Terror Night, No Passage!

Wang Xiu smugly withdrew his fifth Soul Ring.

He had never considered that those animals were not afraid of him—they were fleeing for their lives.

At that moment, the people of Douluo outside the Sky Screen also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looks like the master was right. Those unidentified wild beasts aren't that strong after all."

"Exactly. The pressure from a Soul Emperor sent them scattering."

"If a Titled Douluo had been chosen to go over, wouldn't they flatten the place in one day and rule it in two? Hahahahaha."

Yu Xiaogang nodded approvingly once more, feeling that his judgment was as sharp as ever.

Yet just as everyone was dismissing it.

The sun completely set.

Night finally descended upon the Great Ruins.

It was not an ordinary night. It surged in like a tide, like thick black ink flooding into this world in an instant.

There was no moonlight, no starlight.

In the span of a single breath, all light around Wang Xiu was completely swallowed.

Even the entire Sky Screen sank into pitch-black darkness where one could not see their own hand.

Within the Sky Screen, Wang Xiu fell into complete panic.

Because it was a darkness so absolute that he could not see his own hand.

Like thick ink, it did not merely block his vision; even breathing seemed to become difficult.

He was a level-sixty-three battle Soul Emperor! An elite painstakingly cultivated by Spirit Hall!

"What kind of damned place is this?! Light up!"

Wang Xiu roared, unable to conceal the terror in his voice.

The Soul Power within him erupted without restraint. The six Soul Rings beneath his feet flashed wildly as he tried to illuminate his surroundings with their glow.

Then came a sight that filled him with despair.

The light of his Soul Rings, which could normally illuminate dozens of meters with ease, was now pressed by the surrounding darkness to less than an inch from his body.

Just then, a faint sound suddenly came from the darkness.

"Crunch..."

"Crunch..."

It sounded like someone chewing brittle bones. It was not loud, but in the terrifyingly silent night, it was especially piercing.

"W-Who's there?!"

"Get the hell out here!"

Wang Xiu was scared out of his wits. His Martial Soul Possession-enhanced leopard claws lashed wildly in every direction.

"Sixth Soul Skill! Shadow Killing Array!"

He released his strongest ten-thousand-year Soul Skill in near hysteria.

Violent Soul Power tore through the air, turning into countless phantom black panthers that charged into the darkness.

Yet they did not even cause a ripple. The Soul Skill that could have destroyed a small hill on Douluo Continent simply vanished without a sound.

Immediately after, a sharp crack rang out from the image, like the sound of some creature's claw instantly crushing a cervical vertebra.

At the same time, Wang Xiu's movements came to an abrupt halt. Before he could even scream, he fell stiffly to the ground.

Then the chewing sounds grew louder, while the blackness on the Sky Screen rapidly receded like a tide.

Soon after, the enormous Sky Screen turned blood-red.

Several lines of large text slowly appeared in the center of the Sky Screen.

[Participant: Wang Xiu (Spirit Hall Guard, level-sixty-three battle Soul Emperor)]

[Current Status: Dead]

[Cause of Death: Encountered the strange horrors of the Great Ruins at night. Left the protection of the ruins and was crushed by an unknown demon monster lurking in the darkness before being devoured.]

When those lines of text were clearly displayed before everyone across the continent.

The entire Douluo Continent fell deathly silent.

Inside Pope Palace, Spirit City.

"How is this possible..."

At that moment, even Bibi Dong, the lofty peerless Douluo, frowned deeply, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

A level-sixty-three Soul Emperor had not even seen the enemy. He had not even put up the most basic defense, yet he had died so cleanly?

Just what level of monster was hidden in the Great Ruins' night?

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?

Or a ferocious beast beyond one hundred thousand years?

Meanwhile, on the training grounds of Shrek Academy.

The smug look on Yu Xiaogang's face instantly froze, and he could no longer say a word.

On the other side, after Dai Mubai read the words on the Sky Screen, he could not help swallowing. His throat felt dry, and even his voice trembled.

"M-Master..."

"Is this still an illusion? That was a Soul Emperor. He just died like that?"

Hearing his student's question, a dense layer of cold sweat seeped across Yu Xiaogang's forehead.

He opened his mouth, trying to explain in a stammer.

"This..."

"Perhaps it was some kind of potent neurotoxin, combined with a visual trick, that made him experience hallucinations before death."

But by the end, even he no longer had any confidence in his own words.

Tang San stood nearby without speaking, merely clenching his fists in silence.

He possessed the Purple Demon Eye, and his senses were far sharper than those of others.

At the exact instant Wang Xiu died, he had distinctly sensed something extraordinary through the Sky Screen.

It was as though something truly existed in the darkness. It was absolutely not something an illusion like the one Yu Xiaogang described could simulate!

Just as the people of Douluo were still drowning in shock.

The large words on the Sky Screen gradually faded away.

The image flashed, and the perspective of the second participant lit up.

This time, the person appearing on the screen was Chen Aniu, the ordinary blacksmith Yu Xiaogang had declared would never survive.

Compared with Wang Xiu's miserable death, Chen Aniu looked rather bedraggled at the moment, with a large wet patch on his crotch, but at least he was still breathing.

On the screen, Chen Aniu was slumped atop a bluestone slab, gasping heavily.

As it turned out, he had been quite lucky. He had been teleported near a small riverside village in the Great Ruins.

At the moment night fell, he had stumbled upon the village entrance by chance.

Four weathered stone statues stood at the entrance.

When darkness surged in like a tide, the four statues suddenly emitted a faint glow. Like an inverted glowing hemisphere, it firmly protected the entire village within.

Chen Aniu had personally seen a terrifying giant beast the size of a small mountain chasing him accidentally crash into the glow at the village entrance. It had been burned into a pile of ash without even managing to scream.

After watching that scene replay, the people of Douluo outside the Sky Screen could not help drawing sharp breaths.

"Even a giant beast as big as a mountain was instantly killed..."

"What level of divine artifact are those four inconspicuous stone statues?"

Meanwhile, within the Sky Screen.

After lying sprawled on the ground for a long time, Chen Aniu finally recovered his senses.

He discovered that there were actually people in the village. Dim yellow lights shone from several homes.

In this strange place, seeing living people felt more precious than seeing his own father.

Chen Aniu hurriedly got up and followed the village's dirt road inward, intending to ask someone about the situation.

After only a few steps, he happened to see a half-grown boy, bare-chested and humming an unfamiliar tune, carrying two buckets of water from the riverbank.

The boy looked only twelve or thirteen, but he was sturdily built. Dressed in rough hemp clothes, he appeared simple and honest.

Chen Aniu thought that, as a blacksmith, he still had plenty of strength.

Since he had arrived in such an unfamiliar and dangerous place, he had to get on the locals' good side first. Helping with a small task could not hurt.

"Little brother!"

Chen Aniu hurried over, piling a fawning smile onto his face.

"You look tired carrying water. It's late at night—let uncle give you a hand!"

As he spoke, Chen Aniu did not wait for the boy to agree. He directly reached for the handle of one of the wooden buckets.

The boy paused, then kindly warned him, "Uncle, don't touch it. This water is very heavy. You won't be able to lift it."

Chen Aniu was somewhat displeased.

He was a strong man who had forged iron for more than ten years. He could swing a heavy iron hammer weighing dozens of pounds without even panting.

How heavy could one little bucket of water be?

"Hey, who are you looking down on? Uncle has plenty of strength!"

As he spoke, Chen Aniu gripped the bucket handle tightly with his right hand and suddenly exerted force. He intended to lift it one-handed and show off his muscles while he was at it.

But the next second, not only did Chen Aniu fail to lift the bucket, he slipped because he had used too much force and crashed heavily to the ground with a thud, face-first in the mud.

"Ow, my poor back!"

Chen Aniu clutched his shoulder and rolled around on the ground in pain.

The bucket tilted along with him. Finally, with a splash, its water spilled all over the ground.

Seeing this, the boy hurriedly set down his carrying pole and ran over to help him up.

"Uncle, are you all right? I told you this bucket was pretty heavy."

"It's made from Iron Wood, a specialty of our Great Ruins. When it's full of water, it weighs over a hundred pounds. The ground is slippery too, so why did you have to push yourself?"

Hearing the boy's words, Chen Aniu's old face reddened.

As a blacksmith, he could naturally lift something weighing over a hundred pounds.

He could only blame himself for being unprepared, and the moss by the river was simply too slippery. He had lost his footing for a moment and made a fool of himself.

"Cough, cough... Uncle just slipped."

Chen Aniu awkwardly patted the mud from his body, taking the excuse offered to him.

Then, led by the boy, Chen Aniu successfully entered the village and met the Village Chief.

The Village Chief leaned on a cane and looked Chen Aniu over from head to toe.

Seeing that he was an outsider with no cultivation whatsoever, he did not make things difficult for him. He merely pointed casually at a dilapidated, empty thatched hut at the end of the village and told him to stay there for the night.

"No one goes out after dark in the Great Ruins. Sleep there tonight, and don't wander around."

The Village Chief gave the instruction in a hoarse voice, then turned and returned to his house.

Chen Aniu thanked him profusely and entered the thatched hut.

The interior was extremely simple. Other than a wooden plank bed covered in dry grass, there was nothing.

But he was already quite satisfied.

Through the broken window, Chen Aniu could see that the four stone statues at the village entrance still emitted a faint glow, firmly keeping the darkness outside at bay.

"Heh heh, looks like I'm pretty lucky."

Chen Aniu lay atop the pile of dry grass and crossed one leg over the other.

At first, he had been quite frightened after being chosen. But now it seemed that as long as one found the right place, this higher-dimensional world was not so terrifying after all.

"Once I spend a full year here and bring back some glowing stones or medicinal herbs, I'll be eating and drinking well for the rest of my life."

The more Chen Aniu thought about it, the happier he became. Gradually, he closed his eyes and began to snore.

The night grew deeper and deeper.

The entire little village fell silent, with only the rustling of wind through the leaves remaining.

Just as Chen Aniu slept soundly.

Two green lanterns suddenly lit up on the old roof beam of the thatched hut.

But on closer inspection, they were not lanterns at all. They were a pair of eyes.

It was an enormous green snake. It made no sound as it silently hung itself down from the beam.

At night in the Great Ruins, the stone statues could keep out the terrifying Demon Gods beyond the village.

But the village itself was within the Great Ruins. The stone statues could do nothing about venomous insects and savage beasts that had long hidden among the trees and abandoned houses inside the village.

The Green Snake flicked its scarlet tongue and slowly approached Chen Aniu's face.