184: Chapter 184 The Unruly Dragon Crossing the River

The mountain wind outside the canyon grew increasingly fierce, blowing the black, withered pines across the mountains and plains until they swayed and shook, like a dance of demons.

Gu Shen walked with his hands behind his back along the rugged, moss-covered mountain path, his robes billowing in the wind.

The tracks left by the three old-school Loose Cultivators as they scrambled away had long been covered by the wind and sand.

The air in the periphery of the Ten Thousand Mang Mountains was filled with a pungent odor, and the Five Elements Spiritual Qi was chaotic and disordered.

In such a desolate and treacherous place, ordinary Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivators would avoid it at all costs, needing to constantly expend true essence to maintain a protective spiritual light just to resist the erosion of the chaotic Qi between heaven and earth.

Gu Shen, however, did the exact opposite.

He withdrew all his externalized magic power into his bone marrow, allowing the violent wilderness airflow to lash against his skin.

Deep within his Dantian, the gray and profound [Nirvana Star Core] rotated steadily, following some ancient, unchanging rhythm.

The powerful gravitational force radiating from the surface of the star core was like the greedy maw of an abyss.

The violent and disordered particles of Spiritual Qi in the surroundings were forcibly drawn into his Meridians by this incredibly overbearing gravitational force the moment they touched his skin.

The vitality of the kongqing spirit marrow and the Death Qi of the Nirvana nuclear energy crushed each other within the star core, instantaneously grinding these complex Spiritual Qi particles into dust, and spitting out the purest deep cyan liquid true essence, which returned to his Qi Sea.

In this harsh and desperate land, while others found every step difficult, Gu Shen strolled leisurely, his aura growing increasingly long and heavy.

"What those three Loose Cultivators said was not false; this outer region is indeed strange."

Gu Shen stopped in front of a giant, abruptly broken rock pillar, his eyes deep and dark.

The border between the Ten Thousand Mang Mountains and the Yunmeng Great Swamp had always been a breeding ground where low-level Yao Beasts carved out territories to rule.

According to the common sense of the Cultivation World, in this kind of outer mountain forest, there should be a Second-Stage Yao Beast entrenched every few miles.

Yet, having walked more than ten miles, he found no sign of life from any Yao Beast across the mountains and plains, leaving behind only messy hoof prints and broken trees scattered everywhere.

Yao Beasts placed great importance on territorial concepts; unless they encountered an irresistible, catastrophic disaster, they would never willingly migrate their entire clan into the depths of the mountains.

Gu Shen raised his hand and gently stroked the broken rock pillar beside him.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and the internal structure of the rock pillar had already crystallized after high-temperature melting.

"Crab, investigate the surrounding geological parameters and residual substances." Gu Shen's consciousness sank slightly as he communicated with the black iron buckle at his collar.

"Understood, Master. Environmental modeling module activated."

Crab's monotonous electronic voice came through bone conduction, exuding absolute rigor, "The soil hardness in the target area exceeds the standard. Microwave spectral analysis shows that within a three-mile range ahead, silicate minerals exhibit large-scale vitrification. The residual temperature field is thirty degrees higher than the environmental baseline, and the air is enriched with high concentrations of red phosphorus and potassium nitrate derivatives."

Upon hearing this report, Gu Shen immediately had a clear judgment.

"It is not the innate true fire of a Yao Beast, but the power of a high-level Formation of Human Race Cultivators."

Gu Shen's gaze narrowed slightly; he strode past the rock pillar and followed the scorched marks along the way to explore deeper.

Crossing a ridge covered in thorns, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

What should have been a lush forest basin had now turned into a barren wasteland several miles in radius.

Scorched earth covered the fields, and vegetation had turned to ash.

The soil in the center of the basin had been baked by terrifying high temperatures into pieces of reflective, glass-like hard shells, refracting a tragic hue under the gloomy sky.

On the edge of the basin, more than a dozen carcasses of massive Yao Beasts lay dead in disarray.

Gu Shen's figure was like lightning; without activating his thunder shadow boots, relying solely on the powerful explosive force of his [Cold Jade Bone] Physical Body, he instantly dashed to the front of a dead Second-Stage High Grade Iron-Backed Gray Bear.

This giant bear, standing two zhang tall, was usually tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, able to withstand the heavy punches of a Body Cultivator of the same stage.

Now, however, it lay on the scorched earth like a pile of rotten meat.

Gu Shen extended two fingers and pinched a fatal piercing wound on the giant bear's abdomen.

The edges of the wound were smooth, the flesh and blood having long been evaporated by some extremely condensed sharp Qi, with not even a trace of internal organs spilling out.

"What overbearing Sword Qi penetrating power."

Gu Shen stood up and swept his gaze over the remaining Yao Beast carcasses around him.

Their causes of death were identical; all had been instantly exterminated by highly coordinated, clearly divided battle Formation techniques.

Some had their skulls pierced by ice cones, others had their spines shattered by heavy Magical Artifacts; the killing methods were clean and efficient, without any trace of the dragging, lingering skirmishes typical of Human Race Loose Cultivators.

"The Sects of Great Yu have always considered themselves the superior state and have established ironclad laws with the Yao Race royal court regarding border markers.

High-level Cultivators never easily step foot into the depths of the Mang Mountains to avoid inciting a riot among the great Yao."

Gu Shen stood with his hands behind his back on the scorched earth, his expression indifferent, "Now, the spirit boats of this Beast Taming Sect have not only swaggered across the border markers, but have also dispatched elites to form battle Formations, slaughtering wantonly in this periphery and forcibly clearing the area.

These Over-the-River Dragons truly do not follow any rules."

The only explanation for a super Sect risking the danger of tearing off all pretenses to send a massive army to crush the Mang Mountains was that deep within these Ten Thousand Mountains, an supreme Opportunity had been conceived, one that would make even a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor drool with greed.

When Opportunities move people's hearts, rules become waste paper.

Gu Shen looked around at this tragic battlefield, feeling no fear in his heart, but instead giving rise to an urge to try his hand.

Only in chaotic situations can one fish in troubled waters.

The more overbearingly the Beast Taming Sect clears the area, the more gaps and omissions they will leave behind.

He only needed to follow behind like a ghost; such a battlefield of sectarian infighting was an excellent hunting ground for him to expand his foundation.

Just as he was about to take a step to continue forward, Gu Shen's footsteps paused slightly.

The feedback from the [Nirvana Star Core] made his five senses extremely sharp.

A trace of extremely subtle Spiritual Qi fluctuation quietly circulated at the edge of the dense forest on the left that had not been affected.

"Master, one hundred and twenty zhang to the front left, the arrangement of several ancient trees presents a regular magnetic field resonance.

Infrared thermal imaging captured metal artifacts buried in the shallow underground layer, and the energy circuits are in a standby, triggered state." Crab's warning sounded at the right moment.

"A hidden sentry alarm Formation."

Gu Shen snorted coldly, his pace not stopping, and walked straight towards the dense forest.

Large Sects always acted meticulously; after their army passed through and swept an area, they would surely set up warning Formations at critical checkpoints along the way to guard against great Yao from the depths of the Mang Mountains tracking them, or to guard against hostile Cultivators from behind acting as the oriole behind the mantis.

He was still ten zhang away from the dense forest.

The surrounding scenery changed abruptly.

The several towering ancient trees that had been standing still saw their branches and leaves grow wildly, like thick giant pythons, lashing fiercely towards the direction where Gu Shen was.

The ground soil churned, and dozens of metal-lustered ground spikes burst from the soil, sealing off all space for evasion.

"A mere Wood-Stone Strangling Formation dares to block me?"

Gu Shen did not dodge or yield; there was no green light of a magic power shield on his body.

Facing the lashing giant trees, he clenched his right fist, and lightning patterns surged deep within his arm bones.

Pure physical strength layered upon itself, and he punched towards the sky without any fancy tricks!

"Bang!"

A dull sonic boom resounded through the mountain forest.

The mutant giant tree, as thick as a water bucket, crumbled inch by inch the moment it touched Gu Shen's fist, like rotten wood hitting fine steel.

Exploding wood chips mixed with wood-attribute Spiritual Qi splashed everywhere.

The metal ground spikes that shot out from the underground hit Gu Shen's leg armor and skin, emitting a teeth-aching friction sound.

The ground spikes, which were enough to pierce High Grade defensive Magical Artifacts, could not even scratch a sliver of Gu Shen's skin, and were instead broken into several pieces by the overwhelming counter-shock force.

The might of the [Cold Jade Bone] was fierce to this extent.

Gu Shen walked through the Formation area he had forcibly demolished as if strolling in a courtyard.

He stepped down and directly crushed the Formation Plate core buried deep in the soil.

The spiritual light faded completely.

"When a large army presses on the border, they will surely leave traces.

Following the vine to get to the melon, one can always find out their true intentions."

Gu Shen straightened his sleeves, his [Thousand Faces] disguise seamless.

Stepping on those broken, withered branches and fallen leaves, he followed the faint lingering aura of the Beast Taming Sect, silently sneaking towards the even deeper hinterland of the Ten Thousand Mang Mountains.