Poisonous miasma thrived, and cold mist pervaded the air.
In the gray forest, walls of mist seemed to have come to life, wantonly spreading across the field of vision.
In this environment, visibility was extremely low to the naked eye, and even the perception of the soul was greatly limited. Using it for detection, one could only scout within a few hundred meters, and no further.
"Chizz!"
In the white mist forest, where occasional low roars of beasts echoed, several subtle sounds suddenly arose. Immediately, several figures as agile as monkeys cut through the cold mist, darted out, and quickly moved towards the depths of the Mountain Range of Lost Souls.
As they ventured deeper into the mountain range, Chen Xiao and the others gradually encountered some trouble.
The Mountain Range of Lost Souls was too vast, spanning thousands of miles. With their soul perception now limited and their vision obscured by the cold air and poisonous miasma, finding the location of the Soul Hall within it was no easy task.
"How about we split up?"
While concealing their figures and auras, they cautiously groped forward, but the speed was too slow, which made Wind Honored One anxious.
After all, if the time dragged on for too long, say three to five days, the Soul Hall might discover that the eyes and ears outside the mountain range had been removed, leading to other changes.
"No, the Mountain Range of Lost Souls is the Soul Hall's territory. Splitting up makes it easier to be detected. If you encounter Star-Picking Old Ghost, you might not be able to hold out until I can come to your aid. Let's continue forward, I have a way!"
Chen Xiao refused without even thinking.
Although they were temporary teammates, since they were acting together, he didn't want Wind Honored One and Sword Venerable to have any accidents.
Seeing Chen Xiao's determination, Wind Honored One didn't say much more, silently nodding and following.
Sword Venerable, on the other hand, was taciturn, simply moving closer to Chen Xiao.
He had already noticed that the closer he was to Chen Xiao, the less the surrounding cold miasma affected him. It was as if Chen Xiao was naturally immune to the cold air and poisonous miasma, possessing his own field that benefited those nearby.
Little did he know that the cold air here was not even a fraction of Chen Xiao's Dou Qi. How could it possibly affect him?
As for the poisonous miasma, there was even less to say.
His poison resistance was already maxed out!
The reason? Those in the know, know.
They continued groping forward for half a day, until the three of them saw the surrounding cold mist gradually becoming dimmer, and immediately understood the reason.
Wind Honored One frowned slightly and said softly, "It's getting dark soon, we can't continue on. The Magical Beasts in the Mountain Range of Lost Souls are extremely ferocious at night, and they're like leeches, hard to shake off. If we make any unusual movements, we'll not only alarm other Magical Beasts, but also easily attract the attention of the Soul Hall experts."
Sword Venerable looked at Chen Xiao, waiting for him to make a decision.
This time, Chen Xiao didn't reject Wind Honored One's suggestion, nodding slightly.
Nighttime was when Magical Beasts were most active.
It was also the opportunity Chen Xiao was waiting for.
Seeing Chen Xiao nod, Sword Venerable immediately flicked his hand, taking out a pile of black things from his Storage Ring and scattering them in a large circle around the three of them.
Witnessing the whole process, Chen Xiao's mouth twitched a few times.
A Dou Zun scattering dung, the scene was simply too impactful!
"These are the feces of high-level Magical Beasts, which can deter some Magical Beasts from disturbing us. I was dealing with that Jade Sword Sect in the deep mountains before, and I collected some and piled them in my Storage Ring for convenience,"
Sword Venerable explained hoarsely, noticing Chen Xiao's complicated gaze.
Chen Xiao glanced at his fingertips, wanting to ask if the Storage Ring was still usable.
As if reading his thoughts, Sword Venerable held out his left hand, with a Storage Ring on each of his five fingers.
"Personal habit, I like to put different things in different Storage Rings."
Chen Xiao nodded slightly, that was a good habit.
It made him look at Sword Venerable with more approval.
…
The Mountain Range of Lost Souls at night was particularly gloomy, and all kinds of howls echoed within the mountains, giving people a creepy feeling.
The roars of beasts resounded through the mountain range for half the night, finally gradually disappearing. Just as Wind Honored One and Sword Venerable breathed a sigh of relief, they suddenly heard some rustling sounds coming from the distance.
Hearing these sounds, the two men's tightly closed eyes snapped open, and their gazes swept across the white mist in the distance. Their expressions changed, and they exclaimed in surprise, "Damn, it seems to be a Stone-Eating Ant swarm?"
Every place had its own 'specialties', or well-known things.
And the Mountain Range of Lost Souls's fierce reputation was partly due to the cold air and poisonous miasma, but more so because of a type of Magical Beast in the Mountain Range of Lost Souls.
This Magical Beast was the Stone-Eating Demonic Ant!
The Stone-Eating Demonic Ant's level wasn't actually very high, only around the third or fourth rank. A single one was only slightly stronger than Xiao Yan's father before he was captured.
But their terrifying aspect lay in their numbers.
In this Mountain Range of Lost Souls, there were as many as tens of millions of Stone-Eating Demonic Ants!
With such a terrifying number, they came overwhelmingly. Even an eighth-rank Magical Beast would have to temporarily avoid them.
Because these ants could devour all flesh and blood that stood in their way. Wherever the Stone-Eating Ant swarm passed, there were skeletons everywhere, and not even a trace of blood could be found. Experts who strayed into the mountain range and encountered the ant swarm, if they didn't have the strength of a Dou Zun, would face certain death!
If these Stone-Eating Demonic Ants could only survive in the cold, poisonous mist, it was likely that no one would dare to live even outside this mountain range!
With the current strength of the three of them, the Stone-Eating Ant swarm was actually difficult to threaten.
But once Dou Zun-level power is used, it will inevitably be detected by the Soul Hall experts in the Mountain Range of Lost Souls, which is why the Wind Honored One's face is so unsightly.
"Let's retreat. We can't clash head-on with these damned things! Once we stir up the hornet's nest, it will only be more difficult to rescue Yao Chen next time. Let's leave first and come back another day!"
The Wind Honored One quickly got up; this was the only solution he could think of.
It was also a helpless move.
Chen Xiao glanced at him, but there was no trace of panic on his face.
What he was waiting for was the arrival of this Stone-Eating Ant swarm!
"Don't worry, stay here and don't wander around. I'll be right back!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Xiao didn't bother to explain further and directly swept into the forest shrouded in cold mist.
Seeing Chen Xiao's actions, the Wind Honored One's expression suddenly changed drastically.
"What is he doing? Does he have to alarm the Soul Hall!"
The Wind Honored One was furious. He wasn't worried about Chen Xiao's safety, but he felt that Chen Xiao's actions would inevitably ruin the plan, making the rescue of Yao Chen even more difficult.
However, the Sword Venerable next to him was still calm and composed, listening carefully.
"The sound of the ant swarm is gone."
These words stunned the Wind Honored One, who was standing there in impotent rage.
He calmed down and listened carefully.
Sure enough, it was quiet in the cold, poisonous miasma, and the rustling sound had completely disappeared.
"This…"
Just as the Wind Honored One was looking astonished, Chen Xiao's figure walked out of the cold mist unscathed.
It could be seen that on his shoulder was a giant ant, fully half a foot in size, with eight wings and a dark golden body!
"The Stone-Eating Ant Queen?"
Seeing the dark golden, eight-winged giant ant, a flash of light appeared in the eyes of both the Wind Honored One and the Sword Venerable.
Controlling this Stone-Eating Ant Queen is equivalent to controlling an army sufficient to make ordinary Dou Zun experts retreat!
Although this army can only operate in the Mountain Range of Lost Souls.
"I used to learn some Beast Taming Techniques. I didn't expect they would come in handy after so many years."
Ignoring the surprise in their eyes, Chen Xiao patted the extremely well-behaved Stone-Eating Ant Queen on his shoulder and smiled.
He wasn't lying. He learned this Beast Taming Technique when he was messing around in the Black-Corner Region, from a sect called the Beast Taming Sect.
At that time, the Beast Taming Sect provoked the Purple Firmament Pavilion, but they tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. Not only did they not gain any benefits, but they also became the chicken used to scare the monkeys.
After the Beast Taming Sect was destroyed, its inheritance naturally fell into the hands of the Purple Firmament Pavilion.
Not only Chen Xiao, but also the Little Fairy Doctor and Zi Yan, all understood this technique, and even Hai Bo Dong knew it.
It never hurts to have more skills; the truth of this sentence was confirmed at this moment.
As for finding this Stone-Eating Ant Queen, it was even simpler.
After Chen Xiao left just now, he just muttered a few words, and the Ant Queen descended from the sky and landed in front of him. No one knew which graceful and charming little fairy was helping.
"So, this is the method you were talking about," the Wind Honored One suddenly understood.
Chen Xiao remained noncommittal. "Let's go. We'll set off overnight. This guy knows the location of the Soul Hall."
After speaking, Chen Xiao moved and took the lead, sweeping towards the depths of the mountain range shrouded in cold mist.
Behind him, the Sword Venerable immediately followed.
The Wind Honored One didn't say much and followed closely behind.
After this incident, he also recognized himself.
Just because he couldn't do it didn't mean others couldn't.
Anyway, he wasn't the main force in this rescue of Yao Chen, so he would put aside his doubts and have more trust, so as not to hold them back.
This time, with the Stone-Eating Ant Queen leading the way, the three of them finally didn't have to continue groping blindly, and their speed increased several times.
Therefore, in less than half an hour, they had penetrated deep into the belly of the mountain range.
"Stop!"
In the forest shrouded in cold mist, Chen Xiao, who was leading the way, suddenly raised his hand to stop.
Seeing this, although they were a little puzzled, the Wind Honored One and the Sword Venerable didn't dare to ask more questions. They stopped as instructed, remained silent, and looked around warily.
Chen Xiao nodded in satisfaction and gently patted the Ant Queen on his shoulder.
The next moment, the Wind Honored One and the Sword Venerable saw the Ant Queen on Chen Xiao's shoulder suddenly emit a subtle and strange sound wave from its mouth, which then spread out like ripples.
"Puff, puff, puff…"
Just a few seconds after the sound wave was emitted, they saw black shadows falling from the air in the surrounding cold mist, and then all landed on the withered yellow grass.
The Wind Honored One fixed his eyes on the nearest spot and saw that the black shadow that had fallen was a black bird only the size of a palm. On its body, there was a black ant the size of a fist. This Stone-Eating Demonic Ant was biting tightly on its throat, preventing it from making any warning sounds.
"These Magical Beasts are quite strange. They must have mutated in the unique environment of the Mountain Range of Lost Souls. They are too small and hidden in the cold mist. Even we can't sense their existence."
Wind Honored One was shocked, gaining a deeper understanding of the Soul Hall's methods.
If Chen Xiao hadn't controlled the Stone-Eating Ant Queen and known about these strange birds in advance, they would have been discovered by the Soul Hall's experts before they even found the Soul Hall.
"The Soul Hall's methods are unpredictable. These black birds are just insignificant little things, only serving as eyes and ears, with no other use."
Chen Xiao never underestimated the Soul Hall.
Or, more precisely, the Soul Clan behind it.
He clearly knew how many trump cards the Soul Clan had hidden, and how many strange things it possessed. What was before them was not even the tip of the iceberg.
"The nearby messenger birds have already been cleared by the Stone-Eating Demonic Ants and... me. Don't worry. Also, we are not far from the Soul Hall. Be prepared for battle at any time."
Hearing Chen Xiao's words, Wind Honored One and Sword Venerable immediately tensed up, and the Dou Qi in their bodies began to circulate quietly.
After dealing with these hidden eyes and ears of the Soul Hall, Chen Xiao continued to let the Stone-Eating Ant Queen lead the way. After another ten minutes or so, Chen Xiao finally stopped, patted the Stone-Eating Ant Queen, and ordered it to return to its clan.
"Are we there?"
"Yes." Chen Xiao raised his chin.
Following the direction Chen Xiao indicated, Wind Honored One and Sword Venerable noticed that for some reason, the fog here had become much thinner.
And where they were now was a very high and steep slope, and at the end of the slope below was a giant valley surrounded by mountains on three sides.
In the giant valley, a huge black palace, hundreds of feet in size, was crouching there like a prehistoric beast, exuding a frightening aura in the darkness!
"Is this the Soul Hall? What a grand scale!"
Looking at the behemoth-like building in the valley, even the taciturn Sword Venerable couldn't help but gasp.
Building such a huge palace was not difficult, but building it silently in this deep mountain and wild forest without being noticed was.
Even more frightening was that they all knew that this was just one of the many branch halls of the Soul Hall.
Like this giant palace, no one knew how many more were hidden throughout the continent!
Wind Honored One also stepped forward and stood to Chen Xiao's left.
Looking at the black palace in the valley, a touch of excitement welled up in his eyes, along with unconcealable solemnity.
Next, it was time to truly risk their lives!
"Wait, there is a spatial barrier covering this place. We have to find a way."
Wind Honored One sensed carefully and immediately noticed that the sky above the valley in the distance was somewhat distorted. He frowned and said softly.
With this spatial barrier in place, whether they forcibly broke it or broke in, they would inevitably be detected by the experts who had set up the spatial barrier.
Chen Xiao couldn't do anything about this.
If Zi Yan and Grand Elder Green Mountains were here, with the Ancient Dragon Clan's unique spatial talent, they would be able to cut it open silently without alarming the people inside.
But they didn't have this kind of talent.
However, it didn't matter anymore.
Being cautious before was just to avoid alarming the people in this branch hall in advance, so as not to let them transfer or escape in advance.
Now that they had arrived here…
Chen Xiao looked up at the sky, only to see that the thin poisonous miasma in this space had quietly surged up again, and the color had also changed significantly from the color of the poisonous miasma they had seen all the way in, with a bit more ghostly green.
Wind Honored One and Sword Venerable only thought that this was a unique phenomenon naturally formed by the Mountain Range of Lost Souls.
Only Chen Xiao could detect the hidden Heavenly Flame fluctuations.
This was clearly the poison domain of heaven and earth formed by Little Fairy Doctor's Cultivation Technique, the Heavenly Poison Overturning Void Chapter, during battle!
"No need for so much trouble. Either we don't do it, or we do it thoroughly. Since we're here…"
"Then let's wipe them all out!"
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