After drawing some of Fei Lin’s blood, Han Ning scanned his surroundings, found a direction with relatively flat terrain, and headed that way.

Along the way, strangely-shaped Soul Beasts would attack them from time to time, but they were all easily repelled by Yin Yi and Egg Pancake.

The Soul Beasts here were mostly grotesque and had low intelligence. Han Ning had no idea how they managed to survive in such a treacherous region.

Since he didn’t know the Shadow Reaper’s habitat, Han Ning could only gauge what kind of area he was in by the strength of the Soul Beasts he encountered.

He theorized that as a Soul Beast with C Talent, the Shadow Reaper ought to have a specialized habitat of its own, one with conditions that it would find comfortable.

Fei Lin, whom he was carrying, also possessed the Undead Attribute. If she felt comfortable in the surrounding environment, then... the chances of a Shadow Reaper appearing would increase significantly.

At least he wasn’t just running around like a headless chicken.

His many expeditions had instilled a good habit in Han Ning. Every so often, he would leave behind trail markers so that he could find his way back and escape should a crisis arise.

As he ventured deeper into Mist Deep Valley, the strength of the roaming Soul Beasts increased noticeably.

SWISH!

A flash of emerald light cut through the air.

A three-meter-tall, grotesque humanoid creature crashed to the ground.

Yin Yi flicked the pale purple blood from the tip of her Sword Stab and casually tossed the Soul Crystal from within the Soul Beast’s head back to Han Ning.

’A Cyclops Owl, around Extraordinary I...’

Han Ning felt the Crystal Stone in his hand, which was emitting a black mist. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the grotesque Soul Beast. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The Cyclops Owl was the first Extraordinary Level Soul Beast he had encountered since entering Mist Deep Valley.

As he reached this point, he suddenly felt chilling wisps of an aura within the omnipresent, dense fog.

His expression flickered as he suddenly remembered the Spirit Fusion Technique he had obtained from the Taman Insect Master.

’The Undead Attribute should also be a type of energy or aura.’

’If I use the Spirit Fusion Technique, shouldn’t I be able to tell which direction has the most concentrated Undead aura?’

With that in mind, he closed his eyes.

Gradually, the "whispers" of the passing breeze faded away. Deep within his mind, he began to perceive scattered clusters of what looked like pale-white clouds of gas nearby.

These clouds varied in size; the largest were bigger than a person’s head.

The smaller ones flickered like faint candlelight, ethereal and unstable.

Ubiquitous, pale-white particles filled every corner of his perception, like a shifting atmosphere.

’Are these pale-white particles the Undead aura? Or perhaps the legendary nether energy?’ Han Ning wondered.

To the northeast, the nether energy was at its most intense, as conspicuous as a torch blazing in the dark of night.

He kept his eyes closed; it made no difference here. He "looked" toward the forest to the northeast and moved forward without hesitation.

The Soul Beasts at his side received his telepathic command and formed a protective circle around him, shielding him from any wild Soul Beasts that might attack.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE...

The faint rustling of his feet moving through the grass reached his ears.

As he advanced, even with his eyes closed, the terrain of his path and the slightest stir of wind in the grass appeared in his mind as if rendered by a 3D scan.

Mist Deep Valley had no real paths. After walking just a few steps, Han Ning mounted his Storm Butterfly.

Along the way, he heard the occasional fanning of wings nearby and the scuttling of crawling creatures dozens of meters away. Fortunately, the owners of these strange sounds made no move to attack.

Needless to say, even with multiple layers of protection from his Soul Beasts, traversing a completely unknown environment required immense courage. Han Ning never let his guard down, constantly using his hearing and the senses granted by his Spiritual Power to scout his surroundings for danger.

Following the concentration of nether energy, he had the Storm Butterfly fly tirelessly through the forest at an extremely slow pace. After more than an hour, a massive rectangle composed entirely of pale nether energy gradually materialized within his perception.

Even without relying on his senses, when he opened his eyes, the object was just as conspicuous. Far in the distance, an unidentified object pulsed with a white halo, a stark beacon in the night.

Only then did he slowly open his eyes.

Darkness. A pitch-black so absolute he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

It was as if an atmosphere of endless darkness had sealed everything around him in a permanent, lightless domain.

The faint whoosh of passing air currents reached his ears. In the dead silence, it sounded like the whispers of a midnight Ghost.

Han Ning took a deep breath, able to clearly hear the faint thumping of his own heart and the slightly ragged sound of his breathing.

"This is..."

But when he finally made out the object before him, a look of shock spread across his face.

A dark silhouette towered silently before him.

Even with his night vision, Han Ning could only barely make out a tall, slender spire.

The flickering point of pale-white light was a wisp of pale flame, burning silently just below the spire’s peak.

"Egg Pancake, light up what’s ahead."

"CHIRP!"

Egg Pancake opened its mouth, and a massive fireball shot into the sky. Its light dispelled the darkness, illuminating a small area ahead.

On the mottled outer wall was a bas-relief carving of a monster covered in sharp spikes, its head thrown back in a roar.