That's Sever the Heavenly River!
The gray color gradually spread upwards from the toes, and before long, it petrified half of Fu Shuangjiang's foot.
Along with this strange petrifying power, despair began to grow in everyone's hearts.
"Why did you come? Why did you come?!" Elder Zhou said, his eyes reddening.
The person before him was his most prized disciple. He had thought the other would survive, but unexpectedly, he would end up dying alongside him in this terrifying Hidden Moon Forest.
Fu Shuangjiang wasn't the only one petrified; Sang Ying and the others were also unable to escape it.
Sang Ying and the other woman were alright; having experienced so much life and death, they were able to remain calm.
But Su Fuyun was different. Almost as soon as she noticed the strange thing, she screamed and threw herself into Fu Shuangjiang's arms, crying out in despair, "Senior Brother Fu, save me! What is this? Please save me!"
She clung to Fu Shuangjiang's arm as if grasping at the last straw.
But this was far beyond Fu Shuangjiang's ability to solve.
Not wanting to hear Su Fuyun continue her rant, Sang Ying took advantage of a moment when the other woman wasn't paying attention and knocked her unconscious, then tossed her aside.
"Master, I don't understand. What's going on?" Why is there such a terrifying and bizarre power in the Hidden Moon Forest?
"Sigh." Elder Zhou sighed again, "You shouldn't have come here. I set up a barrier outside to prevent innocent people from stepping into this place of despair, but you just had to..."
But it turned out to be his most cherished disciple, the only one he had ever taught how to break barriers.
Fu Shuangjiang's voice suddenly became hoarse, and he didn't even dare to turn around to look at Sang Ying: "This disciple doesn't understand. Master and all the seniors have long since reached the Soul Formation Realm, and there are even many powerful figures who have entered the Void Refinement Realm. Why are they trapped here?"
Elder Zhou closed his eyes, unsure how to answer.
But the sect leader of Sword Frost Cliff, standing to the side, suddenly sighed, "This is a karmic debt, all of it is a karmic debt!"
Sang Ying's eyes sharpened, while Jiang Zhuoxue, standing behind her, swept her gaze across the faces of everyone present, then subtly curled the corners of her lips, revealing an expression of anticipation for a good show.
Almost as soon as the sect leader finished speaking, someone loudly retorted, "What karmic debt? It's clearly something strange about this Hidden Moon Forest! You surnamed Ji, I advise you to watch your words, lest people misunderstand our Black Tortoise Realm."
Although he didn't say much, the subtle threat in his words made Sang Ying realize that something was wrong.
Sang Ying looked in the direction of the sound and was met with a face that seemed to scream "harsh."
This man was dressed in fine clothes, and his expression unconsciously revealed arrogance. For some reason, Sang Ying felt dislike at first sight of him.
"What, does your Limitless Sect intend to cover this up and blame others?" The sect leader didn't answer, but Elder Zhou sneered and retorted, "Don't forget, your Limitless Sect today is entirely due to that..."
"That matter happened a long time ago. If it were truly because of that, our Limitless Sect would have been in trouble long ago. Today's incident in the Hidden Moon Forest clearly has another cause!"
The man spoke up in time to stop Elder Zhou from continuing, and Elder Zhou seemed to be reminded that Sang Ying and the other outsiders were also present, so he silently shut his mouth.
Elder Zhou didn't mean Sang Ying n't curious; what exactly came after the word "that" piqued her interest.
"Seniors, arguing about these things now is pointless. The most urgent task is to find out what petrified us. Only if we can rescue you can the calamity of the Black Tortoise Realm be averted." Too tired to listen to everyone arguing any longer, Sang Ying had no choice but to step forward.
Reminded by Sang Ying, Elder Zhou and the others exchanged glances. After seeing Sect Master Ji nod secretly, he sighed and began to speak:
"This was also due to our greed."
As everyone knew, Hidden Moon Forest was indeed just a place where Demon Beast gathered. Disciples from various sects would often come here to train after receiving missions.
Everything was nothing special, even quite ordinary.
But then, an unexpected event occurred.
A beam of light suddenly fell from the sky, crashing down into the Hidden Moon Forest. That dazzling light illuminated the heart of the Hidden Moon Forest for three whole days and nights!
Since then, some cultivators have discovered that the spiritual herbs and trees closer to the center of the area grow exceptionally lush, and even the Demon Beast have become much stronger than before.
Therefore, the cultivators became even more certain that there was treasure in this forest!
Countless cultivators began venturing into the Hidden Moon Forest, hoping to find the source of the radiant glow. However, such extraordinary treasures are not so easily found.
The central area, which had always been just a bit dangerous, suddenly became hidden and elusive, leaving those who came to search for treasure disappointed.
But it is precisely because of this that it has attracted more people to come, even powerful beings who have long since Void Refinement, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the true appearance of this extraordinary treasure.
Unfortunately, a hundred years have passed, and the treasure is still nowhere to be found.
Many people gradually gave up on this hard-to-find treasure, and quietly covered up what had happened in the central area of Hidden Moon Forest.
"But just a few hundred years ago, things changed again in the Hidden Moon Forest." Elder Zhou's expression was bitter.
A group of young disciples entered the Hidden Moon Forest and suddenly disappeared without a trace.
The disciples had been sending back messages from time to time, until one of them told a friend that they were going to try to enter the central area. After that, there was no further news from them.
In order to rescue their disciple, Sword Frost Cliff dispatched Elder Haojing and Elder Linyin. However, both of them disappeared after entering the central area.
The central area, which had disappeared for many years, reappeared, but anyone who broke in vanished without a trace. This tempted cultivators who still remembered the rare treasure, and they tried their luck again, but in the end, they too disappeared without a trace.
From then on, the terror of the Hidden Moon Forest was deeply etched in everyone's memory.
No one dared to covet the rare treasure anymore, and no one dared to venture into the central area. They thought that this would restore everything to its former peace.
"But who could have known there would be a beast tide?" Elder Zhou reached out and pinched his calf, which had completely lost all feeling, looking at his disciple with pity. "The Demon Beast in the beast tide are very strange; we discovered that a long time ago."
Having cultivated for many years, he was naturally more astute than ordinary cultivators; how could he not notice these strange occurrences?
They guessed that the beast tide was caused by the strange treasure in the forest, and realized that this beast tide probably wouldn't end anytime soon.
Therefore, even though there was danger, Elder Zhou still wanted to come in and find out the whole truth, just like his disciple did; he wanted to die knowing the truth.
Who could have imagined that the Hidden Moon Forest was actually a den of demons?!
"That evil thing is inside, but anyone who touches it has already turned to ashes!" Elder Zhou glanced into the dark depths of the forest, his eyes filled with unyielding terror.
Sang Ying frowned, a hint of fear rising in her heart, when she heard Gu Shu, who had been dormant intermittently, suddenly shout angrily from the pendant around her neck:
"Bullshit about evil objects! You're the evil object, your entire sect is evil! That's Gu Wangchuan's sword!"