Song Ciwan stood by the pile of ruins Ye Sheng had pointed to. Instead of answering, she raised a hand and opened the Five Poison Jar.

Black Insects instantly poured from the jar, forming what looked like several long, black whips. With a series of CRACKS and POPS, they shoved aside the messy pile of junk on the ground.

There was nothing of any particular note within the debris.

As for Princess Chunshui’s true form, that was nowhere to be seen.

’Princess Chunshui is a person. Is it possible her physical body is actually buried here—’

’No, that’s not right!’

’Princess Chunshui might not be human at all!’

In that split second, Song Ciwan swept her Spiritual Sense over the area. Through its unique perspective, she saw Ye Sheng’s eyes move ever so slightly.

Instantly, Song Ciwan commanded the swarming Black Insects to change formation. They coalesced into a sharp, shovel-like shape and, with a WHOOSH, plunged toward the ground.

The earth, as hard as rock, was instantly gouged open, leaving a shallow pit the size of a large soup bowl.

Though the Black Insects from the Five Poison Jar were individually minuscule, they had undergone several evolutions and were, in essence, unbelievably tough.

The Black Insects even possessed a collective strength nearly comparable to that of an Innate Expert. While each insect had its weaknesses, together, they could bore through mountains and shatter stone with ease.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Fragments of shattered earth and rock flew in every direction, landing with a CLATTER.

The pit in the center deepened rapidly. At the same time, the expressions of the Princess Chunshui duplicates still tangling with Zhou Bo changed in unison.

Out of the three hundred sixty-five Princess Chunshui duplicates, one hundred and eighty spun around at once. Whipping their Snake Tails, they vanished into the Void, only to reappear moments later surrounding Song Ciwan.

But they couldn’t see Song Ciwan. They could only see the patch of ruins before them, where a countless swarm of Black Insects was frantically digging, their wings producing a loud DRONE.

"AAAAH!" the Princess Chunshui duplicates shrieked.

One hundred and eighty Snake Tails shot out at once, forming a vast net of serpents that swept toward the digging Black Insects.

"Vile creatures! Where did you come from?" The shrill, feminine voices overlapped as they roared, "Vile creatures, die!"

"Vile creatures, die!"

"Die!"

"Just die! AAAAAAHHH—"

The overlapping voices created sonic waves that made the very air seem to roil.

Under the assault, dozens, even hundreds, of the Black Insects digging in the dirt instantly burst apart.

The shattered husks of the insects rained down with a dry rustle, littering the ground in moments.

Then, the massive net of Snake Tails descended, sweeping down to annihilate the remaining Black Insects.

This all takes time to describe, but it happened as quickly as a flash of lightning or the vanishing of morning dew. To say it happened in the blink of an eye would be an understatement.

Just as it seemed all of Song Ciwan’s Black Insects were about to be annihilated, her hand already reaching for the hilt of the blade at her waist, the top of a scroll tube poked out from the depths of the pit.

Ye Sheng’s eyes lit up. In an instant, he traversed the distance, moving past the swarming Black Insects and the sky-blotting Snake Tails. Or perhaps "past" wasn’t the right word. Ye Sheng didn’t go around them; they simply existed in different planes of space. Visually, it was less like he was moving past them and more like he was phasing through them.

In a single moment, Ye Sheng phased through it all.

He arrived at the center of the pit and seized the scroll tube!

That’s right. Ye Sheng had grasped the scroll tube.

He existed in the Otherworld, yet he could grasp a scroll tube in the mortal realm. This could only mean one thing: the scroll tube itself was a special Divine Dao Magical Artifact, or at the very least, it possessed some of its properties.

Ye Sheng gripped the tube and yanked it from the ground.

It was as if he were drawing a sword, or maybe flipping some fantastic switch.

As soon as the tube was free of the earth, the scroll within it unfurled in the wind.

And then, all of them—the shrieking, Snake Tail-whipping, shackled, and furious Princess Chunshui duplicates—dissolved in that very instant, becoming nothing but ethereal phantoms, then wisps of Light Smoke.

These wisps of Light Smoke swirled, flowing like fine rain returning to the ocean, and were drawn into the unfurled scroll!

On the once-blank scroll, the figures of various beautiful women began to appear.

Some strummed zithers or played reed pipes. Some admired flowers by the water, or gazed at the moon from an open window. Others were poised with a needle and thread, or adding incense for a scholar, or gracefully wielding an ink brush...

Beauties in all manner of poses filled the painting. A great bamboo forest materialized in a splash-ink style, and beneath it, pairs of women were seated, playing go.

Beside the bamboo grove, another beauty was captured mid-song and dance, her posture enchanting.

As the dozens, then hundreds, and finally all three hundred sixty-five of the Star-counted Princess Chunshui duplicates fell into the painting, the singing and dancing beauty beside the bamboo grove suddenly lifted her head and turned her face. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

From within the painting, she looked out!

Her face was a mask of pure Fury.

A shackle materialized around her neck, and her face... it was unmistakably the face of Princess Chunshui!

The scene was utterly bizarre, but in that same instant, Song Ciwan blurted out a name: "Lankao Spring and Autumn Map..."

’That’s it!’ This was unmistakably the very treasure that had escaped on its own from the bottom of Bibo Lake: the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map!

The Lankao Spring and Autumn Map had originally been a mere Upper Grade Magical Artifact. It was personally painted by Su Shun, also known as Su Baiyi—a student of the Great Scholar Yu Chunqiu and the official who had placed third in the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty’s imperial examinations.

After its creation, the map was won at auction by the Tian Clan. It was later given to an Artifact Refining Master, who further refined it, ultimately turning it into an Upper Grade Magical Artifact that anyone could use.

When Tian Junhong obtained this Magical Artifact, he held a grand banquet in Su Yang City, inviting all his friends to admire his new treasure.

The last time Song Ciwan had seen this map was at the bottom of Bibo Lake.

Back then, Tian Junhong had been driven to madness, suspending the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map over an earth vein node to perform a ritual refinement.

The near-total depletion of Su Yang City’s Earth Vein Primordial Qi was not only due to the Dragon Maiden disaster; it was also inextricably linked to Tian Junhong’s refinement of the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map.

The Lankao Spring and Autumn Map had absorbed a massive amount of Earth Vein Primordial Qi. Combined with the special refinement, its spirituality had surged, causing it to mutate. It had undergone a complete transformation, evolving from a mere Upper Grade Magical Artifact with limited potential into a mutated, spiritual Magical Treasure of indeterminable Level!

Back then, neither Song Ciwan, deep underground, nor Chi Hua Fairy had been able to stop the Treasure Map.

The treasure, having gained a spirit of its own, had fled.

At the time, Song Ciwan never would have imagined that the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map had fled only to hide here, in an unremarkable patch of earth beneath Pinglan City.

She certainly never expected to see the Treasure Map again so soon.

And now, that very Treasure Map was in Ye Sheng’s hands!

On Wangjiang Mountain, cultivators rose to their feet one after another, unable to stop themselves from taking a few steps closer to the light screen.

Within the crowd, several cultivators gasped in unison, the same shocked words escaping their lips: "It’s the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map!"