Eight Uncles' Beloved Treasure (Lily)

Layers of clouds enveloped Ivan’s form, cloaking him one stratum at a time.

The ambient miasma lingered, akin to a malevolent specter brimming with hostility, lunging at him.

Ivan was unaware of the trail of blood he left behind as he ventured and couldn’t recall how many times the barbed talons had slashed his body.

Resolutely, he fixed his gaze on the sacred mountain ahead.

Though the sacred mountain was seemingly invisible, Ivan had an epiphany. It was not the mountain that was imperceptible, but rather, he was within the sacred mountain!

The obscuring blood haze vanished from his sight, and suddenly, apparitions surged forth one by one. A woman who met a tragic death, an infant that was charred, a man with a bloodstained visage twisted in horror…

Ivan’s fingers twitched slightly, and the long spear at his back unsheathed like a keen blade, resonating with a clang that dispelled all illusions before him.

Undaunted and undeterred, he refused to relinquish his vigilance. As anticipated, in less than half a heartbeat, a more potent malevolence than that of the Ghost Abyss swept over him, intent on devouring him!

Having been to the Ghost Abyss before, Ivan remained calm. He raised his hand to assail, his eyes void of hesitance or sentiment, bearing an indifference uncharacteristic of a typical teenager.

Time passed as Ivan slew the apparitions, sensing that the fixation of spirits at the mountain’s base was a hundredfold more terrifying and potent than the apparitions within the abyss.

Had he not clung to his clarity, he might have succumbed to bloodlust, as he had in the Ghost Abyss, even if he resisted.

Ivan’s gaze burned bright and unwavering as he scrutinized the depths of the mountain, methodically searching for an escape.

Abruptly, a radiant streak caught his attention. A semblance of a unique path had become apparent. The light possessed an unusual quality, born from the remnants of hostility shed after each successive layer of adversaries fell.

An imperceptible route emerged in a space untouched by malevolence’s taint. A passage forged unwittingly amidst the expulsion of each stratum of hostility.

“It’s here!”

under his breath, his voice hushed. The long spear cleaved the air,

“Boom!”

converged with a resounding tumult, resembling the clap

a backward glance, Ivan realized that he had successfully exited the perilous

gaze, he saw a colossal shadow engulf the sky, and the mountain stood

but pant heavily, only then noticing

as though some evil force had gnawed and torn through

not noticed

predators often

If Lilly

on how to protect

if Lilly wanted to traverse that

rotated the ring dangling from his

thread, was

what Ivan had brought to this venture.

concealed folded space within the ring capable

the ring, Ivan felt it was suited for Lilly and intended to gift it to

applied medicinal powder to the exposed flesh and bones, procured branches, and smoothed their edges, spreading them on either side of his

his wound, he gulped down an elixir, propped himself against a rock, and surveyed the

had recently exited was the weakest point in the gloomy mist, with the smog around a mile away being

the mountains were correct.

a distinctive feature, intent on leading Lilly

superficial abrasions to