The barrier trembled violently, opening a door.
A powerful suction emanated from within, targeting the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl.
The Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl immediately quivered, more demonic energy surging outward.
The suction, unwilling to be outdone, almost solidified.
Thus, the two forces became locked in a stalemate.
One unmoving as a mountain, the other refusing to yield.
"Go... in..."
Two words, fragmented, appeared in Zi Linling's mind.
Go in?
She pondered briefly and understood; this must be the will of the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl.
If so, what was she waiting for?
Zi Linling leaped, soaring above the open door.
Behind her was the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl.
In an instant, the immense suction acted upon Zi Linling, pulling her into the doorway.
The Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl then ceased its resistance, allowing itself to be drawn in.
Of course, before Zi Linling could even land, it had already burrowed into her body.
The suction, having lost its target, vanished instantly.
The opened door also disappeared rapidly.
The barrier returned to its original state.
The dark clouds in the sky dispersed quickly.
Just as Zi Linling was about to face-plant, she sent out two palm strikes of spiritual energy towards the ground.
Under the effect of the counter-force, her descent was buffered, and she found purchase.
Using this minuscule force, she forcibly flipped her body, but it was still a moment too late.
"Ouch!"
Zi Linling landed on the ground with a cry of pain.
Though she avoided a direct face-plant, she landed squarely on her backside.
Fortunately, the ground here was relatively flat and devoid of sharp objects, otherwise, Zi Linling would have been in a truly awkward situation.
Even so, she felt as if her rear end no longer belonged to her.
The pain was so intense that she dared not move, only gasping in sharp breaths.
It took a full ten minutes before the sharp, stinging sensation finally began to recede.
She stood up, brushed the dust off her clothes, and then began to survey her surroundings.
Upon landing, she had endured the pain and released her divine sense.
However, she discovered that the coverage of her divine sense was less than a hundred meters, roughly the same as what her naked eye could see.
Considering that outside, her divine sense, comparable to that of an Emperor realm cultivator, could easily cover five kilometers.
This indicated that this place must have a strong suppression on divine sense, and the suppression was extremely severe.
Since that was the case, Zi Linling withdrew her divine sense and began to search slowly using only her eyesight and spiritual perception.
The sense of danger, which had been present since she entered the forbidden area, had not disappeared; instead, it had intensified.
Therefore, she was unwilling to waste even a sliver of her strength.
Moreover, spiritual perception was more acute than divine sense and eyesight, so there was no need to waste soul power.
However, the complete absence of sound lent the place an eerie aura.
Zi Linling, being highly skilled and courageous, was unfazed.
In her opinion, if someone like Fu Liuyun could treat this place as his personal garden, why should she retreat?
It had to be said, the forbidden area within this barrier was quite vast.
Zi Linling walked for half an hour, yet felt she hadn't covered much ground.
A strange place. A strange feeling.
After another hour of walking, Zi Linling had still found nothing and encountered no danger, but the sense of peril had grown even stronger.
Zi Linling attempted to release her divine sense again, only to find its coverage had shrunk further, now only eighty meters in radius.
This meant that as she ventured deeper, the suppression on divine sense grew even more potent.
Zi Linling frowned and asked, "Elder Du, have you discovered anything?"
After entering this place, she had not cut off her connection with the Nine Spirit Ring and the outside world.
Therefore, Elder Du had witnessed everything here.
"No! It's too quiet here, so eerily quiet that it's like walking in..."
Elder Du racked his brain for a descriptor and finally found one: "It's like... the end of the world!"
The end of the world?
This phrase made Zi Linling's heart skip a beat.
"Elder Du, have you been to the end of the world?"
Elder Du shook his head and said, "No! But it is said that the end of the world is a place of absolute silence, with no life, no sound, no boundaries, no..."
"In short, there is nothing. It is a void."
Zi Linling gasped, "That terrifying?"
Elder Du nodded. "This place is very similar to the end of the world, but it is unlikely to be it."
"Why?"
"Because no one knows where the end of the world is."
"Elder Du, are you teasing me? If no one knows where the end of the world is, then where did those descriptions come from?"
"I don't know, but that's how the legend goes. However, some speculate that the Ancestral God might have visited."
"The Ancestral God went there?"
"Although it's just speculation, it's not without basis. After all, no one knows just how powerful those in the legendary Creation realm are. As for the specifics, I'm not entirely clear."
Zi Linling was too shocked to speak.
However, there was one thing Elder Du said that Zi Linling strongly agreed with.
That is, this place was unlikely to be the end of the world.
Otherwise, how could someone like Fu Liuyun come and go as they pleased?
Another hour passed, and Zi Linling finally spotted a village.
The appearance of this village confirmed that this was by no means the end of the world.
Because the end of the world is a void; how could a village exist there?
As Zi Linling approached the village entrance, a group of people blocked her path.
Calling them a group was a bit of a stretch, as these beings, except for their heads, were composed entirely of stone.
They were all over two meters tall, with the leader reaching three meters, making him an undeniable stone giant.
While shocked, Zi Linling couldn't help but be curious.
"@?*\%￥!"
The leader of the giants moved his lips, emitting a strange sound.
But strangely, Zi Linling could understand it.
The being was saying, "What are you, and why are you here?"
Zi Linling found it amusing; it was the first time in her life she had been called "thing."
But she knew the being wasn't insulting her, but stating a fact.
After all, from the perspective of stone giants, any species different from them could not be considered human, only things.
"We are humans, and we are here to find another human!"
Zi Linling explained.
Though she spoke politely, communication was still an issue, and the other party clearly didn't understand what she was saying.
"?!"
The leading stone giant looked puzzled. But soon, his expression turned grim, and he let out a series of strange sounds.