On the other side of the mountain range.
Another group was making its way deeper into the mountains along a narrow, winding trail.
The sandy soil was barren and desolate.
It should have been a place where nothing grew.
Yet lush, towering trees stood everywhere.
Their crowns spread wide.
They blocked out the sky and sun.
Leaving the mountains steeped in darkness.
As they walked through it.
Many of them felt their skin crawl.
"Say... boss, is there really a Mountain God Temple in these mountains? How come I've never heard of it?" A young man in a short white shirt looked around nervously.
"And another thing."
"Is there really a way to become an Awakened in that Mountain God Temple?"
"Why does this feel so sketchy?"
"Don't Awakened just awaken out of nowhere... oh, right, I heard there's a way to inherit it, too."
"But praying to a mountain god can make you an Awakened?"
The young man kept rambling.
He was both voicing his doubts and trying to bolster his courage.
There were five of them in the group.
Apart from their boss, who was an Awakened.
The rest were all ordinary people.
They had never ventured into the mountains around Canghai County before, so they were understandably uneasy, worried that evil spirits might lurk here.
"Heh."
"Don't be scared."
"It's perfectly safe in the mountains. See those shadows?"
The speaker was a burly, powerfully built man with a deep, rumbling voice.
He pointed at the shadows beside a large tree.
"Those shadows."
"Wherever they are, there can't be any evil spirits."
Huh?
Everyone looked toward the large tree.
However.
There was nothing but shade beneath it, and they saw nothing unusual.
"Heh."
"Go over and try it."
"See how it feels."
The burly man spoke with a