Chapter 1796: Playing to Their Interests

The origin we are tracing is the true purpose of our visit to Xuanming Valley, and it is also the core reason this place is considered a forbidden zone.

During the day, the valley's scenery was remarkably clear.

However, to everyone's utter surprise, once night fell and the sky darkened, the climatic changes on both sides of this longer passage were astonishing.

On the left, the perpetual snow began melting at an incredible speed, and the originally icy air became exceptionally hot. The melted snow transformed into vast amounts of water, completely flooding the passage that divided the two sides of the valley in the middle.

At this point, Xu Yang and his two companions had to quickly fashion a small boat to float along this passage.

All the accumulated water flowed like a river, extending further towards the end of the valley.

Meanwhile, on the right side, where lush greenery and a vibrant spring atmosphere had prevailed, everything rapidly withered away in the darkness, and all life perished.

The sounds of insects and birds completely vanished.

Gazing at the valley, now a barren expanse, Qingya was almost paralyzed with fear.

She simply couldn't understand why the climate in this place changed so drastically between day and night.

Moreover, all life cycles in this place lasted only a single day.

Xu Yang quickly realized that if they continued to advance along the central passage as they were, it would be difficult to uncover the true anomaly of the valley.

Therefore, Xu Yang decided to take a risk, leading Qingya and Long Kun to venture deeper into the valley's two sides. They would first explore the area on the right, where all life force was withering away.

Soon after stepping inside, Qingya reacted; after all, she was relatively the weakest among the three.

She quickly noticed her once smooth, porcelain-like skin rapidly aging and shriveling, accompanied by a slowdown in her life force fluctuations.

Even her naturally beautiful and ethereal appearance showed signs of aging.

Upon discovering the changes in her body, Xu Yang unhesitatingly placed a hand on Qingya's shoulder, using the continuous flow of life force from within himself to sustain her.

Indeed, with Xu Yang, a walking spring of life, by her side, Qingya no longer felt flustered, even deep within this extremely bizarre valley.

“What exactly is going on?” Qingya asked. “Is this secret hidden beneath the valley? Why does our life force rapidly drain away the moment we step in here, yet we don't feel any devouring aura?”

Xu Yang pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

“If my judgment is correct, there's only one reason.”

“What triggers the decline of our life force isn't a stable energy cycle or a law of nature. It's a life form.”

Xu Yang meant that the source devouring all life force in the valley was a living creature.

It possessed its own independent and powerful consciousness, which allowed it to subtly devour all life energy in its surroundings without leaving a trace.

But a new problem arose: how could they uncover this hidden source of life-devouring plague lurking in the darkness?

This time, Xu Yang revealed a sly smile; clearly, he already had a very clear idea.

“It's simple,” he said. “Play to its preferences. Isn't it exceptionally sensitive to and impulsive about life force?

Then we'll offer a sufficiently rich bait, and it will surely reveal itself.”

As Xu Yang finished speaking, he actively cast a powerful law, enveloping the three of them.

This completely shielded their aura from being released into the surroundings.

Indeed, strangely enough, once this law was formed, even when Xu Yang stopped supplying extra life force to Qingya, the girl no longer showed any signs of physical aging. This seemed to further corroborate Xu Yang's earlier judgment.

It meant that the entity, hindered by the law Xu Yang had created, could no longer detect their aura, and thus naturally stopped devouring their life force.

Thinking this, Xu Yang once again mentally connected with the Life Ancient Tree.

“Senior Ancient Tree, I'm afraid I'll need your help this time.”

After understanding Xu Yang's intention and the upcoming battle plan, the Life Ancient Tree gladly agreed to his request, manifesting a totem of itself at the edge of the law-space created by the trio.

From every angle, it appeared to be a complete Life Ancient Tree.

Qingya, after all, had never seen such a vibrant plant brimming with life force.

Little did she know that this 'old fellow' before her was largely responsible for being the source of life for the entire main continent. She merely observed every intricate detail of the ancient tree totem with astonishment, then exclaimed in admiration.

“You really have so many treasures on you,” she remarked. “This single ancient tree alone must be priceless.”

Xu Yang smiled but said nothing. He thought to himself that even if it meant exchanging the entire vast expanse of the Ancient Martial God Path, he would never relinquish the true essence and soul of the Life Ancient Tree.

Because as long as this ancient tree existed, life would never wither away.

Xu Yang had already mastered the Great Dao of Life and Death, and the insights the Life Ancient Tree had provided him were crucial to reaching this level.

Soon, a powerful life aura began to contend with all the decaying and withering auras in the surroundings. It was like a bright moon ignited in the darkness; though its light wasn't dazzling, it could tear apart the eternal gloom of this place, bringing new hope to the dying lives around them.

As expected, with the appearance of the Life Ancient Tree, more and more withered lives that had been decaying and perishing in the darkness began to recover.

Xu Yang and his two companions waited calmly, like hunters biding their time for their prey to show itself.

What Xu Yang and his companions didn't anticipate was that during this time, a fourth person also appeared in the area.

At that moment, the masked figure was on the water-covered passage, constantly approaching the jungle where Xu Yang and his companions were. However, due to the powerful corrupting life force within this valley's jungle, they did not immediately enter.

However, the radiance emitted by the life aura soon attracted the attention of the newcomer.

After a moment's consideration, the slender masked figure finally abandoned the small boat and entered the area where Xu Yang and his companions were.

This person was undoubtedly the female assassin from the Heavenly Sect, a mid-stage Dao Fusion realm cultivator, who had previously shared a unique experience with Xu Yang.

In fact, this woman had embarked on a journey to follow the trio as soon as they left Tian Capital.

However, their Heavenly Sect possessed a very unique method of concealing their aura, making it difficult even for someone with Xu Yang's powerful spiritual energy level to detect her presence without special precautions.

Yet, the moment she stepped into the decaying jungle this time, Xu Yang's familiar smile reappeared on his face.

“Heh heh,” he chuckled. “It seems I've waited not just for one prey this time. The game just got a lot more interesting.”