Douluo: Dragon King's Divine Elegy

Chapter 122 The eldest brother drinks the soup, you all eat the meat

Stepping through the dark purple halo, the surrounding space was like a calm lake being stirred by a strong wind, rippling and undulating, while spatial fluctuations that made one's soul tremble constantly surged towards them.

The Dark Netherworld was originally a special space created after the initial collision between the Douluo Plane and the Abyss Plane. However, due to the instability of the spatial nodes during the initial collision, it was impossible to establish a large spatial tunnel. This prevented the Abyss Plane from launching a large-scale invasion from here, although small-scale invasions did occur, which indirectly led to the birth of the War God Training Camp.

"What an amazing feeling."

Nan Liujing walked at the front of the group. He stretched out one hand and casually grabbed something. It seemed as if countless sand-like spatial elements appeared in his hand, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing there.

Only when spiritual energy is poured onto spatial elements can one perceive their activity and mystery.

Since merging with the spirit of the Space-Time Behemoth, Nan Liujing has gained a clearer understanding of the spatial element, and has also developed a premonition of another element that is almost non-existent, which is undoubtedly the element of time.

Space and time are hard to say are the strongest attributes, but in terms of the difficulty of manipulation, they are definitely the highest.

At that moment, the light ahead suddenly receded.

"Prepare to defend against the enemy." Nan Liujing put aside his thoughts and spoke solemnly.

As soon as the words were spoken, the terrifying spatial ripples disappeared, and everyone felt as if their bodies had been detached from the enclosed space, becoming very relaxed. Then, a deathly silence and oppressive atmosphere began to envelop them.

The sky over the Dark Lands resembled a tattered rag ravaged by time, displaying a sickly dark purple hue. Without the sun, the shattered dome was filled with clumps of elemental clouds, barely casting an unsettling glimmer of light. Occasionally, these clouds would collide with some spatial rift, instantly torn apart, further darkening the affected area.

After a brief glance at the sky, everyone's gaze quickly fell forward, and their expressions visibly became serious.

It was a misty forest, with withered branches and fallen leaves intertwined, devoid of any sign of life, and the ground was scorched black, as if it had survived a devastating fire.

Yuan Enhui raised her eyebrows slightly and said in a deep voice, "This should be the Dark Forest. According to official records, there is a strange fruit called the Abyss Fruit that grows here. Its juice can be attached to soul-guided weapons, so that after killing abyssal creatures, it can delay their resurrection time. We were probably teleported here to obtain the Abyss Fruit."

While Nan Liujing was helping people forge metal, Yuan En Yehui was not idle either. She asked Xu Junlan some questions about the Dark Netherworld and obtained some of the test questions, which made her know far more than others.

In fact, the teleportation locations of those six spatial channels are fixed, unlike the simulated pods which randomly drop into a place. Since they were specifically arranged outside the Dark Forest, it must mean that there is a special mission to be carried out.

Sure enough, the instructor responded quickly, "Your mission is to enter the Dark Forest. Each person must obtain at least three Abyss Fruits. For each fruit obtained, you will be rewarded with 200 merit points. Remember, this is your only chance to earn merit points using the Mimicry Pod. The mission has a time limit of six hours."

Abyss Fruit?
Everyone looked at each other.

"Captain, what do we do next?" Yuan En Hui wasn't surprised that she had guessed correctly; she asked calmly.

Nan Liujing remained silent, his spiritual energy surging into the forest like a tide. However, an invisible and mysterious force was hindering his spiritual exploration, and the deeper he went, the more his spiritual energy was consumed.

Seeing this, he had no choice but to withdraw and keep his energy within an acceptable range: "Xiao Ying, Zhou Yan, Liu Qing, Tang Xiaoqi." He called out four names in a row.

"Captain." The four people whose names were called came closer.

Nan Liujing solemnly said, "After entering the Dark Forest, you will be responsible for reconnaissance, but you must not stray more than 100 meters from the main force. This is the optimal range that my mental power can cover."

"Yes," the four responded.

Their martial spirits are Shadow Dagger, Rock Demon Puppet, Azure Shadow Leopard, and Seven Treasure Vine, respectively, making them well-suited for action in this environment.

"Let's go," Nan Liujing ordered.

As the group approached the edge of the forest, Nan Liujing sensed something amiss with his spiritual power. He warned, "Envelop your feet with soul power and try to avoid stomping on the ground."

The team members instinctively chose to obey, and looked at the scorched ground with confusion.

Nan Liujing flicked his finger, and a wisp of soul power shot out like a bullet onto the soft, scorched grass. With a soft thud, it was as if something had been pierced through the ground, and a viscous, scarlet liquid splattered out. Even before it was airborne, the sound of corrosion could be heard.

"This!" The team members' expressions changed. The instructor had never mentioned that corrosive liquids could splash onto grass.

If the captain hadn't reminded me, and I had actually stomped on the ground, wouldn't I have been corroded before even starting the fight, resulting in injury?

Nan Liujing narrowed his eyes and once again instructed the four scouts: "Continue, but be extremely careful."

The unusual ground conditions made the four scouts even more cautious. They disappeared into the dense vegetation, their soul power surging within them, ready to activate their life-saving soul skills at any moment.

The environment inside the Dark Forest is far more terrifying than it appears from the outside.

A dark purple mist, sometimes thick and sometimes thin, lingered and refused to dissipate. In the dim shadows, all the trees seemed to have been drained of their life force by some indescribable substance, their various contorted movements resembling human spasms. Underfoot lay piles of decaying leaves, almost reaching the calves, and no matter how carefully one moved forward, the leaves inevitably made a sticky, crunching sound.

Every sound seemed to foreshadow impending danger, stirring the hearts of everyone present.

They had been walking for nearly twenty minutes without any danger, yet there were fresh, cracked footprints on the ground, with traces of crimson liquid remaining, clearly caused by some creature accidentally stepping on them. Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Nan Liujing glanced at the others without making a sound.

Having been on edge for so long without encountering any real danger, they've started to relax a bit. This is definitely not a good situation. If an accident happens, even if he reacts quickly and warns them, his teammates will have a hard time responding in time.

"Stop for now." Nan Liujing stood in front of a tree with claw marks still visible and gently reached out to stroke it.

The claw marks were fresh, just like the footprints on the ground, indicating they were left not long ago. But why were there no abyss monsters nearby?

Seeing Nan Liujing frown, Yuan Enyehui perfectly displayed the demeanor of a virtuous wife. She whispered, "Our goal is to find the Abyss Fruit. Is it possible that the abyssal creatures are also after the Abyss Fruit, which is why we haven't encountered a single monster along the way?"

His words were a wake-up call to everyone.

Nan Liujing's eyes flickered as he looked at her: "What else do you know?"

Yuan Enhui shook her head and said, "I did learn about the Dark Forest beforehand, but there were some things that Sister Xu didn't explain clearly to me, so I can only make a rough guess based on the current situation. Thinking about it carefully, the fact that the assessment location was deliberately chosen to be something we hadn't learned in the course, and then we were given a six-hour time limit, isn't that just to make it easier for the abyss monsters to gather in advance and increase the difficulty of the mission for us?"

After hearing what she said, Nan Liujing thought of something and said, "Since it relies on devouring all life energy to survive, it must carry a very strong evil aura."

Before he could finish speaking, Nan Liujing's dark blue eyes flashed with astonishing lightning. To everyone's astonishment, long, blue-purple vines, resembling bamboo joints, sprouted from his body.

"Thunder, help me pinpoint the direction where the evil aura is strongest," Nan Liujing said solemnly, his entire body radiating a powerful and masculine aura of thunder.

"As you command." The telepathic message returned to Nan Liujing's ears. The Thunderous Hell Vine, its body crackling with terrifying lightning fluctuations, transformed into countless bolts of lightning that shot straight into the sky. In an instant, thunderclouds shimmering with terrifying pressure gathered together, and layers upon layers of lightning arcs rippled outwards, creating a constant interplay of light and darkness within a radius of a thousand meters. The members of the Spirit Pagoda stared in stunned silence at this scene. Truly worthy of being the legendary Thunderous Hell Vine, ranking first among lightning-attribute soul beasts!
In less than half a minute, Lei Mingyan Yuteng delivered a satisfactory answer to Nan Liujing.

“Master, about ten kilometers to your left, there is a considerable evil aura gathering.”

With a thought, Nan Liujing abruptly withdrew the Thunderous Hell Vine from his body. He looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Prepare for battle."

His words were a wake-up call, and everyone's relaxed attitude returned to seriousness.

With four scouts exploring ahead, the team advanced smoothly. However, after traveling seven kilometers, a deep roar shattered the long silence, and the soft ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

Nan Liujing abruptly stopped, scanned the surrounding trees with his mental energy, and after confirming that there was no danger, reminded him: "Climb the tree and suppress your aura to the limit."

The group of sixteen people formed a circle and found a large tree suitable for hiding.

In less than half a minute, countless eerie figures emerged from the distant mist. Moments later, a dense mass of creatures of various shapes and appearances tore through the mist and surged forward like a tidal wave.

As the army of the abyss receded from beneath their feet, the group hidden in the trees finally dared to breathe a sigh of relief, but the shock in their eyes was indescribable.

Although I had seen it before through holographic projection, the feeling of being there in person was much more intense.

The aura emanating from the hordes of abyssal monsters is extremely cold and sinister, corroding your body like the abyss itself.

"Follow me." Nan Liujing nimbly stepped off the ground and calmly gave instructions.

The group continued their journey, with each person trying their best to conceal their aura. However, the further they went, the more dangerous it became. What they had previously encountered were just running abyssal monsters, but now they frequently saw plant monsters hiding in bushes or tree branches, fast asleep.

The Ghost Claw Thorn hangs casually to the ground like willow branches. It looks like a withered branch, but when it senses the presence of a living being, it instantly starts to writhe like a python. Its tip is shaped like a human finger bone and glows with an eerie light when it scratches, clearly containing a deadly poison. No one wants to be scratched by it.

The Blood-Weeping Insect Leaves, resembling insects clinging to tree branches, are equally sensitive to the presence of living beings. Even though everyone concealed their auras, they were still exposed, and then they were greeted by a light rain of blood. When their soul power came into contact with the leaves, it instantly erupted with a corrosive sizzling sound.

The danger briefly threw the team into a panic, but whenever the situation was critical and someone was about to be hit, a bolt of lightning would always shoot out and resolve the danger just in time, keeping the team's injury rate at zero!
"You did this on purpose." Yuan Enhui stared at Nan Liujing's back and secretly transmitted her voice.

"The mimicry chamber almost perfectly simulates most of the areas that have been explored in the Dark Lands. It would be a real shame not to use it to hone people."

Nan Liujing walked at the front, a subtle smile playing on his lips. He had indeed discovered the plant-type abyss monster from the very beginning, but he didn't make a fuss immediately. He even sent a telepathic message to the team members in charge of reconnaissance to keep it a secret. Only by truly facing danger could the team members improve their teamwork and reaction capabilities more quickly.

We're still in the virtual world now. If we don't hone our skills now, we might lose our composure when we actually go to the dark and gloomy places of reality.

Furthermore, since the Dark Forest has been included as a testing location, it means that the real Dark Forest will be a place that is frequently visited, most likely because of the so-called Abyss Fruit, which makes it even more necessary to be familiar with the location.

Under Nan Liujing's deliberate guidance, the team's combat experience improved rapidly. When they encountered several unfamiliar plant-type abyssal monsters in the future, they were able to find and deal with them immediately. They also remembered their attack characteristics and frequencies, which was something they couldn't learn in class.

Gradually, the pace of the procession slowed down.

The reason is simple: the nearby vegetation is starting to thin out, and we've reached the edge of the forest. Meanwhile, we can see abyssal monsters lurking around at any moment. The life force of a group of humans is as irresistible as a bowl of instant noodles in a late-night internet cafe, capable of arousing any desire. If we attract the attention of even one abyssal monster, it could easily trigger a chain reaction. Therefore, we have no choice but to temporarily halt our actions.

Looking closer outside the forest, a thin mist floats, revealing the outlines of countless monsters, as dense as walking corpses, numbering well over a thousand—a terrifying figure.

Strangely, these abyssal monsters that rushed into the mist remained motionless throughout, as if frozen in place, with only the occasional wisp of fruity fragrance drifting through the air.

Nan Liujing led the team to a spot where they could barely hide, and gestured for everyone to move closer.

Yuan Enhui said in a deep voice, "The fruity scent is very strong, so the Abyss Fruit must be ripening. But the monsters are gathered together, so it will be difficult for us to break in. Even if we do manage to break in, there's a high probability that people will die. We must seriously consider our course of action."

"Do you have any thoughts? Feel free to speak." Nanliu nodded, then asked the other team members.

"We'll do whatever you say, Captain," said Xiao Ying, a team member, very seriously. The others looked over silently, their eyes filled with determination.

They were all elite disciples of the Spirit Pagoda, so how could they not sense that Nan Liujing was deliberately training them along the way?
None of the four scouts discovered any plant-type abyssal monsters. They weren't blind, and this was a virtual world where no one would actually die. There was no need to treat them like Shrek people.

That's the key point. Although the captain trains them, he will really protect you in critical moments and won't let you get hurt. You can always rest assured that someone is behind you.

Nan Liujing smiled and said, "I have been observing the aura strength of the abyss monsters along the way. Most of them are comparable to Soul Masters and Soul Kings, but about 20% of the abyss monsters are equivalent to Soul Emperors. No Soul Saint level monsters have been found yet, which is good news."

Everyone was taken aback. Good news?
We don't even have a single Soul Emperor. Can this be considered good news?

Nan Liujing said calmly, "You are all elite disciples of the tower, don't you know the Thunderous Hell Vine's most proficient ability?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback at first, and then their eyes widened.

Thunderous Hell Vine has an absolutely amazing area-of-effect attack skill!

“Yuan’en, you will take over command of the team.” Nan Liujing said without hesitation, “I will charge out alone next. My blood energy can attract all the abyss monsters. Once their density decreases, the pressure on you will be reduced. At that time, just keep an eye on the abyss fruits and take them.”

“Okay.” Yuan Enhui chose to believe in Nan Liujing’s abilities.

Nan Liujing then looked around at everyone and said, "Remember, when the sound of thunder is heard, you must act immediately and follow Yuanen Yehui's orders."

Everyone nodded silently. The eldest brother drank the soup, while they ate the meat. What else could they say?

Nan Liujing nodded slightly to Yuan Enyehui, and the next moment, everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and Nan Liujing's figure disappeared.

In the dim forest, streaks of lightning flickered, forming a long and dazzling beam of light. Nan Liujing, acting alone, was an absolutely terrifying presence. He didn't need to worry about his teammates; his full power was unleashed.

In almost two breaths, he rushed out of the woods without attracting the attention of any abyssal monsters.

The instant he broke free, he was glad he had made the right choice.

Just outside the forest, there were more than a thousand abyss monsters gathered. At a glance, they were densely packed, with at least three thousand. Directly in front of the monsters was a large puddle. Deep purple lotus-like plants floated on the water's surface, and a magnificent purple light gathered, gradually transforming into fist-sized fruits.

hum~
In an instant, a ray of light as intense as the sun rose, and an incomparably powerful and dense surge of blood energy erupted.

Sensing the sudden aura, thousands of abyssal monsters instinctively turned their heads. Their originally calm pupils were gradually filled with a ferocious and crazed look, and in the dim light, scarlet lights appeared one after another!

(End of this chapter)