Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

204: Chapter 204: The Corrupted Heart of the Ancestral Wood and the Whispers of the ShadowsMorning light was faint, spilling into the room through the stone window. Nangong Xuan rose, his bones making a series of subtle crackling sounds. Within him was an aura far stronger than in previous days; although he had not fully returned to his Peak, he now possessed enough strength to protect himself and handle any unexpected changes. Su Muxue and Zi Linger had also finished their recovery, the divine light in their eyes clear and bright as their states returned to the Golden Core level.

Elder Mu Li seemed to sense something and appeared outside the house right on time. Accompanying him were several of the village’s most elite warriors, including Shi Meng. These warriors still wore coarse hemp clothes, but their weapons had been replaced with polished bone spears and stone axes. The fierce jungle aura about them was even more intense, their eyes sharp as eagles as they stared intently at Nangong Xuan’s group.

”Little friend Nangong, it seems you have recovered well.” Elder Mu Li felt the sharp, restrained aura within Nangong Xuan, and the look of relief in his eyes deepened, though his worry did not diminish. ”The situation in the Ancestral Wood Forest is unique; ordinary warriors cannot penetrate deep into the Core. This time, Shi Meng and I will accompany the three of you to the Forbidden Ground area outside the forest. If things become impossible, you must withdraw immediately. Safety first.”

”Junior understands.” Nangong Xuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the grave expressions of Shi Meng and the others. He knew in his heart that the Core of the Ancestral Wood Forest was definitely no benevolent place.

The group left the village and headed toward the deepest part of the valley. The further in they went, the more ancient and dense the surrounding vegetation became. Towering trees blotted out the sun, and vines twisted like Dragons. The unique ”Primal Spiritual Breath” in the air seemed to grow thicker, but upon careful Perception, one would find that this dense spiritual breath was mixed with an extremely subtle, unsettling sense of decay and coldness.

Along the way, Elder Mu Li solemnly warned them again, ”The Ancestral Wood Forest is our tribe’s Holy Land and the source from which the Primal Spiritual Breath emanates. The ancient trees in the forest all possess spirituality; you must not damage them lightly. In the Core area, there is the oldest ’ancestral wood,’ which is said to be the true source of the spiritual breath. The mutation began there.”

After walking for a full hour, a distinctly different woodland appeared ahead. The trees here were even taller and more ancient, their bark showing a bronze-like hue, yet their branches and leaves were not as lush as those on the outskirts, appearing somewhat dim instead. A simple boundary made of massive beast bones and colored stones lay across the path. Dried herbs and beast teeth hung from the boundary, emitting faint fluctuations of power—seemingly an ancient warning and Seal.

Past the boundary, the light suddenly grew dim, and the air seemed to solidify. That aura of decay and coldness intensified abruptly, and one could even faintly hear an extremely low, dream-like whispering. It echoed directly in the depths of one’s mind, causing an inexplicable sense of irritability and oppression.

”This is the place.” Elder Mu Li stopped before the boundary, his expression incredibly grave. ”Further ahead is the Forbidden Ground. Shi Meng and the others will wait here. You three must be careful. If you sense your mind wavering or your power draining faster, do not try to be brave—return immediately!”

Shi Meng and the others gripped their weapons even tighter, staring at the dim forest as if facing a formidable enemy, as if some prehistoric beast were hidden within.

Nangong Xuan, Su Muxue, and Zi Linger exchanged glances, each seeing the gravity in the others’ eyes. They were all too familiar with this aura! Although its form was slightly different, its Core characteristics of chaos, death, and erosion shared the same Origin as the evil Qi of the North Nether Sea!

”Elder, rest assured, we know our limits,” Nangong Xuan said deeply. He then took a deep breath and stepped across that ancient boundary.

The moment he crossed the boundary, it felt as if he had passed through an invisible membrane. The birdsong and fragrance of flowers from the outside world vanished instantly, replaced by a deathly silence. Those low whispers became clearer, as if countless people were murmuring in his ear, yet the specific content remained indistinguishable, only causing a sense of mental agitation.

Even more apparent was that the circulation of spiritual power throughout his body suddenly became sluggish, as if he had fallen into a swamp, and it was being slowly extracted and dissolved by an invisible force! Even his Physical Body’s blood and Qi felt a trace of imperceptible loss.

”It really can corrode power!” Su Muxue’s beautiful face changed slightly. She immediately channeled her Taiyin Star Power, and a cold moonlight diffused from her body to form a protective shield. That feeling of being drained instantly weakened by more than half.

Zi Linger also immediately deployed an emerald-green life light shield. Her power, full of vitality, was incompatible with the surrounding aura of decay, producing a faint ”sizzling” sound of confrontation.

Nangong Xuan did not immediately use his Nirvana Sword Essence; instead, he carefully sensed his surroundings. The four star keys within his Dantian trembled slightly, especially the water star key—did the unpurified stain on it produce some extremely faint resonance with the surrounding decay? Meanwhile, the chaos star core remained silent, but it revealed an instinctive ”appetite” for this erosive force.

He attempted to circulate the balanced power of the four keys. A characteristic power that fused Nirvana, Void Realm, Sharp Metal, and Water Spirit flowed through his body. The erosive force was instantly offset by a large margin, and there was even a faint, extremely subtle sign of it being converted and absorbed.

”The erosive force here seems ’gentler’ than the evil Qi of the North Nether Sea, but it is more hidden and difficult to guard against, mainly targeting spiritual power and the life Origin,” Nangong Xuan quickly made a judgment. ”Follow me closely, save your spiritual power, we will head straight for the Core.”

The three of them pushed deeper into the woodland with caution. The further they went, the more bizarre the scenery became. The soil on the ground took on an unhealthy gray-black color, and the vegetation was withered and dying. Huge, rotting sores oozing black slime appeared on the trunks of many ancient trees, and those whispers were faintly emanating from these very sores.

They could even see the carcasses of some small animals; they hadn’t been eaten, but rather looked as if all their life essence had been drained, leaving behind shriveled husks.

Zi Linger was terrified by the sight. As a Wood Spirit, she felt this scene of life destruction most profoundly and painfully.

Suddenly, a massive ancient tree nearby, nearly half-rotten, gave a violent shudder. Several thick, black tentacles shot out from the pitch-black sores on its trunk, lunging at the three like venomous snakes! The tentacles were permeated with a thick aura of decay and resentment!

”Watch out!” Nangong Xuan barked. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a razor-thin wisp of gray Nirvana Sword Gang flashed by, precisely severing those black tentacles.

The severed tentacles fell to the ground, writhing like living things for a moment before dissipating into black Qi. However, the shrieks of pain and malice coming from the sores of the ancient tree became even more piercing.

”These ancient trees... they’ve been contaminated, they’re in pain...” Zi Linger’s voice carried a hint of sorrow.

”It’s more than just contamination,” Su Muxue said with a grave expression, pointing to the sores that continued to leak black fluid even after the tentacles were severed. ”Their power and life are being forcibly extracted and gathered toward a single direction!”

Nangong Xuan looked in the direction she pointed, which was toward the very center of the woodland. The darkness there far exceeded the surroundings, as if all light had been swallowed up.

”The Core is right there.” Nangong Xuan’s eyes were sharp. ”Speed up!”

The closer they got to the center, the more contaminated ancient trees attacked them. Various bizarre attacks emerged one after another—corrupted vines, venom, mental shocks... but all were easily neutralized by the three working together. Nangong Xuan didn’t even draw his sword; merely by letting the balanced power of the four keys circulate through his body, those erosive energies were neutralized and absorbed as they approached him. Although the amount was small, it kept his consumption minimal.

Finally, they broke through the last patch of twisted, withered forest. The sight before them caused the three to stop abruptly, gasping in shock.

Ahead was a vast clearing, and in its center stood a tree so massive it defied imagination! Its trunk diameter likely exceeded a hundred zhang, and its height pierced straight into the dim sky. Its bark was cracked like Dragon scales; it should have been a sacred existence supporting the heavens and earth.

However, at this moment, this giant tree presented a hair-raising state. Most of its trunk had turned an unsettling pitch-black and was writhing slightly like a living thing. Its surface was covered with the outlines of countless distorted, agonizing human faces. Those low, evil whispers were coming from these ”faces” on the trunk!

Most of the giant tree’s root system was exposed on the surface, similarly pitch-black and rotten, like countless twisted, monstrous snakes burrowing deep into the earth, seemingly drinking greedily from something. As for its massive crown, the leaves had long since fallen, leaving only bare, black branches like ghost claws, emitting a towering aura of death and resentment.

Wound tightly around the thickest part of the giant tree’s main trunk were massive chains condensed from pure shadow and evil thoughts! These chains were extremely similar to the ones that imprisoned the water star key in the North Nether Sea abyss, but they weren’t wrapped from the outside; they were... growing out from inside the trunk! It was as if this ancestral wood itself had become the nest and source of that evil power!

The other end of the chains plunged deep into the earth, connecting with the ley lines of the entire valley. It was through these ”roots” and ”chains” that the ancestral wood was frantically extracting the ”Primal Spiritual Breath” of the entire valley, converting it into that decaying, cold, erosive energy and spreading it out!

How was this still a sacred tree? It was clearly a terrifying demonic tree that had been completely corrupted and mutated from the inside by the power of ”the dark side”!

”This is... the ancestral wood?” Zi Linger’s voice trembled, almost unable to believe the horrific sight before her.

Su Muxue also felt a pang of trepidation. ”Is it... is it still alive? Or has it completely turned into a monster?”

Nangong Xuan’s expression was incredibly grave. He felt the stain on the water star key in his Dantian throbbing more noticeably, and the ”appetite” of the chaos star core grew stronger. The demonic tree also seemed to sense their arrival; the countless agonizing faces on its trunk turned toward them in unison, and a ghostly black light lit up in their hollow eye sockets!

Those low, evil whispers instantly turned into sharp roars filled with malice and greed!

”Fresh... life... power... devour...”