Herbert was safe. Dante also visibly relaxed. Gerald, however, was fuming.
“Master, calm down,” Dante tried carefully. “Sky-Covering Valley is dangerous. Maybe… maybe it’s temporary?”
“Shut up,” Gerald snapped. “You’re not the one who got forcibly turned into a monk.”
Dante immediately shut his mouth. Gerald paced back and forth like a caged beast.
He tried to endure it. He told himself to wait. But the more he thought about his only disciple with a Light Spirit Root—
The more he thought about his precious golden robe— The more furious he became.
Enduring it made him feel cheated. Retreating made him feel humiliated.
Just as he took a step toward the valley— Lauren and Dante grabbed him again.
“Sect Leader, don’t!”
“Master, please! Even if you go in, you can’t win—and you won’t be able to come back out!”
Gerald’s shoulders trembled. “Am I supposed to just swallow this humiliation?”
What else could you do? Go in and fight Light? He might shave your head too.
Lauren quickly said, “My master is working on breaking the seal of Sky-Covering Valley. Once the seal collapses and they can come out freely, you can ask my master to intervene. He’ll definitely help you get Malcolm back—and your treasure.”
Dante nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! Miss Lauren is right!”
Gerald stood there, breathing heavily. After a long moment, he gritted his teeth. “…Fine.”
It was the only safe option.
Gerald stood at the edge of Sky-Covering Valley for a long moment, jaw tight, clearly fighting the urge to charge back inside and settle things with Light once and for all.
In the end, he exhaled heavily. “Sigh. Fine. Fine. I’ll listen to you two. Let’s go back.”
Dante glanced down at the charred figure on the ground. “What about her? She’s… not dead yet. She’s still breathing.”
Indiana’s chest rose faintly, a broken rasp leaking from her throat.
Gerald crouched and examined her more closely. The longer he looked, the deeper his frown became.
“Her Golden Core is shattered. Her spiritual sense has been forcibly extracted.” He clicked his tongue. “How the hell is she still alive? That’s… not normal.”
Lauren agreed silently. Indiana had always been strange. She raised her hand and summoned Briar. The small tree spirit popped out, leaves trembling with anticipation.
“You’re lucky,” Lauren said calmly, looking down at Indiana. “Make sure there’s nothing left. Not even a trace.”
Briar hurried forward, shy but visibly excited. The way it hopped made Gerald’s heart soften immediately.
“Briar,” he asked gently, “what are you doing?”
Briar didn’t answer. It slipped off its tiny gloves. Branches sprouted instantly from its palms.
Then more burst from its trunk—dozens, then hundreds—wrapping around Indiana’s body in a tight cocoon.
They watched as the flesh visibly withered. Skin shrank. Muscle dried. Within moments, the body collapsed into a skeleton.
Dante swallowed hard. Gerald’s smile froze awkwardly on his face.
Lauren turned to him with a grin. “Master, isn’t Briar adorable?”
“It’s… adorable,” Gerald said stiffly. Then he swallowed. “So adorable. How can something this cute eat… that?”
“It’s a carnivorous flower,” Lauren replied matter-of-factly. “It eats everything except plants.”
Gerald nodded blankly. He’d seen Briar and Wayne go on beast-hunting missions. He’d watched them roast meat together. He’d never really thought about it.
But seeing it devour someone like this— That was fucking chilling.
After finishing the flesh, Briar crushed the remaining bones into powder.
Lauren stepped forward, picked up Indiana’s storage ring, and tossed out a Fire Talisman.
Flames flared. Ash scattered in the wind. She lifted her head and looked at the sky.
No strange eyes. No descending lightning. Just the moon and stars, quiet and distant.
From that day on— Indiana ceased to exist.
......
The leader of the Moonlit Sect being imprisoned inside Sky-Covering Valley was no small matter.
Gerald personally explained the situation to the sect elders and allowed them to choose a temporary leader.
He made one thing clear: Herbert would be released eventually. There was now a method to exit the valley.
Every sect had its ambitious schemers. That was human nature.
Gerald said this deliberately—to prevent the Moonlit Sect from assuming Herbert was doomed and tearing itself apart in internal power struggles.
Afterward, Starfell Summit fell quiet.
Lauren didn’t rush into cultivation. Instead, she focused on replenishing the enormous number of talismans she had burned through, waiting for her master and Edmund to emerge from seclusion.
With her recent breakthrough, she had advanced to Seventh-Rank Talisman Master. The only one in the entire cultivation world.
She could now draw high-level functional talismans with ease. But what truly stunned her—
Was that the Talisman Inheritance interface had unlocked further. Previously, she could only see Ninth-Rank Talismans. Now—
She could see First-Rank Talisman Treasures. Talisman Treasures. Those were the stuff of legends.
.......
Nearly two months later, she received a telepathic transmission. “Lauren. Come to Starfell Hall.”
Lauren’s heart leapt.
Eighty-one days. Her master and Edmund had finally emerged. She hurried to Starfell Hall.
Inside, Drake and Edmund sat facing each other.
Between them rested a shimmering bead, glowing with five colors.
“Master,” Lauren asked eagerly, “did you succeed?”
“Yes.” Drake gestured to the bead. “This is it.”
Lauren stepped closer. The moment she approached, she felt the immense power contained within. When her fingers brushed it, it hissed softly. “This is…”
“I strengthened it,” Drake said calmly.
She understood at once. He had sealed his lightning into it as well.
“Then with this… can we break the barrier?”
Edmund nodded. “It should be possible. Now we must wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“The Icefield Secret Realm,” Edmund replied. “The ice is spreading outward, but not far enough yet. They haven’t come out.”
They. The cultivators trapped inside. They needed to ascend together.
It was said that the frigid air of the Far North was leaking into the surrounding lands, turning vast regions barren—and still expanding. No one knew when it would end.
Lauren imagined it: A dozen cultivators ascending at once. Heaven and earth trembling. It would be spectacular.
“Lauren,” Drake said gently, “from today onward, I will enter seclusion again to prepare for ascension. If you need anything, seek Gerald. I can no longer assist you.”
Lauren nodded. “Master, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Oh?”
“While you were in seclusion… Timothy escaped. And then…”
She recounted everything that had happened over the past two months—the attempted reinforcement of the seal, the descent of the foreign spirit, the battle within Sky-Covering Valley.
By the time she finished, both Drake and Edmund looked grave.
They had almost failed. After all that preparation—
The seal had nearly been reinforced. They truly couldn’t afford to relax for even a moment.
“Who descended?” Edmund asked sharply.
“I don’t know,” Lauren replied. “They were dealt with by the people inside.”
Edmund gave a short nod, then turned to Drake. “We need to move quickly.”
His tone was steady, but urgent. “Once this one dies… they’ll send someone else down.”
“Oh—right.” Lauren suddenly remembered something and took out Indiana’s storage ring.
“This was hers. Sect Leader already forced it open. There are a few items inside that don’t belong to this realm—probably from the upper world.”
She handed it to Edmund. He examined the contents and withdrew a carved incense burner along with a small box of deep violet incense.
“This is World-Passing Incense,” he said calmly. “When lit, it allows communication between the two realms. So this is how they’ve been reporting back.”
Lauren’s eyes sharpened. “Can we use it?”
“Yes.”
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