The Swallowing Rock City was not a big city in the kingdom of Light Beacon. It wasn't even situated in a popular part of the country.
It was a desolate city really, and the reasons were obvious.
Not a single valuable resource was mined here; the trade here wasn't good with the other parts of the kingdom; the clans situated here wasn't powerful, and not a single sect operated around here too.
Overall, it seemed like an unimpressive place through and through. It was so unimpressive that only a single entity from the kingdom had been placed here - which was the local bully Kue clan.
This place stayed far from the strife of power that happened inside the kingdom.
However, there was one peculiar detail here. It was the large sinkhole that was situated around the city.
Or rather, it was better to call it that the city was situated beside the large sinkhole. It was because this hole was truly big. It was more than ten times the size of the city.
In the first place, the reason the Swallowing Rock city had been created and named after was also because of this sinkhole.
In folklore, it was said that this sinkhole was caused due to a fight between two powerful cultivators. It was said that the falling of gods happened here, which caused a horde of cultivators to come here seeking for treasure.
After hundreds of years, there was no more treasure left. No more guests came here either.
However, surrounding the sinkhole, and within it, a forest had sprawled. Due to the concentration of qi, the plants and lifeforms here mutated; as they became more powerful, they also became more helpful for cultivation, and dense in qi.
Due to this, the forest had become a treasure trove, yet also a dangerous zone to the living.
After all, the original animals and beasts also became more powerful following, with some even evolving to become demonic beasts.
In the end, other demonic beasts also came here to settle down.
Danger crawled everywhere here. Thus, it was not recommended for cultivators to enter this place - before they were sufficiently strong. Even so, they had to do so in groups, otherwise they would quickly find themselves dead.
And right now, Gang Xin was standing in distance from the looming green forest ahead.
His head was no longer as shiny as it was, having grown slight hair by now. Although his hair had grown a bit, his previous clean look was now slightly resembling homeless people.
Yet, he was dressed in proper clothing, far better from the previous ragtorn pieces. Due to autumn's chilly wind, he had brought slightly thicker clothing, but it seems it wasn't needed after all.
From the looks of it, this forest stayed vibrant green and in different colors in all seasons of the year.
This was due to the abundant qi they had. Although water and ice qi would become slightly abundant when the season transitioned to autumn, the change wasn't big enough to change the eco structure.
The robust trees and plants with lots of vitality would remain unaffected and continue flourishing.
More so, the plants with even more vitality was what the adventurers were seeking. By cutting them down and selling them for money, they continued their living.
Even now, Gang Xin could see people going beside him and then passing by to head to the Forest.
'I thought I might need the help of that Lush Viper, but the elite token proved a lot more help' Gang Xin thought.
With his current cultivation in the magic grade cultivation technique, his body was already changing at the fundamental level.
He was more powerful, more perceptive, and more sensitive to qi than the same 5 star Form Fighters.
From the many people heading to the forest, he reckoned he could already defeat many of them alone.
This was an important point in his journey here.
After all, his goal in coming to this forest were 2 things.
Firstly, he was here to collect the Lunar Beckoning Flower, 100 stalks of it on behalf of the mission issued by the clan. However, that was only the superficial reason to why he was coming here.
The second, and the real reason was to practice demonic arts!
Yes! He was here to commit crime that would've quickly put him on a stake if he were to do it within the city. His actions would undeniably be vile and atrocious offenses against humanity.
In the VRMMORPG game Cultivation Dynasty, there were two factions a cultivator could choose to join. The righteous path, or the demonic path.
As the tyrant of the Wind Ascension kingdom, and the inheritor of the Star Devourer Supreme's ancient ruins, he belonged to the demonic path.
Of course, the labeling of path never really mattered for anyone. It was just an indication of which NPCs players could interact and benefit from.
Due to the inheritance of a demonic path immortal, and belonging to the demonic path himself, Gang Xin was widely knowledgeable in the workings of how the demonic path worked.
For example, the Hundred Heart Centipede formed from humans, or the Corpse Guardians, the simplest form of corpse magic.
His main goal in coming here today was to see if the demonic path rituals and practices still worked in this world. This time, he will be trying to refine one of the forbidden techniques Blood Coal Flame.
Thinking about what he could do and test, Gang Xin gradually closed in on the forest.
...
The forest from up close looked even more vibrant than it did. This time, he was able to observe details more closely.
Although green was still the main color, there was now the presence of some purple, and some yellow.
As he looked around, Gang Xin saw no one. At this point, he was practically alone in the wilderness. Accompanied only by the insects and the wild beasts.
It was undoubtedly more peaceful too.