The queen bee rose into the air, stretching its body to resemble a human, its wings trembling violently, emitting a buzzing sound like rolling thunder, its head extremely ferocious.

With its sudden rise, the bees inside and outside the cave began to gather momentum. Although they had some intelligence and would avoid Chu Liang, they seemed to completely forget about life and death under the queen bee’s call!

Without saying a word, the queen bee immediately aimed to take Chu Liang’s life upon meeting him!

Chu Liang was surrounded by the swarm of bees in the cave. If it were him before, he might have been troubled. But now, with a few more magical abilities and increased cultivation, he faced this situation without any fear.

With a wave of his flying sword, more than a hundred sword lights appeared, filling the cave with their radiance and protecting him!

Chu Liang divided his divine sense, with dozens of sword lights protecting himself, not allowing the bees to approach. Dozens of other sword lights followed his fingers and attacked the queen bee in formation.

The sound of clanging and clashing of gold and iron resounded as the queen bee’s body became as hard as iron and stone! The flying sword continuously struck it.

Sigh.

Chu Liang sighed inwardly. This standard flying sword was still not enough. When encountering a tough opponent, it only sparked and produced sparks.

But he was not panicked. After all, he still had other means.

However, the queen bee did not wait for his next move and immediately launched a counterattack. With a sharp scream, it shot out a black arrow.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Chu Liang flew back and narrowly avoided it.

The black arrow spread in the air, turning out to be a black liquid that rained down, covering everything and leaving no room to dodge!

If Green Leaf’s artifact was still here, Chu Liang would not fear this indiscriminate attack. But now that it was gone, Chu Liang could only come up with a clever solution. He merged the hundred sword lights together to form a sword light shield.

Hiss—

The black liquid fell on the sword light shield, emitting a strong corrosive sound, penetrating several holes in the sword energy.

The queen bee completely disregarded the fact that its subjects filled the cave. The black liquid that fell on the bees immediately killed a large number of its own poisonous bees.

It was truly ruthless.

It didn’t even hesitate to attack its own allies.

Chu Liang thought to himself as he made a hand gesture. The hundred swords quickly gathered together, forming a flying sword once again. The flying sword soared through the air, making a hissing sound, and instantly drew two silver sword auras as he pointed forward.

The Ice and Fire Dual Symbol Sword!

Swish—

The long sword, empowered by both ice and fire, collided with the queen bee’s body.

At first contact, they were evenly matched for a moment.

But as the powerful penetrating force of the Ice and Fire Dual Symbol Sword was displayed, the long sword quickly pierced through the queen bee’s body, piercing through the monster.

“Ah—” The queen bee screamed twice, trembling for a while before gradually losing its vitality.

A golden mark floated out.

With the death of the queen bee, the swarm of bees immediately lost their command and dispersed with a loud noise, as if a black cloud had dissipated in the cave.

Only then did Chu Liang sheathe his sword and breathe a sigh of relief.

…

After a short rest, he calmed down and used his divine sense to observe the cave again.

He found that it was just an ordinary cave, with the only strange thing being the golden skeleton sitting cross-legged.

The queen bee and the poisonous bees in the valley had gained extraordinary intelligence because they had gnawed on this skeleton.

No wonder these poisonous bees were so aggressive… If they were normal monsters cultivated through practice, they would have basic intelligence, knowing how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and not attack people like wild beasts.

But these poisonous bees were essentially monsters that had become demonic by eating humans!

At the same time, it also indicated how terrifying the power of this skeleton was during its lifetime. Even after death, it could elevate an entire group.

To cultivate a body with golden bones, one would need to be at least a sixth realm practitioner of the Law Body stage. Only when reaching the Law Body stage could they begin to reshape their physical body and have the possibility of such a mutation.

And to possess such powerful intelligence, it was likely that this skeleton was a seventh realm expert… or at least very close to the seventh realm.

But how did such a powerful expert fall in this nameless valley… It was so close to Shu Mountain, could it be a powerful expert from Shu Mountain?

As Chu Liang pondered, he approached.

First, he carefully inspected the area and found nothing unusual before getting closer to the skeleton.

The corpse had fallen for countless years, but the golden radiance on the bones still remained, exuding extraordinary spirituality. The countless poisonous bees that clung to it day and night had not caused any obvious damage.

The clothing and flesh on the body might have been eaten by the poisonous bees, otherwise, they wouldn’t have rotted so thoroughly. But it was strange that there were no other items left behind.

Would a cultivator of such a high realm not have any treasures or weapons on them?

Upon closer inspection, Chu Liang noticed something unusual.

In the center of the skeleton, there was a dark golden scroll stuck.

The cave was dimly lit, and the color of the scroll was similar to the bones, making it difficult to notice without careful observation.

“Senior, please forgive me.”

Chu Liang first paid his respects before reaching out his finger and gently picking up the scroll. He unfolded it and found that it seemed to be a scroll with a pattern of a route. The material seemed to be dark golden leather, but he wasn’t sure what kind of leather it was.

However, there was an obvious break on it, and judging from its shape, this scroll should only be a quarter of the original.

Thinking back to where it was stuck just now…

It seemed that the deceased had swallowed this scroll during their lifetime! That was why it remained here after turning into a skeleton.

For such a powerful cultivator to use such a method to protect something…

Chu Liang looked at the incomplete scroll in his hand, deep in thought. Could it be a legendary treasure map?

But without any introduction, he didn’t even know what was depicted on it, let alone finding the remaining parts.Looking around to make sure there was nothing else in the vicinity, Chu Liang finally stood up. There was a pit nearby, created by the impact of his flying sword just now. He respectfully placed the golden skeleton into it and filled the pit back up.

“Elder, your bones have been disturbed by poisonous bees for many years, it must have been uncomfortable. I am burying you to give you peace. I don’t know what this scroll depicts, but I will take it with me, giving it a chance to see the light of day again. I hope you won’t find it offensive.”

After paying his respects, he left the cave.

……

Meanwhile, at the Azure Fall Peak of Shu Mountain.

Atop the peak stood a tall silver tree, its branches all reaching upwards, twisting and turning as if striving to touch the sky. It was known as the Azure Fall Ancient Tree, and the peak was named after it.

A figure in a flowing white fairy dress was ascending, with each step a white flower bloomed under her feet, as if a fairy was ascending to heaven.

She climbed all the way to the top of the tree crown, where a woman in a feathered dress was waiting, standing alone against the wind, overlooking the sea of clouds.

The woman in the feathered dress turned around, her face was calm as a still pond, ageless, and vaguely divine.

The name Yan Daoist, the master of Azure Fall Peak, was probably known to many in the cultivation world, but few knew that Yan Daoist was a woman.

And the one who ascended the tree with such grace was a beautiful young girl. If Chu Liang were here, he would recognize her at a glance. This was Jiang Yuebai.

“Master.”

Upon seeing Yan Daoist, Jiang Yuebai bowed slightly.

“You’re back.” The woman in the feathered dress’s voice was elusive in the wind, “Was everything smooth?”

“Fairly smooth, but there were no real inheritors of the Divine Ruins Sect.” Jiang Yuebai replied, “Just descendants of the disciples who were abandoned by the sect, they know nothing about the secrets of the Divine Ruins.”

“Were you injured?” Yan Daoist asked again.

“I was a bit hasty when chasing, and fell into an ambush.” Jiang Yuebai said, “It’s nothing serious.”

“Sigh…”

Yan Daoist sighed softly.

“Your mother came out of the Divine Ruins and then returned. Your father has been searching for the traces of the Divine Ruins ever since, and there has been no news… But you don’t have to do this. Since you’ve come to Shu Mountain, why not just focus on your cultivation? The Divine Ruins are like a curse, getting too close will always bring misfortune…”

“But… I’ve already been cursed.” Jiang Yuebai’s expression was cold but determined, “Perhaps this is my fate.”

“Your father was a brilliant and dazzling figure back then, and now…” Yan Daoist looked at Jiang Yuebai, her eyes full of worry, “I just worry that you will end up like him.”

Jiang Yuebai met her master’s gaze, her eyes soft but unwavering.

“There’s… no escaping it.”