However, things did not go as hoped.
After Li Fan and his two companions had explored the entire Lost Domain and still found no exit, they were forced to return once more before the black sphere.
"It seems that if we want to get out, we still have to figure something out from this thing," Huangfu Song said, his expression rather grim.
"The exit couldn't be inside this thing, could it?" Dongfang Yao shuddered.
"Just what is this black sphere? The two of you are well-traveled and knowledgeable; do you have any ideas?" Li Fan asked, having stared ahead for a long while.
"Things that divine sense cannot perceive—I do know of a few," Dongfang replied. "But clearly, none of them match this thing!"
Both Dongfang and Huangfu were at their wits' end.
After another silence, the glow of the black talisman above Li Fan's head gradually dimmed, its energy having run out.
"Just standing around won't solve anything. Let us test its reality first."
Taking out a new talisman to replace it, Li Fan flew over to one of the tentacles spouting from the black sphere and touched it gently.
Like an illusion, Li Fan's hand grasped only empty air.
"It is as if it doesn't exist. But why could it cling to the Puxian True Boat?" The three exchanged glances, thoroughly baffled.
Hesitating for a moment, Li Fan shielded his body and flew straight toward the colossal black sphere.
Huangfu and Dongfang hesitated briefly, but immediately followed.
The writhing, viscous black matter clustered together, filling their entire field of vision and exuding an immense sense of oppression.
Suppressing the trepidation in their hearts, the three endured the discomfort and plunged into the interior of the black sphere.
Although neither divine sense nor physical limbs could touch the black substance, once their bodies were completely enveloped by it, a bizarre sensation genuinely surfaced.
It felt as if cold vermin were crawling all over their bodies—clammy and sickening.
Fortunately, aside from that internal feeling, the viscous black substance did not appear to pose any other danger.
Like travelers trudging through a muddy swamp, the three stepped cautiously, making their slow way toward the central region.
After an unknown length of time, the ocean of black surrounding them finally showed a slight change.
Ahead, something seemed to be emitting a faint glow.
"Quick! The exit must be just ahead!" Huangfu Song transmitted excitedly via divine sense.
Just as Li Fan and Dongfang Yao were about to respond, the surrounding sea of black—previously relatively calm—erupted into a boil in an instant.
The viscous black substance seemed to come alive in a flash, surging madly toward Huangfu Song.
Though they were supposed to be intangible things that a physical body could not touch, at this moment, for some reason, they seemed to have found an outlet.
They poured into Huangfu Song's body through his seven apertures.
"Mmh... mmh..."
An expression of utter terror appeared on his face, and his body began to swell like an inflating balloon.
"Save me!"
Unable to make a sound with his mouth, Huangfu Song cried for help through divine sense transmission.
Yet this produced the opposite effect, causing the black substance to pour in at an even more rapid pace.
Huangfu Song's expression twisted in agonizing torment.
Magic treasures surged forth from him one after another, and he even retrieved the Dissociation Disc, instantly laying down a circular array around himself.
But...
It was entirely in vain!
In the blink of an eye, his body had swollen more than tenfold.
Bang!
Finally, under the horrified gazes of Li Fan and Dongfang Yao, he violently burst apart!
There was no splatter of flesh and blood; instead, it merely formed a massive amount of viscous black substance that sprayed out in all directions.
Under ordinary circumstances, for cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul realm, even if their physical body perished, as long as their grotto-heaven remained intact, they could revive in an instant.
Yet at this moment, an event that struck terror into their hearts occurred.
They waited for a moment, but Huangfu Song's physical body did not regenerate.
Instead, they seemed to sense a tiny speck of glimmer tearing through the void, flying off toward who knew where.
"He's... dead?" Li Fan froze in disbelief.
"Huangfu!" Dongfang Yao shouted, his eyes nearly splitting at the corners as he dashed forward, trying to find any trace of Huangfu Song.
Yet at the spot, only items Huangfu Song carried on his person—such as the Heaven-Measuring Mirror and the Dissociation Disc—were left behind. Aside from those, not even a single hair remained.
Replaying what had just suddenly transpired in his mind, a conjecture abruptly surfaced in Li Fan's thoughts.
This viscous black substance might be...
Materialized divine sense!
Jolted by the horrifying realization, Li Fan yelled aloud, "Brother Dongfang, remember: do not let your divine sense leave your body! Communicate only with spoken words!"
Dongfang Yao understood in an instant as well, his face turning pale.
Li Fan flew over to Dongfang Yao's side and gathered Huangfu Song's relics.
Then he said in a low growl, "We cannot linger here. Let's go!"
Grabbing Dongfang Yao, he fled with him toward the center of the divine sense black sphere.
Outside the black sphere earlier, the congregation of divine sense had been relatively dispersed, so even when they peered with their own divine sense, it had not provoked any special reaction.
Inside this black sphere, however, the divine sense was dense to an appalling degree.
When Huangfu Song recklessly transmitted his voice via divine sense, it was like stirring a hornet's nest, providing these condensed consciousnesses with a breach.
Before Huangfu Song could resist, they poured into his sea of consciousness.
Even with the resilience of a Soul Formation cultivator's soul, it was utterly incapable of enduring such an overwhelming influx of divine sense.
He had been ruptured on the spot, his soul shattered to pieces!
While Dongfang Yao was gripped by profound grief, he was also drenched in a cold sweat.
If he had been the one whose divine sense left his body first...
Li Fan led Dongfang Yao through the innermost luminous layer and entered a relatively hollow internal space.
Though there was no solidified black divine sense here, countless transparent faces floated about.
Joy, anger, sorrow, fear.
The countless faces bore varied expressions, yet none of them had eyes.
Like a school of fish, they lingered and drifted continuously through the space.
Dongfang Yao was terrified, frantically dodging the transparent faces drifting past.
Li Fan, however, reached out and casually drew one of the faces to himself, absorbing it.
A moment later, a blurred sequence of images appeared in his mind.
Wails and weeping sounded from all directions.
Beneath a sky engulfed in blood-red hues, shadows symbolizing death swiftly devoured every living being they encountered.
Yet as if a veil covered his eyes, these images revealed only a rough outline of events.
When the shadow swept from the horizon to right before him, darkness fell, and the imagery in his mind abruptly shattered.
Li Fan examined himself closely, uncertain whether the strength of his soul and divine sense had increased.
However, the sudden disappearance of that transparent face drew the notice of the other entities here.
They seemed to grow restless, drifting at an increasingly rapid pace.
After a brief deliberation, he refrained from acting rashly again.
"Let's go!"
Leading Dongfang Yao, at the very top of the space where the light shone brightest, Li Fan found the exit of the Lost Domain.
Their vision blurred, and a moment later, the two returned to the outside of the Lost Domain.
"Brother Huangfu!"
Only now did Dongfang Yao truly grasp what had happened, and he broke down into bitter weeping.
Chapter 725