Ancient Desolation, a Path Against Fate—Leaving the Beginner's Village

Under the shroud of night, the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land resembled a sinister prison, and everyone endured in anxious torment.

In the middle of the night, Sacred Body Elder Brother in the abyss began his routine. First, he dragged his chains around to stretch his body. Then he gave the illegally parked Bronze Coffin a series of loud blows. After that, he opened the small coffin inside, stuffed in a red envelope for his little brother, and finally tossed it out his front door.

This whole sequence left everyone trembling in fear. Only in the latter half of the night did things gradually quiet down, with no more sounds coming from the abyss. Exhausted and terrified, everyone drifted into an uneasy sleep.

The next day, the sun had already climbed high into the sky. Golden sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves and fell upon the group, finally waking them from their troubled dreams.

Dragging their weary bodies, everyone came to a babbling stream, washed up briefly, picked some wild fruit to fill their stomachs, and then continued onward.

However, just as expected, Liu Yunzhi and Li Changqing started causing trouble again. But this time, after noticing their little schemes, Lin Yu casually crushed them as easily as squashing two ants.

By afternoon, as they continued onward, the faint roars of beasts reached their ears. Everyone was delighted, realizing that they were about to leave the terrifying Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

When they crossed another mountain peak, the scene before them instantly came alive. Birds soared joyfully through the sky, birdsong and beastly roars echoed all around, and lush plants flourished everywhere. The previous deathly stillness was nowhere to be seen.

"There's a rabbit over there!" someone shouted excitedly.

"And a badger!" another voice immediately followed.

At the sight of these wild animals, quite a few people nearly began drooling. They had eaten nothing but wild fruit for so long that their mouths felt unbearably bland.

"Huh, there are words on that cliff face!"

At that moment, someone spotted a cliff ahead, upon which several enormous ancient characters had been carved.

Everyone had already seen the first three ancient characters: "Desolate Ancient Forbidden." The fourth had finally been confirmed as well. It was indeed "Land."

"Why are we seeing these four characters again? Could it be that we never left the forbidden land at all?"

Someone asked in confusion.

"No, quite the opposite. This proves that we have already come out. This should be the border region of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land. We've finally escaped safely," someone analyzed.

"Let's rest here for a while. I'm sure we'll find signs of human habitation soon," someone suggested.

"Why do I feel like my body is heating up...?"

A female classmate, her face flushed, spoke somewhat embarrassedly to another female classmate beside her.

"I feel the same way," the other girl replied.

At that moment, everyone noticed the abnormalities in one another's bodies. Their skin had turned a terrifying red, as if blood might drip from it at any moment. Every person felt unbearably hot, as though a raging fire burned within their body.

This was definitely not caused by the heat of the weather. Something serious had happened to their bodies. The burning pain in their flesh and skin grew worse, as though they had been thrown into an oven to roast. The agony was unbearable.

Everyone realized the gravity of the situation. At that moment, no one could remain standing steadily. Nearly all of them collapsed to the ground, letting out agonized howls. They felt as though their flesh and blood were being stripped away, while pain like blades cutting through them wracked their entire bodies.

In the end, a layer of blood aura swirled around everyone's bodies, as though crimson flames were burning. Violent struggles and anguished cries turned the once-peaceful mountain region into a clamor, startling the nearby birds and beasts into fleeing in all directions.

Pain clung to them like a shadow. It was torture so unbearable that they wished they were dead, and one after another, they fainted amid the searing agony.

Lin Yu had no solution either. Although the power of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land reduced one's lifespan, it could also alter one's innate aptitude. Otherwise, opening the Sea of Bitterness alone would have blocked ninety percent of people.

He could only rely on the golden little figure within his Sea of Consciousness to barely remain awake amid the inhuman pain, while inwardly thanking the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land for dropping a "Job Change Card."

After the ordeal, Lin Yu, having eaten two Divine Fruits, not only suffered no harm but actually became somewhat younger than before.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo were the same, both becoming younger as well.

Liu Yiyi, on the other hand, had not changed at all. She remained as delicate and frail-looking as ever, her eyes tightly shut, appearing pitifully vulnerable.

Zhang Ziling had become a handsome middle-aged man.

As for all the other classmates, it was as if they had been mercilessly lashed by time itself. They had suddenly aged more than forty years.

These young men and women, who had graduated only three years ago, had now all become old men and old women. Regardless of gender, their skin was wrinkled and they looked incomparably aged. As the saying went, "Beauty fades in the blink of an eye." Such a transformation was truly terrifying.

As time passed, Ye Fan and Pang Bo were the first to awaken. Seeing the changes in themselves, they could not help but be shocked.

"Daoist Lin, what exactly happened?" Pang Bo cried out in terror.

"Don't worry. Most likely, the power of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land stole their lifespans. If we find an opportunity to cultivate later, it should be possible to make up for it," Lin Yu said.

"Perhaps it's because we ate the sacred fruit. Not only did we not grow old, we actually became younger," Ye Fan quickly judged, also figuring out why the three of them had not aged.

The three who had eaten the fruit looked at their unconscious old classmates with complicated feelings. After a while, everyone awoke one after another. Instantly, miserable cries rang out all around, chilling to hear, while sobs rose and fell without end.

"Why have I become like this?" Zhou Yi stood trembling, staring at his white hair. In an incomparably aged voice, he roared, "Why?"

Beside him, Wang Ziwen trembled as he checked his body. His eyes were clouded, the bags beneath them as large as pigeon eggs, and he looked extremely aged. He said in a shaking voice, "I don't believe it..."

"Ah..." Lin Jia screamed, nearly breaking down. As a beautiful woman, losing her appearance was more painful to her than being killed.

Not far away, Li Xiaoman was the same, so distraught that she wished she could kill herself immediately. The face she had once been proud of was now dull, wrinkled, and sagging, plunging her into the abyss of despair.

"Why is this happening? Why haven't you changed? Why have you become even younger instead?"

Lin Jia stopped crying and looked at Lin Yu and the others with eyes full of confusion.

"Perhaps it was because we ate a kind of fruit on the mountain," Ye Fan said after hesitating for a moment.

"Ah!" Many people began trembling uncontrollably upon hearing this. For a moment, they had no idea whether they should keep moving forward or return to the mountain to pick the fruit.

Just then, a streak of multicolored light suddenly appeared on the horizon. Like a rainbow spanning the heavens, it cut across the sky and stood out strikingly against the dim firmament.

Within the multicolored light, a human figure could vaguely be seen.

The rainbow-like streak turned and flew toward them. As the colored light drew near, everyone saw clearly that it was a woman.

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