Chapter 1529: Mysterious Jungle
In the hinterland of Raging Waves Mountain Range, within the primitive jungle that was as dark as ink…
A few years ago, the Red Radiance Jade underground had erupted, causing a spirit magnetic storm that swept thousands of troops away. It had semi-permanently changed the terrain and topography of the place.
However, the spirit energy that shot out directly destroyed the old life, and at the same time, gave birth to even more vigorous vitality.
In just a few short years, the plants that had been blown away and burned in the past grew back in an even more exuberant and demonic manner.
Since there were no high-level monsters roaming freely in the jungle, trampling on the thorns and tearing the vines, the jungle seemed to be even denser and deeper than before. It was like an iron wall with sharp thorns.
Of course, no matter how strong the iron wall was, it could not stop Meng Chao from walking on flat ground.
He was like a flying insect that was hundreds of times larger.
His feet brushed past the branches without touching their dust.
He could even quietly fly dozens of meters with a light tap on a spider’s web.
Along the way, Meng Chao found some monster hunters’ encampments.
There were even a few hunting and training teams.
However, regardless of their strength or scale, they were far from what they used to be a few years ago when the Monster War was at its most intense.
The main reason was that the cost-benefit ratio of training on Raging Waves Mountain Range was not high.
All the h.e.l.l Beasts and Doomsday Beasts there had been killed by the humans after they were surrounded by humans.
Only a few Nightmarish Beasts that were particularly good at camouflaging and escaping were left.
As for superhumans above that level, the Nightmarish Beasts had no effect on their cultivation.
Instead, they were like two bad chess players, wearing down the compet.i.tive state of middle and high-level superhumans
Even such Nightmarish Beasts were pitifully rare.
One would often have to hack at thorns and vines for several hours in the depths of the jungle, dripping in sweat, before one could find one.
It was simply a waste of time.
Besides, there were better training grounds around Dragon City now.
Whether it was the Hidden Mist Domain or Monster Mountain Range, the vast and boundless Other World was a stage for ambitious superhumans to show off their skills.
Therefore, Horizon had set up a secret base in Raging Waves Mountain Range not far from the main city.
At first glance, it was incredibly risky.
Thinking about it carefully, it really felt like something close by that no one noticed.
Meng Chao traveled in the depths of the jungle for half an hour, and the surrounding campsites became fewer as time went by.
Gradually, he could no longer hear the monster hunters’ movements.
His surroundings appeared exactly the same as if the plants had been copied and pasted on.
If one looked at them for a long time, not only would it be easy to lose one’s direction, it would even cause one to feel as if the world was spinning.
Meng Chao knew that it was not an illusion.
It was the effect of the semi-permanent change in the planet’s magnetic field caused by the explosion of the Red Radiance Jade lode.
Similarly, when extreme geological disasters or extreme weather phenomena caused changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, they would disrupt the homing pigeons’ sensory systems and prevent them from returning to their nests.
“If it weren’t for the aerial reconnaissance, which allowed us to lock onto the abnormal area in advance, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to find any clues in the jungle with ground observation.”
Meng Chao mumbled to himself, “Even if I could succeed, it would be very difficult to locate the exact coordinates of the abnormal range.”
Of course, it was different now.
The holographic map of the entire forest had been imprinted on Meng Chao’s cerebral cortex long ago.
Following the map, he moved forward in an almost straight path and soon arrived at the abnormal area.
Compared with the surrounding forest, the plant roots there were more developed, like tangled giant pythons.
The tree trunks were even more twisted, as though they had been manipulated by a demon.
On the cracked bark, there were also rings of translucent vines.
The vines seemed hollow, and there was a suspicious viscous liquid flowing inside slowly. They resembled the blood vessels or intestines of some giant beast.
Even the branches and leaves of different plants were emitting the same off-putting and even terrifying scarlet color.
If you looked closely, you could see that the branches and leaves were covered in a dense layer of scarlet fluff.
That was not the way a normal plant should be.
The scarlet fluff almost prevented the leaves from absorbing energy through normal photosynthesis.
Many leaves did not show signs of phototaxis at all.
That was enough to show that these plants did not need or rely mainly on photosynthesis to survive.
Their life energy came from underground.
It came from the overly fertile soil.
Meng Chao squatted down and grabbed a handful of slightly moist red soil. He rubbed it with his fingers first, then placed it under the tip of his nose. He sniffed it carefully for a moment, then stuck out the tip of his tongue to lick it.
He smelled faint spirit energy.
He also detected the taste of hundreds of complex and rare ingredients.
“The soil in this area, which covers hundreds of meters in circ.u.mference, is more fertile than the dirt in many paradises. The concentration of spirit energy is an order of magnitude higher than the surrounding area. It’s obviously abnormal.
“However, this alone doesn’t mean that the soil here has been artificially polluted.
“After all, this is the disaster area of the Red Radiance Jade lode explosion. Along the way, I saw several crevices that led directly underground, as well as cliffs with drops that were dozens of meters high.
“If a certain a.s.sociated mine of the Red Radiance Jade lode is torn apart by the spirit magnetic storm and exposed to the surface, causing spirit energy to escape in all directions, it’s also possible to cause ecological anomalies in a small area.
“I have to find the place with the highest concentration of spirit energy and look for more evidence.”
Meng Chao’s nostrils opened and closed.
The invisible and untouchable spirit energy seemed to form a shining band of light under the stimulation of the mucous membrane cells in his nose.
Following the band of light, he moved forward, approaching an area where the thorns got sharper, the bushes got denser, and the branches got increasingly twisted.
Most of the time, there was no road ahead at all.
The mutated vines wriggled on their own like the tentacles of an octopus, sniffing out the heat of living things and hissing while blocking every gap.
However, Meng Chao was like mercury. He miraculously penetrated through the indestructible vines without leaving any trace.
All of a sudden, Meng Chao stopped.
Above his head, a mutated vine as thick as a thigh with colorful stripes on its surface hung upside down from the branches that blocked the sun like a boa.
Its tip was like a man-eating flower. It split into eight petals, and each petal was filled with fine and sharp sawteeth.
In between the sawteeth, there were even remnants of meat and bone spurs from its last meal. It gave off a partially fishy, partially sweet, and nauseating smell.
Meng Chao was expressionless. He glanced at the mutated vine that had opened its b.l.o.o.d.y mouth.
He did not make any unnecessary movements or release too much killing intent.
The mutated vine, however, seemed to receive a red alert from the depths of its genes and began to tremble slightly.
After a moment of hesitation, the mutated vine closed its mouth politely and retreated obediently.