Cultivating immortality relies on spatial abilities; defying fate to become the protagonist.

Chapter 223

With a flying spirit beast, the speed was incredibly fast. In less than three days, they traversed a whole realm, and they did so invisibly, without alerting anyone along the way.

Upon landing on the outskirts of the Sunset Mountains, the group immediately felt a sense of oppression wash over them.

The outer areas were alright, but the further in you went, the more different it became. The trees on the mountain were eerily black, and sinister roars could be heard from time to time.

The group proceeded cautiously, and upon entering the mountains, they discovered that the dark power here was even more intense than in the Valley of Dreams.

Just as Gu Shihan and the others were wondering how to deal with the dense dark power, a spirit pigeon suddenly flew in from the sky.

The dove landed on Gu Shihan's shoulder, with a letter tied to its leg. Gu Shihan took off the letter and saw that it was left by the white-robed man who had helped her before.

The letter said that there is a dark river source in the Sunset Mountains that has been polluted by darkness, and that finding and purifying it would weaken the power of darkness.

The group followed the instructions in the letter to find the source of the dark river, but the path ahead was too difficult, and they had to deal with attacks from dark monsters from time to time.

That day, the group of nine people were exhausted and found a valley to rest. Just as they were getting ready, a group of people with dark complexions and empty eyes suddenly appeared. Strangely, their eyes were as black as ink, and the whites of their eyes were showing signs of being completely stained black.

Upon seeing Gu Shihan and her group, they seemed to have discovered some delicious food and charged towards them.

"Shi Han, are they being controlled by the darkness?" Wen Xin asked in alarm.

“Yes! These people are no longer human. According to Xingbai, their consciousness has been corrupted by darkness. You must be careful to protect yourselves and never give the dark energy a chance to take advantage,” Gu Shihan said solemnly.

“Understood! Since they are no longer considered human, I will not hold back and will kill them all to prevent them from harming others!” Situ Tinglang said immediately.

Gu Shihan stopped Situ Tinglang, "Wait a minute. Although their consciousness has been corrupted by darkness, have you forgotten the Holy Spirit Water we have? The Holy Spirit Water can control and dispel darkness. Perhaps it will be useful for these people's consciousness. Let's give it a try. If it doesn't work, then..."

Mo Yu sized up the people rushing towards them and said, "Junior Sister is right. They didn't want to end up like this. If we can help them, let's try! We might encounter many more people like this in the future. Are we going to kill them all?"

"Senior brother is right, we'll control them now, sister, just go ahead and do it!" Shi Qinghan drew his sword, Yuanguang, and with a light swipe in front of him, the battle began.

Gu Shihan retreated to the back, circulated her spiritual power, held the jade ruyi in her right hand, and a drop of holy spring water appeared in her left palm. The light from the jade ruyi fell on the drop of holy water, and the Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers technique turned it into mist, pushing it towards the people opposite, trying to purify these cultivators with the power of the holy spring water.

The holy spring water, accompanied by the white light emitted by the jade ruyi, slowly seeped into the bodies of the cultivators.

When the cultivators corrupted by darkness came into contact with the holy spring water, their bodies began to tremble slightly, and their darkened faces seemed to show some expression.

Everyone watched nervously. "Shi Han! It worked! Continue!" someone shouted.

Gu Shihan used the same method to release the second drop, the third drop, and so on until the ninth drop. The emptiness in the eyes of some cultivators gradually faded, and they regained some clarity. Their attacks became hesitant.

"We did it!" Wen Xin shouted happily.

Gu Shihan was overjoyed and gritted her teeth, increasing the amount of holy spring water she used.

Just then, several huge black hands suddenly emerged from the ground and reached out to grab those people.

"Oh no, it's a counterattack from the dark forces!" Hoshino warned.

While everyone dodged the black hand, five people were separated to deal with the suddenly appearing black hand. Duan Siqi used her freezing magic to trap the black hand, buying time for Gu Shihan.

Gu Shihan dared not waste any time, and three more drops of holy spring water were dispensed, finally purifying and reviving the cultivators. "What happened to us? And who are you?" a male cultivator asked, rubbing his throbbing head in surprise.

Shi Qinghan looked at them and asked, "Do you remember what happened before?"

"What impression do you have? We... I think I had a dream, a terrible dream. In the dream, all I wanted to do was kill! I liked the smell of blood."

Gu Shihan looked at everyone and said, "You are not dreaming. Those murders and such were things you actually did. Your consciousness has been corrupted by darkness. If possible, you should take the Cleansing Pill to help clear all the dark energy from your consciousness."

Because we don't know if that darkness will leave any lasting effects on you in the future.

"Is this a dream?! This is terrifying!" A female cultivator quickly took out a Mind-Clearing Pill and swallowed it.

The others also swallowed the pills, none of them daring to gamble on that possibility.

"Now that you're all alright, you should leave! Don't come to Sunset Mountain Range for training anytime soon, it's too dangerous!" Duan Siqi reminded them.

“Aren’t you afraid? There’s a lake a hundred miles to the right and the black mist is coming from there. We… I remember being there… After that, I don’t seem to remember what happened!” the female cultivator in blue said thoughtfully.

"A thousand miles to the right front? Good! We understand. Let's leave immediately!"

After watching the group of cultivators leave, Gu Shihan and his companions rested briefly before continuing their search for the source of the underground river by following the clues deeper into the mountains.

After traveling about a hundred miles, they suddenly encountered another group of celestial beasts corrupted by darkness.

The celestial beast was surrounded by wisps of black energy, and its eyes were completely black, clearly indicating that it had been thoroughly corrupted.

Faced with this group of corrupted immortal beasts, everyone was on high alert.

Gu Shihan thought to herself that if she could purify them, she could greatly reduce the dark power in the Sunset Mountains.

She signaled to her companions to defend first, while she tried to use the holy spring water as she had done to purify the monks before.

Gu Shihan atomized the holy spring water and pushed it towards the group of immortal beasts.

However, the mythical beasts only paused briefly before charging forward even more frantically.

Everyone rushed to defend themselves, with Mo Yu and Situ Tinglang at the forefront, holding back the main force of the celestial beasts.

After observing for a moment, Xingbai shouted, "These celestial beasts have been corrupted for too long, and the holy spring water is not potent enough. We need to increase the dosage!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Shihan gritted his teeth and unleashed a large amount of holy spring water at once.

This time, the holy spring water transformed into a curtain of light, slowly enveloping the celestial beasts. The beasts howled and struggled in agony, and the black aura on their bodies gradually dissipated.

After some effort, the madness in the eyes of the mythical beasts subsided, and they regained their senses.

They chirped softly at Gu Shihan and the others, as if to express their gratitude, before turning and running back into the depths of the forest.

(End of this chapter)