Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 737 Hidden Mission 23

Deep within the ancient forest of miasma, the poisonous miasma, like thick ink, obscures the sunlight, and the stench of decay permeates every inch of the damp air.

Ancient trees with gnarled branches intertwined, vines hanging down like venomous snakes, and the ground covered with slippery moss and unknown fungi, emitting a faint phosphorescent glow.

Yun Chu and Yue Ze carefully flew at low altitudes, riding the Fire Iron Flying Ants.

More than a month of training has given them a deep understanding of the dangers of this place, and their aura has become more refined and condensed. Although they have not broken through their realm, they have explored some unique methods for "stubborn rocks and abandoned roots" to more effectively mobilize the mixed spiritual energy in this world.

On this day, a violent surge of spiritual energy and a loud explosion suddenly came from the depths of the dense forest ahead, mixed with a muffled groan and a malicious laugh.

"Something's up!" Yue Ze's eyes sharpened, and the Fire Iron Flying Ant instantly hovered, concealing its aura and hiding behind a huge rotten leaf fern.

Through the gaps in the miasma, one could see a middle-aged man dressed in a grayish-brown outfit, covered in blood, staggering and fleeing. His breathing was disordered, clearly indicating that he was at his last gasp, and his cultivation level was around the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

Behind him, two figures shrouded in dense demonic energy followed him like shadows, moving at an extremely fast speed. They were two demonic cultivators in the late Golden Core stage with fierce auras!

"Old man Chongming, hand over that incomplete map, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse!" A demonic cultivator grinned maliciously, waving his hand to unleash a jet-black demonic claw that tore through the air, aiming straight for Chongming's back.

Chongming gritted his teeth and turned around, summoning a small tortoise-shell shield that barely blocked the demonic claws. However, he was shaken so badly that he coughed up blood again, his body flying backward, breaking several withered branches, and crashing heavily onto the ground not far from where Yun Chu and the other person were hiding, barely clinging to life.

"Hmph, stubborn fool! Kill him, and the stuff will still be ours!" Another demonic cultivator's eyes flashed with ferocity as he raised his demonic blade, ready to strike.

At this critical moment!

"Attack!" Yue Ze shouted, and he and Yun Chu sprang up at the same time!

Yue Ze's figure flashed like a ghost, cold light condensed at his fingertips, and an extremely refined ice needle silently shot towards the brow of the demonic cultivator wielding the knife, faster than divine sense could detect!

At the same time, a burst of cold energy erupted from his body, instantly condensing into slippery and hard ice beneath the feet of the two demonic cultivators, restricting their movements.

Yun Chu then attacked like a tiger descending a mountain, wielding an iron hammer.

The two demonic cultivators never expected that this miasma-filled wasteland would harbor two such powerful "victims" with such bizarre and cunning attacks.

The ice needles arrived in an instant. The demonic cultivator wielding the knife only had time to turn his head. The ice needles grazed his temple, leaving a trail of blood and a chilling sensation, causing him to freeze in place.

The ice beneath his feet made him even more unsteady.

Yun Chu's iron hammer was incredibly powerful! Another demonic cultivator hastily swung his demonic energy to block, but was sent flying by the hammer!

"Uh..." The demonic cultivator stared wide-eyed at Yun Chu in disbelief, his demonic energy rapidly dissipating.

The demonic cultivator wielding the knife was terrified at the sight and turned to flee. But Yue Ze wouldn't give him the chance. He raised his hand, and several ice shards materialized out of thin air, trapping him like a cage. Yue Ze's sword flashed again, instantly piercing his heart.

The battle ended in the blink of an eye. Two late-stage Golden Core demonic cultivators were swiftly killed by Yun Chu and Yue Ze's perfectly coordinated surprise attack!

Lying on the ground, Chongming witnessed everything, his eyes filled with shock and gratitude for surviving such a disaster. He struggled to sit up, clasped his hands in thanks, and said, "Thank you... thank you both for saving my life! I, Chongming, have no way to repay you!"

Yun Chu stepped forward and, with a flick of her finger, channeled a gentle stream of spiritual energy into Chongming's body to help stabilize his injuries: "No need for formalities, I simply saw injustice on the road. Fellow Daoist Chongming, why are they chasing you?"

After catching his breath, Chongming smiled bitterly and said, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. What they covet is a fragmented ancient painting that I obtained by chance."

As he spoke, he took out a small, tattered map from his pocket without hesitation. The map was made of neither gold nor jade and had simple, archaic lines depicting mountains and rivers, but it was clearly missing some key parts.

"This map is said to point to an ancient secret realm, but it is only half-finished, which greatly reduces its value. However, for some reason, the news leaked out, attracting these two demons."

Yun Chu and Yue Ze exchanged a glance, both seeing the excitement in each other's eyes. An ancient secret realm? This might be the opportunity they desperately needed!

"A map?" Yun Chu pondered. "After killing those two demonic cultivators, their storage bags might..." As she spoke, she took the storage bags of the two demonic cultivators and probed them with her divine sense to search carefully.

A moment later, a glint flashed in her eyes, and she took out a piece of the same material from the corner of one of the storage bags. The broken edge of the piece perfectly matched the other half of the map in Chongming's hand!

"As expected, it's here!" Yue Ze said in a deep voice.

The three fragments of the map were pieced together in Yun Chu's hands, revealing a complete topographical map with a prominent landmark in the center, emitting a faint spatial fluctuation imprint.

Upon seeing this, Chongming was even more excited: "It's fate! It's truly fate! You two fellow Daoists not only saved my life, but also completed the map of this secret realm! This map should be shared with you two!"

"Without you two, I would be dead, and I wouldn't even be able to protect the map, let alone explore the secret realm. I am willing to follow you two to explore this secret realm together, and I will leave the opportunities we gain to you two!"

Yun Chu and Yue Ze had a brief discussion.

Despite being severely injured, Chongming managed to escape to this place, demonstrating his resilient character and gratitude. He proactively offered the map, making him a trustworthy ally.

Exploring secret realms with an additional Golden Core cultivator familiar with this world increases one's chances of success.

“Alright! Fellow Daoist Chongming, this secret realm is fraught with danger. Let’s travel together and look after each other!” Yun Chu nodded in agreement.

---

For the next two months, the two helped Chongming heal and recover while studying maps and trekking toward the marked locations.

The location shown on the map is extremely secluded, situated deep within an ancient mountain range in the heart of the Myriad Miasma Forest, teeming with poisonous insects, ferocious beasts, and natural mazes.

With Yun Yueze's keen intuition, Yun Chu's powerful ability to deduce and break formations, and Chongming's experience with the ancient forest, they managed to overcome numerous obstacles.

Finally, at the bottom of a cliff shrouded in an impenetrable, dark green miasma, where not a single blade of grass grew, they found the "entrance" marked on the map—not an obvious cave or portal, but a smooth, mirror-like rock wall covered with strange, twisted patterns, faintly radiating spatial ripples.

"This is it!" Yun Chu carefully examined the patterns on the rock wall, tracing lines in the air with her fingers, her eyes gleaming with a profound light. "This is a hidden entrance formed by the combination of ancient restrictions and natural spatial nodes. What an ingenious arrangement; no wonder no one has noticed it."

"How do we break through it?" Chongming asked.

"I'll focus on the nodes and analyze the restrictions. Yueze, concentrate your extreme ice power on one point and follow my guidance to attack this spot, disrupting its spatial stability!" Yun Chu quickly pointed out several subtle core points of fluctuation on the rock wall. "Fellow Daoist Chongming, you're in charge of perimeter surveillance. If there's any unusual activity, immediately raise the alarm!"

"Understood!" Chongming immediately spread his divine sense, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

Yun Chu sat cross-legged, her hands forming a mudra. Strands of her condensed, almost tangible divine sense probed into the patterns on the rock wall, deducing the intricacies of the restriction as if solving a puzzle. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, clearly indicating that this ancient restriction was extremely complex.

Time passed slowly, and the surrounding poisonous miasma seemed to become more restless due to the spatial fluctuations.

"Now!" Yun Chu suddenly opened her eyes and shouted, an invisible divine sense spike piercing fiercely towards the first core node she had calculated!

"Break!" Yue Ze, who had been preparing for this moment, moved at the sound of the signal. He gathered the power of ice at his fingertips and, with lightning speed, precisely pointed at the second node indicated by Yun Chu!

Om-!

The entire smooth rock wall trembled violently! The twisted patterns on it seemed to come alive, bursting out with dazzling spiritual light! The spiritual energy clashed violently with the spatial node restrictions, emitting a teeth-grinding cracking sound.

"The last one, let's join forces!" Yun Chu leaped up, Yue Ze held his longsword, and Chong Ming cast a spell. The three of them joined forces to attack the most hidden and crucial spatial anchor point in the center of the rock wall!

Boom! ! !

A deafening roar, as if space itself were being torn apart!

The incredibly solid rock wall, which contained forbidden elements, shattered like glass under the combined attack of the three, revealing a dark and deep spatial vortex entrance that was constantly rotating inward and emitting a strong suction force!

A powerful suction force instantly arrived!

"Now! Go in!" Yue Ze grabbed Yun Chu's wrist.

Chongming immediately flew over and approached.

Without hesitation, the three transformed into three streaks of light and plunged into the swirling, dark vortex, their figures instantly swallowed up.

The next moment, the spatial vortex slowly closed, and the broken rock wall was quickly covered by the surrounding poisonous miasma and soil, restoring it to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened. Only a faint spatial fluctuation remained, gradually dissipating into the deathly miasma.