Chapter 158: Misty Sea

The leader of the Shocked God Sect, Mu Ze, seemed to feel that his previous remarks were a bit overly grand and reluctantly added,

“Apologies for the impression. The real purpose of my Shocked God Sect’s disciples exploring the Endless Ruins Sea is merely to hone their abilities, will, and cooperation skills—not to actually seek out any earth-shaking treasures from the ruins.”

“After all, our predecessors have traversed that place more than once. While we can’t say we know it like the back of our hand, we are at least somewhat familiar with it. Opportunities do exist, but they are exceedingly rare. Even if they do appear, they are often accompanied by greater dangers…”

“Heh, what’s meant to be will always be, and what’s not meant to be shouldn’t be forced.”

Hearing this, Miss Vilyric suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, how many people does the Shocked God Sect actually have? Disciples as capable as them at such a young age shouldn’t be easy to find, right?”

Mu Ze smiled slightly.

“Miss Vilyric makes a valid point. To be frank, over the past two hundred years, we’ve only passed down three generations, totaling just over thirty disciples. What you see around you are all that remain in the sect.”

“Oh…”

Instead of laughing at the pitifully small number of disciples, the Priestess nodded thoughtfully.

This Shocked God Sect… their background seems rather complicated.

When they first encountered them, Shangguan Hong fearlessly scolded those from the Black Scale Army in the teahouse. Vilyric didn’t forget that the Black Scale Army was a regular force under the Mo Sect of the Five Elemental Sect in the Dongyuanzhi Kingdom.

In a kingdom where the Five Elemental Sect and the Dongyuanzhi Holy Sect formed an absolute leadership alliance, the Black Scale Army could be considered one of the nation’s best and most elite forces, even if not to the extent of the Ling Wei Army in the Western Spirit Kingdom.

However, when the Shocked God Sect faced them back then, they didn’t seem particularly nervous or flustered, giving Vilyric the impression of an upper-level inspecting their subordinates.

Well, no need to delve too deeply into it.

After all, Miss Vilyric wasn’t a local of the Ancient Spirit Realm, so however those local powers sorted things out was up to them, as long as it didn’t interfere with her participation in the Four Saints Selection Tournament to reach Lingyin Fairy Island.

If she was truly curious, she could always ask Swallow for more details; she would definitely know, or else she wouldn’t have chosen to join the Shocked God Sect.

As they chatted, some visible changes began to blanket the crowd gathered here, awaiting the opening of the Endless Ruins Sea.

“Oh? Has it finally come?”

The black-haired girl looked up, surveying the light white mist gradually rising around them, making their vision increasingly blurry, yet she didn’t seem too surprised.

She simply took half a step back to regroup with her comrades and casually grabbed the slightly larger delicate hand of a silver-haired girl beside her.

“Hn, Hen, no matter what happens, don’t stray too far from me. I will protect you.”

“…Mm.”

Seemingly not quite used to being held so firmly, Miss Hen instinctively frowned, but ultimately didn’t pull away. Instead, she let out a small hum in response to the slightly curious gaze of a certain cat girl.

“Everyone, we need to prepare to enter the mountains. The depths of this mist conceal the hidden path to the Endless Ruins Sea. Please recall the precautions I mentioned earlier; if you find yourselves lost and unable to locate the other comrades, do not force it—quickly light a lamp and return to the outside world.”

As Mu Ze spoke, a rare serious expression overtook the usually mild smile on his face.

“I’ll emphasize once more, the Endless Ruins Sea may appear vast and boundless, but it’s just a hair’s breadth away from the underworld. If you accidentally wander into the true Three Paths, there’s no coming back… I’m not joking about this.”

After exchanging glances with the three, the Priestess didn’t linger any longer.

“Let’s go.”

Together with the throng gradually making their way into the mountains, Vilyric and the others stepped into the truly mist-covered hills, quickly vanishing from sight.

The mist deepened within the mountains, surrounding visibility grew increasingly poor. Although the Priestess had experienced similar conditions several times during their travels, this time felt distinct.

Typically, mist comprises tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air, but in reality, whether facing the “Southern Disaster” or the clouds shrouding Spirit Butterfly Peak, both were manifestations of energy, different from true fog.

However, in this nameless hill of Xinchuan County, the mist that permeated the area genuinely appeared as a natural phenomenon. Vilyric could distinctly feel the rising humidity in the air, and the mist itself didn’t carry any energy.

Yet, this seemingly ordinary and purely coincidental change was in itself the greatest mystery.

“Miss Xiao Kong, is there anything unusual about this space?”

Upon hearing the black-haired girl’s low inquiry, the cat girl, along with her white cat in her arms, turned her head and casually replied in a voice only they could hear.

“Nothing at all; the space is stable, and there are no signs connecting to another space, nor is there any seal. If I wanted, I could immediately teleport us back to where we entered the mountains.”

“Mm…”

Since the most capable person present after her, proficient in spatial techniques, had replied in this way, Vilyric could finally confirm her suspicions.

This mist is just regular mist, a common natural phenomenon, not due to any hidden formations in the area being artificially created through energy manipulation.

And since Xinchuan County is mostly hilly terrain, with heavy humidity in the shaded areas, it perfectly meets the conditions for natural mist to develop around this time close to dawn.

How strange… Surely the Shocked God Sect didn’t make a mistake?

But even if they messed up, there are so many people waiting outside, and those who already entered the mountains wouldn’t all misjudge the location at once…

Pondering this, the Priestess turned her gaze towards another “guide” beside her.

“Murong Yun, you entered earlier… hmm?”

Wait, where did Murong Yun go?!

The black-haired girl’s pupils constricted.

That guy… was just beside them a moment ago; how did he vanish in the blink of an eye?

Moreover, throughout this time, Vilyric hadn’t felt any unusual energy fluctuations; it was as if he just evaporated into thin air!

No, no… There indeed was a moment when something peculiar occurred, but it wasn’t a spatial fluctuation, and it lasted too briefly for her to have paid it enough attention.

What was that?

Not bothering to hide her intentions, the Priestess decisively released sp to assist her somewhat blurry vision while observing the surroundings.

The Shocked God Sect’s members were still walking a short distance ahead, and there were still plenty of them, but that guy Murong Yun was definitely no longer here. Even Xiao Kong and Hen seemed to notice this at almost the same time and stopped in a harmonious unison.

Exchanging glances with Vilyric, the silver-haired girl seemed contemplative.

“It seems he has already entered the Endless Ruins Sea.”

   

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