Yun Ling was stuck in a dilemma. Four days had passed since then, but he hadn't made much progress with his task. Never mind finding any clue about the Trinity Giant Serpent, he had not yet even seen a lesser beast in the place which was supposed to be the home to many of their kind.
He had already entered deep into the Thousand Mountain Valley but the situation there didn't seem to be much different to the outer part of the place. There were still no signs of life, no trace of spiritual energy, Yun Ling couldn't feel anything but desolation everywhere. If this went on, there was no doubt he was going to fail his task.
Yun Ling frowned. Should he just go back to the Jin Empire and give up on his task entirely or should he continue on ahead in the hopes of finding more clues of the Trinity Giant Serpent? Although he was unresigned, what was the point of staying if he couldn't even find a trace of his target? He had already stayed there for five days already yet he wasn't making any progress. At the same time, Yun Ling thought that maybe the lesser beasts relocated much deeper into the Thousand Mountain Valley.
After all, it would be totally impossible for the lesser beasts to disappear completely from the place. If they had left the Thousand Mountain Valley, it would have surely easily attracted the attention of others. However, since he didn't hear any news of the sort, Yun Ling ruled out that possibility.
In the end, Yun Ling decided to continue ahead. He was already there anyway so he might as well look everywhere just to make sure.
Yun Ling took out a sword from his storage ring which was much bigger and wider than a regular sword. However, that was nothing strange since it wasn't a normal sword but a flying sword. The sword floated in mid-air as Yun Ling hopped on it, landing on the flat part of the blade. Then, he rode his flying sword towards the sky with a speed breaking the sound barrier, leaving behind sonic booms in its wake.
…
Several hours later, Yun Ling finally encountered his first lesser beast in the Thousand Mountain Valley— no, not a lesser beast. It was more accurate to say, lesser beasts.
"What in the world?" Yun Ling muttered silently.
Everywhere he looked, there were many corpses of lesser beasts strewn about. Some of the dead lesser beasts were big enough to tower over a small house while some were on the smaller side. Regardless of size, all of them were undoubtedly dead.
Yun Ling crouched in front of the nearest corpse to him, checking it. The corpse looked hard and shriveled as if it was sucked dry of all its life. It was not only that corpse either, all of them were more or less in the same state. Frowning, Yun Ling's hand reached out towards the corpse, planning to thoroughly check its body for any more strangeness he might find. The moment his hand touched the corpse, however, the corpse suddenly broke apart.
Yun Ling sucked in a cold breath. He was merely speculating before about the strangeness of the place but after seeing this, he was finally sure of one thing.
Something big was happening in the Thousand Mountain Valley.
All of the lesser beasts around him died mysteriously. If he wasn't careful, he might follow in their footsteps. He was familiar with some of these lesser beasts and knew how powerful they were. It was exactly because of this that he couldn't help but be a little shaken that these lesser beasts had all died.
As for how he knew, he could tell just from judging on what type of lesser beast they were.
For example, the Man-eating Worm was a lesser beast in the Core Formation Realm. In the Foundation Establishment Realm, it would be known as the Giant Worm, and in the Spirit Awakening Realm, it would turn into a Scavenger Worm.
Another example were the Fiend Bats. They were known as Imp Bats in the Foundation Establishment Realm. In the Spirit Awakening Realm, they would be known as Spirit Bats. In the Core Formation Realm, they would turn into Fiend Bats. If the Fiend Bats were able to reach the Four Transformation Realm, they would even transform into Demonic Bats, gaining a monstrous yet humanlike form.
In short, just by knowing what type of lesser beast they were, one would have the general idea of the lesser beast's power.
Yun Ling rode his flying sword as he continued ahead while looking around. He was able to recognize some of the lesser beasts he passed by.
Nightcrawler Spider, Four Transformation Realm.
Berserker Monkey, Four Transformation Realm.
Ogre Disaster, Mortal Lord Realm.
Fire Horn Rhinoceros, Fate Dominion Realm.
Then…
Yun Ling's eyes widened upon seeing a certain beast standing mightily over the distance. Its size humongous, towering over everything in the vicinity. If one wasn't looking carefully, they might mistake it for a mountain.
The beast was no other than the Goliath Elephant Mountain King, otherwise known as, Goliath Mountain King. It was a very powerful beast at the Sacred King Realm.
The appearance of such a powerful beast was very shocking to Yun Ling. Powerful beasts like the Goliath Mountain King should only be found in the deepest parts of the Thousand Mountain Valley. Yun Ling wasn't even halfway through the place yet he already met one!
What was even more surprising was that the Goliath Mountain King, just like all the other lesser beasts he had seen, was already dead.
His heart trembled. At that very moment, Yun Ling decisively decided to go back to the Jin Empire.
As for his task? What a joke. How could a mere task compare to his life? He was just an ant in front of the Goliath Mountain King but even that powerful existence had died all the same from some unknown means. Yun Ling wasn't stupid enough to think that he could escape from whatever it was that had killed the Goliath Mountain King.
Just as Yun Ling was about to leave, he looked towards a cave that was only some distance away. He sensed an incredibly weak presence coming from there.
His curiosity was telling him to go check inside but his logical side was telling him to leave right away.
Yun Ling didn't need to ponder too much what to choose.
He left right away.