Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!

Returning once more near the divine statue, Jiang Yuan judged the direction from the system map and cut westward for over ten minutes, finally unlocking a new scene—a pond.

[The pond, sealed for thousands of years, has been tainted by toxic gas and turned into a pool of poison. The poison can be used in medicine; inside are mutant spirit fish that can be caught.]

"Mutant spirit fish? They must be poisonous too, right? Can they be raised in a fish pond? Or can they only be used as props once caught?" He glanced at it briefly, not wasting time fishing, as fortune frowned upon it tonight. He'd rather hurry to the forest to find clues.

Suddenly plunging into an adventure puzzle, his curiosity was piqued, and bypassing the not-so-large pond, he finally reached the misty forest.

[Clue 4: Broken trees and residual marks on the ground clearly indicate that something large once passed through here.]

The spider silk in the forest was not very dense, yet a white mist drifted in from nowhere, making the overall atmosphere much colder and more eerie than webs.

Without needing to waste time, Jiang Yuan could see from afar that the forest had been "hit" to form a pathway. Upon closer inspection, he found traces of dark green slime remaining on broken trunks, reminiscent of the large, slime-dripping monsters from movies.

The unobstructed path narrowed the further he walked, seemingly indicating the creature was shrinking rapidly, before abruptly the collision marks vanished. From the map, he appeared to be standing in the depths of the dense forest, shrouded in thick mist, and without the map, it was impossible to distinguish the cardinal directions.

"No wonder it's called the misty forest; if I blindly charged in, I would certainly get lost. Fortunately, I'm following..." Jiang Yuan looked around at the almost identical scenery and instinctively turned back to look at the path he had come from, only to find the "pathway" formed by the collision had disappeared into thin air!

What the hell is going on?

He remembered clearly that he bypassed the pond and entered the forest, continuing westward. Logically, by following the system map's direction, he should be able to leave the forest by heading east, yet after walking for five minutes, he was still surrounded by the misty cold air and the nearly identical barren trees.

"How strange! Encountering a ghost wall?" Jiang Yuan had only heard of ghost walls but never experienced one firsthand. Still, since even following the system map didn't lead him out, something unusual must be hidden in this forest!

The teleportation scroll could be used to exit at any time, but without understanding what was happening, any future attempts to unravel the mystery would end in being lost again. Thus, he chose to reserve this tool and only use it as a last resort. Were there other tools he could use?

Without seeing a target, he could only test a couple of skills first.

"Vast Mountains and Rivers!" The skill was unleashed, and the targeted deadwood and the surrounding mist were enveloped in a pale yellow airflow, all consumed in the next second.

However, in the blink of an eye, the tree returned!

Selecting one tree as a reference target, he used the Instant Teleportation Technique and found that he hadn't shifted positions on the system map at all—in other words, he had been circling in the same spot the entire time, never leaving.

"Could these trees possibly be a Blinding Technique?" After all, the attack was very real, but for the trees swallowed by Vast Mountains and Rivers to immediately return indicated they were not real trees.

He moved closer and touched them; the texture was very realistic, then belatedly realized—the system didn't provide identification details!

The previous trees encountered had prompts indicating their species and the level of axe needed to fell them, but since entering the forest and standing in this mist, no prompts had appeared.

Interesting! How to crack it?

Jiang Yuan scanned the area, eventually focusing on the compass icon on his personal interface, clicked to use it, and a vast bronze compass appeared in his field of vision, the needle inside the celestial pool spinning before eventually locking onto a direction slightly to the right behind him.

[Enchanting Array exit, lonely ghosts ahead]

The compass direction was professionally spot-on, and he turned and walked in the direction indicated, taking just a dozen steps before the path before him opened up!

No mist, not even cobwebs, and scattered in sight were forest-white bones.

Judging from details, they seemed like spider demons that had been eaten; in any case, the bones didn't look much like human remains—numbering in the hundreds, much more than what's typically posted on wanted posters.

[Jia Yi's resentful spirit: Severely mutated due to cultivating an evil technique and consuming its kin, the soul is trapped here, unable to leave in life or death, filled with intense resentment!]

Behind the piles of white bones curled a massive creature, body entirely dark green, humanoid yet not human, with a dozen slime-dripping legs.

Hearing some movement, the monster suddenly raised its head, revealing a bald mouth filled solely with countless sharp teeth.

The hint of Cthulhu Mythos was nauseating, but the opponent's health bar above its head wasn't too long, within a range he could handle easily.

Flipping his hand, he took out the Soul Refining Banner, its refined malice almost complete, and upon clicking to upgrade with all available energy, the banner emptied immediately, leaving only purified lingering spirituality starlights scattered throughout.

"Are you sent to capture me, little one?" The resentful spirit moved its vine-like legs, clinging to two large trees, a spiked gash opening on its forehead, inside which a massive eye roved, staring at him.

Jiang Yuan gave the Soul Refining Banner a flick, "The extinction of Spiders Valley must be linked to you. Are you the traitor?"

Fighting is the worst time to chat; originally a surefire victory often gets lost by talking too much, yet the side quest was still active; he needed to confirm.

"Traitor?" The monster's resentful spirit extended its neck, roaring with its mouth wide open: "It was they who betrayed me first! I simply wanted to take back what was mine, nothing more..."

"Oh, then it's the right target for retribution," Jiang Yuan interrupted, launching a Heaven-Burning Flame, followed swiftly by a Black Flame Storm and Vast Mountains and Rivers!

Smooth combo-followed by Instant Teleportation Technique-appearing behind the opponent, the flicked Soul Refining Banner engulfed it in a vortex of immense suction.

Completely unprepared, the opponent was disoriented by a rapid-fire combo, "Why? They openly ate their fellow members legitimately, but I eat secretly and it's not allowed? I only ate a few and was hunted? If I must die, we should all perish together; no one else should live!"

The sonic roar attack left Jiang Yuan's head ringing, though thankfully failing to break his defense, so he lost no health.

The monster's resentful spirit, already constrained by the Soul Refining Banner, found itself further depleted by Jiang Yuan's smooth combo.

Seeing it couldn't resist, as its health dropped rapidly, it wrapped itself up with its legs, turning into a large dark green ball stuck to the trunk tightly, pleading, "Spare me! Spare me, I'll give you the treasures I stole, and Spiders Valley will be yours!"

Stolen treasures? So, evidence?

Jiang Yuan continued to unleash skills, taunting as he fought, "Are you stupid? I can just kill you and take all the spoils now. If I stop, what if you run away?"