An hour later, Qin He arrived at a hillside.
It lay at the center of a looping canyon. After casually dispatching two ferocious beasts, the surroundings fell utterly silent. Even the wind blasts that seemed to howl eternally had weakened considerably at this moment.
The hillside was thick with vegetation.
Countless vines, thick as dragons, coiled around trees or wound about the mountains, creating a spectacular sight.
Without a doubt, an enormous killing formation remained here.
Qin He sensed no killing intent. Yet leaves and dead branches carried in from elsewhere by the wind silently turned to powder in midair, becoming nourishment for this patch of land.
Qin He put away his map and approached carefully.
The hillside was part of the foothills of this mountain range, roughly three hundred paces from the canyon. The gap through which one could enter the killing formation was only wide enough for two people to pass side by side.
If some accident forced him into the killing formation, he would be in grave danger.
Qin He took out the Big Black Shovel. At this moment, he discovered a new way to probe a killing formation.
He used the Big Black Shovel like a blind man's cane, sweeping it from side to side. Whenever it touched the killing formation, the formation would slice against it, producing a ding-ding-clang-clang like rain falling upon roof tiles.
This was more useful than conjuring a clone, and far more precise.
Fortunately, the Chaos Shovel was tough enough. Had he done this with any other magical treasure, it would either have shattered outright or lost its spirituality after only a few strokes.
Passing through the gap in the killing formation, Qin He safely reached the foot of the hill and stopped.
There were still about fifty paces ahead.
For