Chapter 1

The sky was still dark and the Great Wilderness was shrouded in darkness. However, the sun was already shining on the Swords Gate Mountain. The mountain was surrounded by clouds and the sun shone on the golden peak of the mountain.

The golden glaze palace on the top of the mountain emitted rays of golden light that shone over the sea of clouds.

In the middle of the mountains surrounded by the sea of clouds, there were many grand and ancient palaces floating above the sea of clouds, sacred and solemn.

This was the Great Wilderness, the sacred land of the three thousand human tribes, the Swords Gate!

The Qi Practitioners of the Swords Gate guarded the Great Wilderness. Becoming a Qi Practitioner of the Swords Gate was the greatest honor for the three thousand human tribes.

The environment of the Great Wilderness was harsh and the humans were weak. Without the protection of the Swords Gate, the three thousand human tribes would have long been annihilated.

The mountain gate was tall and towering, and behind the mountain gate was the residence of the new disciples of the Swords Gate.

There were many Qi Practitioners in the Swords Gate. The three thousand human tribes would send their youths to the mountain to learn the Swords Gate. If they did not have a strong background, they would live here. The tribes with strong backgrounds would usually have Qi Practitioners in the Swords Gate, and they could directly send their disciples to the Swords Gate.

Zhong Yue woke up early in the morning. He stood beside the well with his upper body bare and poured a bucket of water over his head. Then, he shuddered violently and chased away his drowsiness.

The water flowed down from his body and splashed on the stone floor.

His muscles were firm and his body was well-proportioned. His skin was tightly stretched over his muscles, showing his strength. On his chest, there were three deep claw marks left behind by some ferocious beast that had already formed into scars.

Zhong Yue turned around, there were also claw marks on his back, and on his left arm, there was also a scar left by a ferocious beast. There were more than a dozen scars of different sizes all over his body, and he did not look like a fifteen-year-old boy at all.

Zhong Yue carried the herb basket on his back and silently walked out of the mountain gate, heading down the mountain.

The status of the outer hall disciples was extremely low. They could only learn the most basic techniques of the Swords Gate. Only when they had cultivated their spirits would they be able to become an inner hall disciple and become the disciple of the hall master of the inner hall and receive the true heritage of the Swords Gate. However, it was extremely difficult for an outer hall disciple without a strong background to become an inner hall disciple.

There were three thousand human tribes in the Great Wilderness. The smaller tribes had tens of thousands of people and the bigger tribes had millions of people. Countless people tried their best to enter the Swords Gate to become an inner hall disciple and Qi Practitioner. Thus, the competition was fierce.

The Swords Gate had its own rules. If one could not cultivate his or her spirit before the age of sixteen, he or she would be expelled from the Swords Gate. The Swords Gate had its own rules. If one could not cultivate his or her or him or her, he or she would become an Qi Practitioner..

Even those with ordinary aptitudes could become Qi Practitioners as long as they had enough spiritual herbs and medicinal pellets!

The other children of the children of the Qi Qi.. but the children of the Qi in Qi..

It was hard for a poor family to produce a noble son, and very few people from poor families could become Qi Practitioners.

A Clan. it, and and Qi Qi Qi Gate, a Qi Tribe., and a Clan, and, and it... it, and Gate, and was. Mountain.

Such a tribe wouldn't even be able to protect themselves, let alone provide a Qi Practitioner.

Therefore, even though Zhong Yue worked a hundred times harder than the others, he was still far away from cultivating his spirit.

The reason why he left the mountain so early was to search for a few spirit herbs to concoct the Yuling Pellet in order to nourish his soul.

The Yuling Pellet was one of the most common medicinal pellets. The herbs needed to concoct the Yuling Pellet were also the most common ones. But even so, he could not afford them. He could only concoct them himself.

Gathering the herbs and concocting the pellets himself, he had to spend a lot more time and effort than the others.

Four hours after Zhong Yue left the Swords Gate Mountain, the sky was already bright. The inner hall disciples and outer hall disciples of Swords Gate had already woken up and were cultivating. All of a sudden, the bell rang. One after another, powerful Qi Practitioners flew down from the top of the mountain. They shouted from afar, "The Devil Soul Yin Miasma is about to appear. Disciples of Swords Gate, no one is allowed to leave the mountain!"

"No one is allowed to leave the Swords Gate Mountain!"

"The Devil Soul Yin Miasma is extremely dangerous. Only the Swords Gate can protect this place. No one is allowed to leave the Swords Gate. Otherwise, you will die!"

…

The entire Swords Gate was in an uproar. Krong — — The majestic mountain gate was shut tight. In the air above the Swords Gate Mountain, the palaces shone brightly in the clouds. The golden summit shone brightly with golden rays that lit up the entire Void Underworld!

It was the first time for the outer hall disciples to see such a grand formation. But it was no stranger to the inner hall disciples.

The Devil Soul Yin Miasma would appear once every ten years. It was extremely dangerous. Even the Qi Practitioners would die a horrible death if they encountered the Devil Soul Yin Miasma. Every time the Devil Soul Yin Miasma broke out, a thousand miles of land would be bathed in blood.

"Why is the Devil Soul Yin Miasma breaking out so early? Based on the time, it should be five days later? "An inner hall disciple murmured.

All of a sudden, a deep rumbling sound came from the underground. It sounded like there were monsters wreaking havoc underground. All of a sudden, from a deep valley not far away from the Swords Gate Mountain, black Qi gushed out like a geyser and gushed out into the sky!

Soon, the black pillar was even taller than the Swords Gate Mountain. It pierced straight into the clouds, and the black mist dispersed in all directions. It was as if a huge black umbrella was slowly opening up!

The heaven and earth were plunged into darkness. Only the Swords Gate Mountain shone brightly, illuminating the black Qi. The surging black Qi pressed down from above, but when it reached the vicinity of the Swords Gate Mountain, it was blocked by the light. It was as if there was an invisible barrier protecting the Swords Gate Mountain, preventing the black Qi from entering the mountain.

In the middle of the Swords Gate Mountain, there seemed to be some horrifying living beings that let out terrifying roars. From time to time, the living beings in the black Qi would slam onto the light barrier of the Swords Gate Mountain, creating a series of loud and muffled noises.

High up in the Swords Gate Mountain, in front of a palace, a few Qi Practitioners gazed at the horrifying Devil Soul Yin Miasma. One of them whispered, "A few outer hall disciples have left the mountain and haven't returned yet. I'm afraid they won't be able to return …."

The place Zhong Yue went to pick the herbs was called the Juyun Mountain. The Juyun Mountain was filled with spirit herbs. It was located at the southern part of the Swords Gate Mountain. He had been an outer hall disciple for the past few years. Although he did not learn any profound cultivation techniques, he had trained his body to the point that he could cross a distance of ten feet with a single step.

When he entered the Juyun Mountain, the sky was already bright. From time to time, roars of beasts could be heard coming from the mountain.

This place was deserted and there were no hunting tribes nearby. There were also many ferocious beasts in the mountain. Zhong Yue carefully walked in the woods, searching everywhere. Not long after, he had picked a few spirit herbs.

The other spirit herbs are easy to find, but this Five-Spice Zoysia is the only one that is hard to find.

Zhong Yue crossed the mountain and suddenly, he could faintly smell a strange medicinal fragrance. The fragrance was faint but as he got closer, the fragrance became stronger.

There were five unique scents in this medicinal fragrance. Sweet, fragrant, refreshing, fiery and mellow. It was the scent of the Five-Spice Zoysia!

He followed the scent and came to the edge of a cliff. He bent down and looked down. The cliff was steep and steep, rocks protruded out from the cliff. The valley was deep and dark, so deep that the bottom could not be seen.

About a hundred feet away from the cliff, there was a huge rock protruding out from the cliff. There was a thin stream of water flowing out from the cliff, nourishing a few stalks of herbs.

"Five-Spice Zoysia!"

Zhong Yue was overjoyed. He carefully climbed down the cliff. Although the cliff was steep, it was not too dangerous for him because of his excellent skills.

A few moments later, he came to a place not far away from the huge rock. He looked down and saw that the deep valley was pitch black. The cold wind blew from the bottom to the top, chilling him to the bone.

Zhong Yue became even more careful. Finally, he came to the top of the huge rock. Just as he was about to pick the Five-Spice Zoysia, the sky suddenly turned dark. He quickly looked up and was shocked.

A huge golden bird was flying over the cliff. The bird had a wingspan of over ten feet and actually had two pairs of wings. It was flapping its wings and swooping down towards him. Its sharp claws were gleaming with cold light!

"What kind of fierce bird is this?"

Before the four-winged golden bird could reach him, the strong wind blew over and hit Zhong Yue on his face. It was so painful that Zhong Yue almost fell off the huge rock!

Hu — —

The four-winged golden bird swooped over. Zhong Yue quickly grabbed a few stalks of Five-Spice Zoysia and leaped down from the huge rock. The huge bird missed its target. It flapped its four wings and flew up. It looked around and found that Zhong Yue did not fall off the cliff. Instead, he was one foot below the huge rock and he was holding onto a green vine.

The four-winged golden bird screeched and soared up into the sky. It was ready to pounce again. Zhong Yue gritted his teeth and slid down the green vine. Just as the four-winged golden bird was in mid-air, a black haze suddenly surged over and shrouded the whole valley. Zhong Yue looked up and it was as if the sky was covered by a black cloth.

There was still some light at the bottom of the valley. He could not see clearly what it was. Suddenly, Zhong Yue heard a gust of wind above him. He saw a huge skeleton falling from the sky. It passed by him and fell into the deep valley.

He was shocked. The skeleton was the skeleton of the four-winged golden bird!

In just a few moments, the four-winged golden bird seemed to have been eaten by something in the black haze. Only its bones were left!

Zhong Yue's hair stood on its ends. He looked up and saw the black haze moving towards him along the cliff. It was extremely fast. He quickly slid down the cliff. Suddenly, a few green vines broke off from the cliff. Zhong Yue fell down along with the green vines.

In a panic, he reached out his hands and grabbed around. Finally, he managed to grab onto an ancient tree branch that protruded from the cliff. Only then did his body stop falling. Zhong Yue raised his head and saw that the black haze was only four to five feet away from him. Beside the thick ancient tree, there was a hole the size of a water tank. Rustling sounds could be heard coming from the hole and a huge triangular head popped out from the hole. It then raised its head up high and stared at Zhong Yue with interest. It was an unimaginably huge python!

The python hissed, it was very interested in Zhong Yue.

The python's strangling power was incredible. It was the king of the beasts in the Great Wilderness. Even a Qi Practitioner would find it difficult to kill such a beast, let alone him.

Zhong Yue gritted his teeth. He let go of the branch and his body fell down.

The python hissed and flicked its long tongue. Just when it was about to pounce on Zhong Yue, the black haze engulfed the python.

Hua la, a hundred feet long snake bone fell from the black haze. It fell into the valley together with Zhong Yue.

The cold valley was deep and dark. The bottom of the valley was covered with a thick layer of dead leaves. Zhong Yue did not suffer much impact when he landed. The young man looked around with the weak light. He saw piles of bones and ghost fires at the bottom of the valley. These should be the bones of the beasts that died in the mouths of the python and the strange bird.

"The python is also dead. What is this black haze … Shit!"

Zhong Yue's face changed drastically. The black haze had finally reached the bottom of the valley. The ghost fires disappeared one after another in the black haze.

Zhong Yue looked around. The black haze was right in front of him. He sighed in his heart. "This strange haze has eaten the golden bird and the python. I'm afraid I'm going to die too … Huh? Why is the black haze not moving?"

The black haze stopped when it was ten feet away from him. It was as if it was blocked by an invisible force. The black haze formed a hemispherical protective circle.

Zhong Yue saw a huge white bone claw clawing at him from the black haze. The claw clawed at the hemispherical protective circle. Creaking sounds could be heard but the claw failed to break it.

He did not know what kind of monster the white bone claw was. Just a single finger was bigger than him!

Zhong Yue had been training his muscles and bones for years. His body was even bigger than an adult. But this white bone claw was bigger than him. It was hard to imagine how big the owner of the white bone claw was!

"This is …."

Zhong Yue saw a skeleton sitting in the lotus position in the middle of the small protective circle. The skeleton raised its right arm. There was a lamp in its hand. It seemed like it was trying to light the way for the people in the dark.

The lamp was dim. It was not much brighter than the ghost fires. It seemed like it could be extinguished at any time.

"Strange. This person has been dead for so many years. Only his bones are left. Why is the lamp still there?"

Zhong Yue was curious. He walked forward and examined the skeleton carefully. Then, he found out something strange. This skeleton was not human. It was not sitting in the lotus position. Instead, it was sitting cross-legged.

The reason why it was called cross-legged was because this person had no legs. There was only a long snake tail. The snake tail was coiled together. But the upper body of the skeleton was human. It had a head, a neck, hands, and arms!

This was the skeleton of a strange person with a human head and a snake body!

"Could it be that this lamp is blocking the black haze?"

Zhong Yue bowed at the skeleton. He raised his hand and carefully took down the lamp. The flame of the lamp flickered. It was about to be extinguished at any time. He quickly covered it with his hand. Suddenly, a lazy voice could be heard, "What year is it today? Young man, which era of Fuxi is it now? "