Chen Jieqi sat on the hill all night.
At daybreak, he stood up, walked a little deeper, took a look, and withdrew if nothing worked.
He unfolded Wings of Light and flew deeper into the Cangmang Mountain Range.
The denser the vegetation, the darker the light, and the air becomes humid and dull, carrying an indescribable... weight, not physical weight, but spiritual weight.
It's like there's something pressing on the heart, making people want to sigh, stop, turn around and go back.
Chen Jieqi took a deep breath, the center of his eyebrows Naaru Brand felt slightly hot, and the feeling of depression was relieved a bit.
"The source of pollution is affecting my consciousness." He whispered.
It's not Evil Soul Master's attack, it's the environment itself.
There are extremely fine gray-black particles floating in the air in this area. They are much thinner than Village of Light, but they are everywhere.
They are slowly eroding all living things that enter this area. They do not kill people, they just make people... sink.
Sink into numbness, sink into forgetfulness, sink into a state of not wanting to care about anything.
"No wonder no one comes in, the pressure is getting bigger and bigger." Chen Jieqi murmured.
He gathered Wings of Light, and the holy light circulated in his body, resisting the erosion of pollution.
After walking forward for about an hour, the trees in front began to become sparse, not naturally sparse, but "dead".
The trunks of those trees are still there, but the bark has turned gray-black, without a single leaf or a single ivy.
They are like dry bones stuck in the ground, silently pointing to the sky.
Chen Jieqi stopped and Holy Light Perception reached out with all his strength.
About a mile ahead, a huge gap opened in the ground, like a wound torn open from the inside by something.
Thick gray-black mist gushes out from the gap. It doesn't float away, but slowly wriggles and surges like a living thing.
In the center of the mist, something was glowing.
It's not a golden light, but a dark red shimmer like solidified Blood One.
Chen Jieqi The mark between the eyebrows is intensely hot. It is not a resonance, but a warning!
The pollution concentration there was more than a hundred times that of Village of Light. He was about to continue approaching when he suddenly stopped.
He recognized the outline of this ridge and turned over, it was Valley of Light.
He walked around in a large circle, from the front to the back of the mountain, and found that there was only a ridge between light and darkness.
He obtained the inheritance of Sheng Hui in Valley of Light and accepted the test of God of Light.
And darkness, under the same mountain where he gained light, has been sleeping for ten thousand years.
Chen Jieqi stood in the shadow of the ridge, looking at the crack in the ground, and pondered for a long time.
Then he found a relatively safe location, hid himself behind a boulder, and carefully explored the crack in the ground with Holy Light Perception.
The moment he sensed it, he saw more.
Deep in the cracks of the ground, there is accumulation of filth that has accumulated for countless years. It is not the "active" filth released by Evil Soul Master, but something more primitive and pure.
Seeping out from the ground, slowly, continuously, and unstoppably, it has no consciousness, no purpose, it just... exists.
It has existed since ancient times and has been sleeping underground until one day, it was awakened by something.
Chen Jieqi withdrew his perception and frowned.
"Sheng Hui." He muttered silently.
This time, Unicorn responded quickly.
"You saw it."
"What is this?"
"The core of the ancient dark residue." Sheng Hui's voice sounded in his mind, much clearer than before.
"In the ancient divine war, most of the remnants of the collision between light and darkness were purified. This place... sank into the ground and slept for thousands of years."
"Just below Valley of Light?"
"The same mountain range, Valley of Light is on that side of the mountain, and here is on this side of the mountain."
Sheng Hui paused,
"The same mountain has grass growing on the sunny side and moss growing on the shady side. Which one is the true color of the mountain, grass or moss?"
Chen Jieqi thought for a moment.
"Awakened by whom?"
"Those Evil Soul Master, they found this place, used human sacrifices to extract power from the core, but the core itself... is not something they can control."
"Can it be purified?"
"Yes." Sheng Hui said, "But not now."
"Why?"
"Your holy light is not strong enough. The fifth Soul Ring gave you Purification Power, but to eradicate such a core, you need the complete inheritance of Temple of Light.
Behind that Stone Gate... there is what you need."
Chen Jieqi Looking at the crack in the ground, gray-black mist slowly surged in the air, like a sleeping giant breathing.
He remembered the empty shell of Village of Light, the moment when old man Dawnlight Village knelt down, and the hollow laughter of those children turned into real cries after being awakened by the holy light.
He recalled the scene in the memory of the Evil Soul Master leader, the underground palace, the gray and black statues, and the scarlet eyes.
"Are those Evil Soul Master related to here?"
"They draw power from here, but their master... is not here." Sheng Hui's voice became more solemn,
"That underground palace and that statue of gods are another force.
They have a cooperative relationship with the pollution sources here, not a subordinate relationship."
Chen Jieqi felt something in his heart.
"Another force?"
"I have been asleep for too long and cannot remember clearly." Sheng Hui said,
"But your intuition is right. The source of pollution here is just a tool, and there is someone else who really controls Evil Soul Master."
Chen Jieqi didn't ask again.
He stared at the crack in the ground for a long time, then stood up.
"Let's go."
"Don't you want to try?" Sheng Hui asked.
"What are you trying?" Chen Jieqi said, "You said I can't purify it, I believe you."
"How will you know if you don't try?"
"You will definitely know if you try it." Chen Jieqi said,
"But what if what you said is right, I tried, but it couldn't be purified, but instead awakened the deeper unknown. What should the people in those villages do? What should the people of Dawnlight Village do?"
Sheng Hui paused for a while.
"You have changed."
"It hasn't changed." Chen Jieqi turned around and walked towards the way he came from, "I just know what I can and cannot do."
He didn't look back.
On the way back, he walked much faster than when he came.
Holy Light Perception no longer carefully explores the path, but spreads with full force to ensure that there is no ambush by Evil Soul Master.
After walking for about half an hour, he suddenly stopped.
In the woods ahead, there is a person, not Evil Soul Master.
It was an old man, wearing shabby linen clothes, carrying a medicine basket that was taller than himself, and was digging something next to a dead tree.
Chen Jieqi was stunned for a moment, how could there be anyone in a place like this?
He took a few steps closer and Holy Light Perception poked out. There was no dirt on the old man's body, no Soul Power, he was just an ordinary person.
When the old man heard the footsteps, he raised his head, revealing a face full of wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy but clear.
"Huh?" The old man looked at him, "Young man, why are you here?"
"Passing by." Chen Jieqi said, "Old man, how about you?"
"Collecting herbs." The old man pointed to the medicine basket, "There is a herb in this mountain that only grows here, and it can cure wind and cold."
Chen Jieqi is a little surprised.
"Aren't you afraid of the pollution here?"
"Pollution?" The old man was stunned for a moment, then smiled,
"You mean that gray fog? I've been running in the mountains since I was a child, so I'm used to it. Sometimes I feel dizzy. Just go back and take a nap."
Chen Jieqi looked at the old man and felt a surge of complicated emotions in his heart.
This old man can survive the pollution not because he has strong resistance, but because he is too "ordinary".
His sea of consciousness has almost no Soul Power fluctuations, and filth has the least impact on him, just like the wind can blow down a big tree, but cannot blow down a stone.
"Young man, you don't look good." The old man said, "Would you like a drink of water?"
Chen Jieqi shook his head, "No need, old man, do you know the crack in the ground in front?"
The old man's smile froze.
"I know." He said, his voice a little lower.
"Don't go there, it's... not clean."
"Have you been there?"
"I went there once when I was young," the old man said.
"I came back halfway through. I felt cold all over. I had nightmares for half a month, and then I never dared to come near him again."
Chen Jieqi nodded.
"Then do you know when that crack in the ground appeared?"
The old man thought for a while,
"My grandpa said he had it when he was a kid, but it wasn't this big before, and it wasn't this... dark. It's getting bigger and bigger in the past few years, and the fog is getting thicker and thicker."
Chen Jieqi felt something in his heart.
"How many years?"
"That's right," the old man said, "About... twelve or thirteen years ago, right? It started to get bigger."
Twelve or thirteen years ago, his heart tightened. That was the time when he and Tang San traveled through time.
Chen Jieqi didn't ask any more questions. He took out a few Gold Soul Coin from Soul Tool and handed them to the old man.
"Old man, take it and collect the medicine somewhere else. It's not safe here."
The old man looked at Gold Soul Coin, then at Chen Jieqi, finally took it and nodded.
"Young man, you have to be careful too."
"I will."
Chen Jieqi turned around and continued walking out of the mountain.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned around and asked, "Old man, what is your name?"
The old man grinned and said, "Wang Laoliu, everyone in the village calls me Uncle Liu."
"Uncle Six." Chen Jieqi repeated, "Remember."
Three days later, Chen Jieqi returned to Dawnlight Village.
When the villagers saw him, they seemed to see a relative. They gathered around to ask questions. The old man held his hand with tears in his eyes.
"Benefactor, you are finally back!"
Chen Jieqi nodded, "Get ready and set off in three days."
"Let's go? Where?"
"Heaven Dou City." Chen Jieqi said,
"I have a place there where I can settle you. The fortifications there can protect you. I will take you back after I solve the source of the pollution here."
The old man was stunned for a moment, then nodded heavily, "Okay! We'll follow you!"
Other villagers also shouted, no one hesitated or questioned.
They have lived in this cursed land for too long and never dream of leaving.
Chen Jieqi looked at these villagers and felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.
He is not the savior, but at least he can save these people.
That night, Chen Jieqi sat under the old locust tree at the entrance of Dawnlight Village, looking in the direction of the Cangmang Mountain Range's depths.
There, the gray-black mist loomed in the night sky, like a dormant giant beast.
He retracted his gaze and looked in another direction, over the ridge, which was Valley of Light.
Light and darkness are separated only by a ridge.
He gained power in Valley of Light and discovered the darkness that needed to be purified on this side of the mountain.
This is no coincidence.
"Sheng Hui." He muttered silently.
"Hmm."
"I will come back when I get the inheritance of Temple of Light."
"I know."
"When the time comes, purify that thing completely."
In Soul Ring, Sheng Hui turned over, and his silver-white mane lit up in the darkness for a moment, then dimmed again.