Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

This gathering place, named Panshi, is cleverly hidden deep in a miasma-filled valley.

On both sides are steep, towering mountain walls, and thick, almost solid, gray-green miasma hangs about 100 meters in the air, completely obscuring the entire valley floor.

Aside from the fact that the lighting is usually not very good and there is occasional acid rain, it is indeed a good place to hide.

From the perspective of the powerful beings in the forbidden zone, this place is nothing but a giant cesspool, not only dangerous in its environment but also infested with disgusting dung monsters. Naturally, the people of the forbidden zone wouldn't approach it unless absolutely necessary. The lost land is too vast, with too many resources, so much so that they disregard this rotten ground.

Therefore, after secretly killing the Vaal Hazak, this place also became a living space for human tribes.

Li Yelai and Xiao Kuangwang followed behind Chu He, walking on the not-so-wide but well-planned roads of the settlement.

He saw terraced fields carved out of the mountainside, constructed using special mosses and corrosion-resistant plants.

I saw a simple yet fully functional workshop built from the mined ore, and the sounds of hammering and clanging could be heard from inside.

Even in a relatively dry area, some farmed animals that Li Yelai had never seen before were kept in sturdy rock cages.

At the same time, the entire settlement was surprisingly young; there were no elderly people in sight, and the oldest seemed to be under forty.

The reasons were cruel: medicine and food were always scarce, and in order not to hinder the migration and hiding of the entire tribe, many elderly and frail people, as well as warriors with serious injuries, would choose to silently walk into the depths of the miasma or form suicide squads to carry out missions with no return, exchanging their own demise for the possibility of the continuation of the young generation.

The situation only changed after Chuhe was able to reliably obtain a large amount of resources from the Ark.

"It's really not easy. If it were me, I probably wouldn't even reach the third awakening before I was killed," Li Yelai sighed.

Even the most talented person needs a relatively stable environment and time to grow.

Even a champion, if caught off guard by a hunting party when weak, will only perish.

Throwing the newly awakened Li Yelai directly into this lost land will most likely prevent him from rising to prominence.

Or rather, whether most of the geniuses recognized by the outside world can survive and thrive here depends almost entirely on the elusive element of luck.

Or perhaps, the Book of Destiny is exerting its power?
"Don't underestimate yourself, brother." Chu He suddenly paused, "Okay, with your curse, you really can't survive. Your luck is just too bad."

The powerful humans who had come to greet them all stared wide-eyed, thinking, 'Boss, you really don't know how to talk!'

'How can you say that?'

'These are our only two allies, boss, what are you doing?'

Li Yelai, however, didn't seem to care and even nodded in agreement.

This is a fact and has nothing to do with talent; it really depends on luck. And Li Yelai's luck is such that even if he had a hundred lives, he'd be in grave danger in this lost land.

Of course, they didn't know that Li Yelai's curse was misfortune, otherwise they would have agreed with Chu He's statement.

The group soon arrived at a simple yet sturdy stone chamber within the settlement.

There was no welcome banquet, nor any entertainment.

Everyone quickly got down to business, discussing the evacuation plan, which was crucial to the survival of their tribe, around the map and intelligence spread out on the simple stone table.

"The casting general is currently working hard to build the core components of the warship at the 'Tide' gathering site. All special ore transportation routes are open, and it is expected that the entire assembly can be completed in seven days."

“The 1,200 people in the ‘Fengzhu’ settlement are ready to relocate at any time, and their supplies have been initially packed.”

"The main force of the Dead Sleep Civilization is unusually gathering on the eastern coastline, leaving huge gaps in several of their traditional defense zones in the west and north. Our reconnaissance teams have preliminarily identified several relatively safe migration routes."

"Your Excellency the Champion has just cleared out... five hunting teams?" The intelligence officer's voice involuntarily rose, and he coughed before continuing, "Ahem... yes, five. The hunting forces in this area have now been eliminated, and based on their rotation patterns, it is expected that no new hunting teams will enter the area within the next three months."

"However, our planned departure point is very likely to coincide with the patrol route of the Twelfth Legion of the Dead Sleep Civilization. Its commander is a veteran overlord with at least three thousand regular soldiers under his command. Here, regular soldiers refer to all of them as psionicists."

"Based on the nautical charts we currently have, even if we break through this legion, we will still need to travel thousands of kilometers to bypass other defenses, and during this process we are very likely to encounter the border legion of the Ocean Forbidden Zone - Burial God Abyss."

“Naval warfare is extremely disadvantageous for us. Even if we possess mimicry of celestial soldiers and the Meridian Array, we must do everything in our power to avoid direct combat.”

"If all goes well... we might be able to see the coastline of the Asian continent in a month."

The intelligence was clearly gathered and shared, eventually weaving together in everyone's minds into an extremely difficult escape route that carried the hope of survival for three thousand people.

Since Li Yelai traded the original intelligent AI, now the awakened machine soul 'Forging General', to Chu He through the Ark, the plan to build ocean-going warships and lead the entire clan to escape the lost land was officially launched.

Now, for some reason, the Underground Palace of the Dead has deployed a large number of troops on the eastern front, which is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity.

The arrival of Li Yelai and the Little Mad King, especially Li Yelai's swift and silent annihilation of five hunting teams, injected a powerful boost of confidence into everyone in the know. This was a victory humanity had never achieved before in the Lost Lands!

"Especially, the Heaven-Deceiving Array you brought, brother, is just in time. This way, we can kill the overlord without being detected by the forbidden zone. With our strength, we can easily assassinate our way through," Chu He said with a smile.

He is very strong, and he is also the chosen one of the Azure Flame Gods. He has a powerful special attack against non-human species, but he has never unleashed his full power after becoming a hegemon.

The reason is that killing a dominant force in a restricted area would easily be noticed by other powerful individuals in the restricted area.

Ancient dragons and other divine beings live in remote areas and are constantly fighting and conquering. The death of one or two forbidden zones would not be noticed. However, if the overlord of a forbidden zone were to die, it would cause a great deal of trouble.

The Heaven-Deceiving Array, on the other hand, gives humans the ability to hunt down the overlords of the forbidden zones without being detected by them!
Of course, this will only be for a short time. After all, they will find out sooner or later that the overlord is dead.

But humanity should have set off long ago.

"This is actually thanks to the Immortal Lord." Li Yelai nodded and then took out the mechanical Rubik's Cube.

The next moment, a beautiful and graceful female immortal in white robes appeared. She smiled charmingly and bowed gracefully to everyone in the room.

In an instant, everyone was in a flurry of activity, some clasping their hands in greeting, others bowing in response.

Li Yelai let out a sigh of despair almost simultaneously. This Immortal Lord was always unreliable at crucial moments. Chu He, who was about to clasp his hands in greeting, paused, a hint of surprise flashing across his face, but he still composed himself and completed the greeting, saying, "Greetings, Immortal Lord... Forgive my intrusion, but I always thought that Immortal Lord Chang Le was a male immortal..."

"He is indeed a male immortal. He's just being mischievous, don't mind him." Li Yelai sighed to Immortal Lord Chang Le, "Stop fooling around, Immortal Lord, have some integrity. Even if you can't salvage something, please."

He was genuinely afraid that this ancestor would use this female immortal form to go out and swindle people.

From a certain perspective, Chang Le Xian Jun and the Wei Dao faction do have similarities; they both pursue a certain kind of pleasure and drama.

Of course, the Deceptive School went to extremes, with its processes and outcomes filled with malice, pursuing 'change' and 'deception' itself.

Chang Le Xianjun, on the other hand, is relatively gentle. He seeks and creates 'fun' and 'joy', occasionally adding a touch of dark humor, but in general, he always stands on the side of humanity.

Although the person being pranked is unlikely to laugh.

For example, if he encounters someone who is about to starve to death, he might offer them curry that smells like feces to save them, while simultaneously breaking their defenses.

"How boring. I was thinking of making them yearn for me before changing my form." Immortal Lord Chang Le clicked his tongue, expressing his dissatisfaction with Li Yelai's sabotage.

As the light and shadow shifted, he reverted to his original carefree and unrestrained immortal form, his expression becoming more serious: "The Heaven-Deceiving Array requires sufficient time to set up; the larger the area, the longer it takes. Its function is limited to concealing battle fluctuations and celestial phenomena caused by the fall of powerful figures; it does not possess the physical effect of restricting the target's movement like the 'Cage of Heaven and Earth.' You must fully consider this when formulating your tactics."

"I understand." Chu He nodded solemnly: "If necessary, let Lao Li use the Heaven and Earth Cage, and we will design a Heaven-Deceiving Array outside the cage."

Li Yelai then asked, "Have you been to the east coast of the Lost Lands? Do you know what kind of being they are fighting against?"

This is actually the most important thing. If it were just a simple standoff, given the strength of the restricted area, it probably wouldn't need to mobilize a million-strong army.

It's important to understand that the Dead Sleep Palace, nestled in the lost territory, is guarded by at least two, and possibly even three, Forbidden Zone Kings. Its strength and resources are so immense that even Li Yelai finds it hard to imagine the terrifying spectacle it would present if it were to fully awaken.

What kind of terrifying enemy is this powerful restricted area force facing that requires them to adopt such a high-risk formation?

"I did sneak over to take a look, but it was too far away, and there was a supreme being there, so I didn't dare to get close. I only used the forbidden object to observe from a distance. I didn't see any enemies. The legion of the forbidden zone went directly into the ocean to fight." Chu He replied after thinking for a moment, "But I suspect it is the calamity of the sixth mural."

"The sixth painting?" Li Yelai was taken aback: "Damn it, am I facing another calamity?"

If it's true, Li Yelai is practically a professional at bringing misfortune.

Fog of Disaster #71, Celestial Palace Battlefield; Fog of Disaster #49, Styx River.
There were only seven calamity warnings in total, and he had personally experienced four of them, although he had entered two of them intentionally.

But if he encounters a fifth one, Li Yelai's reputation as a jinx will truly be impossible to shake off.

"Awesome! Even the plague god would have to call you 'brother'!" Immortal Lord Chang Le laughed.

Li Yelai remembered the scene in the sixth painting: a raging ocean with eerie and dense black shadows appearing, as if about to land on land.

According to information subsequently released by the book's owner, the sixth mural appeared within six months on a moonless night.
They are said to be an ancient and mysterious race, indescribable, unseen, and unheard.

It possesses a powerful ability to corrupt, its power even rivaling that of Chaos Corruption.

Fighting them, or even just seeing them, could lead to infection with their memes, eventually turning you into something just like them.

Furthermore, since they are not in the form of calamity fog, but appear directly in the physical world, this means they may appear in various sea areas.

Extremely dangerous!

Both the port cities of Lava Mine City and Border City No. 1 have taken precautions, just in case these ghostly things suddenly appear on a cloudy day.

Unexpectedly, this calamity occurred in the lost territory, between several forbidden zones.

"Are you sure?" Li Yelai asked.

"I'm not sure, but I saw some soldiers from the restricted area who had been transformed into strange things and then executed by the restricted area. Combined with their appearance from the seabed, that makes it seem very likely," Chu He said. "The nearby marine restricted area doesn't have this kind of capability!"

"When is the next gathering?" Li Yelai asked. If the calamity foretold in the sixth image truly was, then the person holding the book would inevitably reveal something vaguely at the gathering.

"Tomorrow!" Chu He smiled. This was the first Ark gathering since the Heavenly Evolution Walker revealed his existence.

The news that 'Variable' Li Yelai has killed a large number of overlords and killed a supreme being will spread to all parts of the world through the Ark.

I suspect many Ark voters are waiting to see the book holders' reaction.
Break through my defenses, you who hold the book!
The Celestial Walker poured in so much power, only to be killed in the end! Hahahaha!
Li Yelai and Chu He, just thinking about it makes me excited!

"Hehe. If it's true, that would be great." Li Yelai laughed, "Previous calamities almost all had a huge impact on humanity, causing terrible casualties. Now, it's finally happening near the forbidden zone, and it's quite far away from humans!"

So be it, a jinx if it appears, since it's appearing in a lost land anyway. No matter how you look at it, the restricted area will suffer the most.

“That’s right!” Chu He thought for a moment and replied, “But the Ocean Forbidden Zone is probably also within the scope of influence. They might join forces to fight against the calamity. Although the possibility is slim, they might bring the calamity to other continents.”

"The probability is low; that would be too much of a loss for them," Li Yelai replied. "Let's discuss everything after tomorrow's meeting."

“Alright.” Chu He nodded. “Old Li, you’ve fought several battles and traveled a long way today. You must be tired. Go and get some rest. Immortal Lord, could you please stay a while? I would like to ask you for more details about the ‘Deceiving Heaven Formation’.”

“Of course it’s possible,” Immortal Lord Chang Le readily agreed.

Soon, someone led the way for Li Yelai, while the Little Mad King, who had remained silent and curiously looked around, subconsciously reached out and gently grabbed Li Yelai's arm, and followed him away.

Watching them leave, Chu He asked in confusion, "Was that the Little Mad King, the strongest assassin Old Li told me about? What's their relationship now?"

"Hehe." Immortal Lord Chang Le let out a meaningful laugh: "An abnormal relationship between a man and a woman."

"Wow!" Chu He couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this: "What an abnormal relationship between a man and a woman!"

(My biological clock has been really messed up lately, so updates have been irregular. Sorry, I'm going to sleep now.) (End of Chapter)