The Edge of Guixu

"Where are we supposed to go?" Chen Feng asked bitterly.

"The way we came is blocked by the insect swarm."

Lin Ye didn't answer. He closed his eyes and sensed the flow of energy in the earth's veins.

"The energy in the earth's veins is relatively stable over there. There may be a passage hidden farther in."

"How do you know?"

"A feeling."

Lin Ye withdrew his gaze and headed straight for the cave wall.

Although everyone was full of questions, they could only grit their teeth and follow.

At the wall, Lin Ye raised a hand and pressed it against the rock. The stone instantly crumbled away, revealing a passage carved by human hands!

"Let's go."

Lin Ye walked ahead at an unhurried pace.

"This passage keeps going uphill," Su Muxue said from behind him.

"Be careful. There may be a fork ahead. We're almost at the Bone-Eroding Forest," he said quietly.

"The Bone-Eroding Forest?" Chen Feng's expression changed at the mention of it.

"Can we go around it?" Su Muxue asked.

"Let's see what it's like first." Lin Ye offered no answer.

Lin Ye stopped at the fork and closed his eyes.

The uphill passage had a stronger current of air, and the air was fresher, but the rotting stench grew ever more intense. He even felt as if something were watching him from the shadows, putting him in danger.

"This way." Lin Ye pointed to the horizontal passage without hesitation.

"Why?" Su Muxue asked, confused.

"The uphill exit lies deep inside the Bone-Eroding Forest. We've already been spotted," Lin Ye said tersely. "This passage leads somewhere else."

After walking for a while, the space ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a vast stone chamber.

At one end of the chamber stood a tightly shut metal gate. Patterns covered its surface, and a circular indentation sat at its center.

"What is this?"

"It looks like an ancient mechanism, or perhaps part of a teleportation array." Su Muxue stepped closer to inspect it.

Lin Ye's gaze settled on the gate. He walked up and ran a hand across its surface.

Did Daoist Xinghe leave this behind? Lin Ye's heart stirred.

He tried injecting a thread of true qi into the patterns on the gate.

"Vmmm—!"

A faint hum sounded from within the metal gate!

"Click... click..."

Gears ground into motion, and the entire stone chamber trembled slightly.

"Can we open it?" Chen Feng asked excitedly.

Su Muxue looked at Lin Ye, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Rumble..."

The heavy metal gate began to slowly swing inward with a deep, thunderous roar.

Beyond the gate was neither the passage nor the exit they had expected.

A dark gray platform floated in the air. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the dark void overhead.

At the center of the platform stood an altar made of black jade. On it was a teleportation array.

"Is this a teleportation array?"

"Daoist Xinghe left behind more than one contingency plan, as expected." Lin Ye walked up to the array and looked at the strange crystal.

"This crystal is the array's energy core."

"This teleportation array is far more advanced than the one in the ruins outside. It's been out of repair for years, but with this crystal, it can still be activated."

"Can it be activated? Where will it take us?"

"The crystal doesn't have much energy left. It's enough for one short-distance teleport, or to reach a preset coordinate." Lin Ye pondered.

As his fingertips brushed over the array's runes, they touched several crucial nodes.

"...Tribulation... approaches... inheritance... a glimmer of life... Edge of Guixu... Ancient Battlefield..."

The information was fragmented and blurry, but it made Lin Ye's heart sink.

The teleportation array Daoist Xinghe had left behind actually pointed to one of those legendary forbidden lands?

"What is it?" Su Muxue noticed Lin Ye's hesitation.

Lin Ye briefly explained the scattered information and his suspicions.

"The Edge of Guixu... The Ancient Battlefield..."

"Sounds no safer than this secret realm."

"At least we'll be leaving this secret realm, which the Blood Fiend Hall has infiltrated."

"If Daoist Xinghe left it as a contingency plan, it should lead to a relatively safe place to regroup."

"We have no other choice," Chen Feng said gravely.

"What do we need to activate the teleportation array?" Su Muxue looked at Lin Ye.

"Enough energy to activate the crystal."

"Guard the gate. Once the array starts up, its energy fluctuations will leak out and could attract trouble."

Lin Ye sat cross-legged in the center of the array, held his hands suspended on either side of the crystal, and slowly channeled his true qi into it.

"Vmmm—!!!"

The altar shook violently! Every rune on the array suddenly lit up with dazzling dark gold light! The light shot into the sky.

It gathered into a dark gold teleportation vortex!

"It worked!"

Lin Ye slowly stopped channeling his qi. He could clearly sense the spatial fluctuations leading to the "Edge of Guixu," but he didn't feel the slightest bit relieved.

"Go!"

He stood up and stepped into the teleportation vortex.

The others followed close behind, their figures quickly swallowed by the vortex.

The sensation of space tearing at them swept over Lin Ye. He clearly saw two vast scenes racing past on either side of the passage.

The power of the stars and the power of the earth's veins were like two enormous millstones grinding against each other. The passage between them was a thin thread that could snap at any moment.

"No wonder the teleportation array Daoist Xinghe left behind leads to the Edge of Guixu," Chen Feng said bitterly.

"Focus! Keep yourselves steady!" Lin Ye reminded them gravely.

At the far end of the passage, a void that swallowed all light appeared.

"Get ready—we're about to come out!" Lin Ye shouted, circulating his true qi to shield himself.

The darkness at the end of the passage rapidly expanded, swallowing the entire passage in an instant.

"Boom—!"

A sudden weightlessness hit them. Their bodies fell as if from a great height, tossed wildly by a twisted force.

Before them lay a desolate wasteland.

The sky was a strange blend of gray and deep purple, with a few hazy stars faintly visible.

The ground consisted of countless broken landmasses floating in the void, everywhere marked by savage scars of battle.

The air seethed with violent spiritual energy, mingled with dense negative energy. Ordinary cultivators couldn't absorb it at all.

After the initial shock and discomfort, the seed inside Lin Ye suddenly began to stir without warning.

Far from being corroded by the violent spiritual energy here, it seemed to have caught the scent of an exquisite tonic, giving off the faintest tremor.

The seed spun madly in his dantian, actively gulping down the dual source energies of the stars and the earth in the air. It even forcibly dragged the surrounding violent negative energy into itself and refined it alongside them.

He could clearly sense the seed's shell growing denser at a visible rate, its inner structure constantly being completed and refined.

"Is everyone all right?" Lin Ye gathered his thoughts and turned to look behind him.

The others were just recovering from their dizziness. When they sensed the spiritual energy in the air, their faces grew even grimmer.

"The spiritual energy here is impossible to absorb!"

"Even worse, the residual wills here pose a huge threat to us."

"We have to find somewhere safe as quickly as possible. We're badly injured, and we won't last long in an environment like this."