112: Chapter 112 Void Shadow Cat

Mo Ling's cold voice rang out as she held a palm-sized silver compass engraved with runes in her hand.

The compass needle was vibrating slightly, pointing toward the depths of the mist.

"The magnetic field here is chaotic, and there are subtle fluctuations in space. The cloud-piercing boat cannot go any deeper; otherwise, we might easily lose our way or be torn apart by spatial rifts. We need to land here and proceed on foot."

Murong Bai nodded and steered the cloud-piercing boat, slowly landing on a relatively flat black rocky beach far from the miasma.

The boat door opened, and everyone filed out.

As their feet touched the soft, slippery, and foul-smelling purple-black soil, a cold, damp, and uncomfortable aura instantly enveloped their bodies.

The fishy, sweet scent in the air grew stronger, and as they inhaled it into their lungs, it brought a faint sense of dizziness and nausea.

Everyone dared not be negligent and immediately circulated their True Essence to protect their bodies and isolate themselves from the toxic miasma.

A faint, grayish halo appeared on Ye Chen's body surface, and his Hunyuan True Essence circulated, easily dissolving and annihilating the approaching toxic miasma, leaving him with little discomfort.

He noticed that the expressions of Zhao Feng, Han Li, and Su Yuwei were still normal, clearly indicating that each had their own methods.

As for Bai Yu, at some point, he had opened his iron fan and was gently fanning it, sending out wisps of cool breeze that blew away the surrounding toxic miasma, making him appear quite relaxed.

"Junior Sister Mo Ling, I'll have to trouble you." Murong Bai said to Mo Ling.

Mo Ling nodded and took out several Formation Flags from her Storage Pouch, along with a few specially made white jade pendants that emitted a faint, fresh fragrance.

Her figure drifted, her movements swift, and she quickly set up a small "Miasma-Dispelling and Evil-Warding Formation" around the group, distributing a jade pendant to everyone.

"This Formation can weaken the outer miasma, and wearing the jade pendant close to the body has the effect of steadying the mind and avoiding poison. However, as we enter the depths of the miasma, its effect will be greatly reduced. Everyone needs to conserve their True Essence and be prepared to take a detoxification Medicinal Pill at any time."

Everyone followed instructions and wore the jade pendants, immediately feeling the surrounding fishy, sweet scent lessen, and their minds grew calmer.

"Senior Brother Shi Yue, scout the path." Murong Bai ordered.

"Leave it to me." Shi Yue replied in a deep, booming voice. He had a burly build, and his skin was a rock-like grayish-brown.

He strode to the very front of the group, and with every step he took, the ground trembled slightly, as if he had formed some kind of resonance with the earth.

Earth-yellow light flickered in his eyes as he carefully scouted the ground and mist ahead, avoiding areas that might contain toxic swamps, traps, or spatial instability.

"Senior Brother Lei Zhen, Senior Brother Jing Wuming, take charge of guarding the left and right flanks. Junior Sister Mo Ling, stay in the center to maintain the Formation and be ready to respond to emergencies at any time. Ye Chen, Zhao Feng, Han Li, Su Yuwei, Bai Yu, you all bring up the rear; pay attention to the rear and flanks. Keep the Formation, do not fall behind, and do not easily touch anything unknown." Murong Bai quickly arranged the Formation, clearly appearing experienced.

Everyone took their positions as instructed. Ye Chen, Zhao Feng, Han Li, Su Yuwei, and Bai Yu fell to the end of the group.

Zhao Feng nodded at Ye Chen and whispered: "Brother Ye, be careful."

Han Li silently took down his longbow, notched a specially made arrow with a silver-glinting arrowhead, and scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes.

A water-blue thin sword appeared in Su Yuwei's hand, with water-like halos circulating on the blade.

Bai Yu continued to fan himself, appearing casual, but his gaze swept over all the flickering shadows in the mist.

The group began to slowly enter the grayish-white falling star miasma. As soon as they entered the miasma, the light instantly dimmed, as if walking from daylight into twilight.

The mist was as thick as paste, clinging to their bodies and bringing a damp, cold sensation.

Their vision was compressed to less than twenty zhang, and their Divine Sense exploration range was also greatly suppressed. Ye Chen felt that his Divine Sense could only extend up to fifty zhang here; any further, it became blurred, and his Divine Sense consumption was much faster than usual.

The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the group's slight footsteps and breathing, as well as the occasional eerie hissing or squirming sounds of unknown creatures from afar, which made one's hair stand on end.

The ground was covered in slick moss and brightly colored poisonous mushrooms, and in some places, pale purple toxic gas was steaming up. Twisted, black dead wood, resembling ghost claws, loomed in and out of the mist.

In the air, that fishy, sweet scent mixed with decay became even more intense, and even with the jade pendants and protective True Essence, it still made people feel a tightness in their chests.

"Snap." Shi Yue crushed a seemingly ordinary black stone, and from beneath it, a pool of dark green liquid with a pungent, acidic smell gushed out, instantly corroding a shallow pit into the ground.

"It's 'Bone-Eroding Poison Water,' everyone avoid it." Shi Yue said in a deep voice, carefully walking around it.

The group advanced slowly and cautiously. Murong Bai walked not far behind Shi Yue, holding an ancient-looking compass in his hand, seemingly discerning the direction.

Mo Ling would occasionally cast incantations to maintain the Miasma-Dispelling Formation, vigilantly sensing the fluctuations of the Formation around them.

After walking for about an hour, a sudden "splash" came from ahead, followed immediately by a low shout from Shi Yue: "Careful!"

They saw that several bizarre "leeches," pitch-black, covered in mucus, with heads consisting only of a disk filled with dense, sharp teeth, suddenly lunged out from a seemingly calm black puddle a few zhang ahead!

These leeches moved with extreme speed, like black lightning, pouncing straight at Shi Yue, who was at the front of the group!

"Get lost!" Shi Yue roared, neither dodging nor evading, and threw a punch! The earth-yellow fist energy was dense and heavy, carrying the power of the earth, and it smashed fiercely into those leeches.

"Splat, splat, splat!" The leeches were smashed to pieces by the fist energy, dark green sap splattered everywhere, emitting an even stronger, foul stench.

However, more leeches lunged out from the puddles, mud swamps, and even the mist—dense and numerous, numbering at least a hundred, pouncing on the group from all directions!

"It's 'Rot-Poison Ghost Leeches'! Their body fluids are highly toxic and corrosive; don't let them get close!" Su Yuwei shouted, waving her water-blue thin sword, unfolding a condensed water-blue sword screen that severed and pushed away the approaching leeches.

Han Li's bowstring twanged repeatedly, silver light flashing as arrow after arrow precisely nailed into the distant puddles, killing the leeches before they could even lunge out. The evil-breaking power attached to the arrows caused extra damage to these types of sinister creatures.

Ye Chen's ice scar sword unsheathed, sword light flashed, and grayish sword energy swept past. The moment the ghost leeches lunging at him touched the Hunyuan True Essence, they melted like ice and snow, being silently annihilated without even a drop of body fluid splashing out.

The suppression of these sinister things by the Hunyuan True Essence was clearly revealed here.

Bai Yu closed his iron fan, using it like a short rod, and tapped out lightly. It seemed casual, but he was always able to accurately tap and explode the ghost leeches on their pouncing paths, his movements graceful and composed.

Lei Zhen and Jing Wuming also acted quickly. Lei Zhen swung a hammer wrapped in purple electric arcs, exploding with lightning that electrocuted a patch of ghost leeches into charcoal. Jing Wuming simply swept his sword horizontally, the pitch-black sword energy like a sickle harvesting life; wherever it passed, the ghost leeches were severed in two.

Everyone used their various methods and soon cleared out this wave of ghost leeches. However, after this disturbance, the group's forward speed slowed down even more, and they became even more vigilant.

"Poisonous creatures breed here; we need to be even more careful." Murong Bai's expression remained unchanged as he put away the compass and took out a long, narrow sword that was entirely translucent white.

"Senior Brother Shi Yue, continue scouting the path, and try to avoid areas with obvious water sources or mud swamps." The group continued forward.

After walking for another half hour, the mist ahead seemed to thin slightly, and a pile of scattered rocks was vaguely visible. However, Shi Yue suddenly stopped, his face grave.

"Junior Brother Murong, ahead... there are fluctuations of spatial rifts; they are very weak, but there is more than one."

Spatial rifts! Everyone felt a chill in their hearts. This thing was intangible and formless, elusive, and incomparably sharp; it could cut through everything. Once struck, the protective True Essence of a Wheel Sea Realm Cultivator would be like paper, and they would be dismembered in an instant. It was one of the most dangerous existences in Falling Star Lake.

Mo Ling immediately stepped forward, the silver compass in her hand shining brightly. She sensed carefully for a moment and said in a deep voice: "There are indeed residual spatial fluctuations, very subtle, like... traces that have just stabilized or been triggered by someone. The rifts themselves may have already hidden, but the residual fluctuations show that the space in this area is extremely unstable, and there may be more hidden rifts."

"Can we go around?" Murong Bai asked. Mo Ling and Shi Yue carefully checked the left and right sides, and finally both shook their heads.

"There are similar weak fluctuations on both sides. I'm afraid this rocky area is a high-incidence zone for spatial rifts. Forcing our way through carries too much risk."

"Then what should we do? Turn back?" Lei Zhen frowned.

Murong Bai pondered for a moment and looked at Mo Ling: "Junior Sister Mo Ling, is it possible to use a Formation to temporarily stabilize the space in this area, or to scout out a safe path?"

Mo Ling thought for a moment and said: "I can try to set up a 'Space-Stabilizing Formation' to temporarily suppress and manifest some of the subtle spatial fluctuations; perhaps we can find a relatively safe path. But it will take time, and the Formation's range is limited; it can only last for a hundred breaths. Moreover, the risk cannot be completely ruled out."

"A hundred breaths is enough. Thank you, Junior Sister."

Murong Bai said decisively.

Mo Ling said no more, quickly taking out several silver crystals engraved with complex spatial runes, as well as a few small Formation Flags from her Storage Pouch.

Under Shi Yue's guidance, she selected several nodes on the edge of the rocky area, carefully placing the crystals and Formation Flags. At the same time, she formed hand seals with both hands, chanting obscure incantations.

As she completed the hand seals, the silver crystals lit up simultaneously, emitting soft silver ripples that spread out like water, connecting with the Formation Flags to form a silver ring of light about thirty zhang in diameter, enveloping the rocky area ahead.

Within the ring of light, in the air that had originally been empty, extremely fine, flickering, hair-like black threads began to appear!

These threads twisted and drifted without any pattern; they were the manifested forms of spatial tears!

Although most were as thin as hair, a few were as thick as a little finger, emitting a sharp aura that made one's scalp tingle.

"Move! Follow my footsteps, and do not touch any silver threads!"

Mo Ling called out clearly and was the first to step into the ring of light. Her footwork was extremely peculiar, moving forward, backward, or sideways, precisely avoiding all the manifested spatial tears.

The others dared not be slow and hurriedly followed, cautiously stepping in Mo Ling's footprints with their concentration highly focused.

Ye Chen pushed his Divine Sense to the limit, coordinating it with his physical eyes to carefully observe the trajectory of every silver thread around him.

His Hunyuan True Essence flowed slowly within his body, ready to deal with any sudden situation at any time.

The group moved slowly through the silver ring of light and the black thread-like tears, as if dancing on the tip of a blade.

The air seemed to have solidified, with only the suppressed breathing and heartbeats of the group audible.

Just as they were about to pass through this rocky area, they could already see the normal gray-white fog ahead.

Suddenly, an unexpected change occurred!

"Hiss—!" A sharp, ear-piercing screech that pierced directly into the Divine Soul came from behind the group without warning!

Accompanying the screech, a gray shadow as fast as a ghost shot out from the thick fog, ignoring the silver ring of light of the "Formation" and lunging straight at Su Yuwei, who was at the end of the line!

Its speed was so fast that most people present only saw a blur of an afterimage!

"Careful!"

Ye Chen was the closest and saw it clearly; it was a Yao Beast with a grayish-white body, shaped like a civet cat, but with crimson eyes and claws and fangs that shimmered with a metallic cold light!

Its aura had clearly reached the Middle Stage of the Third Order, and its movements carried an eerie spatial fluctuation, which was why it could ignore part of the Formation's effects!

Caught off guard, Su Yuwei only had time to hold her thin water-blue sword horizontally in front of her.

"Clang!" The gray shadow's sharp claws struck the sword, sending sparks flying everywhere!

Su Yuwei felt a huge force, her delicate body shook violently, and she let out a muffled groan as she stumbled backward, about to collide with a flickering black spatial tear behind her!

"Junior Sister Su!" Zhao Feng and Han Li exclaimed, wanting to rescue her, but it was already too late.

In that split second, Ye Chen moved!

He did not attack the gray shadow, but instead pushed his "Phantom Step" to the limit instantly. His figure moved sideways like a ghost, blocking the space between Su Yuwei and the spatial tear. At the same time, his left hand swept back forcefully, his Hunyuan True Essence transforming into a gentle force that pulled Su Yuwei's stumbling figure to the side, narrowly avoiding the tear.

As for him, due to this instantaneous movement and exertion, the clothing on his right shoulder was silently sliced open by the edge of the spatial tear, and a burning pain spread across his skin as blood instantly seeped out.

Had he not reacted quickly, and had his Physical Body not been tempered many times, his entire arm might have been severed by this!

"Seeking death!" At this moment, Lei Zhen's angry shout rang out, and his purple thunder hammer, carrying violent thunder, struck fast and hard at the gray shadow that was preparing to lunge again.

The gray shadow let out an angry screech and twisted its body in an eerie manner, managing to avoid most of the thunder hammer's power in the nick of time. It was only grazed by the edge of the thunder light, and a wisp of blue smoke rose from its body, but its speed did not diminish at all. It transformed into a gray line and instantly vanished into the thick fog, disappearing from sight.

From the gray shadow's attack to Ye Chen's rescue, and then the gray shadow's retreat, it took no more than two or three breaths.

The group was still shaken.

"It is a 'Void Shadow Cat'! A Third Order Yao Beast, skilled in concealment, extremely fast, and possesses a certain spatial talent; it is extremely troublesome! Everyone be careful, it might still be nearby!"

Mo Ling's expression changed slightly, and she spoke quickly while reinforcing the Formation.

"Junior Brother Ye, Junior Sister Su, are you both alright?" Murong Bai stepped forward and asked with concern.

Ye Chen glanced at the wound on his right shoulder; it was not deep, but there was a faint residual spatial cutting force being quickly neutralized by his Hunyuan True Essence.

He shook his head, "Just a skin wound, nothing serious."

Su Yuwei had also steadied herself by now, her face somewhat pale. She bowed gracefully to Ye Chen, her eyes full of lingering fear and gratitude, "Many thanks to Senior Brother Ye for saving my life!"

"Helping fellow disciples is only right," Ye Chen waved his hand.

Murong Bai glanced at the wound on Ye Chen's shoulder, then looked at the direction where the gray shadow had disappeared. A hint of contemplation flashed in his eyes, and then he said in a deep voice, "This is not a place to stay for long. Speed up and pass through this rocky area!"

Under Mo Ling's guidance, the group no longer held back and increased their speed, soon passing through the dangerous area covered by the "Formation".

Once they left the rocky area, Mo Ling immediately put away the Formation, and the silver ring of light and the manifested spatial tears vanished instantly.

Looking back, that rocky area was once again shrouded in gray-white fog, terrifyingly quiet, as if the danger from just moments ago had never happened.

"Continue forward, stay alert. The 'Void Shadow Cat' is vengeful and skilled at tracking; we have likely been targeted by it," Murong Bai warned.

The group set off again, but the atmosphere was even heavier.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, vigilantly scanning every inch of the surrounding fog.

The wound on Ye Chen's shoulder had stopped bleeding and healed, but his vigilance was at its peak.

This Falling Star Lake was indeed filled with danger at every step, not only from the natural environment but also from various strange and powerful Yao Beasts.

After traveling for about another hour, the fog ahead suddenly became thinner, and the sound of flowing water could be faintly heard.

"We've arrived. This is the first potential safe point marked on the map—the 'Dark Current Creek'," Murong Bai stopped and pointed ahead.

Before them lay a creek about three zhang wide, with turbulent water and a dark, murky green color.

The creek water emitted a faint fishy stench, and some rotting branches, leaves, and animal bones were floating on the surface.

On the other side of the creek, the fog seemed even thicker, and some taller, twisted shadows could be faintly seen.

"Dark Current Creek is a landmark on the periphery of Falling Star Lake. The creek water is highly toxic and must not be touched. However, traveling along the creek is relatively safe and allows us to avoid most of the toxic marshes and dense miasma. We need to travel upstream along the creek to reach the second point marked on the map—the 'Rotten Bone Forest'," Murong Bai said, checking the map and compass in his hand.

"Let's rest briefly by the creek, replenish our True Essence, and check our equipment. We set off in the time it takes to burn an incense stick," Murong Bai ordered.

Everyone found clean rocks by the creek to sit on, took Medicinal Pills, and meditated to recover.

Ye Chen also sat down and took a Medicinal Pill to restore his True Essence, while simultaneously continuing to silently temper his Divine Soul with the "Great Sun Visualization Method" to recover the consumption of his Divine Sense.

His gaze swept over the group. Murong Bai was whispering about something with Shi Yue and Lei Zhen. Mo Ling was checking her Formation Plate. Jing Wuming was leaning against a rock, closing his eyes to rest. Zhao Feng, Han Li, and Su Yuwei were gathered together, talking in low voices; clearly, the recent attack had left them shaken. Bai Yu was alone, squatting by the creek, using his fan to poke at the creek water, seemingly observing something.

Ye Chen's gaze inadvertently swept across the thick fog on the other side. Suddenly, his pupils constricted slightly.

Deep in the fog on the other side, on a black rock half-hidden in the gray-white miasma, he seemed to have seen a flash of something extremely brief, something that vanished in an instant... a dark red light?

The light was extremely faint and obscured by the fog. If not for his powerful Divine Sense and his constant vigilance, it would have been almost impossible to detect.

What was that? Was it the reflection of some kind of Ore? Or... the eyes of a Yao Beast? Or perhaps... a mark left by someone?

His heart stirred, but he did not speak up, only silently noting that location.

The time for one incense stick passed quickly. "Let's go!" Murong Bai stood up and was the first to head upstream along the Dark Current Creek.

The group set off again, slowly moving along the toxic creek toward the deeper parts of Falling Star Lake.

Unknown dangers and secrets seemed to have only just revealed the tip of the iceberg.