11: The valley of death, the poisonous miasma covering the sun

The aura of death clung to Lin Chen like a maggot to bone; the cold sting of the Hall of Souls brand on his left wrist constantly reminded him of his pursuers' proximity.

The terrifying pressure from the sky, though weakened by distance and the poisonous miasma, hung over him like a sword.

His Three-Star Dou Zhe Shadow Erosion Dou Qi was squeezed to its limit, black Dou Qi boiling on his skin, forming a rapidly moving shadow barrier, making him dart through the darkest and most treacherous corners of the Magical Beast Mountain Range like a phantom.

"Chh chh chh!"

Behind him, three black-robed figures, merged with the shadows, glided low over the treetops like reapers of Souls.

On the black crystal compass in the hand of the leader, the dark red dot representing Lin Chen, though blurred by the miasma's interference, stubbornly indicated his direction.

"A Three-Star Dou Zhe, an ant, yet able to endure the Soul Erosion Guidance for so long... This Shadow Erosion Dou Qi indeed has some tricks to it."

The leader of the black-robed figures spoke in a cold, unfeeling voice, "Split up and block all escape routes.

He's at the end of his rope; the Soul Erosion Guidance will gnaw away at his Soul bit by bit.

The source core fragment must not be lost."

The three dark figures silently dispersed, like venomous snakes slithering into the thick fog, encircling him from different directions.

Puff!

Lin Chen crashed violently into a swirling mass of sickly green poisonous miasma!

Instantly, it felt as if he had plunged into a viscous, corrosive sea of acid!

The highly toxic mist furiously eroded his Shadow Erosion shield, emitting a harsh screeching sound.

His skin burned with intense pain where it made contact, and tiny black spots appeared.

Even more terrifying were the mental toxins contained within the miasma, which, in conjunction with the "Soul Erosion Guidance" in his Sea of Consciousness, savagely tore at his awareness, the dizziness and nausea almost drowning him.

"Devour! Devour for me—!!!"

In this desperate situation, Lin Chen erupted with unprecedented ferocity!

The black vortex in his Dantian spun wildly at an unparalleled speed, and a terrifying devouring force emanated from his body!

A miracle reappeared!

The overbearing Shadow Erosion Dou Qi actually began to forcibly tear apart and devour the deadly, sickly green poisonous mist!

The highly toxic energy was violently sucked into the vortex; a portion was directly annihilated and expelled, turning into a thicker black mist; another portion of the relatively "gentle" energy Origin was forcibly stripped away and transformed into wisps of pure black liquid Dou Qi, flowing into his Dantian!

The conversion rate was extremely low, and the process was like having a red-hot iron jammed into his Meridians, causing unbearable pain!

But it did indeed replenish his Consumption, and more importantly, this new Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, imbued with the characteristics of the poison, actually suppressed the pain of Soul erosion caused by the "Soul Erosion Guidance" to a certain extent!

Fighting poison with poison! Shadow Erosion devours poisonous miasma!

Lin Chen's spirits lifted, as if he had grasped a thorny vine in the endless darkness.

He no longer fled blindly; his figure flickered in and out of the dense poisonous miasma, navigating with difficulty using jagged rocks, decaying giant trees, and poisonous swamps.

The black cocoon on his body was constantly corroded and then replenished by newly generated Dou Qi, stubbornly flickering.

However, the Hall of Souls pursuers were faster!

"Found you, little bug!" A hoarse, strange laugh exploded from the poisonous miasma to his left!

The slightly shorter black-robed figure appeared like a ghost, a withered claw encased in thick black mist, carrying bone-chilling coldness and Soul-eroding power, silently grabbing at Lin Chen's back!

Where the claw wind passed, even the sickly green poisonous miasma was frozen and dispersed!

There was no avoiding it!

Lin Chen's eyes flared with a bloody glow; at the brink of death, he forcibly twisted his body, fiercely slamming his left fist, condensed with all the newly absorbed poisonous miasma Dou Qi, towards that ghostly claw!

The moment fist and claw met, there was no loud bang, only a grating "sizzle" sound of energy being rapidly corroded and dissolved!

"Bang!"

Lin Chen flew backward like a broken kite, crashing heavily into a moss-covered boulder, spitting out blood!

The crisp sound of bones shattering came from his left arm, and the pain pierced his heart!

The gap between a Three-Star Dou Zhe and at least a Spirit Rank Hall of Souls Protector was like a chasm!

If not for the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi devouring part of the claw's power, plus the strange corrosiveness of the poisonous miasma Dou Qi making the opponent slightly uncomfortable, that claw would have torn him to shreds!

"Hehehe, a dying struggle!" The short Protector laughed strangely, his figure flickered, and he approached again, his withered claw aiming directly for Lin Chen's head!

He wanted to directly strip away the source core fragment!

Just at this critical moment!

"Hmph! What petty scoundrel, lurking here!" A clear, cold shout, like a clap of thunder, pierced through the dense poisonous miasma and exploded not far away!

Accompanying the cold shout, a scorching green flame, like lightning tearing through the night sky, carrying the terrifying high temperature that could incinerate all things, accurately blasted towards the back of the short Hall of Souls Protector!

Before the flame even arrived, its supremely Yang and unyielding, world-burning terrifying aura had already caused the surrounding poisonous miasma to violently boil and evaporate!

The short Protector's withered claw, reaching for Lin Chen, suddenly paused, his body under the black robe abruptly tensed, and a strong sense of crisis made his hair stand on end!

He no longer cared about Lin Chen, let out a strange cry, and slapped out a dense, impenetrable black Soul Power shield!

"Boom—!!!"

The green flame and the black Soul shield collided violently!

A deafening explosion echoed through the valley!

The violent energy shockwave instantly cleared the poisonous miasma within dozens of meters!

The scorching high temperature and the chilling Soul Power fiercely clashed, blasting a deep pit in the ground, melting and then freezing the rocks!

Lin Chen was flung even further by this sudden explosion's air current, falling heavily at the edge of the mud, his entire body in excruciating pain, yet he thus narrowly avoided the Hall of Souls Protector's fatal blow.

He struggled to look up, only to see a slender figure slowly emerging from the smoke and energy turbulence at the center of the explosion.

The newcomer wore a black robe, his face still appeared young, yet he carried a composure and sharpness far beyond his age.

He carried a huge xuan heavy ruler on his back; the ruler was simple and unadorned, yet it exuded a heavy sense of oppression.

Most striking was the green flame coiling around him; the flame was agile and domineering, as if it possessed life, scorching the surrounding poisonous miasma with sizzling sounds, not daring to approach even a hair's breadth.

Xiao Yan!

And by Xiao Yan's side, there was a shy little girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, dressed in elegant light green clothing, her face as delicate as a porcelain doll.

The most peculiar thing was her pair of eyes, which were actually emerald green, and deep within her pupils, three extremely tiny emerald green dots subtly rotated.

Qing Lin!

At this moment, Qing Lin's strange Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils looked towards Lin Chen's direction with a hint of confusion and instinctive fear.

She seemed to sense the complex and powerful energy within Lin Chen's body (Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, source core fragment, residual Yin Bone Soul Fire, poisonous miasma power), as well as the cold, bone-chilling aura of the Hall of Souls brand, which made her feel very uncomfortable.

"Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils?!" The leading Hall of Souls Protector's voice, full of surprise and uncertainty, came from the poisonous miasma on the other side, clearly also shocked by this sudden attack and Qing Lin's presence.

He stared intently at the green flame around Xiao Yan, his voice filled with incredible greed and apprehension: "Heavenly Flame?! Green Lotus Core Flame?! And this rare pupil technique... Boy, you have many secrets!"

Xiao Yan's eyes were as cold as blades, sweeping over the three black-robed figures, finally resting on the heavily injured Lin Chen on the ground.

He could feel the extremely repulsive, cold and lifeless aura emanating from these three black-robed figures, exactly like the Hall of Souls his master had described!

And the young man on the ground, although his aura was also strange (the devouring nature of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi made Old Yao temporarily unable to discern it), was clearly the one being hunted, and his injuries were extremely severe.

"Master, it's those bastards from the Hall of Souls!" Xiao Yan said in a deep voice in his heart.

"Hmm, three Spirit Rank Protectors, the leader is close to a Dou King.

Be careful, their methods are strange, specializing in attacking the Soul."

Old Yao's solemn voice sounded in Xiao Yan's mind, "That heavily injured boy... the Cultivation Technique he Cultivates is extremely overbearing and evil, actually able to devour this extremely poisonous miasma for his own use!

But now, he's attracting fire for us.

Let's deal with the Hall of Souls's trouble first!"

"Who is Your Excellency? Why interfere in the affairs of my Hall?" The leading Hall of Souls Protector suppressed his greed for the Heavenly Flame and the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, asking coldly.

He was wary of that terrifying green Heavenly Flame.

Xiao Yan sneered, pointing his xuan heavy ruler: "I don't like the sight of you; is that reason enough?"

He deliberately acted arrogant, but in reality, he was buying time for Old Yao to observe and gather strength.

At the same time, the corner of his eye caught Lin Chen struggling, trying to use the brief clear space left by the explosion to move deeper into the poisonous miasma.

Opportunity!

Lin Chen roared in his heart!

Xiao Yan's appearance and the terrifying burst of the Heavenly Flame instantly drew all the attention of the three Hall of Souls Protectors!

This was his only chance to escape!

He endured the excruciating pain of his body feeling shattered and the dizziness of his Soul being gnawed away, pouring every last bit of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi he had just recovered from devouring the poisonous miasma into his legs, desperately activating a secret technique—Shadow Escape: Afterimage!

"Whoosh!"

His body left a blurry afterimage with a faint aura in its original spot, while his true form, like ink blending into shadow, silently shot towards the deepest part of the swamp, in a direction where the energy was most chaotic and violent, using the aftershocks of the explosion and the re-closing poisonous miasma as cover!

His speed was far greater than before!

"Trying to run?!" The short Protector was the first to notice, but Xiao Yan's green flame swept over again, firmly entangling him!

"Damn it!" The leading Protector was furious; the light dot representing Lin Chen on his compass instantly became extremely faint, almost disappearing!

The poisonous miasma, the explosion, and Lin Chen's strange escape technique made tracking extremely difficult!

He glared fiercely at Xiao Yan, who was disrupting their plans, "First, take down this boy with the Heavenly Flame!

That heavily injured little bug won't get far; we'll find him after we're done here!"

The battle erupted instantly!

Green flames and black Soul Power fiercely collided in the sickly green poisonous miasma, and terrifying fluctuations swept in all directions!

Xiao Yan, relying on the power of the Heavenly Flame and Old Yao's covert assistance, fought one against three; though he faced constant danger, he stubbornly held back the three Hall of Souls Protectors!

Meanwhile, Lin Chen, fleeing for his life, finally reached the edge of a mud pit in the depths of the swamp, covered in purplish-black poisonous moss and constantly bubbling with toxic gas.

He could no longer hold on, his vision went black, and he collapsed into the foul-smelling mud, completely unconscious.

In the instant before he lost consciousness, his Shadow Erosion Dou Qi instinctively circulated, greedily devouring the extremely dense poisonous miasma and the strange energy contained in the mud pit.

The dark red Hall of Souls brand on his wrist, stimulated by the toxic energy, seemed to become even deeper and more sinister in color...

In the gloomy valley shrouded by poisonous miasma, two battles unfolded simultaneously.

Xiao Yan's fierce battle with the Hall of Souls Protectors shook the heavens and earth, while Lin Chen, at the edge of the deadly poisonous swamp, was undergoing an even more perilous transformation, relying on his overbearing Shadow Erosion Dou Qi.

This "oriole" of his, with the unexpected intervention of Xiao Yan, the "mantis," temporarily escaped the fate of the "cicada," but also fell into an even deeper quagmire.