Long Ming asked in doubt, "Why there is devil's qi in the Death Forest? The devilmen have been distancing themselves from us since ten thousand years ago."

"..."

They had sent men to check on it and had been discussing this for many days. Despite all of these, they did not have a clue yet.

Long Ming suggested, "How about me striking the first blow? I'm going to enter the forest and find out what's going on there. We can't just sit around and do nothing."

"No, Mr. Long Ming, you have to stay here. Let us do it. We can't lose you after Mr. Lan Zun is gone. We need someone at the ninth stage of purple-level here to reinforce the formation barrier, which is a life-threatening problem to all the people on the Fengyun Continent." Long Ming's suggestion got an immediate backlash.

"But those at the beginning stage of purple-level we sent never came back. There is no need to endanger your lives." Long Ming shook his head. In his eyes, letting others enter the Death Forest would only bring mounting casualties and further weaken the small purple-level group. He did not want to see that happen.

"No, absolutely not."

"Those we sent before were at the beginning stage of purple-level. It's time for us, who are at the middle stage of purple-level, to go in there and find the way."

Murong Xue heard their conversation and couldn't help but stand up. "I'd like to say something."

The whole room fell silent at once.

"I only held on for less than one minute before while I was at the beginning stage of purple-level. We can't just go to the Death Forest without any preparations. Otherwise, death is inevitable."

"But there is nothing we can do. We may have a fighting chance if we could find something to suppress devil's qi, but Mr. Lan Zun is the only one who knows about the situation and he is gone. We don't know what can suppress devil's qi. It has been ten thousand years and most of those who know about it are dead now."

Murong Xue lowered her head and pondered. "Will it be better with a gas mask? Devil's qi won't have an effect on us until we inhale it. A gas mask will stop devil's qi."

What Murong Xue said was a wake-up call. Long Ming stood up excitedly. "Yes, good idea."

Murong Xue said, "Now we should convene all the weapon refiners. I can provide the designs of the gas mask and let the weapon refiners see if it works." Although modern gas masks were redesigned countless times and no spiritual power was involved, she believed that the fundamentals were unchanged.

"Okay. Inform all the weapon refiners to gather here now. The rest of us, including those at blue-level and green-level, start to prepare the materials for making gas masks. Mu Tian, you are responsible for the design." Long Ming looked at Mu Tian with admiration. Mr. Lan Zun's student impressed him in so many ways.

"Meeting adjourned. Do your own work and help each other. Let's meet here tomorrow morning."

Feng Ziling left with Mu Tian after he had a few words with his father.

Murong Xue came back to the bamboo house and drew various designs of gas masks. Different from modern methods, the current method depended on spiritual power and the makers' cultivation achievements. The design could only provide references.

Feng Ziling saw that Mu Tian finished the designs very quickly. He picked up the designs and he became more and more astonished as he went through the papers one by one. He knew the fact that Mu Tian was very excellent, but Mu Tian always surprised him with better performance than what he had imagined.

The more outstanding Mu Tian was, the more nervous Feng Ziling became, which meant that he had to try harder and harder to keep up with Mu Tian.

"The designs are very good!" Feng Ziling praised after reading all of them.

Murong Xue laughed. "Of course, it's the great wisdom of human beings. I just reproduced the designs, but I didn't design them."

"I want to go in there first this time," said Feng Ziling. Despite everything, he, as a student, had to do something to help his mentor, who was stuck in the Death Forest.

Murong Xue nodded. "Me, too. Let's do it this way. When I enter the Death Forest to check on the situation, you stay in the Space. If so, the damage is limited."

Feng Ziling changed his face. "No, I won't hide in the Space. I can't do it while you risk your life alone out there."

Murong Xue explained, "No, it's not like that. I was poisoned by devil's qi before. Master told me that devil's qi inside my body had become my power. I'm half-human and half-devil now, so I guess devil's qi can't harm me. But it's different for you."

"Still no. We'll go in there with gas masks, so it's okay."

Seeing Feng Ziling's determined eyes, Murong Xue thought for a while and gave up persuading him. She knew hiding in the Space was the last thing he would do.

The next day, Murong Xue and Feng Ziling arrived at the mercenary union and found more people than yesterday. The reception was crowded with many people who had questions. Everyone was walking up and down, busy doing something.

The two went straight to the purple-level meeting room and the room was already full of people.

"Sorry for being late." Feng Ziling apologized.

"Have a seat," answered Long Ming.

Murong Xue put down the papers on the middle table. "There are my designs. Have a look and see if there is any problem."

Long Ming picked up the designs and looked carefully at them. When he was done, he handed the papers to the people sitting next to him and said, "Good. Thank you. Many weapon refiners have arrived here today. We'll give the designs to them later. Now we need to decide the first team that goes to the Death Forest. A team consists of five people, so they can back up each other."

"Mu Tian and I want to join the first team," said Feng Ziling.

"Let us do it. We're more experienced than you two."

"Yeah, although our levels are lower than yours, we are hundreds of years older than you two and we've seen a lot. We should go in there first." Mu Tian and Feng Ziling achieved so much in their teens, so others regarded them as the future of the Fengyun Continent and they were unwilling to see the two die here.

Murong Xue answered, "No, our mentor is stuck there, so we can't just stand by. We want to join the first team. Besides, I have been poisoned by devil's qi before, so you have a better chance to win with me."

The others turned to Long Ming with hopeful eyes, waiting for him to say something. Long Ming frowned and tapped the table with his fingers.

The tapping sounds were very clear in the quiet meeting room as everyone was waiting for Long Ming to make a decision. Since Mr. Lan Zun was gone, Long Ming had been leading the team and everyone naturally regarded him as the leader.

"Let the more experienced seniors go in there this time. You two can join the second team later." Long Ming was thinking the same. He believed that the younger generation was the future, so he was unwilling to sacrifice them now.

Feng Ziling retorted, "I disagree. I'll leave for the Death Forest with Mu Tian tomorrow. We two are a team."

Murong Xue nodded. "Right, let's have two teams. Feng Ziling and I are on one team, and the other five are on the other team. If anyone finds something wrong, the others drop out immediately."

After a long time of silence, Long Ming nodded. "Fine. Be ready. You'll set off right after the first gas masks are finished. But you need to remember safety first. If you find anything unusual, just come back and report to us. Don't act on your own."

"..."

Three days later, Murong Xue and Feng Ziling put on their gas masks and set off, and the other team headed for the other way.

Feng Ziling and Murong Xue had discussed it between themselves and they decided that they would go straight to the cliff.

Long Ming and the others worked together to open a gate. When Murong Xue and the others entered the Death Forest, they closed the gate to stop devil's qi from spilling. Opening the gate brought a minor leak, but Long Ming and the others held their breath to survive it.

Murong Xue's team and the five-people team went in different directions.

Feng Ziling held Mu Tian's hand and said, "Be careful."

Wearing the gas masks did not bring them any uncomfortable feelings. The masks were quite good.

The two did not move quickly because it was all dark in the Death Forest after devil's qi invaded here. It was very difficult for them to see clearly and they probably would get lost if they went deeper into the forest.

Murong Xue realized it at once. "It's bad. We don't know where we are going in the darkness. Maybe those we sent here before got lost, so they never came back."

"Yeah, it could be like that. We need to stop." Feng Ziling held Murong Xue's hand and stopped moving.

Murong Xue agreed with him. They were not far from the gate now, so it was better for them to come back. "Let's go back and get a compass."

The two returned to the gate very quickly. Long Ming and the others waiting outside were surprised when they saw the team return so soon. They asked, "Is there anything wrong?"

Feng Ziling answered, "Yes, we need something. We can't see clearly in the forest. We need a compass."

Long Ming said, "Oh, I have a compass. How about the others? Did you see them?" They did not think the operation through, so they forgot to prepare a compass, something necessary.

Murong Xue shook her head. "No, we split up the moment we entered the forest. The gas masks worked though."

Hearing this, Long Ming and the others breathed a sigh of relief. At least, they made progress.

Long Ming asked seriously, "Good. Remember coming back if you sense danger."

Feng Ziling nodded. The two returned to the Death Forest. With a compass, it would be much easier for them to go the right way now.