Murong Xue and Feng Ziling kept cultivating in the Space for years.

"Mu Tian, are you ready to leave here?" asked Feng Ziling.

Murong Xue nodded. "It's time to go and see what's going on out there."

Now, Feng Ziling and Murong Xue both achieved the ninth stage of purple-level and they were at the very doorstep of the final goal, but it was not easy to go beyond purple-level.

"Let's go. We have no idea how to overcome the current obstacle if we stay here. Maybe we can ask Master for a solution." They had been at the ninth stage of purple-level for a long time, but they had not made any progress since then no matter how hard they tried.

Murong Xue nodded and held Feng Ziling's hand. In an instant, they got out of the Space.

Then they looked all over the bamboo house for Lan Zun and found that their master was missing. Murong Xue frowned at the rare situation because she remembered that Lan Zun seldom went out and that he stayed in the bamboo house and read his books most of the time.

"Master is not here," said Feng Ziling.

Murong Xue answered, "Yeah, let's go to see ZiLing first. We haven't seen her for a long time. Master is probably coming back this afternoon and we'll meet him at that time."

Feng Ziling nodded his approval. Then he saw Mu Tian's colored hair and took out a toque from his storage ring, handing it over to Mu Tian. "Put this on." Remembering how people talked about Mu Tian before, Feng Ziling felt upset.

"Thanks. Let's go." Murong Xue took over the torque and put it on, the veil of which covered her hair and her face, leaving the sliver mask she wore glimmering.

Feng ZiLing was in the college and they met her soon after they got out of the bamboo forests. Seeing his sister's anxious face, Feng Ziling asked, "What's going on? Why do you look so worried?"

"Ziling?" Feng ZiLing turned around and saw her older brother. She questioned sharply, "Ziling, where have you been? I was frantic, searching everywhere for you. Do you know about our family emergency?"

Murong Xue asked, "What? What's wrong?"

"Mu Tian?" Feng ZiLing's eyes were wide open, full of surprise and shock.

"Yeah, it's me." Murong Xue nodded. They had wanted to stay in the Space only for a couple of days, but they ended up spending more than one hundred years there.

The moment Feng ZiLing heard Murong Xue's positive answer, she could not refrain from jumping at Murong Xue to give her a hug. Feng ZiLing broke down in tears. "I thought you were dead..."

Murong Xue patted Feng ZiLing softly and comforted her. "My death is not that easy to realize. I'm back now."

A sad feeling was stirred up inside Feng Ziling when he saw the scene, but he knew his sister was a better fit for Mu Tian. He was willing to follow and support Mu Tian forever, but he could not bear to watch this. So Feng Ziling looked away from them.

"Okay, stop crying now," Murong Xue said helplessly.

Feng ZiLing stopped sobbing gradually and she got out of Murong Xue's arms with an embarrassed look. "Where have you two been these days? For the past two months, I looked all over for you."

Murong Xue responded, "We were cultivating in the Space. We didn't expect the stay to be so long. What happened? You are anxious and worried."

"Have you seen the sky over there?" Feng ZiLing pointed to the sky far away from them.

Murong Xue and Feng Ziling followed her finger and looked out. They saw a giant black cloud linking heaven and earth, which was filled with rolling black gas.

Feng Ziling changed his face. "What's that?"

Murong Xue thought of something suddenly and asked quickly, "Is that the cliff of the Death Forest?" She remembered the icy cold and creepy feeling she had when she was at the bottom of the cliff at that time and the associate dean's strange body, both of which were terrifying. She had no idea what kind of monster was there.

Feng ZiLing nodded. "That's it. Nobody knows why there is a giant black cloud since last month and the black gas is spreading. Half of the Death Forest has been invaded by it now."

Feng ZiLing took a moment before she continued. "Nothing grows and people's skin becomes dark in the places the black gas has been to. Now, all the families and colleges and the royal family stand together to solve this problem. If things go on like this, everything on the Fengyun Continent will be dead, including humans." The elders in the Feng Family had all been out and about, so Feng ZiLing knew nothing more before they came back.

Feng Ziling heard what his sister said and his face darkened. He had been wondering why there were only a few people in the college when they got out of the Space because the college used to be very busy and crowded with students.

"Did you see my Master?" asked Murong Xue.

"Mr. Lan Zun? He went to the bottom of the cliff a month ago and he did not come back yet." If Mr. Lan Zun could do nothing about it, Feng ZiLing thought they might be hopeless.

"What? Master has been there for a month?" Feng Ziling's face changed, too.

Feng ZiLing cried, "Master? Ziling, Mr. Lan Zun took you on as his student?"

Feng Ziling nodded. He started walking while he said, "Let's talk about it later. Now we should go and see how things go on there."

Murong Xue hurried off after him and the news that Lan Zun had been gone for a month gave her a bad feeling. She wondered what could keep her powerful master there for such a long time.

"Wait, Ziling," Feng ZiLing cried while she tried to catch up with him.

"Talk on the go," Feng Ziling answered, keeping rushing forward.

After a while, they arrived at the periphery of the Death Forest.

"What's this?" asked Feng Ziling.

The Death Forest had a formation barrier, so they could only see the black gas spreading in the forest, which made the forest look very creepy.

Feng ZiLing came up now, gasping. She was at the beginning stage of blue-level, so she was not as fast as the other two who were at the ninth stage of purple-level.

"I'm not done talking," Feng ZiLing said after a pause. "Mr. Lan Zun and other masters set up this formation barrier. Otherwise, the black gas would have arrived in the city, and normal people who could not resist it would have all died now."

"Is the black gas so horrible?" asked Feng Ziling.

Murong Xue said heavily, "The black gas might be the devil's qi. I, Lin Nan, and the other two got poisoned by it before."

Feng Ziling thought of Mu Tian's appearance and the others lying in the Space with their dark skin, and his face went darker.

"Mu Tian, you've seen the black gas before? You..." Feng ZiLing did not notice Mu Tian's strange look until now. "What's about the hat?"

Murong Xue did not see anyone else nearby, so she took off her toque and revealed her purple hair to Feng ZiLing.

"Your hair..." Feng ZiLing was shocked, eyes wide open. Then she saw through the mask that Mu Tian's face seemed to pale, so she asked, "And your face?"

Murong Xue took off the mask and raised a careless smile. "Actually, I think it's pretty cool, but I wear the mask to protect others' feelings."

Feng ZiLing's eyes became wet at once and tears started to drop down.

Murong Xue smiled at her helplessly. "Don't cry. I really don't care." What she said was true. Good looks were not important to her and she believed that none of those who truly cared for her would mind it.

Murong Xue continued. "Let's talk about something else. The devil's qi is really strong and no pills will be useful to cure it."

"Where are the other people now?" Feng Ziling turned to ask his sister.

"They are in the mercenary union talking about this crisis. Several people at purple-level left for the cliff, but they didn't come back." They had no idea how long the formation barrier was able to stand with cracks coming up, which needed immediate check and repair.

"Let's go to gather with others and come up with some plans together," Feng Ziling suggested.

"Let's go." Murong Xue put on her mask and hat.

The three hurried to the mercenary union.

They arrived at the mercenary union very quickly and they were welcomed the moment they got there.

The attendant at the union reception asked, "May I ask if the three of you come here for what's happening in the Death Forest?"

Feng Ziling answered, "Yes. Where is everyone? Take us to them."

"Please have a little test about your levels now." The attendant took out a crystal ball and the reason why he did this was to assign tasks according to everyone's level. At present, those at higher levels were more promising candidates to go to survey in the Death Forest as the first ones who had been gone for days were all at the beginning stage of purple-level.

Murong Xue and the other two took the test one by one without any hesitation.

After the test, the attendant was shocked, eyes wide open. He stared at the thick purple color the crystal ball was shining with an unconvincing look. The attendant had thought the strongest of them might be at the ninth stage of blue-level at most when he saw Feng Ziling, but now the result showed that Feng Ziling was at the ninth stage of purple-level.

Feng Ziling urged, "Don't waste time. Let us in now."

"Yes, okay. Lady, you are at blue-level, so you will go to a different place from the one they go to. The teams are divided according to your levels, so people at blue-level belong to one team while those at purple-level belong to another. In this way, it's easier to assign tasks." The attendant explained the arrangements even more obediently.