Chapter 1211: Mist Magic Liquid

Jiang Fan immediately recognized the greed in their eyes. The Sanqing Mountain sect had always given him the impression of being insatiably greedy, and they consistently lived up to that stereotype. The former sect leader was like that, and the new one was even worse!

“The mist conceals great danger,” Jiang Fan stated. “Is it truly wise to still be plotting murder and treasure-grabbing at a time like this?” He spoke bluntly, exposing the sinister intentions of the Sanqing Mountain sect leader.

The Sanqing Mountain sect leader’s aged eyes narrowed to slits, a flicker of calculation crossing his gaze. He conceded that Jiang Fan had a point. Even the Eight-Orifice Nascent Soul cultivators they brought couldn't see through this mist. It was incredibly eerie! There must be unknown dangers lurking within! Indeed, this was not the time for a skirmish.

The problem was, with the Essence of Fire, everyone else would be stuck, unable to move, but Sanqing Mountain could use it to continue exploring the battlefield. Between risk and reward, the Sanqing Mountain sect leader chose the latter.

He flicked his whisk, chuckling hoarsely, “Deputy Pavilion Master Jiang, you jest. This sect leader merely wishes to borrow something; I’ll naturally return it once I’m finished.”

Jiang Fan narrowed his eyes. “What if I refuse?”

The Sanqing Mountain sect leader chuckled. “When Sanqing Mountain borrows something, there is no ‘refusal’ option!”

As his words fell, dense sounds erupted from beyond the twenty-zhang radius. It was clearly the disciples of Sanqing Mountain, rapidly converging on the faint glow.

Jiang Fan shook his head, pulled out the ancient giant’s burlap sack, and turned to the Tianji Pavilion members. “Please bear with this inconvenience. Mingzhu, you’re staying.”

The Tianji Pavilion master glanced at the Essence of Fire in Jiang Fan’s hand, understood immediately, and jumped into the burlap sack. The others followed suit. Only Huang Quan remained, arms crossed over his chest, stating, “If I go in, you’re dead.”

Hearing the sounds rapidly drawing closer, Jiang Fan said nothing more, taking Yue Mingzhu’s hand. Then, he extinguished the Essence of Fire. The surroundings immediately plunged back into an impenetrable mist.

“You people from Sanqing Mountain clearly have no idea what’s going on!” Without the illumination from his Essence of Fire, they couldn't even see where Jiang Fan was, so how could they possibly snatch the Essence of Fire?

The Sanqing Mountain sect leader’s expression changed. He bellowed, “Seal off the area! Don’t let him escape!” In such conditions, he dared not let his people make a reckless fatal move. It would be quite problematic if they accidentally hit their own. But sealing off the area was easier said than done. Blind as they were, any divine abilities or precious arts they cast were highly susceptible to flaws.

Immediately, various divine abilities and precious arts were unleashed in the darkness.

“Why did you seal me off?”

“Move a bit over there, you bumped into me!”

The scene devolved into utter chaos.

Jiang Fan, meanwhile, calmly squatted, using his recent memory to feel in the dark and dig up the mushrooms. Once most of them were dug up, he took advantage of the confusion to search for gaps in the blockade. Upon finding an opening, he decisively slipped through.

Having already activated his Silent Meditation, Jiang Fan communicated secretly with Yue Mingzhu using spiritual sense.

“Let them wander in circles here.”

“We’ll go elsewhere.”

Yue Mingzhu snorted softly. “These scoundrels from Sanqing Mountain, why don’t we take advantage of the chaos to eliminate a few?”

Jiang Fan replied, “Killing a few isn’t difficult, but I’d rather they die on the battlefield fighting the ancient giants. Dying here would be a waste and disrespectful to the many heroes who sacrificed themselves in this place.”

Only then did Yue Mingzhu concede, “Alright, I’ll listen to you, husband. Let’s go…”

No sooner had her words reached Jiang Fan’s mind than a piercing scream suddenly echoed through the rift. A Sanqing Mountain expert had been killed!

“What happened? What’s going on?” the Sanqing Mountain sect leader asked, startled, “Was someone accidentally injured?”

But the scream abruptly ceased. Replaced by a sickening crunching and gnawing sound. The rift fell into an abrupt silence. Everyone listened with a mix of surprise and dread to the eerie sounds, their hearts pounding. What… what was happening?

At that moment, a cold wind swept through, carrying a strong, foul stench of blood that washed over their faces, sending shivers down their spines. Though they couldn’t see, a horrifying image of a monstrous mouth devouring a Sanqing Mountain Nascent Soul cultivator, complete with gruesome sounds, flashed through their minds.

A terrified shriek shattered the surrounding silence. Immediately afterward, countless whooshing sounds filled the air. The Sanqing Mountain disciples were scrambling to flee.

“What’s got me trapped?”

“Let go of me!”

“Ah!”

But soon, terrified screams erupted one after another. One after another, people met their demise in the monstrous maw!

The new Sanqing Mountain sect leader’s face contorted in horror. He roared, “What is that thing? I am from Sanqing Mountain! Retreat at once!” His only response was more screams. The entity hidden in the mist was completely unaffected by its concealment, able to precisely target all its prey.

Hearing more and more disciples perish horribly, the new Sanqing Mountain sect leader grew increasingly frantic. He no longer cared about snatching Jiang Fan’s Essence of Fire, shouting, “Deputy Pavilion Master Jiang, quickly illuminate the surroundings! Otherwise, we’ll both die!”

Jiang Fan glanced at the source of the sound, stating indifferently, “The ones who will die are you, who can’t tell your directions.” With Yue Mingzhu to guide him, he felt no fear.

Seeing Jiang Fan about to leave, the new Sanqing Mountain sect leader gritted his teeth. “We’ll give you all the mushrooms we’ve collected here! The spatial storage device is in my hand. The incantation is: ‘All mine!’”

Jiang Fan’s eyes flickered. After a brief thought, he nodded. “Alright! Deal! Throw it in the direction of my voice!”

The air immediately hummed with a whooshing sound. Jiang Fan caught the item by sensing the air currents, then chanted the incantation and opened the spatial storage device. A quick glance revealed a small mountain of mushrooms! He couldn’t help but be startled. They must have harvested seventy to eighty percent of the mushrooms in the rift, he thought. A wave of delight washed over him.

He honored his agreement by conjuring the Essence of Fire, illuminating the surroundings. With a common enemy before them, he needed to temporarily set aside their grievances and confront the unknown terrifying entity.

However, as the light extended beyond twenty zhang, Jiang Fan’s pupils sharply contracted. At the edge of the illuminated area, a colossal head, faintly discernible in the darkness, was devouring the corpse of a Sanqing Mountain expert with its blood-soaked maw. Blood stained its numerous sharp teeth, which, illuminated by the firelight, appeared terrifyingly sinister!

Detecting the light, it bared its teeth in a grin, thrust its head forward, and revealed its true form. It was none other than a Giant King, possessing a massive single eye and a white Essence Star on its forehead!

The Sanqing Mountain sect leader and the other experts froze in terror! Their eyes widened, and their hair stood on end. Even in the crystal projections, the Giant King had exuded immense pressure. However, facing the Giant King in person, they realized that what they had seen through the crystal was merely a projection. Before the true Giant King, their very breath hitched. A chilling sensation of impending death robbed them of the strength to flee!

Only Jiang Fan, without a second thought, decisively retreated. The Mist Giant King’s eye rotated, locking onto Jiang Fan with a look of amusement. A scarlet blur suddenly shot from its mouth—its tongue. Jiang Fan was instantly coiled and, with lightning speed, yanked towards its maw! It had promised the Abyssal Hell Beast that it would devour Jiang Fan. How could it let Jiang Fan escape now? Indeed, such a puny ant stood no chance of escape.

However, what slightly startled it was that Jiang Fan, now held at its mouth, showed no fear. Instead, his expression remained composed. Moreover, at some unknown moment, he had grasped a box of open black demonic fluid!