Came In and Went Back Out

Lin Yi stared at the slowly rotating entrance to the passageway before him.

Based on experience with the transition from the Gray Mist Layer to the Black Mist Layer, once the passage is opened, it will remain permanently, and there will be no situation where one is randomly teleported after entering and cannot return.

However, the passage opened by the crimson crystal core leads to a completely unknown location, and its level of danger is bound to be far greater than before.

"I'll send my clone in first to scout ahead."

Lin Yi turned around and addressed the more than seven hundred prodigies gathered behind him.

"This Blood Mist Passage looks strange. We need to check the situation inside first, lest we fall into a horde of Mist Beast as soon as we go in. You all wait here. Do not enter without my signal."

Edith and the others nodded, offering no objections.

In this completely unknown environment, sending Lin Yi's accomplices to conduct reconnaissance first is the safest option.

No one would be foolish enough to show off at a time like this.

The clone beside him said nothing and stepped directly into the blood-red vortex.

Immediately followed was a feeling of weightlessness and detachment.

This time the feeling was more pronounced than the previous two times, as if my soul was being torn apart by that blood-red vortex.

But it only lasted for a second or two before the clone felt a hard sensation under its feet.

The texture is similar to that of the Black Mist Layer; it's some kind of cold, hard rock.

But the surrounding environment

Blood mist.

The thick, blood-red mist, like congealed blood, filled every inch of space.

The sense of oppression from the rules here suddenly increased to a whole new level. The clone immediately felt its soul perception range being drastically compressed, and its visibility becoming pitifully low.

Five meters away, there was only a chilling dark red expanse.

"Xuanji, environmental scan."

The clone immediately gave the order.

"Yes, Master."

Xuanji responded from the left arm's tactical core, but the sound seemed to be interfered with.

"The intensity of the rule suppression is approximately 1.8 times that of the Black Mist Layer, causing a surge in the concentration of soul interference particles. The effectiveness of detection equipment is significantly suppressed; basic scanning functions are barely usable, and accuracy has decreased by 87%."

It's good enough if it's barely usable.

Lin Yi quickly took out a tiny detector, about the size of a fingernail, with mimicry and concealment capabilities from his bracelet. After activating it, he carefully placed it in an inconspicuous crevice in the rock near the entrance of the passage.

The detector's surface quickly lost its luster, almost blending into the dark red crystals condensed in the surrounding blood mist.

After making the initial arrangements, Lin Yi did not go any further. Instead, he immediately turned back and passed through the passage back into the Black Mist Layer.

"How's the situation?"

Lin Yi immediately asked.

"The suppression of rules is stronger, soul perception is greatly compressed, and the visible range is extremely short," the clone said succinctly. "The blood mist concentration is extremely high, and the detection equipment is severely weakened, but it's still usable. Initially, it appears there are no Mist Beast gathered near the passage entrance."

Lin Yi nodded slightly, as long as the entrance is safe.

He then said:

"Everyone, prepare to enter. Maintain maximum alert. Stay in three-person formation and don't break it."

With the order given, everyone solemnly checked their equipment and status again, and then, led by Lin Yi, stepped into the Blood Mist Passage one by one.

Blood Mist Layer.

More than 700 people crowded near the entrance of the passage, and everyone felt the heavy sense of oppression.

In this blood-red world, they seemed to have become a group of half-blind insects, having to be extremely careful with every step they took.

"Deploy concealed detection devices," Lin Yi instructed Xuanji, while also glancing at several Machine Race in the team who were skilled in this area. "Cover the area around the entrance to the passage, focusing on monitoring energy reactions and signs of life."

"Clear."

Soon, several detectors, seamlessly integrated into the environment, were quietly deployed in key locations, forming a preliminary early warning network.

Under the cover of the blood mist, these detectors are extremely difficult to detect.

"Clean up traces."

Lin Yi continued to issue orders, his gaze sweeping over the ground where the group had trodden and the slightly fluctuating blood mist caused by their arrival, "Erase all footprints and traces of source energy, leave not a trace."

Everyone immediately sprang into action.

In this environment, although traces are easy to cover up, it is essential to be absolutely foolproof when facing the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race, who may possess special detection methods.

After cleaning up the traces in the entrance area, Lin Yi chose a direction.

"Follow me, maintain formation, and don't explore beyond the repeater's coverage area. In any situation, prioritize warning others; don't engage in direct combat."

The team began its slow advance through this blood-red, desolate world.

Lin Yi's Main Body was positioned in the middle, while his clones acted like the most sensitive antennae, scouting ahead.

The cruelty of the Blood Mist Layer was soon fully revealed.

The frequency of appearance of the Mist Beast is astonishingly high.

Almost every hundred or two meters they advanced, the scout clones ahead would be attacked.

The Mist Beast here have undergone a qualitative leap in strength; even the lowest level exhibits energy fluctuations at the peak of the Star Vortex level.

Their bodies, formed from the blood mist, are more solid, and the rule-corroding force accompanying their attacks carries a sense of madness, far surpassing the relatively gentle Mist Beast in the Black Mist Layer.

This is just the most ordinary Blood Mist Beast.

Soon, they encountered a large Blood Mist Beast.

Its size was comparable to a small mountain, and the energy pressure it emitted had reached the early stage of the Star Domain level.

When the clone first encountered it, the thing was lying in a low-lying area where the blood mist was particularly dense, as if it were absorbing something.

The moment the clone entered its hundred-meter range, the massive dark red body suddenly opened several eyes made of pure blood-red energy, and a mist blade, as condensed as blood and incredibly fast, silently slashed out.

The clone reacted extremely quickly, using time delay to activate instantly, and narrowly avoided danger by combining spatial teleportation.

The mist blade grazed past the clone, silently slicing the blood-red rock behind it in two.

Without hesitation, the clone immediately transmitted the information and location back.

Upon receiving the news, Lin Yi immediately ordered the main force to change course and take a detour.

Although he could deal with the Mist Beast at the early stage of the Star Domain level, the energy consumption was not small. In this unfamiliar territory, the first priority was to get away from the initial passage and create distance.

However, the dangers go far beyond that.

The seventh day of exploration.

The clone that was scouting ahead suddenly stopped, and then without hesitation activated spatial teleportation, retreating rapidly backward.

Almost at the same moment the clone disappeared, a terrifying pressure that sent shivers down one's spine swept in from the depths of the blood mist ahead, like a slumbering primordial beast awakening.

"Turn! Turn around immediately and leave this area."

The clone immediately issued a warning.

Lin Yi gave the order without hesitation, "Everyone, turn right."

Without the slightest hesitation, the team immediately turned around.

Everyone could feel the immense pressure from behind, as if a terrifying being was staring at them through the blood mist.

The palpable pressure gradually dissipated after the group had marched for more than half a standard time.

"What the hell was that just now?" Kenkes leaned against a blood-red crystal pillar, his face pale.

He felt as if his source energy was about to solidify, and even his rule-based battle armor was trembling slightly.

"A giant Mist Beast at the mid-stage of the Star Domain level should be approaching the late stage." Lin Yi's expression was solemn.

In the fleeting glimpse transmitted by the clone, there was a shadow several times larger than a large Blood Mist Beast. The energy ripples it naturally emitted caused the surrounding blood mist to form a vortex with a diameter of over a hundred meters.

Judging from the clone's appearance, its energy level is already close to the late stage of the star field.

But just when they thought they had avoided the most dangerous area and breathed a sigh of relief, something even more dangerous happened on the eleventh day.

The team was taking a short break at the edge of a stone forest composed of countless blood-red crystals, and as usual, the clone was scouting ahead.

Suddenly, the clone seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, and even the Space Rule around it showed signs of disorder.

Immediately afterwards, a powerful and violent will swept across like a tangible tide, causing the clone's soul to feel a momentary stinging sensation, as if it had been pierced by an invisible needle.

"Escape!!"

This was the clone's only thought.

He didn't even have time to describe it in detail, nor did he dare to rejoin the main force. He immediately launched a space shuttle in another direction.

Lin Yi's Main Body stood on end instantly.

"Immediately conceal all your aura and slowly retreat!" He didn't even dare to speak, but immediately gave the order Soul Transmission.

Everyone immediately suppressed their own energy fluctuations to the lowest level and slowly moved backward.

Time seemed to freeze, with only the blood mist churning silently.

The crowd was deathly silent.

Only when they were ten kilometers away and the oppressive aura had completely dissipated did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"What is that?" Liu Yun asked quietly, her wings of light tightly folded behind her.

Lin Yi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and said slowly, "I will temporarily call this peak Star Domain level beast a King-level Blood Mist Beast."

Peak of the Star Domain level!

Everyone was deeply shaken.

If it hadn't been Lin Yi's clone scouting ahead, any other scout would probably have had no chance to escape.

This encounter made the team more cautious, and their pace slowed down.

While meticulously clearing away their tracks, they also deployed repeaters along the way, painstakingly expanding their living space in this blood-red fog.

Time passed day by day.

Around the fifteenth day after entering the Blood Mist Layer, Xuanji suddenly reported some news.

"Master, the hidden detectors deployed around the initial entrance to the Blood Mist Passage have transmitted a large-scale energy reaction. Analysis of the energy characteristics confirms it's the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race; they have already entered the Blood Mist Layer through the channel."

They've arrived.

Lin Yi understood, and wasn't too surprised.

The enemy indeed found their camp in the Black Mist Layer and followed the passage.

This was within his expectations.

"The enemy has caught up with us," Lin Yi informed everyone.

The atmosphere in the group immediately tensed up, and their previously relaxed nerves tightened again.

"But there's no need to be too nervous."

Lin Yi immediately said, "We carefully cleaned up the traces along the way, and the blood mist has already smoothed out the path. We've passed through the activity areas of at least twenty or thirty giant Blood Mist Beast, and there might even be the territory of a king-level Blood Mist Beast on the outskirts."

"This Blood Mist Layer is equally fraught with danger for them; finding us won't be easy."

Hearing this, everyone felt somewhat relieved.

Indeed, compared to their team, which had Lin Yi's clone scout ahead and avoided numerous deadly dangers, the "welcome ceremony" that later arrivals would face upon entering this blood-red fog would likely be far more enthusiastic.

Therefore, Lin Yi simply instructed the team to remain vigilant and slightly increased their pace, without altering the original plan.

He even secretly hoped that these pursuers would encounter more obstacles with the Blood Mist Beast and expend more of their strength.

However, three days later, an accident occurred.

"Master, it's an emergency," Xuanji's voice rang out again.

"Data came back from a more concealed backup monitoring device located further out on the periphery of the Blood Mist Passage. The two teams, which had been searching separately, suddenly returned to the entrance area of the passage about an hour ago, and then the energy reactions collectively disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Lin Yi was taken aback.

The monitoring device next to the entrance of the passage must have been detected and destroyed when the enemy entered in large numbers.

However, at the outermost monitoring points, shrouded in the blood mist, the other party would not be able to detect this unusual movement unless they turned the surrounding area upside down.

"It's confirmed they disappeared, not that they moved away from the monitoring range," Xuanji affirmed. "The monitoring equipment didn't capture any energy trajectories of a large group leaving in different directions. Combining this with the direction of the last captured concentrated energy signal, we infer that they collectively returned to the Black Mist Layer."

At this moment, Edith, Hui Yao, and others also learned of this situation through the relay network and all looked at Lin Yi.

"They... withdrew?"

Green Leaf was somewhat incredulous, and stopped wiping his longsword. "They've only been here a few days? Even if they encountered danger and lost some men, with their strength and numbers, they shouldn't have given up the pursuit so quickly, right? Isn't this just throwing away all their previous efforts?"

"Unless the danger they encounter far exceeds expectations," Edith pondered, "Or... they have new plans and need to concentrate their forces."

Lin Yi frowned slightly.

This is indeed somewhat unusual.

Logically, if the other side goes to great lengths to catch up with them, even if they can't find them immediately, they should at least try to establish outposts, expand the search area, or leave some people to monitor the passageways.

Their rapid collective withdrawal is inconsistent with their previous style of eliminating them at any cost.

Something unusual must be going on.

"I'll send my clone back to check on the situation," Lin Yi decided.

The clone beside him nodded slightly, the Space Rule around him rippled silently, and his figure blurred instantly, merging into the blood mist.

One shuttle, two shuttles, three shuttles.

Under the powerful suppression of the Blood Mist Layer's rules, the distance and efficiency of spatial traversal were greatly reduced. The clone spent 20% of its source energy before finally and with difficulty approaching the area where the passage entrance was located.

The clone concealed itself within the dense blood mist, suppressing its aura to the extreme, and cautiously probed.

Sure enough, the area near the entrance to the passage was deathly silent, with only the blood mist slowly churning.

The noisy energy remnants and subtle traces left behind when the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race entered on a large scale are being slowly covered by the omnipresent blood mist.

They really all left, and they left very cleanly.

The clone moved silently and arrived at the slowly rotating crimson passage.

The vortex remained, its blood-red light swirling, like a gaping maw waiting to devour everything.

The clone hesitated for a moment before stepping into the passage.

After a brief moment of disorientation and disorientation, the relatively thin Black Mist Layer came into view.

However, before the clone could even get a clear look at its surroundings...

"Attack!"

"Space locked!"

Don't let him go back!

A furious roar and a sharp, piercing screech exploded simultaneously.

In an instant, figures from the shadows around the entrance of the passage sprang up.

An overwhelming barrage of rule-based attacks, like the most violent torrential rain, descended upon the newly appeared clone.

The attacks, based on various rules, were densely packed together, forming a deadly net that sealed off all possible escape routes.

At the same time, the clone clearly sensed that the space within a radius of several hundred meters centered on the entrance to the passage was firmly sealed off by multiple Space Rule.

These rules and forces clearly originate from different individuals, collectively forming a complex barrier specifically designed to prevent spatial movement.

Here, the ability to travel through space is completely sealed off and cannot be used.

In a flash, the clone made the most correct response.

He made no attempt to fight back; under such a meticulously prepared siege, it would be pointless and would only hasten his death.

Therefore, just a moment before the first and most rapid wave of attacks was about to hit.

"Time Stop!"

The silver-gray ripples spread rapidly outwards from the clone, disregarding the energy expenditure.

The range is extremely small, only covering a dozen or so attacks in the nearest area and a few enemies who are closest to the front.

The time was extremely short, probably less than half a second.

But for the clone, who was right at the edge of the passage, with half of its body still pressed against the crimson vortex, it was enough.

Taking advantage of this momentary pause, the clone leaned back without hesitation, its body disappearing back into the not-yet-fully-closed crimson vortex.

Puff puff puff! Sizzle! Boom!

Countless attacks landed in empty space, colliding with each other or blasting against the black mist and rocks at the edge of the passage, stirring up violent energy turbulence and explosions that turned the area upside down.

The clone fell back into the Blood Mist Layer, glanced at the passage behind it, and immediately activated spatial teleportation, quickly returning to the exploration team and appearing beside Lin Yi.

In the temporary rest camp, Lin Yi, who was sitting cross-legged on a blood-red crystal to regulate his breathing, suddenly opened his eyes. His expression darkened, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"How about it?"

Edith, who had been watching his condition closely, immediately asked in a low voice.

The prodigies who were busy setting up defenses and healing their injuries noticed the change in atmosphere and gathered around.

Lin Yi slowly recounted the situation his clone had encountered.

"They've ambushed us with heavy troops at the entrance and used multiple Space Rule to block it, making spatial travel impossible."

Lin Yi concluded, his voice calm, but the content of his words sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"They... are they trying to trap us here to die?" Liu Yun exclaimed.

Hui Yao coughed, his face grim. "It seems they ran into trouble in the Blood Mist Layer, and may even have encountered a King-level Blood Mist Beast. They're not stupid; they saw through our intention to use the complex environment and powerful Mist Beast the Blood Mist Layer to wear them down."

He paused, his voice tinged with bitterness. "So, they simply gave up and retreated to the relatively safer Black Mist Layer. They also have a few prodigies who understand Space Rule, so they joined forces to block the exit. This is the easiest way."

Green Leaf gritted her teeth and said, "This is an open conspiracy. They don't need to risk coming down here anymore. As long as they guard the entrance to the passage on the other side of the Black Mist Layer, we'll have nowhere to go. If we want to leave the secret realm, we must return the way we came."

"That's right."

Edith frowned. "To return to the Gray Mist Layer, we must pass through the Black Mist Layer. But the entrance to the Black Mist Layer has been heavily guarded and sealed off by them using both military force and spatial barriers."

"Unless we can break through their blockade head-on and carve a bloody path through, we will be trapped in this Blood Mist Layer until the secret realm naturally closes in a year."

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood the unspoken meaning.

Based on the patterns observed in the Myriad Secret Realm over the years, the exit will be wherever the entrance appears. Since the entrance was in the first layer of Gray Mist Layer when they entered, they must return to the Gray Mist Layer to get out.

Or, they might die here before the secret realm closes.

The atmosphere in the camp was very oppressive.

Ahead lay a constant stream of powerful Blood Mist Beast, and behind them, a heavy enemy force blocked their path.

They seemed trapped in an elaborately crafted Cage, unable to see a glimmer of light.

Lin Yi remained silent for a moment, his gaze slowly sweeping across everyone's faces. He saw the unwillingness in Hui Yao's eyes, the solemnity between Edith's brows, and Green Leaf's tightly pursed lips.

He suddenly spoke.

"Alright."

Everyone was taken aback and turned to look at him.

Lin Yi even slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing that they're not pursuing us." He smiled and continued, "Now that there are no more pursuers on the horizon, we don't have to be constantly on the run, always worried about being surrounded by the main force."

He stood up, walked to the edge of the camp, and looked at the thick, impenetrable blood mist surrounding him.

"This Blood Mist Layer is a harsh environment, and the Mist Beast are ridiculously powerful."

He sighed, but then changed the subject, "But on the other hand, while this place is dangerous for us, it's also a forbidden zone for the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race. They dare not come down here, so this place has become our temporary safe zone."

Safe Zone?

The group exchanged bewildered glances, unable to reconcile the surrounding environment—a blood-red haze that might harbor king-level monsters—with safety as the norm.

"At least," Lin Yi turned to face the crowd, "We no longer need to worry about being attacked from both sides. We can temporarily focus all our energy on dealing with the immediate threat."

"And we have time to catch our breath, time to act at our own pace."

Edith seemed thoughtful. "You mean..."

Lin Yi nodded. "The fact that they retreated from the Blood Mist Layer at least indicates that their primary mission was probably not to obtain the Source Essence, but rather to ensure the extermination of us and eliminate any potential threats. This is normal. However..."

His gaze deepened, as if piercing through the thick fog of blood.

"They want to trap us with this door, let's see if they can trap us here, or if we can gain the strength to break through first."

Lin Yi looked at everyone, "The most urgent task is to break free from this aimless state of existence. We need a relatively stable base to truly rest and recover."

"At the same time."

"The Mist Beast here are stronger, and the crystal cores obtained from killing them may contain more and purer Source Essence. This could very well be an opportunity for us."

The new book has been running for over four months, reaching over 1.2 million words. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the results; it wasn't a waste of time. Most of the criticism and suggestions from readers are based on discussions of the plot, and the atmosphere seems quite good. Judging from the current feedback, the subsequent plot developments haven't been predicted, which is pretty good. Tomorrow I'll release a one-month pass bonus chapter, so interested readers can keep an eye out. That's all for today—spending New Year's Eve with family!