Soaring high above, Jun Mo Xie felt an extraordinary sense of ease, almost moved to burst into song; he hadn't expected everything to unfold so smoothly! Little did he know that for anyone else, even with identical conditions, such success would be impossible.

The key lay with the Hongjun Tower. Its spiritual energy resonated with a deep, innate familiarity even in the Beast Kings; they had formed an exceptionally good first impression, making everything that followed feel entirely natural.

Glancing at the surrounding situation, Jun Mo Xie sought the right direction to depart quickly. A scan of the area suddenly elicited a surprised sound—this place was not far from where he had previously encountered that little beast. Almost within reach was the 'courtyard wall' formed by that massive row of towering, perfectly aligned trees.

The scenery here immediately dredged up Jun Mo Xie’s “fond memories” from last time. With a whoosh, he darted over. Heh heh, if only he could have caught that utterly adorable little thing back then, he would have held onto it tightly and brought it back—how much fun would that have been! Its flesh was so soft, incredibly satisfying to squeeze. "Especially that little rear end; truly never tiring to knead, pure bliss…"

It had to be said that Young Master Jun harbored rather perverse thoughts; where others saw a cute little animal and immediately sought to cherish and nurture it—like Little Bai Bai, whom the girl doted on—he was completely dismissive. That little creature last time was exquisitely adorable, and his way of appreciating it was certainly unconventional; all he thought of was catching it back just to pinch its bottom whenever he felt like it—truly a nasty, quirky delight...

The Young Master dashed excitedly into that small valley, hoping for a long-awaited reunion. His eyes were immediately greeted by the familiar riot of colors and fragrant scents. However, the interior was completely empty, not a single sound to be heard.

Jun Mo Xie walked a couple more steps. The valley was steeped in silence, broken only by the soft susu sound of his own footsteps. Despite being brimming with vitality, it was as silent as a dead zone. The valley's scenery formed an unnervingly sharp contrast with this profound quietude. This contrast made the atmosphere feel utterly bizarre.

Jun Mo Xie searched around carefully once more but found nothing. He stepped into the stone chamber and saw that the black robe from that day was still lying quietly on the ground; other than that, there was absolutely nothing else. As for that lovable little beast, it had vanished without a trace.

Jun Mo Xie, unwilling to give up, emerged and unleashed his divine sense to search everywhere—what if the little fellow had gone out foraging? Since advancing to the third layer of the Kai Tian Zao Hua Gong, Jun Mo Xie’s divine sense power had become vastly, incalculably stronger than before. Where he could once only scan movements within a radius of a few dozen zhang, it now extended over hundreds of zhang of space!

The extent of the Young Master’s divine sense had actually reached the scope possessed by Supremes!

And this was achieved not by relying on the ambient divine sense emanating from the Hongjun Tower, but solely through the divine sense power of Jun Mo Xie, a mere initial-stage Tian Xuan expert...

If this were to get out, no one would ever believe it. A mere initial-stage Tian Xuan possessing such formidable divine sense power...

As his divine sense expanded, Jun Mo Xie slowly examined every minute detail of the surroundings with his mental faculties, yet he could find absolutely no trace—still silence, a silence as dead as death!

How could this be? Although it was quiet when he visited last time, it held a sense of peace; now, however, it was an eerie, deathly stillness, naturally raising suspicion! Even though this place was the core of the Heavenly Punishment Forest, where ordinary high-level Profound Beasts dared not linger, did even the ninth-level peak Profound Beasts, the apex of the Profound Beast hierarchy, fear to stay here? Through his previous exchange with the Six Great Beast Kings, the Young Master had unexpectedly learned that apart from the Six, the Heavenly Punishment Forest harbored several other ninth-level peak Profound Beasts, they simply had not managed to successfully transform into human form.

The deathly silence before him was something that simply should not be happening, right?!

Jun Mo Xie hardened his resolve and unleashed his divine sense power fully, sending it out like an invisible arrow piercing deep into the forest...

Just as Jun Mo Xie exerted his full strength, expanding the radius of his divine sense projection over two hundred zhang, he detected the sounds of Profound Beast activity in the East, West, and North directions, but the South remained utterly silent.

It seemed the source of this strange affair lay to the South!

Jun Mo Xie immediately retracted his divine sense from the other three directions, narrowing the search area to focus entirely on the South. He was certain that in a place like the Heavenly Punishment Forest, such an inexplicable anomaly must hide a profound secret!

Thump!

His divine sense, which was usually invincible and pushing relentlessly southward, suddenly seemed to slam into an area of abnormal viscosity. Even with the Young Master's current formidable divine sense, it was unable to break through or even retreat! The feeling was akin to an insect flying in the air suddenly colliding with a spider’s web...

Jun Mo Xie was greatly startled and tried to recall it with all his might. At that moment, a terrifying surge of divine sense violently slammed into his own head-on!

Jun Mo Xie felt his already quite powerful divine sense utterly incapable of resisting this sudden, overwhelming force, leaving him no room for defense!

A deafening roar echoed in his mind; instantly, he felt dizzy and nauseous, and fine specks of blood began involuntarily seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. This was only because the Young Master’s physical body had already reached a considerable level of toughness; had it been his body from a few days prior, he would likely have suffered severe injury under such a divine sense collision and counter-devouring attack...

Jun Mo Xie’s current divine sense had indeed reached the formidable level of a Supreme, yet facing that sudden, powerful pressure, it collapsed instantly, defeated decisively! While the opponent might have had the advantage of a sneak attack, their supreme divine sense power was undeniable. The being possessing such power must have a cultivation realm far above the Supreme level! This individual’s strength, while perhaps not quite reaching that of the Venerable Cheng, was likely of the same tier of powerhouse.

Could there truly be such a powerhouse hidden within the Heavenly Punishment Forest?

The foundation of the Heavenly Punishment Forest was perhaps too deep. Jun Mo Xie had previously worried that in the conflict years later between the various great strongholds, the Heavenly Punishment Forest side might suffer losses. This was a major reason why he had done everything to help the great Beast Kings break through their bottlenecks and heal their injuries; the Young Master genuinely appreciated the simple and peaceful nature of the Beast Kings and naturally sought to enhance their strength to provide them with sufficient self-preservation capabilities.

But if the Heavenly Punishment side harbored a concealed super-expert, the significance of his aid to the Beast Kings would not be as great as initially thought. Or perhaps, while the meaning for the Beast Kings remained the same, the implication for the future of the entire Heavenly Punishment Forest would be vastly different!

Facing such a terrifying, boundless, and powerful divine sense, even Jun Mo Xie’s usually calm and steady demeanor faltered in shock, because the impact was not yet over. His own divine sense was fully retreating, but the opponent’s consciousness relentlessly pursued, showing an intent to utterly destroy the Young Master!

Jun Mo Xie’s thoughts spun rapidly. Enduring the damage to his spirit, he managed to utilize the sliver of clarity remaining in his mind to desperately activate the powerful field divine sense within the Hongjun Tower, launching it like a sword cleaving the heavens toward the pursuing consciousness. The divine sense power originating from the Hongjun Tower was naturally incomparable to the Young Master’s own, possessing extraordinary might. It easily intercepted the terrifying divine sense that had been chasing him, launching a counter-attack, and immediately initiated a second, intense battle! The opponent's consciousness was sharp; in an instant, it judged that the power of this second wave of divine sense far surpassed its own. The two forces clashed and immediately broke apart. Jun Mo Xie’s damaged personal divine sense was finally able to withdraw from that sticky entanglement with the help of the Hongjun Tower, returning to his body under the escort of the Tower's field divine sense.

Meanwhile, from the distant South, a mournful, guttural howl of extreme agony suddenly erupted!

Clearly, under the powerful, desperate counter-attack from the Hongjun Tower, although the individual possessed supreme power—even surpassing a Supreme expert—and reacted with lightning speed, they were ultimately no match for this ancient divine artifact. Coupled with being caught entirely off guard while currently dominating the engagement, even when the two forces clashed, their reaction was lightning-fast; upon realizing defeat, they immediately retreated, yet still suffered severe damage without avoiding it.

This howl was extremely low in volume but possessed incredible penetrating power! It vibrated so intensely that the leaves on the flowers and trees near Jun Mo Xie rustled and fell, and the sound carried far away.

With his divine sense returned to his body, Jun Mo Xie’s wildly pounding heart finally calmed down, and the feeling of utter powerlessness disappeared. He fiercely wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes fixed upon the South like a lone wolf on a cold winter night—there was another super-expert there!

Bang! There was still a section that even formless, intangible divine sense could not penetrate!

What was that place?

And who was inside?

Jun Mo Xie sprang up, fully unleashing the Yin-Yang Evasion technique, crossing the distance between them in an instant with an astonishing speed of a thousand li per step, vanishing from the spot!

He absolutely had to investigate such a bizarre place. Since he had already set his sights on the Heavenly Punishment Forest, intending to mold it into his future haven, he could not afford to be ignorant of such mysterious phenomena and powerful individuals residing here!

That person and that place represented a monumental hidden danger!

What appeared before Jun Mo Xie was a stretch of strange, milky-white mist! To call this mist strange was an understatement; before rounding this landform, there was absolutely no sign of its existence, nor was it detected from above; yet, upon making the turn, it was all-encompassing—as far as the eye could see, it was nothing but this white fog!

Boundless, vast, and endless!

This white mist was truly bizarre; it differed from ordinary fog and was not the natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It was thick as if solid, obscuring all vision within. It felt tangible, yet, while seeming soft and yielding, it was actually incredibly resilient.

This white mist held another peculiarity: while divine sense could not penetrate it, the physical body could actually pass through it!

Jun Mo Xie attempted this, extending his arm into it. He felt his limb pass through completely unimpeded, as if reaching into empty space—clearly, a vast space lay within!

But when Jun Mo Xie tried to use his divine sense to pierce the white mist, the same sticky resistance he experienced before reappeared! It felt like sinking into thick sludge, unable to advance an inch, even with his current powerful divine sense. Against divine sense, the white mist was incredibly tough. It was like pressing a finger against a balloon; you could make the surface indent, but you couldn't pop it. This was precisely how Jun Mo Xie felt when he released his divine sense now!

Truly marvelous and strange.

It was the first time he had encountered a place where the physical body could enter, but divine sense could not probe! It seemed the mysteries of the Heavenly Punishment Forest were far from exhausted...

Jun Mo Xie snorted, deciding to meet change with constancy. He immediately activated the Yin-Yang Evasion, intending to use the secret technique of heaven and earth—to Dune his way inside!