The Arrogant Immortal
Chapter 400 - 399: The Red Leaf Forest with Entry but No Exit

Chapter 400: Chapter 399: The Red Leaf Forest with Entry but No Exit

Xie Jiuniang didn’t fall for it, her mind was exceptionally clear, "The Child of Destiny may have deep opportunities, but it doesn’t mean they cannot die. If you don’t believe me, take a look back. Where have all the previous Children of Destiny gone?"

Every last one of them died without a trace left behind.

Jian Lingyan was choked up and didn’t dare to say anymore.

"Ha! The little Human kid is quite clear-headed," suddenly, the voice of the Golden Flame sounded.

Xie Jiuniang was surprised, "Senior, you’re awake?"

"I can regain clarity for a brief moment. There is a cluster of Strange Fire in this Secret Realm. As long as I obtain it, I can recover. You don’t need to act. Just escort me nearby."

"Okay!"

Xie Jiuniang agreed very readily.

She didn’t have to take action herself, just run an errand. There was no reason to refuse, but she soon realized she had been too hasty.

Because what the Golden Flame was referring to was deep within the Red Leaf Forest?

Xie Jiuniang was annoyed, "Senior, are you playing with me?"

"Not at all, it’s indeed deep within the Red Leaf Forest," Golden Flame affirmed with certainty.

Xie Jiuniang tentatively asked, "Can I change my mind?"

"You’ve already agreed," was the reply.

"But I don’t want to die. You just said I was clear-headed among humans? Now I’m very clearly telling you, I won’t go to the dangerous parts of the Red Leaf Forest. If you want the Strange Fire, get it yourself." Xie Jiuniang refused very bluntly.

To escort the Golden Flame to the edge of the Red Leaf Forest was already quite something, let alone venturing deep within—that was impossible.

The Golden Flame also fell silent.

Can one go back on a promise after making it?

Aren’t the right-minded Human Cultivators supposed to value promises the most?

Xie Jiuniang vividly taught the Golden Flame a lesson.

The Golden Flame said, "If you help me this time, when the contract is dissolved in the future, I can leave you a cluster of my flame."

To split off a thread of flame meant to divide a wisp of his origin.

Once it grew, it would be another Golden Flame.

A Strange Fire raised from infancy becomes extremely loyal to its master.

Xie Jiuniang did not take it to heart, going straight to the essence of the matter, "Senior, that’s not very fair of you. You’re about to leave, and yet you want to leave a child for me to raise? And you disguise it as a reward. With the situation I’m in now, I don’t even know if I’ll live to ascend. What about the future?"

"Then you should be even more inclined to escort me there. My recovery is entirely beneficial to you without any harm."

"That’s easy to say." Of course, Xie Jiuniang knew the great benefits of the Golden Flame’s recovery to her. "The most important thing is whether we can enter the Red Leaf Forest and still manage to come out alive?"

The degree of danger in the Red Leaf Forest.

Chaoyan was ranked at the very top, a place of extreme danger.

How long had it been since Wuhuan and the others entered?

Not even half a quarter of an hour had passed, and they were dead.

Xie Jiuniang turned to leave, her resolve firm.

The wise do not stand under a collapsing wall; she might not be a noble gentleman but she was willing to heed good advice.

The Golden Flame grew anxious in secrecy and could only take a step back, suggesting, "You can predict using the Law of Time. If the prediction succeeds, we’ll go in; if it fails, we won’t. Is that acceptable?"

"Oh? Alright, then I’ll give it a try."

Xie Jiuniang pondered for a moment before putting on an appearance of being persuaded.

Before making the prediction, she released the Law House and also set up a Seventh-tier Array Plate.

Who knew if something unexpected might happen during the prediction process?

One must always be cautious in a Secret Realm.

Everything was properly arranged.

Xie Jiuniang began a series of inquiries, "Senior, do you know what the dangers of the Red Leaf Forest are? Is there any way to avoid them, or perhaps a method to restrain the Red Leaf Forest?"

"I can restrain some of them," the Dari Golden Flame said.

But after the last battle with the Tree Demon, his strength was greatly reduced.

During this period, fed by Xie Jiuniang, he had barely recovered a bit. He could manage a fight with a Nascent Soul early-stage Cultivator, but if he encountered someone close to Divinity Transformation, he had no choice but to concede.

This was why he was so eager to recover.

Xie Jiuniang neither affirmed nor denied his response.

This answer was akin to no answer at all, it wasn’t of much reference value for her; still, she decided to initiate the foresight to give it a try.

She let Broken Sword stand guard outside.

Inside her Divine Sense, Xie Jiuniang activated the Time Leaf, opened up the river of time, and took a step forward to foresee the future:

[Xie Jiuniang donned a defensive cloak, stepped on the Broken Sword, and, holding her breath, entered the Red Leaf Forest. The ground was covered with thick layers of fallen leaves, and upon entering, she smelled the decay of leaves. Everything in sight was shades of red.

Red so enchanting, red like blood.

All around was deadly quiet, not even the sound of insects.

No sign of any living creatures.

Suddenly, a breeze blew up from nowhere, rustling the leaves. Rather than bringing tranquility, it made one feel slightly dizzy in the head. She quickly blocked off her senses and continued venturing deeper.

On the ground, she saw several footprints.

They led forward, presumably belonging to Wuhuan and his party.

Until the footprints ended abruptly, the disturbing thing was, without any trace of Wuhuan and his party’s corpses, no blood on the ground, as if they just vanished into thin air.

Looking at the footprints that ended some ten zhang ahead.

She did not rush forward recklessly but cautiously surveyed the surroundings, feeling no sign of activity, yet the stillness was so uncanny it gave an air of urgency.

She summoned the Dari Golden Flame and inquired, "Senior, could there be any dangers here?"

"None," said the Dari Golden Flame.

Xie Jiuniang moved forward, passing beyond where Wuhuan and his party’s footprints had stopped. She walked several more zhang without encountering any danger.

And then she continued onward.

Suddenly, a wisp of black mist appeared out of nowhere on the ground.

The black mist was right under Xie Jiuniang’s feet, leaving her no chance to dodge as it lunged at her.

The flames of the Dari Golden Flame burned towards the black mist.

Sizzling sounds, as if something was being burned away.

When Xie Jiuniang realized that the black mist was being incinerated by the Dari Golden Flame, emitting a noise as if it were a living being, she asked in a trembling voice, "What in the world is this thing?"

The Dari Golden Flame did not know either.

The deeper they went, the more black mist they encountered. The Dari Golden Flame kept burning them, and Xie Jiuniang tried her best to help, but to little avail. Using her Divine Sense to stir and kill, the clusters of black mist became as active as cats smelling fish, invading her Sea of Consciousness directly through her Divine Sense.

Barely managing to activate the Time Leaf, Xie Jiuniang used the Power of Laws to exterminate the invading black mist in her Sea of Consciousness.

In the end, due to the excessive use of the Power of Laws, she fainted, never to wake again...]

The foresight was interrupted, and Xie Jiuniang woke up from it.

The highest probability was that she encountered a fatal danger after she had fainted.

Those clusters of black mist entered the Sea of Consciousness, continuously devouring her Divine Sense; clearly, they fed on Divine Sense.

What exactly were these ghostly things?

Xie Jiuniang didn’t know what had happened in the foresight, nor did the Dari Golden Flame, so she described the situation inside, especially concerning the existence of the black mist.

"That’s just the outskirts, and there are countless clusters of black mist. We can’t even solve this one challenge; how do you expect me to take you deeper? Should we give up?"

Xie Jiuniang’s face darkened terribly.

The Dari Golden Flame had not seen the actual object, and could only vaguely guess what it might be based on Xie Jiuniang’s description, but he could not be sure.