Zhen Shi calmly read the ominous words on the sign. But without thinking any more or worrying about safety, he simply walked in.

This wasn't because he was overconfident or stupid, but because he already knew that there had been a series of unsolved disappearances from the book, "The Mysteries of the Berthelien Forest. By-Armedius Hawthorne." Seeing this valley and the signpost, he was fairly sure that this was the reason for those disappearances...

And most importantly, he had some idea about what this place might be. Besides, even if he found out that there truly was 'no return', he figured he could simply use the last slash of the Spatial-Tear sword and escape.

Thinking so, Zhen Shi continued to follow the path into the valley.

Looking around, Zhen Shi could see that the valley was still covered in thick unmoving mist which made it impossible to see. He could, however, hear the light pleasant sound of trickling water...

Noticing that the path continued forwards and led back outside, Zhen Shi followed it just to check if he could leave. And he soon reached the end of the path...

BANG!

But just when he took the final step to leave the valley, a powerful force pushed him back. Still, he easily shook off this force by his strong physical body alone and brought himself to a stop only a few meters back.

Almost immediately, the mist of the valley began to clear out, revealing hundreds of figures surrounding him and a fountain at the very center of the valley; calmly trickling out crystal clear water.

Zhen Shi grew weary as he realized that there could potentially be hundreds of powerful enemies and proceeded to bring out his god 'sword'.

But he calmed down almost immediately when he noticed that the figures radiating the strongest aurae were seated down and staying still in meditative positions.

The cultivators who were standing and observing him were not that strong, with the strongest cultivators only being at the Nascent Soul stage...

As Zhen Shi watched on, a group of cultivators, all of them within the Soul Primary Stage, walked towards him with their hands raised, as if to show that they meant no harm.

A fat middle-aged man with his shirt too small to keep his belly completely covered walked forwards and spoke with a cocky smile, "Little Friend, you have my deepest sympathies. It appears that Lady Luck is not on your side, as she has stuck you within this accursed valley..."

Zhen Shi retorted back with a laugh, "Buddy isn't it the same with you? Then... you have my deepest sympathies as well."

The fat man frowned and hissed through grit teeth while exerting a powerful aura, "Bastard, don't get too cocky. I was just being nice since you look so young. Merely at the core formation stage what can you do? You know what? I WAS going to be nice... But I changed my mind."

Kicking off his shoes, the fat man revealed a set of dirty smelly feet and continued, "It is a tradition for the newest fellow to undergo some hazing. So I'll let you off if you give me a good foot rub!"

The rest of the group remained silent and continued to watch in pity as if Zhen Shi had brought this upon himself.

Zhen Shi was growing angry, but he didn't dare attack directly since he couldn't take on this entire group. But noticing this fat fellow's Soul transformation cultivation Zhen Shi couldn't help but smirk as a plan came to mind.

As if he was putting the 'sword' into his satchel, Zhen Shi put his hand inside the satchel and quickly transformed the god bow into a small size that would fit his palm.

With the miniature bow in his hand, Zhen Shi walked forwards with a face of remorse and defeat.

The fat man's lips curved into a deep smile as he saw that Zhen Shi had 'given up'. Wiggling his smelly feet in victory, he gestured Zhen Shi to come closer.

Zhen Shi 'followed' his command and walked closer, but his nose couldn't help but wrinkle in disgust as a horrible stench hit his nostrils.

The fat man's smile widened as if he was reveling in Zhen Shi's disgust and he pushed one foot forward and continued to wriggle it 'seductively'.

With a face of 'defeat', Zhen Shi raised his own foot to take his last step forward...

BOOM!

But, suddenly, the trajectory of his leg shifted from the ground towards the fat man's wiggling foot. Combining the strength of 50% of in his leg, his Core Formation-Peak physical strength, and even elemental aether to strengthen his stomp, the air exploded under Zhen Shi's stomp.

CRACK!

And to the surprise of the unsuspecting fat man, Zhen Shi's dragon scaled leg crashed down on to his poor seductive foot revealing sounds of cracking bones.

At the same time, Zhen Shi stealthily released some divine aura from his god bow and quickly hid it again...

While the poor fat man screamed in pain holding his crushed foot, the rest of the group had almost attacked to put a stop to Zhen Shi's attack... But they had frozen in fear the moment they sensed that vague aura, which mysteriously disappeared almost as soon as it appeared...

Zhen Shi turned to the rest of the group with bestial red eyes, and growled, "Any problems?"

Sensing the strong killing intent within his eyes, as if a beast in human skin, the group shivered in fear and heaved a sigh of relief at not having made the wrong move.

But the fat man who had not sensed the divine aura due to the pain of his crushed foot raised his head in anger and dashed forwards to teach this cocky child a lesson. In his mind, he had simply been caught off guard...

Zhen Shi heaved an annoyed sigh, "Is having to walk with a limp for a few weeks too much of a light punishment?" Saying so, he glared at the fat man with his bestial eyes and re-exerted a hint of the divine aura.

The fat man's eyes widened in fear. To him, under the exertion of the divine aura, Zhen Shi with his draconic eyes looked like a demonic god.

Immediately the fat man collapsed on to his knees and shouted with great 'remorse', "Aiya! Great lord, please forgive this useless tub of lard. I failed to see the heavens in front of me. If it pleases you, please kill me to sate your anger!"

Zhen Shi's face twitched as he stared at the sight of this shameless 'tub of lard'.

At the same time, one of the Nascent Soul cultivators walked forwards and spoke up with an apologetic smile, "Senior, my name is Carlos and this shameless fatty is Dolt. I too hope that you can forgive his mistake," and bowed his head. The rest of the group bowed as well, as Carlos continued to speak, "The Valley of no return is a death trap and we have seen many die here. Still, we have been here for more than a few Millenniums and would rather not see another of our comrades die..."

Having witnessed power far greater than Zhen Shi's apparent Core Formation Stage cultivation and having sensed his divine aura, this group of cultivators was fairly sure that Zhen Shi was a genius that could kill them easily. As such they promptly apologized while respectfully addressing him as 'senior'. If not in age, in terms of power and skill.

Zhen Shi was glad that they were willing to apologize. While he might be able to come out on top if he went all out with , he wasn't willing to risk losing himself to killing intent. Besides he would rather not kill people for a reason as silly as a fatty asking for a foot rub!

However, he was surprised... 'Soul Stage Cultivators looking this young after living for a thousand years? How is that possible?'

Nevertheless, he nodded and replied with a calm nod, "Very well. I will forgive Dolt for your sake. In return tell me everything you know of this place."

Carlos smiled in relief and hurriedly spoke out while bowing once more, "Thank you, Senior, for your mercy. And of course, I will agree to your request."

Carlos began to speak, "Every year, at least one person walks through this valley and most of them get trapped. Every woman that entered has been able to leave which led us to believe that the valley only trapped men. But on some rare occasions, some men have been able to leave disproving that theory."

He gestured towards the hundreds of silent meditating figures off in the back, "While we have been here only for a few millennia, only the gods know how long those Law-stage and above Senior cultivators have been here for. They don't speak nor move. They are impervious to attacks of our level and are no different from statues. According to rumors, it's another cultivator that puts them in this state..."

"As to how we have lived for so long, the reason for that is that fountain. If you stay in this valley for a long time, you will develop an unquenchable thirst. And the only way to satisfy that desire is to drink from the fountain. And once you do, you will be forced to drink more. But the rate of aging will decrease exponentially, at the price of being unable to make any more progress in cultivation."

Hearing all of this, Zhen Shi began to grow extremely excited. Not because of the 'fountain of youth', of course. He wasn't stupid enough to drink from it.

But because he was now completely sure what this place actually was. The Valley of No Return inside Berthelien Forest, hosting a magical fountain... based on his knowledge this was rumored to be where the greatest mage of the Arthurian Age, Merlin was buried!

According to legend, the Valley of No Return contained a curse set by a heartbroken sorceress that eternally trapped unfaithful men. Later on, she would also trick Merlin by playing with his heart, into teaching her a powerful spell. She would then betray him and use this same spell to seal Merlin for all eternity. However, there were many versions of this legend, and even Zhen Shi wasn't sure which was the actual truth, especially in this world...

While Zhen Shi knew quite a bit about this place, he wasn't a particular fan of the Valley of No return. In fact, he strongly disliked it. Turning to the group, he asked all of them, "Tell me honestly, have any of you guys been unfaithful?" He particularly focused on Dolt, the fat man with smelly feet, since he was unable to believe that he had had multiple women let alone even one.

The group of men looked at each other for a moment, and finally, almost all of them nodded guiltily including Carlos.

Surprisingly, Dolt and a few other men shook their heads and refused the fact they were unfaithful. Dolt even whispered sorrowfully, "I have only one woman in my life... or had..."

Zhen Shi was confused for a while and fell into thought. Turning to Dolt, he asked once more, "Alright then, have you ever fancied other women?"

Dolt stiffened guilty and replied with a nod, "Not even Sovereigns can be completely emotionless. While I have occasionally fancied other women, I have always remained faithful to my wife."

Understanding the matter now, Zhen Shi nodded sagely and explained, "And that is the problem! If your heart is even slightly unfaithful you will be forever trapped within this valley! The men who were able to leave must've either been truly faithful or more believably, had made no commitments to their lover. And as for the fountain, it is actually the root of your problems! And, I have to say... I am disappointed with your horrible characters. Tsk-tsk."

The group of cultivators was speechless. 'Brother, how can you be so shameless and look down on us like this? Aren't you trapped here with us as well?'

Noticing their gazes, Zhen Shi sighed, "O ye of little faith! How can you doubt this handsome and scholarly self? If you can escape this place, that means even if you have a harem, you aren't unfaithful! I'll show you why I am disappointed with you AND how to escape from this place! Since I hate this place, if you follow me, I'll help you leave as well!"

Zhen Shi continued to speak while releasing a hint of divine aura for dramatic effect, "Punishing one for filling the world with extra love... how cruel! Forcing one to love only one other... This place is the epitome of the anti-harem movement! This isn't the 'valley of no return'. Some idiot with bad naming sense must've given it that horrible brand name. It should be rebranded as the "Anti-harem Valley"!"

Most of the cultivators nodded their heads in agreement. To the first part that is, they didn't understand much of what he said nearing the end.

"So let's fuck up the anti-harem valley!" shouted Zhen Shi. The entire group of cultivators nodded in agreement and shouted his words back. But even they didn't know why they were following his lead...

Zhen Shi continued excitedly, "A bull-shit anti-harem valley is deciding the fate of your lives! Can you die peacefully with such an ending?" And his question was followed by a loud, "NOO!" from the group.

Reveling in the feeling of leading a group that was following his every whim for such a stupid reason, Zhen Shi was about to shout out once again, when suddenly, "Oi! What's with all the noise? Can't you let a man experiment in peace?" a loud shout riddled with annoyance reverberated throughout the entire valley.

Carlos and the other cultivators shuddered in fear and whispered to him, "Be careful, Senior. That is the most powerful person in the entire valley! His cultivation appears to be at the Nascent Soul stage, but I probably won't be able to raise a single finger before he kills me. According to rumors from some of the older survivors, he kills any cultivator at or above the law-stage that decides to drink from the fountain. He is also said to be the person who puts those cultivators to eternal meditative sleep... No one knows how long he has been here, but he has never drunk from the fountain."

Just as he finished whispering, a mystical blue flame popped up nearby. But despite the proximity, there was no heat released, but it did give off an eerie sense similar to Hel's fire.

Suddenly, an ordinary middle-aged man walked out from the flame... at least he looked ordinary. But to Zhen Shi, his eyes gave him away. They were immeasurably deep as if they had existed since the dawn of time or could glimpse into the essence of the world... More mysteriously, while Zhen Shi could sense this man's cultivation through normal means, was useless. It was almost as if his cultivation was hidden...

He was only wearing a pair of pants while revealing his muscular torso. The mysterious man calmly glanced around the group until his eyes fell upon Zhen Shi, and said, "Oh? A newcomer-- It's you!"

Zhen Shi frowned in confusion. The middle-aged man shook his head and smiled pleasantly, "You're the impossible conundrum kid! You disappeared last time, but here you are again! I'm happy to see that you are well!"

Ignoring Zhen Shi's confusion, he stretched his hand forwards and spoke with a friendly smile, "It's nice to finally meet you. By the way, I'm the fellow who saved your life!"

If Zhen Shi was confused before, he was completely lost now. But he couldn't be impolite, and as such he shook the extended hand like a well-mannered individual. *Cough* And the fact that the other party was an impossibly strong and mysterious cultivator had nothing to do with it...

Nevertheless, Zhen Shi continued to wander in his mind, 'What? When did this fellow save my life? I've never seen him before today! Not even in the old memories! Then... Can this fellow be a swindler? Perhaps like one of those "I'm your long-lost brother and have recently found a profitable business venture. So please send all your money" type of scams that everyone ignored and threw into the trash folder? Shit. Do they actually happen in real life?'

As Zhen Shi continued to think with his hand still grasping that of the other party's, suddenly, the space around the two of them shivered and that strange blue flame surrounded them.

🌀🌀🌀

Before Zhen Shi could even think about what was happening, the blue flame extinguished and he realized that they were now inside a cave overlooking the valley below. And if one looked carefully, down in the valley, they could see a strangely pumped up group of cultivators looking around in bewilderment and confusion for their 'savior'.

The mysterious man tightened his grip and spoke with sharp eyes, "Since you owe me, I hope you can do me a small favor. Actually, only you," pointing at Zhen Shi, "can help me!" But this time, his words also carried the tone that this was not a matter up for discussion.

Zhen Shi grimaced, 'I knew it! He is a scammer! Damn it... Can this be karma? I tricked those cultivators into being afraid of me, and now, I'm being forced into this obvious scam...'