I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Chapter 64: Chapter 63: The Calm Before the Danger

“There’s something off about the soil here!”

Lis murmured, and although he hadn’t delved deeply into death magic, he trusted his own senses.

There was a faint scent of death spirit energy in the soil!

So, was this forest abruptly brought to life by life force extracted right from the earth?

Could death magic actually achieve this?

Lis felt like his understanding was being overturned, and after pondering for a long while and still not comprehending how it was done, he decided to share his findings with Arsen and the others.

The moment Arsen heard there truly was an influence of death spirit energy, his expression turned grave.

With such a vast area contaminated by death spirit energy, it was impossible there weren’t high-level undead present.

Arsen stayed silent for a while, and seeing that no one else had other findings, he decided to continue heading towards Kola Village.

This time, Lunbos took the lead, effortlessly swinging his terrifying hammer, obliterating in his path all the vines that came his way into mud.

Lis guessed that Lunbos’s strength attribute points were over 300, which truly looked somewhat terrifying.

Everyone advanced quickly, and Ailina kept scanning her surroundings; although she felt uneasy about the forest, her ranger traits allowed her to move through the trees as nimble as a fish, her light figure leaping non-stop between branches.

…

About a kilometer later, Lis and the others finally reached their destination, Kola Village.

What unfolded before everyone was a scene of desolation and ruin.

Thick tree trunks burst forth from the houses, violently breaking through roofs and walls, greedily stretching their branches as if to revel in the rain and sunlight.

The village’s roads and fences had almost been completely swallowed by greenery, the silent and desolate scene seemed to silently tell that this village had been abandoned for decades.

Yet Lis and the others knew, just ten days ago this was a peaceful place, with smoke from cooking fires curling up into the air.

What could have caused all of this?

A different plane? A treasure? Or some potent and mysterious presence?

None of this was known, and Lis and the others could only split up to search within Kola Village, to see if they could uncover any new clues.

…

A little later, Arsen, Ya’er, and the others gathered back at the village’s entrance.

None found any valuable intelligence, only confirming that Kola Village had indeed been evacuated in haste, with many belongings left behind by the villagers in their homes.

Arsen called over Ailina, who was keeping watch at a distance, and asked in a cautious tone:

“Given the current situation, does anyone have any thoughts?”

“None, although I feel this forest is eerie, so far, I haven’t found anything else that’s amiss,”

Ailina said, tucking her fine golden hair behind her ear, a bit perplexed.

“No, just that the air here makes me feel uneasy.”

Ya’er nodded honestly, having gone through some events, she also realized that this matter wasn’t simple, and wasn’t something she could solve merely by drawing her sword.

Lunbos didn’t speak, shaking his head to indicate he had no ideas, willing to follow everyone else’s lead.

However, Lis thought for a moment and said:

“I haven’t detected anything unusual either, aside from the death spirit energy I detected earlier; there’s no sign of magic or magic-like manifestations within the village.”

“I suspect the reason for this change isn’t in the village itself.”

“What do you mean?”

Arsen looked at Lis, prompting him.

Lis used his Jade Wand to trace a circle on the ground and said:

“Before entering the forest, I had observed it using the Flying Technique, and noticed that this forest is radiating in a circular pattern, which is very rare, or rather, it’s impossible to form naturally without external influences,”

Pointing at the center with his magic wand, Lis shared his thoughts:

“I suspect there might be some special item influencing this area or perhaps a high-level magic array that has shaped this forest within its range.”

“Only…”

“Only what?”

Ailina asked, feeling that Lis’s guess might be accurate.

“The range of influence is so vast, and the anomalies it causes are quite astonishing. If it really exists, it must be at least of the Gold Level in power, perhaps even stronger.”

“Moreover, considering the circumstances, it might be related to Death Spirit Energy, and we can’t rule out the presence of great danger.”

“Should we go…”

Lis looked towards Arsen for the team leader to decide.

“Go!”

Arsen made the decision quickly. After all, so far, his team had not found any valuable clues, and exploring a secret realm always involves certain risks.

Arsen was confident that his team could handle an enemy of the Gold Level.

Legend-level?

Well, might as well give up and sleep because if this mission really involves that, it’s not necessarily safe to quit now.

“Lis has a point, let’s check out the center of the forest,”

No one objected, and after resting for a while to maintain their status, they continued toward the center of the forest.

Lis cast the Second Circle Magic “Light Body Skill” on everyone to increase their speed and reduce physical exertion.

However, the deeper they ventured into the forest, the more a sense of uneasiness grew among them.

It was their first encounter with such peculiar circumstances–no enemies, no targets, the surrounding forest extraordinarily quiet, except for the sounds of Arsen cutting through vines and trees.

Lis furrowed his brow. Indeed, in his past life, there were many peculiar secret realm instances–some deadly quiet, some bizarre without any way out. What hasn’t he seen?

But had he ever encountered this situation before?

There seemed to be no abnormalities, the detection magic, consistently active, gave no warnings, yet an inexplicable pressure lingered in his mind, growing stronger as time passed.

Lis checked and confirmed that this was not the impact of any mental magic, but purely from his own Spiritual Sense.

Since entering this forest, this abnormal sensation had been persistent, making him somewhat irritable.

Is this an intuition warning me?

Lis glanced at his teammates–Ya’er’s face showed some irritability, seemingly sharing his condition.

While Arsen and Ailina had no other expressions, just cautiously probing their surroundings.

The expression on Ya’er’s face, it seems she too felt the pressure. Could it indeed be the influence of a Gold Level power?

In silence, Lis and his party finally reached the center of the forest, a clear area of about ten meters with no trees but a flat grassland.

Beyond that, it was quietly uneventful.

Arsen’s expression remained calm; had it not been so easy to find the source after all?

After a thorough inspection, there indeed were no special items; even after Lunbos dug nearly ten meters into the ground, they found nothing.

With no other choice, Arsen decided to camp right there and rest.

No one objected; without any leads, all they could do was wait it out.