Monster

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Inside the cave on the north bank of the Ling River, several golden streams of fire suddenly converged, quickly outlining the figure of a young man.

"You've felt it, haven't you..." Jiang Yan closed his eyes for a moment, his voice indifferent. "This is the fear of death."

Pfft!

Pfft!

Behind him, several enormous monsters with black horns sprouting from their heads and their bodies encased in some kind of dark-brown carapace opened their mouths, then crashed to the ground, crumbling into heaps of black matter.

Jiang Yan opened his left hand, letting the black currents of air flow into his palm. After sensing them carefully, the corners of his mouth lifted into a faint smile.

"Progress isn't bad."

After a few moments of silence, Jiang Yan looked around. Seeing no other noteworthy targets nearby, he started walking again, continuing deeper into the cave, step by step.

The cave's terrain was complex. Only after entering it could one discover that its ecosystem was different from all others, practically a world unto itself, with countless forms of life unlike those on the surface flourishing within.

As he gradually descended, Jiang Yan sensed an immense vitality rising from deep within the earth.

"How strange. The earth nurtures life and can be called one of its sources. So how did so many monsters come into being here?"

As he walked, Jiang Yan pondered, "Could monsters like the weird be considered 'life' too? Are they not made entirely of foul and turbid energies? Hmm, when I have time, I should look into this properly."

As he thought this, his dark eyes suddenly paused. He took a message talisman from his pocket with his left hand and saw the words written on it:

"Ouyang, Lan Xin has been found. She's at the