The Road through the Stone Forest

As the morning light streamed over the cliff face, Lu Yuan was already standing at the entrance of the valley.

The gray cloth bundle on his shoulder wasn't heavy; inside were dried rations, salt, and medicine powder stuffed with Qingzhu, as well as a more detailed hand-drawn route map. The thatched hut door was closed, and no one came to see him off.

He took one last look at the dark green vines in the mist, then turned and stepped onto the path.

The road is difficult to travel.

The path Qingzhu pointed to wasn't a path at all. According to the old man, taking the main road was tantamount to revealing one's whereabouts to others. The Hundred Refinements Pavilion might not have given up, and not everyone in the Lin Clan was necessarily "reasonable."

We need to drill into the mountain.

Lu Yuan walked very slowly. He would stop every now and then, placing his palms on the ground or on a tree trunk. He was sensing the flow of Soul Power —a method he had learned from Qingzhu. Earth veins have Soul Power, and so do plants. Areas with gentle flow are relatively safe; chaotic and conflicting areas are either infested with Ferocious Beast or are dangerous places.

His Soul Power was weak, but his perception was highly accurate.

On the first day, we walked twenty miles along the animal trail and found a half-collapsed crevice in the rocks at dusk. We wove a sparse net at the entrance with Blue Silver Grass and sprinkled insect repellent powder on it. We heard wolves howling in the distance at night, but nothing came near.

The next day, they encountered Mist-Hiding Lizard.

The thing was lying in the damp hollow, perfectly camouflaged. Lu Yuan almost stepped on it.

He froze.

The Mist-Hiding Lizard hissed as it flicked out its long, thin tongue, its vertical pupils locking onto the target. It couldn't outrun it, and the terrain was too slippery.

Lu Yuan didn't move. His mind raced through the records: poor eyesight, relies on smell and heat sensing; dislikes dry, pungent smells; habitually shakes his head three times before attacking...

The head of the Mist-Hiding Lizard in front of me began to move. For the first time.

Lu Yuan stealthily reached for the cloth bag at his waist with his left hand, picking up a small pinch of insect repellent powder with his fingertips. Extremely thin Blue Silver Grass vines sprouted from his right sleeve, spreading silently along the ground.

The Mist-Hiding Lizard swung its head a second time, then retracted its body to gather strength.

Right now.

Lu Yuan suddenly sprinkled the insect repellent powder onto the dense moss on its left side with his left hand. The powder, moistened by the moisture, emitted a spicy and slightly bitter smell.

The Mist-Hiding Lizard paused, tilting its head slightly towards the source of the scent.

At the same time, the vines on his right hand had already wrapped around a loose stone at the edge of the depression. With a surge of Soul Power, the vines tightened, and the stone rolled into the depression with a "plop," splashing up mud and water.

Startled, the Mist-Hiding Lizard abruptly turned towards the direction it had fallen into the water.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Yuan retreated, his steps extremely light, stepping on dry stones to avoid the puddles. After retreating seven or eight zhang, he turned and sped away.

He only managed to catch his breath against the tree when he could no longer feel that damp, cold Soul Power.

My palms were sweaty.

It's done. You can't always get away with clever tricks. You need to become stronger faster.

In the following days, similar incidents occurred three or four more times.

Once, he stumbled upon two Stone-Splitting Badger fighting over territory. Both of them had Soul Power at the hundred-year level, and their fight sent sand and stones flying. Lu Yuan lay down behind a pile of rocks, covered himself up with Blue Silver Grass, and waited until they were both exhausted and retreated before quietly going around them.

There was also a hillside covered with dark red wildflowers on the way back. The flowers were beautiful, but Lu Yuan noticed that his Soul Power attribute was biased towards "restlessness," with a slight hallucinogenic tendency. He decisively turned back and took an extra five miles to cross over from the other side of the ridge. Later, he saw in the small print on the back of the map that the flower was called "Drunken Soul Vine," and that if Soul Master smelled its fragrance for too long, he would easily hallucinate and lose control of his Soul Power.

The painting of Qingzhu is no less valuable than a secret manual for Soul Skill.

On the seventh day, he met someone.

They weren't Soul Master, but a group of commoners who had come into the mountains to gather herbs. Seven or eight people, led by a thin, dark-skinned old man, were cooking over a fire in a sheltered mountain hollow. Lu Yuan observed them for a long time from the bushes on the slope before cautiously approaching.

He needed to find out what was happening ahead.

"Young man, going into the mountains alone?" The old man gripped his hoe tightly, his eyes filled with suspicion.

"I got separated from my elders at home." Lu Yuan's face showed just the right amount of fatigue. "I wanted to ask for directions. Is this the way to Black Wind Gorge?"

Upon hearing "Black Wind Gorge," the herb gatherer's expression changed.

"Young man, what are you going there for?" The old man shook his head. "That place is haunted; the wind carries miasma, and there are man-eating Black Wind Owl. We don't even dare to go more than ten miles from the outskirts to gather herbs."

Lu Yuan's heart sank. Qingzhu had mentioned that the journey was difficult, but hadn't gone into details.

"Is there no other way to get around this?"

"Go around?" The old man sized him up. "You want to go to the other side of the gorge? You can only go through it. Going around from the north will take half a month longer, and you'll have to cross ' Weeping Blood Lake,' which is no place for humans."

A young herb gatherer chimed in, "A few days ago, a group of Soul Master also wanted to Black Wind Gorge. What happened? They brought out two, and the rest ran away looking disheveled."

Lu Yuan was silent for a moment, then took out a piece of dried meat and handed it to the old man. "Uncle, can you tell me about the situation in the gorge? When does the wind pick up? What are the patterns in the density of the miasma?"

The old man took the dried meat, his expression softening. He gestured for Lu Yuan to sit down and, by the firelight, poured out what he knew.

The "black wind" of Black Wind Gorge doesn't blow constantly; it's weakest at midday and midnight. The miasma settles at the bottom of the gorge, and walking close to the mountain walls high up can avoid most of it. There's a strange black bird in the gorge called the Black Wind Owl, which is afraid of fire and sharp noises...

Lu Yuan listened attentively, occasionally asking for details.

Finally, he thanked the old man, got up and left. Before leaving, he left a bag of salt.

The herb gatherer muttered behind him.

"This kid is surprisingly calm."

"Is he Soul Master?"

"So what if they're Soul Master? Black Wind Gorge has already devoured enough Soul Master."

The sound gradually faded into the distance.

Lu Yuan continued walking in the direction the old man pointed, his mind even more on edge.

Black Wind Gorge is the first real test.

Three days later, he stood at the entrance to Black Wind Gorge.

Two bare, black cliffs stood as if cleaved by a giant axe, with a deep, crooked fissure running between them. Wind rushed out, carrying a damp, fishy smell and a faint whistling. The sky was overcast, and the canyon was dim.

Lu Yuan looked up at the sun. It was almost noon.

He untied the bundle and wrapped anything that might make noise tightly in cloth. He took out the medicinal powder Qingzhu had given him, mixed it with water to form a paste, and applied it around his mouth and nose. This medicine couldn't completely prevent miasma, but it could refresh his mind.

Then release the Blue Silver Grass.

A dozen or so dark brown grass stems, about the thickness of a little finger and with barbs, sprouted from around my feet. Some clung to the rock face, climbing upwards to explore the path; others Entanglement my waist and legs, ready to pull and hold me in place at any moment.

Having done all that, he took a deep breath and stepped into the gorge.

The light suddenly dimmed. The wind picked up immediately, making his robes flutter loudly. Underfoot were jumbled rocks and slippery moss. Lu Yuan clung to the right rock face, using both hands and feet to move forward.

The Blue Silver Grass kept sending feedback: the rock wall on the left was loose; there were cracks in the ground ahead; something was moving overhead, very small, probably a bat...

He moved slowly, like a cautious gecko, under the cover of darkness and the sound of the wind.

An hour later, they encountered their first Black Wind Owl.

The creature almost blended into the black rock wall, and only when Lu Yuan was within two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) did it suddenly spread its wings and swoop down silently. Its wingspan was half a person's width, and its beak, like an iron hook, pecked straight at his face.

Lu Yuan remained on edge. The moment the Black Wind Owl stirred, the Blue Silver Grass at his waist exerted its power, pulling him three feet to the left. At the same time, he swung his right hand, and the pebbles he had been holding in his palm shot out, striking the rock wall above and to his side.

A series of crackling sounds.

Startled, the Black Wind Owl veered off course, its attack grazing past its shoulder, the wind it stirred stinging its face. It shrieked and turned back mid-air, intending to attack again.

Lu Yuan didn't give him a chance. He pursed his lips, and a sharp, high-frequency fluctuation of Soul Power squeezed out from his throat, mimicking the warning cry of some kind of bird predator.

These are the little tricks he's been figuring out these past few days. Since his Soul Power isn't strong enough, he's focusing on "quality" and "skill."

The Black Wind Owl visibly froze for a moment, circled twice, but ultimately didn't dare to get any closer, flapping its wings and disappearing into the dim wind.

Lu Yuan felt a chill run down his spine. That attack hadn't consumed much Soul Power, but it required extremely precise control. A slight misstep could have resulted in meaningless noise.

He leaned against the rock wall to catch his breath for a few moments before continuing onward.

The journey continued, and they encountered the Black Wind Owl three more times, each time being scared away using similar methods. The miasma settled at the bottom of the valley, and although the wind was strong at higher elevations, the air was still bearable. The most dangerous part was passing through a section of severely collapsed road, where rocks kept slipping underfoot, and they only managed to get past thanks to the Blue Silver Grass entwining itself around a stable crevice in the rock in the distance.

Four hours later, a faint light appeared ahead.

We've reached the export port.

Lu Yuan staggered out of the canyon, squinting from the bright sunlight. Looking back, the black crack, like the mouth of a giant beast, was still howling and blowing out a foul wind.

He succeeded.

There was no excitement, only a calm exhaustion. He found a sheltered rock to sit on and examined himself. Nearly 40% of his Soul Power was depleted, and he had a few minor abrasions. His pack was intact.

He unfolded the map and drew a small checkmark next to "Black Wind Gorge".

Then look at the next landmark.

Weeping Blood Lake.

Another seven days of trekking.

They didn't dare approach the Weeping Blood Lake, instead circling it from a distance. Even so, they could smell a faint metallic scent in the wind and see the occasional dark red ripples on the lake's surface. It was said that the lakebed contained the remains of an ancient battlefield, exuding an extremely malevolent aura.

After passing the lake, the terrain begins to look strange.

More and more stones appeared on the ground, their shapes jagged. Some resembled bamboo shoots poking out of the ground, while others were twisted and piled together. The fluctuations of Soul Power became chaotic, with the earth attribute becoming stagnant, the metal attribute becoming sharp, and occasionally interspersed with elusive ripples of spatial attribute.

The vegetation is sparse, with only drought-resistant thorns and lichens remaining.

On the afternoon of the fifteenth day, Lu Yuan climbed up a low slope.

Then it stopped.

Ahead, the view suddenly opened up and was then abruptly filled.

It was an indescribable "forest." But it wasn't trees; it was stone. Thousands upon thousands of gray-white stone pillars rose from the undulating land, some tens of feet high, others only two or three feet. They were densely packed together, some straight as swords, some curved like snakes, some forked at the top, and some covered with holes. The wind whistled through the gaps in the stone pillars, producing all sorts of sharp or low howls, blending into a chaotic noise.

The sunlight was fragmented, casting ever-changing patches of light and shadow between the stone pillars.

The Soul Power in the air was completely out of control. Like a pot of boiling porridge mixed with countless attributes, sometimes a burst of fire would erupt here, and sometimes a cold, damp place would collapse there. Standing on the slope, one could feel a slight tingling and itching on their skin.

Thousand Needle Stone Forest.

Lu Yuan looked for a long time before slowly exhaling. This is it.

He didn't go down immediately. He sat down on the spot to eat dry rations and recover his strength, while carefully observing the terrain and Soul Power distribution at the edge of the stone forest.

After about half an hour, I got up and chose a slope where the Soul Power was relatively stable and the stone pillars were sparsely distributed, and carefully walked down.

Entering the Stone Forest, the feeling is immediately different.

The sounds were amplified. The wind, the hum of the stone pillar itself, and the faint hiss of an unknown Soul Beast in the distance blended into a continuous, low-frequency oppressive force. The light was dim; looking up, one could only see the sky, fragmented by the stone pillar. The ground was covered in gravel and sand, which crunched underfoot.

The Soul Power environment was even worse. Lu Yuan had to constantly divert his attention to adjust the flow of his own Soul Power to adapt to the chaotic fluctuations and impacts from the outside world. The slightest carelessness could cause a small-scale disorder in the Soul Power within his body.

He walked slowly, sketching a simple map in his mind as he went. He marked the "safe islands" where his Soul Power was relatively stable, and avoided the "turbulent zones" where there were violent fluctuations and conflicting attributes.

As evening approached, we found a reasonably good spot.

It was a small depression surrounded by several thick stone pillars, with a protruding boulder overhead blocking the view, forming a semi-open, shallow cave. The ground was dry, and although the fluctuations of Soul Power were still chaotic, their intensity was much weaker than in other places.

He decided to establish the first temporary camp here.

Clear away the rubble, weave Blue Silver Grass into a simple barrier at the entrance, and sprinkle medicinal powder on it. Then take a tinderbox and light a small pile of dry branches. The flickering flames dispel some of the chill and unease deep within the stone forest.

Sitting by the fire, I unfolded the map again by its light to check the locations.

It should be just outside the Stone Forest. Qingzhu didn't dare to go any deeper back then.

Just then, he suddenly looked up.

It wasn't that they heard a sound, but rather sensed an extremely faint, regular fluctuation of Soul Power. Like a heartbeat, or a pendulum, it came from behind several stone pillars not far ahead.

It was very faint, but against the backdrop of the chaotic and violent Soul Power around it, that little bit of regularity seemed particularly striking.

Naturally formed turbulent flows of Soul Power could not possibly have such a stable rhythm.

Lu Yuan extinguished the flames and held his breath.

The fluctuations continued. Tap... tap... tap... The intervals were almost constant, and the intensity remained constant.

He rose gently, the Blue Silver Grass silently spreading to his feet to absorb the sound of his footsteps. Then, clinging to the shadow of the stone pillar, he moved little by little toward the direction from which the fluctuations came.

After passing three stone pillars side by side, a small open space appeared before us.

In the center of the open space, half-buried in a pile of rubble, a corner of dark silver metal was exposed. The surface was covered with rust and scratches, but complex patterns could still be vaguely seen. The regular fluctuations of Soul Power were emanating from inside this metal block.

Lu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

The pattern... he had seen similar records. It was a common energy circuit pattern on ancient Soul Tool, and it was a core, stable structure.

This is not a natural product.

It's debris. The debris of some ancient Soul Tool, or the core of an array.

It's still running? In this place with such a harsh Soul Power environment, how many years has it been running?

Lu Yuan's heart raced. He didn't approach rashly, but squatted down to observe carefully. The Blue Silver Grass emerged from his sleeve and slowly reached towards the metal block, skimming the ground.

He wanted to know if this thing had any other reactions besides regular fluctuations.

The tip of the grass was still three feet away from the metal block.

Suddenly, the rhythm of the regular "tap... tap..." sound changed.