263: Chapter 263 The Mist Dissipates and the Forest Wanderer

Within the dim, natural cavern, the ghostly green fluorescence that had shimmered like countless stars was visibly dimming at a speed discernible to the naked eye.

Zhou Wannian stood calmly at the center of the Spirit Gathering Formation. As he completely withdrew that jianmu remnant branch into his spatial ring, the dense, wood-attribute Law Source Power in the surrounding air, which had been almost substantial, rapidly became desiccated and thin, like a lake whose source had been drained dry.

The stalactites hanging inverted from the cavern ceiling for countless ages, now deprived of the nourishment of the Law, began to develop fine, grayish-white cracks on their surfaces. A few drops of turbid water dripped down along the fissures, landing on the parched moss below with a dull *plip-plop* sound.

The core vitality of this underground Spiritual Vein had been completely sucked dry by the jianmu remnant branch's near-predatory revival.

Zhou Wannian glanced down at the piles of gray powder at his feet, the remains of the top-grade energy crystals. Achieving the third layer of Perfection in the Great Five Elements Illusory World Law had not only consumed that precious drop of the source of ten thousand woods but had also completely drained the energy from the hundreds of crystals he had arranged around him.

He raised his right hand, palm facing upward. A sphere of pure, emerald-green light, reminiscent of tender spring leaves, danced quietly at his fingertips. This radiance held no aggression, yet it exuded a vast vitality potent enough to revive withered wood. He could clearly sense that he had established an extremely subtle connection with the vegetation of this land. If he willed it, every single plant within a radius of ten thousand li could become an extension of his spiritual perception.

"Time to leave," Zhou Wannian said, slowly clenching his fist. The emerald light instantly merged beneath his skin.

He did not linger. With a wave of his hand, several Formation Flags placed around the cavern transformed into streams of light and flew back into his sleeve. Then, with steady steps, he walked out through the concealed rock fissure.

Outside the fissure, the deep pool had also undergone a dramatic transformation.

The originally clear, bottom-visible pool water, now lacking the support of the underground Spiritual Vein, had receded by more than half, revealing the accumulated black silt at the bottom. At the canyon entrance, the roiling, notoriously terrifying dark green illusionary mist, now like duckweed without roots, was slowly dissipating in the gentle breeze, unveiling the expanse of gloomy sky above the canyon.

Zhou Wannian stepped onto the exposed rocks at the pool's edge and walked with light, unhurried steps towards the canyon's exit.

A faint rustling sound came from his sleeve. Golden Boy's plump body crawled up the texture of his green robe onto his shoulder, its two golden antennae waving rapidly in the air.

"Boss, why is all the poisonous gas here gone?" Golden Boy's voice sounded in Zhou Wannian's Sea of Consciousness, tinged with obvious disappointment. "I was thinking I could snack on some of those poison vines after we got out. Now they're all dried up."

Zhou Wannian tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the bizarre vines on either side of the canyon. Once menacing and clawing, they now hung limp and powerless like dried snake skins.

"With the vitality seized, these toxic things that coexisted with the illusionary mist naturally couldn't survive," Zhou Wannian replied flatly within his Sea of Consciousness. "The Law balance of this dark valley has been broken. It will soon become an ordinary dead valley. If you want snacks, once we're out of this forest, there will be plenty of high-grade mineral veins imbued with metal-attribute Laws."

Golden Boy sprawled listlessly on his shoulder, falling silent.

Emerging from the edge of the Illusionary Mist Valley, the vast expanse of the ancient forest outside came back into view. Sunlight filtered through the massive tree canopies, casting patches of golden light on the ground.

Zhou Wannian did not immediately pick up his pace. He strolled on the soft ground carpeted with fallen leaves, subtly releasing the wood-attribute Law he had just comprehended, engaging in an extremely fine-tuned resonance with the surrounding forest environment.

The aura emanating from his entire person grew increasingly ethereal. His green robe seemed to become a form of natural camouflage amidst the lush greenery of the forest. His breathing rhythm gradually synchronized perfectly with the swaying of the ancient trees in the wind, and the sound of his heartbeat vanished into the complex white noise of nature.

Just as he had traveled forward for about a hundred li, his steady footsteps suddenly, and without any warning, came to a halt.

Zhou Wannian's gaze did not sweep around. Instead, he looked quite naturally towards a dense thicket to his left-front. In his spiritual perception, several incredibly agile auras, carrying intense natural magic fluctuations, were rapidly approaching from that direction.

He did not choose to hide. Instead, he stood quietly in the shadow of an ancient tree thick enough for ten men to embrace, leaning back slightly against it. His entire person seemed to merge into the texture of the tree trunk.

A moment later, accompanied by an extremely faint rustling of leaves, three giant wolves, each the size of a steed and covered in silver fur, leaped gracefully out of the thicket.

Mounted on the wolves were three slender, sharp-eared forest wanderers. They wore exquisite leather armor woven from the hide of an unknown high-grade Demonic Beast and green vines. On their backs were recurved longbows emitting a faint green glow, and at their waists hung slender curved blades.

These three were clearly native elven wanderers of this Yimu Realm. Their cultivation was around the True Core stage, making them a formidable elite force even within this dangerous Falling Leaves Mountain Range.

The leading female wanderer reined in her silver wolf, stopping before the massive ancient tree. She had a waterfall of emerald-green hair and an exquisitely beautiful face, but her jade-green eyes held the vigilance and sharpness born of years spent navigating the edge of life and death.

She dismounted from the wolf, strode to a slightly withered patch of meadow ahead, crouched down, and extended a hand clad in a fingerless leather glove, lightly rubbing the soil between her fingers.

"Captain, something's not right," said a young male wanderer who had followed her down. He held his longbow, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily, his voice kept low. "Starting from this area, the concentration of wood-attribute magic in the air is dropping too fast. Ahead is the absolute forbidden zone of the Illusionary Mist Valley. How could those hallucinogenic poison mists have dissipated so completely?"

The female captain stood up, brushing the withered, yellowish soil from her fingertips, her delicate brows tightly knit together.

"It's not just the poison mist dissipating," the captain said, her gaze fixed on the direction of the dark valley, her tone extremely grave. "The geomancy Source Power here... it's as if it was swallowed whole by some terrifying entity. Even the Life Trees in this outer area are showing signs of vitality loss."

She turned to look at the other two team members and issued an order.

"Release the Windrunner Falcon immediately. Report this situation to the Elder Council with utmost urgency," the captain commanded, her slender fingers resting on the hilt of her blade as she arranged matters methodically. "The Illusionary Mist Valley is a natural barrier blocking the savage beast tides from the south. With the barrier gone, if those tides surge in, several of our forward outposts on the defensive line will face annihilation. This is definitely not a result of natural evolution. Some incredibly powerful outsider must have intervened in this area."

The young male wanderer immediately retrieved from a pouch at his waist a bird model that appeared semi-transparent, as if condensed from raging wind. He channeled a wisp of cyan magical Source Power into it. The bird instantly came to life, transforming into a faint streak of cyan light that shot skyward, disappearing into the dense canopy above.

Throughout this entire process, Zhou Wannian stood quietly in the shadow of the ancient tree, less than five zhang away from them.

Not even the rhythm of his breathing changed by the slightest bit. The wood-attribute Law, having just reached the Perfection Realm, granted him near-perfect concealment within this forest. As long as he did not actively emit a shred of hostility or energy fluctuation, in the perception of these wanderers, he was merely a moss-covered dead log, or a patch of bark on the ancient tree.

Golden Boy lay motionless at the edge of his sleeve, like an inanimate golden ornament.

After arranging the report, the female captain remounted her silver wolf. She took one last sweeping look at the seemingly tranquil forest around her. Her gaze lingered on the ancient tree concealing Zhou Wannian for an extremely brief half-second before shifting away.

"We cannot proceed further. There may be dangers ahead beyond our ability to handle," the captain said, pulling on the reins. Her silver wolf let out a low whine. "Return along our original path. Expand the patrol radius. Stay alert to any suspicious energy fluctuations. Move out."

The three silver wolves, like three silver bolts of lightning, made a few leaps among the trees and completely vanished from Zhou Wannian's sight.

In the shadow of the woods, Zhou Wannian slowly straightened up from the tree trunk.

He glanced in the direction the wanderers had departed. No ripples stirred in his deep eyes. The movements of these local forces held little value in his view. What concerned him now was whether the pursuers from the Heavenly Court had already extended their reach to this remote land, far from the central divine domains.

If the Heavenly Court's people had indeed tracked him here, he naturally would not show mercy. But without absolute conflict, he had no desire to unleash a massacre in this unfamiliar territory and invite unnecessary trouble.

"Let's go. We'll leave this mountain range first."

Zhou Wannian lifted his foot, no longer deliberately concealing his tracks. His form transformed into a faint wisp of cyan smoke among the trees, speeding towards the outskirts of the Falling Leaves Mountain Range like a fleeting shadow.

Ten days later.

As the first faint rays of dawn pierced the mist at the forest's edge, Zhou Wannian's field of vision finally opened up.

The endless expanse of green forest sea was left behind. Ahead lay an incredibly vast plain. A wide, jade-belt-like azure river meandered across the plain. On its surface floated merchant vessels of various sizes and flying vessels crafted from enormous leaves.

And at the far end of that azure river, a city of such grand, breathtaking scale lay quietly on the horizon like a docile ancient behemoth.

The architectural style of that city was completely different from the rugged wildness of Shura City. It lacked towering black walls. Instead, its defensive array consisted of countless massive jade pillars emitting a soft white light. The buildings within the city were arranged in an orderly yet varied fashion, mostly constructed from white jade and cyan spirit wood, appearing extremely light and imbued with an elven, fantastical beauty.

Countless trails of multicolored flight paths crisscrossed the sky above the city, indicative of its bustling commerce and exchange.

Zhou Wannian stopped on a high slope at the edge of the plain, his gaze lingering on the magnificent jade city for a moment.

He brought two fingers to his brow, pressing the map Jade Slip purchased from the Evergreen Pavilion there, quickly verifying his location.

"Jadeite Royal City," Zhou Wannian stated calmly, lowering his hand as he pronounced the city's name.

This was one of the largest hub cities within the Yimu Realm and a vital transportation artery leading to other Realms. For Zhou Wannian, who urgently needed to gather intelligence on the Heavenly Court's movements and required large-scale teleportation arrays to continue moving and hiding his tracks, this was undoubtedly the most suitable place to stop.

Zhou Wannian adjusted his green robe, regulating his aura to that of an utterly ordinary True Core stage Peak state. He did not choose to fly directly into the city from the air. Instead, descending the slope, he followed a broad merchant road paved with cyan stone slabs. Like an ordinary traveler on a long journey, he walked at an unhurried pace towards the main gate of Jadeite Royal City.