Chapter 108: Setting Out for Kugu Forest! Senior Brother, You’re Not Scared of Ghosts, Are You?

Coming out of Yunjin Palace.

Gu Lan felt as if he had just crawled out of Taishang Laojun's Pill Furnace.

Although the internal heat inside him had been suppressed by Master…

…that bursting, abundant true origin energy was still happily surging through his Meridians.

"This Kugu Forest mission came right on time."

Gu Lan clenched his fists, his knuckles popping with crisp cracks.

"It's the perfect chance to practice on those demonic Cultivators and vent this excess energy."

Returning to Nuanxiang Pavilion.

It was already noon, and the sunshine was bright.

In the courtyard, Hongxiu, Lanyu, and Lvluo were sitting around a stone table.

They were munching on melon seeds while gesturing at the empty bowl Gu Lan had left behind earlier, seemingly analyzing the ingredients of that "dark cuisine."

Seeing Gu Lan return, all three pairs of beautiful eyes lit up together.

"Yo, back already?"

Hongxiu was the first to greet him, walking a circle around Gu Lan and twitching her nose twice.

"Hmm… the fiery heat in you has indeed subsided quite a bit. It seems Master's methods are truly impressive."

She looked at Gu Lan with a half-smile, her tone laced with teasing.

"Master was properly channeling power to heal me!"

Gu Lan emphasized righteously, then slapped a pitch-black mission token onto the table.

"Cut the idle chatter, we've got work to do."

"Master gave me the mission to eliminate demons in Kugu Forest and told me to lead the team."

"Kugu Forest?"

Hearing these three words, Lvluo, who was just grinning cheekily, turned pale in an instant, dropping the melon seeds in her hand to the ground.

"Senior Brother, that place… I heard it's haunted!"

"And it's full of those zombies missing arms and legs with intestines spilling all over… Eww, so disgusting!"

In contrast, Lanyu was very calm.

She merely wiped her longsword in silence, a spark of Battle Intent flashing in her eyes.

"When do we leave?" she asked coldly.

"Immediately."

Gu Lan scanned the three beauties in front of him.

"Although this mission is dangerous, it's also a good opportunity for temperings."

"Besides… why let good things go to outsiders?"

"The contribution points for leading a demon-slaying squad are very rich. Rather than letting outsiders profit, we might as well keep it within our Nuanxiang Pavilion."

"What do you say? Do you dare take a trip with Senior Brother?"

"Che, what's there to be afraid of?"

Hongxiu puffed out her proud assets, her eyes filled with seductive charm.

"With Junior Brother, a big expert at 'Late Foundation Establishment', around, Senior Sister only needs to look pretty and cheer '666' along the way, right?"

"I'll go too! I'll go too!"

Although Lvluo was afraid of ghosts, she was even more afraid of being left behind, so she quickly raised her hand.

"I know healing spells and can grow vines to bind enemies! Senior Brother, you can't leave me behind!"

"Then it's settled."

Gu Lan waved his hand with quite a bit of a leader's flair.

"All members assemble, target—Kugu Forest!"

…

Half an hour later.

A pink, petal-shaped flying vessel cut through the sky, leaving the mountain gate of Qingyun Sect.

This was Hongxiu's personal vessel, the "liuyun shuttle". Although its design was a bit flashy, its speed was extremely fast, and the interior facilities were… immensely luxurious.

The vessel was carpeted with thick snow-fox fur, laid out with delicate spirit fruits and spirit wine, and even contained a small Spirit-Gathering Formation.

Gu Lan lay comfortably on a soft couch, enjoying Lvluo's service of peeling grapes for him, and sighed:

"Now this is true immortal cultivation."

"Those days of flying on swords and enduring the cold wind were simply unlivable."

"Senior Brother, open wide—"

Lvluo popped a translucent spirit grape into Gu Lan's mouth, then looked out the window with some worry.

As the flying vessel headed all the way west, the scenery below gradually grew desolate.

The original lush green forests slowly vanished, replaced by patches of withered grass and jagged, rocky ridges.

The sky also turned murky grey, as if shrouded in a lingering haze.

"Senior Brother, I heard Kugu Forest used to be an ancient battlefield where many people died."

Lvluo shrank closer to Gu Lan. "The resentment inside hasn't dissipated for hundreds of years. Even entering during the daytime feels eerie."

"What's there to fear?"

Gu Lan swallowed the grape and patted the fentian sword at his waist.

"All fear stems from insufficient firepower."

"As long as our fire is strong enough, no matter what monsters or ghosts appear, we'll turn them all into ash!"

"We've arrived."

Lanyu, who had been standing on guard at the bow, suddenly spoke up.

The flying vessel dipped abruptly, passing through a thick layer of fog.

The scene below instantly came into view.

A vast, boundless black forest appeared on the land. All the trees had long since died, leaving only bare trunks, gnarled and sinister like demonic hands reaching up from Hell to the sky.

Greyish-white mist pervaded the woods, with visibility less than a hundred meters.

Occasionally, the mournful cawing of crows rang out, making one's skin crawl.

"This is Kugu Forest?"

Gu Lan put away his playful expression and stood up.

Even through the flying vessel's defensive Formation, he could feel the dark, evil Qi rushing toward him.

For Righteous Path Cultivators, such an environment naturally exerted a suppressing effect.

But strangely…

Gu Lan touched the center of his brow.

The two Heavenly Flames inside his body seemed to become strangely excited?

As if… a hungry wolf had caught the scent of meat?

"Let's land."

Gu Lan ordered, "The vessel is too big a target; it's easy to become a sitting duck."

The vessel slowly landed on an open space by the edge of the forest.

As soon as the four set foot on the ground…

"Wuuu—"

A gust of sinister wind blew past, sweeping up withered leaves on the ground with a rustling noise.

"Ah!"

Lvluo shrieked and leaped directly onto Gu Lan's back, clinging to him like a koala and refusing to come down.

"There's something! Something touched my ankle just now!"

"Don't scare yourself."

Although Hongxiu acted tough verbally, her body honestly drew closer to Gu Lan, the red silk Magic Treasure in her hand already poised to strike.

"That was just withered grass."

Gu Lan helplessly pulled Lvluo off his back, changing to holding her hand instead.

"Stay close to me, don't run around."

"Lanyu will take the rear, Hongxiu will support from the middle."

After a brief tactical arrangement, the four-person squad officially stepped into this forest of death.

The ground beneath their feet was soft and damp, emitting a rotting stench.

Deadly silence hung around them, with only the echo of their footsteps.

Crack.

Gu Lan seemed to have stepped on something brittle.

Looking down…

…it was a leg bone half-buried in the soil, blackened by time.

"It seems the rumors are true; this place really is a mass grave."

Gu Lan kicked the bone aside, expanding his Divine Sense to full capacity to vigilantly sense their surroundings.

Suddenly…

His Divine Sense captured a strange fluctuation.

"Be careful!"

Gu Lan barked softly, pulling Lvluo beside him into his arms with a backhand, and shot backward rapidly.

Boom!

Right where they had been standing, the ground suddenly detonated.

Three zombies covered in green fur, with black-iron sharp claws, burst out of the ground!

They had no eyes, only two jet-black sockets. Low, beast-like growls issued from their mouths, emanating a nauseating corpse Qi.

"It's Iron Corpses!"

Hongxiu gasped, "Be careful! These zombies are invulnerable to blades and spears, and they carry corpse poison!"

The red silk in her hand flew out in an instant, aiming to bind one of them.

However, this Iron Corpse possessed immense strength; it actually grabbed the red silk and yanked hard, almost dragging Hongxiu over.

Clang!

A flash of cold light gleamed.

Lanyu struck.

Her sword was swift, slashing straight at the Iron Corpse's neck.

Yet this strike, capable of cutting metal and severing jade, merely produced a crisp metallic clatter upon hitting the Iron Corpse, leaving behind only a faint white mark!

"So tough?"

Lanyu's expression shifted slightly.

"Roar—!"

Enraged by the attack, the Iron Corpse roared and lunged toward Lanyu.

The other two rushed toward Hongxiu and Gu Lan respectively.

"Senior Brother, save me!"

Lvluo was so frightened she could only scream, barely able to hold her healing staff steady.

"Don't panic."

Facing the foul-smelling zombie charging straight at him, Gu Lan advanced instead of retreating.

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"I was worried I wouldn't have a chance to test this sword's power. Since you're so tough, you can serve to hone my 'fentian sword'!"

Zing—!

The fentian sword was unsheathed (or rather, pulled out from the tattered cloth).

Without any fancy sword moves.

Gu Lan held the sword single-handedly and slashed straight down at the charging Iron Corpse!

"Die!"

As this sword swung down, the surrounding chilly air seemed to be ignited in an instant.

A crimson line of fire cut through the air.

Chi-la—

Like a red-hot knife slicing through butter.

That Iron Corpse—alleged to be invulnerable to blades and spears, impervious even to Lanyu's sword—was sliced neatly into two halves from head to crotch!

No black blood flowed from the cut.

Because in that split second, the terrifying heat had already scorched all the flesh and bones to charcoal.

Clatter.

The two halves of the charred corpse fell to the ground, instantly turning into two piles of black ash.

An instant kill!

Even Gu Lan himself was a bit startled.

How was this mere counter-element restraint? This was practically a dimensional strike!

"So weak?"

Gu Lan flicked the sword blade and looked at the other two Iron Corpses, his gaze shifting like looking at prey.

"Roar?"

The remaining two Iron Corpses seemed to possess some instinctive intelligence.

Seeing their companion turn to ash in an instant, their ferocious movements ground to a sudden halt.

Then…

Under the stunned gazes of the three ladies…

…these two brainless zombies actually turned around, trying to burrow back into the ground to escape!

"Run?"

Gu Lan let out a cold laugh. "You scared my Junior Sister, and you still expect to escape?"

"Go!"

He flicked his wrist carelessly.

Two streaks of Sword Qi imbued with Green Lotus Core Flame whistled out.

Boom! Boom!

Two fireballs exploded in the distance.

The two Iron Corpses that were only halfway underground didn't even have time to scream before being burned into nothingness.

The battle ended.

The whole process took less than ten breaths.

Deadly silence restored itself to the woods once more.

"This…"

Hongxiu pulled back her red silk, swallowed hard, and stared at the piles of black ash on the ground.

"Junior Brother, aren't you way too… abnormal?"

"These are Iron Corpses! They're comparable to a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator!"

Lanyu also looked with mixed emotions at the broken sword in Gu Lan's hand, then glanced at her own cold-iron longsword, silently sheathing it.

Comparing people makes one despair, and comparing swords makes one want to throw theirs away.

"Basic play, no need to hype it up."

Gu Lan stylishly twirled his sword and wrapped it back up.

He walked up to the pile of ash and kicked it.

A black metal medallion that wasn't completely destroyed was exposed.

Gu Lan picked it up to look.

It was engraved with a hideous skull and two small, bloody characters—

[Yinsha].

"Yinsha Sect?"

Gu Lan frowned slightly.

"It seems this time it's not as simple as Loose Cultivators causing trouble."

He raised his head, gazing into the even thicker fog deep within the forest.

"Let me go. The real show is just beginning."

"Senior Brother…"

Lvluo weakly pulled at his sleeve, "You were so cool just now! Can I just hang on you and never come down from now on?"

"Sure."

Gu Lan pinched her cheek, "But I'll have to charge a hitchhiking fee."

"How will you charge it?"

"Heh heh, you'll find out tonight."