After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

In the dense forests of southern Xinjiang, the air is so humid that you could wring out green water from it.

Outside Wanyao Valley, the clamor of voices filled the air, causing the miasma in the forest to churn violently.

All sorts of strange and monstrous people gathered here.

To the left is the Scorpion Sect, where colorful venomous insects wriggle beneath the robes of its members, with scorpions and centipedes occasionally extending their menacing mouthparts.

To the right is the Cave of White Bones, where everyone carries a shroud in the shape of a human, their faces deathly pale, and swarms of greenbottle flies hover above their heads.

Further away, a group of Black Witch Village people with strange tattoos gathered around a campfire.

He kept chanting, and the tune pierced the ears, making one feel uncomfortable inside and out.

As Zhou Ran led the Su sisters into the arena, the clamor subsided immediately.

All movement stopped.

The two sisters wore veils and oversized windbreakers, but their upright posture stood out conspicuously among the hunched and slovenly figures around them.

A sweet, refreshing mist emanated from them, masking the stench of decay.

This is the unique aura of the Tide Sacred Body.

This aura penetrated the nostrils of the evil cultivators, its effects surpassing even the strongest liquor, causing their blood to rush.

Hundreds of gazes converged upon them, sticky and burning, as if they wished they could strip off their clothes and devour them whole.

The young master of the Scorpion Clan was a pockmarked young man who was playing with a bright green scorpion in his hand.

His triangular eyes swept over the Su sisters, his gaze capable of ripping off a layer of skin.

"Hey, these days people bring family members to the Valley of Ten Thousand Medicines?"

The pockmarked man let out a strange laugh, and the surrounding evil cultivators erupted in savage laughter.

"I don't think these are family members; they were just brought in to kill time."

"Tsk tsk, no matter how tightly she's covered up, she can't hide that fresh and lively charm."

Smell this! It smells even better than a hundred-year-old elixir!

A burly man from the Black Witch Village, covered in totems, sniffed vigorously, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Brother, there's something really off about the smell on these two girls. It's making me feel hot inside."

If we capture them and use them as a breeding ground for venomous insects, wouldn't the venomous insects become sentient beings?

Vulgar words kept creeping into my ears.

Su Qingwu practiced Buddhism at Shuiyue Nunnery, strictly adhering to the rules and regulations. She had never heard such vulgar language.

Her cheeks flushed red, and she trembled with anger.

Master was right; none of the men down the mountain are any good.

At this moment, the two of them were completely convinced of Zhou Ran's threat from the previous night.

"Shameless scoundrel!"

She gritted her teeth, placed her right hand on the hilt of the soft sword at her waist, and the sword trembled slightly, emitting a clear and melodious dragon's roar.

Su Qingling was so frightened that her face turned completely pale.

She hid behind her sister, clutching Su Qingwu's clothes tightly, her big eyes filled with fear, her body curled up into a ball.

Just as Su Qingwu was about to draw her sword, a warm, large hand covered the back of her hand.

He pressed her soft sword, which was only half an inch out of its sheath, back into place.

"Don't get your hands dirty."

Zhou Ran spoke, not looking at the young master of the Scorpion Sect, but scanning the strange and grotesque evil cultivators around him.

"They're just a bunch of cannon fodder scouts; why bother arguing with dead people?"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the noise at the entrance disappeared.

The young master of the Scorpion Clan had a face as black as the bottom of a pot, and the emerald green scorpion in his hand held its stinger high.

Just as he was about to lash out, Ye Futian snorted disdainfully in Zhou Ran's mind.

"What's the difference between that idiot in front using a magical artifact to break open the miasma and poking a hornet's nest with a stick?"

This miasma, having accumulated resentment for millennia, has developed sentience and hates external forces tearing it apart.

The first thing to go in was just an appetizer for this miasma.

No sooner had Ye Futian finished speaking than a commotion arose ahead.

"It's open!"

The entrance is open!

At the forefront of the crowd, a group of Wuji Sect members dressed in black and white Taoist robes were casting spells.

The elderly man at the head of the group held a huge compass artifact in his hand. As he chanted incantations, a dazzling golden light shot out from the compass, striking straight into the thick, inky poisonous miasma in front of him.

Sizzle sizzle!

When the golden light touched the poisonous miasma, it produced a sound like boiling oil being poured onto snow.

The churning, terrifying miasma was forcibly torn open, creating a passage just wide enough for two people to pass through.

"It's the Grand Elder of the Wuji Sect!"

That's a low-grade spiritual artifact called the "Wind-Fixing Disc"!

"Charge!"

It only blooms once every sixty years; if you're late, you won't even be able to touch the grass roots!

The crowd that had just been eyeing the Su sisters were now all blinded by lust, forgetting all about women, and scrambling to squeeze into the passage.

The young master of the Scorpion Sect glared at Zhou Ran with venom and spat on the ground:

"Kid, you're lucky."

"Don't let me see you once we're in the valley, or I'll feed you to my precious scorpion!"

After saying that, he led his men into the misty passage.

Not everyone is in such a hurry.

On the other side of the crowd were several natives from southern Xinjiang dressed in animal skins with their faces painted.

Looking coldly at the golden road, the leading old priest, leaning on his bone staff, shook his head and led his people into another, darker miasma-filled area.

In a short while, the crowded valley entrance was mostly empty.

Zhou Ran stood still until the last figure disappeared into the mist.

"Let's go too."

Su Qingwu looked at the billowing green poisonous fog ahead and felt a chill run down her spine.

"That passage is about to close, should we hurry?"

"run?"

Zhou Ran chuckled, a purple-gold light swirling in his eyes.

"A road that is forcibly opened by external force is a dead end."

The miasma here isn't inanimate; it's alive.

"Alive?"

Su Qingling shrank back in fright.

Zhou Ran offered no explanation, but strode forward, avoiding the passage opened by the Wuji Gate, and headed straight for the densest wall of miasma to the side.

"Stay close to me, don't fall behind."

The two sisters exchanged a glance and had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.

They stepped into the poisonous miasma, but the agonizing suffocation they had anticipated did not come to pass.

As they approached, the menacing green mist retreated on its own.

The unique aura of the Tidal Sacred Body on the two sisters transformed into a circle of azure light under the circulation of spiritual energy.

Wherever the halo passed, the poisonous miasma retreated on its own, creating a pure vacuum zone.

Su Qingling opened her mouth wide in surprise and waved her hand in front of her.

"Huh? Sister, the air here is even fresher than outside, it's not stuffy at all!"

Su Qingwu was equally surprised.

She could sense that the spiritual energy circulating within her body was several times faster than usual, and the air here resonated with their physical constitutions on its own.

Zhou Ran walked ahead, leaving without turning her head, and said:

"I told you long ago, you guys are human air purifiers."

This kind of sinister place is hell for others, but it's the home ground for the Tide Saint Body.

He paused, then continued, "This is precisely why your master accidentally let you go down the mountain to search for Dragon Blood Grass here."

Before the two women could even ask anything, a piercing scream came from the direction of the passage opened by the Wuji Sect.

"ah--

My face! My face!

"Help!

There's something in this fog!

"No...don't come any closer!"

Screams rose and fell, filled with fear and despair.

My hand!

My hand melted!

The sound was distorted and intermittent by the thick fog, making it sound particularly eerie.

The Su sisters stood frozen in place, their faces deathly pale.

Without thinking, Su Qingling grabbed Zhou Ran's clothes tightly and pressed her whole body against him.

Zhou Ran stopped and listened for a moment, his face expressionless.

He looked down.

At my feet, a puddle of clear water was silently seeping into the moss, and beside the puddle lay a leather boot, half-corroded, the same style that some evil cultivator had worn before.

Zhou Ran squatted down, dipped his finger into the puddle of "clear water," and brought it to his nose to smell it.

There was no bloody smell, no other odor; it was just ordinary water.

A living, breathing person turned into a puddle of water.

Zhou Ran stood up and clapped his hands.

"Is this the legend of Laoshan that Qin San told us?"