fynovel Chapter 114 The Appearance of the Evil Race
Chapter 114 The Appearance of the Evil Race
Ten breaths. Fourteen rotten bone wolves, none escaped.
As the final wolf howl faded, the ground was already soaked in blood. The dark red wolf blood seeped into the gray-green soil, turning it an eerie purplish-black. The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood, burnt fur, and the faint medicinal fragrance left by the exploding Demon-Slaying Pill—a mixture of scents so intense it was almost overwhelming.
Su Muyue squatted down next to the nearest wolf carcass and used a knife to cut open its chest cavity.
She parted the muscles and ribs, revealing the internal organs. The heart and lungs were the wrong color—not the dark red of a normal ferocious beast, but a blackish-purple, covered with fine, hair-like black lines, like plant roots, deeply embedded in the flesh. These lines were deeper, denser, and more firmly embedded than those on the outer part of the wild boar's body, as if they had been there for a long time.
"Remnants of the Soul-Controlling Gu." Her fingers didn't touch the patterns, but just looking at them, she could feel the unsettling fluctuations of evil power. "Much deeper than those of the outer beasts. It wasn't temporarily implanted; it's the kind that has been nurtured over generations and completely integrated into the bloodline. The evil race has completely taken control of the beast ecosystem in the middle layer of the secret realm."
She stood up, wiped the knife with a cloth, and put it away.
"Every beast here can be controlled by evil people at any time and used as a tool to kill the trial participants."
Lin Chen wiped the blood off the sword onto the wolf skin, his expression becoming more serious.
Chu Fan stood on the outer edge of the group, facing one direction, motionless. His gaze fell on a broken ancient stone wall—the wall was half-buried in the soil, its surface covered with thick moss and vines, but one area was exposed, with clearly visible carvings.
"Look over there," he pointed.
Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing. The surface of the stone wall was covered with dense array patterns, but those patterns had been violently broken—not by natural weathering, not by the erosion of time, but by the marks left by the forceful bombardment of true energy. The edges of the cracks were neat and sharp, left by a sharp blade; there were scorched marks at the broken parts of the array patterns, with a faint black mist remaining.
Chu Fan walked over, squatted down, and touched the cracks with his fingertips without actually touching them.
"A high-level defensive formation, specifically designed to block this passage. It was forcibly broken open from the outside." He stood up, adjusted his glasses, and said, "The residual aura is very familiar—the Qin family's Azure Wind True Qi, and the black mist originating from the Evil Shadow Sword. Qin Cang's people not only entered the middle level of the secret realm ahead of time, but also destroyed the ancient restrictions, opening up a hidden passage for the evil cultivators. Now, all the hidden strongholds and blind spots of the restrictions in the middle level are probably under the control of the evil race."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.
The Star Power Perception detected three auras.
Not nearby, but in the shadows of a cliff a thousand meters away. The three auras were highly concealed, almost blending into their surroundings. If it weren't for his innate aversion to evil spirits due to his stellar energy, he would have been completely unaware. Those three auras were cold, decaying, and carried intense fluctuations of malevolent power; they were definitely not those of students, nor those of ferocious beasts.
"Evil race cultivators." Lin Chen's voice was low, but every word was clear: "Early stage of the Transformation Realm, three of them. They are secretly monitoring us."
As he spoke, his hand was already on the hilt of his sword. His Star Martial Core was operating at high speed, and silvery-white star power surged throughout his body, preparing him for any possible surprise attack.
But the moment he detected those three auras, they recoiled like startled snakes. Not slowly retreating, but vanishing instantly—they covered a kilometer in less than two breaths, disappearing from Lin Chen's perception range. Their speed was astonishing, their movements perfectly synchronized; clearly, this wasn't the first time they'd done something like this.
"They dare not confront us directly, only to spy from the shadows." Su Muyue stood beside Lin Chen, the array flag in her hand slowly drooping. Her gaze fell upon the now deserted cliff, her tone calm, but every word carried a chill. "They are waiting for their opportunity. Waiting for the various genius teams to be exhausted in the resource competition, waiting for us to run out of pills, array flags, and true energy, before striking to reap the rewards."
Chu Fan unfolded the map again, his eyes scanning it quickly. He circled several locations of the forbidden ruins marked on the map and crossed out several key passages in the middle level.
"The evil race's strategy is clear. The first phase is to use the ferocious beasts controlled by the Soul-Controlling Gu to deplete our stamina and elixir reserves. The second phase is to instigate a larger-scale melee during the most intense period of infighting among the student factions, killing as many talented freshmen as possible. The third phase—" He moved his finger to the entrance of the core area and tapped it hard, "...wait until all the capable teams are crippled, then they will strike and harvest everyone's physical constitution and cultivation essence."
Lin Chen raised his head, his gaze passing through the gray-green canopy of trees, looking towards the deepest part of the secret realm.
The sky there was different from anywhere else. The clouds were thin, and the moonlight could be seen pouring down from the gaps in the clouds, like a silvery waterfall hanging in the sky. The spiritual energy was so strong that it was visible to the naked eye, and it shimmered with a pale blue halo under the moonlight.
The Star Essence Liquid is there. Deep within the core of the secret realm, at the final convergence point of all conspiracies, at the source of that Moonlit Waterfall.
All roads lead there.
"Continue the advance." Lin Chen withdrew his gaze, his voice as steady as iron. "We won't wait for them to set an ambush. We'll break the deadlock proactively."
The five set off again.
Dusk had fallen, and the light of day was fading. The last sliver of grayish-white light struggled to pierce through the gaps in the clouds, casting five long, pale shadows behind them. The shadows overlapped, indistinguishable from one another, like a stretched-out blot of ink, clinging to the ground, moving forward step by step with them.
The mist from the depths of the dense forest surged in from all directions, grayish-white and icy cold, flowing along the ground like a silent river. The figures of the five people quickly sank into the mist and shadows; from a distance, only a few blurry outlines could be seen, appearing and disappearing among the gray-green trees.
On a cliff a kilometer away, three black figures stood silently.
They didn't speak, didn't move, and you couldn't even see the rise and fall of their breath. Their black robes stood motionless in the wind, like three statues carved into rock. Hoods covered most of their faces, revealing only pale chins and chapped lips.
The leader slowly raised his hand, his withered fingers pointing in the direction the five people were heading.
There was no sound. But the direction of that hand was clearer than any language.