Cheat God
23. Heavenly aura

The Gatekeeper’s final words hung in the air long after he stopped speaking. Then, without warning, the old man closed his half-open eye and lowered his head, just slightly. His thin frame appeared even more lifeless than before, as though he had returned to slumber—or perhaps, to death. No one could tell.

He no longer acknowledged the crowd. To him, their presence meant nothing.

The gathered cultivators stood in place for a moment longer, still unsure whether they were allowed to move. But when no further sign came from the old man, the tension broke. One group stepped forward, then another. Quiet footsteps stirred the cursed dust. And then, like a wave released from a dam, the scattered cultivators surged forward, vanishing into the fog-covered land.

Liu Chen remained still for a few breaths, watching the Gatekeeper. He could feel it clearly now—the man’s aura had faded, not because it had weakened, but because it had withdrawn completely. Whatever happened from this point on, it was beyond his concern.

“This is it,” Liu Feng said quietly at Liu Chen’s side. “No turning back.”

Liu Chen nodded and stepped forward. The others followed without hesitation. They moved as one across the dry land, passing through crooked trees and broken stones. The red-yellow fog shifted around them like a living thing, pulsing and twisting without wind. Though they could see no creatures, the land felt far from empty.

Liu Chen knew this was only the outermost edge of the Great Land of Bliss. All of them had been given a rough sketch—a simple spiritual map passed down through previous generations—but the truth was, no one fully understood the terrain. The region was vast, ancient, and constantly changing. Even the safest zones could become deadly overnight.

They walked cautiously, eyes sharp, and it didn’t take long before they encountered the first signs of danger.

Thick clouds of red fog, darker than the usual mist, lay ahead in patches across the terrain. It clung low to the ground and pulsed faintly like a beating heart. Liu Chen’s soul instinctively recoiled from it.

“That’s cursed fog,” he said. “We can’t enter that area.”

The others slowed. Liu Jian frowned. “It wasn’t marked as cursed on the map.”

“The cursed aura moves,” Liu Chen explained. “Sometimes a place is safe one day and deadly the next. This fog changes its path randomly. Even the old records say no formation or talisman can track it accurately.”

“So we avoid it completely,” Liu Feng said.

They veered off-course, circling wide around the cursed patch. As they moved further, they passed several more fog zones—some narrow like rivers, others wide enough to block entire valleys. In some places, the fog crept slowly across the ground, stretching out tendrils as if searching for victims. But not everything was hostile.

Soon after skirting one particularly large cursed zone, Liu Chen felt a sudden shift in the air. The wind changed—though there had been no wind a moment ago—and the very air shimmered faintly. A pleasant warmth flowed through him, gentle but vibrant.

He paused and took a deep breath.

This was heavenly aura.

“It’s real,” he said softly. “No wonder so many people risk their lives here.”

He felt it clearly. Though he hadn’t activated his cultivation at all, his soul sea had subtly expanded. His meridians felt smoother. Even the energy within his blood seemed to grow denser. The others noticed it too.

Liu Han, one of the twins, laughed. “This place helps you cultivate even if you’re standing still.”

Liu Ming nodded. “Just breathing it in makes your foundation stronger.”

This was the hidden truth of the Great Land of Bliss. In the midst of the cursed zones, there were places where the very air carried pure heavenly energy—a type of power that refined the body, the soul, and even the latent talent of a cultivator. No need for pills or techniques. Just being here was enough to improve.

But that didn’t mean it was safe. These areas were rare. And often, where there was heavenly aura, there were also rare treasures—spiritual herbs, ancient remnants, soul crystals, or even lost inheritance grounds. That meant others would be searching too. Rival cultivators. Predators. Worse.

They continued on for several hours, moving with care. Eventually, they reached the edge of a wide plateau, free of cursed fog, with high ground that gave them a better view of the region ahead. There, Liu Chen called for a halt.

“We should split up,” he said.

The others looked at him, waiting.

“We’ll cover more ground that way,” he continued. “Moving in small groups will give everyone a better chance of finding treasure or discovering ruins. But we don’t scatter too far. No more than a few hundred kilometers apart. If something happens, we can reach each other quickly.”

Liu Feng nodded. “Three teams?”

“Three,” Liu Chen agreed. “Three teams of three. I’ll go alone.”

“Alone?” Liu Jian frowned. “That’s risky.”

“I can handle myself,” Liu Chen said. “And I have techniques that work better without others nearby.”

None of them argued further.

The teams formed quickly. Liu Feng would lead, along with two of the mid-stage Soul Foundation cultivators—Liu Qiao and Liu Mei, both formation experts. Liu Jian, whose sturdy combat style made him a natural frontliner, took with him Liu Yan and Liu Rui, both focused on defensive techniques and spirit tools. The twins, Liu Han and Liu Ming, led the final group with Liu Xue, the beast tamer.

Each team would patrol a different direction from the plateau, no further than a few hundred kilometers, and return to this meeting point every three days unless they discovered something urgent.

Liu Chen took the southern path alone, where several peaks rose in the distance, half-covered in mist but free of cursed fog for now. He had sensed faint soul fluctuations there—not threatening, but... old.

He watched his companions depart, then checked his communication talisman. It glowed faintly, still linked to the others. With a subtle pulse of his spiritual sense, he marked each of their positions on his soul map, just in case.

The sky above remained the same golden haze, but deeper in the land, shadows shifted unnaturally. Liu Chen took one final breath of the heavenly aura-rich air before stepping toward the peaks. Whatever secrets the Land of Bliss held, they would not reveal themselves easily.