117: Fated Enemies, Guardians of the Forbidden Land

The starship pushed its speed to the limit, its space-jump Formation flickering frequently. In less than half a day, it had traversed endless mountains and rivers, arriving at the deepest part of the ruins of the Misty Immortal Palace.

The sight before them was chilling. A valley, so vast that its end could not be seen, was completely shrouded in a dense, impenetrable gray-white mist.

The Spiritual Qi here was so thin it was almost imperceptible; instead, it was permeated with ancient, dead, chaotic energy fluctuations that made one's Soul tremble.

When Divine Sense probed slightly into the mist, it was like a clay ox entering the sea—instantly swallowed and dissolved, with the potential to even trigger a backlash.

This was the restricted zone of life—the entrance to the Misty Forbidden Land.

Lin Yang brought the starship to a hover in a safe airspace, led The Four Women out of the cabin, and stood suspended in mid-air. Gazing down at the mist that seemed capable of swallowing everything, his eyes were as sharp as knives.

"Stay close to me, and remain vigilant at all times," he instructed in a deep voice, then took the lead in descending.

Upon entering the range of the mist, everyone immediately felt a heaviness in their bodies, as if sinking into a quagmire. The pressure in the air increased several times over. The spatial Law in this place seemed different from the outside world, making flight extremely difficult and consuming vast amounts of energy. They had no choice but to land and proceed on foot.

Inside the Forbidden Ground, danger lurked everywhere. Beneath their feet was ground as black as ink, as if soaked in blood, with jagged, strange rocks resembling hideous ghouls.

Distorted and invisible natural Formations were everywhere; one might trigger a lethal killing array or trapping array with the next step. Violent energy turbulence would occasionally generate out of thin air, tearing everything apart. Various ancient Vicious Beasts, with strange forms, eroded by Devilish Qi, or mutated, lurked in the shadows, exuding bloodthirsty auras, ready to pounce at any moment.

A faint dark golden light emerged on Lin Yang's body as his Chaos Divine Body operated automatically, easily isolating the encroaching negative energy and pressure.

He opened his Chaos Domain, acting like a precision radar, carefully sensing the energy flow and hidden dangers ahead.

The Four Women followed closely behind, forming a simple battle array back-to-back. Bai Wanqing's ice silk, the Chu Sisters' sword light, and Mu Yao's water curtain shone together, shattering or blocking the occasional lunging demonized creatures or suddenly erupting energy turbulence.

The deeper they went, the greater the surrounding pressure and the stronger the obstacles became. Some Cultivators began to appear, wearing ancient attire, with hollow and numb eyes, their bodies partially demonized, yet possessing astonishing strength that reached the Peak of the Gang Qi Realm or even the half-step Spirit Sea Realm.

They seemed to have long lost their consciousness, relying only on instinct and some kind of command to frantically attack all intruders.

Lin Yang showed no mercy. Wherever his Chaos Annihilation Fist and Calamity Finger passed, these demonized Cultivators shattered, turning into pure energy that was swallowed by the star core, becoming the fuel for his advancement.

Finally, after struggling forward for who knows how long and crossing a highly corrosive black water swamp, the path ahead suddenly opened up.

A huge ancient ruin square appeared before their eyes. The square was paved with some kind of pitch-black giant stones, severely damaged, and everywhere were deep pits and cracks left by battles.

In the very center of the square, a Demonized Battle General, clad in tattered bronze armor, holding a giant halberd the size of a door panel, and standing nearly a zhang tall, stood there like a statue.

Its armor was covered in marks from sword slashes and energy burns, and its exposed skin was a cyan-black color, covered in eerie demonic patterns. The aura emanating from its body was as obscure and powerful as an abyss, shockingly reaching the Peak of the Major Achievement of the Spirit Sea Realm!

It seemed to be the final guardian of this area. In its hollow eye sockets, two clumps of ghostly blue Soul fire suddenly ignited, locking tightly onto the uninvited guest—Lin Yang!

"Trespassing... the Forbidden Ground... death..." A hoarse, broken voice, as if coming from the Nine Nether Hell, came intermittently from the mouth of the Demonized Battle General, accompanied by a teeth-grinding friction sound.