Chapter 82

The black shadow had not yet taken a clear shape when its sharp claws were already in front of Gu Xuyao's nose!

Just as it seemed to happen slowly, Gu Xuyao immediately stopped and swiftly dodged to the side!

Unfortunately, Gu Xuyao was too close to the Yunze Flower Deer. Even with his quick reaction, the black shadow still slashed across his shoulder.

The Yunze Flower Deer, having landed its attack, let out a joyful call and disappeared into the white mist of Yunze in the blink of an eye.

"The shape of that black shadow seems to be a leopard, but why does this Yunze Flower Deer have such an evil black leopard shadow inside it..."

Taking out a bottle of ointment from his hundred-treasure gourd, he applied it to the wound, and the bleeding stopped immediately.

"Hehe, there are new people coming in..."

Just as he finished treating his wound, he heard a voice. Gu Xuyao turned around to see an old woman slowly approaching him.

"Senior." Not knowing her background, Gu Xuyao still greeted her politely.

"Ha, senior? You call me senior, hahaha..."

The person in front of him seemed a bit deranged, and Gu Xuyao frowned but remained silent.

"Ha, ha, ha, I'm really sorry. It's not that what you said was wrong, but I suddenly felt a surge of emotion, so I couldn't stop laughing."

After laughing for a long time, the old woman finally stopped. "Looking at you, you must have just arrived, right?"

"That's right."

"Then that's it. It seems you don't know the true power of the White Mist Yunze. But soon you will feel its terror. This place is a prison, and no one can leave. If you recklessly enter, you will only leave behind a humble skeleton to accompany the senior who lies buried here."

This was the first person Gu Xuyao encountered in the White Mist Yunze, but he was full of nonsense and had no focus.

Rather than waste time with him, Gu Xuyao preferred to continue searching for the Yunze Flower Deer's movements. He hastily bowed and was about to leave.

"Hey, don't go so fast." The person stopped Gu Xuyao. "Don't you want to know what I mean by 'terror'?"

Glancing at the old woman, Gu Xuyao turned around and nodded.

"Ha, you really do want to know, hehehe..." She sighed. "Have you noticed anyone else's presence in this White Mist Yunze?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet, but there is none at all. Let me tell you, I have already explored the entire White Mist Yunze. There is nothing but empty space. There are plenty of excellent materials, but even if you fill your hundred-treasure gourd, you still can't take them out."

"Goodbye."

There was no time to waste, and Gu Xuyao didn't like people who played games.

"Hey, don't go, don't go. Can't you let me express my feelings? Really..."

Sighing, Gu Xuyao stayed.

"At first, I didn't listen to my family's advice and insisted on entering the White Mist Yunze. When I first came in, it felt like a paradise for cultivation, with no distractions and abundant yuan energy. But later, I finally realized that this place is hell, a hell of time. You haven't felt it yet, but the Yunze is robbing you of your time, robbing you of your life. Do you think I'm really hundreds of years old? I'll tell you, when I entered the Yunze, I was only sixty years old!"

"Sixty years?!" Gu Xuyao was shocked. The cultivator in front of him had a cultivation level similar to his own. Normally, living for three hundred years would not be a problem, and sixty years would not make one look so old.

The old woman gave a tragic smile, and seeing the surprise on Gu Xuyao's face, she seemed to feel a sense of satisfaction.

"That's right. The flow of time here is a thousand times faster than in the outside world. Cultivators at the Root Birth stage can live up to four hundred years, but here, they only have half a year!"

Indeed, as Gu Xuyao initially suspected, the White Mist Yunze could not be just a simple prison for cultivators. No wonder the yuan energy here was so abundant; it was due to the accelerated flow of time.

With the faster flow of time, the accumulation of yuan energy was also faster. Of course, the most fatal aspect was that the White Mist Yunze itself did not allow cultivators to leave.

"Then it seems we are of the same generation. Is there no way out of this Yunze? I mean, there are legends that someone has left from here before. What method did they use?"

If someone had succeeded, it meant there must be a way. Whether it worked or not after trying was another matter.

The old woman sighed and continued, "There must be a way. It's not really a secret. In the center of the Yunze, there is a huge stone tablet, and it has the method to leave written on it. Unfortunately, I went to see it, but found nothing."

Hearing this, Gu Xuyao felt a bit more at ease and continued, "Thank you for telling me, Daoist friend. How about this: you follow me. I came here to get the Yunze Flower Deer's antlers and the mature Lazy Birth Grass. If I can leave, I will definitely take you with me."

Although the stone tablet would eventually be discovered, the old woman's words saved Gu Xuyao from taking a detour. In a place where time flowed a thousand times faster, avoiding detours indirectly saved Gu Xuyao's life.

"Me? Hahaha, it's too late for me. I see my own death. You are the first cultivator I've seen since I came in. I see hope in your eyes. Perhaps you really can leave here. What a pity, what a pity, I can't make it."

The old woman slowly sat on the ground, tiredly pounding her waist.

"But since we met, and I am about to die, I will do you a favor. You said you are looking for mature Lazy Birth Grass. Hehe, you should know that this thing takes ten thousand years to mature in the outside world. Even here, it takes a thousand years. It is also the Yunze Flower Deer's favorite food, so it is very hard to find."

As she spoke, the old woman pulled out a hundred-treasure gourd from behind her. When she looked at it, there was a sense of belonging in her eyes.

"Take it. Inside is a mature Lazy Birth Grass and some small trinkets I collected before. I can't give you the cultivation techniques; they belong to my family. These are things I obtained myself. I don't want them to rot with me in the White Mist Yunze. Take them out. If you can use them, use them. If not, let them return to the Earth Sound Marsh..."

The old woman's eyes became increasingly cloudy, and her voice gradually faded.

In the end, her hands lost their strength. Gu Xuyao quickly caught the hundred-treasure gourd that fell from her hands. When he checked her breathing, it was already gone.

Holding the old woman's hundred-treasure gourd, Gu Xuyao took a deep breath. Lightning flashed, and a large pit was split in the ground. Gu Xuyao placed the old woman's body in it and sealed it with wet soil.

"Daoist friend, I can't take you out, but I can't let you lie exposed in the wilderness." He bowed to the ground and then disappeared into the White Mist Yunze without looking back.

The so-called antlers are actually the soft, furry, blood-filled horns of a male deer before they harden. The deer he saw earlier was clearly already an adult, so he wasn't too disappointed when it escaped.

"According to the thousand-fold time rule, all living beings here should be affected. Therefore, the Yunze Flower Deer must have adapted to this growth rate, so their young must be..."

At this moment, Gu Xuyao released all his yuan energy and flew at full speed. Calculating from his age of thirty-two when he entered, under the thousand-fold time, his life span was less than a hundred days. This was not the time to conserve yuan energy.

After checking the old woman's hundred-treasure gourd, Gu Xuyao confirmed that it indeed contained a well-preserved mature Lazy Birth Grass. The sudden appearance of the old woman provided a significant boost to Gu Xuyao's success, but even so, finding the Yunze Flower Deer's antlers was not an easy task.

"The Yunze Flower Deer is a living being. To survive, it must have a nest or den. Based on past experience, the Iron Horn Deer in the Red Mud Area often choose sunny slopes, dense grass, and places with similar body color during the day. At night, they rest on the middle or upper part of the slope, with no fixed direction, but mostly on sunny slopes. The grass in the resting places is relatively low and sparse. There are no slopes or grass in the White Mist Yunze, but deer are cautious by nature, so there is only one possibility..."

Trees, the scattered short trees in the White Mist Yunze, though they do not provide any cover, are still the habitat of spiritual beasts. They cannot build nests in open areas.

Thinking of this, Gu Xuyao increased his flying speed to the limit. Every time he saw a tree, he would search it carefully to see if there were any Yunze Flower Deer young.

Time passed, and Gu Xuyao's originally rough skin began to soften. Due to his high speed, a few strands of hair fell out.

"Ten days, and my body is already reacting. It seems the power of the White Mist Yunze is truly irresistible..."

The power of time is unstoppable. Fortunately, before Gu Xuyao turned into an old man, he finally found the Yunze Flower Deer's nest.

"Everything is as I expected. The Yunze Flower Deer still retains the habits of deer..." Looking at the large hole by the tree, Gu Xuyao felt relieved. After fifteen days of searching, he finally found the Yunze Flower Deer's nest.

Lightning flashed, and the wet soil was split open, revealing a warm little nest. Inside, a small deer lay, hungry and waiting to be fed. Its clear, large eyes were very endearing.

Gu Xuyao picked up the little deer and touched the antlers on its head. He was lucky; it was a male deer.

After being picked up, the little deer let out a couple of soft cries, showing no fear. It even licked Gu Xuyao's face, looking very content.

"Little one..." Gu Xuyao smiled, feeling a bit reluctant to harm this cute little creature, but someone was waiting for him to save them. With a slight gathering of yuan energy in his hand, he tried to make it as painless as possible for the young Yunze Flower Deer.