Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Is there really no other way?

Ning Che's mind raced through a series of feasible options, but he rejected most of them one by one. Some ideas were completely detached from reality and had no chance of being implemented; others stemmed from an excessive fear of the unknown and an overestimation of the enemy's strength, which ultimately bound his own hands and feet.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife, staring at the thick fog churning in the moonlight.

This monster remained hidden in the shadows from beginning to end, relying solely on sneak attacks to wear down their mental and physical strength. This is enough to conclude that it dared not show itself directly and wanted to conceal its crucial information.

If that's the case, could the shadowy figure that appears during each attack be a weakness it's forced to reveal? If we can shatter this illusion, wouldn't we be able to break through this illusionary spell?

Ning Che already had a plan in mind, but he kept it to himself.

This demon can mimic human voices, so it can understand human speech. All the speculations can only be verified by him personally.

The opportunity will come in a flash.

The thick fog suddenly surged, and a black shadow more than two meters tall, with a swollen belly like a ball and short, thick, deformed limbs, took shape in the fog. It crashed straight toward Ning Che, and the strong wind it brought was filled with a bone-chilling cold. It was the monster that had ambushed him earlier.

Instead of dodging or blocking, Ning Che twisted his waist and lowered his shoulders, charging forward with his sword. He completely disregarded the fact that he was wide open, pouring all his strength into the blade, aiming to strike the core of the phantom in one blow.

The cold blade sliced ​​through the wind, effortlessly cleaving the dark figure in two. The mist that had been split apart dissipated with the wind, and the immense force that had struck him vanished as well.

The attack was completely neutralized.

Fu Gui watched in stunned silence, his grip on the bow and arrow loosening.

Ning Che sheathed his sword and returned to defense, pressing his back against Fu Gui again. He lowered his voice and said quickly, "The humanoid figure in the mist is just an illusion controlled by magic. As long as we break the illusion, we can neutralize the attack with a single strike. It can't hurt us."

Upon hearing this, Fu Gui's spirits lifted. He immediately drew his bowstring taut, pointed the arrow into the depths of the fog, and said in a deep voice, "Alright! You protect your flanks, and I'll keep an eye out for anything coming from the front!"

Before the words were finished, two more whooshing sounds rang out from the thick fog, and two dark figures pounced from the left and right, targeting the two unsuspecting flanks.

"Left!" Ning Che shouted, his wrist flicking, the blade flashing like lightning, precisely shattering the black shadow attacking from the left. On the other side, Fu Gui fired three arrows in quick succession, the iron-tipped arrows piercing through the phantom on the right with a strong wind, causing the black shadow to dissipate.

The monster in the thick fog seemed to be enraged after its repeated sneak attacks were easily thwarted. The surging fog suddenly became thick and icy, and the surrounding black pine trunks twisted and deformed in the fog. The marks that were originally carved were moved to different positions right in front of them.

Fu Gui's expression changed: "Oh no, this 'ghost wall' has changed again!"

"Don't panic." Ning Che pondered for a moment, quickly dissecting and reassembling the details of their previous encounters in his mind. He decided to test it again: "I know where its weakness is. This time, I will definitely be able to kill it here."

Fu Gui was stunned, almost thinking he had misheard: "Huh?"

"This monster only dared to use illusions to ambush from beginning to end, and never dared to show itself face to face." Ning Che spoke very quickly: "Even though we broke through its attacks several times in a row, it only dared to hide in the fog and play these ghostly tricks."

This shows that its direct combat ability is extremely poor; its true form might even be as fragile as a clay chicken or a broken tile, easily shattered. We just need to wait until it exhausts its magic power, then killing it will be as easy as killing a chicken!

Having said that, Ning Che's lips curled into a confident smile, and at the same time, a sword aura shot out from under his nose, instantly shattering the still-forming black shadow in front of him. The sword aura continued its momentum, leaving a deep mark on the black pine tree.

Fu Gui's heart pounded wildly; his previously slumped spirits instantly lifted again: "Then... what do we do now?"

"We'll force our way out." Ning Che sheathed his sword and stood there, his tone relaxed and indifferent, as if he were strolling leisurely, heading northeast.

Fu Gui hurriedly followed, only to find that the surrounding scenery had changed again, with huge rocks blocking the way.

Ning Che turned around. He saw that the black pine tree where he had just carved the sword mark was still in the same spot.

Sure enough!

He recalled what Fu Gui had said: "This place is mainly inhabited by demonic beasts of the water and wood elements. They have lived and cultivated here for a long time and may have some spells adapted to the local conditions." This "ghost wall" could not possibly be a mysterious spell like distorting space, so it could only be an illusion adapted to the local conditions.

Ning Che sheathed his sword and stood still, a knowing glint in his eyes.

What the demon presents to them through illusion is a mirage. To break the illusion, they naturally need to find the "reality" that the demon is hiding.

Indeed, just as he had expected, this vast black pine forest was where demons could cast spells, and it also limited their abilities.

"Star Boy, what... what's going on?" Fu Gui looked completely bewildered, utterly unable to understand what Ning Che was doing.

"It's deceiving our eyes." Now, Ning Che no longer needed to hide anything, so he spoke frankly: "The road, the stones, even the carved marks we see are all illusions created by the mist. And these black pines are the root of its illusion; it uses the black pines to gather shadows and trap us here."

He raised his sword and pointed it at the surrounding black pine forest, continuing, "I deliberately said I was going to kill it to provoke it into using its magic to change our vision. Sure enough, it revealed a flaw, and it can't change the shape of this black pine forest."

Fu Gui suddenly realized what was happening and spat out a curse: "That son of a bitch, all he knows is these underhanded tricks! What do we do now? Are we really going to waste our magic power here?"

"Outlast? No way." Ning Che's lips curled into a cold smile. "What I said earlier was only half true. It can cast spells using this black pine forest, but the two of us can't outlast it. Its weakness isn't running out of magic power, but rather two fatal flaws."

He held up two fingers and said, word by word, "First, as I just said, it didn't dare to fight us head-on, and only used phantom attacks from beginning to end. This means that its real body was either seriously injured or simply lacked the ability to fight; it's just a rat that only knows how to hide in the shadows."

"Secondly, its illusions rely on this black pine forest. Once we leave the forest, its abilities become like trees without roots. The further we go from the forest outwards, the weaker its illusions become. Once we leave the black pine forest, it will be powerless against us."

Ning Che no longer lowered his voice; instead, he deliberately raised it a few notches, sending his words clearly into the depths of the thick fog.

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding fog suddenly became violent, and countless black shadows rushed in from all directions, accompanied by shrieks, the sound of claws tearing through the air, and the cacophony of hundreds of voices.

"kill!"

Ning Che roared, and his sword energy roared like a long dragon, trailing thousands of moonlight rays, tearing open the path ahead.