Chapter 1217: Deep Within the Murky Forest

"Damn it, why can't we kill these monsters?!""I've got a high-level one here! Someone help me, quick!""These roots just keep growing back after we cut them down; they're endless!""Watch out for that flower nearby! Its scent seems toxic! Old Huang was ambushed by it just now!""The ground ahead is fake! It's camouflaged bark! Go around it! Go around!"

Blood and fire spread through the coiling, writhing miasmic forest. Numerous figures pressed forward, one after another, tearing open a path, relentlessly fighting their way from the periphery to the core, like an indestructible sword cleaving a long gash through thorny thickets.

This was their first encounter with a disaster from the Gray Realm, and because of this, they were caught off guard. Their overall charge was incredibly difficult, yet they showed immense resilience, finding a glimmer of life in every desperate situation and carving out new bloody paths.

"Don't scatter, rally around me," Ying Fu's voice came from the front, his gaze constantly assessing the overall situation. The moment his words rang out, they seemed to possess a magical power, echoing in everyone's ears. Those who had been fighting in disarray regained a semblance of reason, beginning to contract their formation, gathering like a long shuttle.

By this point, their casualties approached one-third. As they battled their way from the periphery to the core, almost all the weaker members had been sacrificed. However, they now had no retreat, left with no choice but to fight desperately forward.

Zheng Zhiqiong, a master of the Force God Path, charged at the very front of the formation with absolute martial prowess. But by now, she was covered in blood, her eyes a little red...

"Damn it... are these bastards truly unkillable?!" she roared. A long whip shot out from her hand, wrapping around a monstrous, aloe-like flesh-plant, over ten meters tall, directly in front of her. With a mighty tug backward, she incredibly ripped the disaster from the ground, sending it hurtling behind her with a whistle.

"Even if they're unkillable, we have to kill them!" Fu Kun declared, gripping a small hammer. He slammed it down onto the ground, and a lava-like web spread frantically. This single strike remarkably altered the geological structure of the surrounding area, directly crushing the nascent roots hidden beneath.

Running beside Zheng Zhiqiong, his tone was incredibly firm: "His Majesty and Prime Minister Han are clearing the path ahead; we absolutely cannot hold them back."

"Do I need you to tell me that? I know!" Zheng Zhiqiong retorted.

Just as the two spoke, a figure in an elaborate opera robe flew over their heads. A ferocious Nuo mask gleamed coldly beneath the dark clouds. As Shen Nan wielded his black flag and swung it towards the coiling wall of vines ahead, a thick bolt of lightning tore through the battlefield, significantly reducing the pressure on both Zheng Zhiqiong and Fu Kun.

"If you encounter trouble, remember to call me," Shen Nan's voice calmly resonated from above. "No matter what past grievances we had, now we are all in the same boat." With that, he shouldered his black flag and flew directly towards another area under heavy pressure.

Fu Kun and Zheng Zhiqiong watched the departing figure with complex expressions. Just yesterday, he had been a roadblock, ambushing them at the entrance of the Huixian Hotel; now, he had inexplicably become a comrade-in-arms, sharing life and death with them. The marvels of fate, one could only say, were truly inscrutable.

"You are very capable," a voice whispered in Shen Nan's ear as he passed near Ying Fu. "Are you truly not considering coming with me?"

Shen Nan's brow arched beneath his mask as he looked back at Ying Fu, who was commanding the overall situation. Ying Fu's gaze was filled with appreciation. "Whatever your demands or goals, I can fulfill them... I lack someone to avert disaster by my side."

"No interest," Shen Nan refused without hesitation. "The people who need me are among the common folk... Your imperial disasters are too grand for me to handle. You should find someone else."

With that, Shen Nan left without looking back.

Seeing this, Ying Fu did not force him to stay. His gaze returned to the miasmic forest ahead. By now, they had rescued survivors from almost all the surrounding shelters, but Ying Fu still hadn't seen Jiang Jiang among them. Only one shelter remained trapped deep within the Flesh-Miasmic Forest, beneath the brightest star...

Ying Fu looked up, seeing Chen Ling in the starlight also lower his head and meet his gaze. After their eyes briefly met, Chen Ling knew the time had come.

He took a deep breath, extinguishing the stars that had been suspended above the other shelters. All the starlight converged into his palm, forming a dazzling sword of starlight.

Chen Ling felt his spiritual power being consumed at an insane rate, but he did not stop. Instead, he gently swung the sword in his hand towards the final barrier of disaster in front of Ying Fu and his group...

"Break."

Boom—!!!Starlight flared.

Everyone saw a river of stars descend from the sky, majestically sweeping across their front. Low-level disasters in its path were instantly melted, while high-level disasters instinctively recoiled to both sides as if touched by intense flames. A clear path briefly appeared before them!

"Now!" Ying Fu roared, his imperial might surging wildly. He charged into the path with a shout, "Charge with me!"

The path opened by the vast starlight, combined with Ying Fu's rallying cry, instantly reignited the morale of the nearly exhausted group. They put all their remaining strength into following the two emperors, like a sharp dagger rapidly piercing the belly of the miasmic forest!

"What's that sound outside?""Are those monsters charging in again??"Inside the shelter, everyone heard the approaching roar and immediately felt their hearts pound with fear and unease.

Su Zhiwei and Chu Changqing, in particular, watched their surroundings with heightened vigilance, seemingly ready to strike again and deal with the swarming root monsters.

"It's not monsters..." Lu Xun said, looking up at nothing, starlight shimmering in his eyes. "Our reinforcements have arrived."

Shhh—A faint scratching sound came from the shelter's ceiling. Everyone looked up simultaneously, seeing a massive character gradually appear as fine sand and pebbles fell: "Open."

The instant the character formed, the entire ceiling of the shelter burst open with a roar! The rumbling of the earth layer made everyone's eardrums ache. Everyone instinctively covered their heads and closed their eyes, their expressions filled with terror... But in the next moment, dazzling starlight from the heavens enveloped them.

The crowd looked up in a daze, seeing a giant embroidered silk dragon coiling and flying above the sky, where debris flew. Prime Minister Han, at some unknown point, stood on the dragon's back alongside Xiao Chunping, slowly retracting the two fingers that had just pierced through the shelter.

Xiao Chunping's embroidered dragon moved incredibly fast. If it weren't to rescue people as quickly as possible, she wouldn't have allowed that old man to stand on the dragon's back... But precisely because of their joint effort, they arrived here at the fastest possible speed, even quicker than Ying Fu.

The embroidered dragon soared, and ink dissipated. As everyone stood dumbfounded, an imperial figure stepped through the air towards them.