My career has infinite upgrades.

Chapter 75 The distress array has failed, and the runes have been reversed.

Gu Qing was unaware of the situation in the mountain stream, and the rain was getting heavier.

Gu Qing stepped through the mud and water, and behind him, the roars of beasts echoed.

Blackhorned boars crashed through bushes, bone-rotting spiders crawled along tree trunks, and dozens of monsters crowded into the narrow woodland, almost blocking their escape route.

"Master, there is a gap seventy meters to your right."

Melissand raised her hand and pointed into the depths of the black fog.

"The gap can only last for ten seconds."

Without hesitation, Gu Qing activated Swift Step.

His mental energy circulated throughout his body, and his speed suddenly increased.

Cecilia and Melissant followed closely behind, the three of them passing between the two groups of monsters.

The next moment, several gray-backed wolves rushed over and completely blocked the gap.

Gu Qing did not stop.

Using Melissand's sonic perception, he changed direction repeatedly to avoid the charging herd of beasts ahead.

But after walking more than 200 meters, he slowed down.

wrong.

These monsters, though seemingly chaotic, consistently converged in the southeast direction.

Just now, several black thorn hounds had clearly rushed northwest, but after getting close to that area, they suddenly tucked their tails between their legs and forcibly turned around.

The bone-rotting spiders behind them were the same; they preferred to crash into the swarm of wild boars rather than continue moving northwest.

Gu Qing stopped behind a large, ancient tree.

"Merissandra, scout the northwest direction."

Purple sound waves passed through the rain curtain and spread outwards silently.

After a moment, Melissand shook her head.

"There are no high-level monsters, nor the aura of powerful beings."

"What about the terrain?"

"Ordinary woodland, with no abnormalities within a 150-meter radius."

There was no danger, yet the monsters dared not approach.

Gu Qing turned to look at the herd of beasts behind him.

A level 16 Blackthorn Hound broke away from the group and was charging towards them from the side.

Its eyes were bloodshot, drool was constantly dripping from the corners of its mouth, and it was shaking its head frantically as it ran.

"Cecilia, grab it."

Black and white light swept across the rain curtain.

Cecilia lashed out with her long whip, which wrapped around the hind legs of the Blackthorn Hound. With a pull of her wrist, the hound tumbled and crashed into the ground beneath a tree.

Just as the blackthorn hound was about to get up, the long whip wrapped around its neck, pinning it firmly to the muddy water.

Instead of attacking Cecilia, it struggled desperately, still trying to escape to the southeast.

"Keep alive."

Gu Qing walked closer and squatted down to examine it.

The blackthorn hound had no obvious injuries, but its eyes were bloodshot.

Its breathing was rapid and erratic, and its limbs were twitching incessantly, clearly indicating that it was under continuous stimulation.

After checking its mouth and nose, Gu Qing then parted the stiff black fur behind its ears.

A small amount of silver-gray powder clung to the deep part of the fur, most of which was washed away by the rain, leaving only a thin layer sticking to the base of the ears.

"What is this?"

Cecilia stretched out her finger and picked up a little powder.

A wisp of black and white power entered it, and the silver-gray powder immediately emitted a faint white light.

"Contains divine power."

She gently crushed the powder, held it to her nose, and smelled it.

"If the quality is too low, it cannot strengthen the monsters; it will only stimulate their nerves. Once it comes into contact with the monsters, they will become agitated and develop a strong aversion to the specific aura."

Gu Qing looked towards the northwest.

"So they weren't running for their lives."

"Someone is chasing them away."

These monsters are scattered in different areas, so it's impossible for them to be covered in this powder at the same time.

Someone entered the jungle beforehand and scattered animal repellent powder in the area where the animals were active.

There must have been a corresponding guiding aura deployed in the northwest direction, forcing all the monsters to avoid that area and flee only to the southeast.

Rainwater can dilute the powder, but it doesn't completely neutralize it.

The rain actually helped the other side expand the coverage area of ​​their animal repellent powder.

Gu Qing stood up, and the bone spear condensed in his palm, piercing directly through the Blackthorn Hound's head.

Cecilia retracted her whip.

"Master, are we their target?"

"Whether it's true or not, you'll know once you try it."

Gu Qing took out the map and quickly confirmed the location.

After separating from Yang Mingyuan and the other two, he continued to advance northward.

Before the herd of beasts appeared, he was still four kilometers away from the mountain stream to the southeast.

There are now less than two kilometers left.

These monsters conveniently blocked the north and east sides, while the west side was the original route.

It seemed that only the southeast was a viable option, but in reality, someone had chosen the route for him.

Gu Qing put away the map and did not continue to flee.

"Merisander, expand your perception range. Don't focus on the monsters, look for people."

Melissand closed her eyes.

Purple sound waves spread along the ground, passing through the rain and black mist.

The vibrations from the stampeding beasts were too chaotic, and countless sounds overlapped, interfering with her judgment.

A dozen seconds later, she suddenly looked up.

"There is a person 300 meters to the right and behind."

"He was moving with the herd, not very fast, and he would adjust his position every time the herd turned."

Sure enough, there was someone there.

Cecilia gripped the whip tightly.

"I'll go and bring him back."

"Need not."

Gu Qing reactivated Swift Step, but did not leave at full speed, maintaining only a speed just enough to avoid the beast horde.

"Since he's not showing himself, it means he doesn't want to fight me head-on."

"Let's see what he wants to do first."

The bushes ahead swayed continuously, and several bone-rotting spiders scurried through the woods.

Gu Qing deliberately slowed down, and only stepped aside when the herd of beasts got close.

Using the cover of a fallen ancient tree, he raised his hand and summoned two undead guards.

"Go in."

The soulfire in the eyes of the two undead guards quickly dimmed, and they squeezed into two hollow tree holes next to them. Rotting bark hung down, completely covering their bones.

Gu Qing led Cecilia and Melissant to continue moving southeast.

Three hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

The undead guards hidden in the tree hollow made no move.

Rain washed the leaves, and the herd of animals trampled the mud. Half a minute later, a figure emerged from the woods behind them.

He wore the grey leather armor of an ordinary hunter, with a short bow hanging on his back, and his face was covered in black paint.

From the outside, they are no different from freelancers who come and go from the supply station.

Instead of following the footprints left by Gu Qing, the man went around to the side of the herd and took out a cloth bag from his waist.

Silver-gray powder was sprinkled onto the rainwater.

Several monsters that had strayed from their course smelled the aura and immediately turned southeast.

Inside the tree hollow, the undead guards silently watched this scene.

The same scene then appeared before Gu Qing's eyes.

Shared perception.

After scattering the beast-repelling powder, the hunter did not approach any further. He climbed a large tree and, after confirming that Gu Qing was still moving southeast, took out a communication talisman from his pocket.

The talisman paper is silver-white overall, with tiny cross-shaped patterns drawn along the edges.

Gu Qing had seen this kind of thing before.

The standard transmissive talisman of the Holy See.

The hunter channeled his mental energy and lowered his voice.

"The target is still moving."

"We have entered the final leg of the journey."

What was said on the other end of the communication talisman could not be heard by the shared sense.

The hunter quickly put away the talisman and leaped down from the tree. He circled around to the side of the herd again and used the beast-repelling powder to force several monsters to change direction.

Throughout, he maintained a distance of about 300 meters from Gu Qing.

They neither approached nor made a move.

It is only responsible for adjusting the direction of the herd.

Gu Qing interrupted the shared perception.

"Master, should we kill him?" Melissand asked.

"Killing him now would only tell the people behind the scenes that we've discovered it."

"We don't know what's going on yet, so let's not act rashly."

Gu Qing glanced around.

Although the herd of beasts was large, it posed little threat to him.

Once the Desert Undead Dragon is summoned, dozens of level 10+ monsters simply cannot stop it.

The other party was clearly aware of this as well.

They didn't expect the beasts to kill him; they only wanted to use the monsters to block the road and drive him somewhere.

"Continue heading southeast."

Cecilia glanced at him.

"Are the masters ready to enter the area they have chosen?"

"They've gone to so much trouble, I should at least see what they've prepared."

Gu Qing took out the map of the Black Mist Jungle again.

The herd of beasts was still closing in from behind, and Melissand kept calling out safe routes.

Using their speed and senses, the three avoided the monsters and drew ever closer to the southeastern mountain stream.

The terrain on the map gradually became clearer.

Ahead was a narrow mountain stream, flanked by mountain walls on both sides, with only two exits, one to the north and one to the south.

Gu Qing's finger landed on the location of the mountain stream.

The nearby monster areas are clearly marked, with their levels, ranks, and common types all listed.

This mountain stream, however, remained perfectly clean.

There are no ranks.

There is no rank.

There isn't even a single record of monsters.

That area seemed to have been deliberately erased from the map.

Gu Qing frowned, realizing that something was wrong.

After thinking for a moment, Gu Qing took out the documents she had obtained at the supply station.

Even though there are level 30 Desert Undead Dragons, it's still better to be safe.

He channeled his mental energy into the document in his hand, and the red array patterns on the back of the document began to light up.

However, the distress signal did not get through, and the red array pattern simply disappeared.

Gu Qing frowned even more deeply.

The distress signal array on this document is a spatial array, and its failure indicates that the surrounding space has been sealed off.

Melissand closed her eyes and focused all her senses on sensing, then quickly opened them and said, "Master, it's spatial interference. The energy fluctuations of the interference are very low; you can't sense it at all without careful observation."

A chill ran through Gu Qing's eyes; it seemed the people in the shadows had him cornered.

Gu Qing quickly considered his current situation.

The other party surrounded him with monsters, forcing him into the mountain stream area, which clearly indicated that there were preparations in the mountain stream area.

Should we break through directly?

It's a good method, but the other party's use of this method may not necessarily be a helpless move due to their inferior strength. It is very likely that they are wary of the Jinling Academy behind them.

If we force our way out, the enemy might become desperate and attack us directly, which could be dangerous if we don't know their strength.

After thinking for a moment, Gu Qing said directly, "Walk along the outer edge of that mountain stream and look for the source of the spatial interference."

O

In any case, sending out the distress message is the best option.

Gu Qing summoned twenty undead guards.

The figures in white split into four groups, spreading out along the outer edge of the mountain stream.

Five guards cleared the way, while the rest wielded bone knives to dig through the soil and decaying leaves.

Spatial interference covers such a large area that it's impossible to maintain it with just one prop.

There must be array nodes buried around it.

Gu Qing followed the mountain wall northwards.

The herd of beasts closed in again from behind, splashing mud everywhere as they were trampled.

Cecilia lashed out with her long whip, sending several Blackthorn Hounds that had charged at her flying.

The blackthorn hounds fell into the mud, and just as they were about to get up, several bone spears pierced through their bodies.

Gu Qing did not linger.

The number of monsters is increasing, and once a fight breaks out, the surrounding beasts will all swarm around.

"Master, the herd of beasts to the west is only two hundred meters away from us."

Melissand kept announcing the location.

"There is a rocky slope forty meters to the right, where there are fewer monsters."

Gu Qing immediately turned around.

The three men made their way through the bushes and up the slippery stone slope. Several undead guards stayed behind, blocking the narrow entrance with their bone shields.

More than a dozen gray-backed wolves crashed into the bone shield one after another.

The sound of bones grinding together echoed continuously as the foremost undead guards withstood the impact. Guards behind them swung their bone blades, slashing at the wolf's head through gaps in the shields.

The herd of beasts was held back for a moment, and Gu Qing had already climbed over the rocky slope.

Suddenly, a sentinel warrior sent back a video feed.

Something is hidden under a dead tree not far away.

Gu Qing rushed over, and the undead guard had already turned over the soil with his bone knife, revealing a glint of silver light.

Gu Qing had the undead guards dig up the soil, revealing a silver nail the size of a palm.

The silver nail was engraved with a cross pattern, and surrounded by a dozen or so fine rune lines.

At the bottom of the silver nail, there is a grayish-white energy crystal that continuously provides energy into the silver nail.

On that energy crystal, there was also a dissipating array pattern.

Once the energy crystal is depleted, all traces on the silver nail will disappear, turning it into an ordinary nail.

Looking at the cross pattern, Gu Qing tightened his grip on the black bone scythe.

It's the Church of Light again!

Gu Qing calmed himself down and did not choose to pull out and destroy the silver nail.

His gaze fell on the cross pattern, and he began to sense the runes on it.

After advancing as a rune apprentice, Gu Qing's understanding of rune paths deepened considerably.

Gu Qing discovered that part of the silver nail resonated with the silver-gray powder, repelling any approaching demons.

The other part is the fluctuation of spatial interference.

These silver nails are a set, and the exact number is unknown. Destroying just this one will not break the surrounding spatial interference.

Gu Qing took out the talisman brush and guided it with his mental power, causing the brush to land on one of the rune lines.

The silver nail trembled slightly, and the cross pattern on it lit up.

Gu Qing is modifying the rune path above.

Gu Qing's current rune skills are not yet sufficient to make all the changes, but he can easily modify just one rune path.

Soon, the modification of this rune line was completed.

The repulsive effect of the silver nail was instantly reversed.

"Where was that person just now?"

After sensing the situation, Melissand said, "He hasn't detected our location yet, about four hundred meters to the northwest."

Gu Qing nodded. After the silver nail's repulsion effect reversed, the surrounding monsters began to turn back and head northwest.

Before long, the hunter in the northwest direction noticed something was wrong.

Why are the monsters charging at him?

He hurriedly opened the silver-gray powder and sprinkled it down, but the effect was not obvious, and many monsters still rushed towards him.

The hunter turned and tried to run.

However, in his attempt to track Gu Qing, he got too close to the herd and soon found himself surrounded.

Several bone-rotting spiders were the first to catch up.

Pale white spider silk pierced through the rain, sealing the gap between two large trees in front.

The hunter drew his dagger and cut the spider silk, but then a black-spined hound pounced from the side.

He kicked the hunting dog away, but there wasn't time to take the short bow off his back.

More monsters swarmed around it.

The angry shouts quickly turned into the clash of weapons and the roars of monsters.

Gu Qing led Cecilia and Melissant away from the rocky slope and, taking advantage of the beasts changing course, continued moving towards the outer edge of the ravine.

The previously sealed-off northwest direction now has a gap.

The sounds of battle within the black mist grew increasingly chaotic.

The hunter shot down several monsters in succession, but his shoulder was pierced by the long horn of a Black Horned Boar.

He tumbled and crashed into the tree. Before he could get up, the bone-rotting spider crawled up his back.

He swung his dagger, piercing the belly of the bone-rotting spider, while a gray-backed wolf had already bitten his calf.

The hunter struggled to retrieve the silver-white communication talisman and poured his mental energy into it.

"Lord Silver Armor, save me!"