Just as she rushed into the passage, the sky behind her instantly closed, shutting everything out.
She found herself in an oval-shaped cavity, delving deeper and deeper.
There was no light, only the glow emanating from her own body.
’Hey, Boss, are you still there?’ She felt a bit scared and whispered softly in her mind.
’Shut up, keep moving forward!’ Zhang Rongfang’s voice quickly replied.
His current state seemed rather peculiar.
In reality, his true body hadn’t completely entered the white-scaled body, but merely a small part had been sent in. Roughly equivalent to one-fifth of his flesh.
After all, it’s like not putting all eggs in one basket, but unexpectedly, this attempt had succeeded in one go.
’Did we just go out like this? Without any preparation? Just went out?’ After the excitement, Bai Lin suddenly felt a bit at a loss.
Over the years, she had become accustomed to relying on Zhang Rongfang, so facing the unknown now, she instinctively sought the boss for guidance.
’It’s fine, with me here, you won’t die,’ Zhang Rongfang remarked calmly, observing the surroundings carefully.
This dome was evidently very solid.
They had been flying for at least half a minute now, traveling at a speed of about ten meters per second.
Yet they still hadn’t broken through the dome.
’Alright....’ Bai Lin pushed down the unease in her heart and accelerated her flight forward.
Time passed unwittingly.
Suddenly, there was a light sound.
Bai Lin felt her mind go blank ahead, as if she had dashed into an extremely empty place.
Her vision blurred for a moment.
Her body had already flown out of the black-lined dome.
Outside the dome.
Within the earth, at the bottom of a dark crevice.
A gigantic white one-eyed python rushed out from the space distortion, flying straight out of the crevice.
Oddly, when the python first emerged, it was at least several hundred meters long and dozens of meters thick.
But swiftly, as the flying distance extended, its body began to rapidly shrink.
Within just a few breaths.
This several-hundred-meter-long python shrank into a white-skirted woman about one meter sixty tall.
Bang.
The woman fell to the ground at the edge of the crevice, still crawling, arms stretched forward mimicking a swimming pose, her graceful figure writhing and twisting.
She evidently still thought she was in the serpent form.
’Get up, you fool!’ Zhang Rongfang could hardly watch.
If not for the scarcity of trustworthy and communicable gods and spirits, he wouldn’t have chosen this fool to explore the path.
’Can you stop always calling me names? I’m not stupid, my divine lord used to say I was very smart!’ Bai Lin protested displeased.
Zhang Rongfang couldn’t be bothered with her and began trying to separate himself from Bai Lin’s body.
But then trouble arose.
His body had solidified in the Spiritual Line state, seemingly unable to freely switch anymore!
’What’s going on!?’
Zhang Rongfang couldn’t comprehend it, his abilities theoretically shouldn’t be related to any gods or spirits.
’Why do I feel a headache?’ Bai Lin also voiced her concern at this moment.
’Not right! The daylight!’ Zhang Rongfang suddenly reacted. ’Quickly find a place to hide! Don’t let the light touch you!’
Bai Lin similarly realized, no longer trying to stand, she immediately used her hands and feet and made a quick dash toward a black mud hill nearby.
Boom!!
A loud crash.
She crash-landed into a vast expanse of black mud.
Creating a hole at the hill’s base.
Creating a hole where there was none.
Hiding in the large patch of muddy sludge, Bai Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Only then did she have the space to check her body.
In just that brief time, her skin beneath her dress had already started to show patches of purple bruises.
’I feel like my skin is permanently damaged. I might need to shed to heal properly.’ She worriedly expressed in her mind. ’Was exposed to the light for just a few seconds... Isn’t this too exaggerated?!’
’This outside environment is very strange. I might not be able to leave your body for now.’ Zhang Rongfang said in a serious tone. ’My power strengthening on you has also weakened significantly. I can only assist with injury treatment or provide simple enhancements in speed or strength.’
Since coming out, he clearly felt that everything outside was different.
That dome seemed not only a barrier of protection but also had some other role.
’What should we do then!?’ Bai Lin grew anxious upon hearing these words.
’What are you afraid of! You first help me investigate the situation outside, in no time, I’ll be able to bring my true body out!’ Zhang Rongfang reassured.
’Wait!! Boss, your true body isn’t out yet!? Didn’t you enter my stomach???’ Bai Lin suddenly felt an ominous sensation arise in her heart.
’Oh, I did enter your stomach, but only a small part of my body. Most of my true body is still inside the dome.’ Zhang Rongfang replied naturally.
This statement was like a thunderbolt, instantly shattering the faint sense of security that had always been in Bai Lin’s heart.
’What are you scared of! Stay hidden first, then observe what’s going on outside.’ Zhang Rongfang continually attempted to restore his own body, but it was futile.
’My Spiritual Line can’t be released either.’ At this moment, Bai Lin felt like crying without tears, feeling deceived by the boss once again.
’So this is the rule here,’ Zhang Rongfang understood.
The Spiritual Line combined with consciousness seems quite normal within the dome, but once outside, it can’t be released at all; perhaps this is the natural order of the original world.
Within the dome, perhaps it’s a deliberate setup within the interaction zone.
He thought of the old man who managed the fourth level, and what the creature at the bottom had said.
The interaction zone was created to forge the strongest consciousness and spirit.
White Scale slowly crawled out of the pit it had crashed into with Zhang Rongfang in tow, lying in the mud, peering out of the hole.
Outside was blindingly bright, daylight indiscriminately fell from the sky, illuminating everything.
Every single thing was bathed in light, nothing was hidden.
There were no clouds in the sky, only a white sphere occupying most of its expanse.
’So that’s the White Pupil?’ Zhang Rongfang, using White Scale’s senses, saw the gigantic luminous sphere.
It wasn’t dazzling, even quite gentle, but... it always seemed like it was expanding and growing larger.
’What do we do now?’ White Scale asked.
’Wait. This light can’t stay bright forever; we’ll wait for nightfall,’ Zhang Rongfang said gravely.
*
*
*
In the abandoned spire tower.
A group of four quietly scattered in the ground floor hall, waiting for the light outside to fade.
Moon God squatted by the bonfire, looking at the bright light outside the door.
In the end, he joined this group called Wuxin.
Calling it a group was an exaggeration; it felt more like stray dogs scavenging for food and looking for Martial Arts Atlas.
The leader of the group was the man with snow-white eyebrows named Laf.
However, appearance alone did not reveal age among these creatures who crawled out of the interaction zone.
Like Moon God himself, who was over three hundred years old, but looked no more than forty.
After leader Laf, the second in command was the green-haired youth, Rongxin.
Then there was the weakest girl, Zhaoyu Pavilion.
Among the three, Zhaoyu Pavilion had sparred with him once, and she was strong. Though weaker when the Heart-Burning Furnace power was not active, as soon as it ignited, she could overpower him instantly.
If it weren’t for his superior martial arts skills, he might not stand a chance against Zhaoyu Pavilion in a real fight.
And she was the weakest of them all.
"What is this world like? Could you tell me?" Moon God asked Zhaoyu Pavilion, who was sitting by the fire like him, in a soft voice.
This girl was mild-mannered, easy to talk to as long as there was no fighting.
Once a fight started, she seemed to enter a berserk state, striking without restraint.
But she was fine when not fighting.
"Out here, there are many groups like us. We’ve encountered about a dozen over the years," Zhaoyu Pavilion smiled, "There are Evil Spirit Vehicles wandering and the occasional Chana Tower. Add the daylight erosion.
Everyone’s busy finding food; without it, we can only wait to die. That’s about it."
She spoke disjointedly.
But Moon God understood her meaning.
"Are there no ordinary people?" he asked.
"Ordinary people? You mean survivors? Of course, but they’re few. They live in small to large gathering points. They cultivate many underground mushrooms and supposedly raise insects.
But these are a minority, primarily the interaction zones. Find a good interaction zone, and you can thrive for many years."
"Can’t you live peacefully in the interaction zone?" Moon God asked solemnly.
"Peaceful life? Impossible," Rongxin walked up slowly, "To other interaction zones, we’re invaders, and upon contact, they use all their power to try to kill us. Peace is out of the question."
He stood by the wooden window, looking outside.
"If there are any who can live quietly in this world, perhaps it’s only the people of the Eternal Palace."
"What is the Eternal Palace?" Moon God asked. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the name.
"They possess the most Martial Arts Atlas in the world, seeking a way to create the ultimate Heart-Burning Furnace, hoping to escape destruction," Rongxin replied.
"The Eternal Palace is a huge and violent organization, very powerful; they’re the ones resisting the numerous Evil Spirits and Evil Spirit Vehicles that separate from Chana Tower," leader Laf approached with a smile.
"This world is simple and desperate. Survivors, our group, a few loners, Eternal Palace. Everyone’s searching for interaction zones.
Aside from survivors barely scraping by, no other factions can sustain themselves. So they endlessly excavate the interaction zones as meat warehouses."
Laf sighed.
"I guess the entire world, maybe everyone still moving, excluding those inside interaction zones, doesn’t number more than ten thousand on the surface. And that number’s dwindling rapidly.
Because... the daylight grows stronger, and the nights shorter...."
"After all, we’re all going to die. Enjoy life while you can, do whatever you want," Zhaoyu Pavilion chuckled, "Whether it’s looting, murdering, or abusing, as long as you can relax, anything goes."
"Why don’t you return to your interaction zones?" Moon God hesitated for a moment, then asked.
"They’re gone." Zhaoyu Pavilion shrugged, "The leader destroyed the interaction zones for both me and Rongxin; we can’t go back."
"And he..."
"They destroyed mine too. So now we’re homeless," Laf answered with a smile, "I actually intended to kill them, but it’s too hard to find suitable partners outside, so I held back."
Moon God fell silent; he vaguely sensed that the mental states of these three seemed abnormal.