Chapter 298: The Strange Being in the Forest

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhou Qingchen manipulated a series of long blades to slash down on several heavily armored foreign race warriors from atop Zhao Yuanqi's red gourd.

As the long blades returned, he glanced at the silver-haired Zhao Yuanqi and asked, "Senior Sister, you don't think Pang Jian is wrong, do you?"

"If not for Pang Jian's guidance, the Demon Sect, the Celestial Lagoon Sect, and the Forsaken Expanse Sect would not have made it out of the bizarre mist. Even we would still be trapped in there if not for him," Zhao Yuanqi said, fair hand extending out to press down on air.

A deep red mountain suddenly materialized and crashed down on several Earth Scorpion Race warriors.

Boom!

The mountain crushed the foreign race warriors, causing the survivors to howl and flee in panic.

Those unable to escape in time were reduced to a pulp.

"Let's forget about the Celestial Lagoon Sect, the Demon Sect, and the members of the Black Valley Sect and just keep an eye on Pang Jian," Zhou Yuanqi said, steering her gourd to follow Pang Jian into the forest filled with towering trees.

Meanwhile, Qi Qingsong, Dong Tianze, and Fang Boxuan had descended onto the black warship with the Black Iron Mountain to join the battle between the members of the Forsaken Expanse Sect and the Ghost Race warriors.

Fu Wangchen and Zhuang Yuyan, as cultivators in the Spirit Condensation Realm, fought the gaunt Ghost Race commander and used the ancient god Dharma Idol to battle the soul projection of an Outer God.

As Zhao Yuanqi observed the overall situation, she realized Zhou Qingchen was the only one in the early stage of the Profound Abode Realm.

Thus, she chose a quieter battlefield to match his weaker combat prowess.

As she considered Zhou Qingchen's close relationship with Pang Jian, she ultimately decided it would be safer to follow Pang Jian.

So, the gourd flew after him.

***

"Wu Yuan, stay near the Mountain Stream Spirit Boat. I'll come find you," Chen Lushi cried, flying ribbons surrounding her seductive figure.

Vibrant "Demon" characters imbued with the power of illusions floated above and behind her.

Unfortunately, her illusions did not affect the foreign race warriors she was fighting against.

These foreign race warriors with antennae and heavy armor were known as the Carapace Race, and over a dozen had their eyes locked onto Chen Lushi.

Those onboard the Mountain Stream Spirit Boat had fled in different directions when the light arrows of the eight-armed giant sent the ship crashing down.

Chen Lushi knew Wu Yuan was strong, and so was desperately trying to reach his side.

"Senior Sister Chen..." someone called when Chen Lushi passed a small hill.

The owner of the voice was a female disciple of the Demon Sect whose name Chen Lushi did not know.

She only had a vague impression of the skinny, shriveled woman from the Demon Cloud Sect, a branch of the Demon Sect.

Pausing her flight, she nodded and replied, "It's good you're awake. You can follow me to find Wu Yuan."

"Okay." The woman obediently nodded.

As Chen Lushi turned to continue flying toward Wu Yuan, the female disciple from the Demon Cloud Sect threw a bronze crown at her back.

The bronze crown was embellished with a coiled dragon pattern and lit up with an eerie green glow.

Sensing something was amiss, Chen Lushi glared at the female disciple attempting to ambush her. "How dare you!"

An eerie green sea suddenly appeared in the female disciple's eyes.

Chen Lushi instantly became muddled and her mind was thrown into turmoil.

Visions of the Carapace Race warriors tearing her apart and eating her flashed through her mind.

She screamed in horror.

Bang!

The bronze crown struck Chen Lushi.

Her dazzling ribbons instinctively tried to protect her but could not fully deflect the blow.

Chen Lushi's spine fractured in several places and her alluring body was sent flying in a spray of blood.

Whoosh!

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

A blood-stained boulder flew over, caught Chen Lushi, and brought her safely back to the wreckage of the Mountain Stream Spirit Boat.

At the same time, Jiang Chao had jumped into the river to kill the plump fellow disciple attacking him.

Red worms of blood streamed from Jiang Chao's nostrils as he returned to the river bank, gasping for air as he looked at the Celestial Lagoon Sect disciples surrounding him.

"He-he was right..." Lu Xiangyi stuttered, covering her mouth in horror as she watched from the wrecked Mountain Stream Spirit Boat.

Those attacking Chen Lushi and surrounding Jiang Chao had all been living dead.

Although they had since awakened from their deathly state, they were not the same people Lu Xiangyi knew.

"Are you alright?" Wu Yuan asked, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief as the weight of his earlier actions lifted from his shoulders.

Chen Lushi's smile was strained. "How could I be alright?"

She swallowed a powerful healing pill, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and bit her lower lip before glaring at the forest where Pang Jian had gone.

"If he had just explained himself properly, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state!" she grumbled. "He should've just said the Outer God had corrupted the living dead and was controlling their minds."

"I think..." Lu Xiangyi trailed off, timid in front of this formidable woman from the Demon Heart Sect. "I think it's our fault. Or rather, it's Brother Jiang's fault."

"Jiang Chao was wrong to doubt Pang Jian, but that doesn't mean Pang Jian was in the right either!" Chen Lushi snapped.

Pang Jian's lack of explanation and disdainful attitude, filled Chen Lushi with anger. In her eyes, Pang Jian bore some responsibility for her severe injuries.

Wu Yuan remained silent, eyes fixed on the forest where Pang Jian had vanished.

If not for Pang Jian's warning, he would have had to face not only the Carapace Race and Earth Scorpion Race warriors but also his corrupted fellow disciples.

The fellow disciples under the Outer God's control exhibited far greater strength than the foreign race warriors surrounding him.

Moreover, they could pretend to be allies and wait for an opportune time to ambush them when they least expected it.

The situation would have become several times more dangerous if that had happened.

"Gather the survivors. We're heading into the forest where Pang Jian went," ordered Wu Yuan.

Chen Lushi was taken aback. “Why?”

"Because something seems to be drawing him there."

***

Pang Jian flew through the forest of towering ancient trees at lightning speed.

The ancient trees were dozens of zhang tall, with broad roots and branches like spears.

They were also stained with blood.

As he flew, he saw the bodies of many human cultivators, along with Rank Four and Rank Five Vicious Beasts and Spirit Beasts, impaled on the branches of these trees.

At a glance, the corpses looked like gruesome fruit hanging from the branches.

The flesh and blood of these bodies had all been drained to leave only skin and bones.

Hundreds of humans, Vicious Beasts, and Spirit Beasts hung from each tree, creating a grim and eerie sight.

There's a foreign race warrior with significant divine consciousness in this forest,

Pang Jian thought as he sped along.

He had stationed several golden bees high in the sky near the bizarre mist so he could observe the four strange fragmented lands.

The fragmented lands surrounded by lightning, filled with volcanoes, and frozen in ice were all shrouded in something the golden bees could not see through.

Sadly, Pang Jian could only use the golden bees to observe Absolute Heaven, the fragmented land he was on.

Even then, it was only on a superficial level, as the happenings inside the forest, the swamps, and at the bottom of rivers also could not be seen.

Despite this, the Bee Sovereign could still sense objects rich in divine consciousness from the beehive within the Gate of the Abyss.

Divine consciousness was crucial to nurturing more bees, so when it sensed an Outer God, the Bee Sovereign would guide Pang Jian toward it.

The target the Bee Sovereign identified this time lay deep within the forest.

There were still survivors at the center of the forest putting up a desperate resistance against the grass and branches that threatened to pierce through them.

Each of these survivors was covered in blood and the ground beneath them was soaked in it.

As the blood flowed from their bodies, the surrounding grass and tree roots would absorb it, and within moments, the blood would lighten before disappearing completely.

A figure swathed in black gauze sat on the tallest ancient tree with only a pair of bright green eyes exposed from the wrappings.

He sat motionless on a massive leaf and coldly watched the dozen or so remaining survivors and two Spirit Beasts below.

The blades of grass were already devouring the bodies of the recently deceased that lay scattered across the ground.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian appeared.

"The Sword Pavilion!" A gray-robed cultivator exclaimed excitedly when he saw the sword token hanging at Pang Jian's waist. "I'm Chang Li, a disciple of the Skyveil Cliff Sect.

"This Green Spirit Race savage from another world is about to kill all the living things in the forest! His bloodline is Rank Six!"

Grrr!

A Rank Five Goldrock Beast and a Rank Six Scarlet-Eyed Demon Wolf growled lowly at Pang Jian.

Fierce flames shot out when the Rank Six Scarlet-Eyed Demon Wolf shook its dark red fur, setting the branches surrounding it ablaze.

Its blood-red eyes shone with a pleading light as it stared at Pang Jian.

It knew Pang Jian was its only hope for survival.

After all, it could sense that Pang Jian was far stronger than anyone else in the forest.

Xiao Yu gritted her teeth through the pain of a withered branch stabbing her fair, white thigh and whispered to the Rank Six Scarlet-Eyed Demon Wolf, "Crimson Blaze, are you saying...he can save us? Can he really do it?"

The Scarlet-Eyed Demon Wolf nodded.

The eyes of the Skyveil Cliff Sect and the Xiao Clan fell on Pang Jian.

Many of their companions had died in the forest.

Almost all the rogue cultivators from the Second World had also died.

The bodies of the dead hung from the ancient tree branches.

If not for Xiao Yu's Scarlet-Eyed Demon Wolf breaking through to Rank Six and blocking most of the attacks, none of them would have survived for as long as they did.

They would have long been turned into shriveled corpses drained of flesh and blood.

The appearance of a disciple from the Sword Pavilion gave them a glimmer of hope.

"Another one from the Abyss..." the outsider from the Green Spirit Race muttered in his native language.

He had long sensed Pang Jian's approach and had been waiting for his arrival.

"There's something unique about you," he said in an awkward human tongue. "Its presence means I can't stab you to death with the forest's plants."