A sudden breeze, tinged with a biting chill, rustled through the quiet forest path.
Then, a figure slowly emerged from the depths of the woods. He wore a bamboo hat and a Sedge Coat.
When this old man appeared, the rotting men gathered around felt some kind of invisible pressure.
They retreated, clearing a path for him.
The old man said nothing. He simply stood in place, tilting his head up slightly to reveal the face beneath his bamboo hat to everyone.
It was a weathered face, crisscrossed with wrinkles like deep ravines and covered in grotesque death spots.
His eyes were even more unusual. Unlike the clear black and white of a normal person's eyes, his were a heart-stopping, ghastly white. He stared fixedly at the ten members of the Time Girl Group.
The air itself seemed to freeze at that moment. A sinister, cold aura emanated from the old man, spreading rapidly.
The surrounding trees seemed to feel this chill as well.
Trunks, leaves, and branches were all coated in a layer of gray frost. Even the flowers and grasses in the meadows lost their vitality in an instant.
What shocked everyone even more was the fishing rod the old man held in his hand.
This fishing rod looked ordinary, but it exuded an unusual aura.
The rod was made from a section of gray bamboo, its end held tightly in the old man's hand. A seemingly ordinary line was tied to the tip.
Yet this line was astonishingly similar to the terrifying fishhooks that occasionally descended from the sky.
Or rather, it was the very same one!
A chill crept into the hearts of the Time Girl Group members.
They knew that this seemingly ordinary old fisherman was, in fact, a terrifying being capable of killing without a trace.
The fishhook attacks, which even King-level experts couldn't defend against, actually came from him.
At this critical juncture, Zong Yajuan was the first to react.
She was well aware of how terrifying the old man before them was, but she knew even more clearly that they first had to block the attacks from the rotting things. Otherwise, the reporters present would likely be annihilated.
So she shouted a reminder, "Don't hesitate! Block the attacks first!"
The other nine members of the Time Girl Group instantly snapped out of their shock.
With stunning coordination, they quickly formed a line, like a solid barrier, shielding the reporters who had not yet been corroded by the rotting power behind them.
The reporters, despite being in a life-or-death situation, had not forgotten their duty.
They clutched their live-streaming equipment, and though their hands trembled, they kept their cameras firmly aimed forward.
As for the unlucky reporters who couldn't escape in time, their legs were covered by the rotting power, instantly losing all strength and collapsing to the ground with a THUD.
Mold-like spots began to appear on their skin. These spots spread rapidly, eating away at their bodies.
What was most terrifying was that this rotting power didn't just corrode the skin; it penetrated directly into their bodies.
The reporters' faces gradually turned from pale to a bluish-purple.
Their skin became covered in all sorts of putrid patterns.
In the end, they melted into puddles of foul-smelling liquid. Their clothes and live-streaming equipment dissolved along with them in this horrifying rotting power.
Seeing this, a flicker of determination flashed in Zong Yajuan's eyes.
She gripped her longsword, plunged it fiercely into the ground, and continuously poured her Elemental Power into the blade.
Nourished by the Elemental Power, the longsword emitted a dazzling light.
Pure Yang Power erupted from the sword's tip, clashing violently with the rotting power on the ground.
The earth trembled instantly, and cracks spread out from the point of impact.
The very ground quaked from the battle.
At the same time, the other nine members of the Time Girl Group also joined the fight.
Each unleashed her own special technique. Elemental Power surged through the air, forming brilliant beams of light.
With ten King-level experts working together, even the rotting men felt immense pressure.
The corrosive power was forced to retreat, clearing a safe space.
However, there was no joy of a momentary victory on the faces of the group's members.
This battle was far from over.
The old man with the fishing rod had remained standing in place the entire time, staring coldly at them and the reporters behind them.
His eyes were filled with endless apathy and terror. He was likely the true master of this battle.
And that seemingly ordinary fishing rod became all the more mysterious and terrifying in their eyes.
An indescribable fishy smell quietly began to fill the air.
It was a unique and potent stench, one that could only be accurately identified by those who had lived by the sea or in the Jiangnan Water Village and were familiar with the fishing life.
It carried a unique scent of dampness and decay, like the smell of masses of rotting fish mixed with riverbed sludge.
The Demon Cave was located neither by the sea nor in the stream-filled region of Jiangnan, so the source of this fishy smell was particularly strange.
Everyone's gaze instinctively turned to the old man with the fishing rod, as if he were the source of this bizarre odor.
Just then, the old fisherman moved.
He took steady steps, walking forward one by one.
Each step was accompanied by a wet, squelching sound, as if he were walking through mud.
But upon closer inspection, his feet were as clean as before, unstained by any moisture.
As he moved, the damp, fishy smell in the air grew stronger, so potent it seemed to corrode one's lungs and cause suffocation.
"Is this guy finally going to make his move?"
Gao Yimin swallowed nervously, her voice sounding exceptionally clear in the silent air.
Zong Yajuan's brow, which had been furrowed, suddenly smoothed out, and a look of determination flashed in her eyes.
She abruptly pulled her longsword from the ground, sliced her palm open, and crimson blood immediately gushed out.
She unhesitatingly smeared the blood across the blade.
Then, gripping the longsword with both hands, her body's Elemental Power surged out like a bursting dam and poured into the sword.
The body of the sword instantly began to radiate a dazzling light, as if it contained world-ending power.
Finally, Zong Yajuan unleashed a ferocious slash.
In that instant, her hair turned streaked with white, and her eyes revealed a deep exhaustion and weakness.
This one strike, a concentration of all her power and conviction, was so immense it seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth.
The surrounding trees were toppled by the force of this Sword Qi, uprooted from the ground in a spectacular and shocking display.
Seeing this, the other nine members of the Time Girl Group were all shocked.
They hadn't expected Zong Yajuan to choose such a risky method without first fully testing the old fisherman's strength.
Using one's own blood to empower a sword caused immense harm to the body. It could even inflict irreversible damage to one's Martial Arts foundation.
If that happened, Zong Yajuan's strength could fall from the King-level realm, making her a permanent Ninth Grade Martial Artist.
Back in the era of fighting the Evil Spirits, there was no shortage of such precedents in the Great Jing Empire.
In those days, Martial Artists had to resort to all sorts of extreme measures to survive and fight.
But now, in this relatively peaceful era, Zong Yajuan's choice was undoubtedly exceptionally resolute and tragic.
After unleashing that strike, Zong Yajuan's body swayed, and she nearly collapsed.
Fortunately, Gao Yimin was quick to catch and support her, helping her barely remain on her feet.
Zong Yajuan gasped for breath, a weak smile on her face. "This old fisherman is nothing like those rotting men.
He's probably the most terrifying being in the entire Demon Cave.
It's so strange. When Chu He was guarding the Demon Cave, not a single bit of information about him ever got out.
Otherwise, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state today."