Chapter 7: Big Trouble (Part 2)

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “Sigh, Old Man Shuai, it’s very likely we’ll never be able to go back.”
Old Man Shuai dismissed it. “If we can’t go back, then so be it. Anyway, I’m already dead. Maybe in the Greater World, I can be reborn…” He had understood the concept of reincarnation. The only problem was that his soul was too powerful, having reached a solid state—no one knew if any infant could bear it.
Guo Shier and Old Man Shuai had discussed this issue before, and he shared the same concerns. His soul was no weaker than Old Man Shuai’s; worse, it contained an altar. If he were to be reborn, who knew what would happen?
Guo Shier said with a wry smile, “Reincarnation… We need to prepare a lot of things, and we must do it in advance to avoid being caught off guard.” In his view, life was full of uncertainties, and preparation was always better than no preparation. Just like this time—they encountered a completely unexpected and serious situation. If they couldn’t return to the Spell World, they would have no way out and must press forward until they reached the Greater World to claim victory.
Old Man Shuai said, “Back in the Great Abyss, we gathered a lot of materials. Hopefully, it will be enough for the journey; otherwise, we’ll be in trouble.”
Guo Shier replied, “Don’t worry. Brother Li Ran and Sister Zhen are prepared. They might have collected just as much as us.”
Old Man Shuai said, “Hmm, right. As for reincarnation, I should start preparing, but I have no idea where to begin. Can you give me some ideas? After all, you’ve been reborn several times.”
By now, everyone had gotten up and was flying toward the distance.
Guo Shier followed them, but his mind was on reincarnation—this affected his next life, so he had to plan ahead. He said, “If we want to be reborn, our powerful souls definitely won’t work.”
Old Man Shuai agreed, “Yes. Souls of our level would probably be unbearable even for adults, let alone infants. Um… if we force reincarnation… it’s likely we won’t regain consciousness even after several lifetimes. This… this is terrifying. In that case, I might as well stay alive as a soul.”
Guo Shier said, “Forget it. Living as a soul… you can’t eat or drink. The biggest problem is that in the Spell World, we have various favorable conditions for survival. In the Greater World… can a soul even survive? It’s likely a huge problem. Reincarnation is the right path.”
Old Man Shuai said dejectedly, “Sigh… I wonder if the Greater World can accommodate spell power.”

Guo Shier said, “It should work. Um, didn’t you say that by using sealing methods, one can seal away most of their soul power, leaving only a tiny amount? That way, they might be able to reincarnate. Once they wake up, they can use this set of talisman-based systems to recover. But it requires very precise calculations.”
The handsome old man said, “This is the only viable method—using talismanic power to seal soul power. Heh, I need to test it. I have a feeling… I’ll still have to deal with you for a lifetime.”
Guo Shier sighed and said, “It’s a shame you’re an old man and not a beauty, haha.”
The handsome old man joked, “Beauty? Who’s more handsome than an old man?” Then he added, “Alright, I’ll get ready. This world is fucking dangerous. The sooner we prepare, the sooner we can feel at ease.”
…
After flying for less than half an hour, they arrived over a desolate land. This land was unusual—no plants could grow here, nor could any creatures survive. It wasn’t very large, only about a hundred square kilometers. The soil had a strange bluish-black color, and the ground was slightly sunken, as if an invisible sphere had pressed down on it.
Guo Shier asked, “Is this the place?”
Li Ran replied, “Yes, it is. Only from here can we enter the edge of the Barren Lands.” As he spoke, his hands emitted talismanic light, and with a sharp tear, a gap appeared in the air. He said, “Go in!” Everyone flew inside.
Guo Shier passed through the spatial rift and appeared in the air. Looking down, the ground was covered with dead trees, presenting a desolate scene. In the distance, there were large ruins of collapsed buildings. The sky here was gray and gloomy, utterly silent, with no signs of life.
Ezek said, “This place makes me feel very uncomfortable.” Meili nodded repeatedly and said, “It’s unbearable.”
Li Ran explained, “Of course. This place affects a person’s vitality. If one isn’t an expert, just a few days here will cause rapid aging.”
Halechi was startled and asked, “Will it affect us?”
Qi Wuzhen said, “Idiot, of course it will. It’s just that our vitality is strong, so the impact is limited. Of course, if you stay here for decades, the effects will be obvious. Let’s go. We’ve already explored this place and found nothing. We’ll head straight into the Barren Lands and get out of this hellhole quickly.”
Since even Qi Wuzhen loathed this place, the others naturally had no objections. Li Ran said, “Fly a little further ahead.”

Everyone flew forward together. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed by like lightning. Li Ran shouted, “Get out!” He formed a phantom hand, clenched it into a fist, and smashed it forward with force. Qi Wu Zhen immediately teleported over, emitting a red glow; a thin red thread descended straight down, making a hissing sound. Guo Shier looked closely—it was a flame thread that fell instantly. The phantom fist struck the light hard, causing it to vanish immediately. At the same time, the red thread sent by Qi Wu Zhen suddenly spread out, turning into a stream of fire that crashed down. With a strange scream, a figure rushed out from the ruins, engulfed in flames, letting out agonized cries. In the blink of an eye, the figure disappeared without a trace—likely severely injured if not dead. Zhen Wu Ji asked, “Who was that?” Li Ran replied, “A half-dead guy who can’t communicate and only knows how to launch surprise attacks. There are many such madmen here, and it’s unclear what they really are. We’ve defeated quite a few, but we can’t catch any of them. They just run away after fighting—it’s like dealing with ghosts.” He said it irritably. Guo Shier said, “Their strength isn’t weak…” Even Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen combined couldn’t catch one, though they probably didn’t try very hard, thinking it wasn’t worth it. That light earlier was clearly from a weapon with considerable power, but he guessed he could withstand it. Li Ran said, “Although the journey isn’t long, there are many such madmen along the way. Be careful everyone, don’t fall victim to them.” Everyone immediately formed a formation, with Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen at the front, Zhen Wu Ji, Ge Ha, and Yao Zebusong behind, Aizek and Meili on the left, and Guo Shier and Halechi on the right, flying forward in a square formation. Though they didn’t dare use their altars, they all brought out their sacred treasures. Guo Shier also unleashed his Moon Blade. As soon as the Moon Blade appeared, Guo Shier noticed a problem—the soul power of the Moon Blade was being eroded by a force of deathly silence. No wonder Li Ran and the others had detected something wrong. Outside, Guo Shier hadn’t noticed this issue. He cast several spells in succession to strengthen the Moon Blade and drive away the eroding force. Soon, everyone else noticed the problem as well. Except for Aizek and Meili, who had no sacred treasures at all and whose physical strength was extremely high, that strange force couldn’t affect them for now.

There were countless ruins on the ground, showing just how prosperous this place used to be. Guo Shier couldn’t help but say, “This place… used to be a city, right? It was quite large. I wonder what caused it to decline until it became like a ghost city.”

Soon, Li Ran said, “We’re here. Let’s start clearing the ground!” With that, he slapped his hand down, and a massive shadowy hand descended from the sky, crashing heavily onto the ground. Instantly, a figure flew up, roaring as it swung an axe at Li Ran. The axe resembled a glowing sun, emitting intense heat as it sliced through the air.

It was only then that Guo Shier could clearly see the man’s appearance.

It was a white man, emaciated to the bone—nothing but skin covering his bones. His hair was sparse, dirty, but still revealed its original silver-white color. His eyes were sunken, and his leather armor was in tatters, hanging loosely on his body. Yet the large axe in his hand was shining brightly.

Guo Shier said, “This… this is just a skeleton, with a layer of skin on top…”

Qi Wuzhen shouted, “Attack together! Leave him behind!”

Without hesitation, Guo Shier unleashed his Moon Blades. Instead of attacking the man directly, he created a rain of Moon Blades around him. If the man tried to escape in that direction, he would have to block the attacks. He had already noticed that although the man resembled a skeleton, he moved as fast as lightning. To stop him, they had to block his path.

The team led by Li Ran and Qi Wuzhen, though not perfectly coordinated, were all highly skilled professionals with remarkable experience. Seeing Guo Shier unleash the Moon Blades, the others immediately understood. In an instant, various sacred artifacts were deployed to seal off all sides and the sky.

Li Ran and Qi Wuzhen also unleashed their own sacred artifacts and attacked.

In the blink of an eye, the man was torn to pieces. Li Ran said irritably, “Sigh, Xiao Zhenzhen, you attacked too harshly. I wanted to catch him alive… so I could take his soul!”

Qi Wuzhen replied, “Who knew this guy would be so weak? He’s much weaker than those we encountered before. Anyway, there are many like him. We can just catch another one.”

Guo Shier landed beside the shattered corpse. He reached out and picked up the large axe—it was extremely heavy, probably weighing seven or eight hundred pounds. In his past life, he would never have been able to lift it, but this time was different. His strength was immense, so such weight posed no challenge to him. He tried swinging it casually; it didn’t seem to have anything special about it. He knew it relied on brute spiritual power to function.

Halechi asked curiously, “Is there anything special about this thing?”

Guo Shierou shook his head and said, “Nothing special. It’s just a local weapon.” He put the axe back on the altar and laughed, “Hehe, I’ll study it when I have time.”
Li Ran shouted, “Here they come again! Get ready! This time we need to catch them alive—encircle them just like last time!”
This time, there were two attackers, two skeleton-like figures, a man and a woman, who came from both sides, aiming at Guo Shierou and Halechi, who were on the ground.