Chapter 269

269. Know yourself and know your enemy

Ling Yi was unaware that Dugu Bo had fallen into a brief state of confusion due to his impulsive words. After only a short rest, he prepared to proceed with the original plan to circle the mountain and investigate the specifics of this "Fog Mountain."

"Senior,"

Ling Yi naturally took Ah Yin's small hand, turned his gaze to Dugu Bo, and said calmly under the other's somewhat strange gaze, "Please help us protect the Dharma."

"No problem!" Dugu Bo nodded readily in response.

Seeing this, Ling Yi stopped dawdling and turned to look at Ah Yin. Just then, Ah Yin also turned to look at him. Their eyes met, and at the same time, they revealed smiles that could eclipse the heavens and earth.

Dugu Bo, who was watching this scene from the side, suddenly felt that he had eaten too much breakfast when he went out earlier. Otherwise, why would he feel a little bloated now?

Meanwhile, far away in the Great Soul Fighting Arena of "Heaven Dou City", Yang Shelly was wielding the "Soul-Breaking Hooked Scythe Spear" that Ling Yi had crafted for her, defeating a Soul Master whose Martial Soul was a vine-type weapon, causing him to retreat steadily.

Below the stage, Long Yin and Dugu Xin, who were watching the battle, both shivered. Qingqiu Xin, Zhang Mufeng, and Nie Rong also unconsciously swallowed, feeling a sense of crisis, as if serving a ruler was like serving a tiger.

In the forest, an invisible ripple emanates from a certain point, spreading outwards in concentric circles, layer upon layer.

Ten meters, twenty meters, forty meters, eighty meters, one hundred meters, two hundred meters...

Ultimately, thanks to the fact that both of them have now reached the Four-Ring Soul Ancestor realm, and the amplified ' Blue Silver Domain ' under the Martial Soul Fusion Skill state, the radiation range has reached a huge area of nearly twenty miles!

If you control your observation to be in a straight line, you can observe every blade of grass and every tree about 10,000 meters away!

The Weiyi drawback is that, under this full-power detection state, Ling Yi and Ah Yin can only maintain it for a maximum of ten minutes.

Observing a vast number of things in a complex environment is extremely mentally taxing!

Therefore, it is necessary to make the most of every minute.

"Senior, please follow and protect me along the way—"

After giving instructions to Dugu Bo, Ling Yi took Ah Yin's hand, and the two transformed into a pair of forest spirits, beginning their stroll through the forest with ' Fog Mountain ' as the center.

This journey took almost a whole day, until the moon was high in the sky, before the three of them finally returned to the place where they had first used the Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

A walk around the mountain isn't too long. If it were just a simple loop, the three of them could complete it in less than half an hour.

However, using the "Blue Silver Domain" to investigate the area within a 20-mile radius of this "Fog Mountain" and the conditions on the mountain itself is quite time-consuming and energy-intensive.

Three and a half miles west of "Fog Mountain", a simple treehouse was built from scratch in just ten minutes within the canopy of a giant tree that is over forty meters tall.

Watching Ling Yi calmly put the small hammer, the unused wooden wedges, and the mortise and tenon into his Storage Soul Tool, Dugu Bo fell silent again.

Dugu Bo had no idea how many times he had fallen silent.

Looking around at the treehouse built from the local materials, and thinking back to the days he spent holed up in the tree canopy not long ago, Dugu Bo had an urge to carve out another treehouse with his toes.

The cool moonlight shone through the 'window' that Ling Yi had specially left out, and into the treehouse. Even though no fire was lit, it was still as bright as day in the eyes of the three of them.

Ling Yi his hand and took out a thin metal plate, which quickly formed a low table. He gestured for Ah Yin and Dugu Bo to sit down and also took out some snacks and tea, all of which were light and would not emit any pungent smell in the forest.

Dugu Bo remained silent, eating and drinking quietly at Ling Yi's invitation.

After a while, feeling that his Soul Power had almost recovered, Ling Yi used a teapot, teacups, and snacks as Simulation objects and arranged them on a low table according to their positions.

Looking at the largest teapot in the center, and then at the teacups and snacks arranged around it, Dugu Bo consciously placed his empty teacup next to the other two teacups, right to the west of the teapot.

His gaze swept over the teapot, teacups, and the Dugu Bo arranged pieces of pastry around them before turning to Ling Yi.

"These—" Dugu Bo pointed to the pastries and asked, "What do they represent? Soul Beast?"

The teapot and teacups are easy to understand; the former likely represents "Fog Mountain," while the three teacups probably represent the three of them.

These are the snacks...

"Yes." Ling Yi nodded and replied with a smile, "Each pastry here represents a Soul Beast, and Soul Beast of considerable age!"

"This piece, this piece, this piece, and this piece..."

Ling Yi circled the twelve beige osmanthus cakes and introduced them, saying, "They are all hundred-year-old Soul Beast, some solitary and some in groups, but fortunately they are all less than a thousand years old and pose no threat to us."

Similarly, they are not very useful to us.

"Function?" Dugu Bo was somewhat concerned about this word.

Ling Yi didn't offer any explanation, and then started pointing at the low table again.

"These eight rose-flavored red bean cakes are named ' Purple Lightning Python,' ' Twin-Headed Bright Lizard,' ' Dead Leaf Snake,' ' Earth-Traveling Giant Hornless Dragon,' and ' Earth King '..."

"Apart from the ' Earth King,' all the others possess some form of dragon blood. It must be said, this ' Fog Mountain ' seems to hold a strange attraction for dragon descendants!"

Upon hearing Ling Yi's words, Dugu Bo's gaze lingered on the eight rose-red bean cakes. Looking at their magnificent purple color, he licked his lips, the sweet, glutinous floral aroma still lingering on his palate, and asked, "These... are all thousand-year-old Soul Beast?"

"Right!"

Ling Yi nodded, his gaze sweeping over the entire area. It seemed as if what lay before him was not a low table, tea set, and snacks, but rather a forest region spanning twenty miles in radius, centered on "Fog Mountain."

"That--"

Dugu Bo raised his hand, extended his index finger, and pointed to the southeast of the teapot, at the piece of pastry furthest from the teapot.

This pastry is the Weiyi piece of black rice and brown sugar cake on the low table.

Looking at the black creature, which appeared somber in the moonlight, Dugu Bo asked, "This Soul Beast must be ten thousand years old?"

Ling Yi nodded silently, without saying a word, still deep in thought.

Seeing this, Dugu Bo didn't say anything more, but just stared blankly at the layout on the low table.

He had discovered this "Fog Mountain" almost a year ago, but he seemed to have never had such a clear understanding of the situation around "Fog Mountain".

Looking up at Ling Yi, who was also bathed in moonlight, Dugu Bo had to admit that some people were born different from the rest of the world.

Beside her, Ah Yin's eyes were no longer on Dugu Bo, but only on that divine face that had captivated her entire being.

As if sensing Dugu Bo's gaze, Ling Yi looked up and saw him looking at him with a complicated expression. He immediately smiled and said, "Senior, there's no need for that."

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated; know yourself but not your enemy, and you will win one and lose one; know neither yourself nor your enemy, and you will be defeated in every battle."

"Only by taking a comprehensive view can we increase the success rate of our next actions..."

We'll continue tomorrow night. Goodnight everyone!