"Sha Yan. Sha Yan!" Cheng Sheng called as he tapped Sha Yan's cheek to wake him up. "He's not waking up…" he muttered.

Fei Yin and Wu Yuan looked at each other, then looked at the creature's stiffened corpse and widely gaping mouth. "Venomous saliva." They said and opened the back of Sha Yan's clothes.

Their heart sank when they saw Sha Yan's muscles already turned purplish, bluish and greenish, and his veins are bulging black. The creature was drooling and its venomous saliva dripped on Sha Yan's back! Sha Yan was poisoned!

"Sheng!" Fei Yin called.

"He's cold." Cheng Sheng said and immediately sealed Sha Yan's meridians before he took out magic pills and potions, simultaneously feeding them on Sha Yan. "It's not working!" he exclaimed as his eyes widened in shock.

"Could it be…" Wu Yuan's expression fell. "Because it is near the Ni Lai Gate, this creature's bodily constitution changed?" he asked.

Cheng Sheng sharply gasped. "Mutation." He muttered.

Wu Yuan nodded. "Father and uncle Jing must have seen it, too." He said. "Maybe, the reason why Sha Yan thought that the Shashan Pass didn't exist, as well as the Twin Sand Mounds, is because father and uncle Jing casted an illusion for them to not see it and secretly protected them from harm." He sighed. "This is, so that, when they return to the Stop By Town, they would spread the word that the Shashan Pass doesn't exist, as well as the Ni Lai Gate. So that, no one would come to the Ni Lai Gate again." He explained.

Silence fell. Cheng Sheng continued to cure Sha Yan, but his medicines are not working. "Fei Yin." He called.

Fei Yin looked at Cheng Sheng before he shook his head. He meant, Jing Xian doesn't have a solution, too.

Cheng Sheng bit his lower lip. "If I had known… I wouldn't have taken him with us." he said and clenched his fists. His eyes are red in regret.

"Sheng…" Fei Yin sighed and patted his back. Suddenly, he felt his arm was grasped tightly.

"Sha Yan?!" Cheng Sheng exclaimed when he saw Sha Yan moved.

Sha Yan's eyelids trembled and he slowly opened his eyes. His veins on his chest and neck are turning black. "Cheng… Sheng…" he called under his breath, but his gaze that are unfocused and clouded are on Fei Yin's face.

He grabbed the nearest person to him, thinking they are Cheng Sheng. Fei Yin and Wu Yuan looked at each other and decided not to speak, and let Cheng Sheng speak.

"Sha Yan!" Cheng Sheng called. "Please hang on. I'll save you!" he told him as he took out all of his magic pills and potions. The rich medicinal scent spread in the wilderness.

If someone was present, they would drool on the large number of the high-level magic pills and potions.

"Fei Yin! Senior Wu! Help me feed them all on Sha Yan!" Cheng Sheng said.

However, Fei Yin and Wu Yuan didn't move.

"Fei Yin! Senior Wu!" Cheng Sheng called again as he poured the magic potions on Sha Yan's mouth.

Sha Yan coughed, but he bitterly smiled. "It's… no… use." He spoke in a hoarse and slow voice.

"What…?" Cheng Sheng muttered. Fei Yin and Wu Yuan lowered their head.

"Cheng… Sheng…" Sha Yan called again. "I know you are the best doctor… alchemist… but – " he gasped. " – you should accept that not all illnesses can be cured. I can't be cured…" he told him.

"Sha Yan…" Cheng Sheng's tears fell.

Sha Yan smiled at him. "I remember now… those two righteous cultivators… they protected us with all they might…" he told them. "Among the twenty of us, only I, under their protection, lived, aside from them… only I reached… the Ni Lai Gate with them…" he said.

"Sha Yan… don't speak anymore…" Cheng Sheng cried.

But, Sha Yan continued to speak. "I have to tell you…" he spoke. "The Ni Lai Gate…. The Heilong Realm… is very dangerous." He said. "I have glimpsed at it… 'if you look at the abyss, the abyss will stare back at you', as they… say…" he coughed up blood. "I was almost enticed to enter… if not for the two righteous cultivators…" blood trickled down from the corner of his lips. "Cheng Sheng… save them…" he told him.

"What?!" Wu Yuan exclaimed. "What happened to my father and uncle Jing?!" he asked.

But, it's as if Sha Yan can't hear him. "Cheng Sheng… I have one more favor to ask of you…" he said. "Can you grant it?" he asked.

Morning.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOMM!!!

"Sheng…" Fei Yin muttered as he watched Cheng Sheng lure out the creatures hiding in the Twin Sand Mounds by blowing up the mountains.

"Shall we help him?" Wu Yuan asked.

Fei Yin sighed and his shoulder sank. "He has countless treasures refined by himself." He said and looked at Cheng Sheng flying in the distance while battling against a flying creature. "Let him vent out his anger." He told Wu Yuan.

"En." Wu Yuan agreed. Venting out is one of the ways to avoid qi deviation.

Fei Yin worriedly sighed. He decided to wait until Cheng Sheng is finished killing all of the devious creatures in the Twin Sand Mounds before they go to the Ni Lai Gate.

Sand Sea Mountain.

Wu Yuan sharply inhaled when they saw the demonic qi leaking out of the cracks in the boulders of the rocks around them. He adjusted the mask made from the cloth of the Shapeshifting Blanket that could absorb the demonic qi. "These boulders of rocks… there's demonic qi inside them, changed their bodily constitution that's why their number multiplied, and they grew like the plants around." He said.

Fei Yin nodded and moved his body away when a crack formed in the boulder beside him and a strand of demonic qi leaked out. "Because of the large quantity of the demonic qi entering these rocks, cracks formed in them, resulting to the demonic qi leaking out." He said.

"The Sand Sea Mountain is like a kettle." Cheng Sheng said as he flicked his sleeve and the demonic qi dissipated. "When it can't hold the air in anymore, it would spit out the air." He said. "We can't let these rocks explode, or all of the demonic qi from the Heilong would spread to Huilong." He told them.

"Yes!" they answered and immediately took out talismans before flying to paste the talismans on the boulders of rocks to keep the demonic qi lock inside.

Cheng Sheng stopped in his steps and took a deep breath. Then, he raised his hands to form hand seals before uttering strings of words. Light came out of his hands and flew to the sky before the lights scattered in the form of lines, spreading all over the sky above the Sand Sea Mountain.

"Sheng." Fei Yin muttered as he immediately finished his task and returned to Cheng Sheng.

Shanliangde Sect, Shanliang, North.

Everyone turned when they saw a bright light shot towards the sky from the south.

"Is it…?" Xi Ming's eyes widened and he looked at Xi Xing.

Gong Xian looked at his master, Ho Yue. "Such a powerful aura!" Ho Yue exclaimed.

Xi Ling stared at the sky before he spoke. "Leave some people to protect the sect. We're going to the Xinfaxian Sect!" he ordered.

"Yes!" they answered.

Zhongyang, Central.

Zhang Fu Gong gasped and he turned to look at the sky.

Pai Lie's eyes widened in shock. "It's Cheng Sheng!" he exclaimed. "It must be him!" he said.

Zheng Fu Gong's face turned serious. "Everyone!" he called. "Protect the capital at all costs! Elder Pai and I are going to the Xinfaxian Sect!" he said.

"Yes!"

Youxiwang Sect, Xiwang, West.

Ming Ye grinned when he saw the bright light shooting to the sky and forming an array. "Cheng Sheng…" he muttered before he turned to look at Chen Han whose eyes are bloodshot and his pupils are red. "Finally, it's time!" he said.

He left to call all of the demonic cultivators.

Xinfaxian Sect, Xinfaxian, East.

Lei Qing, Lei Ling and You Rou seriously watched as their sect's teleportation arrays lit up one by one and revealed Zheng Fu Gong, Pai Lie, Xi Ling, Ho Yue, Gong Xian, Xi Ming and Xi Ning.

Lei Ling sharply inhaled. "All powerful people are here!" he muttered.

You Rou nodded and anxiously looked at the sky. "Everyone…" she muttered.

Lei Qing patted her shoulder before she walked towards the Zheng Fu Gong and the others and respectfully bowed. "Elder Zheng, elder Pai, elder Ho, and elder Xi." She called. "Our founder, shifu, and elder Fei are waiting for you." She told them.

Zheng Fu Gong, Pai Lie, Xi Ling and Ho Yue looked at each other before they turned to Lei Qing and stepped out of the array. "Let's go." They said.

Lei Qing respectfully bowed. Along with Lei Ling and You Rou who had their head lowered, they led Pai Lie, Xi Ling, and Ho Yue to Xie Lan, Fan Wen and Fei Lin.