chsdbacks Chapter 316 Sunset Forest
Chapter 316 Sunset Forest
Chapter 321 Sunset Forest
The journey from Xingluo City to Tiandou City is a full four thousand miles.
Although the carriage that Huo Yuhao hired looked very ordinary, the horses pulling it were not ordinary packhorses, but a kind of low-level soul beast that had been specially trained and named Zhui Fengya.
This kind of spirit beast horse is not tall, with strong and powerful limbs and an iron-gray mane. When it runs, its four hooves hardly touch the ground, but when it gallops, the carriage is as stable as sitting in your own living room.
The Chasing Wind Steed is not particularly aggressive, but its endurance and speed are renowned.
Even so, it took a full ten days before they finally caught a glimpse of the majestic outline of Tiandou City's walls.
After resting for a night in Tiandou City and washing away the dust of their journey, Huo Yuhao and Jin Li set off again at the crack of dawn the next morning.
This time, they did not hire a carriage, but walked through the somewhat deserted east gate of Tiandou City.
There were few pedestrians on the official road outside the city gate. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of grass, trees, and soil.
After walking a distance from the city gate, the two of them each unfolded their soul-guided flying devices on their backs, and then soared into the sky, flying eastward.
After traveling no more than a hundred miles, a vast and boundless emerald green ocean appeared at the edge of their sight.
The forest stretched as far as the eye could see, with the canopies of ancient trees undulating like waves in the morning breeze, resembling a richly colored landscape painting from afar.
"Is this the Sunset Forest?"
The two hovered at the edge of the forest, with a clear dividing line between the forest and the open wilderness below.
One step forward leads to a dense, lush forest; one step back leads to overgrown weeds.
Jin Li looked down at the lush greenery below, her brows furrowing slightly involuntarily.
As a soul beast, she was extremely familiar with the atmosphere of the forest.
As an imperial auspicious beast, it carries the fortune of the soul beast race and has an inexplicable and mysterious connection to the rise and fall of the soul beast race in the forest.
At this moment, in her perception, the aura of the soul beasts in this Sunset Forest, which was by no means small, was extremely weak.
Huo Yuhao's spiritual power was incredibly strong. At the same moment Jin Li frowned, his spiritual power at the Spirit Realm level had already spread out like an invisible giant net towards the Sunset Forest below.
Wherever his mental energy passed, every blade of grass, every tree, every insect, and every beast in the forest was imprinted in his mind. However, the information that returned made him frown slightly.
Logically speaking, a vast and dense primeval forest like Sunset Forest should have a considerable number and high-ranking spirit beasts.
But at this moment, in his perception, the entire forest was eerily quiet.
Let alone ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, there are very few even thousand-year-old soul beasts.
Only at the very edge of Sunset Forest can one still sense the faint fluctuations of ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts.
A thought involuntarily arose in Huo Yuhao's mind: Could it be that the excessive hunting by humans has led to the near extinction of the soul beasts here?
He glanced at Jin Li, whose expression was unusually serious, and said, "Fly inwards and see what the situation is like deep inside."
Jin Li nodded, pursed her lips and said nothing. The two flew side by side toward the central area of Sunset Forest.
The deeper you fly, the denser the forest becomes. The canopies of towering ancient trees intertwine, cutting the sunlight into countless tiny spots that scatter on the ground, making the forest dim and deep.
However, after flying for a while, Jin Li suddenly stopped in mid-air.
She hovered in mid-air, her golden eyes fixed on the increasingly dark depths of the forest ahead, her voice unusually serious and grave: "Something's not right here!"
"Normally, the deeper into the forest, the stronger the soul beasts that inhabit it should be."
"We've been flying for so long, and we're already deep down here. The most we've sensed are a few thousand-year-old soul beasts, but we haven't even seen a single ten-thousand-year-old soul beast."
When it comes to soul beasts, Jin Li seems to transform completely.
Finally, she slowly raised her hand and pointed in a direction deep within the Sunset Forest: "I sensed a threat in that direction."
"Perhaps it is because of the anomaly there that there are so few soul beasts in this forest."
Huo Yuhao didn't speak, but he had already accepted Jin Li's judgment in his heart.
He had just been speculating that the sharp decline in soul beasts in Sunset Forest was due to excessive hunting by human soul masters, but now it seems that speculation can be overturned.
The moment Jin Li finished speaking, an excited voice suddenly rang out in Huo Yuhao's mental sea without warning.
"This is it! This is it!"
"I smell it! It's the scent of the Seven Deadly Flowers of Azure Phosphorus, there's no mistake!"
This is the sound of the Qiluo Tulip.
Huo Yuhao's reason for traveling a long distance to Tiandou City was not to see the scenery; his goal from the beginning was the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
He learned from ten thousand years later that the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was located around Tiandou City. After extensive inquiries and repeated comparisons with records in ancient books, he finally narrowed down the search area to Sunset Forest.
The reaction of the Qiluo Tulip is the most powerful proof that this king of immortal herbs, who emerged from the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire, would never mistake the way home.
"Although we are still some distance from the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire, I can already sense the thin layer of poisonous gas permeating the air."
"That's the aura emanating from the Seven Absolute Flowers of Azure Phosphorus. This poison array was personally set up by the Sea God Tang San around the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire."
Back then, Tang San planted the Seven Absolute Flowers of Azure Phosphorus around the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire, forming a poisonous array that covered the entire valley, supposedly to protect these immortal herbs from being stolen and dug up by greedy outsiders.
At that time, the immortal herbs in the Yin-Yang Eyes of Ice and Fire were inexperienced in the ways of the world, their minds as pure as a blank sheet of paper, and they had no idea about the complicated thoughts of humans.
So they believed whatever Tang San said, and were not only grateful for it, but also obediently held the "Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record" left by Tang San, waiting for the "destined person" to come and be tested.
They didn't even consider what the "Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record" actually was; it was clearly a guide to consuming immortal herbs!
However, ten thousand years later, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well came under the control of the Tang Sect. After witnessing how generations of Tang Sect disciples skillfully used the knowledge in the "Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record" to harvest immortal herbs, these immortal herbs were finally awakened from this ten-thousand-year-long dream.
They finally understood that the Azure Phosphorous Seven Deadly Poison Array was not only for those outside the Tang Clan, but also a prison for them.
Therefore, when Qiluo Tulip mentions Tang San's name now, there is no longer any respect in her tone.
Huo Yuhao withdrew his gaze from the depths of the distant forest and turned to look at Jin Li, who had a serious expression beside him: "Come with me."
Then, guided by the Qiluo Tulip in the Sea of Spirit, Huo Yuhao followed the poisonous gas in the air and flew straight towards the location of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye.
After traveling nearly 10,000 meters, Jin Li suddenly reached out and grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm with considerable force, pulling both of them to a stop in mid-air.
Huo Yuhao turned to look at her, only to find that Jin Li wasn't looking at him at all, but staring straight ahead, her handsome face filled with unprecedented seriousness and solemnity.
She narrowed her golden eyes slightly, and her nostrils twitched a few times.
After a moment, she said in a low voice, "I know, it's poison."
"There should be an extremely potent poison gas ahead. The deeper we go, the higher the concentration of the poison gas will be."
"It is this poisonous gas that makes the number of soul beasts increasingly scarce the closer you get to the center of the forest."
To Ping Jinli's surprise, Huo Yuhao did not show the slightest surprise after hearing her judgment.
Instead, he gave a faint smile and said two words: "I know."
Then Huo Yuhao stared straight into her with his clear eyes and asked softly, "Do you trust me?"
Jin Li nodded without hesitation.
She was a soul beast, and Huo Yuhao was a human. Logically speaking, humans and beasts are different, and the word "trust" should not be given lightly.
But after spending so much time with Huo Yuhao, I can tell he's a trustworthy person.
This was not only her own feeling, but also a guidance from fate.
Huo Yuhao looked at the undisguised trust in her golden eyes and said nothing more.
He smiled, then took Jin Li's small hand and flew forward.
Jin Li felt the warm touch from his palm, paused for a moment, but did not struggle, letting him lead her forward.
Even after a short while, when the blotting-out poisonous miasma in front of her had completely transformed into a thick, tangible sea of fog, she still did not retreat an inch.