43: Withered Land and Cognitive Dark Zone

The outline of Riverside City gradually shrunk behind the gray fin shark transport plane, eventually swallowed by the denser, hazy yellow dust rising on the horizon. Ahead, the earth seemed to suffer from some incurable disease, its colors fading at a visible rate, leaving only a chilling, lifeless gray-white.

This was the Withered Land—an area deeply eroded by the tide of delusion, where the laws of reality had almost completely collapsed.

The air was filled with a dry, bone-dust-like smell. Strong winds kicked up gray-white sand and dust, forming pillars of dust connecting heaven and earth, like ghosts wandering the land.

There were no plants, no traces of animals, and even the unsettling energy fluctuations of Corruptors were so sparse here that they were almost nonexistent.

This was a deeper kind of dead silence, as if the very concept of “existence” itself had become blurred here.

Ling Shuang sat in the co-pilot's seat, her expression focused and solemn. The crystal at the tip of the psionic short staff in her hand emitted a steady blue glow, reflecting the seed of source blood isolation barrier maintained by Lin Mo on the transport plane's exterior, together resisting the ubiquitous withering power from outside that sought to erode mind and matter.

“According to the records of the holy core and the explorations of our Spirit Craftsmen ancestors,” Ling Shuang's voice was exceptionally clear amidst the engine's low hum, “the Withered Land is not without 'rules,' but its rules are completely different from the reality we know, and extremely unstable.

The flow of time here might be fast or slow, space structures might fold and twist, and even physical constants might fluctuate within a certain range.

The most dangerous are the invisible 'cognitive traps.'”

“Cognitive traps?” Little Li, who was looking after Su Xi, couldn't help but ask, his face filled with fear.

Ling Shuang nodded: “That is a unique phenomenon of the Withered Land. Certain areas, due to intense emotional impact or rule distortion in the past, form a field that can directly affect the thoughts and perceptions of intruders.

You might suddenly forget who you are, or see your companions as monsters, or even be forcibly implanted with a segment of despairing memory that doesn't belong to you… Once trapped, it's extremely difficult to escape.”

Lin Mo silently operated the transport plane, his editor, combined with the power of the seed of source blood, extended his perception to its limit.

As Ling Shuang said, the energy background here was extremely chaotic, like a radio filled with static, making it difficult to capture clear and stable signals.

He had to constantly adjust flight parameters to cope with sudden gravitational anomalies or spatial folds.

“editor, establish a real-time environmental rule model, mark all energy anomalies and spatial distortion nodes.

Priority: avoid cognitive interference areas.” Lin Mo issued the command in his mind.

The jade slip's light flowed steadily, but the feedback information stream was full of uncertainty, and the model was constantly being refreshed and corrected.

The “stability” characteristic provided by the seed of source blood faced a severe challenge here, like a piece of ice thrown into boiling water, able to temporarily maintain itself but unable to quell the surrounding chaos.

After flying for about an hour, apart from the oppressive desolation and occasional distorted light and shadows like mirages, no substantial danger was encountered.

But this dead silence and unknown itself were continuously draining everyone's spirits.

Suddenly, the editor sent out an urgent warning!

“Warning! Large-scale, high-intensity cognitive interference field detected ahead! Extremely wide range, intensity level: extremely high! Recommend immediate evasion!”

Almost simultaneously with the alarm, Lin Mo and Ling Shuang both felt an invisible, viscous force surge like a tide, attempting to penetrate their mental defenses!

The scene outside the porthole began to change eerily—on the gray-white land, countless twisted “trees” made of shadows suddenly “grew” out.

They had no physical form, yet they danced wildly, emitting silent screams!

“It's the 'Wailing Forest' cognitive projection! Turn left immediately, full power climb!” Ling Shuang shouted sharply, simultaneously raising her psionic short staff.

A solid blue light curtain spread out from her, enveloping the entire cockpit, strengthening their mental defense.

Lin Mo didn't hesitate, yanking the control stick! The transport plane groaned under the strain, tilting sharply to the left, engine power pushed to maximum, attempting to break out of the invisible force field's coverage.

However, the power of that cognitive interference was stronger and more bizarre than imagined!

Even though they swiftly changed course, the chilling mental pollution clung to them like a shadow!

Inside the cabin, Wu Yong and Little Li's faces instantly lost color, their eyes becoming hollow and terrified, as if they had seen something incredibly horrifying.

Even Su Xi, in her unconscious slumber, began to struggle and whimper involuntarily.

Lin Mo felt his thoughts also begin to become sluggish, and some chaotic, despair-filled fragmented images tried to flood his mind—shattered cities, falling celestial bodies, countless charred arms reaching towards the sky…

“Hold your ground! It's an illusion!” Ling Shuang's voice rang in his ears like a clear spring; her psionic light curtain fluctuated violently but remained resiliently maintained.

Lin Mo bit the tip of his tongue hard, the sharp pain instantly clearing his mind a bit.

In his sea of consciousness, the seed of source blood shone brightly, and the editor's computing power was fully driven, like the strongest dam, desperately guarding the core of his consciousness.

“No! The interference field is too vast! We seem to… seem to be 'stuck'!” Lin Mo said in a deep voice, looking at the almost defunct data on the navigation screen and the still frantically alarming detectors.

The transport plane's speed had noticeably decreased, as if it had fallen into an invisible quicksand.

Just then, something even more chilling happened!

The twisted shadow “trees” outside the porthole suddenly converged like living beings, forming an enormous “wall” in front of the transport plane, made of countless suffering human faces!

That wall seemed to be condensed from pure despair, roaring silently, blocking their path!

“We can't crash into it!” Ling Shuang's face was pale. “That's a highly condensed negative mental entity; a direct impact will cause irreversible damage to our souls!”

No way forward, and an (in perception) invisible quicksand behind! They seemed to be in a desperate situation!

Lin Mo's eyes sharpened. Conventional methods were no longer effective.

“editor, initiate deep scan! Analyze the energy structure and core nodes of this cognitive interference field! seed of source blood, prepare for high-intensity 'reality stabilization' impact!”

He decided not to passively evade anymore, but to actively “break” this cognitive trap!

The jade slip's light instantly became dazzling, completely merging with the milky-white halo of the seed of source blood.

A force far more majestic and fundamental than before began to gather around Lin Mo.

He took his hands off the control stick (the transport plane was temporarily maintained in hover by the autopilot), brought them together in front of his chest, and the editor's energy and the power of the seed of source blood condensed and compressed between his palms, finally forming a milky-white orb of light, only the size of a fist, yet radiating a chillingly stable fluctuation!

Inside this orb, the very definition of “existence” seemed to be contained; it was the absolute antithesis of chaos and delusion!

“Ling Shuang, lend me a hand! Use your psionic power to guide my strength and find the weakest 'singularity' of this 'field'!” Lin Mo shouted in a low voice.

Ling Shuang instantly understood his intention. Without hesitation, she pointed her psionic short staff at the orb in Lin Mo's palm, and an extremely condensed blue psionic beam injected into it!

The highly ordered, information-oriented characteristics of psionic power perfectly integrated into the orb, as if equipping it with the most precise navigation system!

On the surface of the milky-white orb, countless fine blue psionic runes began to appear, and its stable fluctuation frequency suddenly increased!

“Found it!” Ling Shuang's eyes blazed with blue light, and her short staff sharply pointed to an inconspicuous, constantly twisting and changing shadow node in the upper right corner of the face-wall!

“There! Its 'definition' is the most chaotic, and it's one of the support points of the entire field!”

“Now!”

Lin Mo thrust his arms forward!

That composite orb of light, containing the editor's authority, the stability of the seed of source blood, and Ling Shuang's psionic guidance, shot towards that designated node like an arrow from a bowstring, silently and without a trace!

The moment the orb touched the face-wall, there was no explosion.

Instead, it “dissolved.”

Like a hot iron block falling into ice and snow.

The wall, composed of pure negative mental energy, had its “foundation” of existence shaken and “negated” the moment it touched the highly condensed “reality stabilization” power!

There was no sound, no burst of light. The face-wall, centered on the point where the orb struck, rapidly and silently dissipated and collapsed, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser!

Along with the surrounding dancing shadow trees and the viscous invisible force field, they all rapidly evaporated and disappeared like dewdrops in the sun!

Outside the porthole, the scene of the dead silent, gray-white Withered Land was restored.

It was as if all the horror just now had been a collective nightmare.

Inside the cabin, the suffocating mental pressure suddenly vanished. Wu Yong and Little Li collapsed into their seats, gasping for breath, cold sweat soaking their clothes.

Su Xi also returned to a peaceful slumber.

Lin Mo and Ling Shuang also simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, their foreheads covered in fine beads of sweat.

That combined effort just now was a huge drain on both their mental and energy reserves.

“Suc… successful?” Wu Yong asked, still shaken.

“Temporarily safe.” Ling Shuang retracted her psionic short staff, its light significantly dimmed. Her gaze at Lin Mo was filled with unprecedented shock and admiration.

She had never seen anyone able to so directly and dominantly “erase” such a powerful cognitive projection!

This had already exceeded the scope of psionic understanding.

Lin Mo said no more, immediately retaking control of the flight and checking the transport plane's status.

Fortunately, apart from increased energy consumption, there was no other damage.

“Navigation system recalibrating… We haven't deviated too far from the original course.” He said, looking at the screen which was gradually returning to normal.

However, just when everyone thought the crisis had passed, the editor suddenly detected a new, extremely faint but very special signal!

This signal did not come from the depths of the Withered Land ahead, but… from their lower side, from underground in the area that the “Wailing Forest” cognitive projection had just covered!

The signal was very weak, intermittent, but its energy characteristics… carried a meaning that was homologous to the holy core, yet older and more… sorrowful?

Moreover, this signal seemed to have briefly leaked out only after that cognitive projection was broken!

“Unknown underground signal source detected. Energy characteristic analysis: highly homologous (information side) with ‘cosmic anchor’ fragments, but state… extremely unstable, accompanied by strong emotional residue.

Signal content unresolvable, only repetitive emotional fragments captured: …regret…guard…wait…”

Lin Mo and Ling Shuang exchanged glances, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

Beneath this Withered Land, where the cognitive haze had just been dispelled, another secret possibly related to the “anchor” fragments was hidden?

A secret filled with “regret” and “guarding”?

The veil of the Withered Land seemed to have just been lifted a corner, revealing an even deeper and more complex mystery beneath.

The transport plane adjusted its direction, slowly flying towards the approximate location of the signal source.

The new discovery temporarily diluted the fatigue of escaping the cognitive trap, replaced by a heavier curiosity and vigilance.