Ch161 - Xue Ling inexplicably felt a shiver run up his spine (1/2)

12.4 – Xue Ling inexplicably felt a shiver run up his spine

translator: xiin

editors: alamerysl & Macabre

Xue Ling woke up to pain. Regardless of what kind of modified physique he might have, there was no way he would be left unharmed after being thrown from such a high altitude, especially considering the fact that his demonic core was damaged and he had no strength at all.

He lay there on the ground for a while before finally lifting his head and looking around.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

It was already dark, but the scene that met his eyes was very different from what he had seen in the Demonic Beast Forest’s other layers.

Demonic plants did not dare act wantonly in this area. They grew without restraint, magnificently, but there was no trace of their aggression like in the outer layers. The demonic beasts also did not retreat during the night; when Xue Ling lifted his head to look at the sky, there was a stunning bird flying over his head. Glittering sparks fell down from its feathers when it flapped its wings, and its tail plumage was like gorgeous flames that flickered and illuminated the entire sky.

Perhaps because the bird was there to provide illumination, Xue Ling’s vision was not obscured by the darkness. There were many glowing plants and animals of all kinds; they let off faint light, but were all some distance away from Xue Ling. For some reason, he had been left isolated.

Xue Ling got up and shook out his legs, confirming that he could still move, then called for the system, who did not respond.

Perhaps it knew that Xue Ling would not simply overlook the matter of getting tossed off its back, so the system was now playing dead – dodging the bullet once was still better than nothing. Xue Ling threatened it for a good while without success and could only try to climb up to a higher vantage point in order to try and figure out where he was now.

Like the system, he had not expected to be able to cross the boundary so easily, and it left him a little confused. He explored the area around him, and discovered something strange – the plants and animals were all very careful to avoid him. They all maintained a certain distance between themselves and Xue Ling, treating him as though he was a plague.

Were these plants and animals so vigilant because he had come in from the outside?

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Xue Ling thought hard, but could not think of any reason for their actions. He currently had nobody to ask, and could only continue his own explorations bit by bit.

The central layer was shaped like a valley. Xue Ling didn’t know where he had landed, but it should be fine if he headed towards the center. According to the legends and the original story, the Sacred Pool should be in the center of the central layer. Xue Ling ran along the gently sloping ground for a short while before a few spots of light floating in the air caught his attention.

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The central layer was not scary at all, even at night. On the contrary, there seemed to be a fairytale charm to it. It had probably been set up that way so that the protagonist shou could live a carefree life here for a period of time. The environment here was very mild and harmless because the demonic beasts that lived here were legendary five-star godly beasts that would not casually attack for no reason. At their level, they could freely take on human form, and did not need to rely on hunting for survival as they could sustain themselves with the world’s energy. Every single demonic beast that Xue Ling could see, regardless of whether they were flying or walking, was incredibly gorgeous, and completely worthy of the word ‘legendary’.

Those little spots of lights were different from those demonic beasts and plants from before. They did not avoid Xue Ling, and instead, circled around him very closely. A few of them landed on his fur, then rolled around cutely as though demanding to be spoiled. If they weren’t merely spots of lights lacking eyes, ears, noses and so on, Xue Ling would have thought that these spots of light were alive.

As time passed, the further forward he went, the more spots of light there were. Xue Ling was surrounded by them, and looked ahead in surprise. The distance he could see was limited, but aurora-like ribbons of light had appeared in the sky and were floating in the air up ahead. Those spots of light seemed to come from there.

Surprisingly, the spots of light that had landed on Xue Ling’s body ultimately transformed into energy that he could absorb. His demonic core had been damaged so he shouldn’t have been able to absorb any energy; even if he did, there should be no way to store it, and the energy should slowly dissipate from his body. But it was different with these spots of light. He could clearly sense that his demonic core had begun to react after they entered his body. Although he still had no way to store the energy, the points of light continued to accumulate, and his body started to feel less weak. Xue Ling had originally been moving rather slowly, but towards the end he was practically trotting towards those ribbons of light.

It was painfully obvious where the Sacred Pool was. Xue Ling had not expected things to be so simple. These events had really been a blessing in disguise.

Forget it, in the situation where things were still uncertain, it was probably better if he didn’t randomly raise flags.

He was currently just a badly injured three-star demonic beast. Anything that lived within this forest could easily kill him in a second. In case something really happened, it would be ridiculous if he had gotten happy too soon.

After trotting for another short distance, this swarm of little lights had already turned into a misty layer of light that roiled under Xue Ling’s feet like a scene from a fairy tale.

Legend had it that the Sacred Pool was the place where gods were born. They had stepped out of the Sacred Pool and transformed into gods, becoming the most powerful existences in the world. As long as they soaked in the pool, anyone would have the potential to become a god. Not only had the protagonist shou gotten rid of the darkness polluting his soul when he soaked here, he had also purified his soul.

Although this purity was completely destroyed later on in the Devil World, the Sacred Pool’s ability to purify was still remarkable.

Xue Ling was running faster now, and the layer of mist became more and more dense as he arrived at the Sacred Pool.

This could not really be called a pool. It was in fact a very broad lake, above which hung beautiful ribbons of light. A rainbow mist floated over its surface, and white tendrils of steam curled and rose from the mist. The entire Sacred Pool looked like the Abode of Immortals from the oriental legends. The scene was beautiful to the extreme.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.