After the four got out of the car, they kept the same formation as before, with Elder Qin leading the way.
It was a deserted beach. Ye Wudao looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Only when he followed Elder Qin into the mountains by the sea did he sense that something was wrong.
At the edge of the mountains, several people carrying guns suddenly rushed out.
They wore special-operations uniforms and combat helmets, their faces completely obscured.
"Who goes there?"
One of them raised his gun and slowly approached the four.
"First Prison. Qin Tianlong, leading a team into the Rift!" Elder Qin said slowly.
Ye Wudao looked at Elder Qin in surprise. This was the first time he had learned Elder Qin's full name.
Qin Tianlong. What a domineering name!
"Password!" The person facing them looked over all four of them and said in a low voice.
"Silent Night! Listen to the Wind!" Elder Qin answered slowly.
The next second, the people surrounding them scattered in every direction, as if nothing had happened.
After they had all dispersed, Ye Wudao looked around. He couldn't tell where they were hiding.
Elder Qin didn't look around. He simply led the team onward.
Ye Wudao had no idea how long they'd been walking. He only noticed that the team was moving faster and faster.
Moving through this dense forest and avoiding the thorns took a great deal of energy.
Although he had begun his journey on the Martial Path, he was still only an ordinary person. He hadn't yet reached the Body Forging Realm.
Gradually, he started falling behind.
Hu Lianfeng noticed Ye Wudao lagging, too. He stopped, came up behind him, and grabbed him by the collar.
The next second, Ye Wudao felt his steps grow much lighter, as if he were flying.
He looked at Hu Lianfeng and said softly, "Thank you, Master!"
Hu Lianfeng shook his head and said quietly, "Don't talk!"
Ye Wudao promptly shut his mouth and ran ahead, relying on Hu Lianfeng's strength.
A few minutes later, the view suddenly opened up.
Looking closely, it seemed they had reached a cliff. From here, they could still see the sea in the distance.
At the clearing by the cliff, Hu Lianfeng let go of Ye Wudao's collar and slowly walked toward the edge.
Ye Wudao followed behind him, curious about everything around them.
Suddenly, Hu Lianfeng reached the cliff's edge and leaped straight off.
His move gave Ye Wudao a terrible fright.
Right after him, Zhang Hankuang also jumped off the cliff.
Hu Lianfeng glanced at Ye Wudao and said quietly, "I'm going down first. Follow close behind!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed toward the edge and jumped.
Ye Wudao froze for a moment, then hurried to the cliff's edge.
When he reached it, he stared down in shock.
There was no bottomless abyss below. Instead, there was a black opening.
It looked as if it had grown right out of space itself, about as large as a cargo truck, with countless tiny fissures around it.
At the very center of the opening glowed a ball of purple light.
"Is this the Rift?"
Ye Wudao pressed his lips together and murmured softly.
He watched from the edge for a moment, gritted his teeth, and leaped down.
"Whoosh..."
The sea wind roared past his ears as he watched himself draw closer and closer to the enormous Rift.
A second later, the Rift swallowed him.
Then a powerful wave of dizziness struck, and Ye Wudao had to close his eyes.
He could feel his body spinning, some force dragging him down.
"All right! Open your eyes! We're here!"
Once the pulling force vanished, Hu Lianfeng's voice sounded beside him.
Ye Wudao opened his eyes and looked at the darkness around them. "Master, what was that just now?"
"It was nothing, just a spatial rift. It's also the entrance from Blue Star into the Rift World," Hu Lianfeng explained.
Ye Wudao pursed his lips and looked around curiously. "So this is the Rift World? It feels no different from Blue Star!"
He was standing in an open grassy area.
Just like Blue Star, it was nighttime here, and everything was pitch-black.
But about a hundred meters away, he could see a camp, with figures moving around inside.
He looked up at the sky. There didn't seem to be a moon here, and not a trace of moonlight shone through the darkness.
The only source of light came from the camp in the distance.
Elder Qin glanced toward the camp and said quietly, "Let's collect our weapons from the outpost first, then head to the canyon."
With that, he turned and started toward the camp.
Ye Wudao followed behind the group, curious about everything around him.
Walking behind Hu Lianfeng, he asked in a low voice, "Master, is that camp an outpost for Blue Star?"
"Then why did we land here when we came from Blue Star, instead of landing right inside the outpost? Why not build the outpost where people arrive?"
"If there were monsters where we landed, wouldn't we be doomed?"
Hu Lianfeng nodded. "This is the Sea City outpost. There are plenty of spatial rifts like the one we entered on Blue Star."
"Every time people enter through a spatial rift, they land in a different place. Usually, it's somewhere within a hundred meters of this open area."
"To keep newcomers from crowding into other people or crashing into their weapons and causing injuries, the outpost is located over a hundred meters from the landing area."
"As for monsters, don't worry. The ones near the outpost were cleared out long ago."
"People patrol the area around the outpost every day. Monsters almost never show up."
Ye Wudao nodded and followed the other three toward the camp.
He didn't see any of the sentries hidden in the darkness near the camp.
The people hidden in Blue Star's forest seemed to be there only to stop others from entering the area around the cliff.
When they reached the camp entrance, a searchlight from the watchtower swept over them.
But it only shone on them briefly before moving away.
He turned to Hu Lianfeng again and asked, "Master, why isn't the security here as strict as it is on Blue Star?"
Hu Lianfeng smiled. "Everyone who comes to the Rift World is here to kill monsters."
"As long as the guards at the outpost see that whoever's entering the camp isn't a monster, they generally don't interfere."
"The hidden sentries on Blue Star are there to keep unauthorized people away from the cliff and stop monsters from crawling through the rifts into Blue Star."
"So the security forces on Blue Star are much stronger than they are here."
The four continued forward, and Ye Wudao began looking around the camp.
Tents of all sizes lined both sides of the camp, with a road about ten meters wide running between them.
There were plenty of people in the camp. They carried all sorts of weapons and moved between the tents.
After walking for a while, Elder Qin and Zhang Hankuang continued ahead, but Hu Lianfeng stopped.
Ye Wudao nearly walked straight into his back. He looked at Hu Lianfeng in confusion and asked, "Master, what's wrong?"
Hu Lianfeng glanced at the tent on his left and said quietly, "I need to register you as a Demon Slayer Guard. Otherwise, you won't get any rewards for killing monsters."
"You also need to be a Demon Slayer Guard before you can rent weapons from the Weaponry."
"Come with me. We'll catch up with Elder Qin and the others afterward."
Ye Wudao pursed his lips and asked, "What's a Demon Slayer Guard?"
Hu Lianfeng replied, "You can think of it as a status—the status you need to move around the Rift World, and the status required to claim rewards."
"If you kill enough monsters and earn enough merit, you could even throw your weight around on Blue Star."
"Top-tier Demon Slayer Guards stand above the Blue Star Federation."
"Otherwise, do you think the prison guards would be so polite to us?"
"Although we're prisoners, we're also Demon Slayer Guards. We're simply serving our sentences and aren't free to move around outside."
"Of course, if you kill enough monsters, none of those problems will matter."
"You could even get a new identity and become a federal congressman, provided you're capable enough."
Ye Wudao nodded and followed Hu Lianfeng toward the gray tent on the left.
Before you continue