Spirit Gathering Mushroom

Zhu Zhuqing followed without hesitation, and Xirui, after a brief moment of doubt, did not fall behind either.

As they drew closer to the location detected, the ice-attribute energy in the air grew increasingly dense, condensing into a bone-chilling cold.

Mu Qian's mastery over both ice and fire attributes made it nearly impossible for him to make a mistake in his judgment.

Moreover, with the temperature shifting so obviously, even an ordinary person would be able to feel it.

However, the sun was clearly blazing overhead at this moment; even if the tall trees blocked the sunlight, the temperature should not have undergone such a distinct change.

Carrying a faint sense of doubt, they continued forward. Not long after, as they pushed through a patch of low-lying shrubs, they finally saw the source of the anomaly.

On the ground not far away, five corpses stood in a neat row.

The reason they were called "standing corpses" was that they had long since turned into solid ice sculptures, all signs of life completely extinguished.

The five ice sculptures were transparent throughout, their faces lifelike, their expressions incredibly serene, as if they had maintained their state from before the incident.

It was as if they had been frozen instantly without the slightest awareness of danger.

Furthermore, these five had lost their lives without the experts from Martial Soul Hall Academy even making a move.

"Wait a moment, everyone, don't go over there yet." Under Mu Qian's grave warning, the three of them stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

The two girls obediently moved behind Mu Qian, looking toward the scene in the distance.

"What is going on? They..." Zhu Zhuqing's red lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with astonishment, and subconsciously, she felt a faint fear of the unknown.

It was only after she felt her delicate hand enveloped by that familiar palm that she recovered.

Mu Qian shook his head, closing his eyes to carefully sense the energy within the dark purple jungle.

Although the temperature here had dropped significantly and the air was permeated with potent ice-attribute energy, this chill had not yet reached the level where it could freeze a person instantly.

"There seems to be something ahead blocking my spiritual detection." Mu Qian whispered to himself, his gaze fixed forward.

There appeared to be an invisible, intangible barrier there; the moment his spiritual power touched it, it was like colliding with a highly elastic balloon, instantly bouncing back.

"What should we do, A-Mu? Should we..." Zhu Zhuqing's face showed worry; she did not want Mu Qian to go and take the risk.

But before her words of dissuasion could be finished, she was interrupted by Mu Qian: "Wait, someone else is coming. Let's watch and see first."

Having said that, Mu Qian immediately retracted his spiritual power, enveloping the three of them within it to avoid being discovered.

Not far to their front-left, others had also discovered the anomaly here and had crossed the surrounding shrubs to arrive nearby.

All five were boys, and they looked like newcomers participating in this assessment as well.

"Huo Sheng, Wang Qiming, Zeng Zhi, Xu Kun, Zhao Lele."

Mu Qian had some impression of them; there was no helping it, as they were the five people whose names were called in the first group yesterday—it would have been hard not to notice them.

Judging by their positioning, the boy named Xu Kun, who was in the lead, should be the core figure of this temporary group.

The three of them watched their reactions carefully.

Upon seeing the five statues, these five were equally astonished, even showing clear expressions of terror, but they quickly regained their composure.

Not a single person spoke throughout the process; the group communicated almost entirely through eye contact, and it certainly did not look like their first time working together.

"If they didn't know each other beforehand, then to develop such teamwork in just a single day—these five are not simple."

Watching the other party's reaction, Mu Qian couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded: "Martial Soul Hall Academy is famous across the continent; it's not strange for people who know each other to come and sign up together."

"After all, for them, this is also a reasonable means of passing the assessment."

Mu Qian did not speak, but his eyes revealed a look of agreement.

During their conversation, the five people ahead had already taken action.

After exchanging glances for a moment, the youth named Xu Kun picked up a stone and threw it toward the corpses that had turned into ice sculptures.

When the ice sculpture was struck, it shattered with a "crack," leaving a pile of ice shards on the ground.

The stone, infused with soul power, did not lose its momentum; it continued to fly forward, rolled a few times on the ground, and finally lay there quietly.

The five looked at each other; aside from stirring up the smell of decaying fallen leaves on the ground, there seemed to be no anomaly with the stone.

Xu Kun still did not let his guard down. He took a small squirrel out of his backpack—this was something they had caught earlier, and they had likely kept it thinking it could be used to scout the path.

Without a second thought, he threw the squirrel out.

Mu Qian observed the squirrel's reaction in detail. While in mid-air, the squirrel seemed to sense something that terrified it; it became agitated and restless, struggling incessantly in an attempt to change its landing trajectory.

Unfortunately, it was just an ordinary animal. Under the injection of soul power and being in mid-air, it could not escape its miserable fate.

The moment the squirrel crossed the ice sculptures, Mu Qian's pupils constricted, as he felt the ice-attribute energy ahead surge to a terrifying critical point.

The squirrel was instantly frozen solid, meeting the same fate as the ice sculptures, and when it hit the ground, it shattered into crystalline powder.

"This... this energy..." Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out in Mu Qian's mind.

It was the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum, Jinyu, who had been asleep for nearly a year to recover her soul energy.

"Xiao Qian, there is something very important to me ahead. I can feel it; it seems to be... the aura of a Spirit Gathering Mushroom!" Jinyu's voice trembled slightly, her tone laced with undisguised excitement.

"Spirit Gathering Mushroom? What is that?" Mu Qian asked, puzzled.

He was neither omniscient nor omnipotent; for the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum, who had survived on this continent for two hundred thousand years and mastered the pinnacle of spiritual power in this world, it was only natural that she knew more than he did.

However, Mu Qian had his attention focused on the conversation with Jinyu, causing him to overlook a detail occurring in the outside world.

The moment the frigid aura froze the squirrel, Xirui, standing behind him, also revealed a thoughtful expression.

"The Spirit Gathering Mushroom is a type of heavenly treasure that possesses an incredibly strong ice attribute, and the intensity of this attribute has almost reached the extreme," Jinyu explained to Mu Qian in his mind, suppressing the excitement in her heart.

"The pity is that no matter how many years a Spirit Gathering Mushroom lives, it can never develop sentience, and thus it cannot become a plant-type soul beast like us."

"Whether for soul beasts or you human soul masters, the Spirit Gathering Mushroom can be considered a highly toxic substance; let alone consuming it, even just approaching it carries the risk of being frozen by its extreme chill."

"That terrifying cold poison is such that even a Titled Douluo could be left with lifelong, indelible hidden injuries if they are not careful."

Hearing this, a look of shock appeared on Mu Qian's face, and he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Since it is a highly toxic substance, why did you say it is very important to you?"