Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
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Huo Yuhao had been secretly estimating the distance. Based on Yun Ming's flight speed, they should be about thirty kilometers away from Beihai City.
Scattered across the sea surface beneath their feet was an archipelago, with islands of various sizes strewn like black chess pieces across the water.
But he only needed one glance to realize that these islands were anything but ordinary.
Whether it was the soil on the islands or the vegetation covering them, everything was pitch black. Sunlight hitting them didn't even reflect much luster, as if it were being silently devoured by that pitch-black darkness.
Yun Ming's figure stopped steadily in mid-air. Huo Yuhao already had a judgment in his heart; this eerie black archipelago below should be the destination of their trip.
Sure enough, Yun Ming then turned around, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the six teenagers one by one.
He said, "This is Devil Island. Before we enter, let me give you a warning: you still have the chance to refuse now."
"Once you step onto this island, the test officially begins. If you cannot complete it, you can only be carried out."
Everyone looked at Yun Ming, no one spoke, but every young face was filled with the same answer.
As Spirit Masters, even if they were young, even if they were girls, their willpower had long been tempered to be firm enough through countless times of Cultivating and fighting.
Since they had come, there was no reason to turn back.
They had long been prepared to face all dangers and would never retreat just because of one warning from Yun Ming.
Yun Ming looked at the six stubborn faces in front of him, remained silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. It was hard to tell from his tone whether he was gratified or helpless: "Since you have already decided, I hope you will not regret it."
After saying this, Yun Ming said no more. His Spirit Power enveloped everyone as they descended rapidly, flying straight towards the largest main island in the middle of the archipelago.
As the altitude continued to drop, the appearance of Devil Island became clearer and clearer before everyone's eyes.
Pitch-black reefs, pitch-black beaches, pitch-black vegetation—the entire island seemed to be shrouded in an invisible dark filter, and even the air felt a few degrees heavier than it was outside.
However, Yun Ming did not take everyone to land directly on the island, but hovered above the sea surface at the edge of the island.
Not only the island itself, but even the seawater surrounding the island was a thick, pitch-black color, as if someone had poured an entire vat of ink into the water.
That pitch-black seawater only lingered within a range of a few dozen meters around Devil Island; further out, it was the normal azure blue seawater. The two colors were clearly demarcated at the boundary, as if an invisible barrier was keeping them apart.
In those azure blue waters, one could faintly see many Spirit Beasts swimming about.
Huo Yuhao even caught the aura of quite a few Ten Thousand Years Spirit Beasts in his perception, but right now, they were all honestly huddled in the seawater, not even daring to poke their heads out.
Yun Ming only needed to release a trace of his Limit Douluo pressure, and it was enough to make these Ten Thousand Years Spirit Beasts shiver in silence.
Yun Ming turned his head to look at Leng Yaozhu and said, "Yaozhu, you stay outside for now. I will take them in."
Leng Yaozhu nodded without asking another question.
After all, Devil Island was a "treasured land" of Shrek Academy, and it was not appropriate for an outsider like her to set foot there.
After speaking, Yun Ming took Huo Yuhao and the others and stepped onto this ink-black Devil Island.
The moment Huo Yuhao stepped onto this pitch-black land, he suddenly raised his head to look around.
He felt as if he had stepped into another World, a barrier with the Laws of heaven and earth completely different from the outside. A heavy, indescribable feeling permeated the air, and every breath made his lungs feel slightly stifled.
The others followed closely behind Yun Ming, also curiously and vigilantly looking at this oppressive World.
Black beaches, black reefs—the entire island was terrifyingly quiet, and even the sound of waves hitting the reefs was much duller than outside.
Soon, everyone discovered something unusual: they could not feel a single trace of Origin Qi here. For a Spirit Master, this meant that once Spirit Power was consumed, there would be no way to replenish it on this island.
This made everyone's hearts sink slightly, but they soon calmed down.
Since it was a treasured land where generations of Shrek Academy elites trained, the rules here naturally had their purpose.
Yun Ming led them along a faint black path, slowly moving towards the center of the island. The black dense forests on both sides became increasingly thick, and twisted branches intertwined high above.
After quite a while, a glimmer of purple-black light faintly emerged from the depths of the dense forest ahead, dark and eerie.
Yun Ming stopped at this moment, and everyone followed suit and stopped.
Just then, a hoarse and old voice sounded without warning: "Why have you come?"
Everyone then suddenly realized that, without knowing when, someone had appeared out of thin air in front of Yun Ming.
That person was about 1.8 meters tall, but his figure was hunched severely, like an old tree bent by the years. A head of messy white hair hung down, covering most of his face, revealing only one turbid and deep eye.
In his hand, he held a jet-black, shiny cane. His face was full of wrinkles, the layers of gullies looking like a dried-up riverbed, and his whole body exuded an indescribable sense of eeriness and vicissitudes.
Clearly, this old man knew Yun Ming.
Yun Ming looked at the other person, his expression still as calm as water, and he just nodded slightly: "I'm here to drop some people off."
After speaking, Yun Ming stepped aside, presenting Huo Yuhao and the others behind him completely to this old man.
Then he tilted his head slightly and introduced to the six teenagers behind him: "You can call this person Destruction."
Although everyone was a bit unnerved by the mysterious old man who had suddenly appeared and the eerie atmosphere on the island, they did not forget their manners and respectfully called out: "Senior Destruction."
The old man opposite them named Destruction swept his gaze over the six teenagers one by one, and a weird smile slowly hung on that wrinkled face.
He didn't say much to the teenagers, but secretly transmitted his voice to Yun Ming: "Boy Yun, you came to drop people off yourself. Is there any special arrangement this time?"
Yun Ming was silent for a moment and also secretly transmitted back: "Just proceed as normal, but this time, don't 'trouble' the North Sea Legion."
Destruction had been guarding Devil Island for over a thousand years and had witnessed generation after generation of Shrek Geniuses crying bitterly and being reborn on this island; Yun Ming back then was one of them.
At that time, he felt that this boy would surely achieve great things in the future, but he didn't expect him to really become the number one person on the continent.
At this moment, hearing this from Yun Ming, Destruction had an idea. It was just that he still couldn't quite understand why Yun Ming had come to drop people off in person this time.
His turbid old eyes slowly swept over the six teenagers, and he couldn't help but mutter in his heart: "Could it be that among this group of little guys, there is an existence even more special than Yun Ming was back then?"
However, Destruction was not the type to worry, so he stopped thinking about it since he couldn't figure it out.
He lifted the cane in his hand and struck it on the ground, then turned around, his hoarse voice echoing in the black dense forest: "Follow me."
Hearing this, everyone did not move immediately, but turned their heads in unison to look at Yun Ming.
Yun Ming looked at them and nodded slightly.
Only then did everyone start moving, closely following the hunched figure ahead.
After traveling about a thousand meters through the black dense forest, the purple-black light ahead became increasingly dazzling.
Suddenly, everyone felt their vision blur, and after a brief moment of dizziness, the scene before them had already "changed to a different World."
Everyone instinctively stopped to look around; the scene before them was completely different from the oppressive black World just now.
This was actually a valley, surrounded by green hills on all sides, with green grass like a carpet beneath their feet.
The mountains and plains were covered with all kinds of flowers and plants, and the air was filled with a faint, sweet floral fragrance. Compared to the oppressive feeling outside that made even breathing difficult, this place could simply be called a paradise.
What surprised everyone even more was that there was Origin Qi here.
And the life aura here was very strong, even a few degrees richer than the life aura on Sea God Island at Shrek Academy.
However, before everyone could recover from this paradise-like scenery, their gazes were involuntarily attracted by the huge pillar of light rising into the sky from the center of the valley.
It was a purple-black pillar of light, rising from the very center of the valley and piercing straight through the sky.
Just a glance from afar made one's heart feel an inexplicable palpitation.
Huo Yuhao was calmly observing everything around him when, at this moment, the solemn voice of his teacher, Electrolux, suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Yuhao, this place is not simple."
"I have sensed the power of a god. Be careful."
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
2 Reviews = 1 Extra Chapter
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.