Wei Yuan continued deeper into the area based on the information he had extracted through interrogation. As he passed a crossroads, he spotted a transparent block of ice containing the frozen corpse of a human cultivator. The man’s face was contorted with terror, still frozen in the expression he had at the moment of death. It was unclear how long he had been trapped here.

This was a border marker the Hlai had set up as a warning.

Such border markers were usually imbued with warning spells as well, which was why Wei Yuan did not touch it. He concealed his aura and stepped around it.

Wei Yuan guessed that of the two following him—Mahamayuri and Zhao Fusheng—the former would likely be unable to bear the sight, while the latter definitely wouldn’t be able to stand it. By the time they smashed the border marker and triggered the alarm, he would already be in hiding. After that, all he needed to do was wait for the Hlai to engage the intruders, which would enable him to take advantage of the chaos to see what treasures lay within their lairs.

Wei Yuan pressed deeper. On the way, he encountered several more patrolling Hlai but was able to pass them all without incident.

After traveling nearly 100 li further, Wei Yuan emerged from a cave opening and found an immense underground chamber spread out before him.

At the center of this chamber was a fissure several li wide and filled with seawater. Occasionally, members of the Hlai would leap out of it. The rock walls on either side had been almost entirely hollowed out, forming dwellings that resembled a beehive. Light shone from many of these dwellings. Viewed from afar, the...