Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 523 Dark Forest
"Boom"

Debris fell from the broken building and crashed to the ground. Li Xia stood on the ruins, gazing down at the dark forest below, which stretched for an unknown distance.

The dark forest stretched as far as the eye could see, blending seamlessly with the gloomy sky.

This created an extremely vast and deep black sky.

"Wait, this entire forest was created by the Church of Nature? That's incredible!"

Aowu was astonished as he looked at the vast forest. This expansive forest was almost the size of a primeval forest and stretched for an unknown distance.

Is it possible for a forest of this size to be created by human hands?
"Isn't it spectacular!"

Iris stood beside Li Xia, also gazing at the forest with her arms outstretched.

"This forest has grown so much bigger in just one year!"

The priest helped Fafnir up to the ruins, which had once been a fortress of the Burning Heart Church, serving as both a defensive line and an offensive stronghold.

However, it was completely destroyed in the defeat a year ago, leaving only these ruins.

Because this place is near a polluted area, the decay accelerates the rotting process, making it look as if it has been abandoned for decades.

"This is the Dark Thorn, a non-native plant developed by the Church of Nature, possessing extremely strong vitality and reproductive ability."

There weren't this many originally, and I didn't expect them to grow so fast.

After gazing into the distance for a while, Iris suggested:
"We're pressed for time, so let's explain this forest to you in more detail on the way."

The safe campsite set up by the Church of Nature is quite a distance from here; we must get there quickly.

Li Xia nodded: "Then let's go!"

"and many more!"

Aowu looked around for a while, found a piece of scrap metal in the ruins, and threw it directly to Black Charcoal.

The kitten placed its paws on the metal, and in an instant, lightning flashed, turning the entire piece of metal red-hot, melting and reshaping it into a small chair.

With a "sizzle," Aowu casually summoned a stream of water and poured it onto the chair. Accompanied by a large amount of steam, the metal chair suddenly appeared.

"This—this is—"

The three members of the Burning Heart Church stared in astonishment at the three little ones following behind Li Xia, having never seen such an ability before.
"High-temperature shaping? There are similar divine arts that scorch the heart, but—"

Victor was shocked and confused, desperately trying to recall the divine magic in his memory. He had thought that the three little animals had only followed Li Xia, this bewildered person, out of a sense of safety.

He had also advised Li Xia to leave them at the camp.

Iris curiously tapped the back of the chair with her knuckles, feeling the dull echo, and looked at the charcoal-colored chair in surprise:

"Can you even remove the impurities?"

She was Sander's assistant and had a good understanding of metalworking and manufacturing; she could guess the general idea just by listening to the echo.

"Meow!"

Black Charcoal nodded. There was no other way but practice makes perfect. The more Lei Yejin used this technique, the more naturally he became a blacksmith.

"Uncle Sanders would be ecstatic to have a helper like you."

"Iris said sincerely," she said, patting the chair with a hint of doubt.

"But what's the point of making this chair?"

"Old man, please have a seat."

Awoo said the warmest words in the most annoying tone:
"You're getting old, and your hands and feet won't be able to keep up."

The three were taken aback, not expecting that the chair was prepared for Fafnir, whose strength was not strong, not even at the lower end of the third tier.

However, as a recorder, he is blessed with extremely high resistance to abnormal statuses and resistance to mental and soul magic.

This is also the main reason why he was so weak but not corrupted; the price was that Fafnir was unable to improve his strength.

In the words of the apostles, this means that while their mental and intellectual attributes are maxed out, their strength, dexterity, and physique are locked down.

“I can just carry Fafner on my back, no need to add a chair.”

Victor tried to explain his ideas. Although he only had one hand, he was not the weak priest in the story. When necessary, the priests of the Burning Heart Church could also wield a one-handed hammer.

After all, he was once one of the five most bewildered people in the past!

The key issue is that carrying a chair around is indeed quite inconvenient.

The little dragon glanced at him, waved its paw, and the chair floated lightly down in front of Fafner.

"Gravity magic?"

Victor nearly popped his eyes out. Gravity magic was once the signature magic of the Earth Cult, but now it's called Mother Earth.

Where did this dragonborn come from? Could it be from the Earth Cult? I've heard they had a sacred beast called something like the 'Lone Dragon'.

Victor buried his doubts in his heart and followed the group, leaping into the air.

The squad glided through the air like eagles for a short distance before landing in front of the dark, dense forest.

"Why don't we just fly over the dense forest?"

"It can't fly. There's a no-fly zone above. If it flies above a certain altitude or speed, an alarm will be triggered."

Then we'll face an attack from the Church of the Night.

Li Xia had naturally considered this point, but the answer she received was not optimistic.

The higher the level of flight ability, the more common it becomes, and the more targeted spells and methods there are. Ultimately, flight becomes a right rather than a convenience.

If you can afford the cost of flying, then direct flight is an option, but unfortunately, that's not possible right now.

The moment we entered the dense thicket of thorns, the entire sky seemed to suddenly turn black.

The further in you go, the more obvious the darkness becomes. The light that you could vaguely see when you were on the outskirts has been reduced to dim shadows.

The trees here are unlike any trees Li Xia has ever seen before. They have a strange shape, growing crookedly into bizarre forms, like ferocious tree monsters baring their fangs and claws.

Not only that, but the branches and leaves on the trunk are also exceptionally thick and wide. However, upon closer inspection, the edges of these dark gray leaves are covered with fine serrations, like a giant open mouth revealing a mouthful of serrations.

Besides that, there are sharp thorns covering the entire tree trunk, which give people a chilling feeling.

"This plant was specially developed by the Church of Nature to resist corruption and distortion, but dark plants actually have stronger resistance."

Iris's leather boots left a deep footprint on the clearing in the forest.

The clearing in the woods was already covered with brownish-red fallen leaves that smelled slightly rotten, and stepping on them gave you a strange feeling of sinking in.

"Furthermore, these plants are carnivorous and predatory, showing great interest in animals or plants associated with darkness, but less interest in those with insufficient abundance."

Li Xia nodded in sudden realization; no wonder the defensive circle formed by these plants could block Simmons.

The Naturalist Church used this plant to enclose the entire area, creating a terrifying circular forest belt stretching over a hundred kilometers. For the Church of the Night, this was like rats facing a passageway covered with tens of thousands of traps—even if the rats were strong and unafraid of the traps.

But seeing so many mousetraps makes me feel disgusted and annoyed.

With that explanation, the entire forest fell silent once more. No living creatures could be seen in the forest, giving it a deathly atmosphere.

Li Xia let out a soft breath. Ever since entering the dense forest, the indescribable faint stench and rotten smell in the air had become increasingly strong.

Moreover, after walking for a while inside the palace, a notification for the Hall of Light suddenly popped up in their field of vision.

You have been corrupted/distorted/driven mad/chaotic by the power of the Old Gods.

[Calculating relevant resistance]

[Initiating the level of corruption by the power of the ancient gods, labeled with numerical levels.]

Current erosion level: 1

[Executioner, you have resisted the corruption. Current maximum level of corruption you can resist: 16]

"We're here! From this moment on, we need to be on our toes!"

Victor touched his severed arm and suddenly whispered:

"If you notice anything unusual, such as the world in front of you starting to distort or become brightly colored, be careful and tell others."

Everyone else nodded silently, but Li Xia stood there and suddenly asked:

"Victor, will this corruption keep intensifying? Isn't the strongest corruption in Emmondes? How much stronger is the corruption there than here?"

"Correct!"

Although Li Xia asked a basic question of common sense, Victor answered without hesitation and explained in great detail:
"The closer we got to Edmunds, the stronger this corrupting and twisting force became; our expeditionary force once came as far as Edmunds."

The corruption there is several times greater than here, and it takes a lot of ritualistic magic to constantly bless the warriors in order to barely resist it.

That's what I'll be talking about later.

Victor surveyed the dense forest and said solemnly:

"We'll probably need to gather more materials in this dense forest to make enough thorn potion, otherwise the corruption alone will stop us from advancing."

Several times more? That means there's no impact.
Li Xia wanted to say something more, but his eyes suddenly sharpened, and he abruptly raised his head to look at the distance.

The charcoal beside him had transformed into a blinding bolt of lightning and shot out in an instant.

"Meow!"

A streak of blue lightning, accompanied by a mournful howl, echoed through the dense forest. In just a few seconds, the kitten returned to Li Xia's side.

It raised its little paw, which was holding a piece of charred bark that looked like a human face, but was quite ugly.

"The growth rings of a human face —"

Victor gave the charcoal-colored bark a deep look, then took the bark and said:

"This is also the raw material we need to find later. Although this thorn is a dark plant, it has a high resistance to decay."

However, this is not absolute; some trees still become rotten, and these rotten trees can produce a human face like this.

It becomes extremely bloodthirsty and ferocious, indiscriminately attacking any creature nearby.

However, once the human face is peeled from the tree trunk, it becomes an excellent material, used to create a thorn potion that can resist decay for a certain period of time.

He handed the piece of bark back, shook his head, and said:
"But this face is no longer usable; we need a fresh one."

How many of these trees are there?

"Awoo asked curiously."

"There were very few before, but recently there have been more and more, which indicates that the darkness is growing stronger."

Victor sighed, tightened his grip on the baggage with his remaining left hand, and said in a low voice:

"Let's keep going. We'll run into Iris along the way!"

"Leave it to me—"

Iris, who had been waiting nearby, couldn't wait to step forward, kneel on one knee among the leaves, make a praying gesture, and murmur something in a low voice.

"Iris studied with the Church of Nature for half a year. Those old men who only knew how to farm taught her a lot. Without Iris, it would have been very difficult for us to cross the thorny forest."

At the very least, there's a high chance they'll get lost.

Li Xia and the three little ones raised their heads and looked around; it was indeed the case.

Everything around was exactly the same: thorn trees everywhere, nothing to use for navigation, and the decay and distortion confused the senses.

Iris slammed her hand on the ground, and immediately a green glow emerged from the ground, floating quietly in front of them like a lamp.

"The guiding light has appeared, let's go!"

"Crackling"

The firewood crackled softly as it burned in the campfire, a rare clearing in the dense thicket of thorns.

The surrounding thorn trees seemed to be deliberately avoiding this place. Some tattered felt tents had been set up, and a fallen thorn tree had been trimmed and placed next to it as a bench.

A stove hung above the campfire, where crystal-clear water bubbled and boiled.

Victor, Iris, and Fafner scanned the water and the barbecue grill next to it with expectant eyes.

None of them expected that the dragonborn could so easily create clean, uncontaminated water!
What I didn't expect was that the black cat actually had spatial abilities, storing a large amount of food!
Uncontaminated food!

These two discoveries even greatly boosted the morale of the four-man expeditionary force.

It was only then that the members of the Burning Heart Church realized that perhaps the three strange animals following Li Xia were the truly indispensable members of the team!

A dragonborn who can easily condense pure water and use gravity magic, a cat who can manipulate lightning with exceptional agility, master metal forging, and use spatial magic to grill food.

The three of them couldn't help but look at Xiaotian, who was starving like a hungry ghost, desperately biting into a specially made large bone.

What about this little dog that hasn't shown its abilities yet?

It's said that the last one is the most powerful, so what special skills does it have?
Thinking of this, the three members of the Burning Heart Church couldn't help but feel a little excited.

We can't just eat all the time, can we?
While engrossed in gnawing on a large bone, Xiaotian suddenly felt three pairs of eyes on him. He looked up at the Zhuoxin trio, who were looking at him expectantly.

I couldn't help but tilt my head:

"Wang?"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)