Chapter 2012: Endless and Boundless

“Oh, so this is the source of the blood scent! This entire stone forest is permeated with that smell!”

He Lingchuan said solemnly, "Don't you think the cross-section texture of these stone slabs closely resembles muscle and blood vessels?"

Everyone exchanged glances, a shiver running down their spines.

What kind of place is this? The stone forest actually consumes people, especially those who stray or are on the edges.

Upon a quick headcount, to their dismay, over twenty people had vanished without a sound in just a short while.

He Lingchuan immediately ordered, "Advance in teams of four, cover each other, and pay close attention to the stone slabs around you. Also, switch to spears and put away your short weapons!"

Luo Xie whispered, "My Lord, what about our comrades who were captured earlier..."

"The positions of these stone slabs are constantly shifting; you won't be able to find them," He Lingchuan said, as if with full confidence. "Only by breaking the divine spell itself can they be rescued!"

"Divine spell!" Luo Xie exclaimed, clearly startled.

Are there even deities in this vicinity?

They continued to advance.

Shortly after, shouts and sounds of struggle echoed from behind.

The Black Armored Army quickly turned around to see four warriors rushing toward them, pointing at the stone slabs. "Two monsters leaped out from inside and tried to drag us in!" they reported.

Their comrades had been ambushed this way earlier. However, now that they were in groups of four and mentally prepared, they immediately detected the anomaly.

He Lingchuan asked, "What kind of monsters?"

"They walk upright, somewhat human-like, and are completely hairless. One had sharp teeth and three eyes, while the other had four claws," the eyewitness summarized. "They were ugly and bizarre."

"The monster with the third eye on its forehead—when its gaze swept over me, my mind went completely blank. If Ah Yi hadn't saved me, I would have been dragged away too," said one of the direct witnesses, still visibly shaken.

No wonder the Black Armored Army soldiers had been captured so silently. "Where are the monsters now?"

"We thrust our spears, and they simply leaped back into the stone slabs and vanished."

He Lingchuan pondered, muttering, "Can it really happen even in an unsealed environment?"

The others didn't quite catch what he said. "What was that, My Lord?" they asked.

He Lingchuan waved a dismissive hand and asked the Blood Fiend, "Can you locate the source of this blood scent?"

This creature, formed from accumulated blood fiend energy, should be most attuned to the origin and flow of such blood energy.

"Let me try," the Blood Fiend replied. "First, bring me a monster—a live one."

"Alright."

He Lingchuan put away his long weapon and deliberately walked close to the edges of the stone slabs.

He was bold, relying on his skill, and put himself at risk. However, the monsters seemed to recognize his prowess and didn't emerge to attack him.

After walking another seven or eight *zhang*, Luo Xie suddenly let out a surprised sound. "It seems we've come back to where we started. I made a mark on this stone slab earlier."

"The terrain is subtly shifting, and someone is secretly observing us," He Lingchuan said, unsurprised. "Consider this stone forest a formation. We won't be able to leave until we break its core."

No sooner had he spoken than two humanoid monsters suddenly darted out from the nearby stone slabs. Both were only half a person's height, with large heads and small bodies. Their faces featured a single eye and a wide mouth that stretched back to their ears, filled with sharp teeth.

One of these monsters lunged for his eye, the other for his neck.

There was no other option; the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities was entirely encased in armor, leaving only these two areas exposed.

The monster attacking from the front hadn't even landed a blow when a flash of blade energy decapitated it. The one pouncing from behind was instantly enveloped by the blood cloak, squeaked twice, and then fell silent.

From inside the cloak, there were sounds that seemed like chewing or bubbling, but upon closer listening, they vanished.

Not only He Lingchuan, but all the warriors near the stone slabs received the same "treatment." What had been a quiet stone forest moments before suddenly erupted with hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters!

These monsters were largely similar in appearance, with exceptionally tough skin and bones that required significant effort to cut open with ordinary blades.

From a high vantage point, He Lingchuan and his group would have appeared like a stirred hornet's nest, with countless monsters swarming them fearlessly.

Once their strategy of secretly capturing people was exposed, they gave up the pretense and swarmed out in full force.

Although the monsters had sharp teeth and claws, the armored warriors weren't too difficult to fight, to be honest. The real problem was that the creatures emerging from the stone slabs seemed endless; for every one they killed, two more appeared to replace it.

In just a matter of seconds, almost every warrior found themselves fighting four or more monsters simultaneously.

This quickly became chaotic, so everyone huddled back-to-back and began hacking down the stone slabs within their formation.

Suddenly, a warrior shouted, "The monster corpses are being absorbed by the ground!"

Everyone stared intently, and it was true! The monsters they had painstakingly killed fell to the ground and sank into it at a visible rate, as if disappearing into a swamp.

The ground beneath their feet was consuming the monster corpses.

Is this some kind of recycling or regeneration?

"They're consumed and then reassembled into new monsters," He Lingchuan stated. "The ground, the stone forest, and these monsters are all one entity. Attack their eyes; it'll save you effort!"

The desperate predicament from which they could not escape was like an open door for these monsters, allowing them to traverse freely.

A chill ran through everyone at this revelation. A living person's strength is finite; if the monsters were truly endless, wouldn't they eventually be worn down to death?

Even as he spoke, another two or three individuals were dragged into the stone slabs before anyone could react.

It seemed General Chongwu intended to wait until they were utterly exhausted before making his move and claiming the spoils.

He Lingchuan whispered, "With so many lively ones around, aren't you going to make your move?"

"My apologies, my apologies, I was too absorbed," the Blood Fiend chuckled dryly, thoroughly captivated by the abundant blood scent. It quickly inhaled another gulp, transforming into a wisp of red mist.

He Lingchuan impaled the lunging monster with a single strike, then kicked it away. Severely wounded, the creature immediately turned and plunged back into the stone slab.

Yes, they could retreat into the stone slabs to heal their injuries, reappearing perfectly intact.

However, that wisp of red mist had already darted into its wound, then followed it as it vanished into the stone slab.

This was the Blood Fiend's doppelganger.

By sensing the connection between its main body and this doppelganger, it could opportunistically infiltrate the vast entity of the "stone forest"—from the surface to underground, from individual monsters to the entire collective, and from the stone slabs to the whole formation.

"Oh-ho, oh-ho! This place is truly fascinating!" He Lingchuan couldn't usually see the Blood Fiend's face, but he could detect its surprise in its tone. "All this blood energy is flowing in specific directions, like the internal circulation of a tree."

He Lingchuan shook his head. "Doesn't it resemble the human circulatory system more?"

"Oh, you're right!" the Blood Fiend exclaimed in surprise. "You knew what this was all along?"

It had lived for over two thousand years and never encountered such a thing; how could He Lingchuan, at his young age, possibly know?

"By coincidence, I have some idea," He Lingchuan said, cleaving a monster in two. "Have you found it?"

"What exactly are you looking for?" the Blood Fiend asked, finding the request too vague and needing to narrow its search. "Be more specific, and I can find it."