Heaven’s Shadow

Yi Xin's eyes twinkled as a look of delight appeared on her face, "So the Barren Valley is over there? I heard that ten years ago, the demonic cult had laid an insidious formation in that place, plotting to absorb blood and flesh essences from the countless spiritual beings. As a result, our righteous True Immortal Alliance dispatched an army and dealt a heavy blow to the demonic cult. Until today, they have yet to recover from it."

Lu Chen was taken aback. He turned to Yi Xin and looked at her with an astonished expression, "Formation to absorb blood and flesh essences from the countless spiritual beings? Where did you hear that from?"

Just as Yi Xin was about to reply, He Gang sneered, "Junior Sister, don't listen to those rumors, will you? In the battle back then, the formation that those villains from the demonic cult had set up in secrecy was obviously an 'Eighteen Hell Formation'. They had intended to summon an army of demons from the underworld to bring forth disaster to the mortal world. It has nothing to do with spiritual beings or blood essences at all."

Yi Xin was unconvinced and frowned in displeasure, "That's not it! That was what I heard from master, that was how master spoke of this matter." Then, she turned to Lu Chen and asked, "Brother Lu, what do you think? Have you ever heard of what the demonic cult did in the Barren Valley?"

Lu Chen was silent for a moment before a bitter smile appeared on his face. He shook his head, "I don't know either."

He Gang had intended to add on, but Han Nanzu, who was walking in front, turned around and glared at his two members, "What are you all prattling about? Hurry up."

He Gang and Xin Yi seemed to hold this Senior Uncle of theirs in high esteem. Hearing his words, they dared not speak further. As such, the party of four continued heading in the southwest direction toward the Black Armored Mountain.

The other two paths that led toward different directions were deserted and laid silently amidst a field of weeds.

When they finally reached the foot of the Black Armored Mountain and began their scale upward, the difficulty of the journey immediately heightened significantly. That was because demonic beasts were everywhere on Black Armored Mountain. It was hard to find shortcuts, even with a seasoned guide like Lu Chen.

Most of the demonic beasts in the Confounding Lands are ferocious beings. Upon catching sight of a human passerby, it is highly likely that they would take the initiative to engage them. Thus, Han Nanzu and the others drew their weapon and pushed ahead by slaughtering demonic beasts.

It was fortunate that the location was not too deep within Confounding Lands, and as such, the strength of the demonic beasts were just ordinary. They were ferocious but lacked intelligence. Thus, Han Nanzu and the others still found the situation manageable.

However, halfway up the mountain, He Gang, whose face and body were dyed with blood, was finally unable to stand it anymore. He eyeballed Lu Chen coldly and said frostily, "Lu Chen, why aren't you fighting at all?"

Throughout the journey so far, Lu Chen had indeed been standing idly by the side. Thinking of it now, it was bizarre that the demonic beasts on the mountain headed mainly for Han Nanzu and the others, and rarely did they pick a fight with Lu Chen. Thus, he was able to watch the battles from the side leisurely without any intentions of getting involved at all.

Hearing He Gang's words, Lu Chen smiled, "We've already agreed on it beforehand. I am only responsible for bringing you around and I won't be interfering in anything else."

"You..."

He Gang was infuriated, but he was stopped by a bellow from Han Nanzu. The middle-aged man looked at Lu Chen with a frown, "Brother Lu, we have promised you and will not go back on our words. Just that, we are already on the Black Armored Mountain, but where are the Dusk Mist Flowers?"

Lu Chen smiled and took two steps forward. He studied the mountain briefly and then beckoned them over, "Follow me."

Thus, the party of four pushed on once again. Han Nanzu and the other two followed behind Lu Chen and watched him tread eastward on the Black Armored Mountain. During the journey of two hours, they had met with several waves of demonic beasts. They were still able to cope, but the pack of 'Black Jackals' which they encountered by the mountainous stream proved to be slightly troublesome.

The Black Jackal is an ordinary low-level demonic beast and does not bear much difference, feature-wise, from hounds raised by farmers residing in the wilderness outside the Confounding Lands. The only differences are its larger stature and aggressive personality. Even in Black Armored Mountain, the Black Jackal is counted as one of the weaker demonic beasts. However, this species tends to gather in packs. One rarely sees a Black Jackal appearing alone. At the same time, the Black Jackals are much more intelligent than other demonic beasts. Whenever they meet a prey, the whole pack would charge forward, hence making it a difficult demonic beast to deal with.

On the path by the mountainous stream, Lu Chen and the rest saw such a pack of Black Jackals, numbering around seven to eight. In actuality, that wasn't considered a huge pack, but even so, the species allowed He Gang and Yi Xin to witness what being cunning meant.

The Black Jackals surrounded them before causing a ruckus on the east while in fact, they were attacking from the west. After which, they swiftly concluded that Yi Xin and He Gang were the weakest two of the group and focused their efforts on them. This left the two youngsters in great panic.

This was especially so Yi Xin. Because she had little contact with the outside world, when the ferocious wild dogs leapt at her, one after the other, her beautiful face was flushed of color, and she could only effectively utilise fifty percent of her full strength.

However, it was fortunate that within the group, there was the highly cultivated and experienced Han Nanzu. Charging forward alone with his sword, he killed three wild dogs and wounded two. Only then did they manage to scare the remaining few into retreat, thus saving the flustered Yi Xin.

During the entire process, still, Lu Chen made no movement. While Yi Xin remained in shock, He Gang glared at Lu Chen furiously. He was about to curse him for his inaction when he saw Lu Chen standing by the edge of the cliff beside the stream. He looked around before beckoning them over. "We're here. The Dusk Mist Flower is below."

Lu Chen was right. When Han Nanzu and the others walked over to take a look, they saw a several zhang high waterfall. Water gushed downward and collected to form a pool, and by the side, there were numerous pink-colored flowers thriving on the wet stone wall.

(1 zhang = 3.33m)

This time, He Gang could not be bothered to quarrel with Lu Chen. They hurriedly searched for a path down the mountain and made their way toward the pool.

Han Nanzu glanced at the stone wall and revealed a smile, "Indeed, they're Dusk Mist Flowers. To think that there would be so much of it growing here."

He Gang and Yi Xin were delighted. The goal of their journey here was just to pick ten Dusk Mist Flowers. However, upon seeing that, at a minimum, there were twenty of them on the stone wall, they were overjoyed by the abundance before them.

Immediately, He Gang and Yi Xin ran quickly to the stone wall to collect their harvest. Conversely, Han Nanzu walked to Lu Chen and asked, "Brother Lu, this is a good place, and I am thankful to you for leading us here. However, the 2-mark Dusk Mist Flower that you spoke of earlier..."

Lu Chen nodded his head before pointing to the waterfall. "If I'm not wrong, there should be a 2-mark flower growing on the stone wall behind the waterfall. You should take a look yourself."

Han Nanzu was taken aback and astonishment flashed across his eyes. However, after a moment of silence, he nodded his head and walked toward the waterfall.

He arrived at the side of the waterfall and climbed nimbly onto the wall. Even though there were quite a number of slippery spots that were not suitable to grab, the task was no problem to him at all.

Not long after, he made an abrupt pause before proceeding under the waterfall. He then picked a large bright-red flower before leaping from the cliff.

Upon landing, Han Nanzu examined the red flower in his hands meticulously and a smile crept onto his face. He nodded his head, "Indeed, it's a 2-mark flower."

After pondering for a short moment, he grabbed a pouch from within his garment in one clean motion and tossed it to Lu Chen. "The other half of your reward."

Lu Chen caught the pouch with one hand and nodded with a smile. He was about to say something when he suddenly frowned and turned around to take a look.

On the forlorn mountain, apart from the sound of rustling trees from the blowing wind, nothing else could usually be heard. But at this moment, there was a peculiarity. Amidst the wind, one could vaguely distinguish the faint howling of hounds from the distance.

Lu Chen's expression darkened. With a deep frown on his face, he turned toward Han Nanzu and said, "Stop picking the flowers. Let's leave."

...