Chapter 698

"I'm afraid that even if we want to leave, we won’t be able to for the time being," Li Fan reminded in a cold voice.

At this moment, Huangfu Song suddenly remembered that once they entered the Maze Zone, the only way to leave was by finding and passing through specific locations.

Otherwise, despite being seemingly within reach, they would remain forever separated, unable to cross even the shortest distance.

In an instant, a drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

"This..."

Dongfang Yao, having a bit more courage, patted Huangfu Song’s shoulder and comforted him: "Relax, Brother Huangfu. This place may seem eerie, but after all, it's just a bunch of dead people. There shouldn’t be any danger."

"If you’re really scared, just hide behind me. I’ll take the lead," he promised, patting his chest confidently.

Huangfu Song nodded repeatedly. "I’ll leave it to you then. But be careful, this place..."

After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his voice and said, "I don't sense even a trace of death aura. These cultivators… they might still be alive."

Hearing those words, Dongfang Yao's body trembled instantly.

"Brother Huangfu, it's fine if you don’t want to help, but don’t say such things recklessly." Dongfang Yao scanned the countless ice coffins floating on the dark sea, his face turning grim.

"There's no need to scare ourselves. Since we’re here, let’s stay calm and first figure out the situation," Li Fan, who appeared much calmer than the others, spoke decisively. Unlike them, he possessed a rare treasure that could allow him to escape at any moment, giving him a sense of security.

At his command, the three of them put away the Samantabhadra True Boat, formed a protective battle formation, and activated defensive arrays around them. They also donned all their prepared defensive artifacts before cautiously gliding over the sea.

The Heaven-Measuring Mirror flickered with blue light, collecting and recording data from the areas they passed through.

They dared not get too close to the frozen cultivators floating on the sea but observed them carefully from a distance.

"Judging by their attire, they should be cultivators from the Ancient World of Immortal Cultivation. However, I can't sense any aura from them, making it impossible to determine their cultivation levels."

"Strange. They don’t seem alive, but they also don’t entirely resemble the dead."

"I wonder what they saw before they were frozen. Their expressions are utterly twisted in terror."

"And who did this? To instantly freeze so many cultivators at once… their cultivation level must be…"

The three of them continuously exchanged thoughts through divine sense but refrained from making reckless moves, such as attempting to break the ice coffins below.

Indeed, the countless ancient cultivators must have carried valuable treasures, pills, and even cultivation techniques. However, none of them dared to guarantee that shattering the ice would not trigger an unknown disaster.

Besides, with the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance's reward system, as long as they could return safely, they would already be gaining substantial benefits.

Compared to the lucrative rewards from the alliance, the ancient cultivators’ belongings seemed much less tempting.

In the deathly silent Black Sea, even time itself seemed frozen. There was no cycle of sunrise and sunset—only an eternally dim, gray sky.

The Heaven-Measuring Mirror also appeared to have lost connection with the Tianxuan Mirror, and their rapidly increasing reward points were recorded only in the ancient square mirror, without synchronizing with the main system.

Huangfu Song and his companions knew that if they could not make it out alive, all the Qingxuan Points would be nothing more than a meaningless set of numbers, completely useless. However, if they managed to complete the exploration and escape successfully, even if they gained nothing else in future endeavors, what they had obtained here alone would already be enough.

Thus, they proceeded with extreme caution.

According to their perception, they had been flying for dozens of days, yet they still had not reached the end of this black sea.

Everywhere they looked, all they saw were frozen corpses.

Even Dongfang Yao realized something was wrong.

“Are we going in circles?”

Huangfu Song nodded in agreement. “It does seem that way. Although we appear to be moving in a straight line, it’s evident that some kind of force here is distorting our perception. Otherwise, based on the number of corpses we’ve encountered, we’ve already seen tens of billions of them. Even if every cultivator from the ancient cultivation world were buried here, it still wouldn’t add up to such a number.”

Li Fan remained silent.

He was comparing and reorganizing the images recorded in the Dao Deviation Stone within his mind.

A blue light flickered, as if his thoughts were operating at their peak.

Soon after, Li Fan discovered a chilling truth.

In reality, so far, none of the frozen cultivators they encountered had actually repeated.

Or rather, even if a few similar-looking ones had been overlooked, the vast majority of the cultivators they saw in this desolate black sea were indeed unique individuals.

“There are exactly 2,679,800,000 cultivators lying dormant here.”

“And that’s just what I’ve seen so far.”

Li Fan couldn’t help but gaze into the distance. The endless sea of black was filled with floating ice coffins, stretching far beyond what the eye could see.

“What in the world…”

The eerie nature of this place had far exceeded his imagination.

“We can’t keep going like this. We need to find a way out, fast,” Huangfu Song said, but then he suddenly coughed lightly.

Li Fan and Dongfang Yao were momentarily stunned. They exchanged glances, their expressions shifting slightly.

“Huangfu, are you alright?” Dongfang Yao quickly flew to his side, grabbing his shoulder to check his condition.

A moment passed.

“That’s strange… there’s nothing wrong. But why did you just cough?” Dongfang Yao’s expression was grave.

Huangfu Song also sensed that something was off. After closing his eyes and carefully examining his condition, his face darkened. “I feel… weaker. It’s as if my vitality is slowly draining away…”

He looked down at the deathly still black sea. “This ocean… it seems to be siphoning our life force.”

“So that’s what’s happening. My physique is a bit stronger than yours, so I haven’t felt anything—yet.” Dongfang Yao paused mid-sentence.

He turned to Li Fan. “But, Brother Li Fan… why do you…”

Huangfu Song narrowed his eyes as well.

After all, it was Li Fan who had led them to this eerie maze. Huangfu Song knew of Dongfang Yao’s unique constitution.

Yet, Li Fan, who outwardly only had the cultivation of a Nascent Soul cultivator, was exhibiting more vitality than even Huangfu Song, who was at the Soul Transformation stage. He seemed to be withstanding the sea’s effects far better…

It was impossible for Huangfu Song not to be suspicious.

Li Fan understood this perfectly. He smiled faintly and shook his head. “Brothers, there is no need for doubt. Perhaps it is because my personal cave-heaven domain follows the Dao of Wood, allowing me to possess a stronger life force.”

“In times like this, we must stand united. The last thing we should allow is distrust among ourselves.”

“Huangfu, take the Longevity Pill I gave you. It might help.”

Seeing how calm and open Li Fan was, Huangfu Song temporarily suppressed his suspicions. He took out the jade bottle, swallowed the Longevity Pill, and immediately felt his complexion improve.

“It really works. Brother Li, thank you!” Huangfu Song said with some guilt.

“No need,” Li Fan waved his hand, as if he didn’t mind at all.

“As for getting out of here… Brother Huangfu, do you have any ideas?” he asked.