233: Chapter 228 Suppression by Black Mist

"This damn place is suppressing us too severely." Ao Yuan frowned. He could feel the circulation of his demonic power within his body becoming sluggish, as if bound by an invisible shackle.

Chen Zhiwen did not speak. His brows furrowed slightly, and the feeling of unease in his heart grew increasingly intense. He could clearly perceive that every wisp of black mist here contained an extreme malice toward life.

After a brief exchange, the three did not linger for long. Since they had already entered, there was no reason to turn back.

They identified a general direction and set off, walking slowly toward the deeper parts of the black mist.

The surroundings were silent, with only the faint sound of their footsteps echoing in this deathly silent space, appearing exceptionally abrupt.

In such an oppressive environment, they walked for about an hour.

Suddenly, Chen Zhiwen stopped in his tracks, his gaze like lightning, shooting toward the churning mist ahead.

"Something is coming."

Almost the instant his voice fell, Wang Ming and Ao Yuan's expressions tightened simultaneously, and they assumed a defensive stance.

They saw the black mist in front of them begin to churn and surge violently, like boiling water.

Immediately after, under the trio's gaze, several humanoid creatures formed entirely of black mist slowly walked out from the dense fog.

These humanoids were pitch black throughout, their faces blurred, with only the vague outlines of their features distinguishable.

Their movements were stiff and slow. In their hollow eye sockets, there was no brilliance, only a deathly dullness. They stood there quietly, silently staring at Chen Zhiwen and the others, like statues without a Soul.

However, the next moment, a sudden change occurred!

From the eye sockets of those humanoids, two clusters of blood-red light suddenly erupted! A cold, tyrannical Evil Qi, filled with the desire for destruction, rose into the sky from within them like a volcanic eruption!

"Roar!"

A silent roar exploded directly within the three's Divine Soul!

Following that, those black mist humanoids transformed into several streaks of black lightning, tearing through the air and charging madly toward the three with sharp whistling sounds!

"Careful! Their strength..." Wang Ming's expression changed abruptly, just about to warn them.

But it was already too late.

The power erupting from those humanoids had clearly reached... the Grandmaster Realm!

Wang Ming and Ao Yuan's pupils constricted violently, and a monstrous wave rose in their hearts! These were merely monsters on the periphery, yet they were already at the Great Grandmaster level? What kind of terrifying secret was hidden in the depths of this black mist?!

Before the two could act, Chen Zhiwen, standing at the very front, felt a cold glint flash in his eyes.

He didn't even make any unnecessary movements; he simply raised his right hand calmly and struck out with a casual palm strike into the air toward the incoming figures.

"Hum—!"

There was no earth-shattering roar, nor any dazzling brilliance.

There was only a ripple in space, barely visible to the naked eye, that spread forward like water waves, centered on Chen Zhiwen's palm.

Those aggressive black mist Great Grandmasters, who could shake any Sect in the outside world, suddenly stalled the moment they touched this spatial ripple.

Immediately after, their bodies melted and decomposed silently, like snow under sunlight, turning into the most primitive black mist and merging back into the surrounding environment, as if they had never appeared.

One palm strike, instantly killing several eerie creatures of the Grandmaster Realm!

Watching this scene, Wang Ming and Ao Yuan, even though they already knew Chen Zhiwen's strength was unfathomable, couldn't help but gasp, their understanding of the word "Taboo" refreshed once again.

After disposing of those humanoids, Chen Zhiwen's expression did not relax in the slightest; instead, it became even more solemn.

"Let's go. This place is likely even more dangerous than we imagined."

He said softly and took the lead.

Wang Ming and Ao Yuan exchanged a glance, seeing deep trepidation in each other's eyes. They quickly followed, their vigilance raised to the limit.

As they continued to go deeper, the black mist permeating around the three became increasingly dense and eerie.

An invisible suction force began to come from the black mist in all directions, like billions of unseen tentacles, greedily drilling into their bodies, starting to pull and absorb the Spiritual Qi within them, and even their Origin of life!

"Not good! There's something wrong with this mist!" Wang Ming's expression changed, the first to notice something was amiss.

The three were greatly alarmed and dared not show the slightest negligence. They immediately activated their respective protective Cultivation Techniques, forming an energy shield on their bodies to resist this terrifying, pervasive suction force with all their might.

However, this suction force seemed to ignore energy barriers, continuing to extract power from the deepest parts of their bodies. Although the speed was slow, in the long run, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The three could only continue moving forward while struggling to resist the suction force.

Every step became incredibly heavy.

Time became blurred once again.

When the three had struggled for about another half an hour, Ao Yuan, who was walking at the back, suddenly stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.

"Brother Ao!" Wang Ming quickly supported him.

At this moment, Ao Yuan's face was as pale as paper, his forehead covered in bean-sized cold sweat, and his breathing had become heavy. The immense Dragon Clan demonic power within his body had already dimmed by more than half.

He smiled bitterly, shook his head at the two, and then sat down cross-legged with difficulty, circulating his Cultivation Technique with all his might to barely resist the increasingly terrifying suction force.

"It's no use..." Ao Yuan's voice was filled with unwillingness and helplessness. "Getting here is already my limit. If I go any further, I'm afraid I'll be sucked dry into a husk. For the rest of the road... I'm afraid I cannot continue with you two."

Wang Ming and Chen Zhiwen looked at his painful expression and nodded silently, expressing their understanding.

It was not that Ao Yuan was not strong enough, but that this patch of black mist was truly too eerie and terrifying.

"Brother Ao, just rest here and don't wander off." Chen Zhiwen instructed, "We will ascertain the situation as soon as possible and return to rendezvous with you."

"Good! You... must be careful!" Ao Yuan urged solemnly.

After finishing their instructions, Chen Zhiwen and Wang Ming said goodbye to Ao Yuan. The two continued to push against that terrifying pressure, walking step by step into the deeper darkness.

As they went deeper, the black mist around them had become almost as viscous as ink, and the suction force that devoured everything was growing geometrically.

Besides having to constantly resist this suction force, various eerie phenomena began to appear in the mist.

At times, shrill ghostly cries resounded in their Divine Soul, shaking their Dao Heart; at other times, terrifying illusions appeared before their eyes, enticing them to fall into the abyss.