A well?
In a jungle that stretched as far as the eye could see, a place where no one would think to settle, there was actually a well.
Sothing was clearly suspicious about it.
When Zhou Quan began to stir again, Yang An knocked him out with another punch.
Wen Yin's face was still contorted in agony. Over and over, illusory Evil Spirits gnawed at her flesh. But each ti the blood vessels in her eyes began to spread, Yang An's Technique would shred her body to pieces.
Seizing the brief mont while the two were stable, Yang An slowly walked over to the well.
The well was massive, its mouth several yards in diater, looking more like a large pond.
But when Yang An leaned over to look inside, he saw no water. It was unfathomably deep, like an abyss.
'I wonder where this well leads. Could it be the entrance to the Outer Continent?'
Yang An mused, 'Maybe I should try touching it. What if it's a Magical Artifact?' He slowly reached out, his fingers making brief contact with the well's rim before he pulled his hand away.
A spectral information box flashed before his eyes, and Yang An's expression brightened.
'There it is!'
[Heaven-Changing Mirror]: Originates from the Golden Soul Sect in the Outer Continent's Fusheng Domain. A bridge between two lands, it connects to the Outer Continent. Entering the well leads to the Fusheng Domain.
Cost of Use: After passing through to the connected land, you will be unable to use Mana for ten breaths.
Status: Purifiable!
Seeing the contents of the information box, Yang An bead with delight.
'I was right! This well is the entrance to the Outer Continent!'
'Just as the Workshop Master said, you can indeed reach the Outer Continent through the Witch Barrier. It's just that for anyone else, getting to this well would be no easy feat.'
He casually eliminated the cost, then dragged Wen Yin and Zhou Quan over to the well.
'Now that I've found the entrance, there's no ti to waste.'
With both of them in tow, Yang An leaped into the well.
Darkness instantly enveloped them. Even with his True Eye, Yang An couldn't see a thing as his body plunged downward.
The familiar sensation instantly reminded him of being transported through the vessels of the Tree of Flesh and Blood.
It was remarkably similar, aside from the lack of a cramped, crushing pressure.
He couldn't tell how much ti had passed. It might have been a dozen breaths, or it might have been the ti it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Suddenly, Yang An felt solid ground beneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, a bright landscape spread out before him.
THUD! THUD!
Right after him, Wen Yin and Zhou Quan collapsed onto the ground.
The Golden Radiance around them dissipated, and both returned to their normal states.
But to Yang An's surprise, neither of them woke up right away. It was a little while before Wen Yin slowly regained consciousness.
She gazed around blankly, her mind apparently still mired in the agony from before, her body twitching from ti to ti.
Once she was fully awake, she looked down at herself. Her clothes were in tatters, leaving little to the imagination.
She casually retrieved a new set of clothes from her Storage Magical Artifact and put them on before turning to Yang An.
"Senior Brother, where are we?"
All she knew was that she had suddenly lost control. The cost that she normally only endured after using a Technique had erupted violently, leaving her consciousness in a haze. She had no idea what happened after that.
Now that she was awake and taking in the sights, it didn't seem like they were in the Witch Barrier anymore.
This place...
A particular guess suddenly occurred to Wen Yin.
"This should be the Outer Continent, I suppose,"
Yang An replied, though he wasn't entirely certain himself.
When he had sought help from the Workshop Master, White Bird had ntioned that upon entering the Outer Continent, one would be suppressed by its Rules, unable to exert their true strength.
However, while waiting for the other two to awaken, Yang An had tested his power and felt no difference at all.
'Could it be that this place, reached through the well, is on the very edge of the Outer Continent and hasn't been affected by the Power of Rules?'
Wen Yin was taken aback to hear that they had reached the Outer Continent, and she imdiately understood that Yang An must have been the one to get them here.
Zhou Quan was still unconscious.
A wave of astonishnt washed over Wen Yin. Now she finally understood why the Witch Barrier was called a Forbidden Land.
If even she and Zhou Quan had lost control, her Senior Brother had likely suffered the sa fate, perhaps even more severely.
But even so, her Senior Brother had still brought them to the Outer Continent.
If all three of them had remained in the Witch Barrier, they likely would have all perished there.
After all, if the cost one endured reached its limit, even soone at the Visceral Stone realm or higher, despite possessing near-immortal abilities, could still perish for a variety of reasons.
Her Senior Brother's power was simply beyond her imagination.
She rembered when Yang An had first joined the Life Crane Sect; he had been a complete rookie who knew nothing, just like Zhou Quan was now.
Yet in just a few short years, Yang An had grown to such a level that it was simply beyond reach.
If it had been her in that situation, she wouldn't have even been able to protect herself, let alone bring two other people along.
The more Wen Yin thought about it, the more astounded and incredulous she beca.
"Senior Brother, where should we go next?"
Even in a situation like that, Yang An hadn't abandoned them.
Wen Yin's trust in Yang An was now absolute. Her previous obedience had blossod into genuine, heartfelt conviction.
Hearing Wen Yin's question, Yang An glanced at Zhou Quan. 'A single slap should wake this guy up,' he thought. 'If not, two will do. No need to wait any longer.'
"Let's head into the Fusheng Domain first. Once we get our bearings, we'll go to the Treasure Temple Domain, and then on to the place Master instructed us to find."
Yang An explained. According to the Workshop Master, this was the fastest way to the Treasure Temple Domain, but they first had to determine their current location.
"You know how to get to the Treasure Temple Domain, Senior Brother?"
Wen Yin asked in surprise.
"I know a little," Yang An nodded.
Wen Yin was surprised that Yang An actually knew sothing about the Outer Continent.
As a fellow outsider to this land, she knew that information about the Outer Continent was scarce where they ca from. Channels for such news were practically nonexistent. She never expected Yang An to know more than she did.
In a word: reliable.
But this thought reminded Wen Yin of sothing else, and she imdiately tried circulating the Mana in her body.
A faint black phantom erged from her, solidifying about three inches from her skin, making it look as though she were covered in a layer of shadow.
An 'I knew it' expression appeared on Wen Yin's face.
According to the rumors, one's strength would be severely suppressed in the Outer Continent. Only by reaching the Zombie God realm could one gain so relief, and only at even higher realms could one be completely unaffected.
She had unleashed a Technique with all her might, but it was suppressed to less than a tenth of its normal power. The effect was drastic.
'The Outer Continent is truly terrifying!'
Nearby, Yang An was slightly taken aback by Wen Yin's sudden, inexplicable action. Then, a storm erupted in his mind.
'Could it be...?'
"How is it, Junior Sister?"
Yang An asked, his expression calm, but a suspicion was already forming in his mind.
Hearing Yang An's question, Wen Yin nodded.
"Just as I thought, you know about it too, Senior Brother. The Power of Rules in this Outer Continent is terrifying.
I just tested it, and I'm afraid that here, I can't even exert a tenth of my true strength.
You must have felt it too, Senior Brother, right?"
As she said this, Wen Yin activated a simple Technique again, and a thin layer of black mist gradually appeared on her hand.
And then... nothing else happened.
Yang An's breathing hitched slightly, but he still nodded as if he were in the sa boat. Inwardly, however, he was filled with an indescribable excitent.
'I... I wasn't affected at all!!'
He had already tested himself long before Wen Yin woke up.
Just as before, his Techniques could unleash their terrifying power without any sign of being suppressed or weakened.
'A mont ago, I thought it was because I hadn't truly entered the Outer Continent proper. But now, it seems... I'm... different from ordinary people?'
"There's no need to worry, Senior Brother. As long as we're in the Outer Continent, all Cultivators below the Zombie God realm are suppressed by the Rules. There's no difference between us and them.
All it ans is that we've beco even weaker compared to figures like our Master. Everyone below the Zombie God realm is in the sa position."
Wen Yin said, adapting to the situation quickly.
'Difference? The difference is huge!'
Hearing Wen Yin's words, Yang An agreed on the surface, but his actual thoughts were completely different.
'I'm not affected at all. What does that an?'
'It ans that while everyone else has gotten weaker, I, by comparison, have beco stronger!'
'This wasn't just a small boost. Compared to anyone below the Insect Dao realm, it was as if my strength had increased severalfold.'
'Even Zombie Gods are suppressed here. While possessing a Forbidden Artifact Fragnt might lessen the effect of the Rules' suppression, they would still be greatly affected, able to use only a fraction of their true power.'
'Doesn't this an that here, in the Outer Continent, I could even fight a Zombie God?'
Yang An's heart trembled. The first person who ca to mind was that detestable old geezer.
'Maybe... here in the Outer Continent, I can finally see how I asure up against him?!'
He didn't know if it was because he had been repressed under the old geezer's thumb for too long, or if he simply wanted to know just how wide the gap between them truly was here in the Outer Continent.
The mont the thought erged, it took root in his mind and began to grow wildly, impossible to suppress.
'Maybe I can really give it a try!'
Taking a long, deep breath, he pushed the thought aside for the mont and turned to a more important question.
'Why am I not being suppressed by the Rules?'
'Is it because I've eliminated all the costs of my cultivation? Since I'm not shouldering any costs, I'm not being suppressed?'
'But an Innate Flesh Mushroom can also suppress costs so the user doesn't have to bear them. And yet, White Bird specifically told to be careful, which makes it sound like having an Innate Flesh Mushroom here in the Outer Continent doesn't make one any different from others.'
'Or is it because of my soul?'
'The biggest difference between and the people of this world is that I'm a transmigrator; my true soul doesn't belong to this world.'
'Am I unaffected because I'm an outsider?'
'Beyond that, there might be other reasons.'
'For example, am I actually an Original Spirit?'
'But that possibility is practically zero. I've never even seen one of the unaffected Original Spirits that White Bird ntioned.'
A torrent of thoughts rushed through Yang An's mind, but they only left him stumped. With no clues or leads whatsoever, how could he possibly figure it out?
Yang An was growing more and more curious about the Outer Continent, and about this world.
As Yang An was pondering, Zhou Quan, who had been unconscious the whole ti, slowly ca to and sat up.
He glanced around blankly at first, then let out a long sigh of relief when he saw Yang An was there.
He grimaced and rubbed his face.
"Senior Brother, what happened? Why does my face hurt so much?"
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