Chapter 1345

He must find the boundary as soon as possible, or at least find a gap or node in the law.

After traveling on for a long time, the light ahead seemed slightly brighter, and the density of the trees had also decreased somewhat. Yan Buji's spirits lifted, and he quickened his pace.

After passing through an area of exceptionally dense active vines, a clearing appeared in the forest before him.

At the center of the clearing was not a brighter exit, but a huge pool about ten zhang in diameter. The pool water was not clear, but a viscous, milky-white liquid emitting a hazy faint light, its surface calm and waveless, like solidified jade nectar. Around the edge of the pool grew several plants with even more peculiar forms; on one small tree, three fist-sized fruits grew, their skins covered in spiral patterns and exuding an inviting fresh fragrance, silvery-white in color.

Around the fruit, a life force much purer and more active than elsewhere in the forest undulated, even faintly opposing the surrounding inertial law.

"Good stuff!" Yan Buji's eyes lit up. The active life essence contained in the fruit might help him speed up recovery, and could even work wonders against the inertial erosion and dark stains within his body.

However, just as he was about to step forward to pick it, the Mirror Heart transmitted an extremely faint warning pulse—not aimed at the fruit, but at the tranquil pool water!

He immediately halted and focused his gaze. In the depths of the milky-white pool, a huge shadow seemed to glide slowly. Upon closer sensing, he could faintly see some skeletons half-buried in white sediment at the pool's bottom—some humanoid, some beastly—whose bones showed a highly calcified, jade-like texture.

This pool is certainly not a good place! That fruit is likely bait!

Just as his vigilance reached its peak, a sudden change occurred!

In the area of active vines he had just passed behind him, the vines that had originally moved sluggishly suddenly, as if injected with violent vitality, writhed and intertwined madly, instantly forming a huge net that blotted out the sky and descended upon him from above! The vines secreted a viscous white fluid with strong anesthetic and solidifying effects.

At the same time, the tranquil milky-white pool exploded! A tremendously thick tentacle, formed from the viscous pool water, shot out like a white giant python breaking the surface, carrying a heavy oppressive force and the power to absorb all things, lashing fiercely at Yan Buji from the front! Even before the tentacle reached him, a powerful suction came, seeking to drag him into the pool!

Pincer attack from front and rear! A trap!

This forest indeed possesses its own "defense mechanism"!

Yan Buji, though startled, did not panic. With his serious injuries not yet healed, he dared not clash head-on. Chaos Force burst forth instantly, but not as an attack—it was entirely poured into his legs and movement technique!

"Chaos Shadowstep!"

His figure instantly turned illusory, as if merging with the surrounding dim light, barely slipping through the gap between the vine net and the pool's tentacle, moving so fast that an afterimage lingered where he stood.

"Boom—"

The vine net and the pool's tentacle collided, emitting a dull thunderous roar; the fluids splashed everywhere, corroding that area into utter ruin.

Yan Buji appeared behind another huge tree several dozen zhang away, drawing a slight breath. The earlier burst had aggravated his injuries, causing his qi and blood to surge again. He glanced at the trap zone where the vines had slowly retracted back into the pool and returned to their sluggish state, his eyes icy.

This slumbering Ancient Forest appears tranquil, but murderous intent lurks everywhere. Those seemingly sluggish beings and the environment could erupt into deadly attacks at any moment.

He no longer coveted the silvery-white fruit, decisively turned, and continued exploring in another direction. He must be more cautious, and also find a way to restore his strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, let alone leaving the forest, merely surviving here would become a problem.

Moreover, the skeletons in the pool made him realize that this forest had likely devoured many intruders like him.

Having avoided that strange milky-white pool trap, Yan Buji became more cautious. He no longer advanced in a straight line, but used the cover of giant trees to glide like a ghost through the dim forest, trying to stay clear of areas that appeared slightly more active or peculiarly strange in form.

He tried to move upward, climbing an exceptionally tall ancient tree, hoping to get his bearings from the treetop. Yet above the canopy was not open sky, but a denser, web‑like tangle of vines and aerial roots that formed another heavy "sky curtain," making the light even dimmer. Looking out, all he saw was boundless, slowly "breathing" dark‑green and dark‑brown, with no way to tell direction.

This forest was like a huge, living labyrinth.

He returned to the ground, his heart growing heavier. His wounds healed slowly, his mana was hard to replenish, and he had to constantly resist the erosion of inertia; if this continued, he would eventually be completely "sedimented" by the forest.

We must find a way to break through!

He began to observe his surroundings more carefully, especially places that looked "abnormal." Though the Mirror Heart's power consumed greatly and was suppressed, it could still occasionally reveal subtle anomalies at the level of law.

In an area covered with giant fungi and unusually viscous air, he discovered several stones half‑buried under the fungal mat. These "stones" had a warm, smooth texture, faintly emitting a jade‑like luster, yet their shapes resembled the remains of some small animal, with even the finest bone structure clearly visible, as if they had been carved from exquisite jade by a top‑tier craftsman in an instant.

"Is this… a completely 'petrified' living being? A life‑fossil?" Yan Buji's heart stirred. He carefully wrapped a piece of "fossil" in chaotic death‑qi, trying to sense it.

Indeed! Within this fossil, the structure of life was completely preserved, and even a faint, extremely weak, solidified life imprint could be sensed—but all "activity," all energy flow, all operation of law had been permanently "frozen" at a certain moment by a powerful force. This force shared the same origin as the forest's pervasive inertia law, yet it was more extreme and irreversible.

"Absolute 'stillness'… even time seems to halt here." Yan Buji pondered. The forest's law was not merely "sedimentation"; it leaned toward an "eternal solidification." The milky liquid in that pool was probably a highly concentrated manifestation of this solidifying law.

So, to counter this law, perhaps relying solely on "motion" and "Evolution" wasn't enough; one also needed to grasp the essence of this "stillness," and even… find its "gap" or "weak point."

He continued his exploration, and near a massive dead tree stump he found a relatively "dry" patch. Here the humus layer was thin, the ground was hard black soil, and the inert life‑qi was also noticeably thinner. Moreover, on the shaded back side of the stump, a few inconspicuous clusters of dark‑purple moss grew.

These mosses differed from the emerald or gray‑brown moss elsewhere in the forest; their color was deep, their surface bore tiny silver speckles, and most importantly, the aura they emitted was not inert life‑qi but an extremely faint yet sharp‑edged aura of decay—"Silence Extinction qi"!