When Long Chen heard about the mysterious place, he immediately became interested, but Li Yunhua and the others' expressions changed dramatically as they scolded the man.
"Long Chen, don't listen to his nonsense. There's no such thing as a mysterious place—it's a land of death. Whoever goes dies." Li Yunhua said hurriedly.
"That's right. Since ancient times, it has been a land of death. Whether it's Tianyu City, the Stone Spirit Clan, or the Golden Lion Clan, none dare approach there.
The so-called treasure is nothing but fabricated by busybodies—it's all a lie. Don't believe it. "The others also spoke up.
However, their words did piqued Long Chen's interest. After his questioning, he learned that there was a mysterious place here, located between the territories of the Human Clan, the Golden Lion Clan, and the Stone Spirit Clan.
There, death energy lingered year-round, black mist rose like the gates of hell, shrouded by terrifying laws of death, and the three clans dared not approach.
Not only did the three clans dare not approach, but even the monsters themselves dared not approach. Throughout history, monsters had attacked their lair countless times. When they could no longer hold out, they would approach the mysterious place and retreat.
The Stone Spirit and Golden Lion clans are often invaded by monsters, as they have little to claim territory. Sometimes, to avoid casualties, after monsters invade, they rely on that mysterious land to repel enemies.
Tianyu City is deterred by the Tianyu Sword, so these monsters dare not approach, while the other two clans rely on that mysterious land to preserve their strength and compete with the humans.
However, they only dared to linger on the outskirts of the mysterious place to avoid attacks by the monsters, but they had no idea what exactly was happening there.
As a result, the three clans speculated about what truly existed in this mysterious place that would make the unintelligent demons so terrified. For countless years, they had secretly explored, hoping to unveil the veil of the mysterious land.
But that mysterious place was shrouded in death energy. Even Six Veins Heavenly Saint-level experts dared not touch it. At his peak, Chu He had visited the mysterious place, but he never said anything about the situation inside. Later, his cultivation faltered, and rumors spread from the Stone Spirit clan that Chu He was cursed and would soon die.
But Chu He didn't mention the specifics at all, which only made people more curious about this mysterious place.
There were even rumors that whoever could unlock the secrets of the mysterious place might break free from its constraints and reach the Tianyuan World directly.
Some even say it hides treasures of great powers, while others say it might be the gateway to the world of death. In short, all kinds of rumors fly around, with countless versions, but no one can say for sure what is inside.
"Senior Brother Long Chen, you absolutely must not go. From ancient times to now, whether it's our human race, the Golden Lion clan, or the Stone Spirit clan, we've never stopped exploring mysterious places. But too many people have died inside. It's basically a trap, designed to harm those who are curious.
Ever since the ancestor went there, he had issued an order forbidding people from Tianyu City from entering this mysterious place, which shows that it is truly a place of great calamity. Li Yunhua said.
"A place of great danger, I have to go see this!" After hearing this, Long Chen couldn't help but feel a bit restless. His curiosity was always stronger than others', but after hearing them say that, he couldn't hold back anymore.
"Senior Brother Long Chen... Li Yunhua and the others were stunned. Long Chen really wouldn't listen to advice at all.
"Don't worry, I'm just going to take a look. I'm not going in."
Long Chen gestured for everyone to rest assured. After asking about the approximate location of the mysterious place, Long Chen quietly slipped out of Tianyu City.
Long Chen had already advanced to Saint King and was powerful. The Dragon Bone Evil Moon had recovered, and Lei Ling'er and Huo Ling'er were even stronger than before. The confidence Long Chen had lost was returning. If he didn't figure this out, Long Chen wouldn't be Longchen.
Following Li Yunhua and the others' descriptions, Long Chen sped northwest in the opposite direction. In less than an hour, endless black mist appeared ahead.
Long Chen observed that the black mist covered an enormous area, with no end in sight. No wonder this place became the intersection of the three clans' territories.
When he saw the black mist, it was still quite a long way away. As Long Chen slowly moved forward, gradually approaching the mist, a chilling aura enveloped him, making Long Chen seem to smell the scent of death.
"This is the breath of death, but not the aura of the Underworld." Sensing the aura here, Long Chen immediately concluded that this aura had nothing to do with the Underworld; the rumors about the Gate of Hell were nonsense.
Long Chen continued forward. The black mist ahead grew thicker and thicker. Soon, he could no longer see his surroundings, and even his divine sense was suppressed. However, this suppression was not a big problem for Long Chen.
As he walked, Long Chen suddenly stopped and swallowed an antidote pill. At that moment, poisonous gas began to appear in the mist. Although this poison didn't threaten Long Chen, to be safe, he still swallowed a pill in advance.
Long Chen continued forward. The fog ahead grew thicker and the poison gas stronger. Flames appeared around Long Chen, forcing him to use the power of the flames to resist the poison to prevent it from corroding his clothes.
"Crack..."
Suddenly, Long Chen's foot made a soft sound. He stepped on a piece of dry bone—a human arm bone. This person must have cultivated arm divine powers; the bones elsewhere had long since decayed, leaving only this bone behind. However, this bone was already decayed and shattered with a slight touch.
At this moment, Long Chen looked around and finally noticed many scattered bones nearby. Clearly, even after arriving here, they couldn't withstand the poison gas and had died here.
However, judging from the distribution of their bones, Long Chen guessed they sensed something was wrong, ran from inside out, and only died from the poison when they reached this point. Clearly, they had overestimated their resistance to poison.
These bones decayed so badly that their cultivation levels were impossible to discern, but their strength was likely no lower than that of the Human Emperor Realm; otherwise, the bones wouldn't have survived so long in a highly toxic environment.
Long Chen continued forward, and the further he went, the more bones he saw. After an hour, he suddenly spotted a weathered stone.
The stone was round, about three feet tall, and looked somewhat like a human head. However, when Long Chen looked closely, his heart raced wildly:
"The Stone Spirit Clan?"
Long Chen hadn't expected that the corpses of Stone Spirit clan experts would appear here. The Stone Spirit clan is made of rock, with nearly endless lifespans. He hadn't expected that even they couldn't withstand the poisonous mist here.
When Long Chen looked toward its eyes, he found the eyeballs had disappeared. Clearly, someone had passed by and pulled out their eyeballs. The Stone Spirit clan's eyeballs are the place where their lifelong power is concentrated, equivalent to demon beasts' demon cores and demon crystals, and are incredibly valuable.
The only question is whether the person who gouged out the Stone Spirit clan's eyeballs eventually left this mysterious place.
Long Chen continued forward, seeing more and more corpses—some human, some from the Golden Lion clan, and some from the Stone Spirit clan. These corpses were different from those outside; many were split apart, clearly showing that a great battle had broken out here.
"Buzz"
As Long Chen continued forward, a massive portal suddenly appeared before him. Seeing it, even with his composure, he couldn't help but gasp in shock.