354: Chapter 354 The Mysterious Dead Fog! The Young Master's Cautious Probing

The moment the battleship smashed through the layers of black mist, the surrounding light was instantly stripped away.

It was as if they had plunged headfirst into bottomless ink. The last rays of the setting sun, which could still be seen at the edge of the Eastern Wasteland, could not penetrate even a sliver now. The entire world was left with nothing but suffocating darkness and silence.

The thick death mist turned into a physical tide, frantically battering the Extreme Dao shield of the Ancient Starship, producing a tooth-aching corrosive sound. It sounded as if countless malevolent ghosts were scratching the glass walls with their nails, making one's skin crawl.

"Young Lord! The Spiritual Qi consumption of the shield's Formation runes is ten times that of the outside world!"

Commander Xu Zhan, the Pojun Commander, strode to the bow, his chiseled face filled with solemnity. He stared intently at the rapidly dimming Spirit Stone slots in the Formation's core, his voice laced with vigilance.

"There's something strange about this Death Qi mist! It's not just corroding the shield; it's also forcibly devouring our released Spiritual Qi reserves. If it continues to consume at this rate, we won't make it to the core of the Forbidden Zone even if we brought enough top-grade divine source!"

Xu Chen stood on the wide keel deck, his crimson cloak fluttering loudly in the freezing wind.

He was in no hurry to give the order to charge. His eyes narrowed slightly as he carefully scrutinized this Forbidden Zone of Life that could swallow even starlight.

"Fire a shot from the main spiritual cannon to test the waters," Xu Chen commanded calmly, without looking back.

Commander Xu Zhan received the order and immediately formed a hand seal.

A Star Heavy Cannon on the side of the main ship lit up with a blinding white light. A beam of light, compressed from high-level Spiritual Qi, tore through the darkness and slammed into the thick mist ahead with an unstoppable Aura.

This attack, powerful enough to level a mountain, only penetrated a few hundred feet after entering the black mist.

The Death Qi in that area was like a shark smelling blood, swarming forward instantly.

Within a single breath, the pure white beam of Spiritual Qi was dyed pitch black.

Not only that, but after devouring the Spiritual Qi, the Death Qi actually expanded in volume, transforming into more than a dozen sharp black spears that shot back toward the battleship's shield at an even greater speed!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of muffled impacts exploded against the shield, setting off large, violent ripples.

Commander Xu Zhan gasped.

"This... this mist can actually assimilate and reflect Spiritual Qi attacks?"

If they hadn't tested it just now and instead had the thirty thousand Pojun Imperial Guards provide fire cover with a Spiritual Qi battle Formation, the reflected wave of Death Qi would likely have torn through the defenses of several auxiliary ships on the spot.

"What a sinister Law," Xu Chen said, a cold curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Just then, bone-chilling roars echoed from deep within the mist.

The surrounding black mist began to churn and reorganize violently.

Giant Bone Dragons, hundreds of feet long, condensed from the Death Qi.

Their bodies were pieced together from pale bones, with dark green poisonous runes flowing across the bone surfaces, and ghastly green soul-fire flickering in their hollow, massive eye sockets.

Hundreds of Death Qi Bone Dragons let out earth-shaking roars, surrounding the Xu Family fleet from all directions and preparing to pounce.

"All troops, form ranks! Prepare for close-quarters combat!"

Commander Xu Zhan unsheathed the heavy sword at his waist, his Saint King-level blood energy soaring into the sky. The thirty thousand Pojun Imperial Guards raised their war halberds in unison, a murderous Aura spreading across the deck.

"Wait."

Xu Chen raised his hand, stopping Commander Xu Zhan and the soldiers' movements.

"Throwing away lives to deal with these Death Qi monsters is the foolish way. Since these bone piles are condensed from Death Qi, they naturally have a weakness."

Brilliant golden runes lit up deep within Xu Chen's eyes.

Heavenly Dao Divine Pupils, activate!

His vision pierced through the obstacles of the dense black mist. In his eyes, those clawing Bone Dragons shed their terrifying appearance and turned into threads of the most primitive Law.

Xu Chen saw clearly that this sky-filling Death Qi was actually composed of an extremely cold Fallen Law. They were like sponges; any attack carrying life force or Spiritual Qi would be absorbed and assimilated, strengthening them.

There were only two ways to counter it.

Either use absolute, overwhelming Extreme Dao power to instantly evaporate it...

...or use a Cultivation Technique even more domineering and greedy than it to swallow it in return!

With a thought, Xu Chen took the initiative to withdraw the Extreme Dao shield half an inch in front of him.

A wisp of black mist the thickness of a finger, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, instantly slipped through that tiny gap and lunged at Xu Chen's face with a bone-chilling cold.

"Young Lord, watch out!" Commander Xu Zhan cried out, moving to block the blow.

Xu Chen stood motionless on the spot, his right hand suddenly reaching out.

Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art, activate!

A small black hole, so deep it could swallow light, emerged in Xu Chen's palm. The moment that arrogant wisp of Death Qi touched the edge of the black hole, it didn't even have a chance to struggle before being forcibly dragged inside.

Within Xu Chen's body, the peerlessly domineering millstone of the Demonic Technique began to crush it frantically.

Before the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art, that cold Law of death was like meeting its ancestor, being unraveled layer by layer.

In less than two breaths, this wisp of poisonous Death Qi was completely refined, turning into a surge of pure, attribute-less energy that silently merged into Xu Chen's Saint King Origin.

Xu Chen slowly clenched his fist, feeling the slight, imperceptible progress in his cultivation. His eyes lit up completely.

"So that's how it is."

Xu Chen chuckled softly.

This Death Qi of the Forbidden Zone, which seemed to offer no chance of survival and terrified the Holy Lords of the entire Eastern Wasteland, was ultimately just a mutated form of energy. As long as the grade of the Cultivation Technique was high enough, it could be swallowed all the same!

Having confirmed the nature of the death mist, Xu Chen's heart was completely at ease.

He turned around, his gaze like a torch as he looked at the thirty thousand Pojun Imperial Guards who were already prepared.

"Commander Xu Zhan, hear my command!"

"Your general is here!"

"Order the entire army to cut all Spiritual Qi output to the Formations and main cannons. Switch all the attack cores of the battleship Formations to pure physical armor-piercing mode!"

Xu Chen's voice was resolute, carrying a calm that saw through everything.

"These bone piles are all show. They can devour Spiritual Qi, but I want to see if they can swallow pure steel and meteorite iron! There's no need to waste Spiritual Qi grinding them down. Activate the Meteorite Heavy Ballistae directly and tear their bones apart piece by piece!"

Commander Xu Zhan's eyes lit up, instantly understanding the Young Lord's tactical intent. Since magical attacks would be absorbed, they would use the most primitive physical kinetic energy to smash them to pieces!

"Switch the Formation cores! Prepare the Meteorite Heavy Ballistae!"

Along with Commander Xu Zhan's roar, a muffled sound of mechanical gears engaging came from within the massive Xu Family fleet.

The main cannon barrels, which had been emitting a Spiritual Qi glow, retracted one after another.

In their place, hideous and massive heavy ballistae extended from both sides of the battleships. Each bolt was as thick as a tree trunk, crafted entirely from high-density astral meteorite iron, with arrowheads gleaming with a bloodthirsty cold light.

"Fire!"

At the command...

...ten thousand ballistae fired at once!

The thick steel bolts tore through the pitch-black mist, carrying terrifyingly pure kinetic energy like a black metal rainstorm, slamming fiercely into the swarming Death Qi Bone Dragons.

"Crack! Bang!"

The muffled sounds of shattering bones exploded one after another in the black mist.

These Bone Dragons condensed from Death Qi tried to devour the bolts, only to find that the cold metal had no Spiritual Qi to absorb.

Under the terrifying physical impact, their proud skeletal bodies were like fragile porcelain, pierced and shattered inch by inch by the massive meteorite bolts.

One by one, the massive Bone Dragons turned into a sky full of bone fragments amidst their wails, scattering down into the endless abyss.

The Death Qi, losing its skeletal vessel, dissipated in mid-air, losing its initial aggressiveness.

Xu Chen stood at the bow, his hands behind his back.

He secretly activated the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art, drawing in all the ownerless Death Qi that had dissipated after being crushed. He transformed it into pure energy and absorbed it into his body, continuously replenishing the resources consumed by the fleet's advance.

This was hardly a perilous trek through a Forbidden Zone of death.

Watching the scene of one-sided slaughter before him and feeling the power constantly filling his body, the smile at the corner of Xu Chen's mouth grew even wider.

This place truly was an excellent treasure land tailored specifically for him!