Chapter 9: Purgatory of Mutated Beasts (Part 1)
This was no longer a matter of whether to fight or not. With so many high-level beast groups gathered, even Li Ran was extremely cautious and dared not act rashly. Though he was extremely eager for those high-level magical beasts ahead—such advanced mutated and aberrant beasts were exactly the prey he needed. Normally, finding just one would be lucky, but here they appeared in huge groups.
As they flew along with the vast beast herd stretching for thousands of miles, Guo Shier repeatedly exclaimed in amazement, “That’s… that’s a level-16 aberrant beast! Seven of them have gathered together…”
Zhen Wuji said, “What’s so special about that? I just saw a level-17 aberrant beast and a level-22 mutated magical beast. Heh, your brother… his eyes are even reddening.”
Li Ran retorted with a laugh, “Nonsense! Who’s eyes are reddening? I’m just sorry I didn’t encounter such high-level mutated beasts outside. This isn’t the right place to fight.”
Guo Shier asked, “Can’t we just kill them quietly?”
Li Ran replied, “My intuition is very accurate. If we fight here, all the mutated beasts will attack. Maybe I can escape then, but what about you? So, fighting now is definitely unwise.”
Guo Shier said, “The situation right now is really strange. It’s as if we’re also part of the mutated beast group.” They were mixed among the beast herd, surrounded by mutated beasts, yet none of them attacked. They all continued running silently forward.
Li Ran said, “That’s why I refuse to fight. It’s too eerie. It’s better not to provoke a fight.” He spoke cautiously.
The five of them didn’t fly very fast; they simply kept up with the movement of the beast herd, moving at a steady pace. As the fluctuations became clearer, their expressions grew serious.
Guo Shier said, “It feels like drumbeats, one after another, making my soul tremble.”
Hong Yuguang said, “This is a tremor of the soul. I don’t know what’s causing it.”
Li Ran and Guo Shier exchanged a glance. They possessed Soul Scriptures, and when reciting them, it would also cause soul vibrations, but the range was very small, not exceeding dozens of meters. If they focused on controlling it, the vibration range would be around ten meters, never spreading any further.
Could this fluctuation also be caused by someone reciting scriptures? Both Guo Shier and Li Ran immediately dismissed this possibility. With the intensity of these fluctuations, if they were caused by scripture recitation, then the soul in question would be incredibly powerful—who could possibly generate such a force?
More and more mutated beasts gathered, forming a vast ocean of mutated beasts—a true sea of beasts.
None of the mutated beasts let out any roars; they simply moved forward quietly, their thunderous footsteps echoing throughout the area, putting immense pressure on Guo Shier and the other four. None of them dared enlarge the altar; instead, they carried it on their heads. Guo Shier had an idea and said, “Let’s drop down!” He silently landed on the back of a giant mutated beast—a level-12 mutated earth dragon over a thousand meters long. Since Guo Shier hadn’t enlarged the altar, combined with the effects of the fluctuations, the earth dragon had no idea that five people were on its back. Li Ran smiled and said, “That’s a good idea. Hehe, we’ve been flying in fear for so long—we should have done this earlier.” With that, he sat down in a cross-legged position. As the earth dragon continued to move, Zhen Wuji said, “The fluctuations are starting to weaken… Look behind us!” As the fluctuations diminished, the mutated beasts behind them became chaotic and quickly spread out. Many of them left the group and ran frantically outward. The higher-level mutated beasts slowed down significantly, clearly moving forward three steps but then retreating two. Li Ran said, “Let’s go. These fluctuations can no longer lure them. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow and fly there ourselves.” Fortunately, although the mutated beasts were struggling, their actions were unconscious. They hadn’t noticed Li Ran and the others because they hadn’t deployed the altar or enlarged it. The figures of the professionals were like that of a cow compared to a mosquito, so they couldn’t possibly draw the beasts’ attention. The five of them flew forward at high speed. At that moment, the gathered herd began to disperse—this was in line with the nature of the mutated beasts, which didn’t like to stay together. When the fluctuations weakened, they immediately scattered. Guo Shier suddenly laughed and asked, “What if the fluctuations disappeared suddenly?” Zhen Wuji replied, “They’d fight each other. I’ve seen it before… Hehe, if the fluctuations vanished, this place would instantly become the most brutal battlefield.” Guo Shier said, “It’s a shame… Hehe, if we could stop the fluctuations, we’d make a fortune.” Li Ran said, “It’s not impossible. Hehe, let’s first find the source of the fluctuations… We’ll understand soon.” He suddenly sped up, leading the four of them forward at high speed. Guo Shier, puzzled, asked, “How long have we been flying? I feel like we’ve flown a long way, but why is everything still the same?” Zhen Wuji replied, “The Great Abyss covers over a million square kilometers. Not including the outer snow-capped mountains, the central area alone is at least hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. So… the distance we’ve flown isn’t much.”
After flying for two days straight, they still saw no signs of fluctuations. There were still an overwhelming number of mutated beasts, and these beasts here were so powerful that even Zhen Wuji felt uneasy. They were all high-level mutated beasts, and it was common to see them stuck in wide ice cracks. The strangeness of this place was extremely rare. Along the way, Guo Shier remained extremely uneasy. If it weren’t for following Li Ran, he would have turned back long ago.
Guo Shier said, “We need to rest for a while. Flying for two days in a row… it’s too much.”
Li Ran replied, “It’s good to rest. I feel we’re almost there. Let’s regroup and then continue.”
Instead of finding an open area, the five of them landed directly on the back of a giant mutated beast. The mutated beasts here were almost all huge, over a kilometer in size, with some even reaching two or three kilometers—so large that the five of them wouldn’t draw any attention from them.
After sitting down, Guo Shier said with a wry smile, “Actually, my body isn’t tired; it’s just my mind. Damn it… being on edge makes me feel terrible. Even though I know the mutated beasts won’t attack, I’m still nervous.”
Li Ran said, “I know.”
Zhen Wuji laughed and said, “It’s okay. Even if the mutated beasts start fighting, we’re not afraid. We’re small, so they won’t target us. Of course, we can’t attack either.”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “I understand. But with so many mutated beasts, there’s an invisible pressure. You guys are top professionals and are hardly affected. My level is still too low.”
Zhen Wuji patted Guo Shier’s shoulder and laughed, “If you said that outside, heh, those professionals would be furious. A professional at the sixth-tier altar saying their level is too low—how can they take that?”
Guo Shier was the youngest and weakest, so the others only comforted him a bit. With a wry smile, Guo Shier knew he was just complaining, not really scared.
An hour later, the five of them set off again. By then, the fluctuations had intensified once more.
Two days later, Guo Shier pointed at the distance and said, “Could we be at the edge? There’s a snow mountain over there!”
It was a solitary snow mountain, towering into the clouds, clearly visible from afar. Zhen Wuji said, “That must be where the fluctuations are coming from. We’re almost there…”
The five of them hovered in place, staring at the distant snow mountain. Li Ran said, “It’s indeed a snow mountain, but there are no other snow mountains nearby. It’s strange. What kind of terrain is this? This snow mountain looks like an ice spike. Don’t you think it’s weird?”
Guo Shier said, “It’s not just strange. If it weren’t for the sheer size of this snow mountain… I’d start wondering if it’s man-made. It’s too far away to see clearly. It would take us at least a whole day to fly there.” Of course, he understood the saying that trying to see too far can lead to disaster.
Zhen Wuji said, “Look down there…”
Guo Shier cast an eye-enhancing spell and couldn’t help but gasp. “Good heavens, what are those mutated beasts doing?”
From afar, the mutated beasts looked like countless ants, all gathered at the foot of the mountain—countless, dense, enough to make one’s hair stand on end and fill them with dread.
Li Ran said, “We can’t see clearly. Let’s go over there.” At this point, there was no thought of retreating. The five of them were extremely curious and wanted to know what was happening.
As they approached the snow mountain, all five began to feel intense unease, even Li Ran. He couldn’t help but say, “This place feels eerie!” A strongly pungent smell of blood hit them. Even the falling snowflakes were a faint pink, beautiful to look at, but utterly chilling.
Crazy howls and agonized screams came from afar. The mutated beasts on the ice surface continued to move forward, but they seemed extremely restless. Their constantly twisting bodies showed that they were trying to escape, yet some force, like a devil, drew their souls, leaving them powerless to resist.
That force resonated like drumbeats. By now, it wasn’t just their souls that felt it—it was a sound, rhythmic and pounding, like a heartbeat.