The path that their party took into the Roaring Valley could be called rather picturesque, the water that splashed away from the nearby waterfall reflected both the sun and the surroundings so it was like walking through a mosaic. But those in the party could not immerse themself in this natural beauty, everyone but Li Yang and Mei Kongxu looking a tad uncomfortable and tense. Well, Mei Kongxu's lips were pursed and her gaze stiff, but Li Yang knew that it was for a different reason from the rest.

"Wow, Fairy Sister Xing, the air here is really prickly, it tingles on the skin and in the ears. I've heard about it in passing but it really feels different in person, what has the temple done to achieve something like this?"

The curve of Li Yang's lips could only be called lopsided, if charming, as he stayed close to Xingguang, his crimson pupils sweeping the surroundings as if he was a curious child. Now that they had actually started to enter the valley, they could feel it in the air. It was crackling, like tiny arcs of lightning dancing across their skin and in their ears. They were naturally harmless, but just the fact that they existed was strange enough.

Xingguang's brows furrowed slightly as Li Yang spoke. His manners weren't exactly bad, he really did look like he was trying to be charming. But the way he spoke just seemed to dig directly into your patience, it was too potent to just be a coincidence, especially when she took into account what her brother had said earlier as he beat Li Yang down. Still, she was the leader of this group so she had to do her job properly, that was what it meant to be a member of the Star's Gaze Temple.

"The temple doesn't have anything to do with this, we focus more on astral phenomena so we don't have the capability of doing something like this. The lightning that's lingering here comes from something else, its cause is a massive lightning storm that ravaged this land many thousand years ago."

The facts spoken by Xingguang were things Li Yang already knew, he had read them in the archives of his own sect before setting out. But that didn't mean that it was common knowledge, wanderers and the common folk believed that the temple itself was responsible for the strange energy in this land, it was their territory after all. The temple had never done anything to enforce these rumours, but neither had they done anything to deny them so the misunderstanding continued to spread. As such, it was a touch surprising that Xingguang chose to be honest.

"A massive lightning storm? Big enough to alter the air here even? Was it caused by the birth of some natural treasure, or perhaps some ancient powerhouses that duked it out? Does your temple know, Fairy Sister?"

The other group members looked a bit surprised at the new information, Li Yang mimicking their expressions as he took a step closer, throwing out seemingly wild speculations with a curious expression. Xingguang stretched out her hand to prevent him from getting closer, her other hand reaching her chin so that her finger could tap against the base of her lower lip as her gaze slid skyward.

"Step back, there's no need to stick to me like that. And does my temple know? No, we don't. We haven't owned this territory for all that long so we're unclear on exactly what happened, best we have is what was written down in history."

Li Yang stopped in front of her hand, an almost sickeningly charming smile on his face. He didn't immediately step back, tapping the tips of her fingers with his own, as if he was trying to play a melody on them.

"You have rather rough fingers, Fairy Sister. It's important to take proper breaks when you train your swordplay. But of course, the effort is very beautiful, Fairy Sister, almost as beautiful as you and your fingers."

The change in topic was so sudden that the onlookers didn't really know how to keep up with it, much less Xingguang herself. She pulled back her hand with a slight frown, she hadn't expected him to just suddenly touch her like that. But she missed a small bit of information because of how caught off guard she had been by that small action. And Li Yang stepped back before she could think about the situation any further.

He returned to Mei Kongxu's side, sticking as close as a husband should. But the lopsided smile was still directed at Xingguang so he looked anything but proper. And thanks to that, she turned away after a short twist of her lips, beckoning the group to keep following her. Li Yang and Mei Kongxu were obviously among those who kept following her, but while his lopsided smile was still directed at Xingguang, his words were directed at someone else.

"Did you see that, Wifey?"

A lopsided grin that bordered on sickly charming, he did indeed have that on right now. But his eyes were still sharp, even as they narrowed slightly to accommodate his grin. He was observant, he had always been, only by observing people closely could you properly find out how to push their buttons and drive them over the edge.

He called Mei Kongxu by the nickname that irked her so, but there was no response from his side, no annoyed click of the tongue nor a swift elbow to the waist. His head tilted slightly so that he could look at her so he saw that her lips were pursed more than ever, her eyes darting about as her fingers rolled about restlessly. She was glancing at him but looked to be too uncomfortable to actually respond, much less spot minute details in other people. Li Yang understood the situation, he had felt something similar previously after all, so he just explained it simply.

"Repeating the question, vague answers, unable to maintain eye contact, fingers about to press her lips, they're things people do unconsciously when they lie. The temple knows something about what happened here in the past. And judging by your reaction from being here, we can almost be certain that it's tied to the Pristine Tyrant or one of his other lives."

The one best suited to uncovering a liar was another liar, and Li Yang was an excellent liar. The temple hiding the truth, the things they heard from the avatar that wanted to hand over all the memories from his previous reincarnations, the information he had gathered in the past, Mei Kongxu's reaction to being here, everything gathered together to clear up the truth.

The Pristine Tyrant had been here, and there was an extremely good chance that this was where his life came to an end. The temple seemed to know this but was keeping quiet about it, and it just so happened that an unknown monster was running rampant here now. Was it a coincidence? Li Yang found it unlikely, large sects like this hated coincidences more than most things, control was far too important to them.

"The avatar said that the self-destruction was so great that even most of the soul was destroyed, that ought to be the source of the lightning storm. But you're still reacting, so if you've got a past life then it's likely that she ended up coming by here, that might be what they're trying to cover up."

Li Yang had rejected the memories that the avatar tried to hand him, but that didn't mean that he had forgotten or disregarded what he said. On the contrary, he memorized it so that it wouldn't slip his mind, it was valuable information about an existence so boring that it should not have a home in this world. Li Yang's head was still slightly tilted, his eyes locked with Mei Kongxu's.

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"Ah, I really hope yours ends up being more interesting than mine, this world really would be far too sad if there were two such snoozefests running around."

His hands naturally reached for the back of his head as he spoke, his fingers intertwining as he leaned his head against his own hands, swaggering as if he didn't have a care in the world. On his face was that lopsided smile, his own little twisted grin that didn't exist on the reflection that the puddles around them cast.

The group kept moving along the slightly narrow path that Xingguang had picked out for them, the vegetation around them slowly growing denser and drier as they ventured away from the waterfall. Now that they were truly starting to set foot into the valley, the vegetation changed slightly to reflect it.

They weren't terribly visible, but plants had veins just like any other living beings, something to transport water and nutrients. If it was a more demonic plant that thrived on blood, those veins would be a more eye-catching red, tainted by the lifeforce it drank. But here? Here the plants all had either yellow or dark blue veins, they snaked across every leaf and flower. Gazing into the forest was like peering into a whirlpool as the two colours fought for dominance.

"See those colours? They mean that we've officially set foot into the valley. From this point on, you alone will be responsible for what you can get your hands on. Stick close to me, if you are alone when we run into another group then I cannot guarantee what they will do."

Xingguang's voice reached the rest of the group, the tense air that hung over the others immediately increasing somewhat. She would do her best to ensure that they survived, she was responsible for their lives after all. But none of them were stupid, things could change in an instant in a true battle, the difference between life and death was hair-thin so there was no guarantee that she would be fast enough if something really went wrong.

The group didn't have to move much further before Xingguang's ears perked up. They'd only been inside the valley for a scant handful of minutes so she felt that this group had someone with good luck mixed into it, normally the gatekeepers would take a lot longer to find them. Whatever the case was, she stopped in her tracks and addressed the group.

"Well, your first chance to get something has shown itself. This valley has something that we call Gatekeepers, but in truth, they're just sly little weaklings who linger around the entrances and exits so that they can pick off those who try to enter or leave on their own. They're sly and weak, but they're still Demonic beasts, you don't need me to tell you how to use them."

She took a step to the side and leaned against a tree as she spoke, pointing towards the direction that was slowly becoming noisy. As the group watched, monkeys broke through the tree crowns around them, swinging from the branches as they quickly approached. Each monkey was between one and a half and two metres, their bodies covered in pale brown fur that meshed well with the bark around them. They had stuck some leaves to their bodies with mud as glue so they seemed to at least know about the concept of camouflage.

There were only about 10-14 monkeys, just about one for everyone in the group, with the leader standing a bit above two metres as he took the lead to descend upon the group. His target was the young man who stood furthest to the right of the group, he was the most isolated one so he would be the easiest target. The other monkeys also attack, their black beady eyes flickering with hunger as they descended from the trees.

The tense air that hung over the group immediately turned to hostility as weapons were drawn and Qi was unleashed, a tinge of greed mixing into the air. Demonic beasts were treasures, from their hairs to their bones. Everything had a use, everything could be sold, and their blood could even be used to cultivate since it contained energy.

The smell of blood quickly mixed into the air that crackled in your ears, a familiar dark shade of red mingling with the yellow and dark blue veins that spread across the plants here. Li Yang's group wasn't weak, so even though there was about one monkey for each person here the odds weren't split evenly between the two groups. And that was even with one important fact.

"You're not going to take part? You said you were going to return the punches my brother gave you so I would highly suggest taking any chance you can find, skipping out on even a single one can set you back years."

Xingguang's curious voice reached Li Yang and Mei Kongxu, who simply stood at the side without taking part in the battle. Yes, there was about one monkey for each person, but three people weren't taking part in the battle so the numbers favoured the Gatekeepers. But even so, their group showed no signs of faltering and were instead quickly getting the upper hand. If things continued like this then Li Yang guessed that the monkeys would flee soon, that was usually how they acted. Naturally, no such thoughts revealed themselves on his face as he smiled charmingly.

"Ah, please don't worry about us, dear Fairy Sister. But I must say, the world is a little more radiant now that I know that you have such care in you. Alas, my dear wifey isn't feeling too well, so how could I possibly leave her side at this time?"

He gestured towards Mei Kongxu's pursed lips, her eyes glaring at him as he used her as an excuse. He was still affected by the array he engraved onto himself so the more likely reason was that he just didn't want to fight the monkeys in that state, or perhaps he just didn't see anything valuable he could gain from them. Li Yang ignored Mei Kongxu's glare and thoughts, his gaze slowly drifting past Xingguang and deeper into the forest.

"But ah, seeing Fairy Sister Xing so concerned for our growth has made my heart grow all that much bigger, I will definitely be a better person from here on out. With that said, I would simply feel miserable if I didn't point out those human traces over there. What do you think, Fairy Sister, could they come from the missing people? And if they do, could I perhaps get a reward, one from you personally?"

His voice was sickeningly sweet and annoying, but Xingguang's head immediately spun around to follow his gaze. Her eyes pierced through the dense foliage as she searched for what this frivolous person had seemingly found. And then she spotted it, barely visible between the leaves and the colourful veins that covered them.

A scrap of dark blue cloth, its colour so close to the blue veins that it almost mixed in with the leaves. But this scrap of cloth had a few white stars on it, setting it apart from the foliage around it. There were also a few red dots on it, the breeze causing it to quietly flutter about. Xingguang would not mistake this scrap of cloth, she wore a robe that was the exact same after all. The only difference was that hers wasn't covered in drops of blood, she wasn't hurt yet after all. Her eyes immediately narrowed, it didn't matter if this scrap came from one of the missing people or from one of the other groups, it belonged to someone from the same temple as her so she had to check it out.

"End the battle immediately, we're going to head deeper to investigate."

Her order was short and slightly cold, with a trace of urgency mixed in. The rules for all those who entered were clear, finding the missing people took precedence. And with the order given, Xingguang threw herself into the battle so that they could end it as fast as possible. And indeed, with her joining, four apes died in quick succession, adding to the earlier four that had already died during the short span of the battle.

The monkeys knew that they were already far too outmatched so the leader quickly howled and beat his chest, becoming the first to flee. The remaining apes quickly followed, but Xingguang prevented the group from following them.

"Come, we're going."

They barely had the time to pick up the corpses before they had to hurry after her, no one wanted to be on the receiving end of her attacks. Li Yang and Mei Kongxu obviously also followed, Li Yang dragging Mei Kongxu along like an overeager husband who wanted to stick close to both his wife and mistress.

His lips were still curved into their usual arc, but his eyes surveyed the surroundings. The scrap of cloth, while on the path deeper into the valley, was actually rather close to the entrance they used. It was an odd place for it to be, if there really was a beast out there hunting people, would it not take the chance to escape the valley if it was this close to an exit?

It was dangerous, but it was also interesting. That was why his lips retained their arc and his steps were light, things seemed like they might actually be rather interesting here. And the thing about interesting things was that they were usually fun, it was the perfect thing to break down the boring gaze of the people here. So he smiled as he moved, a lopsided smile adorning him.