Deep within the Southern Border.
In the secluded depths of a valley, crooked giant trees and thickets grew in twisted shapes. Their canopies interwove, vines coiled around them, and sunlight could scarcely penetrate.
A layer of poisonous miasma, so dense one could not see one's own outstretched hand, filled the forest. The ground was carpeted with rotten branches and dead leaves, which crackled and crunched beneath one's feet.
Beneath the dead branches and rotting leaves lay another world. With good luck, one step would make something burst into pulp; with bad luck, one might step on a venomous snake and be dead before taking five steps.
Space swayed, ripples spreading outward as three figures emerged.
Zuo Lengxie took the lead, keeping a deliberate distance from Xiang Yuan and Chan'er. His wariness was obvious, and he made no effort to hide it.
Though Spiritual Light Old Devil had possessed another body and started cultivation anew, possessing only Spirit Transformation cultivation at present, and though the Saintess had yet to recover the memories of her many reincarnations, the two of them together were hardly worth mentioning. But they had gotten together—and had even enjoyed the pleasures of cloud and rain. There had to be some hidden truth behind it.
There was no harm in being cautious. Better stay on guard.
Zuo Lengxie stepped forward, and the frigid aura of the Yellow Springs spread out, condensing into frost. The flesh and blood of the poisonous insects, snakes, and ants nearby froze in an instant.
Xiang Yuan copied him, using the Formless Seal Method to wield the Three Yin Book of Life and Death. Yin qi spread and swept through the area, turning every poisonous insect, snake, and ant into a puddle of thick liquid.
"Hissss—"
Xiang Yuan drew in a deep breath, an