Miss Qiang issued the retreat order,

while the Painter reached back and touched the White Bone Hook Chain bound to him, then gripped it firmly, looking at Zhou Xuan.

As soon as Zhou Xuan gave the command, he would, as previously agreed, shake the hook chain to send a message to Zhao Wuya and Yun Ziliang, who were guarding the Earth’s Abyss Well, to restart the Heavenly Light Array to prevent the evil entities in the abyss from escaping.

After sealing the array, the Painter and Zhou Xuan would use methods like "Shifting Form" and "Space Law" to escape.

But the more he waited for Zhou Xuan to act, the less movement Zhou Xuan made.

Zhou Xuan quietly closed his eyes, as if contemplating something.

"Ah Xuan, Ah Xuan, we need to leave, the entity inside the Earth’s Abyss is trying to control us and it’s incredibly strong. If we don’t leave now, it will be too late."

Miss Qiang also called out to Zhou Xuan loudly, even entering the Secret Realm to see what Zhou Xuan was up to.

Inside the Black Water Secret Realm, the City God Temple representing the Blood Well was still suppressing the Mother of Hundred Demons, but the other symbol of the Blood Well, that crimson moon, was no longer floating in the black water,

It hung high in the sky, the Moon Wheel spinning, occasionally bursting forth bright red sparks,

Those sparks, like fireworks in the sky, wove patterns in the air, first forming three waves, representing the wind in nature.

When the wind-like fireworks fell into the air, they coalesced into the shape of a "galloping horse." After the horse ran in the black water for a while, it suddenly leaped and transformed into numerous colorful swallows... As the swallows streamed out in rays of light, when the lights dimmed, they split in two... A single colorful swallow divided into two pitch-black sparrows, chirping incessantly,

Once these visions disappeared,

a bamboo stick-like object grew out from the black water, reaching about a foot high,

Black waves rolled within the black water,

The black wave formed into a human hand, gripping the bamboo stick and forcefully twisting it, shattering the bamboo stick... Boom, with a loud explosion, the outer shell of the bamboo stick shattered, revealing an incense stick.

"The Fifth Incense?"

Miss Qiang finally understood why Zhou Xuan wasn’t responding. In this eerie place of Earth’s Abyss, he had comprehended the opportunity of the Fifth Incense.

"But what is the Tangkou of this Fifth Incense...?"

Having lived in Jing Country for over two thousand years as the "Sighing Mother Wall," Miss Qiang was familiar with all the tangkou in Jing Country,

Whether it be the renowned nine ancient tangkou or the other various minor tangkou, she knew the characteristics of all those tangkou.

Yet this one, represented by the "wind, horse, swallow, sparrow" and bamboo stick as incense, she truly hadn’t seen.

Despite racking her brains for a while longer, Miss Qiang still couldn’t make sense of it, but she realized a crucial point—the most important thing now was not to figure out which tangkou Zhou Xuan’s Fifth Incense was, but to quickly wake Zhou Xuan and immediately retreat.

"Ah Xuan, for now, don’t focus on lighting the Fifth Incense, we must find a way..." Miss Qiang urged.

Zhou Xuan finally spoke, saying, "I’m not lighting the Fifth Incense. I’m discerning from where those whispers are coming."

"Where else could it come from? Deep within the Earth’s Abyss." Miss Qiang said anxiously.

The Painter also asked Zhou Xuan, "Master, should we immediately shake this Bone Lock so that Master Zhao and Master Yun can seal the array?"

"No rush."

Zhou Xuan raised a hand to stop the Painter, looking at Miss Qiang, he said, "You said, the Mother of Earth’s Abyss, the power she holds, is it from outside the Incense Fire Divine Dao?"

"Yes, similar to the spiritual control of our Blood Flesh Divine Dynasty."

Miss Qiang said, "The people of the Divine Dynasty have exceptionally strong spiritual power, especially the main brain. If you encounter him, he can create sounds and illusions in your spiritual world, even directly trigger some extreme emotion that drives you insane."

"That makes sense."

Zhou Xuan said, "The whispered voices of that old scholarly man just now were not direct spiritual control."

"Then what was it?"

"Like what you mentioned earlier, imitating spiritual control using Perception—like in the storyteller’s dream." Zhou Xuan said.

Miss Qiang immediately expressed surprise, asking, "You can tell the difference?"

"I am a disciple of the storyteller." Zhou Xuan explained, "Distinguishing the storyteller’s dream is foundational for our tangkou."

"Not foundational." the Painter added in a timely manner, "Master, I’ve roamed the martial world for many years, and being able to instantly differentiate the storyteller’s dream, well, you could count them on one hand..."

Such is the way with geniuses; he assumes that what is simple for him is simple for everyone, which isn’t really a difficult matter. Zhou Xuan was also caught in this misconception.

Zhou Xuan continued, "Since the sounds aren’t from the Mother of Earth’s Abyss, then these whispered voices—they are likely coming from the Mountain Ancestor."

Within the Earth’s Abyss, besides the mysterious great evil entity of unknown origin, the only one that can be confirmed to exist is the God-level "Mountain Ancestor" of the Dragon Seeking Tangkou.

That great evil entity couldn’t be using human measures, and the only one capable of using human methods from Jing Country can only be the Mountain Ancestor.

"May I ask which senior you are?"

When the whispering voice saying, "The subtlety of the Three Pure Ones lies not in raising momentum; the profundity of heaven and earth lies not in knowing change." sounded once more within his body, Zhou Xuan invoked his Perception.

His Perception enveloped Zhou Xuan’s voice, blending with the whisper, as Zhou Xuan conversed with the "scholarly whisperer."