Sunlight broke through the blockade of distant mountain peaks, and vitality was scattered into the valley with this light. A few species of ferns unique to this place slowly unfolded their leaves, hoping to grab as much of this precious sunlight as possible, even the mushrooms in the rock crevices seemed to grow faster. Two or three gray marsupials suddenly appeared from nowhere, sniffing around, and as soon as they saw the giant rock's edge, they immediately ran away.

  But if they had enough discernment, it could be seen that this was actually just a corpse of Jumi, and still a fairly tattered one at that. The fur that even the sharpest blades found hard to damage was now full of holes, revealing the dull grey flesh beneath, and several of the sturdy giant claws were broken off.

  Asa jumped onto Bimon's head, sat cross-legged and calmly went through the meditation technique from start to finish. When his mind was clear as water and his mental state reached its best condition, he slowly poured all his magical power into Bimon's body.

  He must be extremely careful, as this puppet corpse is the key to whether they can get out of here. Although he has been very careful for the past two days, due to multiple magical catalysis and control, the internal structure of this puppet corpse has actually become very fragile. If there is even a slight mistake in controlling the corpse, it will immediately rot into a mass of decaying flesh. And with their current state and strength, they can no longer go hunt for another one to make into a puppet corpse, and he himself really doesn't have the confidence to make another one either.

  Sweat dripped from Asa's forehead. Operating a puppet corpse like Bimont, with its massive and sturdy body, required magical power and mental control that was incomparable to manipulating other corpses. If he were to make it into an undead, it would be easier, but the undead state couldn't last long, and the speed at which its combat strength decreased was unbearably slow, making it unable to keep up with the team's pace, rendering it useless. Therefore, he had no choice but to create this more complex puppet corpse that could fully utilize its combat strength and last longer.

  Finally, Baimon's body moved. Asa let out a long sigh and jumped down. It was finally successful. But today is absolutely the last day, tomorrow this giant corpse may not even have bones left under the corrosion of death magic. He slowly opened his mouth to say to the werewolf who had been standing beside him, helping him guard: "Within today, we must leave the valley."

  "En, I know." The werewolf, Rouken, nodded. He was a very young and robust wolfman with yellowish-white fur and a pair of eyes that were more spiritual than his peers, but rather more human-like. In terms of intelligence, he could even be considered clever among humans. What made Asa feel strange was that although his speech still carried the peculiar tone unique to werewolves, it was already very fluent, which couldn't just be due to his cleverness.

  It doesn't matter why Asa didn't ask. Here, all the energy and thoughts are focused on how to survive in the next moment. He sighed, looked up at the majestic peaks towering between heaven and earth, and no matter how he looked, he couldn't see the whole picture. The mountain waist was surrounded by thick clouds, and above that should be even higher snow-white ice peaks. And what's above that is unknown to anyone.

  In the midst of these majestic, mysterious and perilous mountain peaks on this continent, any life seems so small and powerless. Whether it's oneself or the werewolves beside them, even the Bimon that survive here are no exception. Looking at those mountains that seem to support the endless sky, Asa felt a sense of reverence for the first time in his life.

  That is the true awe that comes from the soul, the awe of heaven and earth. Those who have been here will feel how powerless and ridiculous those temples are, even if there really are gods in this world, they must live only on the top of that peak.

  A faint sound of clashing metal echoed through the clouds, mixed with the ubiquitous wind. This was the main melody that could be heard everywhere in Mount Sandfist. Asa listened carefully and thought it should only be two or three large eagles, not the terrifying Thunderbird. He glanced at Rukane and nodded slightly.

  The werewolf closed his eyes, his furry pointed ears perked up to the sides, and estimated the direction and angle of their flight based on the sound. He nodded and said: "About a thousand meters high, flying northwest."

  Asa took a deep breath, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go." He hoped this was the last time he heard the sound of these giant flying birds. Every day in this place would encounter the attack of these fierce birds of prey, which were as terrible as the two-legged flying dragon, and only by relying on Bimont's puppet corpse could they cope with it. And that day, the team searching for minerals on the mountain waist had an unavoidable battle with a thunderbird surrounded by blue and white lightning. Although they finally killed it and obtained more than ten feathers containing magic power from its neck, they paid a heavy price of one wolfman and six lizardmen.

  Unfortunately, this extraordinary beast with innate magical power cannot be transformed into a puppet corpse. Otherwise, relying on its unique light and aura, it could scare away other large eagles like the gray bag beast. As for transforming the eagle's corpse, they dare not do so at all. A single eagle that recklessly invades their territory may attract dozens of attacks from its own kind. So they can only continue to move forward step by step.

  Rouken led the others out from under the two massive boulders, ready to continue on. But immediately there was more bad news. Kuroin, the ogre, had taken a turn for the worse, and even his robust vitality, comparable to that of a lizardman, could no longer support his body's movement. His ribs, as thick as an arm, were already thoroughly shattered, and several wounds that nearly reached his internal organs, although slightly healed by treatment magic, were still rapidly consuming the ogre's energy and life force. If it weren't for the inch-thick steel armor that had withstood the blow in front of him, his massive body would have been no different from a pile of rubble under Vamir's claws.

  Asa hesitated for a moment before ordering: "Have him take off his armor and throw away his weapons."

  After throwing away nearly a thousand kilograms of steel armor and nails, the seriously injured Ogre was carried on the road by Bimonth's puppet undead. However, for this, they also had to abandon a small bag that might contain the ore of magic jade and star eye.

  "I respect your decision, even if it may not be a good one." The werewolf, Rouken, said in a low voice as he walked with a small pouch of raw ore on his back. A small piece of Star's Eye and Magic Jade could be worth as much as a city, and whether the man-eating demon could be saved or not was still an unknown quantity.

  Asa shook his head and said lightly: "Sedros should also hope to get as many people out of here as possible."

  Four ghouls, six werewolves, ten lizardmen - every single one of these beastmen who ventured into the depths of the Sundief Mountains was an elite warrior. A group of around a dozen like this could already be considered a significant force within the Euphorian army. Now, only two ghouls, two werewolves, and one lizardman remained. Not even half of their original number, and all of them were wounded and exhausted. But it was precisely because of this that every single beastman who managed to survive this trial by fire would emerge as an elite among elites, a warrior among warriors - this was the true wealth of Euphoria. And what's more, this kind of selection process would only serve to strengthen the bonds between them, a kind of invisible force that Cedros had always placed great importance on, one whose influence on Euphoria ran far deeper than could be measured by a few magical artifacts.

  There is another reason that only Asa himself knows. The injury of this man-eating demon and the loss of other beasts are actually all due to his misjudgment. He really hopes to be able to walk out from here with one more person.

  The werewolf nodded slightly, it was unclear whether he agreed or understood the true meaning behind this.

  Another werewolf and a fairly decent-looking goblin cast over somewhat emotional glances, those were Algin and Vier. And the last one, the lizardman Vest, let out a sigh.

  Although everyone has no time and mood to communicate with each other these days, the experience of life and death makes them get familiar with each other faster. They didn't say a word, just carrying things and walking silently, the meaning expressed by their facial expressions and eyes was enough for mutual understanding.

  Asa spread out the map. This was drawn by Gru, very detailed, marking the terrain and every water source in the valley, as well as the beasts that appeared. If Asa hadn't decided to go too deep into the valley and climb up the mountain, they wouldn't have been able to hurt so many people. Of course, there wouldn't be such a big harvest either. Five whole bags of raw ore, this was absolutely the most raw ore ever taken out of Sandefiss, almost equal to the total output of several decades before.

  The Sundfirth Mountains are rich in magical materials, whether used directly after processing or made into magic weapons, armor and tools, all of which are sought after by people. However, the great wealth here also has corresponding great dangers. Even the mysterious Deya Valley and Nigen's underground labyrinth are overshadowed by these towering peaks, and no one dares to deny that this mountain range standing abruptly in the northern wilderness is the most dangerous place on the continent.

  There is eerie weather that can cause thunderstorms and blizzards at any time, an extremely harsh survival environment where it is almost impossible to find food and water sources that humans can eat, and the monsters that inhabit this place, such as the Mamon and Thunderbird, are the most dangerous and aggressive creatures on the continent. Even the strongest warriors appear weak and powerless in front of these massive beasts. The rich magical ore deposits in the mountains make the entire area always filled with chaotic magical fluctuations, making it impossible for even moderately skilled magicians to use magic here. Because of this harsh environment, very few people have been able to bring out magical materials from here over the years, and instead, more and more people are dying here and becoming food for wild beasts.

  This time, Ou Fu's actions were already exhausting. In order to guard against the Death Spirit Association, Gulu couldn't leave Ou Fu for a long time, so he could only let Asa lead this team of carefully selected beastmen with the most perfect equipment and supplies from Ou Fu, and after a long journey, they entered the depths of the mountains. Only these beastmen who were extremely strong in surviving in the wild could stay here for as long as possible in this harsh environment.

  But after Asa came here, he made a strange discovery. He didn't know if it was because of his meditation in the dark or because of the leaves of the World Tree, but his magic was not affected much here. According to Sedros' words, no matter how powerful a magician is, using magic here would be subject to some interference. However, Asa didn't feel anything at all. So he made a bold decision on the spot: to explore places that even Lengru hadn't explored, not just searching in the valley but also climbing up the mountain. The things that could be easily found in the valley had already been searched by so many treasure hunters over the years.

  He dares to be so bold because he has confidence in his own death spirit magic. As long as he can kill a Bimon, make it into a corpse puppet, and then it will be more convenient to kill other Bimons, and then make them into corpse puppets, and constantly expand...

  It wasn't until later that Ah Sa realized he was too confident and too careless. His confidence almost led to the entire team's downfall.

  Although Bimon has considerable resistance to magic, it would be much easier to deal with if poison or the vampire sword made by Sandru were used. Unfortunately, the life force of creatures killed by death magic becomes abnormal and cannot be made into undead puppets. As a result, the team can only fight against Bimon with the help of several gray bag beast puppets and one Bimon, killing a lizardman and injuring an ogre before finally killing the young Bimon.

  Facing the one that was even more massive than the Mongrel Beast, Asa used his Corpse Control Technique to try and manipulate it. However, the result was only a puddle of rotting flesh. This time, Asa thought it was just an accident due to his inexperience with this type of corpse. But when he failed for the third time, Asa discovered in horror that he actually didn't have the ability to create a puppet from such a massive creature's corpse.

  His magical power was indeed abundant, and the level of necromancy was not low either. However, he forgot that his abundant magical power came from external objects, and the rapid progress of necromancy was also due to the help of Dark Meditation Technique. What he lacked was the true caster's mastery and delicate control over magic, which were the essence of magic, accumulated through time and experience.

  He can create and control hundreds of crows, or a few gray beasts that are stronger than bears. However, when facing the giant Bimon, who is almost as big as a small mountain and has an incredibly strong life force, he realizes his own immaturity. With his control ability, which is not much higher than that of a magic apprentice, he cannot fully control the enormous power within Bimon's body. Death magic is a very delicate magic, and even a slight mistake can lead to failure. Given Bimon's size and strength, even if Sandru himself were to take action, he would probably only be able to control three or four undead puppets at most.

  After several failed attempts to create a puppet corpse, the team's combat effectiveness and numbers gradually weakened to the point where they could no longer withstand the attacks of the Bimon. The last battle with the adult Bimon left everyone severely injured, and even the strongest Ghoul, Klorin, was on the verge of death, leaving Asa almost in despair. Whether it was luck or a desperate breakthrough, Asa finally managed to turn the Bimon into a puppet corpse. Then, relying on it as their main force, they withstood the daily attacks of the large eagles and other Bimons, and eventually collected four bags of original ore at the mountain waist.

  At least from the results, his plan was indeed successful. However, Asa couldn't feel happy at all. The death of so many beastmen could be said to be due to his misjudgment, those were the elites of Euphemia, heroes of the tribe. Moreover, he couldn't forget that a werewolf and a goblin were actually torn into pieces by Bimon's giant claws in order to cover for him.

  Asa found several scattered corpses on the way down the mountain, which had been dead for unknown years. Next to the corpse was a bag of ore. It must be a top-notch strongman who can enter the Sandefi Mountain Range. From some high-level magic decorations, weapons and staffs on the corpse, it can be seen that it should be a well-matched and very powerful team. Maybe they were famous figures when they were alive, but unfortunately, here, these heroes with many stories and legends died silently like old mice in the sewer.

  From these corpses, Asa not only got a bag of ore, but also two pieces of magical leather armor and some wrist guards, boots and other small magical equipment. These were all valuable high-end goods, and most importantly, there were also two well-preserved magic scrolls, which was exactly what he needed right now.

  Looking carefully at the map, Asa took all the factors into consideration and repeatedly deliberated before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Judging from the markings on the map, at the current speed, they should just about make it to the valley entrance by noon.

  That was a small gap between two high mountains, the entrance to the deepest part of the Sandwraith Mountains and their only exit now. As long as they walked out of that valley mouth, they would have left the most dangerous area of the Sandwraith Mountains, where the Thunderbird and Bimon Beast were unlikely to appear. Then after another day's walk, they could reach the safety zone, where the rear support supplies were waiting for them.

  At noon, when the wind was at its weakest, it was also the only opportunity to leave the valley. At other times, the strong winds mixed with ice fragments at the valley entrance could even blow a werewolf away. When they entered the valley at night, Asa and the werewolves and lizardmen were blown in directly, one of the lizardmen had bad luck and was smashed onto the rocks by a gust of wind, becoming a lizard pancake.

  However, noon was also the time when Bimon was most active, and Asa remembered that the valley should be a habitat for an adult giant beast. At the end of summer, it was the time when the most ferocious, dangerous, and aggressive beasts on this continent were actively searching for food. It was impossible to sneak past Bimon, no matter how well they hid their tracks, the smell on these people would definitely attract that adult Bimon. The smell of werewolves and ghouls was like the aroma of roasted chicken and duck fat to Bimon, who had been tired of the coarse meat of gray bag beasts, just like a person who had eaten cabbage and radish for a month.

  A fully grown giant beast with fur that's completely gray and white. This is indicated on Gru's map as a large red dot, and on the otherwise all-black lined map, this is the largest and most eye-catching unique mark. It can be seen that even the crude map-making Gru is quite wary of the danger here.

  But Asa wasn't particularly worried. This could be considered the last battle in the valley, and as a last resort, the two scrolls could be used without hesitation. One was a white magic "Paralysis Spell" and the other was a fire-based "Inferno Bullet". The scrolls were carefully wrapped in specially treated magical sheepskin paper by the adventurers, which remained intact even after their owners' corpses had turned to ashes, and were still fully usable.

  It can be seen from these two scrolls that the adventurers were indeed extraordinary in their lifetime, and they even possessed a rare treasure like the Paralysis Scroll. Although this spell is not top-notch, it is extremely difficult to transcribe it into a scroll that can be released at any time. According to Asa's acquaintances, only Ronis, the bishop, has such an achievement. The church has always prohibited clergy from transcribing white magic into scrolls, so it is extremely rare for a red-robed bishop to secretly create such an item. To ensure the effectiveness of this precious scroll, the magical materials used to draw it must be of the highest quality. From the perspective of rarity and preciousness, the value of this scroll is probably equivalent to that of a Star Eye.

  As for the "Inferno Blast" scroll, although it can be bought with money, there are not many top-level fire magic users on this continent. For such a troublesome and slightly damaging top-level scroll that requires a lot of effort to produce, each person can only make a few per year at most. However, there are also many wealthy people who want to own such a scroll that can blast away an entire city wall, so the price is usually extremely high.

  Asa was even looking forward to the appearance of that giant beast, because after killing it, he could finally leave this haunted place. And being able to use such a high-level scroll on himself was also a rare luxury. If the situation allowed, or if he could just use one to end the battle. He touched the knife behind his back, and Asa unconsciously showed a hint of a smile for the first time in many days. Success was in sight, and it was indeed the final battle, he had nothing to worry about.

  The troops' progress was just as Asa had expected. Moreover, there were no unexpected events along the way. Before noon, when the wind speed began to weaken, they had already arrived at the entrance of the valley.

  This mountain valley, if placed elsewhere, would seem like a vast and empty plain. It is over one mile wide and five miles long, forming a funnel shape with its base facing the valley below. The two sides are towering cliffs that rise thousands of meters high, with rocks jutting out in strange and fantastical shapes. Due to the unique climate and geography of the Sandfjord mountain range, strong winds blow down into the valley every day at noon. The already powerful gusts are compressed by the funnel-shaped terrain at the valley entrance, transforming into a fierce air current that can sweep people away like straw in its narrowest point, creating a natural barrier that allows entry but not exit.

  Seeing the exit not far away, every beastman was excited. Having walked on the edge of death for so many days, almost every day seeing companions turn into corpses, and now the exit is right in front of them. The energetic lizard man Vest let out a strange scream.

  A Sa was not excited. As the leader, although he had made a major mistake, he also had to ensure that he was always awake and vigilant. Standing in such a strong wind, their smell could drift tens of meters away into the valley.

  As expected, Asa's sensitive feeling discovered that the ground had begun to tremble slightly. Then both of the wolfmen's ears perked up.