Chapter 80: The First Appearance of the Star Ghost

The team left the Broken Blade Canyon and officially stepped into the territory of the Southern Wasteland.

The air suddenly became thick and stifling, carrying a miasma of rotting vegetation and a strange, sweet, fishy scent. The once lush vegetation began to take on bizarre shapes; the trees were twisted, their branches and leaves displaying ominous dark purple or ink-green hues. The ground was covered in thick, brightly colored moss and fungi, and occasionally, the pale, bleached bones of unknown animals could be seen half-buried within.

The sky seemed to hang much lower, shrouded by a layer of gray, flowing miasma. Sunlight could barely penetrate, making the entire environment appear dim and oppressive. Spiritual sense was significantly suppressed and interfered with here, as if sinking into a quagmire; the range of detection was drastically reduced. Even Lin Xuan felt his spiritual sense restricted to within a hundred miles, and it was blurred and unclear.

"Thirty miles ahead, we enter the Miasma Zone! Everyone take a Miasma-Avoiding Elixir, suppress your aura, fly as close to the ground as possible, and avoid those brightly colored plants and stagnant pools!" Leng Feng’s cold voice rang out from the front, transmitted into everyone’s mind through a Mental Link Talisman.

The group did not dare to delay and swallowed their Miasma-Avoiding Elixirs one after another. Lin Xuan also took out a high-grade Miasma-Avoiding Elixir and swallowed it. A cool sensation instantly flowed through his entire body, isolating the wisps of miasma that attempted to invade. At the same time, he circulated the Turtle Breathing Art, suppressing his own aura to the extreme, and skimmed at a low altitude, blending in with the group of rogue cultivators.

The deeper they went, the more bizarre the environment became.

Faint, multicolored mists began to appear on the ground; this was the "Miasma" of the Southern Wasteland that made people tremble at the mere mention of its name. Even after taking the Miasma-Avoiding Elixir, the cultivators could feel an invisible force eroding their protective spiritual light, attempting to bewilder their minds. Auditory hallucinations began to appear in their ears—vague whispers, the weeping of women, the clashing of metal—and twisted ghostly shadows occasionally flashed before their eyes.

The faces of several late-stage Golden Core rogue cultivators in the team had already begun to turn pale, their breathing rapid; it was clear they were struggling significantly to resist. Even the early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators wore solemn expressions, not daring to be the least bit careless.

Lin Xuan had the Chaos Dao Seed guarding his sea of consciousness, making him immune to all evils; these miasma illusions had almost no effect on him. Instead, he observed his surroundings more carefully. With the support of chaotic spiritual power, his Eye of Truth-Breaking could barely see through parts of the miasma and discern some anomalies in the energy flow.

"Watch that swamp on the left! There is lurking demonic energy!" the refined scholar from the Heavenly Mystery Academy suddenly spoke up to warn. The book in his hand emitted a dim, clear light, seemingly possessing the ability to see through falsehoods.

No sooner had he spoken than the seemingly calm black swamp on the left suddenly exploded. Several dark, slimy tentacles as thick as water barrels shot out like lightning, coiling toward the nearest rogue cultivators! The tentacles were covered in suction cups and pale green eyes, exuding a nauseating stench and the demonic energy fluctuations of an early-stage Nascent Soul beast!

"It’s a Thousand-Eyed Rot-Swamp Squid! Careful, its tentacles are poisonous and have a soul-bewitching effect!" someone from the Demon Suppression Division shouted.

The attacked rogue cultivators were terrified and hurriedly summoned their magic treasures to defend. The light of sword beams, blade glows, and talisman explosions lit up, clashing fiercely with those tentacles.

However, the Thousand-Eyed Rot-Swamp Squid was extremely cunning. Its tentacles were incredibly tough, and the eyes upon them shot out eerie rays of light, causing the cultivators who met their gaze to feel dizzy and disoriented. A peak-stage Golden Core rogue cultivator was a split second too slow; his protective spiritual light was shattered by a tentacle, and he was on the verge of being coiled up and dragged into the swamp!

Just then, a brilliant sword beam, like a thunderbolt from the nine heavens, arrived late but struck first, precisely severing the joint of that tentacle!

"Sshhh!"

Where the sword beam passed, the incredibly tough tentacle was severed at the root. Ink-green blood sprayed out, landing on the swamp and emitting a "hissing" corrosive sound.

The one who struck was none other than Ye Chen! He had appeared beside that rogue cultivator at some unknown moment, his long sword wreathed in lightning, his eyes cold. He did not spare the rogue cultivator a second glance; his figure flashed again, and his sword light split, covering the other tentacles like a lightning net.

At the same time, Leng Feng let out a cold snort. Without drawing his blade, he simply threw a punch through the air! A blood-colored fist aura, condensed to the extreme, smashed into the depths of the swamp like a falling star!

"Awoo—!"

A painful and angry roar came from beneath the swamp. The mud churned, and the remaining tentacles danced wildly for a few moments before rapidly shrinking back into the depths of the swamp and disappearing. It was clearly severely injured by that punch from Leng Feng.

A sudden attack was quickly resolved. The gazes everyone turned toward Ye Chen and Leng Feng held a bit more awe. The rogue cultivator who had been saved thanked Ye Chen repeatedly.

Ye Chen merely nodded slightly before returning to his position, remaining silent as before.

The team continued forward, the atmosphere even more tense. Everyone was on high alert.

Lin Xuan had seen everything that just happened. Ye Chen’s sword was faster and sharper, carrying a brilliant thunderous power that judged evil spirits; it seemed he had encountered new opportunities after the secret realm. Leng Feng’s strength was also unfathomable; that punch just now, while seemingly simple, contained terrifying physical power and a will to kill.

He also noticed that the sinister old man from the Zhao family and his companions had not used their full strength during the attack, offering only symbolic resistance. Their gazes seemed to sweep over his side intentionally or unintentionally.

"It seems they intend to make their move in the depths of the Ancient Domain..." Lin Xuan understood this in his heart, but he did not care. As long as he wasn't besieged by multiple late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators or encountering a Soul Transformation entity, he was confident in his ability to escape or even counter-kill.

After traveling for about two more hours and passing through a strange sea of flowers filled with pink poisonous miasma that could erode spiritual power, the scene before them suddenly changed.

They arrived at the edge of a massive basin. Inside the basin, the color of the miasma had turned deep gray and was so thick it was almost tangible; the naked eye could not see through ten yards. In the center of the basin, countless jagged, strange rocks were vaguely visible, pointing toward the gray sky like the fangs of a giant beast. The air was filled with an ancient, desolate, and heart-palpitating aura of deathly silence.

"This place is the outskirts of the 'Star Burial Valley'." Leng Feng stopped and looked at the basin ahead with a solemn expression. "According to records and observations, the miasma here is the weakest, but the space within is the most unstable. There are many residual ancient restrictions, and... it is occupied by some powerful demonic creatures and strange entities that have adapted to this environment."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the group: "Our mission is to penetrate about three hundred miles into the Star Burial Valley, reach a ruin suspected to be an ancient observation point, collect data, and investigate whether there are any abnormal spatial fluctuations or residual demonic energy. This journey is perilous; everyone must stay close to the team and not act on your own!"

"Now, in groups of three, form a 'pin' formation and advance slowly! The Demon Suppression Division in the front, the Imperial Clan and Heavenly Mystery Academy protecting the flanks, and the rogue cultivators and other fellow Daoists providing support in the center!"

As the order was given, the team quickly changed formation. Lin Xuan was assigned to the middle group composed of rogue cultivators, coincidentally grouped with two other early-stage Nascent Soul rogue cultivators who seemed to know each other. The two glanced at Lin Xuan, and seeing he was only a "late-stage Golden Core," a trace of imperceptible contempt flashed in their eyes, but they said nothing more.

The team began to enter the Star Burial Valley with extreme caution.

Once they stepped into the basin, the suppression became even stronger; their spiritual sense was compressed to within a few dozen yards of their bodies. The surroundings were terrifyingly silent, with only the faint sound of footsteps and breathing. The gray miasma flowed around them like a living thing, occasionally condensing into various ferocious ghostly faces before quietly dissipating.

The ground was soft, black mud; stepping on it was silent, yet it carried a suction force. Broken bones could be seen everywhere, some human and others from various massive demonic beasts, all corroded until they lost their luster.

Less than ten miles in, another anomaly occurred!

"Watch your feet!" the scholar from the Heavenly Mystery Academy warned again.

The black mud beneath everyone’s feet suddenly began to churn like boiling water, and countless pale, withered arms, seemingly made of shadows, suddenly reached out and grabbed at their ankles! These arms were silent, yet they carried an ice-cold, bone-chilling yin energy that could directly freeze a cultivator’s blood and spiritual power!

"It’s 'Yin-Evil Corpse Hands'! Evil objects formed from the condensed death energy of this place!" someone exclaimed.

The team fell into some chaos; various spiritual lights lit up, and magic treasures were brandished, hacking at the corpse hands. However, after these hands were severed, they immediately turned into black mist and merged into the miasma, only to condense again from elsewhere, as if they were endless.

Furthermore, the cultivators grabbed by the corpse hands felt their vitality rapidly draining, their movements becoming sluggish, and their protective spiritual light quickly dimming.

In the rogue cultivator group where Lin Xuan was, the two early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators swung their magic treasures, sword beams and blade auras crisscrossing to sever many corpse hands, but new ones kept emerging from beneath their feet, leaving them quite disheveled. One of them was slightly careless, and his ankle was grabbed by an exceptionally thick corpse hand; his face turned pale, and his movements froze.

The other was about to rescue him but was entangled by even more corpse hands from all sides.

Just then, Lin Xuan, who had been seemingly "struggling" to fend off the sporadic corpse hands, felt a cold glint flash in his eyes.

He did not use his flying sword or any obvious spell; he simply flicked his finger, seemingly casually, toward the thick corpse hand that had grabbed his companion.

A tiny, imperceptible speck of dark starlight, which seemed to absorb all light, flashed from his fingertip and instantly sank into that corpse hand.

There was no sound, no explosion.

That ferocious corpse hand, like ice and snow thrown into a raging fire, began to annihilate and dissipate silently from the fingertip, turning into the most primal yin energy, which was then thoroughly "sealed" and "extinguished" by that speck of dark starlight, unable to even return to the miasma!

The rescued Nascent Soul cultivator only felt his ankle loosen, and the ice-cold death energy instantly vanished. He looked at Lin Xuan in astonishment, but only saw him still "scrambling" to dodge other corpse hands, as if everything that had just happened was merely a coincidence.

But a stormy sea had been stirred up in his heart! He had clearly felt an extremely subtle, yet soul-shuddering power of extinction!

"Many thanks..." he subconsciously transmitted his thanks.

Lin Xuan acted as if he hadn't heard, his gaze fixed on the depths of the miasma. His Eye of Truth-Breaking saw that behind those endless Yin-Evil Corpse Hands, deeper in the basin, an even more subtle, yet fundamentally cold and evil aura was controlling it all.

That aura was somewhat similar to the Nether Sect cultivators he had sensed before, but it was more ancient, purer, and even more powerful!

"It’s not just naturally formed yin-evil... something else is hidden in here." Lin Xuan felt a sense of dread in his heart.

Meanwhile, the sinister old man from the Zhao family, who had been watching Lin Xuan out of the corner of his eye, also felt a flash of shock and suspicion. Although the means used to annihilate the corpse hand just now were extremely subtle, he seemed to have caught a trace of an unusual fluctuation.

"This brat... he really is strange!"

The perils of the Star Burial Valley were only just beginning to reveal the tip of the iceberg. And the murderous intent in the shadows was quietly closing in.