56: Chapter 56 Realm

Gu Xiao had to attend a meeting, and Li Xiuyuan did not need to.

Although he verbally promised Gu Xiao that he would "never act without authorization," the moment Gu Xiao flipped off his back, Li Xiuyuan was already wrapped in clouds and mist, stepping into that fifty-mile forbidden zone.

Upon entering the forbidden zone, Li Xiuyuan immediately mobilized his Mirage Qi, wrapping himself in layers.

This not only blocked the perception of other Rising Beingss but also maximized the concealment of his tracks.

He did not rashly release his Spiritual Sense to scout the surroundings; it was akin to a human warship activating its radar—when you actively scan, you also expose yourself completely.

At this moment, Li Xiuyuan was like a ghost submarine with all detection equipment turned off, silently prowling through this dead, silent deep sea.

Upon first stepping into this area, Li Xiuyuan keenly sensed something unusual.

This forbidden zone seemed to have been severed from the outside world into two separate realms; time here had become viscous and slow.

But soon, Li Xiuyuan saw through it: this was not a true change in the flow of time, but a highly sophisticated sensory deception.

For example, in the grass by the roadside, a pit viper as thick as an adult's arm was slowly slithering.

It looked as slow as if it were practicing Tai Chi, but in reality, it had already slithered several meters away.

That snake also seemed to be affected, remaining sluggishly in place, as if trapped in some slow-motion dream.

Or, take a withered leaf drifting down from a treetop; to the naked eye, it fell extremely slowly, as if a 0.5x playback speed button had been pressed, but in reality, it had already touched the ground.

The reason Li Xiuyuan could see through it was that although he was deceived at first glance, he captured the essence at the second glance—this was a dislocation between vision and perception.

What was going on?

The spiritual energy within this forbidden zone had no fluctuations and was terrifyingly dead silent; could it be the Innate Supernatural Power of that Red-clothed Bird?

The Jiantian Bureau, based on those unknown ancient classics, had divided Rising Beingss into strict ranks.

Spirit Rank Rising Beingss could already nourish an inner core, their intelligence equivalent to that of a human in their teens, and their strength was not to be underestimated.

As for him being classified as Desolate Rank, according to Gu Xiao's explanation, it was because the instruments detected that he had broken through the numerical upper limit of the Spirit Rank.

"It's like some game settings created by us humans; the reason you can be classified as a Desolate Rank Rising Beings is that your panel stats meet the requirements.

And a true Desolate Rank Rising Beings should be one that has awakened the ancient Innate Supernatural Power buried in their bloodline by nourishing an inner core."

These were Gu Xiao's exact words. He was even worried that Li Xiuyuan wouldn't understand and intended to explain what game settings were, but how could Li Xiuyuan not know? In his past life, he had been exposed to quite a few video games.

"It must be an Innate Supernatural Power."

Li Xiuyuan mused to himself.

Although he also possessed abilities like [Sovereign of Heavens Water] and [Mirage Qi], they could not yet be considered Innate Supernatural Powers; they could only be counted as abilities cultivated by a Rising Beings.

He wondered, what exactly was the Innate Supernatural Power sleeping deep within his bloodline?

Li Xiuyuan wove through the forest, not rashly approaching the main peak of Shouyue Mountain.

Because he discovered that the closer he got to the center, the more the air was filled with an unsettling, scorching heat.

The occasional breeze was also mixed with scorching heatwaves.

He tentatively retreated to the edge of the forbidden zone. As soon as he left, that sensation of scorching heat instantly vanished, replaced by a long-lost coolness.

That heat not only distorted the light but also affected perception; it was a form of suppression on a mental level.

Li Xiuyuan did not rush to go deeper again but instead slowly slithered along the edge of the forbidden zone, looking for a flaw.

About half an hour later, at the end of a valley, Li Xiuyuan finally captured a trace of faint human aura.

That aura was mostly covered by the pervasive scorching heat and distortion within the forbidden zone; if not for Li Xiuyuan's keen perception, it would have been impossible to detect.

The valley was narrow, with cliffs as steep as if carved on both sides, and only a sheep-trail path led into the depths.

At the end of the road, there was a naturally formed stone cave. The entrance was half-hidden by a few large boulders; it would be extremely difficult to discover unless one walked close.

The students from Lu Zhixing's class were hiding in the stone cave, and the few teachers who had brought everyone out were trying hard to soothe the crowd's emotions.

Originally, this outing was intended to let the students experience natural spiritual energy, and the school had specifically instructed them not to approach Shouyue Mountain.

Who knew that as soon as they arrived nearby, a sudden change occurred.

First, an abnormal sensation of heat struck, and several students who practiced martial arts felt the temperature inside their bodies soar.

Immediately after, someone discovered in terror that the flow of time was wrong. This phenomenon, which exceeded their cognition, caused the inexperienced students to fall into panic instantly.

The teachers tried to lead the team to evacuate, but that strange sensory disorder made it so they couldn't even walk in a straight line.

In the end, they could only stumble into this stone cave and send out a distress signal.

Li Xiuyuan did not approach. Coiled on a rock platform above the valley, he lowered his dragon head, and from a distance of several dozen zhang, he scrutinized the situation inside the cave with those pale golden vertical pupils.

The crowd's condition was not very good. Although no one was injured, quite a few students had already fainted. Even those who were conscious were pale, their lips purple, and their whole bodies trembling uncontrollably.

They had been inside for quite a while. The Red-clothed Bird's Innate Supernatural Power mainly acted on the senses, but prolonged sensory disorder could easily destroy one's psychological defenses.

Li Xiuyuan's gaze swept through the cave, and he soon discovered Lu Xingyun's son.

Although this kid looked terrible, his eyes were still clear, and he was staring fixedly at the cave entrance, seemingly observing the movements outside.

Li Xiuyuan withdrew his gaze, not disturbing the people inside the cave.

Although he had found the people, how to bring them out was a big problem.

If he rashly appeared to save them, he would definitely be detected by that Red-clothed Bird.

At that time, these students would instead become a burden.

It seemed that Gu Xiao and his team would have to come in to save them, but the problem was that Li Xiuyuan had no mobile phone, let alone the internal communication system of the Jiantian Bureau.

"I can only try to contact Gu Xiao. He is a half-demon; let's see if he can resonate with me."

Li Xiuyuan closed his eyes and cautiously released his Spiritual Sense, ensuring the Red-clothed Bird would not notice.

Gu Xiao had the bloodline of a Rising Beings flowing in his body. That aura might be blurry in human Spiritual Sense, but in Li Xiuyuan's perception, it was as conspicuous as a candle flame in the dark night.

Soon, Li Xiuyuan followed that wisp of aura and touched Gu Xiao's consciousness.

Outside the forbidden zone at this moment, Gu Xiao was looking around anxiously, intending to enter the mountain to search for Li Xiuyuan.

Suddenly, a Spiritual Sense, like an invisible thread, gently touched his nerves.

Gu Xiao's body stiffened abruptly, and he immediately raised his head; a hideous nuo mask had already covered his face at some unknown time.

"Li Xiuyuan?" he asked inwardly.

Li Xiuyuan responded, "Yes."

"Where are you?" Gu Xiao asked.

Li Xiuyuan said, "I've found the students, but at the same time, a change has occurred in the forbidden zone."

Then, Li Xiuyuan told him the strange situation inside the forbidden zone in detail.

After hearing this, Gu Xiao, outside the forbidden zone, had his pupils shrink suddenly and exclaimed involuntarily.

"Damn it, that's a Domain! Fuck, we're in trouble!"