The ladies didn't stick around for long and left after chatting for a while.
Paul and his group finished their meal, and not long later, it was already time for the portal to open.
The two stone pillars in the middle of the gigantic camp began to glow with blue light before a pillar of blue energy shot up, forming a portal fifty meters in diameter that reached the heavens and could be entered from any angle.
The sight was awe-inspiring.
-Let's go.
The princess said, starting to walk in the direction of the portal.
Around them, the tents started to vanish immediately as the people to whom they belonged stored them, getting ready to enter the Misty ruins.
Hundreds of people moved at almost the same time, but thanks to the size of the portal, there was no need for anyone to queue up, as the moment someone entered the portal, they were transported immediately.
Once they arrived on the other side, Paul and the ladies looked around and quickly found out that the name of this place was directly tied to how it looked.
They were surrounded by a sea of ruins covered in fog, and there were not that many people around them, but that was to be expected as the portal dispersed the people who entered.
-Alright, so the name fits the description.
Paul stated while looking around.
The fog itself turned out not to be as thick as he was led to believe by the books that he read about this place, and it allowed him to see everything within around fifty meters without a problem, only obscuring the things beyond that range.
-Also, the search spells don't work in this place.
He added after trying to cast a search spell to see what was beyond the mist, but the spell only showed him and nothing else, not even the ladies who stood right next to him.
-We also don't seem to be in any of the places that were mapped earlier.
Cai Mei said after consulting the maps that she brought with her.
-Since that's the case, let's have a look around and try to map out this place as much as possible.
Ling Li decided.
If nothing else, she would at least bring back a map of as big an area as she possibly could.
-Damn, this place looks gloomy.
Cai Xuan commented as they began walking around and drawing a simple map of the area.
They didn't dare to split up, as if they strayed too far, they might get lost in the fog, which, according to the books, was almost always a death sentence.
-On the brighter side, the powers here are way denser and purer than even at the Ascension realm, and the best part is that I can absorb them without worrying about ascending by accident.
Paul said with a slight smile.
With any luck, he could gain a few levels in this place by using a standard cultivation method, or by dual cultivating if he found a partner.
As they went around mapping their surroundings, the number of people around them started to rapidly diminish, as most cultivators were not interested in making maps but in profiting as much as possible from the ruins.
-I think that's enough mapping for now.
The princess said a few hours later, as they managed to map out everything in two kilometers radius from their starting point.
By now, they were the only ones left in that area, as the rest of the people simply moved out as soon as they arrived.
Not that Ling Li wanted to stop making the map altogether, but it was time for them to move out as well if they were to have any hope of gaining anything but levels from the ruins.
They moved out soon after, and walked through the sea of ruins, while looking around, since the books told them that most spots with treasures were often easy to overlook as nothing special.
Unfortunately for them, they could not locate anything even after walking for a few hours.
It truly looked like they were simply surrounded by ruins until they stumbled upon a gruesome scene.
While walking through something resembling a big garden, they saw dozens of people standing in place.
Only when they approached this group did they discover that all of them were impaled by sharp spikes sticking from underground, which were the only reason why the bodies were still standing, as they were supporting them.
However, the most terrifying part was that all these people looked like they were dried up.
-This must be the territory of the Spiker Tree.
Cai Xuan stated the obvious, with fear in her voice.
The creature was a carnivorous plant, which impaled its victims before sucking out all the nutrients from their bodies.
The creature itself was very precious, as every part of it could fetch a good price, especially its fruits, but as the scene before them proved, it was extremely deadly and very hard to approach.
Worst of all, its spikes could have up to a hundred meters of length, so it was not easy to locate its main body, especially in a place like this, which was filled with trees, and the fog also didn't make it any easier.
-Do we try going around it, or do you wish to try taking this thing on?
Paul asked, turning to the princess, who was as shocked as the other ladies at the gruesome scene before her.
-Can we even take this thing on?
Ling Li asked, looking at over a dozen corpses in front of them.
-There is a way to deal with this thing; the question is whether you want to do so or not.
-Let's hear your plan, then I'll decide.
The princess said.
If they could deal with this creature, then she was all for it, as it removed the danger to them and anyone else who stumbled upon this thing.
Additionally, the piles of bones of humans and beasts were proof enough of how dangerous this creature was.
After Paul explained his idea, all the ladies agreed immediately, as it presented only minimal risks to them and had a high chance of success.
With their approval, Paul got to work.
He slowly walked in the direction of the corpses, while being on guard for any movement from underground, not wanting to join them.
When he was less than five meters from the nearest corpse, he cast an ice spell, which froze it solid along with the spike impaling it.
The moment he did this, something like a scratch could be heard from a distance, and the ground beneath his feet started to shake.
Feeling this, Paul immediately jumped back a few meters only to see two spikes crossing each other directly in the place where he was standing just a moment ago.
He immediately cast ice arrows that hit the spikes, freezing them as well, and another screeching sound followed.
Right the next second, he used shadow jump to go between the corpses and froze each one of them and moved immediately after to avoid another spike that erupted from the ground and was met with ice arrows.
It took him less than five minutes to freeze all the corpses and spikes that went after him.
The idea was to find the Spiker tree by freezing it and then cutting it down, and it worked as the more spikes Paul froze, the colder the tree became, and soon it was easy to find it, thanks to the thin ice layer that started to form on its leaves and trunk.
-Yan, Rong, it's your turn.
The man said, appearing behind the princess's bodyguards, and using the shadow jump on them, sending them right next to the tree.
A moment later, two powerful qi slashes struck the beast, and the spiker tree fell to the ground with a thud.
-Good work, ladies.
Paul complimented them, and both ladies smiled, more than aware that without him, it would be impossible to kill this creature so easily.
As a matter of fact, all they did was deliver the finishing blow as they were certain that Paul could have easily killed this thing without anyone's help.