Ye Qingluan’s miraculous “medical skills” naturally passed the inspection.
“There’s no time to lose. Please come with me to the Yunyin Forest!” Guan Ningning said, excited and urgent.
Since she had the ability to communicate with animals, it was likely that she had already become friends with the ten golden-crowned cranes in the Yunyin Forest. Yu Yi could understand her eagerness to bring people to rescue her friends.
“We’re ready. We can leave anytime,” Yu Yi said to Guan Ningning.
Guan Ningning nodded, then blew a loud whistle toward the sky.
The whistle, like some kind of signal, echoed back and forth across the sky.
After a moment, several dark shadows passed overhead.
Yu Yi looked up and saw a few white cranes flying gracefully from the distant horizon, slowly landing in front of Guan Ningning, lowering their heads to nuzzle her affectionately.
Yu Yi took a closer look at these cranes and realized they did not seem to be golden-crowned cranes.
“That place is very dangerous now. You have to be careful,” Guan Ningning said seriously as she stroked the white cranes’ feathers.
The Yunyin Forest was now filled with Rot Qi, and even a slight mistake could lead to contamination. These white cranes bore the task of carrying everyone there, and thus needed to take on some risk.
The white cranes had clearly prepared themselves; their intelligent eyes were resolute.
Seeing this, Guan Ningning took a deep breath and said to Yu Yi and the others, “Let’s go.”
Everyone mounted the white cranes, spread their wings, and soared into the sky.
It lacked some of the “Demoness” style, but gained a bit of the ethereal quality of a reclusive master riding a crane through the clouds.
This was the first time Yu Yi had flown by any means other than riding a Wind God crane, so it was quite a pleasant experience.
After the white cranes flew for a while, Yu Yi vaguely saw some blurry dark shadows among the drifting clouds around them.
Upon getting closer, she discovered that they were enormous floating stones suspended in midair.
The floating stones were like steps, one after another leading to higher ground. Yu Yi looked up along the stones, squinting slightly.
There, atop the hundred-layer floating stones, a massive island hung in the air. Even though there was still some distance, Yu Yi could clearly see the dense forest on that island.
Suspended high in the sky, hidden among the clouds, level with the heavens.
This was the sacred ground meticulously crafted by the Yan Emperor—the Yunyin Forest.
However, although the Yunyin Forest before them was full of mystery and nobility, it was even more filled with an aura of danger.
It was shrouded in thick Rot Qi; a single glance was enough to make one dare not approach.
The white cranes landed on the largest floating stone at the bottom. Guan Ningning was the first to jump off, and she said to Yu Yi and the others:
“They can only bring us this far. If they go any higher, they might become tainted by that ominous aura, just like that proud child earlier.”
The white cranes’ task was complete. After bidding farewell to Guan Ningning, they flew away into the distance.
“Please follow me.” Guan Ningning said, then leaped toward the floating stone steps above. Everyone followed closely behind.
Being at a height of tens of thousands of feet, ordinary people would inevitably feel some discomfort. Guan Yue was no exception. He had to circulate his cultivation technique to barely maintain his condition.
Blue Ling’er leaned close to Yu Yi’s ear and whispered, “Master, I feel like this young lady… isn’t quite normal.”
Guan Yue, as a cultivator, looked rather uncomfortable. However, Guan Ningning was not the same.
Even at that extreme height, she showed no fear, walking lightly and moving agilely, as if she had long been accustomed to traveling among these hundred-layer floating stones.
More importantly, she had no aura of a cultivator; she was just an ordinary mortal.
An ordinary mortal who could communicate with animals and walk on a high altitude as if on flat ground—truly extraordinary.
Everyone ascended the layers of floating stones and finally arrived at the enormous sky island.
Before them, the Yunyin Forest was enveloped by a special barrier.
That barrier had been stained pitch-black by Rot Qi, and upon closer inspection, one could see it was covered in fine cracks, with faint traces of Rot Qi seeping out. It was likely that the bird earlier had been contaminated by this Rot Qi.
“This barrier can hold for at least three more days. In addition, a formation has been set up inside to trap all ten golden-crowned cranes. Guan Ningning explained to Yu Yi and the others:
“The barrier and formation were jointly set up by the Imperial Court’s experts. Even the most ferocious monster beasts cannot break free. Please rest assured.”
Yu Yi listened thoughtfully and nodded. So that was why besides them, these nine “physicians,” no other experts from the Imperial Court had come to assist.
It seemed those people were quite confident, as if to say: “The cranes have been restrained by the formation and can’t hurt anyone. Just go ahead and treat them.”
Then, everyone stepped into the Yunyin Forest.
Looking around, all that met the eye was a scene of desolation and ruin.
***
After passing through the barrier, a thick wave of Rot Qi hit them. The flowers, grass, and trees here were all withered and dead, long since unrecognizable from their former appearance.
Ye Qingluan looked somber and couldn’t help sighing, “I can feel that this place must have been very beautiful once. What a pity…”
Before she finished speaking, nine shrill and piercing cries suddenly rang out in the air.
Immediately after, a dark shadow swooped down from above with terrifying speed.
Blue Ling’er reacted quickly, instantly erecting an extreme ice barrier to withstand the attack.
However, to her utter surprise, the solid extreme ice barrier shattered upon impact!
One must know that even a cultivator at the Martial King Realm would find it difficult to break through her defenses in a single strike!
She looked closely and finally saw the dark shadow clearly.
It was a bird wrapped in Rot Qi, with a particularly striking patch of gold on its head—a golden-crowned crane!
“This… Have they broken through the formation!?” Guan Yue exclaimed in shock.
After the first rampaging golden-crowned crane appeared, the other nine also responded. For a moment, the entire Yunyin Forest was filled with piercing, sharp cries of cranes, sending chills down one’s spine.
The thick Rot Qi silently corroded human bodies. The piercing crane cries made one shudder. The dark shadows darting through the forest could launch a fatal attack at any moment.
What made it even trickier was that they could not harm these rampaging golden-crowned cranes; they had to heal them back to their original state amidst all the dangers.
Such difficulty was as hard as reaching the heavens.
Anyone else would probably have backed out and fled in panic.
Even an ordinary person would likely have been killed by that first strike.
“This… How could this be? Although these golden-crowned cranes have absorbed a large amount of heavenly spiritual energy, they cannot effectively convert it into their own power.”
“How are they able to unleash such terrifying destructive force?” Guan Ningning was utterly confused.
The reason golden-crowned cranes were called “Perfect EXP Babies” was precisely because after absorbing heavenly spiritual energy, they could only convert a very small part into their own power, while the rest was stored in their bodies, gradually condensing into soul essence that they could spit out.
Logically, even if they went berserk, they should not possess such astonishing destructive power.
But now, clearly, this was not the time to think about such things.
“They’ve broken through the formation! We can’t stay here any longer. We must retreat immediately and request reinforcements from the Imperial Court!” Guan Yue shouted, his voice even trembling slightly.
In contrast, Yu Yi and her two disciples remained calm and composed.
“Ling’er,” Yu Yi said calmly.
“Disciple is here,” Blue Ling’er replied respectfully.
“Under the condition of not harming these golden-crowned cranes, can you handle their attacks?” Yu Yi asked.
“Of course,” Blue Ling’er’s eyes sharpened. “The barrier being broken earlier was just because I was caught off guard. I have other means. The strength of just one of them is far from enough to hurt me.”
As she spoke, her icy blue hair flew up, stirred by the surging Zhenqi.