One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 237 The Mountain Guardian

After seven days of rest and intensive training, the two had become even more coordinated and efficient. One in front, one behind; one to the left, one to the right; there were virtually no blind spots. The domineering purification of the Qilin True Fire and the pure burning of the Phoenix True Fire complemented each other, multiplying their power!

In just a few breaths, the first wave of ferocious vine attacks was swiftly and decisively defeated by the two working together. The surroundings were temporarily quieter, with only the charred remains of vines on the ground and the faint smell of burnt flesh in the air, rapidly being purified by the residual heat of the flames, testifying to the intensity of the battle that had just taken place.

However, Nie Lingfeng's brows furrowed even more. He could sense that the "malice" and "activity" of this "Morphin Mother Forest" far exceeded his expectations. The attack just now seemed to be merely an "appetizer." The burned vines seemed to be nothing more than insignificant "tentacles" of this forest. The true "core," or rather, the "controller," was hidden deeper, behind a denser purplish-red mist. Moreover, as they ventured deeper and the battle intensified, the chaotic, corrosive energy within the surrounding mist seemed to be...slowly increasing?

"We can't stay any longer! Charge!" Nie Lingfeng made a decisive decision. Delaying would only consume more of their strength and might attract even more trouble.

He pulled Chen Duo up, no longer holding back, and increased his speed to the limit while maintaining the aura of Qilin True Fire on his body. Like two sharp arrows cutting through the murky purple-red ocean, he sprinted towards the shortest route marked on the map that passed through the "Malaria Mother Forest"!

"Sh ...

Sure enough, their actions thoroughly enraged the eerie forest! Denseer and thicker dark purple vines surged forth from the mist like a tidal wave, frantically intercepting and entwining them! More "Bewitching Flowers" bloomed in the mist, releasing almost tangible, multicolored "fragrant bombs" carrying intense negative emotions and mental impact! Even the ground began to become slippery and muddy, as if some viscous, corrosive liquid was seeping from beneath the fallen leaves, attempting to slow their progress!

Nie Lingfeng pushed his "Wind God Movement" technique to its limit, weaving and dodging through the gaps in the vines and between the "fragrance bombs" at near-impossible angles and speeds. Those he couldn't avoid were met with a palm strike or fist imbued with Qilin True Fire, shattering and purifying them. Chen Duo followed closely behind, her Phoenix True Fire transforming into precise fire arrows or fan-shaped fireballs to clear threats from his flanks and rear, while simultaneously maintaining her protective aura to resist the pervasive mental erosion and negative emotional impact.

The two were like dancers on a knife's edge, struggling forward through vines of death and thorns of mental pollution. Sweat soaked their bodies, and their breathing became heavy. Chen Duo's face turned pale again; the continuous high-intensity output of true fire and the resistance to mental shocks were an immense burden on her newly recovered body. But she gritted her teeth, remaining silent, simply following closely in Nie Lingfeng's footsteps, her emerald eyes, illuminated by the golden flames, filled with stubbornness and determination.

Just when they felt they were about to exhaust themselves, and the surrounding vines and attacks seemed endless—

"Waaaaah—waaaah—"

A strange, deep whistle, as if played with a special tone and rhythm, with extremely strong penetrating power, came clearly from the depths of the forest in front of them, where the miasma was even denser!

The sound of this whistle... was extremely similar to the wooden whistle that Azan Ki had given them! But it was longer, more... desolate, and even carried an indescribable mysterious charm, like an ancient sacrificial chant!

Is it "our people" that Azan Ki mentioned? Or... something else, "something" attracted by the sound of the wooden whistle?

Nie Lingfeng's heart skipped a beat! Chen Duo also stopped what she was doing, her emerald eyes warily looking in the direction from which the whistle came.

As the strange whistle sounded, the frantically attacking vines and bewitching flowers all froze in their tracks! It was as if the whistle had some kind of peculiar restraining or commanding effect on them! Even the pervasive purplish-red miasma seemed to thin out and calm down a bit.

opportunity!

Without a second thought, Nie Lingfeng grabbed Chen Duo and, with his last ounce of strength, charged towards the direction from which the whistle came!

After passing through the last particularly dense, almost impenetrable wall of purplish-red mist, the view suddenly opened up before us!

They actually broke out of the "Malaria Forest"!

Behind them stretched a churning, ominous sea of ​​purplish-red mist. Before them lay a relatively open, narrow valley, strewn with pebbles, stretching along a turbid, rushing stream. Sunlight (though mostly blocked by towering cliffs) finally shone down again, and while the air remained damp, it was much fresher; the unsettling oppression and the fishy, ​​sweet smell had largely dissipated.

Not far ahead of them, on a huge, smooth, black rock on the side of the valley, a thin, hunched figure, dressed in a haphazard patchwork of various animal skins, leaves, and feathers, barely recognizable as human, stood with their back to them, facing downstream. The strange, desolate whistle was continuously emanating from their hand—a wooden whistle similar in design to the one given to them by Azan Ki, but seemingly even more ancient.

With their arrival, the whistle abruptly stopped.

The hunched figure slowly and stiffly turned around.

A face, so old it was unimaginable, appeared in Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo's sight. It was covered with deep wrinkles, skin that was grayish-brown like tree bark, eyes that were sunken and almost no whites were visible. Only two dark pupils that seemed to absorb light appeared in them.

There was no expression on his face, only an ancient, inhuman indifference and deathly stillness that seemed to blend into the primeval forest.

His (or her) gaze, like the coldest, lifeless stone, slowly swept over the disheveled Nie Lingfeng, and finally landed on Chen Duo, whom he was protecting behind him, whose golden flames had not yet completely extinguished, and whose emerald eyes were full of vigilance and curiosity.

Those two dark pupils contracted almost imperceptibly the moment they came into contact with the pure Phoenix True Fire aura emanating from Chen Duo.

Then, a dry, hoarse voice, as if it hadn't spoken for centuries, yet possessing a peculiar rhythm, neither male nor female, echoed through the silent valley like rubbing sand:

"The...fire...of the phoenix...is...still alive...?"

The mountain guardian's dry, hoarse voice, as if squeezed from a crack in the earth, was like a cold stone thrown into the background of a rushing stream, creating an invisible ripple in the empty valley. The phrase, "The...fire...of the phoenix...is...still alive...?" was less a question and more a whispered, dreamlike murmur, a mixture of disbelief, ancient memories, and a complex, indescribable emotion.

His eyes (Nie Lingfeng still couldn't determine his gender)—eyes with almost no whites, only two dark pupils—remained fixed on Chen Duo, as if frozen in time. His gaze seemed to pierce through the golden aura of flames surrounding her, landing directly on the faint yet pure core of the Phoenix True Fire within her. There was no greed, no malice in that gaze, only a pure, chilling focus and inquiry, almost like an archaeologist discovering a lost relic.

Chen Duo felt a little uneasy under that gaze, and subconsciously shrank back behind Nie Lingfeng, clutching his clothes tightly with her small hands. Her emerald eyes warily returned the gaze of the mountain guardian, and she muttered softly, "His...the way he looks at people is so strange. Like...like he looks at stones." (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)

Nie Lingfeng stepped forward, completely shielding Chen Duo behind him. The dark golden Qilin power within him flowed naturally, emanating a calm, profound aura imbued with the majesty of the earth, subtly contrasting with the guardian's indifferent, deathly aura, like ancient rock. His expression was calm as he clasped his hands in a respectful bow, speaking in as gentle a tone as possible: "Junior Nie Lingfeng, along with my sister Chen Duo, unintentionally trespassed into Senior's secluded cultivation place. We are grateful for Senior's whistle that helped us escape that eerie forest. May I ask what Senior means by 'Phoenix Fire Seed'?"

The mountain guardian seemed to slowly shift his gaze from Chen Duo to Nie Lingfeng. When his eyes met the dark golden aura around Nie Lingfeng, and especially when he sensed the faint yet equally ancient and noble Qilin aura within him, his two dark pupils contracted slightly again, as if two small pebbles had been thrown into a calm, deep pool.

"The... aura... of the Qilin... has... also... appeared..." The guardian's voice grew even deeper, his speech extremely slow, as if each word required painstaking digging from the depths of his sealed memories. "And... other... chaotic... scents... you... carry... heavy karma..."

He didn't answer Nie Lingfeng's question directly, but instead spoke to himself, slowly raising his withered hand, which was as thin as a bird's claw and had skin no different from old tree bark, and pointing in the direction they had come from, to the "Morphin Forest" where purple-red mist still swirled.

"That place... is the 'poisonous blood'... and 'resentment'... that overflowed after 'Nammu' was corrupted... The forest itself... is alive... It eats people... and it also... protects..." His words were fragmented, interspersed with many ancient words and inverted grammar, but combined with Azan Ki's description and the experience just now, Nie Lingfeng could roughly understand—that "Malus Forest" was a derivative area after the evil power of "Nammu Cave" corrupted the ley lines, both a dangerous barrier and seemingly bearing some kind of "protective" responsibility? Protecting what?

"You... were able to survive... and pass through the 'Malaria Forest'... not just because of... brute force..." The guardian's dark gaze swept over the flames surrounding Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo once more. "Only pure... fire... and... the majesty of the earth... could... temporarily... repel... the... erosion of 'poisonous blood'... and... the... whispers of 'resentment'..."

He paused, as if expending considerable effort, before finally managing to form his next sentence: "You...came here...to find...what?"