Chapter 123: The Ancient Battlefield

A day later, they finally encountered a few of the soldiers who had been sent ahead. By then, however, the soldiers’ vital energy had been severely depleted. Although they were still alive, they had lost all ability to move.

Their minds had also deteriorated. They merely whimpered and giggled foolishly, and no matter how the others tried to rouse them and restore their senses, nothing worked. It was clear that these men had gone insane.

Chen Mu’s expression was grave. As the leader, he and Kou Li could certainly endure this environment without much difficulty. After all, the quality of Chen Mu’s soul, like Kou Li’s, had already reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

The lower-ranking soldiers, however, were different. Some had only reached the peak of the ordinary Foundation Realm, and their minds were already beginning to fail. They had not yet reached the point of collapse, but it was only a matter of time.

Once their minds broke down, the morale of the entire group would inevitably suffer. Although Kou Li and Gu Erdousi would certainly abandon such people without concern for their lives, Chen Mu disliked treating subordinates as nothing more than tools.

Still, these men did not belong to Chen Mu, so he had no standing to interfere too much. He merely sighed and continued silently toward the depths of the Eastern Wasteland.

The soldiers and disciples had begun to despair. They did not want to end up like those who had entered before them. Such a fate was even more unbearable than death.

An unusual mood consequently spread throughout the group. Guldos sensed what the soldiers and disciples were thinking and said coldly, his gaze darkening, “Anyone who refuses to continue will be dealt with personally by me. The secret realm lies ahead, yet you intend to betray us and turn back over something as trivial as a disturbance of the mind? Anyone caught fleeing or disobeying orders will be purged by Brother Kou Li and me.”

At those words, Kou Li nodded as well. The disciples who had been preparing to join forces and flee back immediately felt a chill in their hearts and fell silent.

Two more days passed before they finally escaped the seemingly identical desolate landscape stretching in every direction and entered a scorched wasteland.

By then, at least twenty people had gone mad. Most of them had been abandoned along the way.

The sight of a new landscape finally jolted everyone back to their senses, but their expressions remained grim.

This place appeared to be the ruins of an ancient battlefield, and it seemed to have existed for an exceedingly long time.

That did not match Chen Haoran’s description of the journey at all. In everything Chen Haoran had recounted, he had never once mentioned the existence of such a battlefield ruin. That was precisely why everyone’s expression had turned so ugly.

Guldos angrily said to Chen Mu, “Didn’t your father say that we would reach the Immortal-Mortal Road secret realm once we crossed the Eastern Wasteland? How could there be a battlefield here?”

Chen Mu was equally puzzled. He looked at him coldly and said, “Are you questioning my father? What, do you think he was lying? Hah. You were the ones who insisted on coming with me. I only agreed because you begged me to bring you along. Whether you are here or not makes no difference to me. Do you really think I need to deceive you?”

Only then did Guldos realize how improper his attitude had been. Cold sweat poured down his back, and he immediately apologized to Chen Mu.

“Ah, no... I’m sorry, Fellow Daoist Chen Mu. That wasn’t what I meant. I was simply overwhelmed by the situation and spoke without thinking. Please forgive me.”

Chen Mu himself could not understand why the route through the Eastern Wasteland differed from the one his father had described. Yet after entering these battlefield ruins, he felt a growing sense of foreboding.

This scorched earth had clearly witnessed a world-shaking war in ancient times, and not even the slightest trace of it had faded or been concealed. After all, no matter how much time passed, the years should have gradually worn everything away.

And yet this land still radiated an ominous malice. The sensation made Chen Mu deeply uncomfortable.

The whispers here were also more raucous than ever before, as though they were mocking him and the others—mocking them for daring to set foot upon this land. Chen Mu himself was uncertain whether they should continue forward.

Just as everyone hesitated, Guldos gritted his teeth and said, “We continue. We cannot abandon this opportunity. We have already come this far, and so many people have gone mad. Are we really going to turn back now?”

Kou Li nodded. “That’s right. We cannot give up. From its appearance, this seems to be an ancient battlefield. Where there is a battlefield, there will be the fallen. There must be ancient treasures here. Even if we fail to find the Immortal-Mortal Road, discovering a few relics from antiquity would make this journey worthwhile.”

Chen Mu had intended to object, but then he remembered that he still needed to investigate the Immortal-Mortal Road himself. Thus, he said nothing more, and the group continued deeper into the ancient battlefield.

The farther they advanced, the more intensely everyone felt a surge of restlessness and chaos within their hearts. The intense heat radiating from the ground caused the surrounding scenery to grow illusory and distorted.

Before long, they discovered something astonishing: at last, they could sense the presence of vital energy.

A concentration of vital energy no weaker than that of the outside world filled this place, causing everyone to grow excited and relax. With vital energy present, they no longer needed to worry about exhausting the energy within their bodies.

Moreover, the deeper they went toward the center of the battlefield, the denser the vital energy became. It was clear that the source of this energy lay somewhere within the battlefield.

While everyone greedily absorbed the vital energy, several cultivators at the peak of the Foundation Realm suddenly twisted their faces into savage expressions and attacked their companions.

The group descended into chaos. Only after Kou Li ruthlessly put down the attackers did order finally return.

Everyone was shaken. They assumed that the whispers had driven those people mad, but Chen Mu frowned. The people who had previously gone insane because of the whispers had not displayed any aggression.

These men, however, had gone mad only after absorbing the vital energy here. They had attacked everyone indiscriminately, as though something had invaded their minds.

Chen Mu had never trusted the strange nature of this place, which was why he had refrained from absorbing its vital energy and instead replenished his strength by taking pills.

It was obvious that after these people began absorbing the energy here, they became increasingly agitated and aggressive. The sight made Chen Mu’s expression extremely grave.

Before long, even a cultivator at the Core Realm went mad. Everyone’s faces became ugly. After killing him, they could clearly see that the eyes of the others had begun to redden.

They possessed the eyes of violent, bloodthirsty beasts. Realizing that something was terribly wrong, Chen Mu immediately called out, “Everyone, stop absorbing the vital energy here! I suspect that it is driving people further into madness! Haven’t you noticed that you are becoming increasingly aggressive? If this continues, we will all become bloodthirsty walking corpses!”

Chen Mu’s warning shocked everyone. They too had realized that they were far more agitated than before. If things continued this way, the consequences would be disastrous.

Kou Li asked suspiciously, “Fellow Daoist, is there something wrong with the vital energy here?”

Chen Mu fell silent for a moment before answering, “I’m not sure. Although the energy here is extremely dense, I can sense another presence mixed within it. I feel as though I have encountered that presence somewhere before, but I cannot remember where.”

Everyone grew frustrated. They had thought that the presence of vital energy meant they no longer needed to worry about exhausting their strength. Now they had discovered that this very energy was accelerating their descent into madness and bloodlust. How could they possibly accept that?

After another two hours of travel, Chen Mu and the others finally reached the center of the battlefield. There, they at last sensed the other force that had been affecting their minds.

Previously, this power had been mixed into the vital energy, but because it was so faint, no one had noticed it. At the heart of the battlefield, however, it had become an opposing force equal to the vital energy itself.

Demonic energy.

The entire area was filled with vital energy and demonic energy, the two forces twisting around each other and saturating the battlefield. Corpses covered the land, and they had remained uncorrupted for countless thousands of years.

The sight of those bodies, untouched by the passage of time, filled everyone with terror. How powerful must their owners have been for their remains to have endured for so long?

Among the corpses were members of the human race and another species. The others did not recognize the second race, but Chen Mu did. He had seen them before, and his expression immediately darkened.

“Damn it. This is the battlefield of the ancient war between humans and demons!”

Everyone was horrified.

“How is that possible?”

The ancient war between humans and demons was nothing more than a legend. To think that its battlefield, dating back to such a distant age, had actually been discovered by them—was that fortune or misfortune?

Yet when they thought of the magical artifacts, treasures, and storage rings left behind by those ancient experts, everyone became excited once more.

Guldos threw back his head and laughed wildly. “I knew it! I knew coming here to explore the secret realm was the right decision! We may not have found the Immortal-Mortal Road, but we have entered an ancient battlefield instead. These corpses must have left behind storage rings! Disciples of the Dustveil Sect, follow me and search for the treasures of antiquity!”

The disciples of the Dustveil Sect shuddered with excitement. They panted eagerly as they followed Guldos, turning over corpses in search of storage rings.

Kou Li also shouted something similar and led his soldiers and commanders into the search.

There were countless corpses scattered across the battlefield, more than enough for everyone to search and divide the spoils among themselves. Thus, the two sides did not come into conflict.

Chen Mu was left behind and forgotten by those consumed with the pursuit of treasure. He was not angered by their disregard. Instead, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

The whispers that had persisted all this time seemed to have become highly excited. Their mockery and exhilaration sent a chill through Chen Mu.

At that very moment, desire began to expand without limit in the hearts of those searching for treasure. It was not merely desire. Anger, hatred, and murderous intent also arose inexplicably within them.

Even though they had stopped absorbing the vital energy contaminated by demonic energy, they still began to lose control.

At last, conflict erupted.