The moment you step into Devil Domain Forest, the temperature drops sharply.
A damp, cold chill came over me, as if something was sticking to my skin and slowly seeping through. The light in the forest was dim, and the layers of tree crowns above my head almost blocked all the skylight. Only a few rays of light leaked through the gaps, shining on the snow on the ground, reflecting mottled cold white.
The ground is covered with thick snow, but it is not smooth under the snow. When Qin Tiexin steps on it, the feeling under the feet is sometimes hard and sometimes soft - some places are frozen soil, and some places are mud mixed with rotten leaves and soil.
There is the smell of blood in the air.
It's very faint, but it's everywhere, like a breath that has penetrated deep into the soil and tree trunks and been emitted over the years.
Qin Tiexin followed the team at the end, and Divine Sense spread out, habitually exploring the surroundings.
Then he frowned.
When he was inside the pass, his Divine Sense could cover a range of a hundred steps, and he could clearly perceive the fluctuations of spiritual energy and the general outline of the terrain. But at this moment, after Divine Sense was probed out, it seemed as if it had been trapped in a ball of viscous material - the range was sharply compressed and could only extend to about fifty steps, and beyond that it became blurry, as if separated by a layer of thick fog.
"Divine Sense was suppressed." he whispered.
Li Yun, who was walking in front, looked back at him and nodded. "Have you noticed? This forest has a natural blocking effect, and the suppression on Divine Sense is very strong. The higher the cultivation level, the more obvious the suppression."
She paused and then asked, "How far can your Divine Sense detect?"
"Fifty steps."
A hint of surprise flashed in Li Yun's eyes. "You can reach fifty steps the first time? It's already pretty good. When I first came in, Foundation Establishment Early Stage could only reach less than forty steps." She did not comment much, but just added, "Senior Sister Nangong's Divine Sense is naturally much stronger than ordinary people, and is least affected in this forest, so our team's vigilance mainly relies on her."
Nangong Yao, who was walking at the front, seemed to have heard her name. She turned around and grinned at Qin Tiexin. The smile was particularly bright in the dim forest, with a hint of pride. She didn't speak, but her expression made her meaning clear - How about it, senior sister, isn't she awesome?
Qin Tiexin was indeed a little surprised. He had been with Nangong Yao for so long, and he only knew that she was good at making weapons and had dexterous skills in sparring, but he never knew that she had such talent in Divine Sense.
He didn't answer, and continued to maintain a vigilant posture, scanning both sides of the dense forest.
The scene in the depths of the forest is completely different from that of the plains outside the Pass. The trees are tall and strong, with dark brown or dark gray trunks, rough and cracked bark, and covered with dark green moss. The branches and leaves are extremely dense, even in winter, the leaves have not completely fallen, showing a dark black-green color, intertwined in layers, blocking most of the light.
The snow underfoot is very thick, but in some areas, the snow is in a semi-melted state, revealing the dark brown soil underneath. Dark red lines are vaguely visible on the surface of the soil, as if... it has seeped into it.
Qin Tiexin squatted down and touched the dark red soil with his fingertips.
It felt sticky to the touch, with a faint fishy smell. It was the smell of blood repeatedly soaked into the soil after years of fighting, mixed with mud and snow water and deteriorated. He straightened up and continued to move forward.
He didn't understand this forest at all. The terrain was unfamiliar, the environment was unfamiliar, and even Divine Sense was mostly suppressed. In this case, walking around rashly was courting death. He didn't ask any questions, just quietly followed the pace of the two people, and did his duty - mainly to guard against movements from behind.
After walking for a while, Nangong Yao slowed down and waited for Qin Tiexin to catch up. He lowered his voice and said, "Junior brother, do you still remember the three chapters of the agreement I told you before?"
"Remember."
"First, retreat immediately when encountering Demon General. Second, you are not allowed to act alone. Third, follow my command in everything." She held up three fingers, her expression rarely serious, "I'm not kidding you. I know this forest better than you, and here, the rules are the rules."
Qin Tiexin nodded. "Understood."
Nangong Yao glanced at him to confirm that he had listened, then turned back and continued to lead the way.
The problem of Divine Sense being suppressed has always existed. After several attempts, Qin Tiexin discovered that in this forest, his Divine Sense could not see as far as the naked eye - at least the naked eye could see the rough outline dozens of steps away through the trees, while Divine Sense completely failed at fifty steps away.
He simply took back Divine Sense, relying solely on his eyesight and hearing for vigilance.
But while taking back Divine Sense, he suddenly remembered something - [Spirit Material Sense].
This ability is not used much. There are spiritual materials everywhere in the sect, and the induction is almost the same as no induction. Later, when I arrived at Wind and Snow Pass, the refining room was full of materials and I couldn't use them. But here, it might come in handy.
He activated [Spirit Material Sense].
In his field of vision, a layer of light blue halo quietly emerged, like a mist spreading on the water, covering an area of about fifty feet. Within this range, he could feel the weak spiritual energy fluctuations of various ores and metals - most of them coming from ordinary iron ore veins underground, and some scattered unknown metal fragments.
The range was not large, but it was much farther than Divine Sense. And he noticed that [Spirit Material Sense] was very little affected by the suppression of the forest. Those metallic auras appeared very clearly in the field of vision, like sparse star points in the night sky, and were not blurred at all by the obstruction of the forest.
According to his understanding, some Devil Race like to collect Law Artifact trophies from human monks. If the enemy can be discovered in advance by sensing Law Artifact's metal spiritual power before they approach, it means longer reaction time and more preparation space.
He did not speak out about this discovery, but kept it silently in his mind, while continuing to maintain the state of [Spirit Material Sense] while following the two of them.
The three of them walked north along the edge of the forest for about two more sticks of incense, and the undulations on the ground began to become obvious. The snow was deeper, and in some places it was already up to the knees. Occasionally, some traces of battles could be seen in the woods - deep claw marks on tree trunks, scorched areas left by Law Technique, and Law Artifact fragments scattered in the snow.
Qin Tiexin swept through a few fragments. One was a broken sword tip, stained with rust, and the aura had long since dissipated. I don't know when it was left. There were a few rusted arrowheads scattered next to it. The arrow shaft had long since decayed, leaving only the metal part, half-buried in the snow.
These are all traces left by our predecessors.
Nangong Yao, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and raised his right hand.
This is a signal.
Qin Tiexin immediately stopped, lowered his body, and leaned against a thick tree trunk. Li Yun also made the same action almost at the same time, silently moving behind a raised rock.
Nangong Yao remained still, tilted his head and listened for a few breaths, then turned back and said in a very low voice, "Three miles ahead to the left, three heads Devil Soldier are approaching."
Three miles away. Being the first to find the target at this distance - Qin Tiexin silently compared the range of Divine Sense after he was suppressed in this forest. At fifty steps, it was not even a fraction of Nangong Yao.
He didn't say much, he just moved out from behind the tree trunk, lowered his center of gravity, and moved forward to a position with a better view. Li Yun also moved at the same time, maintaining a mutually echoing angle with him.
Under the cover of the trees, the three of them sneaked in the direction indicated by Nangong Yao. After attaching Breath-Concealing Talisman, their breath converged to almost nothing, and their footsteps fell on the snow, making a very subtle "rustling" sound.
When we were about 150 steps closer, Qin Tiexin finally saw the target through the sparse trees.
Three heads Horned Demon.
They are much taller than ordinary people, with the shortest one nearly a foot tall. Their skin is grey-brown, rough and cracked, as if covered with a layer of stone armor. There is a single black horn on their forehead, thick and sharp, glowing with a faint cold light in the dim forest. They walk very slowly, with heavy steps, and make a dull "click" sound with every step they take on the snow, as if they are on patrol. Occasionally they stop, use their horns to open the snow, and look for something underneath.
It is almost exactly the same as what was recorded on Jade Slip - Horned Demon, with a large body, rough skin and thick flesh, good at straight-line charges and brute force collisions. Weaknesses: relatively clumsy, with weak internal defense of the eyes and mouth. The three heads are high-level Devil Soldier, and their cultivation level is roughly equivalent to Qi Refining Late Stage.
Nangong Yao glanced at Qin Tiexin with a questioning gaze, and then pointed the direction of the three Horned Demon with his eyes - are you sure?
Qin Tiexin nodded without hesitation.
Nangong Yao didn't say much, and made a gesture, indicating that she and Li Yun would press on from both sides as support. Then she took Li Yun and silently disappeared into the trees on the side, leaving only Qin Tiexin in place.
Qin Tiexin spotted a slightly higher position - a rock covered with snow, about three feet above the ground, with a wide field of vision, about one hundred and twenty steps away from the three Horned Demon.
He moved behind the rock, squatted down, and took out the javelin from the storage ring.
Four handles.
One Parent-Child Spear and three Armor-Piercing Spear. He did not take Bursting Spear - in this forest, the explosion sound would spread far and cause unnecessary trouble. Horned Demon is rough and thick, and Armor-Piercing Spear combined with the Gang Breaking effect of the special spear tip should be able to break through their defenses.
He placed the Parent-Child Spear in the most convenient position, and lined up the other three Armor-Piercing Spears next to each other, with the gun tips facing forward.
Then he squatted there and didn't rush to take action.
Three Horned Demon are walking down a gentle slope in the forest, not very fast, occasionally stopping to look for things under the snow. Their movement routes are irregular, and the distance between them is also changing.
Qin Tiexin is waiting, waiting for them to get close to a distance that he is confident about.