He had clearly heard someone speaking outside just moments ago, but now he could discern no sound at all.
"The air pressure here is quite strange, so I specifically set up this mechanism. When you entered, you would be subjected to a pressure assault, causing you to lose consciousness. By the time you awoke, you would have already arrived in this laboratory."
A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out, making Chen Shiming's body jolt.
"Who, who are you?"
"Don't be afraid! I won't harm you; I still need your help to complete my plan."
The voice sounded again.
Zhou Xuan then noticed that the room was quite empty, containing nothing.
He scanned the surroundings and finally spotted the girl standing by the wall.
She was wearing a white nurse's uniform, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, and her long black locks were incredibly smooth.
At this moment, her eyes were cast down, as if she were staring at her toes.
Zhou Xuan sneered and stomped his foot on the ground.
Rumble!
The entire floor began to shake violently.
"Ah!"
The woman was terrified.
A scream erupted, then immediately vanished.
"Let's go!"
Zhou Xuan flicked his sleeve and turned to walk forward.
The formation behind him also activated, shifting as he moved.
Those inside the secret passage watched Zhou Xuan, unable to see him clearly, mistaking it for an illusion of something terrifying.
On the ground, two men and women in white work clothes trembled as they watched everything before them, their bodies unable to stop shaking.
What they saw were not ordinary stones, but those piled up from massive cement blocks.
Human heads and ghostly faces continuously emerged from within the stones.
This was Zhou Xuan's magic at work.
"Ah, help, there are monsters!"
The two were scared out of their wits, diving into the laboratory and screaming frantically.
However, their only response was the ever-approaching roar.
After just over ten minutes, there was no further reaction from them.
"I knew this would happen!"
Zhou Xuan sighed and continued walking forward.
After passing the last flight of stone steps, an iron door appeared before him.
Zhou Xuan gently pushed it open and then slowly walked in.
This room was small, perhaps only twenty square meters, with walls adorned with various instruments.
At the very center was something resembling a laboratory bench.
Upon it lay a shriveled corpse.
One could only wonder who was so pitiful.
Reduced to a dried-up mummy.
At this moment, red lights suddenly illuminated the laboratory.
Zhou Xuan quickly made his escape.
By the time those people arrived, they found not a single trace of him.
Zhou Xuan was already outside.
Following the information from Chen Shiming, he immediately bid farewell to the old woman and took Fu Fu and Fu Shan with him.
After recalling Qi Xuan's elders and the forces of the other four great families, he wasted no time in rushing to the Dragon Ridge Ruins with his beloved woman, Lu Ling'er.
Lu Ling'er's abilities had now been upgraded.
She was no longer the useless woman she was before.
Instead, she was a master with Late Transcendent Realm strength.
Thanks to the golden alms bowl in her possession, her strength had greatly increased, and she had also fully inherited all the martial arts of the old man's spirit within the alms bowl.
It could be said that she was now Zhou Xuan's capable assistant and an formidable helper.
She would no longer be a burden.
The group dozed off on the helicopter.
Before long, they arrived above a foggy forest.
The pilot asked Zhou Xuan and the others, "Boss, should we find a place to land? It's difficult to land here; we might have to go to a lawn five hundred kilometers away."
"No, find a spot to land."
After the pilot closed the cockpit, he said to his deputy, "Wake everyone up!"
The deputy picked up the loudspeaker and shouted, "Brothers, this is the captain. We have reached our destination and are about to land. Please pay attention, everyone, pay attention."
The surroundings were silent.
Only a few breaths and the rustling of wind through leaves could be heard.
The pilot looked at the scene before him with surprise. This was hardly a lawn; it was clearly a valley.
He turned to Zhou Xuan and the others and said, "Boss, what do we do now?"
Zhou Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Let's stop for now."
The pilot said, "Alright."
Thus, the pilot skillfully landed the helicopter by the side.
At this moment, a few young men ran out of the cabin, and they were also startled by the surrounding scenery.
They exclaimed, "My God, what, what is this place?"
The pilot said, "We have arrived. Everyone get ready. We are about to land. Everyone prepare for landing."
"Yes!"
These individuals were the cream of the crop and quickly calmed down, beginning to organize their equipment.
Zhou Xuan jumped off the helicopter, and after steadying himself, he looked around, realizing that the surroundings were an endless black wasteland, with not a single sign of life.
The ground was barely enough to land a helicopter.
He looked up at the sky. The sky was overcast, looking like it was about to rain, but not much rain fell. Instead, it seemed to be a prelude to a violent storm, making him feel uneasy.
As he looked up at the sky, he suddenly heard a rustling sound.
What was that?
Upon hearing this sound, a wave of fear surged through him, and he instinctively stepped back.
Unfortunately, it was just the wind blowing through the grass.
When Zhou Xuan tried to examine the area more closely, there was no longer any movement.
Those ordered to check also found nothing.
Zhou Xuan could only instruct the pilot to take the helicopter five hundred kilometers away to await further orders.
He and his subordinates proceeded directly into the deepest part of the primeval forest.
This place was called the Dragon Ridge Ruins.
It was a place Zhou Xuan had planned to visit half a year ago.
It was extremely strange, a place of dual extremes.
On one side were dense vegetation, and on the other, barren land.
It could be said that all sorts of geographical landforms appeared here.
Not long after Zhou Xuan and the others had walked, the temperature suddenly dropped drastically.
Wind, blown from who knew where, howled.
Tiny streaks of rain began to drift from the sky.
No, not rain, but snowflakes!
Damn it!
Everyone was shocked.
They had assumed that if the Dragon Ridge Ruins were so easy to find, it wouldn't be a strange place.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be so magical.
"Brother Xuan, something is very wrong here. Take a look at the map given by Grandmaster and see what's going on."
Lu Ling'er said.
Zhou Xuan nodded.
He took out the map and looked at it. This area should be an ice field near the Arctic ice mountains. Only in such harsh environments could so many strangely shaped and varied animals be born, and perhaps even some peculiar creatures and vegetation.
This was a snow-covered wilderness, ravaged by a biting wind.
"Everyone watch your step. There's a trap ahead!"
Zhou Xuan suddenly shouted.
Hearing Zhou Xuan's voice, everyone became vigilant.
Zhou Xuan's eyes were also fixed on the ground.
Indeed, he stepped on a stone, and with a forceful stomp, he crushed it into powder.
Then, a collapse began in the distance.