<h4>Chapter 160 - Poison Beasts</h4>


    Even though it was supposed to be dawn, daylight did not reach where they were.


    The Nine Devil Mountains’ reputation for its bad weather was not to be taken lightly. Long Chen had a good grasp of the time, but he saw that the sky was still dark when he walked out of the room. Everything was pitch ck to the point that he could barely see his fingers.


    Dark clouds covered the skies and hung low on the mountain. They blocked off the top half of the Nine Devil Mountains, enshrouding them in lightning and thunder.


    An asional thunderp caused everyone’s hair to stand on end.


    It was the darkest day Long Chen had ever seen.


    “It’s already past dawn and yet it’s still so dark. It seems the weather is very bad today.”


    Gu Batian frowned.


    Long Chen and Gu Batian had stayed together in the same residence. Thanks to that, Long Chen had the time to talk to the two geniuses of the Violet family. Both of them were at the mid Earthly Core Realm. One of them was Gu Cheng, the grandson of Gu Batian, who had been invited to join the qualifiers directly. The other person, Liu Gui, was slightly weaker.


    “The three of you must work together if there’s danger up there. The weather today is very bad, so it might be very hard to traverse Heaven’s Path.


    “I understand, Grandfather. If Long Chen is in trouble, we will help him.”


    Long Chen was indeed the weakest one among them. Gu Batian had given special instructions for both of them to look after Long Chen, and they had agreed.


    “I will have to thank you in advance.”


    Long Chen thanked them for their hospitality.


    Even though they had just met not too long ago, Long Chen was grateful to Gu Batian for treating him kindly.


    Even though Gu Batian had only helped him out due to his own rivalry with Chu TIanxiong, Long Chen was still grateful.


    Liu Yuan and Liu Lan were behind them.


    They didn’t know what to do after Long Chen’s stint yesterday. Everything was now in the past, and Long Chen had a grudge with Chu Tianxiong. If Long Chen did not pass the qualifiers, he would be dead.


    Thankfully, Gu Batian seemed to have taken a liking to Long Chen and might be able to help him next time.


    Liu Lan was still as pretty as ever, a sight for sore eyes on this dark day. Seeing how the qualifiers were going to start soon, Long Chen recalled what she had promised him before and chuckled.


    “What are you looking at?”


    Liu Lan blushed at how Long Chen was gazing at her.


    “I just want to know whether you are ready or not. About tomorrow night.”


    No one knew what they were referring to. Even Liu Yuan was in the dark.


    Ling Xi didn’t know what Long Chen was referring to either, but she couldn’t ask right now because Long Chen was surrounded by experts. She didn’t want them to find out about her.


    Long Chen still didn’t know despair despite having so many close encounters with death, so he was still thinking about such shameful things. Liu Lan was embarrassed and angry, but she was also very disappointed.


    <i>Rash and doesn’t think of the consequences. When did he be like this ...</i>


    Liu Lan was worried about his future.


    Long Chen was the one who was supposed to be the most worried about the qualifiers. Sess or failure on his part would not affect Liu Lan or Liu Yuan at all.


    After teasing her, Long Chen followed the others to the meeting hall.


    Back in the hall, Long Chen regrouped with the other contestants. Dongfang Xuanxiao appeared and guided them to the base of the Nine Devil Mountains.


    The others who were not participating followed the Grand Elders and ascended Heaven’s Path to reach the Mortal Caves first. The Lingwu family had a base there.


    Even though Chu Tianxiong would be there, Gu Batian would also be there to take care of Liu Yuan and Liu Lan. Long Chen rxed knowing that they were safe. He looked up from the base of the Nine Devil Mountains and saw the sharp cliffs of the mountain in front of him.


    <i>Is this Mortal Devil Mountain? </i>


    Long Chen was in awe at how dangerous it looked. The dark clouds had separated Mortal Devil Mountain in half.


    The peak of the mountain waspletely covered by the dark clouds. Below that was a forest with dark trees. Fog intersected between them, making visibility almost nil. It was as if numerous beasts were hiding amongst the trees, waiting with their bloody jaws.


    “Once you are on Heaven’s Path, your lives are your own responsibility. Do not be careless. You can ascend now.”


    Once they arrived at the base of the mountain, Dongfang Xuanxiao said nothing else and started the first stage.


    Under his arrangement, each team was brought to different locations and entered the mountain in different areas. This was to prevent the teams from meeting early on and killing each other.


    Long Chen and Yin Mengyao were the final team. After Dongfang Xuanxiao sent off the team from the Red family, he brought Long Chen and Yin Mengyao to another location.


    “Go up from here. Walk five hundred meters straight. After that, your lives are your own.”


    Both of them listened to his instructions. Long Chen and Yin Mengyao looked at each other and started their ascent up the Mortal Devil Mountain.


    “The two people from the Red family seem to be targeting you.”


    When they were ascending, Dongfang Xuanxiao’s voice came from beside them before everything went quiet.


    “Red family?” Yin Mengyao was calm. “They are not hard to defeat.”


    But Long Chen was puzzled. Dongfang Xuanxiao seemed to be looking out for them.


    Both of them had ascended the mountain as they were told. They were surrounded by a dense canopy of dark trees. Their branches and leaves were massive and covered the skies. Long Chen saw that each of the leaves was almost asrge as a small boat.


    <i>The trees of Mortal Devil Mountain are called Devil Wood. They are thick and as strong as steel.</i>


    Long Chen was impressed by the Devil Wood.


    The mountain was covered in them. Their roots covered the ground, making it hard to find even a single piece of tnd to step on.


    While the Devil Wood was an exclusive nt found in the Devil Mountains, there were beasts that called this ce home that could not be found anywhere else. They were known as Poison Beasts.


    <i>Poison Beasts are mutated beasts. They are much more deadly than normal beasts because they can release poison or venom. If your luck is bad, you might meet poison beasts that are capable of poisoning even someone at thete Heavenly Core Realm!</i>


    Liu Yuan had exined the characteristics of the mountain to Long Chen yesterday.


    Long Chen knew that the reason why Heaven’s Path was deadly was because of the Poison Beasts. They were still at the base of the mountain, so they wouldn’t encounter anything too deadly, but the forest would be crawling with them once they ascended a certain distance!


    <i>You need to protect your bracelet while fending off the attacks from the Poison Beasts. Heaven’s Path is extremely difficult ...</i>


    The air around the mountain was humid. The leaves and dirt were covered in moisture. It wasn’t long before Long Chen was covered in sweat.


    Yin Mengyao, on the other hand, looked slightly better. She took more care in maintaining her appearance.


    She had been walking in front of Long Chen the whole time. She was wearing a tight suit that showcased her curves but wasfortable to fight in.


    “Long Chen, do you remember what I told you?”


    Yin Mengyao was opening up the path while talking to him.


    “I remember. If there’s an enemy, all I need to do is to hide and not be the hero.” Long Chen sighed. Still, he did not have any ill intention towards her since she was courteous.


    “Your priority is to stay alive. Do not venture too far from me.”


    “Alright.”


    Yin Mengyao was satisfied that Long Chen knew his limits, so she did not remind him anymore.


    The further up they ascended, the more humid the air got. The sound of thunder was gradually closing in on them. Their surroundings were pitch ck and they had to rely on the asional lightning sh to see their surroundings.


    “We should be approaching the area where Poison Beasts will show up.”


    Long Chen saw some markings on the trees made by Poison Beasts or Poison Insects and became alert.


    “Both Poison Insects and Poison Beasts are demonic beasts, but they are even more difficult to deal with than normal ones. Once we get poisoned, our lives will be in immediate danger.”


    “Long Chen, someone is approaching you.” Ling Xi had been earnestly scanning their surroundings for the presence of living beings ever since they started ascending. Long Chen was much safer with her power to detect danger.


    “Hey, stop. Someone’sing over.” Long Chen stopped and pointed at where Ling Xi told him to look.


    Yin Mengyao was puzzled. She couldn’t sense anything over there. She was about to question him when she frowned and stood in front of Long Chen.


    She had heard the sound of crunching leaves.


    Two cultivators walked out of the darkness. They couldn’t see who they were until they got closer.


    “It seems that they only know our approximate location.”


    Long Chen recognized the two of them. They were the two cultivators from the Red family that Dongfang Xuanxiao had warned him about. They knew roughly which direction to go because they were the ones who had gone up the mountain just before Long Chen and Yin Mengyao.


    When both parties saw each other, the Red family instantly ran towards Yin Mengyao.