Among these Spirit Beasts, there were several auras that were clearly much stronger than the others.

His gaze fell upon those several auras.

A small snake, tiny and red like blood all over its body.

Although its size was much smaller than the surrounding exotic beasts, the subtle aura emanating from it was not to be underestimated.

"High-level Spirit Beast!?"

Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed.

Although he didn't recognize what kind of exotic beast this small snake was, it didn't prevent him from discerning its rank.

Besides this small snake, the other powerful auras were also undoubtedly high-level Spirit Beasts.

Suddenly, his gaze paused, landing on the largest Spirit Beast among these high-level Spirit Beasts.

This Spirit Beast was sprawled on the ground, like a mountain of flesh, its size vastly different from the other exotic beasts in the cave.

At this moment, this Spirit Beast's massive body was constantly shaking, as if trying to break free from something. Most of the Spirit Beasts in the cave had basically lost their life force, but it still had life force flowing within it.

"This is... Ink Scale Black Bear!!"

His eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at the massive figure before him, quickly recognizing its identity.

It was the target of his trip.

"How did this big guy end up here as well?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Lin Sheng's heart, as Ink Scale Black Bear did not belong to the category of venomous Spirit Beasts.

He scanned the exotic beasts in the cave. Although most of them were highly venomous Spirit Beasts, there was still a small portion that were not.

"Even high-level Spirit Beasts can't break free. What exactly is in this Black Mist Valley!?"

Looking at the Ink Scale Black Bear struggling desperately but unable to break free, Lin Sheng murmured.

A bad premonition had already arisen in his heart.

But with a shift in thought, he immediately switched to sensing exotic beasts.

Smelling Groundhog's Intermediate danger perception was activated.

He carefully sensed for a moment, but didn't feel any threat from it.

"No threat!?"

Intermediate danger perception was much stronger than low-level perception, and coupled with his current perception and spirit far exceeding those of the same rank, the accuracy of his danger perception was extremely high.

Looking at the many Spirit Beasts in the cave, he pondered for a moment and quickly made a decision in his heart.

With a flash of his figure, he was already in front of the Ink Scale Black Bear. At this moment, the Black Bear's life force was slowly weakening. At this rate, it probably wouldn't last many days before its life force dissipated and it completely perished, just like the other exotic beasts in the cave.

Woo...

The Ink Scale Black Bear lay on the ground, its large, brownish-yellow eyes noticing Lin Sheng beside it, revealing a human-like look of pleading.

"I'll give you a quick and peaceful departure..."

Lin Sheng extended his palm, Bone Strength surging at his fingertips, piercing the Ink Scale Black Bear's skin.

Information about this powerful Spirit Beast appeared in the consciousness panel.

Ignoring the need to check, he immediately used his Bone Strength to destroy its brain.

Then, he immediately absorbed it into his body and began to devour the blood within it.

The divine light in the Ink Scale Black Bear's eyes dissipated, clearly indicating that it was completely dead.

Its flesh-mountain-like body withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Soon, the blood within it was completely absorbed. The progress of activating the fourth imprint on the panel was already at 15%.

"As expected, high-level Spirit Beasts are much more efficient for activation than low-level Spirit Beasts."

Lin Sheng secretly thought to himself. One should know that this Ink Scale Black Bear was not in its Peak state. If it were in its prime, absorbing and refining all the blood within it might have increased the activation progress by another three or four points.

However, 6% progress at the moment was also not bad.

Without hesitation, he flashed his figure and arrived in front of the red small snake. Although it was also a high-level Spirit Beast, the life force of this red small snake had already dissipated at this moment, and it looked like it had been dead for several days.

Lin Sheng used the same trick, his Bone Strength piercing the small snake's body.

【Beast Name: Scarlet Blood Viper (Spirit Beast)】

【Body size three feet, thickness like a woman's wrist, entirely crimson like blood jade carving, scales are rhomboid and overlapping, refracting a strange magical light under sunlight, capable of confusing people. This is a highly venomous snake-type Spirit Beast, with extremely strong venom, especially skilled in depressive venom and illusory venom.】

【Requirement for absorption: Perception 7, Constitution 8】

【Effect of absorption: Agility increase 8, Perception increase 7, Depressive Venom bonus 6, Illusory Venom bonus 7】

【Talent: Venom Soul】

Although time was tight, he glanced over and was still attracted by the attributes of this red small snake.

Although this Spirit Beast, named Scarlet Blood Viper, did not have increases in strength and constitution, the total attribute bonus of up to 28 points was enough to show that it was a top-tier existence among high-level Spirit Beasts.

Especially the high bonuses for illusory venom and depressive venom, which were extremely rare.

Depressive venom was understandable, but the 7 points of illusory venom bonus was extremely rare and valuable, and it would definitely have a significant amplifying effect on his Seed Devil Secret Art.

It was a pity that just as he wanted to absorb it into his body, the panel remained unresponsive.

"Absorption failed!?"

Lin Sheng frowned tightly.

"Not enough blood!"

He instantly realized that this Scarlet Blood Viper had been dead for a while, and much of the essence within its body had been lost, failing to meet his absorption requirements.

After secretly lamenting, Lin Sheng directly absorbed and refined the remaining blood within its body.

In a breath's time, the absorption was complete, and this crimson small snake completely shriveled up.

The activation progress of the fourth imprint on the panel only increased by two points.

Lin Sheng frowned slightly. He quickly checked the other high-level Spirit Beasts.

The situation was similar to that of the crimson small snake, and some were even less well-preserved than this small snake.

None of the remaining 4 high-level Spirit Beasts met the absorption requirements.

While feeling more and more regretful, after absorbing their blood, the activation progress on the panel had also reached twenty-seven points.

If these high-level Spirit Beasts were all intact, after absorbing them, his activation progress breaking through seventy or eighty should not have been a big problem.

Without any intention of delaying, his gaze fell upon the low-level Spirit Beasts in the cave that were still relatively intact.

Compared to high-level Spirit Beasts, the number of low-level Spirit Beasts was much higher.

His figure quickly moved through the cave.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the activation progress had already surpassed 35%.

At this time, there was less than one-third of the low-level Spirit Beasts in the cave that had not yet been absorbed.

Just as he was about to continue absorbing, a chilling sensation suddenly arose in his heart, rushing from his toes straight to the crown of his head.

And the danger perception talent was stimulated to its limit, a needle-like pain surging from all over his body like a tide.

At the same time, within the cave, bizarre root-like tentacles rapidly extended from the bodies of the beast corpses.

Large numbers of tentacles intertwined with each other, and in the blink of an eye, they converged into a giant, grotesque human face, an inexplicable eerie aura emanating from the face.

At this moment, the alarm bells in Lin Sheng's heart were ringing loudly. Without the slightest hesitation, he tapped his toes and shot upwards towards the top of the cave.

And just at this moment, the tentacle human face in the cave, with its indifferent eyes, looked towards Lin Sheng, and a large number of slender tendrils immediately extended from the cave wall.

Without giving him a chance to react, the tendrils had formed a large net, enveloping Lin Sheng.

"Azure Extreme Pulse Transformation!"

Lin Sheng's face was ashen, his secret technique already activated, and the Bone Strength within his body was pushed to its limit. However, in the face of his Bone Strength, these tendrils were far tougher than imagined.

Even with his Bone Strength pushed to its limit, he only barely managed to cut through a portion of the tendrils that were wrapping him.

His limbs were still entangled by a large number of tiny tendrils, and these tendrils, like living creatures, frantically pulsed, piercing his skin and beginning to suck.

Along with the sharpness from the tendrils came waves of numbness, and at the same time, Lin Sheng felt a moment of trance, actually feeling sleepy and wanting to fall into a deep slumber.

"Get lost!"

Lin Sheng fiercely bit his tongue, his mouth immediately filled with hot blood, his face contorted in a grimace.

His body rapidly expanded as if being inflated.

At the same time, raging flames also surged out from his muscles, enveloping his entire body, and in a breath's time, they completely burned away all the tendrils wrapped around him.

Without the slightest hesitation, he seized this opening and plunged directly into the cave wall.

The moment he disappeared into the cave wall, his original location was enveloped by dozens or even hundreds of times more dense tendrils than before.

Looking at Lin Sheng disappearing into the cave wall, the tentacle human face's expression remained indifferent, with no intention of continuing the pursuit. The large number of tentacles dispersed, and everything returned to its original calm.

...

"Hoo... Hoo..."

The side of a mountain cliff on the Black Mist Valley suddenly shattered. A massive figure carrying raging flames violently rushed out, panting heavily.

"Damn it... What exactly was that thing?"

Lin Sheng's figure immediately moved away from the mountain cliff, looking back at the narrow cave entrance, his face already filled with lingering fear, the terror in his heart not yet dissipated.

Just a little bit... He was almost caught just a little while ago.

Thoughts raced in his mind. He never expected such a dangerous thing to exist in this Black Mist Valley.

If his spirit attribute hadn't been high, and he hadn't absorbed a powerful demon beast like Scarlet Eye Flame Dragon, he would absolutely not have been able to escape from that situation. He would probably have been completely devoured and died in despair inside, just like those Spirit Beasts in the cave.

Even so, he almost didn't make it out this time.

Being able to escape this time, he could say he was extremely lucky. His sudden burst of power completely exceeded the judgment of that bizarre tentacle human face, which allowed him to find a loophole.

"This place is extremely dangerous. I must never get close to it again in the future, at least not in the short term. At least until I break through to the Divine Transformation Realm, I can try to peek into the secrets of this place."

While muttering to himself, he glanced at the black mist in the sky. He didn't plan to stay any longer. Although he didn't know why that ghost didn't chase him, he couldn't relax his guard.

Immediately, he took large strides, his body shooting towards the exit like a cannonball. Running at full speed, he quickly reached the exit.

Just as he was about to pass through the black mist, as if sensing something, he looked up and saw a large black crow soaring through the black mist, flying towards the depths of the valley.

"Little Black!?"

Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow and let out a low roar like a dragon's cry.

Hearing this, the black crow in the sky trembled and fell straight downwards. Fortunately, it quickly recovered and flapped its wings, flying up again.

As if startled, it darted around in the black mist, constantly circling in place like a headless fly.

"Little Black!"

Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng let out a low shout.

Little Black looked down and saw Lin Sheng, then rushed over like crazy.

It landed directly at Lin Sheng's feet, its head burrowing between Lin Sheng's legs and shrinking, its body trembling like a sieve, as if it had suffered a tremendous shock.

Lin Sheng frowned, holding Little Black in his hand. He took one last look at the dark, deep valley shrouded in black mist, and plunged into the black mist before him.

*

"Go... Gongzi, you're finally out!!"

Outside the Black Mist Valley, Sun Hai was restless and extremely anxious. Only after seeing Lin Sheng's figure emerge from the black mist did he let out a long sigh of relief.

"What's wrong with it?"

Lin Sheng flicked his hand and threw Black Eyed Ghost Crow to the side.

"I don't know either, Gongzi. After you went in, it was fine at first. Black Eyed Ghost Crow and I were waiting outside, but after a while, this Black Eyed Ghost Crow plunged into the black mist. I wanted to stop it but it was too late. I called out a few times, but it completely ignored me."

Sun Hai quickly recounted in detail everything that had happened after Lin Sheng went in.

After listening, Lin Sheng frowned, his gaze falling on Little Black.

At this moment, Little Black had already flown hundreds of meters away from the black mist to a large tree, looking over here with fear and surprise.

"Could this Black Mist Valley have a strange effect that attracts exotic beasts?"

This thought flashed through Lin Sheng's mind, thinking of everything he had seen in the Black Mist Valley.

He was basically certain of this guess.

"Even high-level Spirit Beasts are affected. What exactly is that thing down there?"

Thinking to himself, he asked Sun Hai again.

"When did this Black Mist Valley appear?"

"This..."

Hearing this, Sun Hai was first taken aback, then showed a thoughtful expression. After a long while, he finally shook his head slightly.

"Reporting to Gongzi, this subordinate does not know. However, this Black Mist Valley already existed during the time of the previous two Wind Cloud Gang leaders. It has definitely been two or three hundred years, but this subordinate cannot be certain of the exact duration."

"Two or three hundred years?"

"After we return, investigate the origin of this Black Mist Valley for me."

"Yes, Gongzi."

"Also, issue an order, and also notify the Medicine Gang, that they are not allowed to approach this Black Mist Valley in the future."

After giving a few instructions, Lin Sheng let Sun Hai leave.

Watching Sun Hai's figure disappear into the distance, he looked at the Black Mist Valley as if he thought of something, and immediately summoned Little Black.

Riding Little Black, he began to rapidly ascend and fly above the Black Mist Valley.

The black mist above the Black Mist Valley was below a thousand meters. Above a thousand meters, Lin Sheng looked at the constantly surging black mist below.

Looking closely, although the black mist was not surging quickly, there were signs of it slowly spreading outwards. Although the speed was very slow and difficult to detect without careful observation, it was indeed gradually expanding outwards.

Black mist continuously rose, making the mist increasingly dense.

"What is attracting the exotic beasts? Is it this black mist? Or something else?"

Lin Sheng's eyes flickered. He patted Little Black, and the latter immediately flew away like an arrow towards the side, seemingly eager to get away from this strange valley.

Since he had already arrived at the Congyun Mountains, he did not intend to leave immediately. Instead, he quickly moved through the mountain forest, searching for Spirit Beasts hidden within it.

However, compared to before, he was clearly much more cautious.

After this incident, his relaxation after his strength surged was tightened again.

He also became more cautious about this vast mountain range.