In the bright world, atop the razor-edged mountain range, a group of people sped swiftly.
The captain was at the front, followed by Xu Qing, Wu Jianwu, Nether Fairy, Li Youfei, and Ning Yan.
They were separated by hundreds of feet and were each shrouded in thick black fog, unable to see the outside world or perceive each other.
Xu Qing held the lit blue candle and stood in the black fog released by the candle, moving forward vigilantly.
It was fine if the captain didn't remind him about the candle being extinguished, but with this reminder, Xu Qing couldn't help but recall his past experiences.
Hence, the cultivation base in his body instinctively circulated. At this moment, Xu Qing had automatically ignored the agreement that he couldn't use Red Moon's authority.
Not only did the authority of the Red Moon surge through his entire body, but Xu Qing also spread out the Poison Restriction and surrounded his body.
There was also the morning glow flowing around him.
He was already prepared for accidents that could happen at any time.
At this moment, Ling'er, who was at his collar, moved her body. She carefully stuck her head out and looked outside.
"Brother Xu Qing, this place is somewhat similar to the Ancient Spirit World. There are many souls here but most of the souls in the Ancient Spirit World are individual beings. However, this place seems to possess some special laws that allow countless souls to fuse together."
"I can vaguely hear them whispering. They seem to be saying something but I can't hear the details. However, I feel that they are observing us."
Ling'er whispered.
Xu Qing nodded and walked even faster. However, the fog emitted by the candle in his hand blocked his vision and he couldn't see the captain in front of him.
He couldn't sense the latter either.
Even the shadow was suppressed here and was unable to spread outwards.
Only Ling'er seemed to have some ability to explore this place with her Ancient Spirit Race's talent.
"Ling'er, I can't sense the outside, and I can barely see the path beneath my feet. Can you perceive the external surroundings?"
Xu Qing spoke inwardly.
"Yes. Although it's blurry, I can still vaguely sense that everything is normal around Brother Xu Qing. Everyone is moving forward within their respective fog and heading in the right direction. More than 100 feet in front of you is Senior Brother Erniu, and behind you is Big Jianjian."
Xu Qing nodded and sped along the mountain range.
Just like that, the speed of the six of them became faster and faster. Every one of them focused and extremely vigilant. Even though Nether Fairy's cultivation was high, she didn't dare to be distracted at all.
In this strange world, other than the human skin lanterns in the air and the roars from the abyss on both sides, there were also gusts of mountain wind.
This wind was astonishing and contained monstrous killing intent, causing one's scalp to turn numb.
It blew across the mountain range and landed on everyone's fog. As the fog distorted and swayed, it also caused endless coldness to rise in everyone's hearts. It was as though long sabers were whistling past them.
Every strike contained an extreme baleful aura that shook one's mind. It was as though it could ignore one's cultivation and directly slay one's soul.
"The wind is picking up. Hold onto your candles tightly, focus your spiritual energy."
The captain's deep voice rang out in the wind, falling into every lump of fog.
"This wind will cause the roars from the abyss to ring out even more clearly. After these sounds gather to a certain extent, they will transform into familiar voices."
"This place is hidden in memories, so the instant we entered this place and saw this place, this place also became a part of our memories.
"Similarly, our existences are also remembered by this world."
"And in this way, our own memories have actually blended with this place. So, the voices each person hears are different, stemming from the obsessions within their own hearts."
"Remember, it's all fake. Don't believe it, don't dwell on it, and never look back!"
As the captain spoke these words, his voice wavered, becoming increasingly faint. Meanwhile, the surrounding wind intensified, and the howling became more pronounced.
Xu Qing lifted his head and looked at the fog in front of him. He was thinking of a question.
The captain's words mentioned not to believe the voices coming from the wind. In that case… could the captain's words be trusted?
If it was really the captain's words, why didn't he say it earlier?
Additionally, if indeed it was the captain's words, was it possible that he spoke them at this moment not just as a warning, but for another undisclosed reason?
Xu Qing was about to speak. However, at the next instant, he dispelled this impulse. Regardless of the authenticity of the voice, responding to it, in itself, was a form of causality.
Moreover, whether it was true or not wasn't important. What was important was that he had a clear direction and could walk on the path under his feet.
With such thoughts in mind, Xu Qing's gaze was calm as he continued walking on this long mountain range.
Soon, fifteen minutes passed. When the group had covered more than half of the journey, the warnings mentioned by the captain earlier came to fruition.
Different voices rang out in their ears.
Xu Qing heard Captain Lei's voice, as well as the voices of Grandmaster Bai, Old Master Seventh, and Zi Xuan. He even heard his parents and Crown Prince Purple Green calling out to him.
Xu Qing was calm and unmoved. He didn't think that anyone would really choose to turn back and take a look under such circumstances. As he continued forward, he also lifted his right hand and pressed down on Ling'er's neck, not letting her be distracted.
It was unknown what Nether Fairy heard but she was expressionless and didn't slow down at all.
At his age, Li Youfei had experienced a lot. Back then, to be able to play tricks with Xu Qing when they first met, he was naturally a shrewd person. He could suppress the fluctuations in his heart and ignore the voices.
As for Wu Jianwu, he heard Yunxia's voice in the wind. It seemed to be behind him, calling out to him.
This sudden scene stunned Wu Jianwu. However, when he thought of how the other party had decisively left back then, Wu Jianwu sneered and ignored it, quickening his pace instead.
Then, he heard a deep voice that was filled with dignity. It seemed to come from ancient times and perfectly matched all his understanding of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether.
"The nine heavens recall the past, the ten abysses' fog shrouds the past and present!"
Wu Jianwu's heart trembled. He instinctively wanted to turn around and take a look but at the next instant, he felt that something was amiss. He thought to himself that this poem didn't make sense – the rhythm was all wrong, and it seemed to have a grand and powerful aura, but in reality, it was just nonsensical rambling.
Hence, he let out another cold snort and walked forward.
Finally, it was Ning Yan's turn. He heard a lot until he heard the last sentence.
"Prince[1]…"
Ning Yan stopped in his tracks. After recalling the captain's words, he fell silent for a few breaths before continuing forward.
On the mountain range, the fog that everyone was in moved rapidly. No accidents happened.
After Xu Qing found out about all of this through Ling'er, his vigilance grew even stronger. He instinctively felt that the strangeness of this world wouldn't be so simple.
Hence, he remained calm. As he walked, he judged how far he was from the end according to the passage of time and his speed.
As for the candle in his hand, it was clearly burning even faster here, and now, there was only wax stem left.
"Almost there."
Xu Qing mumbled inwardly and continued walking. However, at that moment, Ling'er's horrified voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Brother Xu Qing… I saw that the lumps of black fog in our group aren't six… but seven."
"The extra appeared in an instant, and the fog that the others were in appears to have switched… I can't tell who's who now."
Xu Qing's gaze froze. He lowered his head and looked at Ling'er. Noticing the horror in Ling'er's eyes, Xu Qing was certain that this was indeed Ling'er's voice.
The other party's words weren't beyond his expectations.
The strangeness of this world had already appeared one after another. Regardless of whether it was the voice from before or the additional lump of black fog that Ling'er mentioned.
"Don't look. Continue forward."
The instant Xu Qing replied inwardly, the captain's voice rang out again and landed in everyone's ears.
"We're about to reach the end. We're finally going to cross this stage. However, we can't relax because the candles are burning much faster here than in the other areas. This means that we've already attracted the attention of this place."
"Therefore, we have to sprint forward at full speed and reach the place where the mountain range connects to the sky before the candle burns out."
"Now, everyone, speed up!"
The captain's voice echoed. On the mountain range, the seven lumps of black fog couldn't see each other's foggy figures and had different thoughts.
Ning Yan was stunned and Wu Jianwu was also surprised. They of course observed that the candles in their hands were about to burn out but the two of them clearly remembered that the captain had made many candles back then. Logically speaking, if one candle wasn't enough, each of them should have had two candles previously.
Li Youfei hesitated. He couldn't tell if the voice was real or fake and he couldn't see anyone else. He didn't know if he should believe it.
As for Nether Fairy, she sneered coldly and continued to move forward slowly.
Surprisingly, the captain walking at the forefront remained unconcerned.
Only Wu Jianwu, who was behind Xu Qing, suddenly sped up for some reason and headed straight for the end.
Right now, he was still 2,000 feet away.
He quickly passed by Xu Qing and the fog that the captain was in, moving closer and closer to the end.
At this moment, the wind in front of him was blowing very intensely. The burning of the candle in his hand moreover suddenly sped up.
Finally, when he was 100 feet away from the end, the candle in Wu Jianwu's hand completely burned out. The moment it was extinguished, the fog in his surroundings instantly dissipated, revealing a figure with horror in his eyes.
Seeing that there were still 100 feet left, Wu Jianwu grew anxious. This was especially so when he observed the six lumps of black fog that were still moving slowly on the mountain range. He knew that he was the only one who had rushed out. This caused him to reveal a look of surprise.
He seemed to have realized that he was tricked, but he had no choice now. He could only grit his teeth and rush to the end 100 feet away.
However, at this moment, the color of the world changed.
Streaks of blue lightning rumbled in the sky. Countless human skin lanterns turned their heads in unison. The instant they looked at Wu Jianwu, they rushed toward him rapidly. Their speed was so fast that they seemed to be teleporting as they got close.
There were moreover deafening panting sounds coming from the abyss on both sides of the mountain range. There were also majestic figures slapping the mountain rocks as though they were rapidly climbing up.
Terrifying fluctuations spread out and the entire mountain range trembled intensely. The world distorted and the surroundings became blurry. It was as though there was a god in the abyss.
At the same time, among Xu Qing and the others on the mountain range, a lump of fog suddenly rushed out with greed at a speed that exceeded everything.
It headed straight for Wu Jianwu.
The speed was so fast that the fog covering its body dissipated, revealing… a human-skinned lantern!
The face of this lantern was actually somewhat similar to the captain's.
It approached in the blink of an eye with a crazed expression. The instant Wu Jianwu was less than ten feet away from the end and was about to reach it, it directly rushed in front of him.
It opened its mouth with a sinister expression and was about to devour.
However, at that moment, Wu Jianwu suddenly gave up on moving forward. He lifted his right hand and it shone with a blue light as he grabbed the human skin lantern.
The lantern was stunned for a moment before attempting to dodge, but it was too late. Caught by Wu Jianwu, it was pulled back, falling onto the altar at the end.
At this moment, the countless human-skinned lanterns paused in unison, as though they had lost their target. They became as quiet as before and drifted in the surroundings.
As for the menacing roars from the abyss, they moreover stopped. The slapping of the mountain rocks continued to weaken.
Clearly, when the travelers traveled past the mountain range and reached the altar, they would lose their target.
At that moment, Wu Jianwu, who was standing on the altar with the lantern in his hand, was beaming with joy as he laughed proudly.
"I've finally lured out this thing."
Amidst his laughter, Wu Jianwu's face and figure changed. A large amount of liquid flowed out of his body, revealing his appearance as the captain!
He was actually the captain in disguise.
[1] The term used here is 皇儿 which means son of the emperor.
