Chapter 358: Fogs Fill the Graveyard

Li Fan recalled the various Mystic Domain anecdotes that Huangfu Qi had previously told him.

"Some are purely boundless spaces devoid of any other existence."

"While others, like the Chizha Abyss, conceal numerous bizarre perils."

"However, everything is hidden within the boundless White Mist, and Cultivators who mistakenly wander into it are like the blind, fundamentally unable to perceive the full picture."

"The supplies I brought can still last for about fifteen days. Whether I can traverse this Mystic Domain depends on my fortune in this lifetime."

Composing himself, Li Fan did not continue moving forward in the direction of the Everlasting Immortal Fortress that he sensed.

Instead, he marked it as the 'front' direction and flew towards the relative 'down' direction.

In ordinary White Mist Barriers, land does exist.

It is merely a flat, deathly still land without any traces of other life or buildings.

Even normal undulations are rarely seen.

It is said that walking on it suppresses one's instinctive yearning for life, generating all sorts of impulses to end one's own life.

As for the Mystic Domain, it is an independent, brand-new space.

Whether there is a 'bottom' depends on the specific circumstances of the Mystic Domain.

The Chizha Abyss is bottomless.

As for this Mystic Domain, Li Fan would need to investigate thoroughly to find out.

As for why he went 'down' instead of 'up' to fly directly out of the Mystic Domain's range…

That was because Huangfu Song had previously mentioned to Li Fan that accidentally stumbling into a Mystic Domain is equivalent to entering a boundless grotto-heaven world.

Trapped in the Mystic Domain, it is basically impossible to fly out relying solely on flying.

Only by finding the connection point between the Mystic Domain and normal space—the so-called 'exit'—can one leave.

Let us still use the Chizha Abyss as an illustration.

The bluestone severed hand permanently guards outside the Chizha Abyss; if the Azure Profound Army accidentally falls into the abyss, as long as they enter the abyss's territory range, even if it seems they are only at the boundary of the abyss, separated from the Everlasting Immortal Fortress by just a hair's breadth, taking a single step would allow them to return.

Yet, due to this tiny distance not being in the same two spaces, even if one flew until death, crossing it might be impossible.

Ever since the establishment of Severed Hand Immortal City, no Cultivator who accidentally fell into the Chizha Abyss has ever returned alive.

The exit of the Mystic Domain connects two different spaces.

Therefore, it is mostly different from the scenery of the Mystic Domain itself; as long as one approaches, even if obscured by White Mist, it can be detected.

This was also where Li Fan's hope of escaping lay.

Operating the Purple Firmament Escape Technique with all his might, Li Fan continued downwards, and about more than half a day's time passed.

Li Fan, who was flying away, suddenly changed his expression.

His Divine Sense sensed that right in front of him, not far away and within arm's reach, something seemed to be blocking the way.

However, within the Essence Devouring White Mist, the sensing distance of Divine Sense was greatly reduced.

By the time he reacted, it was already too late to dodge, and he was about to crash straight into it head-on.

Two pitch-black beams of light shot out from Li Fan's eyes.

Several times faster than the purple stream of light he had transformed into, they annihilated the shadows concealed within the White Mist ahead.

Under the Great Five Elements Extinction Sword, all obstacles turned into nothingness.

This also saved Li Fan from the fate of being dizzy and disoriented from a crash.

Only then did Li Fan barely manage to slow down, raise his guard, and slowly approach.

After seeing clearly what was blocking the way, Li Fan couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.

It was not some bizarre living creature, but a collapsed, diagonally standing section of a building.

A large hole had been pierced through the center of the building by the Extinction Sword, but its original appearance could still be vaguely discerned.

The entire tall building, carved from a single hollowed-out giant stone, still had its decorations and doors clearly visible.

Li Fan did not rashly enter this collapsed building, but continued to fly downwards.

Soon, he landed on the ground.

With a crunch, it seemed he had stepped on something.

As his Divine Sense swept across, Li Fan's heart instantly tightened.

Because that was impressively a living person!

With eyes wide open and staring angrily, the expression on their face was hideous and terrifying, staring fixedly at Li Fan!

"How could there be a living person in the Mystic Domain?" This thought flashed through his mind in an instant, and Li Fan's body had already subconsciously reacted.

His figure retreated violently, and the Five Elements Extinction Sword was unsheathed once more.

However, just as he was treating it like a formidable enemy, something that left Li Fan utterly astonished happened.

That 'living person' who had just had contact with him made no movement under Li Fan's gaze.

His body simply turned into gray particles in an instant and scattered all over the ground.

Only a single breath of time passed, and a living person had thus turned into flying ash.

"Hmm? Not a living person, already dead?"

Li Fan frowned slightly.

Li Fan, who once had rich tomb-robbing experience, was not unfamiliar with this scene.

Those ancient objects sealed for thousands of years were lifelike just a moment ago.

But after coming into contact with the outside world, they immediately lost their original appearance and became utterly decayed.

And the situation in this Mystic Domain was even worse.

It actually turned directly into smoke and dust, completely disappearing.

"What on earth is this place…"

Without letting down his guard, Li Fan carefully searched the surroundings for a circle.

The scene he saw made even Li Fan, who was accustomed to bloodshed, feel his scalp tingle.

Within a radius of a hundred zhang, collapsed and damaged architectural ruins were everywhere.

And in every corner of the ruins, numerous corpses lay haphazardly.

They still retained their attire and expressions from before they died.

As if they had seen something they extremely hated and feared, their faces were filled with despair and malice.

Time froze at the exact moment of their death.

As if a disaster had suddenly struck, everyone inside the ruins lost their lives simultaneously.

There were no wounds, no bloodstains.

Yet they died just like that.

Just like the corpse Li Fan had unintentionally stepped on earlier, as long as they had contact with Li Fan, an outsider, they would turn into flying ash in an instant and completely dissipate.

What terrified Li Fan was that the identities of these people were clearly not Mortals.

The Storage Rings they wore on their bodies, as well as the various Magic Treasures they had just taken out and had no time to use in their hands…

Without exception, these all indicated their identities as Cultivators.

Yet in front of that unknown existence, they could only wait powerlessly for death like Mortals.

Li Fan came to the side of a corpse, attempting to remove the Storage Ring from its hand.

To see if he could find clues from it regarding these inexplicably deceased Cultivators.

Unfortunately, it was identical to those corpses.

As long as Li Fan touched them even slightly, they immediately vanished into thin air just the same.

After trying a few times, it was always like this.

Li Fan had no choice but to give up.

Suppressing the chill in his heart, he continued to explore outward.

The scenery remained unchanged.

The continuous ruins had already become a giant graveyard.

Burying countless corpses that had died who knows how long ago.

So much so that Li Fan later became somewhat numb to looking at them.

Accelerating his flight speed, he sped out of the range of this ruins.

"This place seems to be some kind of gathering point; the clothing on these Cultivators is identical for some and different for others."

"Different Sects gathered here for some reason, huh."