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Chapter 154: The Everlasting Silent Forest’s True Nature?
Aldrian checked the formation’s eye, which had stopped functioning after his heavenly tribulation. Upon inspection, he found no visible damage or irregularities with the formation’s eye itself. He carefully examined each point of the formation across the entire mountain but found nothing unusual. Yet, the formation had indeed stopped working.
While everything appeared fine on the surface, the formation had ceased absorbing the surrounding heaven and earth energy needed for activation. Aldrian suddenly realized the likely reason: something entirely new had appeared following his tribulation.
"The thick heavenly energy and aura now filling the entire mountain, mixed into the very air, can’t be absorbed by the formation. I see—the formation needs time to adjust so it can handle the dense heavenly energy," he thought.
Since his heavenly tribulation, Dragon Back Mountain had essentially become a heavenly territory, infused with a powerful heavenly energy and aura. Compared to ordinary heaven and earth energy, or elemental energy, the heavenly energy was far heavier and more overbearing. Aldrian understood that the formation would need to recalibrate to absorb it properly.
From his comprehension of this Dragon Back Mountain formation, it had a self-adjusting mechanism. If there were any significant changes or obstructions, the formation’s eye would automatically adjust to restore functionality.
After establishing his domain here, Aldrian finally realized that the entire Dragon Back Mountain itself was one enormous formation. The mountain appeared to be an artificial construct shaped into a formation—a concept no formation master here would have likely conceived. He had to admit that this vast natural formation was remarkably complex, even more intricate than the formation within the Forest of Despair.
Although he could see some similarities in the formation patterns, this one was on a completely different scale. It was much larger and had a far more profound mechanism. The formation in the Forest of Despair only covered the central area—a mere fraction of the forest, the formation of Dragon Back Mountain however spanned different zones and levels. The deeper one ventured toward the center, the more intense the killing wind became. Moreover, the formation adjusted its power based on the strength of any cultivator who entered.
If it were an ordinary natural formation, it would likely never be able to absorb the dense heavenly energy and aura present here. But he believed that this mountain-wide formation was capable of just that. Once again, he was astounded by whoever had crafted this place, learning countless new things from its formations, secret realm, and extraordinary mechanisms—all truly beyond common understanding.
A sudden thought crossed his mind. If Dragon Back Mountain was a natural formation protecting a secret realm, he wondered one place like this that he had in mind—the infamous forbidden zone of ancient times, the Everlasting Silent Forest.
Of all the stories he’d heard about the Everlasting Silent Forest, the most infamous was that it never allowed its victims to escape—they were trapped within its depths forever. These stories had been passed down for ages, with many testimonies to support them. As to why or how people disappeared, no cultivator had ever uncovered the answer—except for members of hidden families, like Xin Haotian’s.
From what he had heard, the Everlasting Silent Forest was like a giant trap, ensnaring anyone who dared enter without permission. He couldn’t help but notice similarities between the Dragon Back Mountain and the Everlasting Silent Forest.
"The Dragon Back Mountain formation is designed to kill anyone who tries to barge in. Without knowledge of the Dragon Back formation or my energy, it would be impossible to get past it. As for the Everlasting Silent Forest, it devours everything that enters, trapping them within—and it’s recently been revealed that these victims are held inside various secret realms scattered across the forest," Aldrian mused.
"Unless a cultivator like Xin Haotian, who knows the way or possesses a key, attempts to bypass the forest’s traps, they’ll never reach its central area."
Although the mechanisms of the two places were different, they have a similar purpose: to prevent outsiders from entering. The Everlasting Silent Forest used space laws, while the Dragon Back Mountain used wind laws. These resemblances led him to a profound conclusion.
"What if the entire Everlasting Silent Forest is actually a giant formation?"
As Aldrian considered this, he felt a chill deep in his mind. The scale of the Everlasting Silent Forest was on another level entirely, vastly larger than Dragon Back Mountain. The forest was at least several times the size of the mountain region, and that didn’t even account for the many secret realms within it—each one attested to by people who’d managed to return after years trapped inside.
From what he’d heard, after a recent shift in the Everlasting Silent Forest, some of the people who’d been trapped were able to escape. They brought back a variety of stories, each person describing unique experiences within different secret realms.
One man had been trapped in a realm covered in perpetual snow, where the cold was enough to freeze a cultivator to death. To survive, he’d built a shelter at the edge of the realm, where the chill was somewhat less severe. He had even forced himself to comprehend ice laws just to endure the freezing environment.
Another story was from a woman who’d been trapped in a realm dominated by fire. Her surroundings were volcanic, with a fiery red sky and earth so scorching it was uninhabitable. Fortunately, she was a fire element cultivator, though even she struggled to withstand the intense heat. Using every resource at her disposal, she managed to survive there for years. By the time she escaped, she was much stronger than when she had first entered because she had spent most of her time cultivating inside.
These were just a few of the many stories recently shared with people across the continent, each recounting a unique secret realm. His parents, fortunately, had found themselves in a realm with a livable environment.
From what Xin Haotian had told him, each of the four guardian families of the Everlasting Silent Forest possessed a primary secret realm along with additional realms under their domain. Based on numerous testimonies, Aldrian estimated that there might be hundreds, if not thousands, of secret realms scattered across the Everlasting Silent Forest, each with unique properties. If all of these realms were indeed created by one person—or even a group of individuals—encompassing such a vast area with space laws as a foundation and sustaining it to this day...
He covered his face with both hands. This level of power was still beyond his comprehension. But if the Everlasting Silent Forest was akin to Dragon Back Mountain, then he would need to reach the forest’s central part. This was also one of his original goals with Xin Haotian: to uncover the mysteries hidden within the Everlasting Silent Forest.
Its central part had become the most important destination for him on this continent, as he felt a call drawing him in that direction. He sensed that, upon arrival, he would undergo a profound change and gain something significant—perhaps even uncover his origin.
For now, Aldrian set aside his thoughts about the Everlasting Silent Forest. He turned his attention to the base of the mountain, where the presence of people had once been prominent. The people of the Badin family and the devils had already evacuated, leaving their posts abandoned. He couldn’t blame them; the sheer power of his heavenly tribulation must have terrified them, especially the devils.
The heavens were not only the most feared entity but also the most detested by the devils. Because of their evil behavior, given their nature of absorbing the universe’s negative energy, the devils accumulated more bad karma than other cultivators, and it was certain that when they attempted to break through to the emperor stage, the heavens would send them a heavenly punishment.
Their devil energy was also highly repelled by heavenly energy and aura—in other words, heavenly energy was the most potent counter to devil energy.
That was what most people understood about devil energy, but Aldrian knew he could tame even heavenly energy with his golden energy, leading him to believe his golden energy was even more potent.
With Dragon Back Mountain now brimming with heavenly energy and aura, the devils would surely avoid this place for now, unless they had something to shield them from the heavenly energy itself. If they ventured here recklessly, they would only weaken themselves; the overwhelming presence of heavenly energy and aura was intense enough to be sensed from afar.
Aldrian decided to wait beside the formation’s eye, closing his eyes to comprehend his recent gains and attune himself more deeply to the mountain. After an hour or so, he sensed a number of presences approaching the base of the mountain. He recognized them instantly—they were the same group that had once surrounded this mountain.
"Oh, they’re back?" Aldrian thought, a smile forming on his face.
