24: Ghost Valley

The lanky man scoffed:

"You go try? Last month, Li Si went and was almost scorched by a stray bolt of lightning. He was bedridden for half a month, and all the Contribution Points he earned were spent on medicine.

That place, without a few Lightning Evasion Talismans or a Lightning Evasion Magical Artifact, is just courting death."

As for the other few tasks, most Disciples just glanced at them, then shook their heads and sighed.

"Alright, 'Exterminate the Phantom Demonic Fox'... those things are elusive and masters of deception. Last time Senior Brother Zhang's team went in, they searched for three days and couldn't even find a single fox hair, completely wasting their effort."

"Investigate Blackwater Pond? Forget it. Who knows what poisonous creatures are hiding beneath; our lives are more important."

Lin Feng's gaze calmly swept over these tasks that everyone disliked, finally stopping at a task with an extremely brief description.

"Gather: yin ning grass. Location: Ghost Soul Valley."

A Disciple nearby saw Lin Feng staring at this task and couldn't help but let out a 'heh':

"Alright, another one who's gone crazy for money. That damned Ghost Soul Valley, the Yin Qi is so heavy it can freeze bones. I heard there are also vengeful spirits that drain people's Yang Qi in there. Going in once shortens your lifespan by ten years."

His companion also chimed in, "Isn't that right? And that yin ning grass is useless. I heard only the Pill Pavilion occasionally collects a little, and the price is ridiculously low. It's purely a task to trick fools."

Under the gazes of the onlookers, Lin Feng expressionlessly stepped forward and, under the slightly surprised eyes of the registering Deacon, calmly accepted the thin wooden plaque representing "Ghost Soul Valley."

Seeing that he actually accepted the task, everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into louder jeers and discussions.

"He really took it?"

"Is he stupid? He doesn't even care about his life for those few Contribution Points?"

"He's probably newly promoted and doesn't understand the situation. He'll regret it."

Lin Feng ignored all of this, tightened his grip on the wooden plaque, turned, and left.

The closer he got to the Ghost Soul Valley branch, the thinner and more chaotic the Spiritual Qi in the air became.

'Strange, is the Spiritual Qi so scarce in this area?'

Lin Feng immediately increased the circulation of his spiritual power, forming a faint barrier on his body to slightly block out the pervasive Yin Qi.

He hadn't walked far when the scene on a relatively open, rocky beach ahead made him slightly pause.

Three Cultivators, dressed in mixed attire and clearly not Tianxuan Sect Disciples, were loudly arguing around a black rock about half a person's height, their voices particularly jarring in the silent valley.

"Damn it! It must be this rock. I used the Spirit Detecting Art and there's definitely something inside." A short, fat Cultivator, round as a ball, holding a compass-shaped Magical Artifact, his face flushed, was trying to pry the rock with a short stick.

"Wang Laowu, save your breath. Your shoddy Spirit Detecting Art is wrong nine and a half times out of ten. Last time you said there was treasure in the river, and we fished out a corpse." A lanky man stood beside him, arms crossed.

"Bullshit! That was an accident. This time the feeling is different. Liu Ganzi, don't just talk, come and lend a hand." Wang Laowu panted, but the rock didn't budge.

"Hey! I say, big brothers, we're here to find Ghost Soul Grass, not to dig rocks. This eerie place, let's find it quickly and get out of here." The third one, younger, had a pale face.

The cultivation of these three was not high, probably hovering around the third or fourth layer of Qi Refining.

The three almost simultaneously stopped their actions and looked at Lin Feng in unison.

"Who?" The lanky Liu Ganzi reacted first, blocking the black rock.

Wang Laowu also quickly put away his stick and hid the compass behind him, his small eyes darting around at Lin Feng's Tianxuan Sect outer Sect uniform, a hint of an awkward smile on his face:

"Uh... this Tianxuan Sect Senior Brother? Are... are you also here in this ghostly place... for a stroll?"

The younger one even shrank back, almost hiding behind Liu Ganzi.

Lin Feng was expressionless, his gaze sweeping over the three, then glancing at the ordinary rock that had no Spiritual Qi fluctuations. He understood in his heart.

'So, they're just a few Loose Cultivators trying their luck...'

He couldn't be bothered to deal with them and didn't want to cause extra trouble, so he just said indifferently: "Passing through. You may continue."

After speaking, he planned to bypass them and continue deeper into the valley.

However, his attitude of completely ignoring them made the three even more uneasy.

"Wait... wait!" Liu Ganzi, seeing Lin Feng about to leave, became anxious instead, "Senior Brother, please stay. Can... can you take a look? Is this rock... a bit special?"

Wang Laowu also quickly echoed: "Yes, yes, yes. Senior Brother, please lend your discerning eye. If there really is treasure, we... we'll share it."

Lin Feng paused, looked at the rock again, and carefully probed it with his Divine Sense, confirming that it was just an ordinary, slightly harder rock that had been soaked in Yin Qi for a long time.

"Ordinary rock." He said, then prepared to leave.

"Impossible!" Wang Laowu blurted out, but immediately realized his tone was wrong and quickly forced a smile, "Hehe, Senior Brother, please take a closer look? I used my family's 'Spiritual Insight Finger' to probe it, and there really was a reaction."

Lin Feng was too lazy to waste any more words, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Seeing this, the three immediately lost their spirit, hastily packed their things, wishing they could disappear instantly.

They didn't even dare to look at the "treasure rock" again, pushing each other and scurrying towards the valley exit, muttering softly as they went:

"You scared me to death... I thought they were going to rob us..."

"I told you it was a broken rock."

"Hurry, hurry, don't delay the Senior Brother from a great Sect in doing his important business..."

Lin Feng watched their figures disappear into the mist and shook his head.

'Indeed, there are all kinds of people in the cultivation world...'

He collected his thoughts and continued deeper into the Yin Qi.

The valley became even more desolate, and the mist was so thick it couldn't be dispersed, allowing him to see only a few zhang in front of him.

After walking a bit further, a "rustling" sound suddenly came from a strange rock forest to his front-left, shrouded in dense gray mist.

Lin Feng immediately stopped, his Divine Sense highly concentrated, locking onto the source of the sound.

The next moment, dozens of fist-sized, gray-white strange insects surged out from the mist and rock crevices, moving at an astonishing speed, directly pouncing on Lin Feng.

'Yin Nether Ants?' The name of a low-grade demonic insect flashed through Lin Feng's mind. They live in groups, feed on Yin Qi, and are extremely violent. Though weak individually, their vast numbers are enough to trouble Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators.

Lin Feng retreated rapidly, executing the Willow Catkin Following Wind Step to its utmost, leaping through the narrow rock crevices while simultaneously striking with both hands.

Several pale white spiritual threads burst from his fingertips, weaving into an extremely tough spiritual thread barrier net in front of him.

The Yin Nether Ants at the forefront instantly crashed into the spiritual thread net, getting entangled by the threads, and the entire swarm's charge was thrown into disarray.

At this instant, a cold light flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. The qinggang sword was unsheathed, and he used the Flowing Shadow Sword Art to strike at the Yin Nether Ants trapped by the spiritual threads.

Puff, puff, puff, puff!

Their fragile exoskeletons were no match and were instantly pierced through.

Green liquid splattered.

Lin Feng's steps never halted, fighting while retreating.

In just a few breaths, dozens of Yin Fiend Ants were mostly dead or injured, and the remaining ones let out sharp hisses, rapidly retreating into the dense fog and rock crevices, disappearing from sight.

Lin Feng panted slightly, dispelled the spiritual threads from his fingertips, and shook the filth from his sword.

Suddenly, he looked up: 'Is someone setting up a formation here? Or...'