Chapter 1 The Golden Light

Golden light howled, like a comet. The Sovereigns stared intently, their eyes stinging slightly, as if looking directly at the scorching sun.

The source of the golden light was a goddess of unparalleled beauty. Her features were exquisite and flawless, but to the high-ranking beings present, it was her ethereal, celestial bearing and the surging aura of purification that inspired awe and apprehension.

As she approached the star-like forms of the two Slaughter Instance dungeons, the aloof and elegant goddess suddenly halted.

Whoosh! Behind her, layers upon layers of golden light surged like a tidal wave, whipping her skirt and black hair, and with unstoppable momentum, crashed towards the high-ranking beings present.

"What a detestable aura!" The Southern Sect Leader of the Nihility Sect waved his hand lightly. The golden light that surged towards them crashed against an invisible barrier, reversing its flow and returning to the woman in ancient garb.

The Lady of Three Tao Mountain surveyed the crowd, her dark, lively pupils transforming into shimmering golden orbs.

She scanned them one by one, and after discerning their levels, she couldn't help but raise her delicate eyebrows slightly. "All of them are Sect Leader-level figures… three legendary Human Immortals?

"Indeed, with the resurgence of the power of Heaven and Earth, the current era is capable of nurturing cultivators at the Human Immortal realm." Her voice was clear, melodious, and imbued with an ethereal quality that seemed untouched by the world.

Dog Elder stared at the woman wielding the golden light, a thought flashing through his mind. "The Lady of Three Tao Mountain?" he blurted out.

He had once heard Sun Elder mention the Mountain God Temple Lady’s appearance and characteristics. In Sun Elder's words, "That woman is beautiful, like a fairy in a painting, but her personality is too prickly and thorny."

"Human Immortal is what you called it in your era. In this day and age, Lingjing Xingzhe of my level are called Demigods!" The White-Haired Female Marshal stood with her hands behind her back, her aura in no way inferior to the Mountain God Lady.

She turned her head to look at Dog Elder. "She's the ancient Day Wandering God who awakened in the Sheling Tunnel?"

The Female Marshal's voice was also pleasing to the ear, her enunciation clear and her tone beautiful, but there was a hint of majesty in her voice that made people who heard her speak involuntarily think of the Empress on the throne.

"Indeed!" Dog Elder nodded. The Sovereigns of the evil organizations sized up the Lady of Three Tao Mountain, their minds simultaneously recalling relevant information – Yuan Shi Tianzun cleared the Sheling Tunnel, causing the ancient Day Wandering God to revive. Moreover, this ancient Day Wandering God also triggered changes in the Night Wandering God-related Lingjing, and the authorities had issued an announcement regarding this. Was this her?

"Demigod…" The Lady of Three Tao Mountain murmured to herself, then stared at the White-Haired Marshal and corrected, "Day Wandering God? In my era, we called them Golden Crows!"

Having said that, she ignored the Yuan Shen projections and went straight to the Transcendent-realm Slaughter Instance. She tapped her toes in the void, crashing toward the star-like small world.

The Sovereigns did not stop her, nor could they. They were merely a wisp of consciousness projected into the Lingjing.

But the Lingjing stopped the Lady of Three Tao Mountain. An invisible barrier wrapped around the Slaughter Instance, repelling her.

Seeing this, the leaders of both the Lawful and Evil factions breathed a sigh of relief. If such a powerful boss entered the Slaughter Instance, it would be a disaster, and the juniors they valued would be in grave danger. The Fear King stroked the silver ring on his ear and smiled.

"Although you are different from us, your true form being within the Lingjing, you are ultimately constrained by the Lingjing. How can you enter the Slaughter Instance?" The Lady of Three Tao Mountain frowned slightly.

After pondering for a few seconds, the Mountain God Lady acted decisively. She raised her right arm, golden light spewing from her palm, condensing into a golden longbow. She drew the bowstring with her left hand, her fingertips spewing golden flames, transforming into a scorching arrow. Swoosh! The golden light vibrated suddenly, and the dazzling arrow shot out like a stream of light.

Boom… It immediately exploded on the surface of the star, dissipating into a wave of light covering the entire star, and then disappeared. The Lady of Three Tao Mountain pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, her aura rising steadily, transforming from a goddess untouched by the dust of the world into a female warrior who could draw the divine bow to its full moon. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh… Golden arrows shot out one after another, constantly exploding on the surface of the star, the golden light waves engulfing the small world.

"Losing half of her Yang Soul and still being able to exert the power of a high-level Sovereign, it seems you are only one step away from the Supreme Stage," the Female Marshal commented, her hands clasped behind her back. Bai Hu Wansui said loudly, "The map of this area is very simple. There's only one fork in the road, twenty meters ahead. After passing this fork, it's a one-way, winding path.

"Even if you haven't seen the map, you won't get lost, because there's only one road, no forks.

"When I was memorizing the route, I thought it was strange that it was too simple. I didn't expect this to be a checkpoint." The fewer forks there are, the easier it feels to get lost, because we no longer need forks to confuse us… Tian Xia Gui Huo didn't feel happy at all; on the contrary, his heart sank. Just then, a dazzling golden light suddenly lit up, penetrating the dense forest and illuminating everyone's faces.

"What's going on?" Under the layers of tree canopies, the Five Elements Alliance's Lingjing Xingzhe looked up in astonishment at the golden light that penetrated the branches and leaves and shone into the forest. At this moment, their "full" breasts had returned to normal. After leaving the Breeding Forest, the spores in everyone's bodies lost their activity and were excreted on their own. Although they couldn't see the night sky, they could imagine that the sky was now covered in golden light. This sudden change left everyone confused, bewildered, and vigilant, and they stopped where they were, not daring to move.

"This, isn't this golden light a bit like Yuan Shi Tianzun's item?" Mu Dan Xianzi asked in surprise. Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Yuan Shi Tianzun. This guy really is full of surprises… No way, is that old hag really here? Is she here so soon? Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat. But judging from the situation, it seems she can't get in. As expected, Slaughter Instances are instances that even high-level beings can't interfere with… He remained expressionless and said calmly, "It's just a minor matter. Don't worry about it." Don't worry about it… Yuan Shi Tianzun's attitude is so calm. Does he think this phenomenon is just a minor matter? The team members were secretly amazed.

"Rustle…" Stepping on the fallen leaves on the ground, everyone walked forward slowly. The golden light constantly penetrating the tree canopy brought light instead. No need for the Fire Master to hold up a torch anymore. While cautiously moving forward, Zhang Yuanqing, who was recovering his strength, opened the map to check the positions of the four teams.

The marker representing the evil faction was located in the Breeding Forest.

Heh, let these guys enjoy the same feeling of breasts expanding and contracting… They don't have purification items, so it won't be easy to get through the Breeding Forest… However, the mole in the team should have revealed the dangers in the forest in advance. They must be prepared… Speaking of which, the little boy did touch the trees along the road every so often, but he didn't mark the tree trunks with numbers.

Without a means of detecting lies, only killing and asking the spirit could reveal the truth. There was almost no room for trial and error. Thinking of asking the spirit, Zhang Yuanqing stopped and looked at Guan Ya beside him. "Sister Guan Ya, protect me while I look at 'Human Nature is Evil's' memories."

The mixed-race beauty wearing rattan armor nodded slightly.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately closed his eyes and dispersed the Taiyin power wrapped around "Human Nature is Evil's" spirit body, completing the devouring. A surge of mental power filled with intense malice flooded into his sea of consciousness like a tidal wave. Because he had used the Demon Subduing Pestle several times, Zhang Yuanqing had already cleared the miscellaneous consciousness in his body, and he steadfastly withstood the impact of the evil spirit. Soon, he read the corresponding memories.

——It was Bai Wu Jinji who set up the ambush of illusionists.

It was also Bai Wu Jinji who knew that Yuan Shi Tianzun was setting up an ambush. And one frequent action that Bai Wu Jinji did in the maze forest was: touching his ear.

From the memory fragments of "Human Nature is Evil", Zhang Yuanqing saw that there was a small object in the shape of a snail shell in Bai Wu Jinji's left earhole.

Is this the tool he uses to contact the mole? A Lingjing version of a headset?

If that's the case, it's easy to find out who the mole is… Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes and forcibly ended the asking of the spirit, shouting loudly:

"Stop! Everyone stop…"

His voice came to an abrupt halt. The shadows of the trees ahead were deep and silent, the golden light flickering on and off. The path led into the depths of the dense forest, but there was not a single soul in sight.

Zhang Yuanqing turned his head stiffly, looking for Guan Ya's figure beside him. The space beside him was empty. Guan Ya was gone too.

Everyone had disappeared, disappearing silently, as if he was the only one left in the world. The golden light slowly died down. The Lady of Three Tao Mountain stopped shooting arrows, frowning in silence. Seeing her stop, the Female Marshal said indifferently, "If you form an alliance with me and work for me in the Lingjing world, I will return that item to you."

A high-level Sovereign who can travel through the Lingjing world, no, a being at the threshold of the Supreme Stage, can do many, many things. "I am free and unfettered, not subject to any constraints."

The Lady of Three Tao Mountain was aloof and refused outright. The Female Marshal said nothing more. A Sovereign of the Nihility Sect "hey"ed and said, "Mountain God Lady, why don't you cooperate with us? We will help you retrieve that item, and we can also kill Yuan Shi Tianzun to vent your anger." The Lady of Three Tao Mountain glanced at him. "I will not associate with the demonic sects."

Still a proud and aloof Day Wandering God… The leaders of the evil faction glanced at her, their expressions unfriendly. However, being in the Lingjing, they should be the ones afraid of this ancient Day Wandering God, because she could easily extinguish their consciousness projections and expel them from the Lingjing.

"Demonic sects…" The Fear King asked:

"Are you from the Song Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty? But your clothes look like they're from the Ming Dynasty."

The aloof Lady completely ignored him, her skirt fluttering as she flew close to the Slaughter Instance, overlooking the primeval forest within the small world. The Fear King shrugged his shoulders. "Your disregard makes me very unhappy, but whether you answer or not is your freedom." Staring at a certain spot in the forest, at a certain guy looking left and right, the Mountain God Lady's cold face suddenly broke into a smile. I still have a backup plan! "Mobile Forest, is that what it means?" Zhang Yuanqing frowned. His teammates had all disappeared, and he didn't even know where they had gone. He couldn't delay for too long. The evil faction was catching up…

Without another word, Zhang Yuanqing took out the Demon Subduing Pestle and stabbed it hard into his thigh. After obtaining the power of purification, he turned around, looking around, observing the surrounding environment, and confirming that there were no illusions affecting him. Only then did he confirm that the Mobile Forest's ability was "space transfer". His teammates had really been transferred somewhere else. He then began to think about the Mobile Forest's teleportation mechanism:

"Most likely, it only teleports within the Mobile Forest and won't teleport to other places. Otherwise, the difficulty level and checkpoints wouldn't match… My position hasn't changed; the leaves beside my feet prove that. Therefore, it's the others who have been teleported away…" "Is the target of the teleportation moving objects?" As he was analyzing, he heard Jiang Jingwei's loud and clear howl in his ear:

"Yuan Shi Tianzun, Sister Guan Ya…" Turning his head to look, he saw a red-haired girl walking along the road they had come from, howling as she walked.

That's right, we can rely on shouting to attract our companions. It's a simple and crude method. Sometimes, being simple-minded also has its advantages… Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward to meet her. Jiang Jingwei didn't expect that she could really call someone out, and she was overjoyed, bounding over like a deer. "I was walking, and then everyone suddenly disappeared. Did I fall into a ghost wall set up by you Night Wandering Gods?"

Jiang Jingwei ran into Zhang Yuanqing's arms, overjoyed.

"It's not a ghost wall. It should be similar to space teleportation." Zhang Yuanqing asked, "How did they disappear?"

"They just disappeared as we were walking," Jiang Jingwei said… Zhang Yuanqing gave up on asking for details and pondered for a moment.

"Let's walk hand in hand and see if we get lost. Also, keep shouting, don't stop." The two of them immediately held hands and walked forward together.

Jiang Jingwei walked and howled, but the names she called were only Guan Ya. It seems Jingwei doesn't have many friends either. That's right, she's not very old. She spends most of her time at home studying with tutors, and her identity is sensitive. The only people she's familiar with are probably her family and the members of the Second Team… Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself as he looked around.

Before long, their calls attracted Asano Ryo. The island country JK ran over from the front, her pure and pretty face filled with ecstasy, like the female lead in a horror movie who had finally found a living person. Zhang Yuanqing glanced at her. "Don't talk nonsense, hold on to me, and let's go together. Hmm, you have to shout too." The sound wave suddenly amplified a bit. In this way, they found their teammates one by one. Unlike the previous two, every time Zhang Yuanqing found a teammate, he would have them turn their heads to the side, revealing their ears to check if they had a headset in their earholes. This also included the "Little Match Boy."

Zhang Yuanqing counted the number of people and found that one person was still missing.

"We haven't found the Tone-deaf yet, keep shouting… No, stop for a moment."

Everyone, according to my observations and verification, the location we are in will constantly change as we walk. That's why everyone is scattered in various parts of the Mobile Forest.

"Staying in place will not cause space transfer, and holding hands will also prevent us from dispersing. But we still have to move forward. If we don't change this, we will continue to be space transferred within the forest, which means that we will always wander in the forest and won't be able to get out. Do you have any solutions?

"The evil faction is catching up to us. Time is running out. Everyone, use your brains." He thought everyone would have to discuss it for a while, but then Tian Xia Gui Huo in the middle of the team said:

"First of all, we need a location. This is a section of the road in the Maze Forest. We must understand that space movement may be disordered, but it is definitely not continuous. Otherwise, we will never be able to get out. Unsolvable problems will not appear in this kind of small checkpoint.

"Therefore, it must stop at a certain time node. During that time, the people traveling here will not move. This node is our opportunity."

Everyone nodded, indicating their approval. Tian Xia Gui Huo continued:

"It's very simple. We can establish a reference object. We can take our current position as the starting point and write a 1 on the ground. Twenty steps later, we write another 2, and so on.

"We start timing from the moment we write the number 1. When we write the number 10 and return to 1, or somewhere else, then the interval from 1 to 10 is the safe time. "After calculating the safe time, it's simple. For example, if the safe time is ten minutes, then we can sprint for nine minutes and stop in the last minute. Staying in place will prevent us from being teleported.

"After ten minutes have passed, we can continue moving forward." Tian Xia Gui Huo's method won everyone's unanimous approval.

Immediately, they advanced while leaving numbers on the ground, shouting the Tone-deaf's name at the same time. When the number reached 15, the Tone-deaf, who had heard his companions calling, finally rushed over and successfully reunited. When the number reached 20, they still hadn't encountered the numbers they had left along the way.

"Space transfer should have already occurred, but the Mobile Forest is too large, and we haven't been teleported to an area where we happened to leave a number," Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment.

"Keep moving forward!" When they reached 100, the group saw the number "22" appear on the ground ahead.

Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. "A reference object has appeared. Start timing." Everyone started silently counting the time and slowed down their pace. When they passed the number "45," the "46" that should have been in front of them had become "30." "Four minutes, the interval from 22 to 30 is four minutes," Bai Hu Wansui shouted.

"Run!" Zhang Yuanqing shouted. In this way, they stopped every two and a half minutes, and finally, after ten minutes, they sprinted out of this winding, one-way passage without forks. [Ding! You have successfully passed through the Mobile Forest. Reward: 10 points.]

"We're finally out!" "Great, no one died this time."

"Phew, we're almost out of the Maze Forest. Let's hurry to the top of the mountain." At this moment, Zhang Yuanqing sharply scanned the crowd. "Who, who received a reward item?"