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

The screams pierced her ears, making Su Qingwu freeze.

She looked in the direction of the sound.

Not far away, several bodies lay scattered on the ground.

That can no longer be called a corpse.

These were the few rogue cultivators who had been at the forefront earlier.

Their flesh and blood were being corroded by an invisible force, melting away at a visible speed to reveal the stark white bones beneath.

The passage that the "wind-stabilizing plate" had forcibly opened had long been swallowed up by the toxic fog that had closed again.

One of them was not quite dead yet, writhing in agony on the ground, puddles of yellow fluid flowing from his body, emitting a nauseating stench.

"It's...it's that bald guy who tried to touch my butt earlier..."

Su Qingling covered her mouth, her stomach cramping, and she barely managed to hold it in.

Zhou Ran remained expressionless as he stepped across the pool of blood.

The leather boots beneath his feet crunched on the rotting, withered leaves.

He stopped, glanced at the still-wriggling pile of rotten flesh on the ground, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"This place is more interesting than I expected."

Zhou Ran raised his head, his gaze piercing through the layers of mist, looking directly into the unfathomable depths of the valley.

"The legend of Ailao Mountain has come true."

The further you go in, the dimmer the light becomes.

Outside, the sun was blazing, but inside the Valley of Ten Thousand Herbs, it was dark and gloomy, as if it were an eternal night.

The thick fog was no longer green, but turned grayish-white, layer upon layer, like the seal of a tomb, tightly enveloping everything around it.

"The compass is broken."

Su Qingwu looked at the watch face in her hand, the hands spinning wildly, her face grim.

All electronic devices malfunctioned here, and the phone screen was just static.

All around, there was complete silence.

This silence wasn't the absence of sound, but rather the fact that all sound had been swallowed up by the thick fog.

Occasionally, strange noises could be heard from afar.

"Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo"

The sound sometimes resembled the roar of an old bear, and sometimes the suppressed sobs of a woman at the bottom of a well. In this environment where visibility was less than five meters, each sound struck heavily on the top of one's head.

"Sister, I have this feeling..."

"Is something watching us?"

Su Qingling gripped Su Qingwu's arm tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.

Her cheeks were flushed an unnatural red, and she was breathing rapidly.

In this extremely yin and malevolent environment, the Tidal Sacred Body was like a piece of fresh meat thrown into boiling oil, attracting the attention of some being.

"Don't look around, concentrate!"

Su Qingwu whispered, but her own voice was trembling.

She discovered that the spiritual energy within her body was beginning to surge uncontrollably, and an invisible thread was pulling at their very essence, dragging them into the depths of the mist.

Several figures appeared ahead.

He is a disciple of the White Bone Cave.

This group of people usually enjoys playing with corpses, and their presence is extremely sinister.

At this moment, they stood there, seemingly lost in thought, under a withered old tree.

"Hey! Which way do I get ahead?"

Su Qingwu was about to ask a question when Zhou Ran raised his hand to stop her.

"Don't speak."

"Watch closely."

Just as the two sisters were filled with doubt, a terrifying scene unfolded.

A disciple from the White Bone Cave was complaining to his companions, his mouth still opening and closing.

The next second, tears began to stream down his face.

The nose, eyes, and mouth all melted away, coalescing into a smooth, pale sheet of skin.

Next comes the body.

The man didn't even have time to scream before he was completely obliterated by an invisible force!

The clothes fell to the ground.

There was nothing left inside except a puddle of clear water.

Even the soul was completely wiped out.

"What...what kind of sorcery is this?!"

Su Qingwu's pupils constricted, and her heart skipped a beat.

Even the most cruel corpse-dissolving water in the cultivation world will leave traces, and even the soul-extraction and spirit-refining techniques of the demonic path can make people scream twice.

But this silent "disappearance" completely shattered her understanding.

"It's not sorcery."

Purple light swirled in Zhou Ran's eyes, and two eerie flames flickered deep within his pupils.

In his view, this grayish-white mist was not mist at all.

Instead, they were countless densely packed, semi-transparent black humanoid creatures.

They hang upside down from the bare treetops, crawl in the grass, and even float above people's heads.

They have no facial features, only a bottomless chasm, greedily sucking the life force from every living person.

"When a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, it becomes a 'yin' (聻)."

Zhou Ran stood with his hands behind his back and calmly explained.

"This place has been shrouded in yin energy for thousands of years, making it a natural breeding ground for corpses."

These people weren't melted, they were eaten by leeches.

This thing has no physical form, is immune to physical attacks, feeds exclusively on living souls, and can even block the five senses of the living.

"In their eyes, you cultivators are like unpeeled eggs; if you crack them even slightly, they can suck them clean."

Before he could finish speaking...

A gust of cold wind came from the side.

"ah!"

Su Qingling let out a short scream.

A black, humanoid creature hanging upside down from a tree branch transformed into a dark shadow and swooped down.

Its faceless body was directly covered by Su Qingling's protective spiritual light. The spiritual energy shield that was strong enough to withstand bullets was as thin as a cicada's wing in front of it.

The shadow pierced through the blue light, and a cold touch was about to touch Su Qingling's forehead.

She was so frightened that her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, her mind filled with terror, forgetting to react at all.

"roll."

A cold snort.

Zhou Ran didn't even turn his head. He raised his right hand and gently rubbed his index finger and thumb together.

Snapped.

A cluster of purplish-gold flames leaped from his fingertips.

The small flame was insignificant in the hazy fog, but when Zhou Ran flicked his finger, the flame touched the body of the "Nian".

"grumble--!!!"

A piercing shriek exploded!

The formless and intangible monster was ignited, and the purplish-gold demonic fire clung to its bones, burning it into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

Several dark shadows that had been stirring around were terrified by the intense heat and scattered in all directions, chirping and screaming in terror.

"Can you get up?"

Zhou Ran lowered his eyes and looked at the little girl who was still trembling on the ground.

Su Qingling stared at him blankly.

Just now, the man's back cast a shadow as large as a mountain, and his domineering aura that looked down on everything was far more captivating than any ghostly creature in the mountain.

"Yes...yes..."

She shakily got up, her legs still trembling.

Zhou Ran withdrew his gaze and looked at the path leading to the bottom of the valley, a cold laugh escaping his lips.

It has to be said that Ye Futian's cultivation technique is truly domineering.

These things, which are invisible and intangible in the eyes of other cultivators, cannot hide from him.

As long as she doesn't encounter hope, who is possessing Feng Lili, she can handle it perfectly well.

Suddenly, Zhou Ran's ears twitched slightly, and a faint golden light flashed by in front of him.

"Stay close if you don't want to become animal feed."

There's an old acquaintance up ahead; he's about to give up.