“Gnawing at your abilities?”
Hearing this, Li Fan could not help but be taken aback.
The ability Tianyang spoke of was naturally the spatial power derived from the anima of Heaven and Earth, the Ink Stone. Born from the laws of Xuanhuang, once absorbed by a cultivator through the new method, even the present Xuanhuang Realm had no means of stripping it away.
Yet in this bizarre, remote pocket world, it was actually being gnawed upon?
“Senior Brother, don't worry. To me, those unknown entities are just like ants crawling all over my body. They might cause some pain and itching, but they pose no threat to my life.”
Tianyang transmitted an image, concisely conveying what he meant.
Li Fan, however, did not let his guard down.
This Hunyin Realm was clearly different from what the Alliance expedition team had surveyed when they arrived in the 115th lifetime.
On high alert, Li Fan and Tianyang began exploring the Hunyin Realm.
This pocket world was not vast; its area was not even as large as the Spirit Wood Realm’s. Curiously, however, Li Fan found none of the spirit entities described by the Alliance expedition.
The expansive ground was dusky and somber, devoid of any topographical rise or fall. It was composed entirely of gray soil. Leave aside flora and fauna—there was not even a single intact stone.
His divine sense swept across the Hunyin Realm. Aside from the two outsiders, Li Fan and Tianyang, there was not another living thing.
With a solemn expression, Li Fan scooped some of the gray soil into his hand and inspected it closely.
It appeared to be ordinary dirt.
Yet looking at the scorch-like marks on his hand after only a moment of contact, Li Fan knew this was definitely no ordinary substance.
“No pain. It corrodes in total silence.” Li Fan's eyes flickered.
A surge of vitality welled from within him, attempting to heal the injury on his hand. Yet to his surprise, this infused vitality seemed to act as nourishment for the scorched area!
The black patch on his palm expanded rapidly, showing signs of spreading across his entire body.
Li Fan acted decisively, severing his palm immediately.
What happened next made his pupils contract sharply.
The severed flesh-and-blood palm fell onto the gray soil. Like embers burned to ash, it lost its color, turned to gray powder, and merged seamlessly into the earth.
“What on earth...?”
Looking out at the world of gray soil, Li Fan felt a chill of dread.
The eerie anomaly of this place was somewhat beyond his imagination.
Just as he was considering leaving, Tianyang suddenly sent a voice transmission: “Senior Brother, the intensity of this gnawing around us seems to vary from place to place. Maybe we can find where the anomaly comes from by gauging its strength.”
Li Fan hesitated briefly before nodding in agreement.
With Li Fan's approval, Tianyang flew swiftly across the sky above the Hunyin Realm while sensing the surroundings. Soon, he locked onto a location.
The gnawing force there was exceedingly potent.
Li Fan could faintly detect bizarre fluctuations emanating from Tianyang's body, as if Tianyang were engaged in a fierce battle against a well-matched foe.
After lingering for merely a moment, Tianyang was forced to pull back.
“It feels like ten thousand ants devouring my body. Can't you feel it, Senior Brother?” Tianyang asked via transmission.
Li Fan shook his head, simply commanding the Seven-Colored Divine Light to fly toward that spot.
Indeed, he felt nothing amiss.
However, a faint premonition rose in his heart: if he were to unleash fire-attribute spiritual energy again like before, the consequences would likely not be as simple as having his body frozen into a sculpture.
Therefore, Li Fan completely subdued the spiritual energy within his body, relying solely on the power of his physical form and the Seven-Colored Divine Light to move.
Arriving above the destination and inspecting it closely, Li Fan attempted to find any useful clues.
Sure enough, he noticed something off.
Earlier surveys had revealed that the entire Hunyin Realm was completely flat. Yet that particular spot appeared slightly raised, as if something were buried beneath the gray soil.
Having learned his lesson, Li Fan shielded his right hand with the Seven-Colored Divine Light and dug into the earth.
Digging continuously downward, Li Fan suddenly touched a hard object. With a grim expression, he drew it out from the depths of the gray soil.
The layer of gray soil on its surface vanished on its own shortly after leaving the ground, revealing the object's true appearance.
“What is this?”
Li Fan was momentarily stunned.
The object in his hand was unmistakably a human skull. Yet unlike that of an ordinary person, there was a third eye socket in the center of the forehead—a hollow the size of an orbital cavity. Furthermore, patterns of gold and black naturally marked the cranium.
Li Fan turned the skull over to inspect it, only to discover with a start that the interior looked as though it were covered in mold. Gray flecks dotted the bone, shocking to behold.
What was more, these gray spots seemed to possess consciousness of their own. After lying dormant for countless years, the moment they sensed a living being nearby, they began writhing in an uncanny manner, as if probing their surroundings.
A sense of crisis beyond words abruptly surged in Li Fan's heart.
He cast out streaks of Seven-Colored Divine Light, forming an immaculate seal that cut off his aura. Only then did the gray moldy spots settle back down.
Looking at the strange skull encased within the sphere of seven-colored light, Li Fan frowned slightly.
*Three-eyed, resembling a human yet distinct. Clearly not someone from the Xuanhuang Realm.*
*The catastrophe of the Hunyin Realm seems to have been caused by this gray mold.*
*Could it be that this outsider brought the gray mold here, causing this place to turn into an expanse of gray desolation?*
*And the culprit himself, eroded by the gray mold, didn't even leave behind an intact corpse. Only because of the black-and-gold runes inscribed upon his skull was it preserved.*
...
A plausible answer took shape in Li Fan's mind.
*This place is the most distant from the Xuanhuang Realm; it may well touch the boundaries of other cultivation worlds.*
*This three-eyed being must have hailed from such a cultivation world.*
*Did he flee here for his life, yet brought this terrifying gray mold with him?*
Scenes and possibilities flashed before Li Fan's eyes.
He noticed that the Seven-Colored Divine Light was not entirely sufficient to hold back the power of the gray mold. Even merely keeping it sealed continuously drained the divine light. Were it not for the endless replenishment of energy from the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, the seal would have long broken on its own.
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan did not place the skull back where he had found it. Instead, he attempted to store it in his storage ring.
To his surprise, the process was remarkably smooth. Without the slightest resistance, it was taken inside.
Yet peering into the storage ring, Li Fan found that the gray mold remained active. Not only was it consuming the energy of the Seven-Colored Divine Light, but even the space within the storage ring was beginning to destabilize.
Chapter 871