Spirit Valley was located in the far south of Tianwu Kingdom, considered by most a no man's land.
But as with most things, the higher the risk, the greater the reward. Some adventurers were even willing to risk their lives in pursuit of the treasures within Spirit Valley, but most ended up there for eternity. All that was left were piles of bones and empty skulls with nothing but sorrow and regret.
On the other hand, others who dared enter Spirit Valley and survived, returned with the treasures left behind by heroes of the past and became stronger than they ever had been before.
Over the past ten days that Ye Mo and Qi Ying had been travelling, through forests and mountains, they encountered quite a few vicious beasts. Fortunately, they travelled at a swift pace, meaning they had avoided most of the beasts in the forests. Most beasts that were of Spirit Cultivating Realm and Energy Shaping Realm were able to use beast magic, but were not intelligent. As long as you did not provoke them, they would not attack you on their own accord.
For beasts that were of the True Energy Realm, their intelligence were on par with a small human child. Unlike the others, these beasts attacked without warning or reason.
Although they tried to avoid them, they still fought some Spirit Cultivating Realm beasts and collected their beast cores. The stones were all colors of the rainbow, about the size of a small egg, and emitted a strange glow.
These beast cores were rather useful as they contained a beast's entire lifetime of Yuanli and could serve as a Yuanli reserve. They were also a key ingredient in making charms.
Ye Mo was panting a little by the time they passed the hundredth mountain. Fortunately, the Rising Dragon Pillar was absorbing Yuan Chi continuously, replenishing his Dragon Energy along the way.
Qing Ying expressed genuine surprise when she noticed that Ye Mo, who had not even reached Spirit Cultivating Realm, was able to keep up with her throughout the ten days of travelling with no breaks in between.
Even for her, a martial artist of Energy Shaping Seventh Realm, this journey had been rather taxing. What a weird young man!
"Spirit Valley is just up ahead!" remarked Qi Ying.
Looking towards where she was pointing, all he could see was a pitch black valley, where even the two mountains on each side were both entirely black. Dense, dark fog surrounded the entire terrain, forming an ominous atmosphere.
"Follow me closely. This place gives me the creeps," said Qi Ying as she slowly headed towards the valley. Just behind her was Ye Mo, who was fully alert as he had never ventured into these lands before and treated this as a learning experience.
Even beasts' feces could be useful. Rubbing it all over one's body could mask their own scent and thus made sure one would not be detected by other beasts. Some places were heavy with Evil Energy, meaning that one should take preventative medication before entering any of these places. These were all pieces of new knowledge he picked up from Qi Ying.
When they reached the entrance of the valley, they were greeted by the sight of bones, piles and piles of dry, ashen bones, dotted with small insects and cobwebs.
Occasionally, a terrifying roar would sound from within the valley. Strangely enough, despite strong gusts of howling wind, the dark, purplish fog that encircled the valley did not dissipate.
"This purple fog is odorless but highly poisonous. For beginners, this is the leading cause of death."
"If I had come here alone, I probably would have ended up like these people," said Ye Mo with a wry smile.
"Let's go!" said Qi Ying as she slowly disappeared into the cavern with Ye Mo following behind her.
Within the valley were two pitch-black, impossibly high walls. The color was a result of the dark fog that was so thick that it was impenetrable even by sunlight, giving the whole place an eerie aura.
"I sense a vicious beast up ahead!"
Ye Mo broke out in cold sweat, and the two of them quickly hid behind a small hill. This beast was enormous and brown all over, resembling a large grizzly bear, except this beast had a sharp horn on its forehead and was twice as fearsome.
It was a Horned Bear. Horned Bears were generally of Spirit Cultivating Third Realm, and this particular bear was devouring a dead beast, its snout grisly with blood and meat scraps.
"I'll finish this bear off."
Now that Ye Mo had unlocked his leg Gates, coupled with the fact that they could each channel three units of Dragon Power, he was essentially of the Spirit Cultivating Third Realm. With his trusty Formation-Breaking Spear in hand, beasts of Spirit Cultivating Third Realm were easy pickings.
With a leap, Ye Mo emerged from hiding. The bear stood up immediately, sensing Ye Mo's presence. It glared at him, and with a jolt of its head, a beam of brown Yuanli was released from the bear's horn and shot towards Ye Mo.
This was the so-called beast magic cast by beasts. In simpler terms, its human equivalent would be martial techniques used by humans. Certain beasts were so powerful that they could even cast human martial techniques, and along with their relatively high intelligence, they were certainly formidable opponents.
Ye Mo spun his spear in his hand several times, dodging the Yuanli beam and aiming straight for the bear's brain. The Horned Bear slapped a great paw towards the spear, yet a strong current rippled out of the spear from Ye Mo's right-hand Gate. The power of all three dragons bursted free all at once, all charging towards the bear.
The bear took several steps back as it absorbed the shock. It waved its paws in the air in disorientation, and with an angry roar, it rushed towards Ye Mo, stumbling, causing the ground to shake.
Ye Mo stood firmly on the ground, spear in hand, and used one of the spear's signature moves, Voyage of the Dragon. He, along with his spear, started to spin at an incredible speed, forming the shape of a dragon and impaled the bear with a loud shink!
Ye Mo turned back and saw the large hole he'd made in the bear's chest. With one last unyielding look at Ye Mo, the bear fell onto the ground with a loud thud. Although the bear's flesh was very tough, it could not withstand the spear's attack.
Although Ye Mo used Voyage of the Dragon and stabbed the bear, not a single trace of blood landed on him. Only a small bit of blood was smeared on the tip of the spear, but even that was completely absorbed by the weapon. Ye Mo poked around the brains of the Horned Bear and retrieved a small amber-colored stone. This bear was an earth-type monster, naturally, its core was also of earth-type.
"You easily defeated the Horned Bear despite not having reached the Spirit Cultivating Realm yet. How astonishing," said Qi Ying as she emerged from the shadows.
"This can't be the only thing you're surprised about," said Ye Mo as he grinned.
His words rang true. Not only did he defeat a beast of Spirit Cultivating Third Realm, he was also able to produce rank three Stabilizing Pills containing unique markings and fragrance.
"Looks like you have many secrets, young man. I can't wait to uncover them all," said Qi Ying as she chuckled.
"Well I can't let you do that. But I can let you uncover my… clothes," Ye Mo joked. The Rising Dragon Pillar was his only secret, and he certainly did not want anyone discovering that.
The two bantered as they travelled deeper into the valley. The valley was surrounded by thick purple fog, meaning that their vision would be severely obscured. They came to an abrupt stop after a while as the sight of a pack of Wind Wolves gorging themselves on a corpse greeted them.
"Vile creatures!"
With a leap, Ye Mo hurled himself towards the Wind Wolves. How dare they disrespect the dead like this!