Treasure Item

"That was close." Tang Yuan put away that flash of golden light and spoke with lingering fear.

Yan Mingchi felt the same. After his heart stopped pounding, he looked at the abnormality in Tang Yuan's arm and exclaimed, "Brother Tang, this is..."

"An accident during cultivation." Tang Yuan smiled helplessly. He had not expected danger to come so quickly. His arm had only just returned to normal, yet in less than a day, it had transformed into a beast's limb again.

As they spoke, the temporarily halted miasma spread to the edge of the misty forest. Yet strangely, not a wisp of it crossed over, as though an invisible boundary stood between them.

The gray miasma met the dark-white fog, neither interfering with the other. The sight was strangely harmonious, but everyone knew that the miasma only appeared calm on the surface; in truth, it was perilous beyond measure.

Suddenly, Yan Mingchi's body trembled. He hurriedly braced himself against a nearby tree, his face darkening as pain twisted his expression, discomfort written all over him.

"Miasma has entered his body?" Lu Feng asked in confusion.

"It shouldn't have. The miasma should have been blocked off. Even if a small amount got through, with Brother Yan's strength, he should have been able to purge it," Tang Yuan replied.

By then, Yan Mingchi had already sat cross-legged on the ground, circulating his cultivation to force the miasma from his body. Yet there was no improvement at all.

"There's something wrong with this miasma," Lu Feng guessed. He then took out some Atractylodes Lancea Root, tied it into a bundle, lit it, and tossed it into the miasma.

Atractylodes Lancea Root was an ordinary herbal medicine. Once lit, it could dispel miasma and foul qi.

Although the bundle Lu Feng had thrown was small, it should have been enough to clear the miasma within several meters.

After the smoking Atractylodes Lancea Root landed, it forced back the surrounding miasma and opened up a small patch of clean space. Yet it was not even half a meter wide, and before long, the miasma gathered again and swallowed it whole.

"What's going on?" Tang Yuan asked in surprise.

Lu Feng was equally astonished. "This miasma was most likely man-made. It's far more terrifying than ordinary miasma, and it contains many kinds of poison."

"What do we do now?" Jiang Ruoyun asked worriedly as she looked at the gray miasma.

"Since it was made by someone, there must be a way to break it." As Lu Feng pondered, his gaze fell on Tang Yuan, asking about what had happened when he entered the miasma earlier.

Tang Yuan immediately recalled the scene of his earlier confrontation with the miasma. Details he had overlooked began to surface.

Tang Yuan took the wooden stick Jiang Ruoyun was still holding and casually drew a pattern into the damp earth, circles and dots scattered amid intersecting lines.

It was the route he had taken earlier.

Tang Yuan pointed at one of the nodes on the ground. "At first, I did indeed force the miasma back. But when I reached this spot, it suddenly surged at me like its morale had soared. I couldn't withstand it and retreated."

"You stay behind and look after Yan Mingchi. I'll go take a look," Lu Feng said. From the pattern Tang Yuan had drawn, he seemed to have spotted traces of an array.

"No. That miasma is too terrifying. If you go in, you'll definitely die." Jiang Ruoyun stopped him, her face full of worry.

"Perhaps this was set up by the force hiding in the shadows. We finally found a clue, so we have to verify it."

Lu Feng answered with a smile. He knew entering the miasma was extremely dangerous, but there seemed to be no better option. As for Yan Mingchi's injury, only Tang Yuan's strength might be able to suppress it for now.

Seeing this, Tang Yuan took out an item that glowed with golden light and handed it to Lu Feng without hesitation.

"Take this Ocean Stabilizing Golden Bell. It can't guarantee absolute safety, but it should help."

As he spoke, he quietly told Lu Feng how to activate the golden bell.

"A Treasure Item!"

Lu Feng's eyes lit up. He had never expected to see a Treasure Item in the remote Azure Dragon Town. Moreover, judging by the exquisite golden bell in his hand, its grade seemed far from low.

Treasure Items were objects enhanced with array inscriptions or arrays, and their uses were generally quite broad.

Take the shield Jiang Feng had used to block Lu Feng's arrows back then. If it had been a Treasure Item enhanced with array inscriptions, ordinary arrows would never have been able to pierce it.

Some powerful Treasure Items could allow an ordinary person to kill someone above their realm in an instant.

When Jiang Ruoyun saw Tang Yuan hand a Treasure Item to Lu Feng, some of her worry eased. She cautioned, "Be careful. Don't get hurt."

As she spoke, she reached out and returned the Black Jade Cloud Stone Lu Feng had given her earlier.

Lu Feng nodded solemnly. He flung the golden bell from his hand, making it hover above his head. With a flick of his fingers, he activated it. A Spiritual Qi Shield then descended, enveloping his entire body.

Lu Feng reached out and touched the walls of the golden bell. They felt somewhat warm, and he could not help but be startled.

"This is the manifestation of spiritual qi taking physical form... This Treasure Item is of a far higher grade than he had imagined."

Lu Feng could not help but grow curious about Tang Xuan's identity. A Treasure Item like this was not something an ordinary household in a remote town could possess.

Seeing Lu Feng lost in thought, Tang Yuan reminded him, "This golden bell can last at most half an hour. Go quickly and return quickly. Be careful."

Lu Feng came back to his senses and took several steps forward. The golden shield followed him like a shadow. No matter how fast he moved, he could not leave the shield's range.

He stepped out of the misty forest, and his figure vanished into the miasma.

With the route described earlier, Lu Feng quickly arrived at the place Tang Yuan had pointed out.

"There really is an array!"

Lu Feng looked around and found that the array was not complicated.

It had originally been only a second-tier Auxiliary Array, used to gather spiritual qi and benefit an estate. Yet now, it had been altered into such a sinister, baleful array.

Lu Feng considered how to break the array and quickly came up with two methods. The first was to find the array core and shatter it, but that would require quite a few measures and was clearly troublesome.

So Lu Feng chose the second method.

Plunder.

Rather than destroy this miasma array that had harmed so many, he might as well make use of it.

Lu Feng took out several dozen jade stones of varying sizes. One of them was the Black Jade Cloud Stone Jiang Ruoyun had returned to him. The others were also varieties of cloud jade, merely of different types.

Unlike this miasma array, the array Lu Feng set up would not confine it in one fixed location. Instead, it would compress it into the pieces of cloud jade. Through special methods, they could then form a terrifying killing array.

Even if he failed to set up the killing array, the terrifying miasma would still give him another means of retreat. After all, even Yan Mingchi of the Spirit Gathering Realm had been injured by it, and only the slightest trace had entered his body.

The array Lu Feng was setting up was called the Flowing Cloud Spirit Array. Contrary to its elegant name, it was an array specifically used to collect Nether Qi, miasma, and evil qi.

Like white clouds, it could be seen but not touched; one could only let it drift, only let life dissipate.

The Flowing Cloud Array was a third-tier low-grade array. However, due to the terrifying nature of the miasma, once converted into a killing array, its power should rival a sixth-tier spirit array. It would be enough to threaten Soul Masters at the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm, and even early Chakra Realm Soul Masters could be injured if they let down their guard.

The grades of arrays were subtly linked to the realms of Soul Masters. Spirit arrays were divided into three ranks: low, middle, and high. Each rank was further divided into three tiers.

Ordinary low-grade spirit arrays—first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier arrays—could affect those below the Seven Souls Realm.

Fourth-tier, fifth-tier, and sixth-tier arrays corresponded to the Spirit Gathering Realm.

Those above the seventh tier corresponded to the Chakra Realm...

Before setting up the Flowing Cloud Array, Lu Feng first found the core of the miasma array and temporarily sealed and suppressed it, lest it resist while he plundered the miasma.

A simple seal was far easier than shattering it outright.

Once everything was prepared, the Flowing Cloud Array was nearly complete. A clear, crisp Array Chant rang out and lingered in the air.

Then Lu Feng saw the Black Jade Cloud Stone at the center, with the other cloud jade stones assisting it in absorbing the miasma.

It was like a bottomless whirlpool suddenly appearing on still water. The miasma rapidly gathered toward the black jade stone and compressed...

Fortunately, there was not much miasma stored here. By the time the black jade stone was nearly saturated, the surrounding miasma had almost completely dissipated.

The crisis was resolved.

Using a special method, Lu Feng put away the Flowing Cloud Array and stored the jade stones containing the terrifying miasma in the Kirin Ring.

Looking at the hills that had returned to normal, Lu Feng withdrew the golden bell and prepared to return to Tang Yuan and the others.

Suddenly...

"Howl..."

Lu Feng heard a wolf howl behind him, followed by several more chaotic roars.

Sensing danger, Lu Feng retreated at top speed. Countless wild wolves suddenly appeared behind him, densely packed beyond number.

Lu Feng's speed should have been enough to shake off the wolf pack, but on his way back, he ran into Tang Yuan and the other two.

His body stiffened, and he stopped. The four of them stood together.

The wolf pack surrounded them in an orderly fashion.

Lu Feng handed the golden bell to Tang Yuan, who tossed it out and formed a Spiritual Qi Shield to protect all four of them.

For a moment, Lu Feng could not remember what color wolves' eyes were, but they definitely did not look like the wolves before him. They definitely were not blood-red.

Every wolf surrounding them had blood-red eyes, red as though blood might drip from them. Their fur was soaked through as well, as though they had been steeped in blood.

"Hooowwl... Hooowwl..."

The wolves let out prolonged howls, slowly tightening their encirclement as though they meant to swallow Lu Feng and the others whole.

"What do we do?" Jiang Ruoyun asked.

"If it comes down to it, we'll fight our way out," Yan Mingchi said. After Tang Yuan helped suppress the miasma in his body, his complexion had improved considerably.

"These aren't ordinary wolves. They're even more vicious than mutated wolves." Lu Feng said worriedly, "With so many wolves, we may not be able to kill our way out. We might be worn to death instead."

"Look..." A strange look flashed across Tang Yuan's face. Pointing at the wolf pack's remarkably regular rhythm, he said, "These wolves seem to be under someone's control."

"Indeed!" Lu Feng's heart jolted. The wolves surrounding them appeared chaotic at first glance, but on closer inspection, they were exceptionally orderly—sparse in front, dense behind, arranged in perfect order as they trapped Lu Feng and the others layer upon layer.

"How exactly are they being controlled?" Lu Feng was somewhat puzzled. He had seen many methods of controlling beasts—some used music, some used whips, and some used spiritual qi suppression—but he had no idea what controlled these mad wolves before him.