Pathway

They continued taking the upward path while remaining cautiously alert. A couple of Nephilia spiders and critters were met, but were effectively disposed off by the group. The combined power of the five was simply unmatched for the spiders and critters. As the five of them neared the outskirt of the misty area, Fan Xinyi waved for them to stop. She opened her spatial sac and brought out some red flowers and seeds.

"Red fiery flowers and serpent fang seeds."

She said as she signalled them to come closer. She handed a red flower and a seed, to each demigods, including Ju Feng. But first, to the other two demigods that came with her. Kang Ya and Liu Luoyang collected theirs without questions, and quickly started to consume it. From the looks of it, they were already aware of the whole plan. Afterwards, she gave one flower and seed each, to Ju Feng and Fang Zedong.

"I know what the serpent-fangs seeds are. Poison. So, why would I eat one?"

Fan Zedong looked curiously at Fan Xinyi and the other demigods. He wasn't eating any crazy poison without knowing what it was all about. 

"If you don't want your mind to collapse on you, and you die in the mist, then you'll need to eat it."

Fan Xinyi who was still gazing at the flower and seed on her hand, raised up her head to stare at him. The memories of the past were coming back to her in a flurry.

"Ten thousand years ago, my brother was here to participate in the trial. They took this particular path and they made it to the mist. They couldn't go much further in the mist due to what he called 'Misty-Wraith'."

"The Misty-Wraith?"

"Yes. That's what he called it. He said that it was the mist itself that became the wraiths. It was as if it was alive. I recalled him saying the mist could wrench at the mind of demigods making them an easy target for the death-eaters."

"Sounds like the poisonous devil mist."

"Yes, it is. A poison so powerful that, it renders the mind of demigods, void. When I learned of it, I started looking for the best possible ways to prepare for it. I began searching different scrolls and books that could provide materials to positively negate the effect of the devil mist. Do you know what I found at last?"

She gave them a wry smile and continued.

"Red fiery flowers and Serpent-fang seeds."

Some answered her with sighs while others simply smiled.

"Mhm. Mind you, these items used to be common in the Lumence dimension, but they are now getting more and more difficult to find. The only place you'll find them in numbers was the Nether-Plane. But, that's not the point I'm making. You see, the Red fiery flower is a soul poison while the Serpent fang seed is a mind poison."

"Double poison?"

Fang Zedong asked in shock.

"Extreme poisoning."

Kang Ya replied, giving Fang Zedong a wink.

Liu Luoyang, who had finished swallowing his portion after he had chewed it, turned in Fang Zedong's direction.

"Gu necrom."

"Thanks for letting me know."

Fan Xinyi rolled her eyes as she nodded with a faint smile. She had been reveling in the bemused faces of their two new companions. She wanted to keep them guessing, but Liu Luoyang already put an end to that.

"Gu necrom. One of the advantages of being a necrosist with many manuals. When this two are consumed together in this proportion, they neutralize each others poison."

She raised one finger to indicate her point as she continued to look from one face to another.

"Then, they form an invisible defensive cloud around the body. Thereby, protecting the mind. Should be able to work efectively for the Misty-Wraith. Probably."

Ju Feng watched Fan Xinyi put her own portion in her mouth and began to chew. He quickly throw his own portion into his mouth as he clamped down on it. He couldn't be more grateful For meeting the three Asuras. He would always welcome additional protection. For him, it was easier to believe the words of Fan Xinyi. He had seen the effect of the mist on him when he first entered the mountain. Provided it was the same mountain, then, the mist was extremely powerful. Back then, he had only taken a few steps in before running back.

The moment he swallowed them, he could feel the effect deep down in his soul. He could sense the energy seething through the pores of his body. Through a spiritual or divine sight, a transparent cloud would be seen on him at this time. It was a welcome additional protection.

Although he had consumed the crystal given to him by the grey-tree, he wasn't sure if it was still effective or if it could even work against mind poisoning. He lnew the power of the crystal was immense since he had seen the effect from the events at the runic walls of the house of riddles. The burning sensation of the crystal that woken up his mind from going into slumber. It was good to know. He just wanted all the protection he could get. And with those materials from Fan Xinyi, he could only wish for the best possible outcome.

Ju Feng glanced at the faces of the demigods as they prepared. Those were demigods, true demigods. They were born as demigods in the Lumence dimension, a plane specifically created for them. Yet, here he was. A mortal. In their midst where he was being treated like a demigod. How could he come to terms with that? Well, It didn't matter if it was illusion, dream or reality. The effect of the experience on him was already unforgetable.

"Remember, no aura manifestation. Only divine sight."

"And we stay together."

And together, they entered the mist.

Ju Feng, switching to his spiritual sight, could see that the mist was truly alive. The way it moved, like nether wraiths. He could see why they called it Misty-Wraiths. He could feel the mist, probing at the cloudy defense to see the weak point. It was a relief to him that the mist couldn't affect his mind. For now, he felt he was safe and that was good enough for him.

Slowly but cautiously, they approached. As they neared the center of the mist, they saw two bodies of death-eaters. Dead death-eaters? Could other demigods have come the way before them? They carefully approached the spot and quickly checked them for any sacredcrest stones. There was none on them. Cautiously, they continued their forward movement knowing the cave must be nearby. There were four death-eaters that made up a cave. Meaning, two more death-eaters were still out there. High on alert, they continued scrutinizing the area as they tried to locate the remaining death-eaters.

Towards the other side, they saw quite a number of dead nephilia spiders and critters. They reckoned there must've been a war there, not long ago. They easily killed off the weakened and dying spiders and critters, as they continued to search for remaining death-eaters or their cave. It took them several long minutes to finally locate the entrance of the cave. But near the entrance of the cave, they saw one body of a gigantic ancient death-eater. They had never seen any desth-eater like that before. The sight stopped them on their track as they took the opportunity to observe it carefully from a distance.

Could it be a primal death-eater?

After confirming that it was totally dead, they cautiously approached it to check further. The death-eater was like none they've seen before. Much more bigger than the ancient ones. Even its dark scale was giving off a blue glow. It had to be a sentient and the leader of the cave. It had to be a good thing it was dead. If the stone was still there, it would be a massive return for their efforts. They could also wonder what other treasures would be inside the cave. 

They found one Sacredcrest stone beside the head of the death-eater which Fan Xinyi swiftly picked up. But, what really caught their attention, were the massive clean slashes on the death-eaters. A dead primal desth-eater, but the deep slashes? Who or what could have done them? That couldn't be the work of some powerful demigods, could it? Demigods who had been preserving their powers until now? But why would demigods leave a Sacredcrest stone behind after killing a death-eater? And an exceedingly large one for that matter? 

Definitely not. It couldn't be demigods. What could it be then? They continued to press forward into the cave, cautiously. The inside of the cave was bigger than they thought, showing the size of the cave. There was nothing that caught their eyes inside the cave except for some inscriptions on the cave walls. But, there was a large passage at the back of the cave.

After reaching an accord, they cautiously entered the passage and waded forward. Remains of nephilia spiders and critters could be seen littering the passage. It could possibly be that they were serving as a source of food for the death-eaters. Deeper into the cave, they went. Until they reached a massive area that resembled a colossal dragon's chamber. No matter how it was seen or percieved, that was the lair of a powerful death-eater or death-eaters. They contemplated turning back, but their curiosity won over them. However, they all agreed to use their teleportation seals if they ran into an extremely difficult situations. As they proceeded to examine the chamber. They saw large sword marks and claw marks all over the place.