It was truly bizarre.
Not only was there no danger, but opportunities of all sorts were visible everywhere.
And it was as if a beautiful girl in a bunny girl outfit was lying on a billiard table, wriggling her body, ready to be plucked.
Completely unguarded.
However, Duan Chen was not a lecherous person.
Nor would he let such trivial matters cloud his judgment.
He paid no attention to the herbs he saw everywhere by the roadside.
He didn't even spare them a second glance, fixated on his journey.
He fully embodied the concept of "pure heart and few desires."
Yet, Duan Chen's heart was not entirely devoid of desire; he felt his heart weeping as he watched the herbs he was missing.
It was just that there were more important things to attend to at the moment.
What's more...
He possessed a cheat artifact.
The Eye of Truth.
The Eye of Truth helped him see through the true nature of these herbs.
Some were indeed just herbs, but near most of them.
Lay hidden killing intents that could strike a fatal blow.
Duan Chen felt he could evade such fatal intents, but he didn't want to waste time here.
His journey, with the Eye of Truth constantly active, consumed a significant amount of energy. Without hesitation, Duan Chen pressed on until, finally, as he gradually adapted to the soil's adhesion, he broke into a run.
Upon arriving here, he slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering something...
Why was he so fixated on finding Jun Ci's whereabouts?
He clearly had more convenient means to discover Jun Ci's location.
The entity that had abducted Jun Ci was perhaps not thinking clearly. It might not have realized that Jun Ci and he shared another bond and connection.
So, after running for only a short while, Duan Chen opened his map and successfully located Jun Ci's figure on it.
Jun Ci hadn't moved, remaining stationary in one place.
The status displayed on the map showed Jun Ci as a small, unconscious figure, with bodily functions gradually declining. It was evident that his body was directly exposed to these corrupted gases.
However, within him lay the energies of light and darkness, which could significantly mitigate the impact of the corrupted aura on his body.
But this was not a long-term solution.
If exposed to the ambient aura for an extended period, he would eventually be assimilated, turning into either a grotesque anomaly or a full-fledged monstrosity. Neither of these outcomes was what Duan Chen desired.
Following Jun Ci's location, Duan Chen ran without stopping.
Despite his best efforts to maintain maximum speed, the soil still proved to be incredibly taxing.
He grew impatient but had no better solution.
Although he had mastered Long Yi's fire abilities, fire might have been able to dry out damp earth.
Duan Chen did not believe the soil here was ordinary, so he chose to let it be for now, not wanting to waste his energy on such trivial matters.
His decision was clearly correct.
Because Duan Chen was unaware that if he had indeed unleashed his fire-elemental spiritual energy and allowed his flames to scorch the earth, it would have provoked a monster lurking beneath the non-Newtonian fluid.
It could be considered a form of anomaly.
A monstrosity nurtured by the corrupted aura of this place.
It could only reside in moist soil; the non-Newtonian fluid soil was its most cherished environment.
If they could remain within it, they would continue to slumber, but if disturbed...
Then Duan Chen would likely face a scenario akin to accidentally stumbling into a bat cave.
While he might not get injured or die, it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult and significantly delay his rescue efforts.
By then, it might be too late.
In terms of intuition, Duan Chen's luck was phenomenal.
As he journeyed, he was confident that Jun Ci's location had not changed.
Perhaps the entity that had abducted Jun Ci was too careless, not guarding against Duan Chen.
Or perhaps the entity that had abducted Jun Ci believed Duan Chen posed no threat and didn't warrant any concern.
Regardless of the reason, both possibilities were favorable to Duan Chen.
Jun Ci's health... let's just refer to it as Jun Ci's health for now, was continuously declining. However, based on Duan Chen's observation, Jun Ci could still be considered a tank.
His health was substantial.
Realistically, he would likely perish here in about five hours.
Duan Chen wasn't particularly anxious.
Of course, being not anxious was one thing, and rushing to his aid quickly was another.
He had no intention of deliberately delaying.
As the saying goes...
Bad luck struck when least expected.
Just as Duan Chen was thinking he wasn't anxious about Jun Ci's health, the corrupted aura suddenly appeared before him, so dense that he couldn't see the path ahead.
Then, these gases suddenly coalesced before him into monstrous forms.
They were no longer mere anomalies but monsters formed from gas, their shapes indiscernible. They lacked reason and form, merely amorphous masses of gas.
These gaseous entities blocked Duan Chen's path, yet he couldn't treat them as mere gas.
Because they possessed destructive capabilities.
And their destructive power was not insignificant.
Duan Chen's vigilance intensified. However, he couldn't manifest Qian Huan Pandora and found himself sighing inwardly.
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
It was rather troublesome.
"In that case..."
Duan Chen's mind quickly analyzed what he should do next.
A flash of light glinted in his eyes.
[Sequence 008: Visual Analysis]!
Before he absorbed Wang Qi, Duan Chen's record was six seconds.
Now, conservatively, it should be around half a minute.
He could predict the movement trajectories of all predetermined targets within a certain future timeframe. Currently, such a long duration was unnecessary; just two seconds would suffice.
Two seconds were enough for him to do many things.
For example.
[Sequence 006: Swift Steps]!
Increase movement speed!
Activating future prediction vision!
He had no intention of fighting these gas-formed monsters.
After predicting all possible movement trajectories and routes of these monsters, Duan Chen directly flashed, weaving left and right, controlling his steps to avoid collisions.
He passed through the group of monsters without slowing down, like a small cannonball, soaring forward!