Inside the shipyard of the Watchkeep, the pale golden flames of forging burned for seven days. When the last piece of Fallen Star Iron decking was personally inlaid into the hull by the Chief Tongchui, the " Abyss Exploration Ship " finally revealed its full form—the ship was thirty meters long, its hull forged from a mixture of Fallen Star Iron and Qilin ice-fire crystal, gleaming with a silvery-white and gold-red luster; the bow was carved with a relief of a winged Fire Qilin, its eye sockets inlaid with Holy Spring Crystal, capable of automatically recognizing Evil Energy fluctuations; the sides of the hull were engraved with elven runes, the rune chains connecting to the " Nature Navigation Sail " at the stern, the sail woven with " Evil-Resisting Vine " cultivated by druids, the emerald green vines spreading along the sail ropes, swaying gently in the wind.
"Trial voyage successful! All systems functioning normally!" Lei Lin leaped from the bridge, sparks still clinging to his Firewing from the test. "The power provided by the Ice-Fire Crystal can withstand the miasma's corrosive effects, and the Holy Spring Crystal's early warning range covers a hundred feet, allowing us to detect even Shadow-Erosion Beast in advance!"
Loran walked onto the bridge, his fingertips tracing the runes on the control panel— the Purification Core clone was embedded in the ship's core, pale purple light spreading along the pipes throughout the entire vessel, resonating with the elven runes and ice-fire crystals. " Elder Cangxuan, I entrust the fortress to you. If we do not receive news within thirty days, immediately reinforce the Evil Power Confinement Dome; we must not allow the power of the Evil Energy Hive to overflow."
Elder Cangxuan handed over a two-colored crystal, connected to the primal power of Lei Lin and Snow Spirit Qilin: "This is the ' Ice-Fire Communication Crystal,' capable of transmitting messages through miasma. If you encounter an insurmountable crisis, crush the crystal, Qilin Clan will immediately send reinforcements."
As dawn broke, the exploration ship slowly departed from the Watchkeep, heading deeper into the Rotting Soul Abyss Rift. The Nature Navigation Sail at the stern unfurled in the wind, the emerald light of the Evil-Resisting Vine intertwining with the ship's silvery-white glow, carving a path through the black mist. Liya lay on the ship's side, the pages of the Illustrated Catalog of Plants * turning automatically. Emerald light spread along the ship's hull, forming a thin, natural barrier around them. "The Atlas can sense the energy flow within the miasma, preventing temporary disorientation. But further ahead lies the Wuwang Miasma Belt, where space is distorted, even interfering with the senses of plants."
A Ze, leading three Water Whisperer, guarded the " Soul-Purifying Water Chamber" at the ship's hull. Pale blue water elemental energy flowed through pipes into the ship's runes. "We've transformed the Soul-Purifying Water into ' Water-Ripple Navigation Line.' Even if space is distorted, the water ripples can follow the abyss's dark currents to the bottom. However..." He frowned slightly, gazing at the thickening black mist outside the chamber, " The Evil Energy in the miasma is absorbing the water ripples; it probably won't last much longer."
The moment the exploration ship entered the Wuwang Miasma Belt, the world suddenly darkened. The once clearly visible abyssal rock walls vanished, leaving only swirling, gray-black miasma all around. From within the miasma came faint whispers, like countless people murmuring in one's ear. The Holy Spring Crystal at the bow suddenly glowed red, and warning runes flashed frantically, yet the source of the Evil Energy could not be found—the spatial distortion had completely distorted perception.
"Oh no! The vines on the navigation sail are withering!" Liya suddenly shouted. Everyone looked up and saw that the Evil-Resisting Vine on the Nature Navigation Sail were losing their green color at a visible speed, with black lines appearing at the edges of the vines, and even the elven runes on the sail surface were beginning to flicker. The ship suddenly shook violently, as if it had crashed into an invisible barrier. Loran grabbed the control panel and found that the compass on the bridge was spinning wildly, and the needle could not be fixed at all.
"It's a spatial distortion! We're trapped in a warped space by miasma!" Snow Spirit Qilin's ice talisman glowed with a pale white light, but it could only illuminate a ten-meter radius around her. "The ice talisman's senses are being interfered with; it can't find the direction of the Evil Energy Hive, and... it can't even distinguish the top from the bottom of the abyss!"
The Icefield Wolf suddenly growled at the miasma on its left, its golden eyes filled with vigilance. Just as Loran was about to order a defensive stance, several jet-black bone claws suddenly emerged from the miasma, gripping the ship's railings. Immediately afterward, a dozen " Miasma Evil Puppet," formed from fragments of Evil Bone and miasma, leaped onto the deck! These puppets had no fixed form; the fragments of Evil Bone constantly reassembled within the miasma, some transforming into giant fists with bone spikes, others condensing into sharp bone blades. Each attack was imbued with intense Evil Energy, instantly causing black streaks to appear on the deck upon contact.
"They're absorbing the ship's Purification Power!" The Chief Tongchui raised his warhammer, the Holy Iron smashing into a puppet. The puppet shattered into fragments, but they quickly coalesced in the miasma, growing even larger. "Physical attacks are useless! We must use the power of origin to purify!"
Lei Lin immediately flapped his fire wings, and golden-red flames condensed into a wall of fire on the deck, scorching the miasma and visibly slowing the puppet's movements. Snow Spirit Qilin seized the opportunity to spew out icy mist, the shimmering white light freezing the puppet in place, the intertwined light of ice and fire causing the fragments of the Evil Bone to begin to disintegrate. " Loran! Use the power of the Purification Core! Only the Three-Element Source can completely dispel the miasma!"
Loran leaped to the center of the deck, the pale purple light of the Purification Core clone erupting around him. The power of the three elements spread along the ground, merging with Lei Lin's flames and Snow Spirit Qilin's icy mist. Pale white, golden red, and shimmering white light swept across the deck, the Miasma Evil Puppet emitted piercing screech, the fragments of Evil Bone turned to ashes in the light, and the miasma was purified into white mist, slowly dissipating.
Just as they finished clearing the puppets, the exploration ship suddenly shook violently again, and a crack appeared out of nowhere on the starboard deck—space distortion was tearing the ship apart! Liya suddenly shouted, "The Illustrated Catalog of Plants is reacting! There's ancient energy deep within the miasma!" She pressed the atlas against the runes on the bridge; the pages glowed with emerald light, tracing a faint trail of light through the miasma. "At the end of that trail, something is attracting the power of nature—it might be an ancient ruin!"
"Follow the light trail! Perhaps the ruins can help us break through the miasma!" Loran immediately adjusted the course, and the exploration ship headed towards the end of the light trail. The closer they got to the end of the light trail, the brighter the Holy Spring Crystal on the bow became, and the originally chaotic Evil Energy fluctuations gradually became regular, as if guided by some kind of force.
Half an hour later, an ancient ruin half-buried in miasma appeared before them—the ruin was built of silver-white Qilin stone, and although it was mostly covered by fragments of Evil Bone, it was still possible to tell that it was a small altar. In the center of the altar stood a three-meter-high stone slab, the surface of which was engraved with runes of the same origin as the " Abyss Chronicles ", and at the top was a broken Ice-Fire Crystal, which emitted a faint light, the source of energy that attracted the Liya Catalogue.
"It's the ancient Qilin's 'Navigation Altar'!" Snow Spirit Qilin's ice talisman suddenly flew to the stone slab, its shimmering white light resonating with the Ice-Fire Crystal, causing the runes on the stone slab to glow. "Our ancestors foresaw that someone would venture into the abyss and left behind a method to break through the Wuwang Miasma Belt!"
Liya strode forward, aligning the runes of the " Illustrated Catalog of Plants " with the stone tablet. Translations automatically appeared on the pages. "The miasma of the Unknown, break it with ' Three-Element Resonance' —purification as the foundation, ice and fire as the guide, nature as the path. Infuse the stone tablet with the Three-Element Source to activate the ancient navigation array, guiding you to the location of the Evil Energy Hive."