Chapter 2: Death (Part 2)

Several teams entered one after another. Encountering danger was only a matter of distance—space rifts were inevitable. After losing a few members, they had no choice but to retreat.
Watching the five of them disappear at the other end of the canyon, the thousands of people present were filled with envy and resentment. Yet, they were all experts from various races, including many clever individuals, and soon someone came up with a way to proceed. It was a rather crude method—exploring slowly, using thick wooden sticks to test the path ahead. As long as the sticks remained intact, there was no danger for the people following. Quickly, everyone understood the principle.
After all, space rifts did not attack actively, and even if they moved, they were very slow. Once their location was identified, they posed no threat. Everyone understood that as long as one didn’t touch such dangerous things, nothing would happen. Thus, teams began to move forward.
Li Ran and the others soon left the area of space rifts and arrived at a stone forest. The forest was dense, and after observing it, Guo Shier said, “This seems to be a stone forest formed by space rifts—very orderly. Heh, I guess… those largest rifts are the most dangerous.” He tried to fly up to get a better view of the entire forest.
Qi Wu Zhen shouted, “Don’t go up! There are tiny space rifts up there…”
Guo Shier looked up and was terrified. No wonder the sky looked so strange—it seemed covered with countless fine threads, making it impossible to see clearly. He threw a football-sized rock upward. The rock flew over the stone forest and instantly turned to powder, drifting down silently. He cursed, “Damn, that’s freakish! It’s terrifying!”
Such space rifts were extremely dangerous. If there were few, one could break through them with their own defenses. But when they were dense enough, those defenses would be silently weakened, trapping people without them even realizing it. At this point, not only did Guo Shier start to take the dangers of the Luotian Ruins seriously, but Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen did too. The peril here could rival that of crossing dimensions.
Guo Shier said with a bitter smile, “We can’t see ahead of the stone forest. Maybe we’ll have to force our way through. I don’t know if there are any space rifts in the passage.”
Qi Wu Zhen replied, “I’ll go explore the way!”

Li Ran said, “I’ll go instead. You stay here. If things get too bad, use the Boundary Breaker to create a passage directly.” How could he let a woman take the risk of exploring, even though her strength was roughly on par with his? Like Guo Shier, he had lived on Earth before, and some of his beliefs were deeply ingrained and hard to change.

Qi Wu Zhen didn’t argue with him and simply said, “Mm.” She stepped back immediately. If someone was willing to take the risk, why not?

Li Ran nodded. After arguing with Qi Wu Zhen for so long, the two had developed an unspoken understanding. In fact, he really admired her—she was becoming more rational, less prone to anger or impulsiveness than when they first met. In a flash, he rushed into a passage in the stone forest.

After about half an hour, Li Ran suddenly reappeared. Guo Shier asked, “How was it?”

Li Ran smiled and said, “It’s smooth. No signs of spatial cracks. Hehe, it’s really amazing. Let’s go over.”

Everyone was overjoyed. To be honest, everyone was a bit anxious. If the passage was filled with spatial cracks, it would take a lot of effort to pass through, not as easy as the previous path, as there were giant stone pillars all around, leaving little room to dodge or maneuver. To get through, they would have to break the pillars. But they couldn’t tell if there were any fixed spatial cracks within the pillars—running into them carelessly could be dangerous.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Let’s move quickly to avoid sudden spatial cracks!”

The five of them immediately flew toward the passage. Guo Shier flew inside, where the passage was about a hundred meters wide, with narrow sections just a few meters wide. The ground was covered with sharp, knife-like rocks—those with weak defenses might be pierced on the spot if they fell on them. There were also countless sharp stalactites around, creating a gloomy and eerie atmosphere. He sighed, “If there are spatial cracks here, it’s indeed difficult to pass through.”

Li Ran laughed and said, “It’s not that hard. You’re just scared by those people. In reality, spatial cracks aren’t that dangerous. You can use the Sealing Spell from the talismans to deal with them. But if there are many, it’s best to create a special protective artifact. Ordinary artifacts can also help against spatial cracks, but they cause severe damage to the artifact—so it’s not worth it.”

Guo Shier was surprised and asked, “The Sealing Character? So the Forbidden Character can also be used?”

Li Ran said, “Many talisman characters can be used; it’s just that their power levels vary. If combined, the effect will be better. But those spatial rifts in the sky give me a headache just to look at them. It’s best to avoid them if encountered.”
Guo Shier raised his head and glanced around, asking, “Is it because of the number?”
Li Ran nodded. “Even if one talisman character can eliminate a small spatial rift, what if there are thousands of them? How can you deal with that? Even if you could eliminate them, what about thousands or tens of thousands more? So avoiding them is the safest approach.”
Guo Shier said, “These are just spatial rifts. I wonder what other dangerous things are waiting for us in the Luotian Ruins.”
Li Ran replied, “As long as we don’t force things, it’s fine. If we encounter a danger we can’t handle, I believe… we still have ways to escape. Hehe, we’re the best professionals in the world of talismans. Who dares say they’re stronger than us?” he said proudly.
By then, the five of them had successfully passed through the passage. Suddenly, everything around them became bright, with sunlight shining everywhere. This so-called sunlight was actually the reflection of the starry sky, giving an unreal feeling. The ground was covered with bluish-white rocks, with no plants or animals. Cracks crisscrossed the ground and the cliffs on both sides—whether left by battles or spatial rifts, they gave off a desolate and eerie atmosphere. Even with sunlight on them, it made people feel chilled inside.
Sericeline shivered and said, “There’s such a strong killing aura. I’m freezing all over. This place has an eerie vibe.”
Borong whispered, “Let’s leave quickly. If we stay here, I feel like something bad will happen.” Being the weakest, he tried to speak as little as possible to avoid drawing attention. Entering the Luotian Ruins this time, he relied entirely on Li Ran and the others. He knew that if he entered with others, he might end up as a sacrifice, so he was very grateful and didn’t want to burden the team. Probably no one from his Blade Clan would believe that Borong had taken on almost all the trivial tasks in the team.
Sericeline agreed, “Yes, let’s get out of here fast!”
Li Ran said, “Alright, let’s go!” There was no one here. The previous group that entered might have already left, and no one else had followed, so their team was the first to arrive here.

The five of them moved swiftly forward. A few minutes later, they saw an archway in the ceiling of the canyon. Below the arch was a vast, bottomless pit that sloped downward, leading nowhere visible. Ceresine said, “It’s here, it’s here! This is the entrance to the Luotian Ruins. We’ve arrived!” She was clearly excited.

If Guo Shier had come here from Earth for the first time, he would have no way of understanding how such a huge pit could lead to another place, to a completely different world. But after living in the World of Spells and having seen countless secret realms, he could fully comprehend it. He had witnessed even more unscientific phenomena—let alone an entrance to such ruins. He said, “I don’t know how deep it is. I hope there’s no danger.”

Li Ran said, “There shouldn’t be much danger. Otherwise, so many people wouldn’t have come here.”

Ceresine said, “This passage is safe. It’s said that as long as you can reach here, you can enter the Luotian Ruins smoothly.”

Qi Wuzhen said, “Enough nonsense. Let’s go!” She took off first toward the huge opening. Though she spoke boldly, she still activated her protective barriers, andlights lights flashed around her. The others immediately followed, flying deeper into the massive cave.

In just a moment, Qi Wuzhen suddenly stopped and said, “Strange. Why are there so many crack passages?”

Besides the main passage, there were countless cracks on the cave walls around them, as if torn apart by force. It was unclear where they led. One particularly large crack branched off from the main passage, making Qi Wuzhen hesitate. She stopped to ask Ceresine. Here, Ceresine knew far more than the others—this was her role.

Ceresine replied without hesitation, “Follow the biggest passage. Ignore the others.”

Qi Wuzhen immediately set off toward the largest and widest passage. Gradually, the circular passage became narrower, looking like a huge crack. At that moment, more tiny spatial cracks appeared around them. A quick glance showed that these cracks were fixed, unlike those in the canyon, which moved over time.

Li Ran examined them carefully for a while and said, “It’s fine. There’s nothing wrong, no danger at all. Let’s go down.”

There wasn’t a single glimmer of light in the entire narrow crack; it was pitch black, giving off a terrifying feeling. But for Qi Wuzhen and the others, it wasn’t scary at all. The five of them fell rapidly downward.

After about two minutes, a faint light began to appear below. Qi Wu Zhen said calmly, “It seems we’re almost there. Everyone, get ready!”