"Alright, let's go deeper."
Wang Nan didn't pay much attention to the Spirit Beasts. After scaring them away, he spoke to Ma Xiaotao, who was behind him.
They continued deeper into the area where the Spirit Beasts had gathered. Within moments, the surroundings suddenly darkened. A thick mist seemed to have risen in the forest, but this "mist" was exceptionally turbid and growing increasingly dense.
Spirit power circulated, and the glow of a seventh-grade spirit tool emerged around Wang Nan. With his Spirit Douluo-level spirit power, activating a seventh-grade spirit tool consumed little energy. Thanks to the presence of a Spirit core, maintaining a spirit tool shield was no big deal.
"Be careful. From here on, we're in the range of the poisonous miasma."
"Okay," Ma Xiaotao nodded, also raising a spirit tool shield.
Wang Nan carefully watched her. The moment Ma Xiaotao released her Spirit, the miasma surrounding her seemed to intentionally move away.
Indeed.
Wang Nan's heart settled. As expected of an Ultimate Spirit—plant-type Spirit Beasts are naturally afraid of fire. Although the Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flower is inherently afraid of cold, it still had to avoid the Ultimate Fire.
"Did your attempt succeed?"
Hearing Ma Xiaotao's words, Wang Nan raised an eyebrow slightly. He hadn't expected Ma Xiaotao to be watching him so intently that she caught a momentary change in his expression, but he hadn't deliberately hidden anything either.
"Yes, your Ultimate Fire has a suppressive effect on the poisonous miasma here."
Ma Xiaotao heard this and extended her right hand. Golden-red flames ignited, and the surrounding miasma retreated in all directions.
"Alright, let's conserve some spirit power for now. This area has only recently spread, so it isn't too severe. The spirit tool shield can block it. The deeper area is where your Ultimate Fire will truly be effective."
Two figures, protected by milky-white spirit tool shields, rapidly moved through the forest. The poisonous miasma had driven away the Spirit Beasts living there, which meant Wang Nan and Ma Xiaotao didn't need to worry too much about ambushes from the shadows, only needing to defend against the surrounding poisonous miasma.
Like the Star Dou Great Forest, as they delved deeper, the surrounding trees grew taller, and occasionally, they could see a few withered plant-type Spirit Beasts.
These plant-type Spirit Beasts couldn't leave their habitats. Though they had higher resistance to poisonous miasma compared to animal-type Spirit Beasts, they ultimately couldn't escape their fate.
On the ground, the bodies of Spirit Beasts began to accumulate, and from time to time, enormous skeletons appeared, still retaining some colorful hues.
As they moved forward, the scenery around Wang Nan and Ma Xiaotao suddenly changed. A colorful world abruptly appeared before them.
Had they seen such a dreamlike scene under normal circumstances, they would probably have stopped to admire it. But this place was far from beautiful. The vibrant colors were entirely the result of the sprawling growth of poisonous plants.
The colors even dyed the miasma in various hues. Despite using a seventh-grade spirit tool shield, Wang Nan could still feel the colorful poisonous miasma clinging to it, slowly corroding inward.
However, faced with such a scene, Wang Nan was not surprised but rather pleased.
Such a change indicated he had come to the right place.
The map of the Sunset Forest obtained from the Tianhun Empire had lost its use, as even the people of the Tianhun Empire had never entered this place. But now, a map was no longer needed.
The poisonous miasma could obscure a Spirit Master's vision, but it couldn't block more fundamental things.
Golden light flared in Wang Nan's eyes. Two opposing but equally powerful auras were deep within the forest. Perhaps in the past, this place, protected by a Divinity, showed no peculiarities, but now, this treasure land was completely exposed in Wang Nan's eyes.
"Xiaotao, use your Ultimate Fire."
Ma Xiaotao stared at the colorful world before her for a moment but quickly recovered. Hearing Wang Nan's words, she paused, then stepped forward and took Wang Nan's left hand.
With their hands clasped, in the next moment, golden-red flames rose from her body, spreading along their hands and enveloping them both.
A wave of heat radiated from Wang Nan and Ma Xiaotao, spreading outward. The withered leaves underfoot instantly ignited, turning to ash in an instant.
The surrounding colorful miasma, which was almost tangible, seemed to have a consciousness. It retreated the moment it touched the flames.
Wang Nan squeezed his left hand, then gently pulled, leading Ma Xiaotao deeper into the poisonous miasma.
After advancing about six or seven kilometers, the two auras in Wang Nan's eyes were getting closer, and the environment before them changed again.
A jade-green luster covered the ground. Clusters of jade-green plants, seemingly disorganized, completely covered vast expanses of land. A faint jade-green mist rose upwards, then gradually spread outwards.
These jade-green plants themselves weren't large, but they grew in continuous patches, extending endlessly in both directions. Each plant had nine oddly shaped leaves—some with nine fingers, others with seven.
At their tops, large jade-green flowers bloomed.
As Wang Nan and Ma Xiaotao approached, they could even see wisps of jade-green emanating from these flowers, merging into the miasma.
On the ground, thick, bowl-sized vines stretched out, but the moment they touched Ma Xiaotao's flames, they recoiled instantly, as though electrocuted.
Wang Nan held his Coiling Dragon Staff in his right hand, wary of his surroundings, but he hadn't expected the Ultimate Fire's effect to be even more potent than he imagined.
However, it made sense when he thought about it. Back then, Huo Yuhao, with the strength of a Spirit King, could make the Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flower retreat. And Ma Xiaotao, possessing Ultimate Fire and being a Spirit Douluo-level cultivator, meant that the Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flower naturally dared not attack.
"This is the source of the poisonous miasma?"
"That's right. These are the plant-type Spirit Beasts, Bilin Seven-Jue Flowers. When their cultivation breaks through ten thousand years, they evolve into Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flowers. They are considered some of the most poisonous Spirit Beasts on the Douluo Continent."
"Are all of these…?"
Ma Xiaotao's gaze drifted into the distance, but her vision was quickly obscured by the poisonous miasma. However, within her line of sight, Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flowers were everywhere.
"That's right."
Wang Nan nodded. It seemed that to protect the treasure land inside, that Divinity had indeed used many methods.
It's just that with the God Realm no longer present, these methods had instead become a disaster.
"You said my Ultimate Fire has a suppressive effect on these plant-type Spirit Beasts, but with so many Jade Phosphorous Exotic Flowers, even if I were allowed to burn them freely, I probably couldn't deal with all of them in a short time."
"Moreover, these are all ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts. They are currently afraid of the Ultimate Fire and dare not attack us, but if their lives are threatened, I'm afraid they won't be as 'gentle' as they are now."