Three streaks of light raced across the sky above the barren Gobi, tearing three long trails through the air over the desolate earth below.
As they drew closer, the mountain range that had been barely visible on the horizon gradually revealed its true form.
The mountains rose and fell like ancient beasts crouched upon the earth. Their slopes were a deep, somber color, utterly unlike anywhere else in Dragon-Phoenix Haven.
Vegetation covered the mountains thickly, but the trees were not the usual green. They bore an eerie dark-purple sheen, and from a distance, the entire range seemed shrouded in a sinister, oppressive gloom.
It was not the mountains' strange appearance that made Zi Yan narrow her eyes. It was the faint spiritual energy fluctuation coming from deep within them.
The fluctuation was well concealed, but she had sensed it nonetheless.
It carried a baleful ferocity wholly unlike that of the White-Scaled Bears on White Bone Mountain. It was deeper, more savage, and came from an enormous number of creatures.
She glanced at Lin Ming. Understanding flashed in his eyes; clearly, he had sensed the same thing.
"Be careful. The beasts guarding these mountains are much stronger than the ones on White Bone Mountain," Lin Ming warned.
The fact that even Lin Ming had issued a warning made Long Qingyue's heart tighten. She immediately pushed her spiritual energy to its limit. Golden Dragon Patterns flickered around her as she went on guard.
Just as the three were about to enter the mountain range, the forest below erupted without warning.
Countless shrill cries, sharp enough to pierce eardrums, rang out from deep within the trees at once. They were savage and bloodcurdling, as though thousands of Fierce Beasts had awakened from slumber at the same instant.
Then violent forces smashed through the