The canyon ran deep, and the light grew ever dimmer. The old man, named Li Yan, was the chief of this feeble remnant tribe. With faltering steps, he led Han Li toward the forbidden ground in the deepest part of their settlement.
After they rounded a narrow bend, the view suddenly opened onto a natural cavern several dozen zhang across. Black stone stalactites hung from its ceiling, dripping dark red slime. The floor was uneven, and at its center stood a broken circular platform three zhang in diameter, constructed from dark silver metal and strange crystals-an Ancient Teleportation Array.
Most of the platform's runes had blurred or broken, covered and corroded by a pitch-black, viscous substance that slowly writhed. Contaminated metal fragments lay scattered around it. Dense fiendish energy filled the cavern, cold, rotten, and steeped in malice, chilling them to the bone. The resonance of the Primordial Magnetic Demon-Sealing Seal within Han Li came from the array's core.
"Void-eroding yin fiend." Han Li recognized the black substance at a glance. It could corrode matter, befoul spiritual power, and distort space, making it exceedingly troublesome.
Li Yan stood at the entrance, not daring to advance, his face thick with fear. "Your discernment is remarkable, Senior. That is precisely what it is. Our ancestors left instructions that we must not approach unless our tribe faced extinction."
Han Li took several steps forward and stopped about a zhang from the platform. He cautiously extended his spiritual sense to examine the platform and fiendish energy, while activating the source power of the Primordial Magnetic Demon-Sealing Seal to strengthen their resonance.
The instant his spiritual sense touched the runes at the platform's core-
"Kreee-!!!"
A shrill, agonized screech erupted from deep within the black substance! It seethed and churned, suddenly thrusting out several black