Chapter 87: Chapter 85: Forest of Lost Souls
’Damn these ancient books!’
Jiang Jichen didn’t have time to curse them any further. The most important thing now was dealing with the situation at hand.
Before the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile, he was like a newborn babe at the mercy of a tiger.
Resistance was absolutely useless.
Jiang Jichen didn’t dare to move a muscle, but he bravely met the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s gaze.
A long, silent staring contest ensued.
An hour passed, then two, then three...
Jiang Jichen’s neck grew sore and his legs went numb. A pool of sweat had formed on the ground beneath him.
Yet, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile still showed no reaction.
Its eyes were wide and enormous, but they were vacant and dull. ’It seems... it seems like it’s just sleeping!’
He tried raising a hand, waving it gently in front of the giant crocodile’s eyes. As he expected, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile didn’t even blink.
’Looks like it really is asleep!’
Upon reaching this conclusion, Jiang Jichen could have died from sheer frustration.
After confirming that the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile was indeed just sleeping, Jiang Jichen began to move his stiff body, slowly walking along the edge of the creature’s massive form.
If he could just get past the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile, he would be over Heaven-Gazing Peak and that much closer to the heart of the Moonlight Forest.
Jiang Jichen carefully made his way to the other side of Heaven-Gazing Peak. Looking down, he could see a black forest at the foot of the mountain. Even in broad daylight, it gave off a gloomy, oppressive feeling, thick with Yin Qi, much like a Realm of Wandering Souls.
At the far end of the Black Forest, he could vaguely make out several tall peaks shrouded in a dark, thin mist, making them difficult to see clearly.
Jiang Jichen didn’t dare to linger on Heaven-Gazing Peak for a better look. With a Heaven-Gazing Crocodile lying right next to him, it was far too dangerous.
ROAR!
Just as he was about to climb down from Heaven-Gazing Peak, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile suddenly woke up. In that instant, without a shred of hesitation, Jiang Jichen leaped off the thousand-foot-high peak.
Leaping from such a height, and in a place where flight was forbidden, even with Jiang Jichen’s formidable physique, he would likely be crippled or killed by the fall.
But that was better than being torn to shreds by the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile, right?
Besides, by jumping, he at least had a fighting chance. If the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile had attacked, his death would have been certain.
The moment he jumped, Jiang Jichen activated all his defenses: the Sword Curtain World, the Spirit Pattern Space, and the Dao of the Flesh Body!
Jiang Jichen was only halfway down when the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile turned. Its gaze was no longer vacant and dull, but filled with savage intent.
However, it seemed to be extremely wary of the Black Forest below Heaven-Gazing Peak and didn’t dare to fly out after him.
So, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile simply exhaled a breath of air at Jiang Jichen from a distance.
The Essence Qi was like a gale, powerful enough to shatter metal and stone and level mountains. Now, it slammed into Jiang Jichen’s body.
The Sword Curtain shattered, the Spiritual Patterns were extinguished, and countless cracks appeared on his formidable body. The force of the breath accelerated his descent, blowing him into the distant Black Forest.
Fortunately, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile was very far away, and Jiang Jichen’s defenses were truly astonishing. In the end, that single breath didn’t blow him to pieces.
But now that he had fallen into the Black Forest, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile didn’t believe anyone below the level of a Grandmaster could ever make it out alive.
Although the Black Forest was a no-fly zone, the force of the crocodile’s breath blew Jiang Jichen directly into the middle of the forest before he began to fall.
BOOM!
He had expected to be smashed to smithereens, his already-cracked body shattering on impact. But when he landed, Jiang Jichen found himself on a thick layer of rotting leaves, with soft mud underneath. For the time being, he had cheated death and saved his own skin. But whether this was a blessing in disguise remained to be seen.
Lying amidst the decaying leaves, Jiang Jichen felt waves of cold Yin Qi trying to surge into his body, immediately worsening his injuries.
Jiang Jichen’s expression was grave. He could feel that the golden spiritual power within him was flowing sluggishly, as if it had been sealed.
Just then, a premonition struck him. He abruptly shifted his body several meters to the side. An instant later, a cloud of black mist erupted from the spot where he had been lying.
Within the black mist, the rotting leaves instantly turned to nothingness, and a deep, dark hole appeared in the ground.
Jiang Jichen’s face grew even colder and more solemn. By now, he had a good idea of what this Black Forest was.
’The Forest of Lost Souls, where all Ten Thousand Spirits die. No reincarnation, no rebirth, only lonely souls drifting for eternity!’
This time, Jiang Jichen wasn’t recalling something he’d read in an Ancient Book; he had actually experienced a Forest of Lost Souls in his past life. Of course, in the forest he’d experienced back then, the drifting souls were nearly at the Invincible Domain Level, making it countless times more dangerous than this one.
Of course, that was all relative. Back then, he had been in the Invincible Realm. Now, he had just entered the Innate Realm. The gap between the two was worlds apart.
Regardless, Jiang Jichen at least had experience surviving in a Forest of Lost Souls.
’I’m severely injured. At my current Cultivation level, I can’t possibly survive here. The wandering souls don’t even need to act; the Yin Qi alone is enough to kill me. However, the Forest of Lost Souls is a self-contained world, existing outside the cycle of reincarnation. If I unseal my Seven-colored Spiritual Power here, no one should be able to sense it!’
Jiang Jichen was gravely wounded, but he still had one last resort. Even in his past life, he had never possessed nor seen anyone with Seven-colored Spiritual Power. So, although he now had it, he had no idea what kind of power it truly held.
Legend had it that Seven-colored Spiritual Power should not exist in this world. Once it appeared, it would become the enemy of all heavens.
Here, in the Forest of Lost Souls, Jiang Jichen could finally, for the first time, unseal his Seven-Colored Spiritual Vein without any reservations and carefully sense its power.
The moment he broke the seal, a rainbow of light flowed over Jiang Jichen’s body, creating a fantastical and bizarre sight in the gloomy Black Forest.
With the Seven-Colored Spiritual Vein unsealed, Seven-colored Spiritual Power spread throughout his body. The cracks covering Jiang Jichen’s form healed in an instant. Bathed in the Seven-colored Spiritual Power, his body grew even more resilient, as if it were transforming into the Seven-Colored Glaze Body, impervious to all harm.
Within him, wherever the Seven-colored Spiritual Power passed, all his injuries—old, new, and hidden—were smoothed away, leaving Jiang Jichen in a state of unprecedented perfection.
A cloud of black mist suddenly drifted over without a sound, a ferocious wandering soul concealed within. It lunged at Jiang Jichen without hesitation.
If an ordinary Innate Realm cultivator, even one at the Innate Fourth Realm, were to be entangled by this black mist, they would instantly be reduced to a pile of dry bones, all their essence and blood qi corroded away.
"AHH!"
However, as the black mist enveloped Jiang Jichen, it suddenly let out a bloodcurdling shriek. It was then incinerated by the seven-colored light, turning into a wisp of black smoke that dissipated into the air.
’The Seven-Colored Glazed Body. Although it’s not yet fully formed, it already possesses the power of the Seven Colors. Ordinary Evil Souls can’t even get close!’
Only then did Jiang Jichen finally let out a sigh of relief.
