Shattered Mirror Evil Spirit (1)
The Nine-Grade Purple Ganoderma, with its cap resembling a purple cloud, could boost one's cultivation and save one's life in a critical moment, so two of them were picked; the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, with its golden-red body, was excellent for strengthening muscles and bones and tempering the body, so three of them were picked;
There was also the Fragrant Silk Beauty Supreme herbs, which detoxifies and protects the heart, making it a life-saving elixir. I carefully collected two of them. Finally, there was the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone, with roots and stems like jade, which is gentle and nourishes the body. I also prepared three of those.
In addition, some of the following were also harvested: Snow Silkworm, Cinnabar Lotus, Dragon Whisker Ginseng, Heaven-Mending Ganoderma, Crimson Flame Golden Lotus, Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng, and Nine-Leaf Soul-Returning Ganoderma.
All of them were top-grade herbs over a hundred years old. They were carefully placed into jade boxes, sealed, and stored in the Chaos Space. If the Immortal Herb in this herb garden were taken outside, they would be enough to cause a frenzy among Soul Master World, but Lin Chen only considered them as reserve supplies.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the three of them packed up and set off.
He was still disguised as before. Dugu Bo had changed into a drab old sheepskin coat, his back was hunched, and his face had a few more wrinkles, making him look exactly like an old Soul Master who had traveled all over the country;
Lin Chen and Xiao Wu were also dressed in thick, coarse winter clothes, with leather hats covering their ears, concealing their Soul Power fluctuations. The three of them walked in the snow, completely inconspicuous.
The forest in the depths of winter is even more desolate than in autumn. The thick snow is ankle-deep, crunching underfoot.
The branches of the towering ancient trees were weighed down with clumps of snow, so still that even the wind seemed frozen. Most of the Soul Beast had hidden themselves in their deep lairs to hibernate, and not a single footprint could be found.
Even ordinary hundred-year or Thousand-Year Soul Beast are rare, let alone Space System Soul Beast, which are already extremely rare.
After searching for quite some time, Xiao Wu was getting a little discouraged. Kicking at a snowball by the roadside, she muttered under her breath, "It seems most of the Soul Beast have entered hibernation. This is troublesome."
"Soul Hunting in the depths of winter is difficult enough," Dugu Bo frowned. "In other places, I could easily summon several Soul Beast. But Space System Soul Beast are very alert; they disappear into crevices at the slightest disturbance, making them even harder to find."
He looked at Lin Chen as he spoke. Lin Chen had been the one sensing everything along the way, and he wanted to see just how accurate his disciple's Void Divine Eye really was.
Lin Chen didn't speak, but walked forward slowly, a faint blue light always lingering in his eyes.
He activated the Void Divine Eye to its fullest extent, and the mark between his brows felt slightly hot. He could clearly perceive the spatial fluctuations within a radius of several miles, distinguishing between the ripples caused by the movement of Soul Beast and the distortion of ordinary air currents. However, the trace of the Space System Soul Beast remained elusive.
He wasn't in a hurry; he walked slowly, scanning the area inch by inch.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Wu asked quickly.
Lin Chen frowned slightly, raised his hand and pointed to the depths of the dense forest to his left, his voice tinged with doubt. "Over there... the spatial fluctuations are strange. They're not the gentle fluctuations of Soul Beast; they're distorted and fragmented, like a shattered mirror."
Dugu Bo's heart stirred, and he immediately released his divine sense.
But as soon as his divine sense extended a few dozen feet, it seemed to hit something slippery and was refracted into pieces with a "smack," making it impossible to penetrate deeper.
"There's something fishy about this." Dugu Bo's expression turned slightly serious. "Let's go take a look. Be careful."
The three of them walked quietly into the depths of the dense forest.
The further you go, the more bizarre the surroundings become. Even though it's daytime, the light is distorted and warped, as if you're looking through broken glass, and the shadows of trees and snow are twisted into strange shapes.
The snow underfoot was uneven, with some places sunken and others raised, as if the space itself had been crumpled.
"Watch your step!" Lin Chen suddenly called out a warning.
But it was still too late.
Dugu Bo, who was at the very front, took his first step, the snow beneath his feet suddenly disappeared.
The three of them felt a sudden explosion of light and shadow before their eyes, the world spinning around them, and their bodies feeling as if they were being pulled by countless forces, instantly losing their weight.
In just a moment, the three regained their footing.
The sight that met his eyes made Dugu Bo's heart tighten suddenly.
The surroundings were not the familiar dense forest, but a strange, boundless space.
Countless fragments of mirror, large and small, floated in mid-air, densely packed and layered, stretching to the horizon. Each fragment reflected their image, some magnified several times, some shrunk to tiny dots, and some distorted beyond recognition.
The light refracted and reflected between the fragments, making one dizzy; just as one was about to speak, the sound was shattered by the impact of the mirror, buzzing and crashing wildly in the space, so clear that even one could not hear it clearly;
Dugu Bo subconsciously released a wisp of Soul Power to probe, but as soon as the Soul Power left his body, it was bounced back by the mirror, crashing around among the fragments and completely dissipating, so much so that even his divine sense couldn't probe out.
"Not good!"
Dugu Bo gave a low shout and instantly stood in front of Lin Chen and Xiao Wu.
His emerald pupils suddenly contracted, and the poisonous aura around him spread uncontrollably. The phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor was already faintly visible behind him.
He had lived for nearly a hundred years and had never suffered such a setback.
The person capable of setting up such a spatial trap must be a renowned powerhouse! At the very least, Space System Soul Master at the peak of the Soul Douluo, or even... Titled Douluo!
Could it be that some enemy has come knocking on our door?
His muscles were tense, his gaze sweeping over the shards of mirror around him, ready to unleash his full power at any moment.
The space was quiet, save for the fragmented, refracted sounds of breathing, one breath after another.
Xiao Wu subconsciously shrank behind Lin Chen, her fingertips tightly gripping his sleeve.
The surrounding mirror shards reflected countless versions of himself, some upside down, some distorted. Even the sound of breathing was shattered and buzzed around him, as if countless mouths were whispering in his ear, creating an indescribably eerie atmosphere.
"Brother Lin Chen..." Her voice was very low, with a slight tremor.
"Don't be afraid." Lin Chen took her hand in his, his palm warm. "With me and Master here, nothing will happen."
He glanced up at the floating mirror fragments around him, the pale blue light in his eyes growing stronger.
The Void Divine Eye was activated to its limit, and the pale blue mark between his brows became fully visible, radiating a warm light.
In their field of vision, the originally chaotic fragments of the mirror gradually became clear—this did not seem to be a trap set by humans, but rather a spatial mirror field formed by some kind of Soul Beast, with countless mirrors folding and nesting, refracting light, sound, Soul Power, and even divine sense into fragments.
"There's a high-level Soul Beast nearby," Lin Chen said in a deep voice. His voice, though slightly distorted by the refraction of the shattered mirror, remained steady. "It's Soul Beast's innate ability. It's Space System, and of a very high grade, at least 50,000 years old."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo relaxed his tense shoulders slightly, but still dared not be careless. "Space System Soul Beast can create such a large mirror domain? I have lived for nearly a hundred years and have never heard of such a thing."