As the greatest underground forest in the Northern Wastelands, the Graveyard of Grudges possessed a self-sustaining and balanced ecosystem populated by gloomy souls, fierce ghosts, predatory beasts, and countless unique subterranean living beings. After years of self-adjustment, this circle had grown exceedingly stable, and because of this, its counter-suppression against "foreigners" was remarkably powerful.
The deeper one ventured into it, the more intense people's perceptions became.
Amid the shadows of the forest, wandering fierce ghosts would blend into the dense nether-qi environment to seek out targets and devour human yang energy; packs of earth wolves would hide within the soil layers, bursting forth to harm targets as they walked; and there were even higher-level fiends that, after thousands of years of cultivation, had already attained sentience, partitioning the territory to rule over their respective domains.
To call such an environment fraught with danger at every step was no exaggeration at all.
Moreover, once people set foot into a region about ten thousand leagues deep, lighting a fire became a major hassle. Ordinary tinder simply refused to catch, and even if it did catch, it would be instantly crushed and extinguished by the dense nether-qi, potentially triggering other unforeseen changes. Under such circumstances, eating a hot meal was truly an exceedingly extravagant luxury.
However, there were always exceptions to everything.
In a certain corner of the forest, behind overlapping tree shadows, a ball of fire flickered, and rich aromas lingered ceaselessly around the area. If anyone happened to pass by, their eyeballs would surely pop out: a campfire was actually burning here, seemingly entirely unaffected by the dense nether-qi!
As for those people beside the campfire, were they having a barbecue?
Ghost cultivators clearly had no need to eat, yet Kou Chu was playing the part of head chef. As it