Sunset Forest, located southwest of Heaven Dou City, is situated in a more northerly position. Its trees are primarily conifers, and the terrain slopes from east to west.
The midday sun shone into this vast forest, but failed to cause any ripples. Except for the sparsely treed areas on the forest's edge, all other places exuded a desolate and gloomy dimness.
Zhu Ziyang and the three others landed at the northeastern corner of the Sunset Forest, which is its main entrance. A winding path extended from the main road, stretching to the forest's boundary before disappearing.
"Let's go in," Yan Shaozhe said, looking at the dim forest.
"No problem." Zhu Ziyang nodded, then said to Jiang Nannan, "Nannan, it's all up to you from now on!"
"Understood!" Jiang Nannan nodded confidently.
The group directly entered the Sunset Forest.
Compared to the Star Dou Forest they frequently visited, the Sunset Forest had very distinct differences. The vegetation in the Sunset Forest was relatively sparse, and the species were also slightly different. The vegetation in the Sunset Forest consisted almost entirely of straight coniferous trees and low thorny shrubs, with larger gaps between the trees, which did not interfere with each other.
They had only walked a few steps when they encountered a Spirit Beast, a weak one with only ten years of cultivation. After sensing the aura of the four, it dared not approach and ran away without looking back. The few of them paid no attention and continued forward.
Along the way, they encountered many Spirit Beasts, but they were all ten-year Spirit Beasts; there were no hundred-year Spirit Beasts. This made them feel a hint of something unusual.
"We've already entered the forest for some distance, so why are all the Spirit Beasts we've encountered only ten-year Spirit Beasts?" Jiang Nannan asked.
"Something abnormal is bound to be demonic!" Yan Shaozhe and Cai Meier both looked thoughtful. Yan Shaozhe said, "This Sunset Great Forest is, after all, a Spirit Beast habitat, yet the Spirit Beasts are so weak. There must be a problem, and perhaps it's related to the miasma that shoots straight into the sky in the depths!"
"Let's continue forward," Zhu Ziyang said. "The most core part of a forest is only its center. Once we reach the center of this Sunset Forest, perhaps we'll understand the reason."
"Ziyang is right," Cai Meier agreed.
"Alright then, let's speed up!" Yan Shaozhe made a decision and said, "Meier, you take Junior Sister Nannan, and I'll take Junior Brother. Let's accelerate!"
With that, Yan Shaozhe grabbed Zhu Ziyang's arm, and Cai Meier grabbed Jiang Nannan's arm. The four of them rushed towards the depths of the Sunset Forest.
The light inside the forest was dim, and everyone's perception of time became sluggish. After traveling tens of miles, they finally stopped for a temporary rest.
"This should be the central part of the Sunset Forest," Yan Shaozhe said, after flying up to roughly determine the direction and landing back on the ground.
"Central part!" Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan both exclaimed, "No way? The central part of a forest only has some thousand-year Spirit Beasts? That's too ridiculous, isn't it?"
Zhu Ziyang truly hadn't expected that the Sunset Forest, so famous in historical records, would have declined to such a state, with only some thousand-year Spirit Beasts in its central area, not even a single ten-thousand-year one. This was simply too absurd.
"It is indeed very absurd!" Yan Shaozhe said with a solemn expression. "As we've walked along, we've also discovered quite a few Spirit Beast skeletons. Their bones are quite complete, clearly not having died from fighting, but from an unknown cause."
"Miasma!" Cai Meier said, with apprehension in her eyes. "No wonder the miasma in the Sunset Forest is so severe. These dead Spirit Beast bodies are natural miasma catalysts, and the catalyzed miasma will continue to poison Spirit Beasts. The poisoned Spirit Beasts will continue to generate miasma, thus forming a cycle! I'm afraid that if this continues, the entire high Sunset Forest will be filled with miasma, turning into a true miasma forest! By then, Heaven Dou City might even be affected!"
"What power is this? To be so venomous!" Yan Shaozhe said with a fierce look, his voice filled with hatred.
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, let's continue forward," Zhu Ziyang said. "Perhaps the truth lies ahead."
The four set off again. However, they had to stop after not even a kilometer.
"This is..." All four of them looked shocked, their gazes fixed on the air ahead.
Ahead, the trees were still straight, yet there were no longer many leaves. The trunks of some trees were riddled with holes, and the places where the bark had peeled off glowed with a chilling purple hue. In the air, colorful clouds, one after another, made it seem as if they were in the clouds at first glance, but in reality, these colorful clouds were grayish-white.
"Miasma!" Yan Shaozhe said coldly, his eyes unusually icy.
"Senior Brother, let's go by air!" Cai Meier suggested. "This miasma is already so concentrated that it can corrode spirit power. Our spirit power cannot effectively resist it. It's better to go through the sky."
"Alright!" Yan Shaozhe nodded in agreement, and then, without waiting for Zhu Ziyang to speak, he took him directly into the air.
Zhu Ziyang clearly felt that as they ascended, the surrounding air became brighter. When they broke through the tree canopy of more than ten meters and reached the sky above the entire forest, everyone was stunned. It was their first time to witness the true face of the depths of the Sunset Forest.
The forest below was incomparably silent, with a faint mist filling it. This mist seemed to be flowing, becoming denser the further into the depths, so dense that it had turned into clouds. At the deepest point, the clouds had formed a colorful barrier. Those colorful clouds completely lacked their supposed brilliance; instead, they exuded a chilling aura that made all living beings shy away.
"There!" Yan Shaozhe and Cai Meier precisely pinpointed that location and said.
"Yes, it's there!" Jiang Nannan also pointed to that spot and said, "I can feel that there are many Spirit herbs there!"
"Then it seems I was right!" Zhu Ziyang said with a look of pleasant surprise. "Beneath that miasma, there's a high possibility of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The miasma in this forest is used to conceal the location of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!"
"Let's go take a look!" A glimmer of hope appeared in Yan Shaozhe's eyes, and he immediately flew towards the thick miasma cloud layer. Cai Meier followed closely, and soon, they arrived at the edge of the miasma cloud layer.
"We can't get any closer," Yan Shaozhe said. "If we get any closer, Junior Brother, you won't be able to handle it. Meier, you hold onto Junior Brother, and I'll try to disperse this layer of miasma."
He handed Zhu Ziyang to Cai Meier, then took a step forward, releasing his Spirit. Nine spirit rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—rose behind him. His fourth spirit ring lit up, and Yan Shaozhe spread his arms, a blazing ray of light shooting towards the miasma cloud layer.
Then, a scene that astonished everyone occurred: after Yan Shaozhe's Spirit Ability hit the cloud layer, it was easily swallowed by the miasma cloud layer without any fluctuation, failing to create even a tiny gap!
"This..." Yan Shaozhe's face was extremely grim. He then used his sixth Spirit Ability again, but the cloud layer still effortlessly swallowed his Spirit Ability, and the entire miasma cloud layer barely showed any significant fluctuation.
Yan Shaozhe felt greatly insulted and unhesitatingly unleashed his Martial Soul True Body. A gigantic golden Light Phoenix appeared above the forest. The phoenix raised its majestic head, its ninth spirit ring lit up, and its massive body instantly radiated a dazzling light. Golden phoenix flames, like meteors, struck the miasma cloud layer like a doomsday attack.
A Super Douluo's ninth Spirit Ability, unleashed in his Martial Soul True Body state, finally shook the miasma cloud layer that stretched for tens of miles. The cloud layer instantly seemed to be dispelled, revealing a faintly discernible valley below.
Just as everyone thought the problem was solved, the miasma cloud layer that Yan Shaozhe had dispersed actually began to re-aggregate, and at such a speed that by the time people noticed, it had already gathered most of the way, leaving only a house-sized gap.
"This…" Yan Shaozhe was on the verge of going mad, an unprecedented sense of humiliation welling up in his heart. He had never been so greatly insulted; this miasma was truly detestable.
He was prepared to fight this miasma cloud layer to the bitter end, but Cai Meier stopped him.
"Senior Brother, stop!" Cai Meier shouted. "This miasma cloud layer is not a solid entity. No matter how many times you attack, it's useless. They seem to have consciousness, to be toying with you. I think they must be controlled by someone! The person controlling them is very likely in the forest below. Let's go down and see!"
"Good! I'll listen to you, Meier." Yan Shaozhe also regained his composure, directly put away his Martial Soul True Body, and flew down towards the forest below.
"Sigh!" Cai Meier sighed helplessly, then took Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan and flew down as well.