Wang Nan rushed westward.
For a moment, he felt much lighter. Perhaps it was the knowledge that the divine gaze watching this world was no longer above him, or perhaps for other reasons.
He encountered almost no Spirit Beasts along the way and quickly exited the Star Dou Great Forest. As he was heading toward Shrek Academy, he saw two figures rise from the direction of Shrek and head north.
With his spirit power circulating and spatial force surging around him, he quickly caught up to Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao, who were about to head to Sunset Forest.
"Senior Sister, Xiaotao, what are you doing?" he asked.
Ma Xiaotao only felt a flash before her eyes, and then a person appeared beside her. After seeing who it was, she instantly smiled.
"Xiao Nan!"
Zhang Lexuan's eyes lit up when she saw Wang Nan. "There's been a Spirit Beast riot in Sunset Forest, and Xiaotao and I are heading there."
Sunset Forest?
Wang Nan looked north, memories surging in his mind.
"How is Wang Dong'er?"
When Zhang Lexuan heard Wang Nan's question, she assumed he was concerned about the Inner Courtyard Disciple. "She's still in a coma. Old Zhuang has seen her, but her body hasn't suffered any damage. Old Zhuang speculates that her mental force sea was injured, but if that's the case, it won't be easy to treat."
"I'll go with you."
"You just returned from the Sun Moon Empire. Don't you need to rest?"
"No."
"That's good then, thank you for your trouble." Zhang Lexuan nodded. She knew Wang Nan's strength, and his help would be useful in resisting the Spirit Beast riot.
Seeing Zhang Lexuan nod, Ma Xiaotao leaned closer to Wang Nan. Wang Nan turned his head and gave her a smile.
…
They traveled in silence.
The strength of Wang Nan's group was all above rank 80, and they were even close to the threshold of rank 90. In less than half a day, they had reached the border between the Tianhun Empire and the Douling Empire. Along the way, they encountered some Spirit Beasts that had already fled there, but they were quickly subdued by the three of them.
Sunset Forest was originally located in the center of the Heaven Dou Empire. Later, as the Heaven Dou Empire split into the Tianhun Empire and the Douling Empire, Sunset Forest fell within the Tianhun Empire.
Although not comparable to the Star Dou Great Forest, Sunset Forest also harbors a large number of Spirit Beasts, mostly thousand-year and ten-thousand-year ones, with the strongest ones approaching one hundred thousand years of cultivation.
Before they even got close, the three of them saw a small town that had already turned into ruins from a distance.
"There are no survivors here," Wang Nan said, withdrawing his mental force, shaking his head, and sighing softly.
"But we haven't seen too many Spirit Beasts on our way here." Ma Xiaotao's expression was also not good.
"This should have only been passed by one or two lone Spirit Beasts, but for ordinary people and low-level Spirit Masters, this is already a catastrophe."
Silence fell, and the three of them continued flying north in silence.
As they flew, the outline of Sunset Forest came into view. Just then, a figure suddenly flew up from the ground, with the light of a flying spirit tool behind him.
"Please wait, Seniors. Ahead is Sunset Forest. Some changes have occurred here recently, and continuing forward may lead to danger."
"Would you mind telling us what kind of changes?" Wang Nan asked.
Wang Nan looked at the person in front of him, dressed in the military uniform of the Tianhun Empire, with four spirit rings circling him—three yellow and one purple—which was not the optimal spirit ring configuration.
Only when the Tianhun Empire soldier got closer did he see that Wang Nan's group didn't have flying spirit tools; they were flying using their own strength.
"My apologies, Seniors." It was inconvenient to salute in the air, so the soldier cupped his fists toward them. "A layer of miasma has risen in Sunset Forest, and the Spirit Beasts inside have all fled. A Titled Douluo from the Hall of Offerings has already arrived, but the miasma is too dense to go deep."
The soldier didn't know the strength of Wang Nan's group and didn't dare to speak directly, but Wang Nan understood the meaning of his words: the miasma ahead was so dangerous that even a Titled Douluo couldn't gain an advantage. Those who weren't strong enough shouldn't proceed.
"We are from Shrek Academy and have come for the Spirit Beast riot," Zhang Lexuan said, stepping forward.
At this, the soldier's expression visibly softened.
"So it's the three Seniors from Shrek Academy. Please follow me. The other Seniors from Shrek Academy are in the camp ahead."
Camp?
Zhang Lexuan was puzzled but still followed, with Wang Nan and Ma Xiaotao behind her.
Before they even got close, a wave of heat came from the front, followed by dazzling golden-red light, as if a sun had risen ahead.
"It's Ming'er," Zhang Lexuan suddenly spoke, sensing the aura of the Spirit Master ahead.
Zhang Lexuan was referring to Wu Ming, who possessed the Golden Crow Spirit. Continuing forward, they soon saw the specific situation outside Sunset Forest.
As the saying goes, a thousand people can obscure the sky, and ten thousand people are boundless.
This also applies to Spirit Beasts.
Wang Nan's group flew in mid-air, and before them was an endless ocean of Spirit Beasts.
Countless Spirit Masters surrounded the area in a semicircle, and various Spirit Abilities and spirit tools continuously fell into the Spirit Beast horde, creating patches of empty ground. But soon, countless more Spirit Beasts surged out of the forest to fill the gaps.
Spirit rings of various colors constantly appeared, but no one dared to absorb spirit rings in such a situation.
The soldier leading the way had seen such a scene before, but his face was still pale.
Wang Nan's gaze fell on the depths of Sunset Forest. Golden light shone in his eyes, and he saw a dark green spread slowly outwards from the very center of the forest, already covering more than half of the area.
He already knew the cause of this Spirit Beast riot.
The miasma covering Sunset Forest originated from the Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flower and the Bilin Qijue Flower.
If he remembered correctly, to protect the treasure land in Sunset Forest, hundreds or even thousands of ten-thousand-year Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flowers were planted there. Their toxins corroded the Spirit Beasts that stumbled into them, and the corroded corpses then emitted miasma, forming such a scale.
If it hadn't been for human intervention, with such a scale and the habits of the Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flower, the entire Sunset Forest would have been corroded and turned into a desolate land.
Clearly, the previous lack of outward expansion was due to the intervention of other forces, and now, the force that bound them no longer existed. Therefore, the Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flowers, nourished by the treasure land, began to expand outwards.
There were no hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts in Sunset Forest, and even ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts would flee in fear when encountering groups of Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flowers. Therefore, as the miasma gradually covered Sunset Forest, it drove the Spirit Beasts here to flee outwards, causing this Spirit Beast riot.