The Camp

"Such heavy death energy..." Su Muxue's face turned pale.

Chen Feng felt the same palpitations, his amputated arm throbbing with a dull ache.

Only Lin Ye remained calm, a trace of imperceptible... adaptation flickering in the depths of his eyes.

"Follow the map's markings, stick to the edges as much as possible, and bypass the central area," Lin Ye said in a low voice, stepping into the gray-white plain first.

The ground crunched beneath their feet, like walking on withered snow, each step kicking up a cloud of gray-white bone dust.

After walking for about an hour, a relatively dense area of bone piles appeared ahead. Countless bones of various shapes were stacked together, forming mounds of skeletons.

"Go around it," Lin Ye said without hesitation, intending to bypass it from the side.

"Wooo--!"

A low roar erupted from the depths of the bone mounds ahead.

Immediately following, the gray death energy in that area surged violently, and a skeletal giant, pieced together from countless pale bones, suddenly stood up from the mounds, gripping a massive bone club in its hand!

"Clack! Clack!"

The skeletal giant took heavy strides, walking toward the three of them.

Its ghostly green eye sockets locked onto them, its soul fire flickering frantically.

As it appeared, the wraith shadows drifting among the surrounding bone mounds were summoned, shrieking as they lunged toward the trio!

"It's a Skeleton Guard! A fierce creature condensed from countless grievances and the baleful energy of the battlefield!" Su Muxue's expression changed abruptly.

Lin Ye's eyes were cold; he stepped forward, blocking the path in front of the other two.

He closed his eyes, sinking his mind into his dantian to communicate with that strange seed.

An invisible force field exploded outward with Lin Ye at its center, instantly shrouding a ten-zhang radius!

The moment the force field appeared, the wraiths rushing in like a tide let out shrill screams, their momentum coming to a grinding halt as they twisted frantically at the edge of the field, not daring to approach a single step further.

Even the skeletal giant's movements faltered the moment it stepped into the field.

"Now!"

Lin Ye snapped his eyes open, his figure moving like a ghost, crossing several zhang in an instant to appear before the skeletal giant.

The Star-Shattering Sword transformed into a thin, dark golden line, thrusting straight into the cluster of ghostly green soul fire in the giant's chest!

Fast, accurate, and ruthless!

The skeletal giant sensed a fatal threat, its massive bone club swinging toward Lin Ye with the force of ten thousand jun! The soul fire in its eye sockets flared, attempting to assault Lin Ye's mind with overwhelming grievance.

"Sshhh--!"

The dark golden sword light pierced into the core of the soul fire without obstruction!

"ROAR--!!!"

The skeletal giant let out a roar of unwillingness, its massive skeletal frame trembling violently before the soul fire in its eye sockets extinguished completely.

"Boom!"

The skeletal giant collapsed, turning into countless scattered bones that buried themselves in the gray-white bone dust. The wraith shadows, having lost their controller, let out a shriek and slowly dissipated.

Lin Ye stood with his sword sheathed, his face slightly pale.

Su Muxue and Chen Feng watched this scene, speechless for a long time.

Lin Ye glanced calmly at the withered bones covering the ground and turned around, saying, "Let's go. The commotion just now might attract other things."

During the journey that followed, they encountered several more attacks. There were Bone Worms that suddenly burrowed out from the ground, strange birds circling in the sky, and they even accidentally wandered into a remnant formation of the Ancient Battlefield, triggering lingering killing restrictions.

Every time, Lin Ye used that strange force field combined with precise swordsmanship to resolve the crises one by one.

His fighting style became increasingly concise, as if he had transformed into a precise killing machine.

Su Muxue and Chen Feng went from initial shock to gradual numbness. They followed silently behind Lin Ye, cleaning up any stragglers while seizing every moment to recover.

Three days later.

They finally arrived at the northern edge of the Bone Plain. The ground was no longer flat, and rolling hills began to appear.

On the map scroll, this area was marked as the Blood Fiend Hills.

And at the edge of their vision, where the lead-gray sky met the dark red earth, the silhouette of a massive tower reaching toward the heavens was vaguely visible.

Tongtian Tower.

The final goal of their journey, the only hope of leaving this dead zone, was right ahead.

But there was not a hint of joy on the faces of Lin Ye and his companions.

Standing before the road leading to the Blood Fiend Hills was a camp.

Around the camp, black flags painted with skull patterns were planted everywhere.

Figures moved within the camp, their auras identical to the assassins who had been hunting them.

Blood Fiend Hall had established a stronghold here.

Lin Ye and the other two lurked behind a massive boulder, observing the encampment from afar.

The camp was not large, capable of holding about a hundred people, with walls built from dark red rocks and only a single, crude gate. A thin layer of dark red blood mist hung over the camp, clearly indicating the presence of a formation barrier.

Inside the camp, figures could be seen moving about. Most of their auras were at the middle to late stages of the True Qi Realm, with a few individuals emitting fluctuations of the True Qi Realm peak.

"At least thirty people, all at the middle stage of the True Qi Realm or higher. There might be Hua Yuan Realm experts stationed in those stone houses at the center of the camp," Su Muxue whispered.

Chen Feng's expression turned grim. "They're blocking the way here; how are we supposed to get past?"

Lin Ye looked at the map. The Blood Fiend Hills had complex terrain and were the only way to reach the Tongtian Tower, but there wasn't just one path.

The map marked several small trails that could bypass the front of the camp, though they were fraught with danger at every turn.

"We cannot force our way through, nor can we wait for long." Lin Ye's gaze was cold as he stared at the camp. "We must find a way to get past and figure out their purpose for guarding this spot."

"You want to sneak in?" Su Muxue immediately guessed his intention, her beautiful eyes flashing with worry. "That's too dangerous! The camp has a barrier, and there are Hua Yuan Realm experts..."

"I will go. You two stay here and remain hidden, then wait for my signal." Lin Ye's tone was beyond reproach as he took the box containing the Earth Vein Crystal from his robes and handed it to Su Muxue. "If I haven't returned by dawn, or if the camp falls into chaos, leave immediately. Follow the other path on the map to bypass this area, and do not turn back to look for me."

"Brother Lin!" Chen Feng urged anxiously.

"This is an order." Lin Ye glanced at him, his expression filled with an unyielding resolve. "Protect her. If I don't come back, you two must find your own way to survive."