Chapter 1248

"From here heading west, follow the main ridge for a little over an hour," Fu Liushan hesitated, "we'll figure out the way once we get there." "You actually forgot? This is important—how could you not remember?!" Dong Rui snapped, "No, why didn't you mention it earlier?"

"After seven or eight years, remembering roughly is already good enough." Fu Liushan wore a clear conscience on his face, "This is deep mountain old forest—no paths, and the vegetation grows wildly!"

Seven or eight years in the forest, who knows what it's turned into now.

He pointed to the peak of the mountain ahead: "I can still remember it, because that peak looks like a lotus flower, really conspicuous. Don't worry, I still have a backup plan."

"Let's go." He Lingchuan knew navigating the mountains was the most troublesome—entering and exiting would take two or three days, "but we need to be prepared; once we enter, the Xuanlu Ghost King will know."

The Xuanlu Ghost King has operated in the Shrieking Forest for years; the forest is like its body, and any outsider who enters will be monitored.

Having come this far, the three lifted their legs and walked forward.

"We can't avoid the epidemic evil, but it can somewhat ease the discomfort. Last time I came, I used this medicine." Fu Liushan handed over the pills, "In a moment I'll send out corpse puppets to scout ahead—you follow me, try to avoid the evil energy."

He is a Heavenly Master, and also keeps little ghosts, right? The corpse puppets left behind by the Xuanlu Ghost King—he picked the smallest one, stuffed it with several little ghosts he raised himself; it's not agile in combat, but scouting is fine.

Dong Rui didn't even glance at it: "We already said, evil energy is easy to handle."

We had communicated before—this guy just doesn't believe it.

Because He Lingchuan only said he had a clever method, Fu Liushan asked repeatedly but got no specifics.

For such a big matter, if he doesn't clarify, Fu Liushan couldn't feel at ease—evil energy is the bane of living beings; once it invades the body, it's hard to expel. So Fu Liushan naturally had to prepare two approaches.

He Lingchuan flicked his sleeves: "Time is precious—no need to detour."

Then he strode ahead westward.

Dong Rui followed closely, waving at Fu Liushan: "Come on, I guarantee you'll be fine!"

Fu Liushan rolled his eyes, hesitated a few breaths, then followed.

Considering He Lingchuan had succeeded at everything over the past month, he reluctantly gave him one more chance.

Entering the Shrieking Forest, He Lingchuan quickly noticed that although it's all evil-energy land, the evil here differs from that of the Yangshan Archipelago.

The earth-evil yin pulse outlet of the Yangshan Archipelago is at sea; the islands' special terrain causes the evil to mostly overflow, and sunlight clears it during the day, so it only surges back every seven days. Thus evil energy and vitality alternate on the islands, forming a unique ecology.

But the earth-evil here in the Shrieking Forest lies year-round in sunless valleys, accumulating and fermenting day after day, year after year—its intensity can only be described as "fierce and vicious." Under the still tree shadows, a few wisps of evil might lurk; an ordinary person inhaling them couldn't last five breaths before feeling chest tightness and dry heaves, dying within half an incense stick's time; cultivators could endure a few times longer.

Moreover, the harm these aged evils inflict on the body isn't limited to respiratory invasion—it can directly damage the physique.

With comparison comes contrast: the earth-evil here, if it doesn't emerge, is fine—but once it touches the body, it's far worse than the Yangshan Archipelago.

No wonder the Yin Hui and Ba are fond of Longji Island—excess is imbalance, and that's the environment they find most comfortable.

No wonder the Xuanlu Ghost King dominates here alone—with such a natural barrier as evil energy, other nations and cultivators cannot long remain in the Shrieking Forest, let alone fight the Xuanlu Ghost King here.

Dong Rui took a few quick steps to catch up to He Lingchuan, lowering his voice: "Hey, no problem?"

"Should be fine." From his arrival at the Yangshan Archipelago to now, the Great Direction Vessel has consumed many treasures; He Lingchuan felt it had likely advanced again.

So, handling the earth-evil in the Shrieking Forest should be fine……right?

Dong Rui gave an acknowledging hum, but quietly stepped back two paces, putting over a zhang of distance between them.

He Lingchuan acted as if he hadn't seen, striding straight ahead.

Ahead in the valley, evil energy swirled back and forth, thick enough to be visible to the naked eye.

As He Lingchuan approached, they abandoned their lazy, drifting demeanor and lunged at him like spotting a delicious feast! Though merely unconscious evil energy, Fu Liushan sensed their eagerness and couldn't help but retreat a step.

Nonsense—who wouldn't retreat upon seeing a cultivator's natural enemy?

But He Lingchuan clasped his hands behind his back and walked past leisurely.

Sure enough, in the next breath, the divine bone necklace awakened, sucking in surrounding evil energy like a long whale drinking water.

Now the disturbance it causes is smaller—it only draws evil energy from within a ten-zhang radius, unlike in the Yangshan Archipelago where it would continuously drain a twenty-li sea area.

But this sight is already shocking enough. From the perspective of the two behind, evil energy striking He Lingchuan vanishes—this whole thing is like a human-shaped black hole.

"I……" Fu Liushan couldn't hide his shock, "What treasure are you wearing? This is heaven-defying!"

A living person couldn't achieve this—it must be borrowing power from a magical artifact.

What artifact could resist evil energy? Dong Rui slightly raised his head, expression calm: "Didn't I say? We come from a land of evil energy."

"You mean the Yangshan Archipelago?"

"The entire Yangshan Archipelago has long been shrouded in evil energy—formerly no one could approach. To deal with this, we still have to rely on us."

Dong Rui's gaze at him was like looking at a country bumpkin; Fu Liushan only knew they came from Yangshan, unaware of how large that archipelago was. But if He Lingchuan had absorbed even a little less evil energy, the archipelago would have seen mass deaths.

Of course Fu Liushan was just sighing; after coming to his senses, he didn't pursue the question.

Which cultivator doesn't have their own little secret? Pressing like this isn't polite.

Regardless, they no longer need to detour or be time-limited. In such a vast forest, they can go wherever they wish.

Dong Rui walked and said: "Wrong—given how heavy the evil energy is in the Shrieking Forest, how did King Xuanlu bring troops here to escape?"

He entered the forest to shake off pursuers, to survive—not to seek death.

"Who knows? It's been over three hundred years." Fu Liushan pointed ahead at He Lingchuan, "Maybe he's like this kid, possessing an artifact that absorbs evil energy; or maybe the forest's terrain was different back then, and he knew a path free of evil energy, using it to shake off pursuers?"

Dong Rui thought: "Makes sense."

Not to mention absorption—artifacts resisting evil energy aren't unique; at least the chains on the Yin Hu King aren't corroded by evil energy. He Lingchuan suddenly turned back: "If King Xuanlu had this advantage, fleeing into the Shrieking Forest might have been to stage a comeback. Then his death would have been even more agonizing."

(End of Chapter)