The suffocating, bloody sweetness and decay of the Bone-Eroding Forest were finally left behind. The dry, abrasive wind blowing from the valley entrance carried a cold, hard scent of dust and rock that poured fiercely into Chen Mo's lungs, making him cough a few times. The stinging pain near the scar on his flank—stirred into activity by the tattered book inside his coat—felt considerably less irritating in this crisp air.
He had just caught his breath, not yet having the chance to marvel at surviving the ordeal, when he was nailed to the spot by the sight before him.
Jagged, grotesque rocks stood like the fangs of a giant beast, interlocking at the mouth of the valley. Bleak daylight squeezed with difficulty through the gaps in the stone, casting twisted, bizarre shadows on the ground. And deep within this ferocious stone forest, a pillar of starlight, solid as a physical entity, shot straight up into the sky without warning!
Chapter 90