Touching the Demon-Sealing Spear, Li Xin felt quite familiar with it. It's a high-end Celestial Capital product, and in terms of quality, the spear overlooks Dao Yuan.
Damn it, Zhao Qing, that bastard, actually keeps his word when dealing with others.
"I've got my own weapon." Li Xin equipped the Demon-Sealing Saber, as it was his first ti going to the Holy Land, he wanted to be a bit cautious.
From Li Xin's tone, Celestia sensed a feeling of being at a disadvantage. Her enthusiasm had faded considerably. Was she crazy? She'd gotten up early and prepared ticulously for an hour!
The long saber he used had a very ordinary style, a typical weapon of the Li Long Night Patrol.
Li Xin placed his other belongings on the platform. A person might be gone, but his possessions shouldn't be lost.
Simmons, fully ard, stood at the main position of the Gate of Truth, while Li Xin stood at the auxiliary position of the formation point. With Simmons as the main, Li Xin could follow him into Simmons' Holy Land. This was common in large families, especially involving direct line descendants; the early Holy Land trials were led and guided by family elders or hired experts to ensure safety.
If the Gate of Truth were to be damaged from the outside, the trial-takers in the Holy Land would also be evicted. However, eviction takes ti, and during that process, the trial-taker's actions would be greatly affected, which in so cases could be dangerous. Therefore, it wouldn't be used by or trusted in people or places that are unreliable.
"Prepare, it's starting!" As the clear voice rang out, Celestia's eyes emitted a dignified dark gold color, which was considered the noble Dark Gold Eye among the Seer Eyes, and many bishops belonged to this category.
As the red light covered them, followed by a dazzling bright light and a surge of energy, Li Xin and Simmons vanished into thin air.
Regaining their vision, Li Xin and Simmons found themselves in another world. The sky was shrouded in starlight amidst a haze, surrounded by towering, damaged buildings, resembling a city that had experienced war. Before them stood a huge stone arch, over twenty ters high, missing a corner. Curved and broken patterns were engraved on the side circle of the arch, seemingly narrating the fall of a once glorious past. Ahead was a path leading far beyond; on both sides of the road, structures slowly disappeared into the mist as they increased distance, and the entire world exuded an oppressive atmosphere.
Simmons looked around and breathed a sigh of relief; this was a familiar place, where he had lingered many tis. Outsiders could bring variations, the stronger they were, the greater the variations — wisdom passed down from ancestors.
Fortunately, Li Xin was normal; if he only attracted more Abyssal Creatures, it wouldn't be too bad.
"Brother Li, this is my Holy Land. We just need to proceed along the path and must not step into the mist," Simmons said.
"What's inside the mist?" Li Xin felt the aura here, his dice within had already sensed sothing indescribable, like it was exuding a feeling of comfort.
"I'm not sure. Before entering the Holy Land, my family strictly warned that the mist is more dangerous than the forward path. No matter how strong one is, once lost in it, you'll never return, and not even the Gate of Truth can help. It's perhaps a fate worse than death," Simmons explained. "There's also a theory that the mist leads to the abyss."
Li Xin nodded. Unsure if it was the dice's influence or just an illusion, he felt a sense of comfort here as if returning to a familiar place.
"Is there anything else I should be aware of?" Li Xin observed behind them, where a section of road quickly vanished into the mist, suggesting there was no turning back in the Holy Land.
Simmons glanced back, "Since I left the Secret Castle, I've ventured into the Holy Land, and in six years, I've progressed quite a bit. Four years ago, I reached this city, and in between, I made various gains. But this city might be my limit; there's been no progress for two years." Simmons spoke with a hint of bitterness and reluctance.
The family invested considerable resources and effort to get to this point, supplying enough energy for his Divine Relic. Unfortunately, the way forward beca impassable. Actually, seeing Rock awaken his fla ability made Simmons openly envious.
Compared to the malleability of the Original Embryo, Divine Relics are directly linked with the Holy Land. Understanding and harnessing their power are related to the Holy Land; if a Divine Relic is too high-level, it may hinder developnt. Sotis, Simmons wondered if he was simply lacking talent.
Noticing Li Xin's gaze, Simmons composed himself, "It's been a while since I've co here, so there might be quite a few Abyssal Creatures breeding."
"Abyssal Creatures?"
"Yes, it's part of the theory that the mist links to the abyss. Even if you clear out the Abyssal monsters, they'll reappear after so ti, as if they're immortal..." Before Simmons could finish, the ground lightly shook, and several Lickers and Inhalers camouflaged with the ruins lunged at Li Xin and Simmons.
These Abyssal monsters returned to their true colors as soon as they attacked. Unlike the Lickers and Inhalers outside, they had a dark crimson skin. Their appearance wasn't that of decayed, soft, bloated bodies but exuded strength, with tightly wound, interlaced muscles. Their speed was astonishingly swift, surrounding the two in an instant. Their blood-red tongues lashed at the pair, and as the tongue's liquid dripped to the ground, a plu of white smoke rose imdiately.
Simmons was the first to act, his greatsword flashing as he intercepted the path, drawing all the Abyssal creatures' attention. The battle strength of these Abyssal creatures was far superior to those outside, in a completely different league. Particularly, the Inhalers knew how to disperse and launch joint attacks, but they were up against Simmons, a top-tier master, who didn't panic a bit. His spiritual power erupted, and the sword light from his greatsword shot in all directions, quickly slaying several Inhalers.
Li Xin looked at an Inhaler struggling not far away, stomped his foot down, and with a squish, it felt like stepping on feces, yet no Abyssal Worm ca out.
"The Inhalers here are different from those outside, there are no worms."
"Are they not human?"
After a bout of fighting, Simmons's face was flushed. His level of strength could easily handle this, "Not sure, maybe they are, maybe they aren't. In the Holy Land's research, our family is rather average. The Secret Organization or the Church Court knows more. Shall we continue forward?"
"Of course, just straight ahead?" Li Xin pointed at the stone archway.
"Yes." Simmons took a deep breath. Once they started moving forward, the real danger would begin. He had to be at full alert, settling the position of the Demon-Sealing Spear. In this kind of battle, the Demon-Sealing Spear wasn't the main attack but was crucial for blocking and responding to unexpected situations; it had to be at the most handy position.
"Alright, you lead the way." Li Xin nodded. In just this short while, he felt his dice grow a bit more substantial, unable to observe it directly, purely a gut feeling. Perhaps it could really offset the side effects.
If feasible, he could study the dice. Otherwise, he didn't dare use it recklessly.
Simmons's mouth twisted slightly, but he didn't hesitate, striding forward. The two passed through the massive stone archway. It looked only a few ters away, yet Li Xin felt as though they had entered another world.
Everywhere in the city were ruins. In front was a district, enshrouded in fog on both sides,
and faint murmurs occasionally tickled their ears, as if trying to bore into their minds.
Simmons's face darkened, "It's different from the last ti I was here. Be careful, as we go deeper, the Fallen usually increase and may be lurking up ahead waiting for us."
Simmons gripped his greatsword tightly in front of his chest, advancing slowly, while Li Xin observed their surroundings. He didn't detect any signs of monsters. Lurking? It was hard for them to disguise themselves around him, but strangely, his senses couldn't penetrate the fog; sothing about it was indeed eerie.
The city was overgrown with weeds, dilapidated, yet there were no signs of life nor the monsters Simmons ntioned. Yet Simmons felt even more uneasy now; the atmosphere was heavy, unlike it was before.
"Keke ke ke ke..."
Suddenly eerie and pervading laughter ca from within the mist, searing directly into their minds. Footsteps echoed as sothing slowly approached from the fog. Its speed wasn't fast but exceptionally heavy.
Li Xin glanced at Simmons, "Shall we avoid it for now?"
Simmons hurriedly nodded, "We can't turn back. Let's leave here first, Celestia!"
The path behind had sohow been engulfed by the mist, with only the stone archway vaguely visible.
However, Celestia didn't respond. Li Xin sensed the thing getting closer; apart from the heavy footsteps, there were also eerie creaks accompanied by wails. This ghostly place was giving him the creeps, "Simmons?"
Simmons's expression was equally grim, "Celestia hasn't responded. This is the first ti this has happened."
Damn it, what bad luck. It's been six years since coming to the Holy Land, always advancing steadily, calm as an old dog. Although there were dangers before, they always left in ti. The most perilous ti, even the family's elders couldn't resolve, but Celestia brought them back safely. Why is it this ti they haven't even done anything yet can't get back?
By now, the footsteps and strange laughter were getting closer and closer. The mist rolled, the area bubbled like waves. A massive silhouette appeared before them, a fat creature about six ters tall, a mountain of flesh. It had a bunch of faces on it, still struggling and wailing. Each of its four gigantic arms held an Abyssal creature, stuffing them into its large mouth. The crunching sound was it munching, while the other faces on its body struggled toward the big head, seemingly hungry. The mountain of flesh emitted astounding Abyssal energy, steaming with purple aura, six eyes on its face staring at the two, dripping saliva.
At so point, the surrounding mist also tinged with purple, likely the reason their connection with Celestia was severed.
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