The Death Mist Forest lived up to its name.
As soon as they stepped in, their vision was completely stripped away by the thick, unyielding gray-purple miasma. This miasma was entirely different from that in the mine, not only carrying a nauseating fetid sweetness but also containing a chilling force that corroded the mind, like countless icy needles piercing into the marrow and soul without exception.
Wang Tiechui grunted, his huge body swaying, his face instantly taking on a strange bluish-purple hue. The wound on his chest burned with searing pain under the miasma's corrosion. Even clutching the low-grade spirit stone, the meager spiritual energy protection felt like a drop in the ocean.
"Follow me closely, don't separate!" Ye Chen whispered, his situation slightly better. His physique, repeatedly quenched by star power, had far greater resistance to toxins and negative energies than ordinary people. The wisp of airflow in his dantian was also circulating spontaneously, resisting the invasion. Yet, even so, he felt his head swimming and his limbs growing heavy.
Even more terrifying was that this miasma seemed to interfere with perception and sense of direction. The animal skin map in his hand became useless; the surroundings were almost identical twisted strange trees and muddy swamps, as if they had fallen into a natural maze array.
"Rustle, rustle—"
From the distance behind them, the sound of pursuers could be faintly heard. The light of torches blurred into a hazy mass in the thick fog, and they were rapidly approaching. They clearly had a way to deal with the miasma, and their speed was far greater than Ye Chen's.
A desperate situation ahead, pursuers behind—a true predicament!
Ye Chen forced himself to calm down, his mind racing. Blindly rushing forward would only deplete his stamina faster, leading to a dead end. He had to utilize everything around him!
His gaze swept over the surroundings. Twisted trees, black mud, and... those fungi and mosses of various forms that still stubbornly grew in the dense miasma!
《 Herb Identification》! System!
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning. Could this miasma itself be "identified"? "Understood"? Even... "utilized"?
He immediately concentrated, no longer passively resisting the miasma but actively "observing" it, "analyzing" it. He took a deep breath of the suffocating gray-purple mist, enduring the nausea and dizziness, carefully experiencing the characteristics of the various negative energies contained within—corrosion, illusion, yin cold...
【 Actively contacting and analyzing high-concentration composite miasma, willpower increased. 】
【 Skill: 《 Herb Identification》 Proficiency +5! 】
【 Preliminary understanding of miasma composition gained. 】
Effective!
Ye Chen's spirits lifted. Ignoring the increasingly severe physical discomfort, he focused even more intently on "identification." He even crouched down, carefully observing the plants growing in the miasma, trying to find the reason they could coexist with it.
【 Observed 'Ghost Face Mushroom,' its cap texture can absorb some yin cold miasma poison, 《 Herb Identification》 Proficiency +3! 】
【 Discovered 'Miasma-Absorbing Moss,' which can slowly convert miasma into weak nutrients, 《 Herb Identification》 Proficiency +4! 】
...
The system's prompts continued to sound, and the proficiency of 《 Herb Identification》 grew at an unprecedented rate. At the same time, his perception of the surrounding miasma became clearer and clearer. It was no longer a chaotic mess but allowed him to vaguely discern the different types of energy flow and weak areas within!
"This way!" Ye Chen suddenly grabbed Wang Tiechui, who was almost unable to stand, and changed their direction slightly. Relying on the newly improved "identification" ability, he "saw" that the miasma in the area to his left was relatively thinner and the yin cold attribute was slightly weaker.
The two moved over with difficulty, and indeed, the pressure on their bodies lessened slightly.
But this was far from enough! The sound of the pursuers grew closer, and the halo of their torches could almost penetrate the mist not far behind them.
Must be faster! More accurate!
Ye Chen gritted his teeth and made a bold decision. He no longer relied solely on mental perception but attempted to circulate the 《 Basic Body Tempering Art》 and mobilized the wisp of airflow in his dantian, mimicking the "Miasma-Absorbing Moss" characteristic he had just observed, to actively guide, and even attempt to "capture," a small area of miasma around him!
This was an extremely dangerous move; a slight mistake could lead to poison entering the body, resulting in eternal damnation!
But he had no choice! "Heaven rewards diligence," if not now, then when?!
The airflow ran through his meridians with difficulty, his mental power highly concentrated. He felt like a clumsy apprentice imitating the evolutionary results of nature over billions of years. Failure, failure, and more failure! Each attempt brought agonizing pain to his internal organs and blurred consciousness.
【 Attempted to guide miasma failed, gained some insight into energy control. 】
【 《 Basic Body Tempering Art》 Proficiency +2! 】
【 Attempted to mimic 'Miasma-Absorbing Moss' characteristic failed, 《 Herb Identification》 Proficiency +8! 】
Sweat mixed with muddy water rolled down his forehead. Ye Chen's face was pale as paper, but his eyes grew brighter! Through countless failures, the system's unreasonable feedback mechanism had forced him to grasp a minuscule pattern!
Finally, just as he felt his meridians were about to be crushed by the disordered energy and his consciousness was about to sink into darkness—
Buzz!
The gray-purple miasma within a foot of him fluctuated slightly, as if nudged by an invisible hand, and its flow changed minutely! Although it was only for an instant and the range was extremely small, the miasma pressure enveloping him and Wang Tiechui genuinely lessened for a moment!
【 Successfully guided and deflected a trace amount of miasma! 】
【 Creatively combined 《 Basic Body Tempering Art》 and 《 Herb Identification》, comprehended passive skill: 'Miasma Affinity' （Primary）! 】
【 Skill effect: Slightly enhances adaptability to miasma environments, weakly reduces the speed of miasma erosion and perceptual interference on oneself. 】
【 《 Basic Body Tempering Art》 Proficiency +15! 《 Herb Identification》 Proficiency +20! Skill level increased: Slightly Accomplished （88/500）! 】
It worked!
An indescribable clarity surged into his mind, as if a veil had been lifted. Although he couldn't dispel the miasma, he was no longer completely passively enduring it; he could now carve out a sliver of breathing room for himself in this deathly fog!
"Go!" Ye Chen whispered, supporting the almost semi-conscious Wang Tiechui. With the "Miasma Affinity" he had just comprehended, he could "perceive" the weak points in the miasma flow more clearly, like finding tiny water currents in a raging storm. He moved forward, difficult but resolute, towards the "Dragon Fall Ravine" indicated on the map.
The pursuers behind them seemed confused by the suddenly erratic and difficult-to-track traces. Their shouts and torchlight hovered at a distance, clearly wary of the "Death Mist Forest" in this core area.
Ye Chen dared not relax even slightly, maintaining his "Miasma Affinity" perception while almost pressing the low-grade spirit stone into Wang Tiechui's wound, using its spiritual energy to protect his heart meridian.
After an unknown amount of time trekking through the mist, the muddy ground gradually gave way to rough gravel. The surrounding trees became sparser and more twisted. The gray-purple mist ahead seemed to have thinned, and a deafening roar, like ten thousand horses galloping, of rushing water could be faintly heard.
Dragon Fall Ravine, we're almost there!
However, Ye Chen's heart sank. Because his "Miasma Affinity" perception told him that the relatively "thin" area ahead was not a path to survival, but instead permeated with a purer, more condensed destructive energy—that which had been quenched over countless years by the convergence of Dragon Fall Ravine's water vapor and the Death Mist Forest's miasma... Miasma Fiend Qi!
That was something even his nascent "affinity" ability could not easily deflect, something far more terrifying!
The path ahead was still a matter of life and death!