Falling into the Void

An Lan's eyes were red. She attacked with all her might, but she never expected Gong Ze, knowing he was doomed, wouldn't resist at all. Instead, he used her hand to fan the flames, causing the flames of life to burn to a realm he could never have reached in his life.

The part of the semi-blessed land where Jinlan Mine was located, which overlapped with the Wasteland, was forcibly burned away by him. Large areas of land were also turned to ash, and a rift had appeared between the two.

As if things couldn't get worse, the violent magma that burned everything filled these rifts, only making the cracks wider, like drinking poison to quench thirst.

An Lan took a pill, her face instantly turning flushed as her aura surged. She formed seals with her hands, guiding the lightning from the sky to transform into a great river that poured down, washing away the magma filling the rift.

From within the magma, countless giant ice shards shot out, piercing both ends of the rift. They were then vaporized by the magma, and more giant ice shards exploded out of nowhere, forcibly welding the rift together.

The ice and magma stalemated, while the lightning in the sky continued to fall like a torrential rain.

As soon as the Jinlan Mine began to shake, the villagers rushed out from the underground mine shafts.

However, even so, dozens of people were still sealed underground by the collapsing mine.

The earth's tremors grew more violent, leaving no room for respite.

"Outside," Old Yang shouted. The remaining people, unable to save those still buried underground, could only flee the village to seek refuge.

However, as Yu Ziqing and Old Yang led the group out of the village and passed the Abyss of Despair, they saw flames soaring into the sky ahead.

The air was distorting, and a river of magma, tens of feet wide, appeared in front of the village, with scorching flames forming a massive fire wall two to three hundred feet high.

The ground beneath their eyes turned into magma, everything turned to ash.

Immediately after, the dark sky brightened, and countless blue-gold lightning bolts, like a surging river, split the flames and plunged into the magma river.

Tens of feet long giant ice shards shot out from the magma, and an ice and snow road made of ice shards appeared in the magma river. Then, the ice shards vaporized, only for new ones to appear, and the magma river's temperature fluctuated, creating a back-and-forth struggle.

Yu Ziqing stared blankly at the terrifying power before him. Even though he was at the third-tier of Body Refining, he still felt a burning pain on his skin from such a distance.

He didn't know what had happened.

He had once thought that with the increasing chaos outside, it might affect Jinlan Mine, but he never imagined the impact would be like this.

Just standing outside the dual ice and fire, watching from afar, he already needed to circulate his Blood Essence to resist the high temperature. Without Body Refining, he would have likely been roasted alive the moment he saw these things.

The next moment, as new lightning struck the magma river and new giant ice shards exploded within it, the entire magma river suddenly exploded.

Scalding magma and bone-chilling frost mixed together, turning into a vast rain that spread in all directions.

The dense locust tree forest on the right hillside suffered a fatal blow.

Flames and frost fell sparsely into it, being swallowed by the layer of fallen leaves on the ground.

But it was clear that these forces had exceeded the locust tree forest's limit of endurance.

Locust trees were ignited, turning into torches, while others were frozen into ice blocks, shattering into pieces with the slightest impact.

The group that had just rushed out of the village was forced to retreat back into the Abyss of Despair.

But even within the Abyss of Despair, they could still see flames and shattered ice shards rush in, falling continuously. The flames, after landing, continued to burn endlessly, igniting out of thin air.

The group had to retreat back into the village to avoid further impact.

But at this moment, everyone had suffered frostbite and burns to varying degrees. Fortunately, the two opposing forces had annihilated much of each other, otherwise, this wave would have killed many people in the village.

Old Yang, his entire body turned black, had several patches of his wool burned off, and his skin was crisscrossed with large areas of burns and frostbite.

He ignored his injuries, gazing out at the village, despair filling his eyes.

"It's over, the mine is going to fall into the void."

"What on earth happened?"

"I don't know what happened, I just know it's over..." Old Yang, uncharacteristically losing his composure, looked outside.

"Jinlan Mine is a rare semi-blessed land. A part of its space overlaps with the Wasteland, that area outside the village entrance. The part within the village is an entirely independent space. Now, someone has used great supernatural abilities to melt the connecting part, and the overlapping part has been directly burned away. This place is going to fall into the void."

Yu Ziqing's thoughts raced, and he quickly asked again.

"Is someone outside trying to put out the fire?"

"Put out the fire? Hell no. If that person does nothing, this place will fall into the void. If that person intervenes, it will fall even faster. This violent fusion of ice and fire, if it continues to a certain extent, will directly explode, completely severing the already broken link! The path is also blocked by the two forces, none of us can escape."

In the time it took to say this, another change occurred outside.

The magma river that had been lying horizontally exploded again from within, and the scorching steam transformed into a white plume of smoke, howling as it shot straight into the sky.

Following the horizontal magma river, a crack appeared on the ground, extending vertically towards the village. Hot steam gushed out from the crack, followed by magma emitting a dazzling light, and the crack grew larger and larger.

The Cècè's Abyss of Despair and the locust tree forest to the right were split in two by this magma river.

Within a few breaths, the accumulated pressure could no longer be contained. A muffled roar came from beneath the earth, and the hillside where the Abyss of Despair was located, along with the hillside where the locust tree forest was, was directly blown away.

And at the end of this magma river, the mist at the village entrance suddenly dissipated at this moment.

But behind the dissipating mist, there was only a vast pit stretching for more than ten miles, and beyond the pit lay the snow-covered Wasteland.

What had once existed here – Jinlan Mine, the village, and the surrounding mountains – was gone.

Faintly, within the large pit, a dark crack could still be seen, slowly healing, the world smoothing over the missing spatial portion.

And the Jinlan Mine had fallen into the void.

An Lan stood in mid-air, her expression shifting from green to pale. She never imagined things would escalate to this point.

She couldn't fathom why Gong Ze cared so much about the Jinlan Mine.

When she saw Gong Ze standing there, head held high, roaring with laughter at the sky, she understood.

Gong Ze didn't actually know; he was merely testing them at the moment of his death, leaving a mark for the people of Great Li.

But she had intervened, and Gong Ze was certain.

The most crucial reason for the magic treasure in her hand to appear was the Jinlan Ore produced by the Jinlan Mine.

An Lan's face was exceptionally grim. Recalling it now, she also understood.

She had to act. If she didn't, it would be utterly hopeless. By acting, there was still a chance to salvage the situation.

No matter how she thought about it, the outcome was already set.

This outing had yielded no great merit; instead, she had shouldered a massive burden.

Many of Great Gan's plans would be forced to a halt.

Several months ago, when the One Day Cold she held had emerged, she had advised them.

To act immediately and seize control of the Jinlan Mine.

Because the Jinlan extracted from the Jinlan Ore was the most critical component for refining this magic treasure.

Before this, research and experiments on Jinlan Ore, while slightly better than other dispensable junk, weren't much better. Jinlan Ore was merely one small fish caught in a vast net.

There were too many places like this, insignificant stepping stones, like small fish. When they hadn't shown any value, Great Gan couldn't possibly station people or experts at every location.

But once value was demonstrated, the situation changed entirely.

However, at that time, the disaster of the Great Sun Descends had just erupted across the Wasteland, drawing everyone's attention.

After some deliberation, Great Gan decided it was best to maintain the status quo for the time being. Acting immediately would be too conspicuous. They planned to quietly take control of the Jinlan Mine after the Wasteland incident concluded, or when a new major event diverted everyone's attention.

But now, they couldn't wait for that day. The mine was gone.

In the village, the ground was still shaking violently. After reaching its limit, with mountains collapsing and earth splitting, it suddenly stopped.

Yu Ziqing looked up at the sky.

In the darkness, the stars were no longer visible. The dim sky now seemed to have patches of pure blackness, and in other places, there were specks of light, with cracks stretching across the heavens.

The mist at the village entrance had also vanished, replaced by a cliff. Beyond the village entrance lay a profound darkness, pure and unlit.

It was as if the earth had been brutally severed.

"We've fallen into the void..." Old Yang murmured, gazing at the darkness beyond the village entrance.

"If it were a Spirit Refining cultivator in the Yang God realm, there might still be a chance to return, but for us, there's only one outcome: to be lost in the void forever, along with the mine."

The more one understood, the more they grasped the utter despair of their current situation.

Yu Ziqing fell silent for a moment, looking at the panicked villagers who had no idea what to do, and the despairing Old Yang, and the Village Chief who was forcing himself to stand.

This was the only place since arriving in this world where he could eat his fill, stay warm, and where people had treated him kindly.

Now, someone intended to destroy it.

And, as an afterthought, to kill him and everyone here.

Thanks to Minors and White Dog Passing Time for their 10,000-point tips, thank you for your love and support.