parentshiftbook Chapter 118 Fog Blocks the Way, Various Parties Gather
Chapter 118 Fog Blocks the Way, Various Parties Gather
The moment I emerged from the canyon, the view did indeed open up. But it wasn't the expansive openness of a vast sky and boundless land; rather, it was a more suffocating emptiness—the entire world was swallowed up by a gray mist. The mist was as thick as a waterlogged quilt, hanging in mid-air, no more than two or three meters above the ground, enveloping the distant peaks, the nearby forests, and the path beneath my feet. Ten steps away, figures were blurred; twenty steps away, only a faint outline remained; thirty steps away, nothing could be seen at all, only endless gray and white.
This fog wasn't still. It was slowly rotating, like a huge, invisible vortex, sucking in all the surrounding spiritual energy, aura, and sounds, churning them up, and then expelling them. Lin Chen reached out to test it—the star power in his palm extended less than ten feet before it was as if it had been chewed up by something, leaving no echo whatsoever.
Even more eerie was the sound within the fog. It wasn't the sound of wind, nor the rustling of leaves; it was a low, almost imperceptible whisper, like many people speaking close to your ear, yet every word was indistinct. The sound bypassed the ears and went straight into the brain, buzzing like a swarm of mosquitoes dancing in the skull, making one inexplicably irritable and easily angered, finding everyone around them unpleasant.
Su Muyue's array flags were already planted in the ground. The twelve flags were arranged according to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) orientation, and the runes on their surfaces lit up one after another. Golden light surged from the flags, forming a circular array at her feet. This was the Purifying Mind and Guarding Essence Array, a ancestral evil-dispelling array of the Su family, specifically designed to counter such mind-altering sorcery. The golden light created a three-zhang (approximately 10 meters) square light barrier, enveloping the five people within. Inside the light barrier, the seductive whispers vanished instantly, their minds becoming as clear as if washed by pure water.
"A mind-altering and bewitching array." Su Muyue's tone was confident, but her brows were furrowed, clearly indicating that this was not a easy thing to deal with. "A high-level array of the evil race, based on resentment and evil power. Once inside the array, the slightest instability in one's mind will be corrupted, causing fellow disciples to turn against each other and kill one another—this array is adept at this." As she spoke, she adjusted the angle of the array flags, making the light barrier more stable. "I will lead the breaking of the array. Everyone, follow my array light closely and do not step out. What lies outside this light barrier is easy to enter but difficult to exit."
Chu Fan squatted beside her, his hands pressed to the ground, his spiritual energy seeping into the soil to probe the underground array patterns. He closed his eyes to sense for a while, then opened them and shook his head. "This maze is too vast, covering the entire outer perimeter of the core area. To forcibly break it, with our current array cultivation and spiritual energy reserves, it would take at least two hours—we don't have that much time." He stood up, brushing the dust off his knees. "We can only proceed slowly, following the direction with the densest spiritual energy. The Martial Emperor Altar is the core of the entire secret realm, gathering the purest spiritual energy; even if it's obscured by mist, its aura cannot be concealed. Following the spiritual energy, we won't go wrong."
Leng Feng didn't participate in the discussion. He stood at the very edge of the array of light, his body slightly turned outwards, his battle sword held horizontally in front of him, tip pointing outwards. A protective aura of yellowish-brown enveloped his entire body, blocking the mist seeping in through the gaps in the light barrier. His ears were twitching—not because he heard anything, but because he heard too much. Sounds filled the mist: footsteps, breathing, the clash of weapons, low incantations, all mixed together, making it impossible to discern direction or distance.
"There are many moving presences in the mist." His voice was deep and steady. "There are new recruit teams undergoing trials, the evil cultivators who just escaped, and members of the Qin family. All forces are trapped here, and no one dares to rush in rashly."
Su Ling'er opened the medicine chest, took out a celadon bottle from the innermost layer, and poured out five pale blue pills. The pills had a fine sheen on their surface and smelled of a cool herbal scent, like a mixture of mint and some kind of floral fragrance. She distributed the pills to everyone, one for each person.
"Tranquilizing Pill. Take one every half hour for double protection, preventing you from being disturbed by the illusion array." She put away the porcelain bottle and patted the medicine box. "The closer you get to the altar, the stronger the array becomes. Everyone, keep your minds calm and don't let your emotions sway you. If anyone feels agitated, tell me immediately; I have something even more powerful here."
The five people stepped into the mist. The golden light moved slowly in the hazy world, like a lantern swaying in the thick fog, small and lonely, but not extinguished.
They hadn't gone half a mile when they heard the sounds of fighting ahead.
It wasn't just one or two sounds, but a continuous barrage of impacts, curses, the clashing of weapons, and the screams of the wounded. The sounds came from the depths of the mist, distorted and deformed by the fog, making it impossible to discern their exact direction; one could only feel that the battlefield was everywhere.
As the fog was cleared away, the scene ahead gradually became clear.
More than ten freshman squads were embroiled in a chaotic battle on this open field. Distinguished family scions, military warriors, and rogue cultivators clashed, the three factions locked in a bloody struggle, with no one able to discern friend from foe. Some were mentally corrupted by the illusionary array, their eyes bloodshot as they frantically attacked their companions, uttering incoherent nonsense. Others retained some semblance of consciousness but were unable to control the situation, forced to defend passively. Many more lay dead on the ground—some unconscious, some groaning in pain, some lying motionless, their fate unknown.
"They're Qin Hao's men!" Su Ling'er recognized several familiar figures in the chaotic crowd at a glance—they were all scions of aristocratic families who had previously followed Qin Hao. Some wielded longswords, while others unleashed their cultivation techniques, specifically targeting the injured martial artists. They had joined forces with several small teams from aristocratic families affiliated with the Qin family, using the illusionary formation as cover to fan the flames and incite conflict during the melee, while they reaped the benefits from the chaos.
In the misty shadows surrounding the crowd, several figures in black robes appeared and disappeared. They didn't make a move, just stood there coldly, watching the human warriors kill each other. Occasionally, someone would escape the melee with serious injuries and fall near them, and only then would they make a move—a hidden weapon, a dark spell, cleanly and neatly ending that life, and then continue to watch coldly.