Chapter 332 – Traps and Methods

In the depths of the Misty Zone, the sky was rapidly filling with a shade of orange-red.

Almost half of the sky seemed to be set ablaze, forming a magnificent and breathtaking sunset cloud, even casting a red glow over the lush, dense forest below.

Amid this brilliant orange-red, the outline of a large bird could be seen.

The bird was entirely enveloped in orange-red flames, with countless golden sparks sprinkled around it.

The intensely legendary aura, impossible to describe, exuded warmth and turned into a gentle breeze that lifted the hair on Lu Yuan’s forehead.

He momentarily fell into a state of dazed distraction.

This was a beauty that transcended any species.

No language, words, or images could capture and convey the noble and elegant stature of this bird.

Anyone who saw it would be at a loss for words, utterly captivated by its majestic and splendid presence, even feeling a compelling urge to bow in reverence…

“The legendary… Phoenix…”

Lu Yuan murmured in a stunned voice.

The next moment, he was startled awake by a strange vibration coming from within his body.

Focusing inward, he discovered that the Hundred-eyed Nether Crow Feather, which had been dormant inside him, was trembling slightly.

However, it was only a brief tremor and soon lost its response.

Lu Yuan’s gaze cleared.

When he looked again at the orange-red flaming bird in the distance, it no longer evoked the same shock and fascination; it now seemed ordinary to him.

Lu Yuan’s face showed a pensive expression.

“Go! We need to go now!”

He heard Lan Chen’s urgent voice urging him.

Lu Yuan turned to see Lan Chen’s eager eyes, fervently fixed on the orange-red flaming bird in the distance. The blue exoskeleton armor on Lan Chen’s body emitted intense flashes of light, as if he couldn’t wait another second to rush forward.

Lu Yuan glanced at him, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “What would we do when we get there?”

Lan Chen, without taking his eyes off the bird, quickly and eagerly responded, “Of course, we’ll catch that Phoenix. The legendary Phoenix contains the secret of immortality and rebirth…

Even if we don’t capture it, just obtaining one of its feathers could provide us with enough resources to boost us straight up to the fourth-stage, fifth-stage… no, at least the sixth-stage!! This is a chance, a golden opportunity, Lu Yuan…”

Lu Yuan looked at Lan Chen, who seemed to be entranced like a demon.

It was hard to believe that on the shuttle ride here, this very guy had solemnly told him, “A creature that resembles the Phoenix will only bring death and misfortune to the exploration team.”

Lu Yuan glanced up and saw figures darting out of the dark green sea of the primeval forest, streaks of light flying toward the direction of the orange-red flaming bird.

These were all the people, drawn by the creature that resembled the Phoenix, who participated in this exploration.

A rough count showed at least forty to fifty of them were visible to the naked eye.

“Those who are captivated by the Phoenix’s magnificent appearance, blinded by greed and evil thoughts, are instantly enveloped by the sacred flames as they reach for the Phoenix’s feather. Their flesh and souls quickly turn to ashes in the blazing fire…”

These words from the legend of the Phoenix passed through Lu Yuan’s mind.

He took a deep breath, feeling a slight tremor in his heart.

“Is it a trap? Designed to eradicate us, the intruders with impure motives?”

Since entering Embers Mountain, Lu Yuan felt, for the first time, the terrifying nature of a legendary level secret realm.

This terror was not an assault on the body or mind but a divine grip on the human heart.

The “secret of immortality” drove many to madness, willingly throwing themselves into futile battles.

A feeling completely different from exploring the Elephant Deity Secret Realm.

The gap between a dead, decayed secret realm and one that’s still “alive” was immense.

“Buzzing-“

Lu Yuan heard the faint hum of an engine next to him and turned his head, seeing that Lan Chen could no longer suppress his urgent desire and was ready to rush toward the distant “Phoenix.”

The creature, resembling the Phoenix, with its awe-inspiring majesty, seemed to contain some mysterious power. Even from such a distance, it could enchant Lan Chen, whose mental power had reached the second-stage.

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered for a moment.

Suddenly, a dense, platinum-colored Qi flowed from his hand.

His five fingers clawed the air, creating trails of platinum that leaped like Thunder, and he swiped fiercely at Lan Chen beside him.

Lan Chen’s blue exoskeleton armor responded by automatically generating a semi-transparent energy shield.

“Bang!”

With a dull thud, the energy light shield trembled violently, shattering like a fragile bubble in less than half a second.

The sharp, icy whistling sound filled the air, and Lan Chen, now locked in by a chilling killing intent, felt a prickling sensation on his scalp. He let out a short exclamation and frantically retreated.

In his daze, it seemed like a massive, bird-like claw had flickered and disappeared.

It was as if some terrifying legendary creature had silently extended its claw from the void.

The aura that leaked out in an instant twisted and shook a large swath of air…

A few seconds later.

Two figures stood motionless in mid-air.

Lan Chen’s blue exoskeleton armor was pushed to its limits, with countless blue electric arcs dancing around his body. He remained tense, his face pale and drenched in sweat, unable to move an inch.

A strong, slender hand was gently gripping his neck. The sharp platinum glow emanating from its fingers continuously stimulated the skin on his neck, forming fine bumps all over…

It seemed that if he made the slightest movement, that hand would unhesitatingly snap his neck.

“Lu…Lu Yuan…”

Lan Chen, as though doused in cold water, spoke with difficulty.

“Are you clear-headed now?”

Lu Yuan asked calmly, then casually withdrew his hand, turning away as if nothing had happened.

“If you’re clear-headed, let’s go.”

“Uh…”

Lan Chen hesitated, finally understanding why Lu Yuan had suddenly attacked him.

Upon reflection, the danger of his action dawned on him, and his expression turned ugly.

Damn, he had almost joined the frenzy just now.

He, a newly-broken-through SSS-level explorer, ranked over six hundred on the Embers Ranking, had actually thought he could go pluck feathers from a Phoenix.

What was he thinking?

“Whoof-“

Lan Chen exhaled deeply, still shaken, and hurried to catch up with Lu Yuan.

“Couldn’t you have used a different method to wake me up?” he questioned.

Lan Chen reached up to touch the goosebumps that still hadn’t faded from his neck, muttering quietly, “I really thought you were trying to kill me just now…”

Without looking back, Lu Yuan replied casually, “Just tell me if the effect was good.”

“…”

Lan Chen was speechless, a mixture of frustration and awe filling him.

Thinking back to the way Lu Yuan had just taken action against him, all his frustration turned into sheer amazement.

Previously, he had seen Lu Yuan effortlessly take down two third-stage modification system experts with a single punch each. The sight had been shocking, but it hadn’t impacted him deeply.

Only after experiencing it firsthand did he understand how terrifying Lu Yuan’s combat power truly was.

In less than a second, his entire defense system had been completely ripped apart like paper.

He couldn’t even manage to escape.

In other words, if Lu Yuan had really wanted to kill him, it would have only taken a second.

“Is Starry Sky martial arts really that powerful?”

Lan Chen marveled softly, then couldn’t help but ask, “What rank are you on the supernova ranking now?”

Lu Yuan glanced at him but didn’t bother to respond.

After walking for a while in one direction, Lan Chen suddenly felt something was off.

“I just found another wondrous item. Aren’t we going to get it?”

“No.”

Lu Yuan had no intention of accepting any more so-called “blessings from Lady Luck.” The previous futile chase of that mysterious Hoopoe had left him feeling uneasy, as though it had been trying to lead him in a particular direction.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Lu Yuan didn’t want to find himself ensnared in some perilous trap for the sake of a tiny gain.

“Even without its guidance, I can find wondrous items on my own…”

Lu Yuan stopped and expanded his mental power.

His current mental power detection range was about ten kilometers-not small, but in the vast, complex primeval forest, it seemed insignificant.

Moreover, within the evil deity secret realm, there were too many things that could shield mental power, making it impossible to detect like viewing palm lines outside.

“Maybe I should try a different method…”

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, giving up on using his mental power to search inch by inch. Instead, he shifted his focus to sensing the almost ubiquitous evil deity factors in the air.

Due to the blood sphere, he could barely detect the distribution of these evil deity factors in the surrounding environment.

These elements, called legendary auras by the official sources, weren’t fixed in their state within the environment.

In some areas, they were dense, while in others, they were sparse, constantly in motion…

Slowly, Lu Yuan seemed to perceive the flow patterns of these evil deity factors.

In his “vision,” the world before him seemed entirely transformed.

He “saw” many scattered, fiery red light spots. Most of these light spots were chaotically swirling around, like dust motes in the sunlight.

However, some of them gathered together, forming filament-like structures and slowly flowing toward a particular direction.

Lu Yuan decided to chase in the direction where the evil deity factors were more active, attempting to verify a certain idea in his mind.

Lan Chen followed closely behind him. Seeing Lu Yuan deep in thought, he dared not utter a word.

Gradually, as they ventured deeper, Lan Chen’s expression grew puzzled, then slightly shocked, and finally filled with sheer incredulity…

Twenty minutes later, the two of them came to a stop.

Lan Chen stared in disbelief at a strange fruit hidden in the bushes nearby. Its shape resembled a snake’s fang, its surface was covered in scales, and it emitted a flashing red light and astonishing energy fluctuations. He turned to Lu Yuan, his face full of incredulity.

“How did you do this?”

Lan Chen had followed Lu Yuan, witnessing firsthand the entire process of finding this wondrous item.

Apart from a few brief pauses, Lu Yuan had moved with clear purpose the whole way. He went straight to this spot as if he had known all along that a wondrous item was here, as if he were following a map.

“Just use your brain a bit more.”

Lu Yuan casually replied to Lan Chen.

Lan Chen’s face was a picture of confusion: “???”

But Lu Yuan was in a good mood, as his hypothesis had been confirmed.

He could indeed use the distribution and flow of evil deity factors in the air to locate “wondrous items.”

The concentration of evil deity factors around a wondrous item was particularly high. By paying attention, he could notice the patterns.

Lu Yuan didn’t move forward immediately. He first made sure that the strange Hoopoe bird was nowhere to be seen, proving that this time he had found the item purely on his own, not through so-called “luck.”

Then, using mental power, he detected that there seemed to be something hidden behind the snake-fang-shaped fruit.

Narrowing his eyes, Lu Yuan walked a couple of steps closer.

Soon, he saw a rustling in the bushes behind the snake-fang-shaped fruit.

Moments later, two fiery red spots lit up in the darkness.

A giant bear-like creature, over six meters tall with crimson fur, slowly emerged from the shadows…