Shu Lan led Qin An back to where they had come from.

Shu Lan tapped a large, bell-shaped rock on the outskirts of Wancao Valley, and the rock produced a clear, resonant sound. Then, with a loud rumble, the crack that had led them through Wancao Valley opened up above them.

Shu Lan pulled Qin An and flew out of the crevice, landing on the hills outside.

"Master, where should we go next?"

"Let's head east." Shu Lan pulled Qin An along, heading east.

Along the way, they eliminated demonic beasts while collecting rare and precious herbs. Since Shu Lan had avoided the most dangerous areas, the demonic beasts they encountered were not very powerful, and the master and disciple could easily handle them. Shu Lan had gotten used to letting Qin An fight the demonic beasts they encountered; after all, these weaker beasts allowed Qin An to practice his skills. As a master, she wanted to give her disciple plenty of opportunities to hone his abilities.

They traveled eastward until they finally arrived at a forest of scattered rocks.

This rocky forest is a maze of crisscrossing rocks, with many crooked paths extending outwards. If a cultivator were to look down from above, they would find that this rocky forest resembles a labyrinth. However, this rocky forest seems to be protected by a no-fly barrier, preventing cultivators from flying here.

This labyrinthine rocky forest was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, adding to its mystique.

Shu Lan surveyed the chaotic rocky forest several times and finally confirmed that this was the place they were going to, where the array master's inheritance was located.

"Xiao An, let's go in!" Shu Lan took Qin An's hand and walked towards the rocky forest.

Qin An held tightly to his master's hand, afraid that he would be abandoned by his master if he wasn't careful. For some reason, looking at this chaotic rocky forest, he felt uneasy, as if there was something strange inside.

As soon as Shu Lan and Qin An stepped into the rocky forest, they felt the sky above them suddenly darken. Of course, this wasn't because the sky was covered by dark clouds, but rather due to the layer of smog above the rocky forest.

"Xiao An, this rocky forest is full of formations, so you must be extremely careful." After entering the rocky forest, Shu Lan said, "Next, the formations in this rocky forest will be a test for you, Xiao An. As long as you can break all of these formations, you can find the inheritance of the formation master. Xiao An has also studied that formation master's manual, so I believe you will definitely pass the test."

"Yes, I will definitely live up to my master's expectations." Qin An nodded repeatedly and said firmly.

They took a few steps forward and encountered the first formation belonging to Qin An.

Through careful observation and thoughtful consideration, Qin An finally found the key point of the formation and destroyed it.

Then, before Qin An could even catch his breath, a second formation appeared.

After Qin An broke the second formation, the third formation immediately followed.

And so, Qin An broke through the formations one by one, while Shu Lan stood guard, wary of any danger that might lurk from the chaotic rocky forest. He vaguely remembered that there seemed to be something extraordinary within the forest.

When Qin An deciphered yet another formation, they were trapped in a mist formation. Everything around them became shrouded in fog, making it impossible to see anything clearly. Qin An felt uneasy and unconsciously tightened his grip on his master's hand.

Just then, an attack suddenly came from behind them, targeting the very center of them.

To dodge the attack, Shu Lan and Qin An had to quickly let go of each other's hands and then pick up their respective weapons to prepare for a counterattack.

What was unexpected was that the fog formation was so powerful that as soon as Shu Lan and Qin An let go of each other's hands, they immediately lost track of each other, leaving only a vast fog all around.

"Master Brother! Master Brother!" Qin An was in a panic. He quickly called out to his Master Brother, but unfortunately, he didn't hear a reply. It turned out that this mist formation could also absorb people's voices, causing them to lose contact with each other.

Qin An's heart skipped a beat. He quickly headed towards the place where his master had disappeared, but after walking for a long, long time, he still couldn't find him. Qin An felt extremely flustered and at a loss. But when he remembered his master's words, he forced himself to calm down.

"My master said that the formation here is a test for me. It seems that I can only find my master if I break this fog formation." Thinking of this, Qin An quickly started looking for the key point of the fog formation.

Just then, the same attack as before came from behind Qin An. Qin An rolled on the ground and dodged the attack aimed at his head.

Qin An quickly turned around alertly.

Meanwhile, after losing track of Qin An, Shu Lan called out to him, "Xiao An, Xiao An, where are you? Can you hear me?" After a long while, she received no response. Shu Lan knew then that this formation was probably not so simple.

Shu Lan recalled the attack from before, while simultaneously searching through plots she had previously watched in her mind. Finally, Shu Lan found a piece of information in her mind.

"Ye Feiyu dodged the attack with a quick movement, and at the same time drew his Demon-Slaying Sword and swung it behind him. The attacker quickly jumped to the side, dodging Ye Feiyu's fierce sword strike."

"Ye Feiyu turned around and finally saw the attacker's face clearly. It was grayish-green all over, its skin oozing disgusting slime, and its large, round eyes were staring fiercely at Ye Feiyu. At the same time, it extended its long tongue, preparing to attack Ye Feiyu again. It was actually a Mirage!"

"Mist Mirage!" Upon seeing this information, Shu Lan couldn't help but feel anxious. He knew that the Mist Mirage was famous for creating mist, which could confuse cultivators' vision. At the same time, its attack power was not to be underestimated, and the mucus on its body was highly poisonous!

Although neither he nor Xiao An were afraid of the poison, Shu Lan couldn't help but worry about Qin An's safety. Shu Lan was certain that the attack just now was caused by the Mirage.

As for why the Misty Mirage hasn't attacked him yet, Shu Lan had a rough guess in his mind. Perhaps it was because he had the highest cultivation level between him and Xiao An, so the Misty Mirage wanted to pick on the weakest one and thus set its sights on Xiao An.

Shu Lan only had a superficial understanding of formations and was currently unable to break through this fog formation, so she couldn't help Xiao An. Therefore, Shu Lan could only silently pray that Xiao An could safely overcome this difficulty.

Let's return to Qin'an.

The moment Qin An turned around, he saw a long tongue covered in disgusting mucus rushing towards him.

Qin An quickly dodged the disgusting tongue.

Qin An looked closely and saw a monster that looked like a toad just retracting its disgusting tongue.

Qin An looked the beast up and down, and finally made up his mind. "A Mirage." Qin An had seen records of this kind of beast in the Star River Sect's library, so he was able to recognize it immediately.

The Mirage once again extended its long tongue, this time targeting Qin An's waist.