Lii Yunge glanced suspiciously at Shangguan Yue, then said to the few Vast Sea Divine Palace disciples beside her, "You all stay here and keep an eye on her."

Hearing this, the disciples exchanged wry smiles. Keeping an eye on the daughter of the Vast Sea Divine Palace’s Palace Master—the difficulty of this mission was rather high. But they had no choice but to obey.

After giving her instructions, Lii Yunge led the people from the Vast Sea Divine Palace, along with a group led by Fang Yu, toward the Purple Mist Forest. Watching Lii Yunge and the others depart, Shangguan Yue gave a playful smile, a cunning glint flashing in her eyes.

.........

Deep within the Ten Thousand Treasures Dojo, a strange forest, perennially shrouded in purple mist, sat nestled. From time to time, roars echoed from within. These were not the roars of beasts; they sounded more like the cries of humans.

The roars rose and fell, one after another, enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

Soon, Lii Yunge and the others arrived at the Purple Mist Forest. Gazing at the bizarre land before them, filled with a sinister and malevolent aura, Lii Yunge’s dark brows knitted slightly. A grave look flashed in her eyes as she said, "We are about to enter the Purple Mist Forest. Everyone, be careful."

"Heh, Junior Sister Lii, don’t worry. With so many of us here, are you saying we should be afraid of conquering this little Purple Mist Forest?" Chu Lingfeng said with a laugh.

Lii Yunge ignored Chu Lingfeng’s words. Her expression was solemn. Holding a light blue longsword, she took a deep breath and slowly walked into the Purple Mist Forest. The others followed close behind. But no one noticed that at the very back of the group, a petite, agile figure was secretly tailing them.

............

In the Ten Thousand Treasures Dojo, Qin Ya was sitting beneath a mountain cliff, contemplating the mysterious principles hidden within a sword mark. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes. Gazing at the empty dojo around him, he murmured, "They still went in."

He was well aware of the horrors within the Purple Mist Forest. Even with his Scenic Landscapes, he wouldn’t dare say he was one hundred percent confident he could safely reach the deepest part of the forest—the residence of the Third Elder. As for Lii Yunge and the others, forget finding any treasure; they would be immensely lucky just to make it out alive.

’Wait, where did Shangguan Yue go?’

Qin Ya’s expression changed slightly, a hint of urgency flashing in his eyes. In the next moment, his figure flickered and vanished, reappearing at the Vast Sea Divine Palace disciples’ encampment.

But all that remained at the scene were a few young men lying unconscious on the ground. From the looks of it, they had been forcefully knocked out. He walked over and woke them up.

"Where did Yue’er go!" Qin Ya asked directly.

Upon hearing the name Shangguan Yue, the faces of these few men changed.

"This is bad! Junior Sister Shangguan actually knocked us out."

"We’re so dead. She must have gone after Senior Sister Lii and the others."

Hearing this, Qin Ya immediately deduced the whole story.

’Damn it, that blasted girl.’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Ya’s figure shot toward the Purple Mist Forest. ’The Purple Mist Forest... that sickening place. I really don’t want to go.’

「Inside the Purple Mist Forest...」 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Purple mist filled the air, obstructing everyone’s vision and forcing them to be on high alert. The incessant roars echoing in their ears were especially unnerving.

RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...

Several dark figures could be seen slowly approaching. The group tightened their grips on their weapons, straining their eyes to see. Suddenly, several Corpse People—covered in rotten flesh, their clothes tattered, and their eyes glowing green—burst out of the purple mist, roaring as they lunged at the group.

"Just a few rotten corpses."

Chu Lingfeng sneered, stepping forward and thrusting out a palm. Immense Primordial Qi gathered, forming a giant handprint that crushed the corpses into a pile of pulp. "Hmph. Is this all the Purple Mist Forest has to offer?"

RUSTLE. Suddenly, a dense rustling sound arose. The group was startled to see countless eerie lights flickering in the purple mist—it was an innumerable number of Corpse People.

"Good heavens, there must be at least several hundred of them."

"Fortunately, they don’t seem very strong."

Though startled, the group did not panic. Through their initial probing, they determined that the Attack Power of these Corpse People was at most equivalent to the Spiritual Element Realm, posing no great threat to them.

Soon, Blade Qi, Palm Force, and countless streams of immense Primordial Qi struck out.

In an instant, the ground was littered with Corpse People. Severed limbs and flesh splattered everywhere. Shangguan Yue, who was following behind the group, saw this scene and felt her stomach churn. Forcing down her nausea, she waved her hand, unleashing a wave of Sword Qi to defeat the attacking Corpse People.

"Everyone, be careful! Don’t let the Corpse People grab or bite you!"

The Corpse People carried a potent poison. Once infected, a person would be assimilated in a very short time. At that point, no medicine would work; even the most Top Level Alchemist would be helpless. That was why Corpse Poison was one of the most troublesome poisons in the world.

While killing these Corpse People, Fang Yu also began collecting their blood. He specialized in the Poisonous Great Trend, and to him, Corpse Poison was no less valuable than Divine Soldiers. This was one of the reasons he had come to the Purple Mist Forest.

After a short while, the hundreds of Corpse People had been completely wiped out by the group.

"Heh, so the Corpse People are nothing special after all."

"That was too easy. At this rate, we’ll find the Third Elder of Dragon Emperor Hall’s residence in no time, haha."

Chu Lingfeng smirked and looked at Lii Yunge. "Junior Sister Lii, see? That Qin Ya was just being an alarmist. He only said those things because he didn’t want us to explore the Purple Mist Forest, hoping to claim the great treasures for himself."

Lii Yunge’s dark brows furrowed, and a trace of suspicion crept onto her cold, beautiful face. It wasn’t that she doubted Qin Ya’s intentions, but she was starting to wonder if the Purple Mist Forest was really only this difficult. ’This seems far too easy, doesn’t it?’

"Everyone, press forward."

They advanced another few miles, encountering several more waves of Corpse People along the way, but the group easily repelled them each time. This caused their confidence to swell, but the unease in Lii Yunge’s heart only grew stronger. She couldn’t help but recall Qin Ya’s earlier description of the Purple Mist Forest. "The Purple Mist Forest stretches for three hundred miles. The terrain is vast and perennially shrouded in purple mist. To find the Third Elder’s residence in a place like this is easier said than done."

’Three hundred miles!?’

Lii Yunge was suddenly alarmed. She waved her hand and commanded coldly, "Everyone, halt!"

"Junior Sister Lii, what’s wrong?" Chu Lingfeng asked in confusion.

"Something’s not right. We don’t know how big this Purple Mist Forest truly is. If we just run around blindly like this, there’s no telling when we’ll find the residence of the Dragon Emperor Hall’s Third Elder. Besides, we have no idea how many more Corpse People lie ahead," Lii Yunge said coldly.

Hearing this, the group exchanged glances, feeling that she had a point.

Fang Yu spoke up, "Miss Lii, we’ve already come this far. Are you suggesting we turn back now? Perhaps the Third Elder’s residence is just a little further ahead. I’m sure no one is willing to leave now."

The others heard this and deeply agreed.

Having come so far and fought off so many waves of Corpse People, they were unwilling to turn back empty-handed. Chu Lingfeng said, "Junior Sister Lii, you’ve seen the strength of these Corpse People. With our power, as long as we’re a little careful, there shouldn’t be any problems..."

"ROAR, ROAR..." His words had barely faded when countless roars echoed out. Within the purple mist, innumerable black shadows, as swift as leopards, charged toward the group.