Chen Ping smiled, “If you’re scared, Miss Mo, you can wait here.”
“Who—who’s scared!” Mo Qingyun gritted her teeth, “I’m going with you!”
The two plunged into the lake. The water was icy and biting, but for cultivators of their level, it posed no real issue.
After diving dozens of metres, a massive stone platform emerged at the lake’s bottom, covered in intricate formation runes. At its centre was a fist-sized blue crystal emitting a faint glow.
“This… is the ‘Sky Suspension Crystal’?” Mo Qingyun exclaimed, “The legendary divine object that can uphold the forces of heaven and earth!”
Chen Ping’s expression grew serious, “So that’s it. This formation uses the Sky Suspension Crystal as its core, supplemented by the island’s spiritual veins, to sustain itself for ten thousand years without falling.”
He swam closer to the platform, closely examining the runes, and suddenly noticed that several of them seemed to have been tampered with.
“Something’s wrong…” he muttered, “This formation has been altered, and it seems… there’s another hidden restriction!”
Mo Qingyun was stunned, “What do you mean?”
Before Chen Ping could explain, the runes on the platform suddenly flared with blinding light, and the Sky Suspension Crystal began to tremble violently!
“Not good!” Chen Ping grabbed Mo Qingyun, “Retreat!”
But it was too late. A terrifying suction force erupted from the lake’s bottom, pulling their bodies towards the platform!
“Chen Ping! What’s happening?” Mo Qingyun shouted in panic.
“The formation’s been triggered!” Chen Ping gritted his teeth, trying to break free, but the suction was too powerful. In an instant, their figures were swallowed into a sudden spatial rift!
The world spun around them. When they came to, they found themselves in an unfamiliar ruin.
Surrounding them were broken stone pillars and collapsed palaces, the air thick with an ancient, decayed aura.
Not far away stood a towering stone pillar, reaching thousands of metres into the sky, engraved with countless runes.
Behind the pillar was a mountain, seemingly split in half by human hands and carved into two ferocious ghost statues.
“Who could have such grand ambition to carve an entire mountain like this?”
Mo Qingyun was utterly shocked by the sight.
Chen Ping didn’t speak, his eyes fixed on the two ghost statues. His heart sank, as if something had suddenly gripped him, making him feel suffocated.
Alarmed, Chen Ping stumbled back, shouting, “Get back, quickly!”
“Friend Chen, what’s wrong?” Mo Qingyun looked confused.
She didn’t understand why Chen Ping was suddenly acting this way.
Seeing that Mo Qingyun was unaffected, Chen Ping was taken aback, and at that moment, the suffocating feeling vanished.
“Was I just too tense?”
Chen Ping let out a long breath and glanced at the ghost statues again.
He knew the ancients wouldn’t carve a mountain for no reason—these statues must have a purpose.
But after looking again, his heart tightened once more, the suffocating fear returning.
“Break!”
This time, Chen Ping didn’t retreat. Instead, he gripped his Dragon-Slaying Sword and slashed forward.
He wanted to dispel this terrifying sensation!
But no matter how he unleashed his inner energy, the suffocating fear wouldn’t fade.
Chen Ping closed his eyes slightly and began chanting a calming mantra to steady himself.
This fear could cloud his judgment.
He didn’t understand why Mo Qingyun was unaffected while he felt this way.
As he continued chanting the mantra, the fear in his heart gradually dissipated, and he finally calmed down.
Opening his eyes, Chen Ping scanned the surroundings, avoiding direct eye contact with the ghost statues.
The sky here was grey and dim, with no sun or moon, as if sealed off by some force.
Mo Qingyun, somewhat nervous, looked at Chen Ping and asked, “Friend Chen, where… where are we?”
