Her divine sense was also bound and could not be released. She could only raise her hand to shield her eyes, gradually adjusting to the light.
The deeper she went, the stronger the illumination became. Song Wanníng slowly probed forward, her pace extremely cautious.
Only after half a quarter of an hour did the blinding white light finally fade. She opened her eyes and, after a long moment of adjustment, was finally able to clearly see everything before her.
This was a submerged castle. Yet it was far from luxurious, merely stacked from stone.
The position Song Wanníng occupied appeared to be a reception hall, with many stone tables and chairs around. On the tables were bowls crafted from shells. She scanned the room carefully, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, then turned toward the nearest corner.
It was another empty room, containing nothing but tables and chairs. She checked a few more rooms, yet still saw no sign of Mu Zixu.
Had Mu Zixu not entered here?
A glimmer of subtle light flickered in Song Wanníng's eyes. Could there be a hidden passage here?
"Little one help me check if there's anything unusual nearby."
She summoned Long Ling once more.
"All right!"
Long Ling was enthusiastic, immediately sensing the surroundings. It soon detected something slightly unusual.
"Sister, there's something wrong behind this wall!"
It pointed abruptly in one direction, a sharp gleam in its eyes.
"There must be a mechanism hidden back there!"
"All right, let me see." Song Wanníng concealed the dark light in her eyes and began contemplating how to trigger the mechanism.
Meanwhile, Mu Zixu had already entered the stone chamber. Gazing at the underwater volcano before him, his eyes erupted with astonishment.
"Haha, I finally found it!"
More than a decade ago, he had received a tip in a predecessor's abandoned mansion: beneath Wuyang Sea lay a volcano leading to the Underworld.
Within that volcano existed the famed stange flame, Red Lotus Karmic Flame.
As an alchemist, he prized flames above all else. If the immortal flame he carried devoured the Red Lotus Karmic Flame, it would inevitably advance once more. The pills he refined afterward would surpass Dao Qing's by a notch.
Now Mu Zixu's love for pill refinement had warped into obsession, primarily for proving his superiority over Dao Qing.
Yet he seemed unaware of how blatant his ambition had become.
Gazing at the volcano, which had long since extinguished, he produced a treasure to cloak himself and leaped toward the volcanic mouth.
The volcano's mouth was shrouded in darkness, visibility near zero. He casually emitted a spark, slightly easing the black void. Then he jumped down.
The Red Lotus Karmic Flame was his to claim.
Elsewhere, after some time of experimentation, Song Wanníng finally triggered the mechanism and stepped onto a rugged, winding path.
Soon, she saw a volcano.
"This volcano is buried beneath the sea. Perhaps it fell from somewhere else, or it arrived through some strange world shift…"
A volcano underwater, how could it erupt?
It was likely transplanted from another location.
Song Wanníng recalled the ancient great war, when the world had collapsed and space shifted. This volcano may have arrived in Wuyang Sea because of that.
These details were not the point. What mattered was that Mu Zixu seemed aware of this volcano and came straight here.
She narrowed her eyes. Within the volcano, there were likely fire spirits or a sentient stange flame.
Though inferior to immortal flames, even in the Spirit Realm they were treasures beyond ordinary reach.
Could Mu Zixu be here for that?
A thoughtful glimmer appeared in her eyes. If so, she would have to find a way to seize the stange flame first.
With a movement of her mind, a rune appeared midair—the Superlative Concealment Rune.
Instantly, her aura and figure vanished. Without an extremely strong Primordial Soul, no one could detect her. This rune could hide her from stange flames but not from Mu Zixu. If they met, she would be in great danger.
Yet the opportunity lay ahead. Song Wanníng would not retreat. She also prepared a spatial transfer rune. If danger arose, she could instantly leave the volcano and be transported away.
With all preparations complete, Song Wanníng leapt onto the dormant volcano. Looking down, everything was pitch black, so dark that she could not see her hand before her.
She summoned a small flame and cautiously jumped down. Hopping and dodging over jagged rocks, she descended step by step. But as expected, there were neither fire spirits nor Mu Zixu—only endless darkness stretching deep.
Song Wanníng paused briefly, considered, and continued downward. She seemed to pass through a barrier, and a familiar aura hit her—Yin energy.
Her expression shifted with surprise.
As light penetrated the area, she saw a familiar scene—the River of Forgetfulness she had visited before.
Yet this River of Forgetfulness was not yet desolate. Lush trees and flowers flourished, radiating life. Countless small boats drifted along the river, yet perhaps the time was wrong. There was not a single living soul nor any ghost envoy.
Standing outside the river, Song Wanníng found the place deeply mysterious. She had come to the past River of Forgetfulness. It was the same place, yet the aura was entirely different, much richer in Yin energy.
After a moment of contemplation, she boarded a boat on the River of Forgetfulness. Having crossed it before, the journey was smooth, encountering almost no obstacles. She soon arrived on the opposite bank. She released Yin energy from within to disguise herself as a ghost cultivator and moved further inside.
Soon, she encountered two ghost envoys, fervently discussing something.
"An outsider has sneaked in! How infuriating!"
"Yes, and they injured several of us on entry, aiming to seize the Red Lotus Karmic Flame. They clearly have no respect for us!"
"Let's go help. We must kill them!"
"Yes, let them see, we are not afraid!"
Their anger escalated, and their pace quickened.
Spotting Song Wanníng, they waved at her.
"Daoyou, are you here to capture the intruder as well?"
"Let's go together!"
They waited for her, then hurried off in the same direction. From their complaints, Song Wanníng learned that Mu Zixu had indeed come for the Red Lotus Karmic Flame.
The Red Lotus Karmic Flame, a fire said to burn away karmic sins, grew mainly in the Underworld.
For cultivators, it was tremendously powerful. After all, whose hands had not spilled a few lives?
Where there was killing, there were karmic sins.
Once touched by the Red Lotus Karmic Flame, one would endure the agony of a Primordial Soul being scorched.