Chapter 579: Chapter 579

Su Youzhu and Lu Zijin should be up ahead.

But for some reason, ever since approaching this island, he had a faint feeling of unease.

A deafening crash resounded.

Old Master Si abruptly turned his head, discovering that the thick ice surface had suddenly formed massive cracks. The eerie sound of splitting echoed continuously, as though someone had slashed it with a sharp blade. Beneath the ice, seawater surged violently!

The candidates from the You Ying Group were shocked and nearly lost their footing, almost falling into the sea.

Some of the prisoners trapped in cages immediately fell into the icy sea, swallowed by the furious waves.

Even some candidates with poor mobility plunged into the water, their cries for help drowned out by the roaring tides.

Si Wei'an kicked a low-level prisoner into the sea, watching as the cold devoured him, snuffing out all signs of life.

"Something's wrong. Come over here quickly!"

Xia Yu frowned, her voice calm.

Her scent seemed to quell the panic, drawing the candidates toward her.

The seawater parted the ice layer into two. Tides surged violently, completely cutting off the way back.

This was a sea frozen over in ice—a place no one would sail into due to the massive and unimaginably thick layers of ice. Falling through was nearly impossible. And yet, it now seemed as though some overwhelming force had shattered the ice, leaving a chilling impression of tectonic plates shifting.

The ice layer across from them drifted further and further away, continuing to collapse.

Now, the only way to return was by helicopter rescue.

"We can't go back! We're all trapped here!"

"Damn it, what's going on here?"

"They warned us not to enter, so why did we come?"

Amid the chaos, Gu Jianlin noticed something unusual.

He only learned about the strange events on the Ice Sea through the desperate exclamations of others.

The ice had cracked, seawater surged, and many people had died.

But through his eyes, all he saw was dense and extreme cold mist spreading. There were no other abnormalities.

The Ice Sea was still frozen.

The seawater remained calm.

The dead were merely obscured by the mist.

This had to be a kind of Spiritual Domain, blanketing all directions, making them believe there was no way out.

Beneath the ice, faint, blood-red patterns emerged, like blood streaks diffusing through the seawater. They intertwined across the space like a web of complex blood vessels, radiating an eerie glow.

"This appears to be some sort of Alchemy Matrix, like a bizarre ritual."

Gu Jianlin heard growling from nearby.

A prisoner suddenly turned to look at him. His forehead bore strange characters from the Ancient God Clan, as though seared with molten iron. His eyes were ghastly white, devoid of life, and his face was veined with blood vessels.

Unlike before, Gu Jianlin was no longer a novice. He instantly recognized the characters.

Translated into the language of the Human Clan, it read: Corpse Slave!

Moreover, prisoners in all directions had begun mutating, turning their heads toward others.

It seemed almost all the prisoners had been infected!

Ning Chen clutched his head, speaking in a low voice, "Be careful! Something's wrong here!"

Mr. Liu also appeared to be in agony, saying, "Damn it! I feel like something's invading my mind!"

The Butcher, clueless as always, seemed unaffected, his expression blank.

Even the Scholar looked around in confusion.

It wasn't just the prisoners.

The candidates from the You Ying Group also clutched their heads, letting out agitated growls. Crimson characters emerged on their foreheads, their pupils turning ghostly white as they snarled and turned on others.

"There's definitely something wrong with this place!"

Old Master Si's face darkened. Covering his forehead, his expression turned grim.

Even as a Sixth Rank Divination Master, he wasn't immune.

Yet Xia Yu appeared unaffected. Turning her head, she asked, "Do you feel anything?"

Si Wei'an flashed a sinister smile but said nothing.

Well, that guy was insane to begin with.

Gu Jianlin saw the face of the prisoner turning toward him.

A man of imposing build—a middle-aged Black individual whose body, muscular as iron, radiated Qi Force. His physique, glimpsed from his profile, resembled that of an ancient Samurai. A Third Rank Qi Control Master, perhaps.

But that wasn't the critical point.

The key was what his eyes reflected.

What Gu Jianlin saw in the man's pupils wasn't himself—but a mass of dripping, raw flesh.

"Careful. There's a powerful Spiritual Domain here that can turn people into monsters."

Observing his surroundings, he swiftly deduced, "Only those infected by the Ancient God's Breath, or Divine Servants and Evolvers, will remain unaffected. However, they will still be hunted by other creatures. These things want to eat people!"

He said this deliberately, as a warning.

Mr. Liu, straining to resist the intrusive influence, momentarily paused upon hearing Gu Jianlin's cold, detached voice.

This confirmed his assumptions. He wasn't wrong about this man—he had discerned the situation in mere moments.

"When the fight starts, stick to that girl!"

The others nodded slightly.

Gu Jianlin thought to himself, That chubby guy isn't stupid after all.

At that moment, the middle-aged Black man roared and charged toward him.

Now walking the Ghost Slayer Path, Gu Jianlin effortlessly activated his Divine Speed Force domain, maneuvering like a phantom. Sidestepping the attack, he retrieved his Alchemy Tang Blade from a prison cart and slashed backhandedly! Orıginal content can be found at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥

The man's head was sent flying, blood streaming from the wound.

For a Third Rank Ancient Martial artist, resisting the beheading power of a Fourth Rank Ghost Slayer was impossible.

Especially when reduced to a mindless beast.

In the Ancient God Realm, there was no room for mercy.

If I don't kill you, you'll kill me.

No one cared if these people could've been healed.

Among wild Ascenders, notions of order didn't exist—survival belonged only to the ruthless.

The Butcher smashed several monsters' heads to pulp.

The Scholar joined in, slaughtering mercilessly. Nobody spared these corrupted creatures any pity.

On the ruins of the Ice Sea, icy mist lingered everywhere.

Moon Princess gazed toward the chaotic melee among the convoy, unable to sense much beyond what she could see.

Turning her head to the side, she softly asked, "Aunt Zijin, are you okay?"

Lu Zijin held her forehead, softly replying, "I'm fine. But I'm hearing weird mutterings in my head—something suppressing my reason, amplifying my aggression. Still, I'm alright. My Rank has recovered to Fifth Rank, and the Heavenly Master Path inherently wields spiritual elements, so I can resist it."

"No, this isn't just spiritual corrosion. It feels… bloody, like something's trying to transform me, to connect with my body. But I'm resisting successfully."

In a low voice, she added, "Something said it was hungry and wanted to feed."

Moon Princess narrowed her beautiful eyes. "Feed?"

Lu Zijin murmured, "It said, 'You are blood food.'"

Moon Princess fell silent for a moment before remarking, "I see. I'm an Evolver. This island must harbor some kind of creature, one that's desperately hungry for the flesh of Evolvers."

Lu Zijin shook her head, dispelling her escalating thoughts of madness. "Is that what's happening?"

"I'm Professor Gu's student. Don't underestimate my ability to beat a dungeon."

Moon Princess lacked resistance to mental interference—so much so that to her, the Ice Sea appeared fractured. "At this point, we can only press forward. There's no retreat, and you still have to complete the final ritual."

Lu Zijin frowned slightly. "Are you confident?"

Moon Princess shook her head. "Of course not."

Lu Zijin placed her hands on her hips and poked at Moon Princess's mask with a slender finger. "Then why dare to press forward?"

"Though my teacher brought me here before, we never ventured further than the outskirts."

Moon Princess's serene, luminous eyes betrayed no emotion as she said faintly, "The Ancient God Realm is saturated with traces of his existence. Everywhere I go, it feels like he's protecting me, just like years ago. The last time my teacher entered this realm, he explored many places. Do you think he might've come here too?"

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