Chapter 132: The Hidden Realm Forest and the Boundless City

Ji Yao regained her composure and, after questioning Qian Xun in detail, learned that these plants had been tainted by demonic energy. At first, there were only a few scattered specimens, but as they traveled further northwest, their numbers increased until eventually, vast stretches of vegetation were contaminated. Ji Yao could not ignore such a phenomenon, which led to the events that followed.

After leaving the forest, the two stepped back onto the spirit-vessel gourd. This time, the pace was slower. Ji Yao understood Mu Baiyun’s mood, yet she still pointed out whenever she noticed something amiss. Mu Baiyun never asked how she sensed these things, and Ji Yao acted as if she were oblivious. They maintained a tacit understanding, flying toward the northwest.

Since it was confirmed that the flora was being encroached upon by demonic energy, Ji Yao ceased her constant probing. Riding their flying artifact, they arrived directly at the Yin-Jing Forest on the northwestern border.

There were two routes to the Western Ridge. The first was through the Boundless City, located at the intersection of the Central Province and the Western Ridge. Relatively speaking, this path was safer than the alternative. Although Boundless City was a mix of both righteous cultivators and demonic practitioners, fighting was strictly prohibited within its walls. Any disputes had to be settled in the Life-and-Death Arena. Anyone caught fighting in the city would never leave it alive.

The City Lord, known as the Boundless Adept, was rumored to be a dual practitioner of both spirit and demonic arts, possessing cultivation at the late stage of the Integration Realm. The title of City Lord was passed down through a single lineage, with every successor taking the name Boundless Adept for over a hundred thousand years. Thus, while the city had only been established a hundred thousand years ago, it had from the beginning gathered many talented rogue cultivators from the Mi-Cang Realm—both spirit and demonic.

Some of these people joined voluntarily, while others were suppressed by the City Lord’s singular power. No one knew exactly what method the Lord used to keep them bound to the city’s service. Once accepted and settled in Boundless City, the cultivation resources provided were comparable to those of a major sect. Consequently, for the past hundred thousand years, the city never lacked talent; every year, many rogue cultivators from both paths flocked there to take the City Guard examinations.

The second route was to traverse the Yin-Jing Forest, which spanned the border between the Central Province and the Western Ridge. Only those with extreme confidence in their abilities would choose this path. For cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage, entering was almost certainly a death sentence. Even those at the Nascent Soul stage would often emerge with their temperaments drastically altered, their spiritual and demonic energies hopelessly muddied. They would need a long time to purge the demonic energy from their bodies; otherwise, their cultivation would never progress.

"Senior Brother Yun?" Ji Yao watched Mu Baiyun gazing pensively at the Yin-Jing Forest, fearing that if he were in the wrong mood, he might decide to walk straight through.

Ji Yao had only heard of the Yin-Jing Forest by name and lacked detailed knowledge. To her, no legend was as reliable as witnessing something firsthand; she needed to see it for herself to make a judgment. Now that she saw it, she understood why those with low cultivation dared not enter and why even Nascent Soul cultivators were affected. The forest was saturated with a thick, swirling mixture of spiritual and demonic energies—not fused into the demonic-spirit energy used by practitioners, but distinct and separate, like yin and yang, coexisting yet apart.

The beasts and plants within the forest thrived in this environment, completely unaffected. However, the demonic beasts within could only reach the tenth rank, equivalent to the mid-stage of the human Nascent Soul realm. Therefore, as long as a human was below the Spirit Severing stage, entering the forest would attract these beasts. Nascent Soul cultivators could enter because they could handle the beasts, but they could not continue their journey without recovering after a fight. The moment they sat down to meditate, they would inevitably absorb the forest's tainted energies. If one reached the Spirit Severing stage, they would not attract the beasts, and if they encountered one, they could dispatch a tenth-rank beast with a wave of a hand, allowing them to pass through safely without needing to recover depleted energy.

Whether Mu Baiyun sensed Ji Yao’s thoughts or was simply observing, after half an hour, he finally asked for her opinion. "Junior Sister, the place you are going—it shouldn't be inside this forest, right?"

*Ah!* So that was what he was worried about. Ji Yao suddenly realized that her constant avoidance of stating her destination might not have been a good idea. Since they had already reached the border of the Central Province, he had likely guessed most of it anyway. It was better to just be honest. Having Mu Baiyun, a native who traveled frequently, help plan the route was far better than stumbling along blindly.

Ji Yao took a deep breath, looked into Mu Baiyun’s eyes, and said earnestly, "Senior Brother Yun, my destination is the Forbidden Demonic Land and the Abyssal Ridge."

"The Forbidden Demonic Land? The Abyssal Ridge?" Mu Baiyun did not know whether to call her naive or incredibly audacious! Both places were far more dangerous than the Yin-Jing Forest. At least the forest could be braved by those in the Nascent Soul stage and dismissed by those in the Spirit Severing stage.

He had thought she only wanted to take a tour of the Western Ridge’s demonic territory. If that were the case, he could have handled it with his own abilities and at least brought her back in one piece. But if they were going to those two places, he had no confidence at all. Even without the interference of powerful demonic masters, he could not guarantee her safety.

The Abyssal Ridge went without saying—it was a place even Tribulation-stage ancestors refused to speak of, let alone approach. As for the Forbidden Demonic Land, the closer one got, the more high-level demonic practitioners gathered. Though called a "forbidden land," it was a sacred site for demonic cultivation, long since carved up by various demonic factions. Apart from the true central region, which no one could enter, the outer perimeter contained dense demonic-spirit energy—the very foundation of demonic cultivation—which they guarded with extreme vigilance.

Ji Yao finished speaking and kept her eyes fixed on Mu Baiyun. She could see his disapproval clearly reflected in his expression.

"Senior Brother Yun, I can put off the Abyssal Ridge for now. Even if I go, I will only observe from afar; I have no intention of going deep. As for the Forbidden Demonic Land, I must go. Even if I only circle the perimeter, I have to make the trip. It is the key to resolving the problem within me!"

Mu Baiyun had never looked into Ji Yao’s eyes like this, nor had he ever been stared at so directly. In her eyes, he saw a reflection of himself—familiar yet strange—and he saw only the unyielding resolve she wished to convey, without a trace of any other emotion.

Mu Baiyun closed his eyes for a moment, his tone finally softening. "Let me think about it."

Ji Yao decided to add one more push. "Senior Brother Yun, you must have heard Second Senior Brother speak about what happened after we encountered Xuan Yi and her senior brother, right?"

Mu Baiyun opened his half-closed eyes and nodded. "Her senior brother—he would be the one I captured in Fuling City, correct?"

"Yes, that’s him!" Ji Yao confirmed. "Senior Brother, you know his cultivation level and the injuries he had then. Now, he has completely recovered and has reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm."

Mu Baiyun nodded again.

"That is only one of his bizarre methods. There is one more thing—I wonder if you noticed, Senior Brother, how he managed to evade your pursuit at that time?"

"I didn't see him evade, but I remember his movement technique vividly." Mu Baiyun narrowed his eyes in recollection. "He used a technique similar to a mist-escape, but it wasn't mist—it was demonic energy."

That was the first cultivator of the same rank Mu Baiyun had encountered whose speed was not inferior to his own. Mu Baiyun relied on his Wind Spirit Root, but the other man had relied on that eerie technique.

Ji Yao pressed, "What if I told you that his bizarre technique might have originated from the center of the Forbidden Demonic Land?"

After all, what normal human could turn their physical form into mist or energy? This was no longer just strange; it was an occurrence that the cultivation world could not explain—it was truly inconceivable.