Gray Mist and Miasma

The three entered the dense forest. They had barely walked for a while when a pungent stench drifted toward them.

The lush, leafy trees around them had also become bare, covered in jet-black, gleaming barbs.

That pungent odor was emitted by those black thorns.

Guang Chengzi formed a hand seal, and a spiritual energy barrier appeared, enveloping all three of them.

Bai Ze lowered the sleeve covering his nose. Looking around at the scene, he asked in confusion,

"Brother Dao, where are we going?"

Guang Chengzi surveyed their surroundings, identifying their direction as he said,

"This place is called the Black Forest. It was affected by yin qi and death qi, hence its name.

"Our destination is the Bone-Eroding Pool at the very heart of the Black Forest, where endless death qi gathers.

"There is a spiritual herb I need there—the Dream Orchid."

Dream Orchid?

Bai Ze was somewhat bewildered. He had never heard of such a thing!

"Let's go this way!"

After finding the right direction, Guang Chengzi headed into the dense forest, with Bai Ze and Duobao following closely behind.

After passing through layer upon layer of trees, the three gradually slowed down, then changed direction again...

Until, in the end, the three stood in place, staring at one another wide-eyed.

"So... we're lost?"

Bai Ze looked at the mark he had left on a tree earlier, his expression somewhat strange.

"Possibly... perhaps... probably, we're lost." A trace of embarrassment flashed through Guang Chengzi's eyes.

"It has been too long since you last came here. The terrain was bound to have changed, Brother Dao. Don't take it to heart," Bai Ze consoled him.

Guang Chengzi nodded, then changed direction once more.

A moment later, they returned to the same place yet again.

Until the sky gradually brightened.

Duobao suddenly spoke. "Senior Brother, we won't take the wrong path again this time, will we?"

Guang Chengzi's cheek twitched slightly. Somewhat uncertainly, he said,

"Probably not."

Bai Ze looked at the tracks the three had left on the ground. They had already walked through this area dozens of times, and every time, they had circled back to the starting point.

And judging from Guang Chengzi's uncertain manner, Bai Ze had already given up on the idea that Guang Chengzi could find a way out.

Even if they tried a few more times, they would probably still circle back.

He looked around and asked,

"Brother Dao, do you think we may have accidentally entered some kind of bewildering formation?"

"That's possible!" Guang Chengzi nodded.

"Bullshit. Could we really have walked around this many times without noticing a formation?

"Clearly, Senior Brother just forgot the way." Duobao spoke with a resentful expression.

"If you ask me, Senior Brother, you should think carefully about which way to go. We can't keep circling like this forever."

Guang Chengzi nodded lightly, somewhat embarrassed.

"Fine. Then we'll rest where we are."

Having said that, he continued looking around on his own, trying to find the right direction.

Seeing Guang Chengzi's somewhat anxious expression, Bai Ze asked,

"Brother Dao, how long has it been since you last came here?

"And how did you find this place before?"

Guang Chengzi stopped upon hearing this and pondered for a moment.

"It has probably been tens of thousands of years. When I first came here, I had not yet entered Master's sect.

"At that time, I had only recently reached Awakening Spirit. Later, while traveling outside, I encountered a ferocious beast and accidentally entered the Bone-Eroding Pool.

"Only, the Dream Orchid had not yet matured back then. After that, Master took me away."

"So... when you entered back then, it was entirely by accident?

"You were not familiar with this place at all?

"And the direction you entered from was completely different from ours?"

Bai Ze looked at Guang Chengzi in astonishment as he asked.

Knowing himself to be at fault, Guang Chengzi nodded awkwardly.

Bai Ze felt rather helpless. The Awakening Spirit Realm was merely the stage when one's intelligence had just awakened, and one could only passively absorb innate spiritual energy.

At that stage, neither one's strength nor intelligence could amount to much.

And under circumstances where he was entirely unfamiliar with this place, Guang Chengzi had come straight here based solely on vague memories!

Bai Ze did not know whether to say Guang Chengzi was bold or simply confident!

Did he really think that just because he had managed to enter once, he could enter a second time?

Bai Ze was rather speechless, but sitting here was useless as well.

So he simply activated the Insight Divine Ability to see whether he could discover anything.

As he urged it into motion, streak after streak of silver patterns interwove within his blue pupils.

The surrounding woods blurred away, replaced by countless wisps of gray-black mist.

He looked toward Duobao and saw a golden mouse standing upright on two legs, with countless strands of gray-black mist clinging to the spiritual energy barrier.

When he looked at Guang Chengzi, he saw a humanoid mass of purple qi likewise shrouded in gray-black mist.

After activating the Insight Divine Ability, Duobao and Guang Chengzi appeared in their true forms within his sight.

But after observing them, a faint guess arose in his heart.

"Little brother, why are you staring at me like that? You're making your big brother feel uncomfortable all over."

Bai Ze was not surprised that Duobao had noticed he was probing him. His cultivation was still shallow, so it was only natural for Duobao to notice.

However, this divine ability of his was an innate divine ability that would grow stronger as his cultivation advanced.

"Brother, step out of the spiritual energy barrier, and do not use spiritual power to seal your nostrils either."

Duobao was somewhat puzzled. "Why? This place stinks so badly!"

Hearing Bai Ze make those arrangements, Guang Chengzi could not help but glance over.

When he saw Bai Ze's silver pupils, he asked in surprise,

"Junior Brother Bai Ze, is that an ocular technique you are using?"

"That's right." Bai Ze nodded and did not conceal it. After all, they would be together for a long time to come, and he would inevitably need to use this divine ability.

Guang Chengzi understood and did not ask further. Instead, he stepped directly out of the spiritual energy barrier. In an instant, a pungent stench swept over him, making him cover his mouth and nose.

"Junior Brother Bai Ze, what now?"

Bai Ze looked at Guang Chengzi. Once Guang Chengzi had dispelled the spiritual energy barrier, the gray-black mist immediately stopped approaching him and instead surged toward Bai Ze and Duobao, who were still maintaining their spiritual power.

He immediately became certain that this gray-black mist was drawn together by spiritual energy, clinging to the barrier.

That was why they had kept circling in place.

What surprised him greatly, however, was that Guang Chengzi, who had always valued rules, had actually listened to him.

He glanced at Duobao, then withdrew the spiritual energy barrier and ceased using the Insight Divine Ability.

"Brother Dao, let's go! We should not get lost now."

Duobao, standing nearby, looked puzzled upon hearing this. "That's it? We just need to avoid using spiritual power?"

Bai Ze nodded slightly. "There is a strange kind of mist here. This mist gathers wherever there is spiritual energy. As long as we do not circulate spiritual power, it will not affect us."

Realization dawned in Duobao's eyes. "Little brother, honestly, you should have said so earlier. If you had, wouldn't I have come out sooner?"

"I was not certain whether it would work, so I wanted Brother to test it first."

"So you wanted to use your big brother as a test subject! You little brat!"

Duobao laughed and scolded him, then dispelled his spiritual energy barrier and stepped out.

Bai Ze spread his hands and said with a grin, "Who told Brother's true form to be a mouse?"

Duobao frowned. "Little brother, what do you mean by that?"