like texture.
If not for the faint, extremely slow circulation of spiritual energy he could clearly sense within it, anyone would think this Jade Token was just an ordinary stone.
He hadn’t paid much attention to this thing back then, but now, at this point, he found it rather useful.
It was a kind of sign of the times changing…
No, more like a tiger falling to the plains…
After failing to find a suitable phrase for a while, Jiu Baiyun simply stopped thinking about it.
He took a deep breath, then mobilized the spiritual energy within his body, slowly channeling it into the Jade Token.
Because he had found it amusing to inject a bit of spiritual energy into it before, that temporarily stored energy was now drawn out again by his current spiritual energy.
This spiritual energy wasn’t much, but it was enough for him to maintain the Three Mysteries Stage for a period.
Moreover, as the weak spiritual energy circulated through the token, it seemed to have a tendency to gradually increase.
Feeling the spiritual energy gradually filling his body, Jiu Baiyun narrowed his eyes slightly.
A cluster of blue-white flame whooshed to life in his palm.
This made Jiu Baiyun pause, feeling somewhat surprised.
He hadn’t expected his spiritual energy attribute to be mixed with some of the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s demonic power attributes…
Did this mean he could also use her abilities with spiritual energy?
He immediately shook his head, dismissing the thought.
He was merely coexisting with the Yao Fox Demon Venerable, not transforming into her.
Plus, considering the incompatibility between demonic power and spiritual energy, it seemed impossible no matter how he thought about it.
And his spiritual energy was limited.
Making such meaningless attempts would clearly be a loss.
He sighed, looked at the darkening sky, and immediately stood up.
The nights in this world weren’t suitable for spending in the wilderness…
After all, certain indescribable things tended to emerge at night.