Shen and Xue’er found a random inn to stay for the night. They set off for the deep parts of the mountains the next day.

Since it was a well-known location, the directions to the valley were easily found with the information provided from the guild.

They had avoided the territories of magical beasts and went around them whenever possible. Sometimes they were chased, and other times Shen would practice his Sword Arts against the magical beasts.

The couple had passed by a few cultivators on the way. Most of them were vigilant and avoided contact. A few friendly people had provided more accurate directions as well as potential dangers on the way.

“Father always said to be careful of the human cultivators. But there are always some nice people aren’t there.”

“Well, Brother Long isn’t wrong, you should be wary of others, not just humans. Although, I have to agree that there are always those who are kind and caring of others.”

Shen had described some of his observations over the countless eons of the different worlds and star systems. Xue’er would always listen earnestly to the stories.

To her, those tales were very interesting. She, who was half beast half human, was different from most others. Finding out that there were races other than humans outside of this world known to her were a surprise.

“Big Brother Shen, we’re only half a day away from the valley now. I have a saint beast’s bloodline so ordinary poisons won’t affect me but will you be alright?”

Xue’er was concerned since Shen had never taken spirit pills or contacted any poisons with his constructed body. However, so far from experience, the body is almost identical to the body of a human.

Therefore, poisons should be able to influence Shen.

“Hmm, I don’t know haha. We’ll find out! Worst case scenario, I’ll use chaos power to drive out the poison. I can even protect Xue’er! But make sure Xiao Yan stays in the pet bag.”

The two spirit beasts like to come out whenever there weren’t too many humans around. Currently, they were enjoying the sights and sounds alongside Shen and Xue’er.

Soon, the trees around them started feel as if they were dying. There was no lustre on the leaves and the entire forest gave off a gloomy feeling.

“We’re close! Be careful Xue’er. Xiao Yan, go back into the pet bag. Little White, you be careful too, go back into the pet bag if you can’t hold on.”

“Ok master!”  “…”

Shortly after, a light but visible green mist could be seen.

“Big Brother Shen, there hasn’t been any monster or magical beasts in the last few miles. It looks like we’ve reached the valley entrance.”

The ground sloped up and the couple climbed up a small mountain that abruptly ended as a cliff overseeing a large valley surrounded by tall peaks came into sight.

The walls of the valley were steep and the only way down was to fly.

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Shen and Xue’er gazed down into the valley filled with thick green mist.

“Big Brother Shen, I feel that there is a pressure affecting me. Do you feel anything?”

“Hmm? Pressure? I don’t feel anything.”

“Sister Xue’er, I feel a pressure too. It’s affecting my cultivation and Divine Sense. I can’t penetrate the valley’s bottom at all.”

“Looks like the information from the guild was accurate.” Shen muttered as he discovered that his Divine Sense from the Soul Avatar was also limited to a very short range once it entered the valley.

However, no pressure could be felt and his normal Divine Sense could enter the mist with no problem.

Xue’er and Little White was not surprised by this fact as they had realised that standard common sense could not be applied to Shen.

“Well, Xue’er, Little White, do you want to take a rest first? Or do we go down straight away?

“Let’s enter, Big Brother Shen. Little White, do you want to enter the pet bag?”

“I’m ok Sister Xue’er. Don’t forget that I’m also a saint beast.”

The trio jumped down into the valley. The pressure increased as they went deeper.

“The poison is not very strong since this is just the outer area. I can use spiritual power to prevent it from affecting my body for the time being.” Shen said as he observed the state of his body.

“Big Brother Shen, looks like we’ve reached the bottom.” Xue’er pointed to the rapidly approaching ground.

The visibility was quite severe and even a Soul Formation stage cultivator could only see around 200 feet ahead. Divine Sense was only a little better at a few hundred feet radius at best.

Shen looked towards the centre of the valley. ‘This aura feels quite familiar. I can’t seem to recall it. I wonder what it is.’ Shen discarded the thoughts in looked around the area.

“Big Brother Shen, look, there are a lot of spirit herbs!”

Indeed, there are many spirit herbs here. Little White went up to one and sniffed.

“These can be used to refine poison repelling spirit pills. We should take a few of them.”

Xue’er went ahead and collected some of the spirit herbs.

“Haha, this is rather template…Plants that cure poison in a poisonous place…”

Shen’s mutter wasn’t heard by the other two.

Shen, Xue’er and Little White walked on towards the depths of the valley, while keeping an eye out for the Dragon’s Bane flower.

Little White would urge Xue’er to collect a particular spirit herb every now and then.

There were no large monster beasts around and only small poisonous insects could be seen.

The insects would not approach the trio giving off the pressure of Soul Formation stage cultivators.

*Roar!!*

After about an hour of walking, a loud roar was heard in the distance. Sounds of fighting followed afterwards.

Shen and Xue’er looked at each other.

“Little White, go into the pet bag. You won’t be able to hold on for much longer.”

With the increasing pressure as they approached the valley centre, it became harder to operate spiritual power to block out the poison mist.

“Be careful, Sister Xue’er.” Little White urged Xue’er before going into the pet bag.

“Is it just me or does she dislike me? How come she didn’t tell me to be careful?” Shen sadly lamented.

“Big Brother Shen. You’re so powerful that you don’t need to be careful at all, hehe.”

“Xue’er!” Shen put on a face that looked like he was about to cry.

“Ok, I won’t tease you anymore, Big Brother Shen. Let’s go look at the sounds. Seems like two magical beasts are fighting.”

As the two approached the location of the loud noises, the scenery around them changed from one of nature to carnage. There were various trees and plants that were uprooted and the ground gouged out.

The pressure inside the valley meant that most inhabitants would not fly unless necessary since it expanded a lot of spiritual power to stay afloat.

Shen and Xue’er had been walking ever since they landed in the valley. Shen was not affected but they needed to look out for the Dragon’s Bane flower.

Soon, they were in the range of observing with their Divine Sense.

“A small fox is fighting a large monkey. Big Brother Shen, who do you think will win?”

“They’re both at the peak of Soul Formation. A winner won’t be decided quickly. I wonder what they’re fighting for? There should be some kind of treasure around here.”

Both Shen and Xue’er concentrated on the area around the two and started looking for it.

“Big Brother Shen, I don’t know what they’re after. But I can’t see the Dragon’s Bane flower around here. Shall we go around them?”

“Yeah, those two have noticed us. Seems like they’ll change the target to us if we approach any closer. Let’s go around.”