He stopped at the corner.

It was silent ahead as if it had just been his illusion.

Playing tricks!

Zhou Yin sneered silently, holding the Lingyin Sword in his hand, walking forward step by step.

Just as he was about to pass the corner, a sudden change occurred!

A gust of wind suddenly blew from the right. It was damp and cold here, yet this gust of wind was like the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month, not only coming ominously but also fierce and violent.

Zhou Yin was prepared. The Lingyin Sword in his hand drew out a sword aura, his body flying up with the momentum, tightly sticking to the stone wall.

The sword aura encountered the gust, weakening the wind's momentum a bit, but the sword aura was also immediately swallowed up.

"Return!"

With the incantation, the Lingyin Sword didn't obediently fly back as usual but was entangled in the gust, unable to break free.

Laughter sounded in his ears as the gust turned into a human figure, grabbing the Lingyin Sword in his hand.

It was none other than Yu Nuo.

He smiled and said, "Daoist Zhou, without the Lingyin Sword, how long can you last?"

Let alone cultivators, even immortals can't fly out of thin air. They either have a magic treasure to support them or their own spiritual power is strong enough to materialize and carry their weight.

Therefore, those high-level cultivators, in order to display their strength, often don't use magic treasures but ride on invisible spiritual power under their feet. To the uninformed onlooker, it looks like they are flying out of thin air, but it's an illusion.

At this moment, Zhou Yin was in a precarious situation.

His cultivation had not yet reached the point of riding on spiritual power like in his previous life. Without the Lingyin Sword, he had to use his bare hands and ten fingers to tightly grasp the stone wall to stabilize his body, lest he fall into the bottomless abyss below.

Yu Nuo had greatly changed in temperament since becoming a demonic cultivator. The previous straightforward and friendly side was completely gone, leaving only gloominess and scheming, which was now fully displayed without any scruples.

"What do you want?" Zhou Yin looked at him coldly, his face showing no emotions of pain or indignation.

Yu Nuo was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "If you are willing to answer a few questions for me, I will return the Lingyin Sword to you."

"What questions?"

"When you and I were in that residence, you chose the most inconspicuous Sumeru Ring. Did you know something beforehand, and that's why you chose it?"

"I was entering there for the first time, just like you," Zhou Yin said coldly.

Since their reunion, Yu Nuo had started eyeing the Sumeru Ring. There were too many people to make a move at that time. Now with just the two of them, killing and stealing the treasure would be unknown to others.

Seeing his composure, Yu Nuo's paranoia acted up again, "Impossible. How could something that can be listed alongside the Vast Sea Star Chart be inferior!"

Zhou Yin had thought about this question before. Although the Sumeru Ring was just a relatively good storage ring, they had used it to travel back 60,000 years and obtained the Heaven Washing Brush, a relic of Nüwa. So the Sumeru Ring was likely just a medium, and what he actually obtained was the Heaven Washing Brush.

But knowing was one thing, telling Yu Nuo was absolutely impossible.

He said indifferently, "How is it impossible? My cultivation is low, I know my limits. Taking the Sumeru Ring was most suitable."

Yu Nuo was suspicious for a while, then said, "Give me the Sumeru Ring and I'll let you go."

Zhou Yin said calmly, "Even if you get the Sumeru Ring, it's useless. Entering the demonic path, sooner or later you will die without a whole corpse."

Yu Nuo laughed, "What do you know? That Vast Sea Star Chart is a true immortal treasure. Through it, I had a fortuitous encounter. So what if I'm a demonic cultivator? With this cultivation speed, sooner or later I will be the number one person in the world!"

Zhou Yin said, "Those whom heaven wishes to destroy, it first makes mad."

Yu Nuo was furious and about to lash out when he suddenly felt a wave of heat attacking him from behind, causing him to dodge in shock.

A blinding golden light flashed before his eyes, so dazzling that he involuntarily closed them.

At the same moment, he felt the Lingyin Sword slip from his grasp and fly towards Zhou Yin.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Nuo opened his eyes to see Zhou Yin steadily wielding the Lingyin Sword. Zhou Chen flicked his sleeve, sending a five-colored beam of spiritual power shooting straight at him.

Unable to dodge in time, the beam even broke through his protective barrier. Yu Nuo's chest was sliced with a deep wound. Spitting out blood, he clutched his chest and hastily retreated, vanishing in an instant.

Knowing he was no match and fearing attracting others, he didn't retaliate but fled swiftly. Even if Zhou Chen gave chase, he wouldn't catch up.

Zhou Yin asked, "Where are the others?"

"I didn't see them either. Good thing I found you." Zhou Chen felt both distressed and enraged. Worried about Zhou Yin, he had no desire to pursue, but inwardly vowed to kill Yu Nuo.

The two circled the area seven or eight times, weaving between the cliffs and caves. They gradually located the others and got a rough sense of the terrain, but Yu Nuo was nowhere to be found.

Upon hearing about Zhou Yin's ordeal, Mu Jie jumped up. "I knew from the start he was no good. That scoundrel even stabbed you in the back! This place might not even be an exit passage at all!"

Zhou Yin said, "No, the fact that the Cloud Dream City Lord sent people to kill us proves this is the right place."

Yun Zong frowned. "The demonic energy here is too dense."

Zhou Chen had also been searching for the source of the demonic energy, but after scouring everywhere, he found no traces of demon beasts.

Suddenly, he thought of a place.

"You mean here?" Mu Jie was quite surprised.

This was the very spot atop the cliff where Zhou Yin had been ambushed by Yu Nuo.

Zhou Chen said, "I'm going down to take a look. Wait for me here."

The two men he brought naturally refused. "We vow to follow you to the death, Venerable Lord!"

Zhou Yin didn't bother arguing. He also believed this location held a high possibility. Mounting his magic weapon, he flew down into the abyss below the cliff.

"Ah Yin, wait for me!" Zhou Chen hurriedly followed.