A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 567 Mountains of Broken Bodies
Duan Rong stepped out of the half-meter-wide crevice and into the bright sunlight.

A few feet away, the people who had been resting cross-legged immediately stood up when they saw Duan Rong come out. They all looked at Duan Rong with surprise.

Duan Rong had said he would wait for him for an hour, but now it turns out he had only been inside for a little over an hour.

Seeing Duan Rong's calm expression, Guo Tian asked, "Brother Duan, have you obtained a mature Azure Flame Grass?"

Duan Rong said, "Three plants are enough."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed slightly.

What surprised them was not the three Azure Flame Grasses. Although Azure Flame Grass was a miraculous medicine with remarkable effects, it was actually not very valuable. The biggest drawback of this medicine was that it was difficult to preserve. After being brought out of the ruins of gods and demons, it had to be used within a few hours, otherwise it would lose its medicinal properties.

The reason everyone's expression changed was because Duan Rong had managed to obtain the Azure Flame Grass in such a short time and escape unscathed. Keep in mind, there was a malevolent ghost infant in that space!

This further demonstrates that Duan Rong indeed possessed secret methods for dealing with evil spirits.

Everyone was certain that Duan Rong had returned safely, as having such a strong teammate as Duan Rong in the group ensured their own safety.

But Su Xinjue, standing in the crowd, felt a deep sense of disappointment. She couldn't help but glance at Duan Rong from beside Jiang Hanyan.

Just then, Duan Rong suddenly turned to look at Jiang Hanyan. In that instant, Duan Rong's cold gaze, whether intentionally or unintentionally, swept over Su Xinjue. Su Xinjue was startled, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes.

Duan Rong asked, "How is the ghost infant's kiss on Jiang Hanyan's neck now?"

Su Xinjue was taken aback for a moment before realizing that Duan Rong was asking her a question, and replied, "No...nothing has changed..."

Duan Rong could tell that Jiang Hanyan's mental state seemed to be poor, but he didn't know whether it was due to the shock and trauma she had suffered or the influence of the ghost baby's kiss.

Guo Tian suddenly said, "Let's continue on our way! It's not very peaceful here."

As Guo Tian spoke, he glanced at the space beneath the collapsed rocks a dozen feet away. There was a malevolent spirit inside! If it weren't for waiting for Duan Rong, they would never have lingered so close to the malevolent spirit.

Duan Rong could tell what Guo Tian meant just by looking at him. Guo Tian and the others were clearly terrified of the evil spirit infant. After all, Jiang Hanyan's appearance was still there, and if they stayed any longer, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't become the next Jiang Hanyan.

Duan Rong said, "Let's go. This place is indeed not suitable for us to stay any longer."

The group continued walking forward, following the markings on the map.

Walking during the bright daylight requires little precaution, as the open field of vision allows them to detect any unusual activity from a distance.

Although Jiang Hanyan was not in good condition, she was still able to mechanically keep up with the group as they traveled.

Duan Rong walked behind, looking at the back of Jiang Hanyan's neck. He saw the ghost infant's lip print, which was quite eerie. After looking at it for a while, it even seemed to come to life.

As he stared, a sudden thought struck him. "No! That lip print is the true form of the evil spirit..."

That's not entirely accurate. A more precise explanation is that the lip print was a part of the evil spirit's true form, and it's very likely that it possessed sentience.

Duan Rong stared at the lifelike, somewhat lively bluish-black lip print for a while, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

That lip print reminded him of the eerie tricks of the "ghost bride" by the pool. It was the red veil that floated and spun alone in the night sky, and under each red veil was a pale ghost face.

Duan Rong felt that the kiss of the ghost infant and the pale ghost face under the red veil were actually similar in their relationship with their respective evil spirit bodies.

In other words, they are all transformations of the evil spirit itself, a kind of eerie attack method with sentience, and they should all be part of the evil spirit itself.

Duan Rong remembered the first time he used the Soul-Slaying Thorn to pierce the pale ghost face beneath the red veil by the pool; the ghost face turned into a wisp of white smoke. At that moment, the evil body of the "Ghost Bride" visibly trembled.

Duan Rong was certain that destroying a pale ghost face had harmed the true form of the "Ghost Bride" evil spirit; otherwise, the "Ghost Bride" evil spirit wouldn't have eventually retracted all the red veils and pale ghost faces into the dense darkness beneath its feet.

Similarly, the kiss mark of the ghost infant was also transformed from the ghost infant's true form. The ghost infant's true form is hidden deep within its lips.

Duan Rong immediately realized that there seemed to be a great connection between the ghost infant evil spirit and the "ghost bride" evil spirit, because the attack methods of these two evil spirits had an inherent similarity.

Although the appearances are different, the underlying principles are surprisingly similar.

However, the pale ghost face of the "Ghost Bride" evil spirit by the pool was completely destroyed by Duan Rong's Soul Piercing Technique, with three of them being annihilated and the rest being retracted into the evil spirit's body. Therefore, the pale ghost face had no effect whatsoever. Otherwise, Duan Rong could have even deduced the true evil nature of the Ghost Infant's Kiss from the pale ghost face's attack effect.

Duan Rong was deep in thought, lost in his logical reasoning, when suddenly he heard a gasp of surprise from the ranks!
He thought something had happened and immediately looked around!

But just five or six zhang ahead, they saw a large, grayish-white mountain lying across their path, blocking their way!

"This is..." Duan Rong's face also showed a look of astonishment when he saw the strange gray-white mountain.

Duan Rong had been deeply preoccupied with the matter of evil spirits and hadn't looked at the map much lately. Furthermore, Guo Tian had been handling the group's itinerary planning. He trusted Guo Tian quite a bit.

That grayish-white mountain was not actually a mountain, but the body of a god or demon! A corpse whose soul had dissipated and which had remained incorrupt for ten thousand years!
The enormous, incorruptible corpse of the god or demon lay there, blocking everyone's path.

Although they were five or six zhang apart, the lingering pressure of the tiger's death still faintly emanated from it.

The corpse was entirely grayish-white, covered with eerie wrinkles, like some kind of stone. The demon was lying face down on the ground; although its face was not visible, its head was bald, like an extremely difficult-to-climb mountain peak.

Lin Youjian and Liu Su had told them about the enormous size of the gods' and demons' bodies during the training camp, but seeing it with their own eyes, even from a distance, still gave them a sense of awe that seemed to penetrate their bodies—something that words could not describe!
The bodies of gods and demons are so enormous!

Could it be that countless ages ago, this continent of Kyushu was a world of gods and demons?
They simply couldn't imagine how such a massive body could walk between heaven and earth! Just as ants can't imagine an elephant!
Duan Rong also opened the map and searched for their location.

At this moment, Guo Tian said, "We need to climb up this god-demon's body, walk over it, and then walk down from where his right hand hangs down to enter the next main road."

Duan Rong looked at the markings on the map for this place. They had actually traversed a zigzag path on the body of the god and demon, turning off from their current path onto another path that was quite far away.

Duan Rong's eyelids twitched slightly. This divine and demonic body here was somewhat similar to the overpasses in the cities of his previous life on Earth.

The map clearly indicated where to climb, which route to take, and where to descend, as if the body of this god or demon were truly a mountain.

Now that the map clearly indicated the location, the group headed towards the immortal, incorruptible corpse of the god or demon. According to the map, they began climbing up from the left foot of the body.

Looking at the foot-shaped, sloping mountain in front of them, and at the terrain, everyone understood why the map indicated that they had to climb up from here.

Because the foot was stretched out at an angle, and the sole was full of wrinkles and creases, which were their footholds for climbing.

The group first climbed onto the little toe closest to them, which was almost buried in the soil.

With a light leap, they jumped up, then climbed over a shallow ditch and began to climb up along the soles of their feet.

As Lu Chu climbed, he laughed and said, "If this giant were alive, climbing like this would surely make him itchy!"

Du Wan then crept deeper into a fold, sniffed hard, and said, "This god-demon's corpse not only hasn't decayed for ten thousand years, but it also doesn't have any strange smell."

Duan Rong frowned, thinking to himself: What kind of quirks do these two have!
The group quickly climbed over the soles of the feet, up the sides of the heels, up the ankles, and finally up the lower left leg of the demon's corpse.

Those calves, like a vast and enormous hillside, when you stand here, you can see two huge, towering peaks in the distance, which are the two buttocks of the god-demon corpse.

Looking at the two towering peaks, Du Wan suddenly asked a rather poetic question: "Tell me, is this god or demon male or female?"

The question left everyone stunned.

Lu Chu said, "This instructor never taught that! Do gods and demons distinguish between men and women?"

"Nonsense!" Du Wan ignored Lu Chu and stared at the two huge, towering peaks in the distance.

"Stop dawdling at the back! Hurry up and catch up!" Guo Tian suddenly turned to Du Wan and Lu Chu, who had fallen behind the group and were still studying the situation, and shouted.

"They're here!" the two replied, and then hurried after them.

The gods and demons were lying there, so there was no way they could possibly figure them out.

The body of that god or demon was hard and covered with skin texture, making it easy to walk on. The group quickly climbed over one of the two peaks and stood on the tailbone of the giant's corpse.

Standing here, you can see the spine of the entire god-demon body, which stretches out and undulates slightly like a plateau.

Everyone knew that they had to cross this plateau, turn onto the giant's right arm at his shoulder, and walk down along his right arm.

"Humans are like ants!" Xu Hui suddenly sighed.

Xu Hui's casual remark seemed to strike a chord with everyone, and Du Wan and Lu Chu stared at him in a daze!

Everyone stared at his expression, making Xu Hui feel a little embarrassed.

Guo Tiandao said, "Let's go!"

After Guo Tian finished speaking, he immediately strode forward, and Xu Hui followed him. Everyone else also joined the group.

They walked for a while when suddenly Du Wan pointed to a spot in the distance and said with a grim expression, "Isn't there a red dot over there?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction Du Wan was pointing! What they saw there startled them! Indeed, there was a blurry red dot, quite glaring against the greyish-white ground.

Although it was still far away and the exact outline was not clear, the crimson color, like blood, was unmistakable.

A frosty expression settled on everyone's faces!
That red dot is very likely the "Ghost Bride" evil spirit! What's going on? As soon as they entered the ruins of gods and demons, it was as if they had disturbed a den of evil spirits, and one after another, they were causing them trouble.

Guo Tian said with a serious expression, "Let's go a little further ahead and take a look! It's not very clear here. It's hard to confirm!"

But at that moment, Jiang Hanyan said in a trembling voice, "That's it! That's it!"

Although Jiang Hanyan's voice trembled, it conveyed a strong sense of certainty.

When everyone looked at her upon hearing this, they saw that she was trembling uncontrollably. However, Jiang Hanyan's condition had not been good, so no one paid much attention to her words.

Just then, a blurry red dot in the distance flew toward them at an extremely fast speed.

On the undulating, greyish-white plateau, a strange, blurry red dot was rapidly approaching them. The scene before them filled everyone with dread.

"It's coming!?" Jiang Hanyan suddenly clutched her head, her body trembling like a leaf.

The red dot was rapidly closing the distance to them, becoming increasingly clear.

A few breaths later, everyone could see clearly that it was indeed the evil spirit of the "ghost bride".

The moment Duan Rong confirmed that it was indeed the malevolent "Ghost Bride," he couldn't help but glance at Jiang Hanyan, who was not far away beside him. Jiang Hanyan had obviously already confirmed that the blurry red dot was the malevolent "Ghost Bride," and her method of confirmation was clearly not by sight.

After confirming that the rapidly approaching red dot was indeed the "ghost bride" evil spirit, everyone's faces turned even more terrified.

Lu Chu suddenly said with a look of terror in his eyes, "Shall we retreat?"

Du Wan clearly shared the same sentiment. After Lu Chu finished speaking, both of them looked questioningly at Duan Rong and Guo Tian in the group. At this crucial moment, their opinions clearly carried considerable weight in everyone's minds.

Duan Rong asked, "Where do we retreat to?! Is there any other way out?"

Duan Rong stared coldly at the approaching red dot. His meaning was clear: they had nowhere to retreat.

“That’s right!” Guo Tian said, “If we retreat, there are only two paths! The first path is to walk down the left leg of the demon’s body and return to the way we came, but there’s still a ghost infant evil spirit there! If two evil spirits surround us from the front and back, we’ll be in a deadly situation!”

"The second path is to follow the right leg of the demon's body to another dimension. But that would take us in the opposite direction, and it would be difficult to make it back and forth from the central altar in twenty days. So it seems that both paths are dead ends!"

"Duan Rong is right, there is actually no road ahead!" Guo Tian's voice was cold and firm.

(End of this chapter)