Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

This time, the eerie feeling disappeared, the ground beneath their feet was receding rapidly, and the mountain peaks ahead were getting closer and closer.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the group finally reached the foot of Xuexiao Mountain.

At the foot of the mountain is a sparse pine forest, through which a winding path leads to the mountainside. The path is covered with fallen leaves and pebbles, and it looks like no one has walked on it for a long time.

Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the way he came. The dark space fragments had disappeared, leaving only a lush forest behind him.

He took out a signal flare and fired it into the sky. The red flare shot into the sky and exploded high in the air.

A cup of tea's time passed, an incense stick's time passed, half an hour passed.

No response.

"Didn't Brother Han and the others see the signal?" Wu Yu asked anxiously.

Li Yuan's expression changed. He thought of a possibility: "They should also be at the foot of the mountain, but they may be in a different spatial layer than us."

"The spatial disorder in this secret realm is more severe than we imagined; even if we stand in the same spot, we may not be able to see each other."

"What? What do we do then?"

The team members' expressions changed drastically. They had never encountered such a bizarre event before and had no idea how to deal with it.

Li Yuan was silent for a moment, then looked up at the mountaintop: "We can't wait any longer. Let's go up the mountain first. The longer Leng Ningshuang is missing, the greater the danger will be."

"Moreover, Brother Han and the others have Ji Fanghua with them. Ji Fanghua has spatial talent, so she should be able to find the right path."

Lei Lie nodded: "That's the only way."

"Let's go, let's go up the mountain first."

The group began their ascent up the mountainside along the path.

The initial part of the journey was relatively peaceful, but as the altitude increased, the surrounding scenery began to become eerie.

The trees along the roadside became increasingly bizarre in shape, their trunks twisted into unnatural arcs, and some even grew dense tentacles that slowly wriggled in the air, sending chills down one's spine.

Suddenly, Li Yuan smelled a sweet fragrance and noticed a clump of bushes with purple flowers in front of him, and he immediately became alert.

"Be careful, those flowers are poisonous," Lei Lie warned.

The group walked around the purple flower bushes, and before they had gone far, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes ahead.

The next moment, a wild boar the size of an ox, covered in black scales, bared its long tusks and charged out.

Its eyes were bloodshot, saliva dripped from its mouth, and it let out a low roar as it charged toward Lei Lie, who was at the front.

"You beast, you're asking for death!"

Lei Lie dodged to the side, his short axe tracing an arc as it slashed fiercely at the mutated wild boar's neck.

"clang--!"

With a crisp, metallic clang, Lei Lie's short axe was deflected by its black scales, leaving only a shallow white mark.

"Awooo!"

The wild boar, in pain, let out an angry roar, violently swung its head, and its four tusks swept towards Lei Lie.

Lei Lie shifted his feet, narrowly avoiding the fangs' attack, but his clothes were torn in the process.

His expression changed: "This thing's scales are too thick; ordinary weapons can't hurt it at all."

Li Yuan gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist and took a step forward.

The blade flashed like snow.

His sword strike was so fast that most people only saw a flash of silver light, within which starlight seemed to flow.

The blade struck the wild boar's neck, but instead of making the expected clanging sound, it sliced ​​through it as easily as cutting tofu.

The wild boar froze abruptly. The next moment, its head slid off with a thud, blood gushing out, and its massive body crashed to the ground.

Li Yuan deftly sheathed his sword and said calmly, "Let's go."

Everyone swallowed hard. Lei Lie felt a chill run down his spine as he felt a cold sensation on his neck. In just one year, this guy's cultivation had probably already far surpassed his own.

The higher they went, the more monsters they encountered. Not only were there mutated wild beasts, but some strange plants also began to attack them.

For example, there are carnivorous plants that spray corrosive sap, vampire vines that can entangle their prey with vines, and giant mushrooms that release hallucinogenic spores...

These creatures weren't particularly strong, but they were incredibly difficult to defend against. The group fought and retreated, and several people were injured in the process.

"Waaaaah..."

A dark gray shadow suddenly emerged from the forest, whistling as it rushed toward Wu Yu.

"Holy crap! What is that?!"

Wu Yu dodged aside, only to see the figure's face contorted, its entire body radiating a thick aura of ferocity, staring with bewildered eyes, before lunging at him once more.

"Be careful! This is a vengeful spirit. It was probably a cultivator in life. Although it has lost its mind, it still retains its fighting instincts."

Lei Lie and his group had encountered this before when they came in last time, and hurriedly warned them. Before they finished speaking, several more vengeful spirits pounced out of the forest, letting out shrill screams, their eyes full of venom, and their long claws as sharp as knives.

"Everyone, be careful!" Lei Lie stepped forward and stopped a vengeful spirit, shouting to the crowd, "The cries of these vengeful spirits have a mental attack function. Don't let them affect your mind."

Li Yuan swung his sword and shattered a vengeful spirit that pounced on him, but then he heard a mournful shriek from the forest. Looking up, he saw a large group of vengeful spirits rushing towards him.

"No way? How come there are so many?"

Even Lei Lie was dumbfounded. When he came in last time, he only encountered a few here and there, but now the forest was densely packed with them, at least thirty or forty.

What's most troubling is that there seems to be a response from afar, indicating that even more vengeful spirits have been alerted and are rushing towards this side.

Li Yuan looked up at the mountaintop and saw a thick, gray-black fog shrouded it, with faint flashes of lightning within the fog, emanating a chilling aura.

"The natural energy here is in chaos, and the number of vengeful spirits will only increase." Li Yuan frowned and said to Lei Lie, "If this continues, we may be entangled by these vengeful spirits. I'll go up and scout ahead first. You follow behind. If you encounter any situations that we can't handle, send a signal."

Lei Lie knew the situation was not optimistic, so he nodded: "Okay, be careful."

Li Yuan gathered his energy, his body suddenly accelerated, and he weaved through the horde of vengeful spirits, speeding towards the mountaintop.

The vengeful spirits along the way were startled by him and rushed forward with roars, but they were far slower than Li Yuan and could only chase after him in vain, getting further and further away from him.

A moment later, Li Yuan finally broke through the gray-black fog and stepped onto the summit of Xuexiao Mountain.

At the summit, there is a relatively flat, open area covered with a layer of grayish-white volcanic ash that feels soft underfoot. The air is filled with a strong smell of sulfur that makes one want to vomit.

In the center of the mountaintop, there is a huge, dark opening that leads deep into the earth, from which countless black resentful energies emerge.

It's obvious that this is the place with the most hostility.

Li Yuan gripped the knife hilt tightly, watching the cave entrance warily. It seemed that this was the mine where the accident had occurred, and Leng Ningshuang was likely down there.

Around the cave entrance, dozens of gray figures lingered, dressed in tattered burlap clothes, some holding rusty pickaxes, their eyes vacant, wandering aimlessly.