Broadening their horizons, the lightless city

When the light faded, Lin Yi found himself standing outside the Eternal Source Ring.

Above them was a shimmering white defensive barrier Constant Lord Eric using twelve purple beads. Beyond the barrier, an endless Black Silence Beast Tide relentlessly assaulted this seemingly indestructible structure.

He subconsciously looked around.

E Lan was rotating his shoulder blades, his misty, bluish-gray eyes scanning his surroundings, a smile that hadn't quite faded from his lips.

The runes on You Na's forehead, resembling furnace horns, had dimmed considerably, but she still looked excited, patting the shoulder of a high-ranking teammate beside her and muttering something like, "I told you it was a sure thing."

Tai Huan maintained his signature indifferent expression, while the other trainees continued to recover.

"It's over."

At this moment, the voice of the Dao Lord Xi Mo came down from above.

She raised her right hand, her slender index finger lightly touching the air.

A very thin beam of deep purple light shot out from her fingertip, striking precisely the center of the core rune at the highest Eternal Source Ring.

After receiving the beam of light, the slowly rotating talisman began to dim at a visible speed.

Starting with the core rune, the Law Inscriptions on the surface of the Eternal Source Ring, which were still operating autonomously, gradually faded away like a receding tide. They spread from the main ring to the surrounding ancient tower ruins, and then converged from the Tongue Tower ruins to the energy hub at the base. In the end, the entire Eternal Source Ring returned to silence, leaving only the ancient dark blue alloy on its surface gleaming with a cold and silent light.

Having done all this, the Dao Lord Xi Mo turned his head slightly, his deep purple eyes falling on the figure on the platform below, and a slight smile curved his lips.

"You did a good job."

This was said so casually, as if it were something completely ordinary.

But the Constant Lord exchanged a meaningful glance at each other.

On the platform, upon hearing the Dao Lord Xi Mo's evaluation, all the trial participants, though not daring to make a rash noise in front of the Dao Lord, involuntarily straightened their backs.

Lin Yi breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The Eternal Source Ring Trial has finally come to a successful conclusion.

He silently sensed the Chaos Source Sea within his body, which had been enhanced by nine divine-grade seals and whose comprehension of laws had advanced to 95.6%. He then looked at the one million Points and one top-level trial opportunity that had been credited to his Constant Island Emblem, as well as the now-disappeared Imperial Second-Class Medal. He was in a very good mood.

However, just when he thought the matter was over and he should prepare to return home, that lazy female voice rang out again from above.

"Originally... after you finished the Eternal Source Ring Trial, the plan was for two Constant Lord to escort you back to Constant Island, as we had other important matters to attend to..."

"But now..."

The Dao Lord Xi Mo drew out a few words, his deep purple eyes slowly sweeping over the students below before finally settling on Lin Yi: "Since you didn't lose much combat power in the trial, I can take you little guys to broaden your horizons."

Lin Yi was slightly taken aback.

What?

Learn something new?

Aren't we heading back?

He subconsciously raised his head, his gaze passing over his equally confused teammates, and looked at the deep purple figure sitting motionless high in the sky.

"Hehe." The Dao Lord Xi Mo clearly saw the confusion among the students below. She chuckled and then slowly said, "We caught the tail end of a Lightless City. We originally thought that after your trial, your combat strength would be almost exhausted, so two Constant Source Realm would take you back, while Ming Chi and I would lead the other Constant Lord to join forces with the Imperial Army to wipe out this Lightless City... But we didn't expect your trial to end so quickly, and that you would still retain almost complete combat strength."

As she spoke, she tilted her head slightly, a faint smile flickering in her deep purple eyes.

"Well... that's a good opportunity to take you all along to broaden your horizons. So, there's a temporary trial mission now, well, it'll count as a high-level trial mission, with a reward of 100,000 Points. You can consider whether to participate. If you don't want to participate, I can put it into my treasure storage, and we'll return to Constant Island together after this battle."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi was deeply shaken!

Lightless City!

Moreover, we still need to wipe out a Lightless City!

There are countless dark forces in the Chaos Cosmic Sea, including pirate gangs, smuggling guilds, wanted rogue cultivators, and traitorous family branches. Among them, the most powerful is the Lightless Alliance.

The so-called Lightless Alliance refers to cultivators who, for various reasons, are not tolerated by the Empire. In order to escape the pursuit of the Constant Guard, the Imperial Army, and other forces, they fled into the Black Mist Sea.

Because they cannot live in the light within the Empire, they can only hide in the Black Mist Sea by various means to eke out a living. Therefore, they call themselves "the Lightless Ones" and formed the Lightless Alliance to oppose the Empire's forces.

As a member of the Constant Guard, Lin Yi had a much deeper understanding of the Lightless Alliance than most of the trial participants present. His clone stationed in Gangming City had dealt with the outsiders of the Alliance of the Lightless Ones quite a bit over the years.

But those things are merely the tentacles of the Lightless Alliance, utterly insignificant compared to the real Lightless City.

Because those capable of escaping into the Black Mist Sea independently are at least cultivators at the Eternal Source Realm. They rely on plundering to seize cultivation resources, appearing and disappearing unpredictably in the chaotic void, attacking giant cities and hijacking merchant ships.

Many of the cultivators who were wanted were not fugitives because of their lack of strength. On the contrary, many of them were extremely powerful and were wanted by the empire simply because they acted too recklessly.

To put it bluntly, being a bad person doesn't mean you lack talent.

Therefore, among those Lightless Ones, there exists Dao Lord!

Over countless Universal Epoch, the Lightless Alliance once had eleven Dao Lord at its peak.

Eleven Dao Lord!

This number is enough to send chills down the spine of anyone familiar with the power dynamics of the Chaos Cosmic Sea.

Even with the relentless efforts and various schemes of the Four Constant Domains to eradicate them, the Lightless Alliance still possesses nine Dao Lord.

These nine Dao Lord each sought to establish their own power within the Black Mist Sea, recruiting subordinates to search for resources for them, while the Dao Lord in return provided protection.

This is the Lightless City.

Within the Black Mist Sea, the presence of life continuously attracts attacks from the Black Silence Beast, thus the locations of these Lightless City are not fixed.

Some are built on giant ships, some are floating landmasses, and some are moving Cosmic Sea Wonder.

With its mobility and methods of concealing its life force, the Lightless City is like nine malignant tumors hidden deep within the Black Mist Sea, continuously venturing outwards with plunder, slaughter, and chaos.

The coordinates of each Lightless City are top secret, Lightless Alliance.

Each Lightless City has a different way of entering, but all require navigating several bends to reach Lightless City.

Throughout history, all the Lightless City that were moved to actual locations by imperial forces were invariably wiped out.

And now, the Dao Lord Xi Mo says that he has caught the tail end of a Lightless City!

No wonder...

Lin Yi suddenly realized what had been bothering him earlier.

No wonder that in the past, the Eternal Source Ring Trial only required one Dao Lord to lead the team, but this time two Dao Lord were actually dispatched!

He was quite puzzled at the time, because logically speaking, the Black Mist Sea was currently in a period of outbreak, and many Black Silence Beast were driven to the edge of the Black Mist Sea for unknown reasons, spreading outward with the black mist.

Theoretically, the density of the Black Silence Beast inside the Black Mist Sea should be thinner, making the pressure on the leader less than in previous periods.

But this time, two Dao Lord are leading the team, making the lineup more luxurious than ever before.

He hadn't thought much about it before, only that there might be some information he didn't know about when the Black Mist Sea erupted, and the two Dao Lord' deployment might be a precaution.

Now he realized he had guessed wrong.

Perhaps, leading the team to oversee the Eternal Source Ring Trial was only secondary.

The real reason is the Lightless City!

A Lightless City hidden deep within the Black Mist Sea!

The true objective of the Dao Lord Xi Mo and the Ming Chi Dao Lord on this trip was probably this from the very beginning.

Bringing this group of youngsters from the Eternal Source Realm to the Eternal Source Ring Trial was a convenient side trip, or more accurately, a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Having completed the seventh phase of the planned trials for Constant Island, they also managed to pinpoint the movements of the Lightless City while waiting for the trials to end.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn't help but gasp inwardly.

The fact that even the Lightless City has Dao Lord in charge means... there will actually be a great battle between Dao Lord this time!

He subconsciously raised his head and looked at the two motionless figures suspended in the sky.

The Dao Lord Xi Mo remained as languid and leisurely as ever, sitting cross-legged amidst the deep purple mist, his half-closed eyes revealing no hint of tension for the impending battle.

The Dao Lord the Ming Chi remained expressionless from beginning to end, his deep brown eyes like a stagnant pool, with only a faint red light flickering deep within them.

These two are truly planning to wipe out a Lightless City.

Moreover, judging from their composed demeanor, they were clearly very confident.

Lin Yi quickly calculated in his mind.

To be honest, rather than joining in the hustle and bustle of Lightless City, he actually wanted to go back and cultivate properly so he could break through to the Constant Source Realm.

His current comprehension of the laws has reached 95.6%, less than five percentage points away from the Eternal Source Realm Completion.

At his current speed, it won't be long after he leaves the Eternal Source Ring before he reaches the threshold of perfection, and then he can prepare for his breakthrough to the Constant Source Realm.

This path has been taken steadily and without any uncertainties.

But the problem is...

Since it involves the Lightless City, any of these Eternal Source Realm trial participants could skip it, but he was the only one who couldn't.

Who told him to be a member of the Constant Guard?

With tall figures holding off the powerful enemy, how could a mere Constant Guard Constant Guard like him not want to go to a place as sinister as the Lightless City?

Therefore, I had no choice but to go.

The insignia of the Constant Guard signifies not only authority and resources, but also responsibility.

If he backs down in this operation against the Lightless City, he might as well quit.

"But..

Now, Lin Yi thought about it again and realized that this might also be a good opportunity to earn a lot of resources.

There must be a bunch of wanted criminals in the Lightless City.

Anyone who receives an official arrest warrant from the Empire is someone of considerable status.

Those criminals from the Eternal Source Realm whose names are on the Empire's wanted list have a bounty starting at tens of thousands of contribution points, and some can even reach hundreds of thousands.

As for wanted criminals at the Constant Source Realm level, the bounty is astronomical.

The entire Lightless City is a treasure trove filled with these walking contribution points.

More importantly, with the Dao Lord, a tall figure, leading the charge, this kind of opportunity to raid their stronghold doesn't come around often.

If he pulls off this job well, he estimates he won't have to worry about resources in the early stages of the Constant Source Realm.

Moreover, he Constant Union Seal Pact.

Even if he were to encounter any unexpected events in the Lightless City, he could instantly teleport back to the Left Silent Cosmos Domain.

With this trump card, his safety is still guaranteed.

These thoughts flashed through Lin Yi's mind in just a few breaths.

When he snapped out of his thoughts, his teammates were still exchanging Soul Transmission, clearly weighing the pros and cons.

Lin Yi took a deep breath, his dark eyes fixed on the deep purple figure high in the sky, and then bowed slightly.

"Island Lord Dawn Nightmare, I am willing to participate."

All eyes were on Lin Yi.

E Lan's misty, bluish-gray eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

You Na nudged Tai Huan beside her with her elbow and whispered something.

Tai Huan maintained his calm expression, merely nodding slightly.

With Lin Yi taking the lead, the other trial participants quickly figured out the key to it.

All the people present were the most outstanding talents on Inner Island of Constant Island, and none of them were unintelligent.

The stakes that Lin Yi could think of, they could also figure out if they calmed down and thought about it for a while.

Moreover, just as the Dao Lord Xi Mo said, this group of trial participants lost almost no combat power in the Eternal Source Ring. Since their strength is still there, the prodigies naturally have their pride. The Dao Lord Constant Lord are obviously dealt with by others. As for those Eternal Source Realm Lightless Ones, they are not afraid of them. They are not afraid even if they fight multiple opponents.

"I'd like to participate too." E Lan stepped forward.

"How could I miss something like this?" You Na followed closely behind, the runes on her forehead blazing with a fiery red light once more. "The Lightless City, if we miss it this time, we may never have another chance to see it in our lifetime."

Tai Huan didn't say much, but stepped forward and bowed slightly to the two figures in the sky.

With these few taking the lead, the rest of the Eternal Source Realm also stepped forward to express their support.

Next came the high-level, mid-level, and low-level players.

In no time at all, all the participants present expressed their willingness to participate in this temporary trial mission.

No one backed down.

It wasn't because they weren't afraid of death, but because everyone knew that if they didn't seize this opportunity, they would regret it terribly later.

High in the sky, the Dao Lord Xi Mo nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his deep purple eyes.

"Very good."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Yi felt a very subtle tremor coming from the Constant Island Emblem on his chest.

He spared a sliver of his attention to probe inside the emblem and discovered that a new task had been added to the task list.

[Temporary Trial Mission: Assist in the Annihilation of the Lightless City]

[Quest Level: Advanced Trial]

[Mission Description: Under the leadership of the Dao Lord Xi Mo and the Ming Chi Dao Lord, accompany the Constant Island expedition team to the depths of the Black Mist Sea to assist in the annihilation of a Lightless City whose coordinates have been locked.]

[Points Reward: 100,000]

After reading the mission information, Lin Yi nodded silently. One advanced trial plus 100,000 Points could be exchanged for some good stuff. Besides, the loot was the real prize.

"Let's go."

At this moment, the voice of the Dao Lord Xi Mo floated down.

At the same time, she gently waved her right hand in the void, and an invisible force instantly enveloped all the trial participants, along with more than ten Constant Lord on the outer ancient tower ruins.

Lin Yi suddenly felt a blur before his eyes.

A deep purple light spread across his vision.

Beyond the light, the enormous ring outline of the Eternal Source Ring was shrinking at an alarming rate. Then, the surrounding scenery completely lost its specific form, turning into infinitely elongated streaks of light.

A deep purple light enveloped everyone, like a silent Sharp Blade slicing a straight path through the abyss of the Black Mist Sea.

Standing inside the light, Lin Yi could clearly sense the changes in the auras of the surrounding Constant Lord.

The Constant Lord, who had been chatting leisurely on the ruins of the ancient tower, all lost their relaxed demeanor.

Kroen's short, burning red hair was now burning exceptionally brightly, and a faint crimson mist began to emanate from the red-robed female Constant Lord. The luminous bird on the Constant Lord's shoulder, who was wearing a dark blue robe, was no longer leisurely pecking at its feathers, but instead stood tall with its wings slightly spread, and a point of extremely condensed blue light could be faintly seen slowly rotating in its beak.

Even Constant Lord Eric, abandoned his usual unhurried and composed demeanor.

This Constant Source Realm Mid-Rank inscription master was currently examining the dozen or so deep purple inscription runes on his sleeve. The edges of each rune were glowing with a very faint purple light, indicating that they had been activated in advance and were ready to be used.

These Constant Lord were well aware that what they were about to face was a city of sin, overseen by a Dao Lord and teeming with countless vicious and wicked individuals.

Although they held an absolute advantage, the fact that Lightless City had been able to survive in the Black Mist Sea for so long was not solely due to the intimidation of a Dao Lord.

Those outlaws entrenched in the city are all survivors of countless battles fought on the brink of death; one wrong move and you could lose your life.

At the very front of the group, the Dao Lord Xi Mo the Dawn's deep purple eyes remained half-closed, revealing no emotional fluctuations as a great battle was about to begin.

To her left, the Dao Lord the Ming Chi remained seated with the same towering posture, but the red and black aura around him was noticeably denser than before.

Lin Yi glanced at it only once before looking away.

He re-examined the Chaos Source Sea within his body, confirming that it was fully charged. The nine Chaos Source Seal Pact were slowly rotating within the Soul Origin, ready to be used at any time.

He took a deep breath and began to silently deduce the various battle situations he might encounter next. He firmly locked onto the Constant Union Seal Pact his mind.

This is his last trump card; if any unexpected changes occur, he will not hesitate to activate this seal and escape.

But before that, he planned to take down as many wanted criminals as possible; that was his core objective in participating in this operation.

There is also the Silent Nether Soul-Rending Flame.

"The Silent Nether Soul-Rending Flame those ordinary Eternal Source Realm Lightless Ones without light..."

Lin Yi silently murmured something to himself, then closed his eyes, immersing his mind in the depths of his Soul Origin, and began making final pre-battle adjustments.

Meanwhile, deep within the Black Mist Sea.

A giant tornado is slowly moving.

Its color is a blend of deep blue and silver-gray, like a colossal pillar standing tall in the Black Mist Sea.

With each rotation, countless thick, icy-blue bolts of lightning were ripped from the outer wall of the tornado. The lightning, like monstrous snakes, roamed wildly across the outer wall, each strike exploding into a dense burst of electric light within the black mist, instantly reducing the Black Silence Beast lingering near the tornado to ashes.

In the gaps between the intertwining ice and lightning, countless silver-gray ice crystal fragments were swept up by the tornado and spun at high speed. When the fragments collided with each other, they produced an extremely sharp and ear-piercing friction sound, which carried far and wide in the black mist.

This is Ice Thunder Tornado, one of the Cosmic Sea Wonder.

However, this Ice Thunder Tornado is not entirely in its most primitive state at this moment.

Amidst the frantically swirling, icy-blue lightning surrounding the tornado, faint, extremely fine pale gray lines could be seen appearing and disappearing in the gaps between the lightning bolts.

The patterns intertwine in some extremely mysterious way, forming complete sealing circuits on the outer wall of the tornado. Each time the circuits lighten and dim, they make the tornado's originally violent and disordered energy orderly. The energy that escapes when the tornado rotates is collected by these sealing circuits and injected into the core of the tornado.

In the center of the tornado, however, all was calm and undisturbed.

There is no ice or lightning, no storms, no black mist here; even the turbulent currents that are everywhere in the chaotic void have been smoothed into gentle energy streams in this tranquil place.

Here, a massive, suffocating landmass floats suspended in the air.

The landmass was large enough to rival a colossal city in the Cosmic Sea.

But if someone gets closer and takes a closer look, they will find that this so-called land is not naturally formed at all.

It was pieced together from the wreckage of countless ships.

The foundations were laid on the lowest-grade transport ships.

Their hulls were riddled with holes, the armor plates on the hulls had been dismantled and were scattered in pieces, and the remaining hulls were roughly pieced together, forming a continuous, undulating metal wasteland.

On this metal wasteland, countless makeshift shacks and shipwrecks are densely packed together. From above, the shacks look like a patch of gray-brown moss growing on the metal corpses—messy, dilapidated, and lifeless.

Further inland on this continent, above these lower-level transport ships, are even larger, gigantic transport ships.

The hulls of these giant ships are relatively well preserved, and some even still bear the family crests to which they once belonged.

Of course, those emblems had long been brutally gouged out or melted down, leaving only ugly dents.

After being modified, these giant ships were transformed into relatively orderly blocks, each lined with densely packed shops, which were the areas where the middle-class residents of the Lightless City lived.

On the streets here, you can see cultivators dressed fairly neatly walking by, but without exception, their eyes carry a vigilance that borders on neurotic.

Further inside were rows of luxurious spaceships.

The exquisite patterns that remain on the armor plates of these spaceships can still be seen. They have been transformed into independent manors, each shrouded in a separate protective light shield, which is where the Lightless Ones of the Eternal Source Realm live.

At the very center of this metallic continent, in its most central location, stands a truly colossal city.

At the heart of this colossal city is the Black Rock Mothership.

These Black Rock Mothership are connected to each other by countless thick metal corridors. The standard armor that originally belonged to the Imperial Army on the surface of the ships has been replaced with alloy plates from various sources. The places on the ships that should have been equipped with Annihilation Cannon arrays have now been transformed into defensive towers.

Directly above the Black Rock Mothership were three Yong Yao- class fortress ships arranged in a triangular formation.

This is the Lightless City.

A city of sin, pieced together layer by layer from countless shipwrecks.

There is no order, no law, and no bottom line.

The only rule that keeps this city running is: the strong rule.

In a corner of this continent, a group of ragged teenagers from the Cosmic Source Realm were huddled in the wreckage of an abandoned ship, peering out through a small opening in the bulkhead.

They all looked to be about the same age, but each of their faces bore a weariness and vicissitude that belied their age.

"Another batch of new people has arrived," a young man said softly, putting down his worn-out tools.

His companion peered out through the breach.

On a remote docking platform, a group of cultivators with dark gray slave collars around their necks were being herded off a transport ship by several people wearing dark red armor.

Although the captured cultivators were still relatively well-dressed, their faces were all filled with despair.

"Where did they all come from this time?" someone asked in a low voice.

"Judging from the clothes, they seem to be from the Seventh Constant Domain."

Another boy squinted for a while, speaking calmly as if he were talking about the weather.

He had seen this scene far too many times; he had been watching it since he could remember, and he was long since numb to it.

"Sigh, how pathetic." The person who spoke earlier sighed casually before lowering his head again to continue polishing what he was doing; clearly, it was just a casual remark.

After a brief discussion, silence returned to the cabin.

Everyone was engrossed in their work, and no one paid any more attention to the new slaves.

Because they all know that those people's today is their yesterday, and their tomorrow will never be better than their today.

After a while, a girl in the corner suddenly raised her head. Her pupils were a very pale grayish-white, and at that moment they were gleaming with an extremely faint light.

She asked in a low voice, "Do you think... the stories those people told are true?"

Which ones?

"That's what the captured cultivators said. They said there are Imperial Army outside, and some kind of Constant Guard... They said someone will come to rescue us."

Upon hearing this, the boy who was wiping his tools slowly stopped what he was doing.

He turned around and looked at the girl with an expression that was hard to decipher—it was neither mockery nor pity.

"Hurry up and finish it."

The boy chuckled and casually tossed the metal piece in his hand to the ground with a dull thud.

"This is the Lightless City, and its city lord is at the Path Source Realm! The Lightless City has existed for countless Universal Epoch. My ancestors have been slaves here for generations, and I am still a slave here now."

"Accept your fate. Here, the only way to gain status is to attach yourself to the Lightless Ones."

He paused, a glint of fanaticism flashing deep in his eyes, "Or, become Lightless Ones."

Silence fell over the side cabin.

No one refuted him, and no one agreed with him.

They simply fiddled with their tools in silence.

Suddenly, a loud "BOOM!" was heard.

The girl, who had already started polishing a piece of metal from the wreckage of a transport ship, suddenly twitched her fingers, and the sharp metal edge drew a shallow bloodstain on her fingertip.

But she didn't notice the pain at all; she just subconsciously looked up, her gray-white eyes reflecting the outside world.

That was a scene she had never seen before in her life.

The Ice Thunder Tornado torn apart.

Two incredibly large hands reached in from the outer wall of the tornado.

The skin on those two palms was a deep purple, exhibiting a strange texture that lay between substance and energy.

The two giant hands gripped the wildly spinning, icy-blue lightning on the outer wall of the tornado, and then suddenly tore it apart.

Boom!

The ice and lightning storms on the outer wall of the tornado, powerful enough to tear even a Constant Source Realm expert to shreds, were easily ripped apart like paper by the two giant hands.

Countless icy blue lightning bolts lashed out at the ten fingers, each bolt as thick as a mountain, and the electric shocks that exploded upon striking the fingers were enough to illuminate half of the void.

But those two giant hands didn't even tremble; instead, their fingers gripped even tighter, and the tearing force increased even more.

At that moment, the pale gray patterns on the outer wall of the tornado simultaneously lit up with a dazzling gray light.

Countless sealing circuits emerged from the outer wall of the tornado, attempting to deflect the two giant hands that were tearing the tornado apart.

The point where the seal made contact with the giant hand erupted with an extremely dazzling light. Gray and deep purple clashed wildly in the void, and each collision created visible spatial cracks on the outer wall of the tornado.

But these seals only lasted for less than three breaths.

As the two giant hands exerted their force again, the gray sealing circuits shattered one by one like broken strings, and fragments of the Great Dao gushed out from the fractures, shooting in all directions and leaving dense gray trails in the void.

Then, the Ice Thunder Tornado, the moving wonder ranked twenty-ninth among the known Cosmic Sea Wonder, was torn open by two enormous hands that blotted out the sky, creating a huge rift!

The crack extended from the top of the tornado all the way to the middle. At the edge of the crack, the torn ice-blue lightning was still jumping and struggling wildly, but each jump was forcibly suppressed by the aura of the Great Dao emanating from the two giant hands, and in the end, it could only turn into countless tiny arcs of electricity and dissipate helplessly in the void.

The silver-gray ice crystal fragments, which had been swept up by the tornado and weighed down by countless Universal Epoch, fell from the crack like snowflakes that had lost their pull, scattering into a shimmering mist in the Black Mist Sea.

Inside the abandoned side compartment, a deathly silence fell.