The dense forest was deep and secluded. Ancient trees blotted out the sky and sun, shredding the daylight into fragments; only a few faint rays struggled through the gaps in the leaves, falling upon a waterfall and cold pool deep within the woods.
The waterfall plunged from the mountaintop like a silver ribbon smashing into the deep pool. Its spray carried a bone-piercing chill, shrouding the area in a thin veil of white mist.
Beside the cold pool lay an Azure Ox Stone, more than ten feet square, which had rested there for a thousand years. Its surface was smooth as a mirror and faintly exuded an icy aura.
A middle-aged man sat cross-legged atop the stone.
He wore a tight black martial outfit that outlined his somewhat hunched figure with perfect clarity.
His face was not exactly ugly, but his triangular eyes, flattened nose, thin lips, and habitually downturned mouth gave him an indescribably lewd look.
At that moment, his eyes were tightly shut, and his hands formed a sinister hand seal. His knuckles had turned bluish-white from the force.
The airflow around him churned violently. It was not the clear spiritual energy of an ordinary cultivator, but rather like black pythons coiling around every limb and bone in his body.
The "heads" of those pythons lifted slightly, continuously spewing clouds of mist from their mouths. The mist carried an eerie pink tint and spread around the Azure Ox Stone.
As the mist dispersed, a strange scent spread with it.
At first sniff, it reeked of blood and decay. But on a second breath, it carried a cloying sweetness; upon closer notice, that fragrance was laced with a lustful aura that seemed to hook one's very soul.
Anyone with even slightly weaker resolve who inhaled it would likely lose