350: Soul-Devouring Ancient Talisman, Obliterate

As soon as they entered the ancient mine, a sensation starkly different from the gray, desolate silence of the outside world hit them instantly.

The interior of the cave was not pitch-black where one couldn't see their own hand.

Instead, there was a murky, dim light, a faint phosphorescence seemingly emitted by some strange Ore deep within the mine walls, sketching a blurry outline of the massive tunnel.

This light, far from providing a sense of security, only added a touch of eeriness.

The aura, mixed with death, minerals, and an indescribable scent of decay, became even more intense.

It almost condensed into a physical weight, pressing heavily upon everyone's hearts.

Fine dust permeated the air, as if there had been no movement for billions of years.

The mine tunnel was exceptionally wide, dozens of zhang high and reaching a hundred zhang in width.

The four walls were not natural rock, but rather the Star-Burial Iron Ore vein, dark as iron and shimmering with a cold, eerie luster.

They were covered in excavation marks, some of which were extremely ancient, carrying an unimaginable aura of primal wilderness.

Others were relatively fresh, yet still products of at least several epochs ago.

Scattered on the ground were tools that had long since lost their spirituality and were heavily rusted, along with sporadic white bones.

Those bones were of various shapes, some humanoid and some beast-like.

There were even some from unidentifiable races, all weathered and brittle, turning to dust at the slightest touch.

Qin Tianhai and Qin Xinghe followed behind Mu Zun, maintaining a certain distance with alert expressions.

They could feel that something extremely dangerous was lurking in the depths of this cave.

Mu Zun's pace remained steady, as if he were walking in his own back garden.

The faint Primal Chaos Qi surrounding him seemed to faintly oppose a certain aura deep within the cave; wherever he passed, the uncomfortable gloominess thinned slightly.

Xiao Lin and the other three followed behind, their speed significantly slower.

Xiao Ya tightly gripped her brother's sleeve, her large eyes filled with tension, her previous excitement dampened by the eerie scene before her.

Soul Abyss and Soul Silence were on either side, unfolding their Divine Soul perception to carefully scout the surroundings, their expressions growing increasingly grave.

“Brother Xiao Lin, the situation isn't looking good,”

Soul Abyss lowered his voice, his tone carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

“In the depths of this tunnel, the residual resentment and Death Qi are terrifyingly dense, and it seems something is watching us—not a living being, but some residual Law Restriction or trap.”

Xiao Lin's heart sank and he nodded; he felt it too.

The Xiao Family's ancient records were vague about the Star-Burial Ancient Mine, only emphasizing its great danger; only now, having stepped inside, did he realize the weight of those words.

The group delved several li along the main tunnel before branching paths began to appear, leading in all directions like a maze.

Mu Zun, however, seemed to have clear guidance, choosing a wide branch that slanted downward to the left without the slightest hesitation.

On the mine walls of this branch, blurry murals and strange carvings began to appear.

Most of the murals were incomplete, but one could vaguely discern countless beings mining Ore, transporting massive star remains, and scenes of sacrificial rituals.

As for those carvings, they looked more like ancient runes, with twisted lines carrying a sense of chaotic evil.

“Watch out! These runes are wrong!” Soul Silence suddenly cried out in a low voice.

His Divine Soul perception was the most acute, and he noticed that the seemingly dead runes on the walls were beginning to absorb the Death Qi and resentment in the air as they passed, faintly glowing with a dark red light.

Almost at the same moment he voiced his warning!

Buzz—!

Dozens of lit runes on both sides of the mine walls suddenly erupted with piercing, dark red blood-light!

The light interlaced, instantly forming a massive three-dimensional net of blood-colored lines in the middle of the tunnel.

At every node of the net, a twisted rune pulsed, emitting an evil aura that caused Divine Soul pain and stagnated one's magic power!

This net appeared so quickly that it almost sealed off all space in front, behind, left, and right.

Furthermore, it carried a powerful pulling force, intending to drag all living beings within range into the net to be strangled and devoured.

“Not good! It's the Soul-Devouring Spirit-Restricting Ancient Talisman!” Soul Abyss turned pale with horror, recognizing this terrifying rune trap that was listed as taboo even in the Spirit Soul Clan's ancient records.

This kind of rune could not only devour the flesh and spirit souls of living beings but also restrict and dissolve magic power.

Once caught, even a Profound Venerable expert would face more ill than good.

The blood-colored net contracted rapidly, and the shadow of death loomed over them.

“Sister, be careful!” Xiao Lin's eyes nearly split as he exerted his magic power to its limit, his ice-blue protective divine light surging in an attempt to open up a space to protect Xiao Ya.

Xiao Ya also screamed, activating several life-saving Magical Artifacts on her person at once.

Qin Tianhai and Qin Xinghe reacted extremely quickly; behind Qin Tianhai, the phantom of the Night God appeared, turning the power of darkness into a barrier to resist.

Starlight shone around Qin Xinghe, and astral chains flew and circled, cutting toward the blood-colored lines.

However, the power of that blood-colored net far exceeded their imagination, the dark red lines containing a corrosive and devouring property.

Whether it was Xiao Lin's ice-blue divine light, Qin Tianhai's dark barrier, or Qin Xinghe's astral chains...

Upon contact, they all made a sizzling sound, their light quickly dimming as they were being rapidly eroded.

“We can't block it! This trap has accumulated power for too long!” Qin Xinghe's expression changed as he felt his astral power being quickly polluted and devoured.

Soul Abyss and Soul Silence turned even paler.

Their Divine Soul power was most sensitive to this soul-devouring force and was also the most suppressed by it; they felt as if their souls were about to be sucked out by that net!

At this critical juncture, just as everyone was about to be engulfed and strangled by the blood-colored net!

Mu Zun, who had been walking at the very front as if completely unaware of the crisis behind him, finally stopped.

He didn't even turn around.

He simply, gently, raised a finger.

At his fingertip, a speck of Chaos light quietly bloomed.

That light was tiny at first, like a grain of rice, yet it seemed to contain the most fundamental, primordial 'Nothingness' from before the heavens and earth were opened.

Then, Mu Zun casually flicked his finger downward toward the rapidly contracting, terrifyingly powerful blood-colored rune net.

There was no earth-shattering sound, no dazzling radiance.

Only a faint, ethereal trace composed of pure Chaos Qi.

Like the sharpest blade of the Dao, yet also like the gentlest smoothing of time, it lightly passed through that blood-colored net.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant at this moment.

And then—

Sss... like a red-hot iron plunged into snow, or like boiling oil meeting cold water.

The Soul-Devouring Spirit-Restricting net, composed of countless ancient evil runes and condensed from tens of thousands of years of Death Qi and resentment—enough to trap and kill a Profound Venerable—

The moment it touched that Chaos trace, it made a faint sound, like the cracking of porcelain.

The dark red light was instantly extinguished, as if its source had been pinched off.

The twisted, pulsing runes suddenly stiffened, and then, starting from their very core, they crumbled, annihilated, turning into the finest black dust.

The blood-colored lines forming the net snapped inch by inch and dissipated, as if they had never existed.

That suffocating magic power Restriction, the Divine Soul pulling force, and the flesh-dissolving intent all vanished along with it.

The whole process took less than a single breath.

That terrifying rune trap was thus silently and completely wiped out with a casual swipe from Mu Zun.

The tunnel returned to its gloom, with only the rune carvings on the walls, now stripped of their power source, remaining dim and dull like ordinary scratches on rock.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Only the varying heavy breathing of the crowd and the thumping of their racing hearts could be heard.

Xiao Lin maintained his posture of holding up his protective divine light, his face still showing traces of horror and resolution, which had now turned into complete blankness.

Xiao Ya's face was pale as she tightly closed her eyes, waiting for death to arrive, only to wait for a long while and find nothing but silence.

She opened her eyes blankly to see her brother's stunned expression and the tunnel, which was as calm as it had been before.

Qin Tianhai and Qin Xinghe withdrew their Divine Abilities, their eyes filled with even deeper awe as they looked at Mu Zun's back.

They knew the Imperial Son was powerful, but every time they witnessed it firsthand, that composure and mystery in resolving extreme danger with a simple gesture still shook their souls.

This was by no means simple power suppression; it was more like... an overriding of essence.

As for Soul Abyss and Soul Silence, the two looked as if they had just been fished out of water, their backs drenched in cold sweat.

Just moments ago, they had even entertained the thought of turning around and fleeing alone, leaving everyone to their own fates.

Though they knew the hope was slim, in a desperate situation, the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else.

But just as that thought had arisen and before they could act upon it,

The crisis that had driven them to despair was erased so nonchalantly by the white-robed youth in front.

Erased!

It wasn't broken or countered, but directly erased, like an eraser removing pencil marks—that terrifying trap was simply gone.

As the two looked at Mu Zun's back, which remained calm as if he had merely brushed away a speck of dust, a chill shot from their spines straight to the tops of their heads.

This was followed by endless relief and lingering fear. They were relieved they hadn't actually made the foolish move to run.

Otherwise... their end probably wouldn't have been much better than that rune trap.

The lingering fear was that they had actually felt dissatisfied about following the Qin Imperial Clan earlier.

Just what kind of existence was this white-robed youth of the Qin Imperial Clan?!

Mu Zun acted as if he had done a trivial thing, and the Chaos light at his fingertip faded away.

He didn't even change the frequency of his steps, continuing to walk toward the depths of the tunnel, leaving behind only a faint sentence:

“Keep up.”

This time, no one dared to have the slightest slack or stray thought.

Xiao Lin took a deep breath, suppressed his churning emotions, and pulled his sister to quickly catch up, his attitude even more respectful and cautious than before.

Soul Abyss and Soul Silence were even more focused, pushing their Divine Soul perception to the maximum, not daring to hold anything back.

They followed carefully at the end of the group like the most loyal servants.

Mu Zun's unfathomable image was deeply etched into everyone's hearts, especially for Soul Abyss and Soul Silence, who had almost deserted; they no longer dared to have any disloyalty.