780: I can't see through it, I don't understand it.

The power of the Ancient Ruins has actually started affecting the interior of the city!

The final line of defense has been breached.

What are we to do in the future?

People who received the news were plunged into panic.

Although it is not certain death to be dragged into the Ancient Ruins, there is a chance to survive if one follows the rules.

But no one wants to take that risk!

What if they are the unlucky ones?

Originally, the power of the Ancient Ruins would not reach into the city, so everyone could rest easy.

But now, the Ancient Ruins have begun to invade the city, which makes it impossible not to panic.

Because no one knows how long the Ancient Ruins will invade, or how many cities will be affected.

In Xizhou City, people started to evacuate, fleeing to other cities in an attempt to get away.

Inside the Zhao Family, everyone was also worried, but they did not evacuate Xizhou City immediately.

Because the cost of relocating the entire clan was simply too high.

The cost of evacuating from Xiwu City to here was already astronomical; if they were to continue evacuating, the Zhao Family would find it hard to bear.

In fact, it wasn't just the Zhao Family; other families were basically the same.

Few families could afford the cost of multiple evacuations for the entire clan.

Not to mention anything else, just the cost of the Teleportation Array alone could crush a large family.

Of course, there is no mist outside Xizhou City yet, and the Ancient Ruins do not seem to have appeared there, so one could choose to travel by land to evacuate.

But no one dared to take the risk.

Because the Ancient Ruins do not appear in a fixed location, nor do they wait for the mist to slowly spread from Xiwu City to here.

Instead, they could appear anywhere at any time.

If one is unlucky, they might be swallowed by the Ancient Ruins in the next second.

The elders of the Zhao Family gathered together, including Zhao Yuan, to discuss countermeasures.

Lin Yang was also invited, though he mostly remained silent.

As of now, relocating the entire clan is unrealistic. We can only evacuate a batch first and then think of a way for the rest, Zhao Xiongshan, as the head of the family, spoke first.

His meaning was simple and direct.

That is, to select the elite disciples and some elders of the family to continue evacuating towards other cities, while the rest are left to their fate.

If they are dragged into the Ancient Ruins, whether they live or die depends on heaven's will.

This is the approach most families are taking now.

Zhao Huoshan, Zhao Chen, and the other elders had no objections.

In the end, Zhao Yuan also gave his approval, deciding that once mist began to appear outside Xizhou City, this plan would be executed.

After the discussion, Lin Yang asked Zhao Hu about the latest situation in Xiwu City.

According to the people who stayed there, the mist is not spreading very fast. It currently only covers one-tenth of Xiwu City, but the mist lingers and does not dissipate. Even if people are dragged into the Ancient Ruins, it does not disperse, which is the most serious problem, Zhao Hu said, frowning.

In the past, when the Ancient Ruins appeared, the mist would dissipate after dragging people in, and the areas covered by the mist could still be lived in normally.

But now that it doesn't dissipate, the areas covered by the mist are no different from restricted zones, which is very troublesome.

Could it be that the power of the Ancient Ruins is gradually recovering and strengthening? Lin Yang speculated.

Zhao Hu shook his head: It's hard to say. No one understands the situation with the Ancient Ruins. We can only wear special artifacts to minimize the impact after being dragged in.

As he spoke, Zhao Hu seemed to recall something and suddenly said: Oh, right, the prices of various special artifacts have started to skyrocket. If I had known, I would have bought more earlier; I could have taken this opportunity to make a fortune.

At a time like this, you're still thinking about getting rich?

Lin Yang was torn between laughter and tears, then asked:

Have you specifically inquired about the situation in the Inner Prefecture? Everyone is evacuating towards the Inner Prefecture; if the Inner Prefecture is also invaded by the Ancient Ruins, there will be no retreat left.

Zhao Hu immediately said:

We have definitely been paying attention to that. So far, I haven't heard of any place in the Inner Prefecture being invaded by the Ancient Ruins. However, Brother Lin Yang, if I may speak bluntly, for people like us, we can at most evacuate a few more times before we hit our limit. We have no chance of reaching the actual Inner Prefecture, so there's no need to worry too much about the situation there.

...

Lin Yang was speechless.

He understood what Zhao Hu meant.

On the Primal Ancient Continent, under normal circumstances, those below the Nie Kong Realm can only rely on the Teleportation Array to transfer between different cities.

Although those in the Nie Kong Realm can rely on their own strength to travel in the wilderness, they can reach their limit after crossing only a few prefectures by traveling on their own.

Because walking in the wilderness for a long time increases the probability of encountering various dangers.

The most direct danger is the Nì Swarm in the wilderness.

Therefore, traveling on the Primal Ancient Continent is very difficult.

As for the Yuan He Realm, they are also not qualified to cross too many prefectures.

This is the reason why, after Lin Yang arrived in Xiwu City, not only did the Zhao Family not think Lin Yang would return, but even Lin Yang himself had not considered returning to Jidong Prefecture.

Now, with the Zhao Family's strength and foundation, they can support some elite clansmen and disciples to evacuate at most a few times.

Any more, and they would have to evacuate by traveling through the wilderness.

But that would increase the risk exponentially.

They would have to face the hunting of the Nì Swarm and the appearance of the Ancient Ruins.

Therefore, even with Zhao Yuan there, plus Lin Yang's strength comparable to the Yuan He Realm traveling together, it is difficult to truly evacuate to the Inner Prefecture area.

Therefore, rather than paying attention to the distant situation in the Inner Prefecture, it is better to pay attention to the situation in the nearby prefectures.

They can at most only evacuate to a few nearby prefectures.

Whether the Inner Prefecture is invaded by the Ancient Ruins actually has little to do with them.

Even if the Inner Prefecture was not invaded by the Ancient Ruins, they do not have the strength to escape that far.

This is a very cruel fact.

Thinking of this, Lin Yang suddenly felt that his luck seemed to be a bit bad.

When he was in Jidong Prefecture, just when he was about to settle down in the Prefecture Army, he encountered the terrifying Fierce Ancient Ruins appearing in the world.

After finally escaping that Ancient Ruins and arriving at such a distant place, just as he was about to settle down in Xiwu City, he bumped into the Ancient Ruins, an even more bizarre thing, invading.

He hadn't had a few days of peace at all!

He was either running for his life or on the way to running for his life.

Seeing Lin Yang's expression become somewhat unnatural, Zhao Hu comforted him:

Brother Lin Yang, you don't have to be too pessimistic. Although we may not be able to escape in the end, there is still a great chance of surviving if we are dragged into the Ancient Ruins. As long as you are a little lucky and don't get dragged into that kind of fatal projection world, it will be fine.

...Lucky? A little?

Lin Yang's face became even stranger.

Can his luck... still get better?

The last time he was dragged into the Ancient Ruins and didn't die, he could only say he was lucky to have met Yu Qing, and that the projection world wasn't fatal.

If the last time was good luck, the same good fortune shouldn't happen twice.

Lin Yang did not want to be dragged into the Ancient Ruins again.

After a pause, Lin Yang asked: In Xiwu City, what is the current mortality rate of the people who have already been dragged into the Ancient Ruins?

The latest news shows that the direct mortality rate is about 50%, but among the remaining 50%, more than 30% of the people are still trapped in the Ancient Ruins. Only 20% of the people successfully escaped the Ancient Ruins. But among these 20% who escaped, more than half were dragged back into the Ancient Ruins again just after escaping, and then more than half of them died...

Zhao Hu answered Lin Yang's question, his face also becoming somewhat ugly.

This is the terrifying thing about the Ancient Ruins.

Even if one successfully escapes the Ancient Ruins, they may be dragged back into the Ancient Ruins again, and there is no time limit to this.

Coupled with the fact that the mist of the Ancient Ruins does not dissipate now, even if one comes out of the Ancient Ruins, under the shroud of the mist, it is very likely that they will be dragged into the Ancient Ruins again immediately, falling into a death loop.

Lin Yang was at a loss for words for a moment.

The rules for how the Ancient Ruins drag people in are completely unfathomable, and there is no time limit. In other words, this mechanism of dragging people into the Ancient Ruins has no cooldown time.

You come out, and you can be immediately dragged back in, until you die in the Ancient Ruins one day.

This is the desperate part of the Ancient Ruins at present.

Because no one dares to guarantee that they can survive forever.

The only way is to try to stay away and try not to be dragged into the Ancient Ruins.

Lin Yang did not chat with Zhao Hu anymore.

Because after a few sentences, both of their moods would become very bad.

Lin Yang continued to collect the information he wanted about the Ancient Ruins and the Spirit Communication Array within Xizhou City.

Although the system can unlock corresponding information modules once his cultivation reaches a sufficient level.

But he is not sure what level he needs to reach to unlock those modules.

Moreover, improving his cultivation is too difficult, and the current situation is very critical, so he wants to get more information as soon as possible.

Perhaps he can find some ways to increase the chances of survival after being dragged into the Ancient Ruins.

And in this process, Lin Yang met Yu Qing again.

Fellow Daoist Yu Qing?

In a chamber of commerce specializing in selling various intelligence, Lin Yang saw Yu Qing.

Seeing Lin Yang appear here too, Yu Qing couldn't help but smile: Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, are you also here to collect intelligence?

Yes. Lin Yang nodded; there was nothing to hide.

Yu Qing seemed to consider it for a moment, then suddenly said: Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, how about we share the intelligence we have?

Lin Yang was slightly stunned, but then said: That would be best!

To be honest, this person Yu Qing made him feel unfathomable.

Before, when he was in Xiwu City, Yu Qing traveled to and from Bi Xia City for business all by himself.

In Xiwu City, Yu Qing also did not seem to have joined any family forces.

But his cultivation improved quite quickly.

When he first met Yu Qing, Yu Qing was in the late stage of the Nie Kong Realm.

Now he is at the peak, and there is even a faint trend of breaking through to the Yuan He Realm.

Although from the surface, in the same amount of time, Lin Yang broke through from the middle stage of the Nie Kong Realm to the peak, which was a bit faster than Yu Qing.

But Lin Yang not only had the massive amount of supplies he obtained from the corpses in Baichi City at the time, but also the support of the Zhao Family, plus he was already close to breaking through to the late stage of the Nie Kong Realm.

Coupled with the fact that he originally had almost no bottlenecks in his cultivation, that was why he reached the peak of the Nie Kong Realm so quickly.

But no matter how you look at it, Yu Qing has nothing special.

He couldn't see any special constitution in him either.

Yet he could also cultivate so quickly, which is enough to prove that Yu Qing is not simple.

Of course, the most important thing is that Yu Qing has a feeling that Lin Yang cannot explain clearly.

After all, as a loose cultivator, even in the Nie Kong Realm, he shouldn't have too many resources.

But Yu Qing's performance is not ordinary.

Anyway, he felt that this person, Yu Qing, was unusual.

Plus, last time in the Ancient Ruins, Yu Qing saved him once.

Therefore, Lin Yang was quite looking forward to the information exchange proposed by Yu Qing now.

Perhaps Yu Qing has more detailed intelligence than him.

The two went to a restaurant and asked for a private room.

Yu Qing did things very crisply and neatly. As soon as he sat down, he took the initiative and threw a jade slip to Lin Yang:

Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, this contains some intelligence I have organized so far.

Lin Yang was a little surprised: You gave it to me so readily? Aren't you worried that I won't give it to you?

Yu Qing smiled: It doesn't matter. Anyway, it's not some super secret. Even if you don't give me the intelligence you know, I won't lose much.

As he spoke, he looked at Lin Yang with a half-smile:

Besides, I think Fellow Daoist Lin Yang is not that kind of person.

Lin Yang didn't say anything upon hearing this; he also smiled and took out the jade slip recording the intelligence he had organized and gave it to Yu Qing.

Then the two stopped talking and watched each other's.

Not long after, Yu Qing took the lead again, smiling:

Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, it seems that your methods of collecting intelligence are not very brilliant. This information can basically be obtained by spending money; at most, it's just a matter of spending more money. I've taken a small loss this time, oh.

Lin Yang was suddenly a little embarrassed: Ahem, judging from the intelligence you gave, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, you did indeed lose out this time. My information was indeed bought with money when I was in Xiwu City. Your information is much more detailed. I took advantage of you this time.

Yes, that's right.

Some of the information recorded in the jade slip given to him by Yu Qing was clearly some more secret information, not something that could be easily obtained by just spending money.

For example, there was some information about the ancient era that he had not been able to obtain even by spending money in Xiwu City before.

In this intelligence exchange, Yu Qing indeed lost out.

Yu Qing smiled: Forget it, it doesn't matter. After all, it was me who proposed the exchange of intelligence this time, so there's no question of losing out or not.

Lin Yang couldn't help but say solemnly: I owe you another favor this time.

Yu Qing waved his hand: Don't talk about that. Instead, what are your plans next, Fellow Daoist Lin Yang?

Lin Yang pondered for a while and said: According to the information you provided, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, our situation is not optimistic. It seems that there were precedents for the large-scale spread of the Ancient Ruins in the distant past. Besides avoiding it, there seems to be no better way at the moment.

Yu Qing said: Theoretically, that's true. It's just that blindly avoiding it is not a solution after all. We can't run too far. According to the current spread of the Ancient Ruins, it's just a matter of time before we are dragged in.

Then what does Fellow Daoist Yu Qing mean? Lin Yang's heart stirred, and he felt that Yu Qing seemed to have something to say.

Yu Qing smiled slightly and did not answer Lin Yang's question immediately, but instead asked: Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, may I ask, how many more times can your money support you to use the Teleportation Array to leave?

Lin Yang was startled, then his eyes narrowed slightly, and he said: I don't quite understand what you mean, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing.

(End of chapter)