349: Chapter 349 The Scent of Decay: The Intelligence Elder's Severe Warning

The night was deep, like a massive black curtain shrouding the sky over Di Prefecture.

Inside the Xu Family's inner cabinet, several Everburning Lamps fueled by ten-thousand-year-old merman fat burned quietly, emitting a faint, calming glow. The air was filled with a light scent of Ambergris, yet it could not suppress the increasingly heavy atmosphere within the loft.

Xu Chen sat behind a large Purple-Gold Nanmu desk. He had not yet changed out of his dark-gold casual robes, and his long fingers slowly tapped on the broad tabletop, making rhythmic thudding sounds.

Heavy footsteps approached from the corridor outside, breaking the dead silence of the inner cabinet.

The door was pushed open forcefully. The Intelligence Elder, clutching ancient Jade Slips half as tall as a person and several tattered parchment scrolls, stepped over the threshold while gasping for air.

This powerful Elder, who normally managed the Xu Family's global intelligence and wouldn't bat an eye even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, now had large beads of sweat hanging from his wrinkled face.

Even his luxurious brocade robes, a symbol of his status, were soaked through with cold sweat, forming large dark patches.

"Young Lord! I've found it!"

The Intelligence Elder didn't even bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He rushed to the desk and piled the ancient texts onto it all at once. His hands trembling, he carefully unfurled the yellowed, brittle parchment scroll at the top.

Xu Chen stopped tapping his fingers, his gaze falling upon the complex and obscure ancient Star Domain map on the parchment.

"Speak," Xu Chen's voice was steady and powerful, without a trace of panic.

The Intelligence Elder swallowed hard and pointed to a coordinate on the star map marked with a black skull. That location was precisely the site of the foreign world that had collapsed during the day.

"Young Lord, that wasn't some starry sky storm caused by the destruction of a plane! That black mist suppressed beneath the foreign Plane Core is a forbidden land recorded in our ancient texts... a Forbidden Zone of Life!"

A hint of uncontrollable fear seeped into the Intelligence Elder's voice.

"According to the fragments of 'Ancient Records of Lost Lore,' that area was once an ancient battlefield of gods and demons, and deep within, a fallen Great Emperor was even buried! That churning black mist isn't ordinary miasma at all; it's the monstrous Death Qi and resentment derived from the decaying remains of that Great Emperor!"

The Everburning Lamps in the inner cabinet seemed to sense that deathly intent crossing through time and space, their flames flickering violently several times.

"That old scoundrel from the foreign Realm was blind, unaware of what terrifyingly ominous land was suppressed beneath his royal court. Young Lord, you drained the Plane Core, which is equivalent to peeling off the final Talisman sealing this forbidden zone."

The Intelligence Elder wiped away more sweat, his voice becoming increasingly hoarse.

"Now, that Forbidden Zone of Life has fully awakened. Intense auras of decay and death are following the cracks in the Void Realm, spreading frantically toward our boundary walls like a tsunami!"

After hearing this shocking report, Xu Chen did not display the horror the Intelligence Elder had expected.

In this era of great conflict, there is killing intent at every step. As the Young Master of the Imperial Clan, he knew well that in the face of the unknown, blind confidence was equivalent to seeking death.

Xu Chen picked up the cold tea beside him and took a sip, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.

"So what if it's a Great Emperor? They're already dead. It's not like they can crawl out of the dirt and bite people."

Xu Chen set down the teacup, his tone carrying a composure that acted like a stabilizing force.

"Panic solves nothing. Since it is a Forbidden Zone of Life clearly recorded in ancient texts, it must have its own operating Laws and heavenly restrictions. Tell me in detail, what exactly is the backlash mechanism of this forbidden zone? What specific suppressions are there on the cultivation and Lifespan of Cultivators who enter it?"

The Intelligence Elder was affected by Xu Chen's calm—the kind that remained unshaken even if Mount Tai collapsed—and his pounding heart gradually settled. He took a deep breath and began to break down the information from the ancient texts in detail.

"Young Lord is wise! This Forbidden Zone of Life indeed possesses extremely cruel Laws of heaven and earth. The Death Qi contained within the black mist will indiscriminately and frantically devour the Lifespan and vitality of all living beings."

The Intelligence Elder pointed to several lines of small, blood-red characters on the ancient scroll.

"Cultivators with a Realm below the Saint Realm will have their flesh and blood dissolved instantly if they touch even a bit of the black mist, turning into a pool of foul-smelling pus. Even experts in the Saint Realm, if they lack top-tier protective Magic Treasures or special Physique reinforcements, will have their Lifespan drained and be turned into white bones after staying inside for three hours!"

Xu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

No wonder the Intelligence Elder was so terrified. Death upon contact for anyone below the Saint Realm meant that ninety-nine percent of the Cultivators in the Middle Prefecture didn't even have the qualifications to be cannon fodder in the face of this black mist.

"What else?" Xu Chen continued to press, his mind working rapidly. "The closer one gets to the core of the forbidden zone, the stronger the suppression of the Law of death must be. Are there records of the remnant Formation patterns and the level of danger inside?"

"Young Lord is brilliant!"

The Intelligence Elder nodded with a face full of admiration and quickly opened another Jade Slip.

"The outer regions are filled with fragmented Great Emperor killing Formations. Once a Divine Thought probes inside, the slightest carelessness will result in the Sea of Consciousness being shredded by spatial rifts. Even more terrifying is that many Decaying Corpse-Specters, condensed from Death Qi, have emerged within the forbidden zone. They retain their combat instincts from life, feel no pain, and do not fear death. Ordinary spiritual energy attacks have very little effect on them; only the most masculine and sun-aligned lightning arts or Heavenly Fires can restrain them."

Xu Chen silently committed these key pieces of information to memory.

He didn't use lightning arts much, but when it came to Heavenly Fires, an ancestor who played with fire lived in the Xu Family's back garden. Xiao Yu's Source of Ten Thousand Fires Physique might actually be able to produce miraculous effects in this forbidden zone.

"How is the situation at the Eastern Wasteland border now?" Xu Chen's long finger traced a mark on the table, pointing straight to the heart of the matter.

The Intelligence Elder's expression became solemn once again.

"It's not optimistic. Several small Sects on the edge of the Eastern Wasteland have just sent out desperate final reports via Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Talismans. The spreading black mist had just touched their Sect-protecting Formations when the Formation patterns dissolved like melting snow. Tens of thousands of Disciples across the entire Sect were turned into a land of death within half an hour; not even a bird managed to escape."

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Wiping out a Sect of tens of thousands in half an hour—this kind of advancement speed and destructive power could be called an apocalyptic catastrophe.

The appearance of such a dangerous place would surely be accompanied by shocking Opportunities beyond ordinary imagination. The remains of the buried Great Emperor or the ancient divine items nurtured deep within the forbidden zone were all treasures capable of breaking the balance of the Realms.

But now, this Death Qi truly threatened the safety of the Eastern Wasteland and the survival environment of his Xu Family base. His pregnant wives and newborn children must not be disturbed in the slightest by this aura of decay.

"It seems tonight is destined to be sleepless."

Xu Chen walked to the window of the inner cabinet, pushed open the carved wooden window, and let the cold night wind blow against his face.

He turned around, his deep eyes flashing with the light of decision, and issued a command to the Intelligence Elder.

"Go sound the Dragon-Alarming Bell! Summon the Grand Elder and all senior members of the inner cabinet to the discussion hall immediately!"