'First of all, it can't be about the Red Fire Ore.'
'Otherwise, with a Cocoon-Breaking Realm expert like Mengqingshan by his side, he wouldn't have needed to hold back; he would have moved against me at the first opportunity.'
'It was probably because Mengqingshan couldn't see through me, this supposed "Divine Power Realm" cultivator.'
'He saw me as the primary threat in the hunt for the treasure, which is why he had Eagle Shark watch my every move.'
In fact, it wasn't just Mengqingshan.
Along the way, Cloud Heaven Flow, and even Mao Ba, would occasionally cast wary glances at Wu Dao.
He was getting used to all the attention.
Wu Dao paid it no mind, but he remained on high alert, wary that one of them might suddenly try to backstab him.
"Haste!"
Before the wall of mist, Mao Ba chanted an incantation and tried several times, but the Cyan Crane only hovered at the edge of the fog, refusing to advance. It spun in place, like a compass that had lost its north.
"Daoist Master, this mist…"
Cloud Heaven Flow's piercing gaze was fixed on the thick mist that blotted out the sky and moon. He, too, sensed something was amiss, but he couldn't discern its secrets and asked uncertainly.
"Places that breed evil are often shrouded by a sinister and bizarre aura. There is indeed something wrong with this mist."
Mao Ba recalled the Cyan Crane, then turned back and said in a grave tone, "Everyone, this mist is strange. It blots out the sky and moon and possesses the bizarre power to block one's five senses."
My skills are lacking, so I can no longer use the Cyan Crane to track our quarry. I can only make a rough judgment that the Flesh and Blood Tai Sui is hidden somewhere on the mountainside of Canyun Mountain.
However, I must offer a word of warning.
Any demon that achieves sentience gains the ability to command 'Chong Ghosts' as its soldiers. These Chong Ghosts can be any living creature, so that specter in green we saw in Pan Shui Town will not be the only one.
So…
Be extra careful on the path ahead, gentlemen."
With that said,
Mao Ba took a deep breath and drew the Celestial Banner Ruler from his waist. Relying on the faint yellow glow emanating from the Talisman wrapped around it, he once again took the lead and stepped into the dense mist.
The others, heeding Mao Ba's warning,
naturally didn't dare to be careless. They raised their guard to the absolute utmost and followed close behind.
WHOOSH—
The mist billowed, thick and stagnant.
The moment he stepped inside, Wu Dao felt as though he had plunged into the depths of the ocean. The oppressive, deathly silent, and dark atmosphere made him frown.
Most importantly,
his keen perception, which stood at the pinnacle of the natural world, felt as if it had been wrapped in a cocoon. Outside, he could barely make out objects a hundred meters away.
Once inside the sea of mist,
anything beyond ten meters became a blur. His sense of direction became chaotic; he couldn't tell east from west. The feeling was utterly suffocating.
'The Extraordinary World is truly full of wondrous mysteries,' Wu Dao mused. 'And this is just the tip of the iceberg…'
Wu Dao marveled inwardly, his gaze locked onto the faint yellow glow from the Celestial Banner Ruler in Mao Ba's hand, ensuring he wouldn't fall behind.
In such a Deceitful Mist, with deep and hidden threats lurking in the dark,
if he went too deep and lost his guide,
he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to walk out safely before dawn.
The mountain path was treacherous, with gnarled trees reaching for the heavens.
The ground was damp and muddy.
Trapped in the Deceitful Mist, the group didn't dare to run recklessly. They stumbled forward like ordinary people feeling their way through the dark. The mist flowed past them like silk or water, bringing with it a chilling cold.
The higher and deeper they went,
the more silent their surroundings became. Even the chirping of insects and the sound of the wind disappeared.
Everyone present felt increasingly oppressed and suffocated. They felt the fiery qi and blood in their bodies beginning to cool, its circulation growing sluggish.
The three Inner Strength Martial Artists at the rear even began to shiver, growing paranoid and deeply unsettled.
"Vile beast, how dare you!"
CLANG!
Suddenly!
Mao Ba's furious shout rang out from the front, followed by the sound of metal striking metal and a fleeting shower of sparks.
In that fleeting glimpse,
Wu Dao barely caught sight of a shadowy figure, about the size of a human head, clash with Mao Ba's Celestial Banner Ruler. Realizing it was outmatched, it instantly retreated and fled back into the dark mist.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Mao Ba, seemingly enraged, roared and gave chase, moving as fast as a thunderbolt. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from sight.
"After him!"
As the others came to their senses, their expressions soured. They believed Mao Ba was using the terrain—the mist—to deliberately shake them off.
"That damned priest! Brother Wu…"
Zhao Wei cursed aloud. He was about to call out to Wu Dao, only to find that Wu Dao, who had been just to his left a moment ago, had vanished.
Along with him, the three Jianghu Travelers at the rear had also vanished into thin air.
The vast sea of mist was deathly still.
It seemed as though Zhao Wei was the only person left in the world.
…
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—
A powerful gust tore through the thick mist, which instantly closed in behind it.
With long strides, Wu Dao sprinted forward, his gaze locked on the hazy yellow glow that flickered in and out of sight within the dense mist ahead.
The moment Mao Ba had vanished,
he had been the first to give chase. He had been speeding along the whole time, tailing him without ever losing his trail.
But…
'Something's wrong!'
CRACK!
At that moment,
Wu Dao cracked the rock beneath his feet as he skidded to a halt, his expression turning grim.
'I've been tricked…'
INHALE—
EXHALE—
He activated the Essence Devouring Art. The shackles on the Limit of his Brain Domain shattered, and his Spiritual Consciousness condensed with intense focus. Wu Dao entered a state of absolute calm and clarity.
CRACKLE…
On the level of his consciousness, it was as if an invisible layer of ice had shattered. In an instant, his mind became serene and tranquil. Everything became clear, and his perception more than doubled.
When he looked up again,
there was nothing ahead but roiling mist. The yellow orb of light was gone!
'This mist…'
With his Spiritual Consciousness now as sharp and transcendent as a god's, incomparably clear and nimble, Wu Dao instantly analyzed the true mystery of this place.
'Mao Ba wasn't telling the truth!'
'Or at least, not the whole truth!'
'Besides shielding and obstructing perception,'
'it also has the power to create Spiritual Illusions!'
'And these illusions are powerful. So powerful that even Divine Power Realm cultivators, and even that Cocoon-Breaking Realm expert, Eagle Shark, couldn't detect anything amiss!'
'From the moment we entered this sea of mist,'
'everyone had fallen for the trick and entered an "illusion."'
'The direction Mao Ba went after clashing with that unknown creature… everyone "saw" something different!'
'In fact,'
'it's uncertain if that clash even happened at all.'
But one thing was certain.
Their group had been completely scattered. Now, it was every man for himself, their fates left to the heavens.
And no one knew what dangers lay hidden in the vast sea of mist.
"Damn this information disparity!"
Wu Dao cursed under his breath. He swore that as soon as he found a moment of peace, he would gather and cram all the knowledge he could find about the extraordinary phenomena of this world.
This information imbalance was too dangerous.
It was too easy to be led into a trap without even realizing it.
"So you want to hog it all for yourself? I won't let you get your wish!"
Wu Dao snorted coldly, suppressing his anger at Mao Ba. He scanned his surroundings and picked out the thickest giant tree.
SCRAPE—
Digging his sharp claws into the trunk, he shot up the tree like a leopard, ascending fifty or sixty meters in just a few breaths.
WHOOSH—
A cool breeze washed over him, and he could faintly see the stars and the moon.
Wu Dao stood atop the tree, as light as a feather. He gazed into the distance and found that fifty to sixty meters above the ground, the mist was slightly thinner, but it was still difficult to get his bearings.
But that wasn't going to stop him.
CREEEAK—
He bent his legs slightly, and immense power pressed down on the treetop, bending the trunk to its breaking point.
SWOOSH!
The next moment, using the combined force of his push and the branch's recoil, Wu Dao shot upward like an arrow from a crossbow, launching himself nearly twenty meters into the air.
WHOOSH—
The night wind howled around him. Up here, the stars and moon were bright and clear.
This time, Wu Dao could clearly see the main peak of Canyun Mountain under the starry sky.
Only then did he realize he had been running in the completely opposite direction.
Another mile or two,
and he would have been at the edge of the mist, completely outside the Canyun Mountain region.
Even if he had re-entered,
he would have just ended up walking in circles in the mist again.
But,
as the saying goes, for every clever scheme, there is a way to overcome it.
As long as one didn't get stuck in rigid thinking, there were plenty of solutions.
Although the mist was bizarre, it was far from blotting out the sky and moon as Mao Ba had claimed. That was the key to breaking the puzzle.
However,
Wu Dao had to admit he was impressed by Mao Ba.
From the moment they left the city to the moment they entered the mist, the man had always led from the front, constantly giving everyone a psychological suggestion—
that what he said and did was correct!
Coupled with his special status, which naturally lent him an air of authority, everyone had fallen for his ploy. They chose to land and walk, stepping right into the sea of illusory mist.
If not for the Essence Devouring Art,
Wu Dao feared he too would have been continuously misled by the illusion, left to wander endlessly in the sea of mist.
WHOOSH—
His body plunged downward. Wu Dao adjusted his posture in mid-air, using the wind to guide his descent onto a thick branch at the top of the canopy, a shower of dead leaves raining down from the impact.
Now that he had a way to break the illusion,
things became much simpler.
He became like an ape once more, using the towering ancient trees to leap and launch himself through the air, hurtling toward the main peak of Canyun Mountain.