Chapter 2594: Strange and Absurd Place

He Lingchuan suddenly sensed something was wrong, raising his hand to fire a path of ice arrows that shot first through the archway.

However, as soon as the ice arrows entered the doorway, their forward momentum halted abruptly, and they hung suspended in midair, trembling incessantly.

It seemed as if an invisible net had ensnared them.

"Don't go in!"

Another demon launched two fireballs, which struck the stone frame of the archway.

The flames leapt, and the archway jumped along with them.

It even bounced once before revealing its true form—

which was actually a giant oblique sea anemone.

Its appearance somewhat resembled a pitcher plant, with the archway being its enormous opening, connected behind to a colorless, transparent soft gelatinous inner sac. Its camouflage was so perfect, and the jungle environment so dim, that prey could hardly discern any flaw in the kelp gate.

If immortals and demons continued charging forward, they would be throwing themselves into the anemone's belly, and who knew what other treacherous schemes lay within.

But since its tricks had been exposed, Rui Lin showed no mercy, extending his claws to tear the oblique sea anemone to pieces.

However, at that very moment, a pattern on the archway—or rather, the kelp gate—suddenly stirred, and from behind the door a large head drooped down, striking Hulu Tian's front with a "zhuo" sound against Ling Yun Xianjun.

Its color and pattern blended seamlessly with the archway; unless it moved, no one would know of its existence.

Even the gods could not detect its vital signs, so how could anyone imagine that the oblique sea anemone harbored a companion monster?

This was a serpentine strange beast, its body round and long with fissures, legless, with horny protuberances behind the ears on its head.

Its eyes were small like a snake's, gleaming with a sinister and cruel light. But this was neither a python nor a flood dragon, for its head was conical, its snout protruding, its mouth full of nail-like sharp teeth.

Such monsters are called viper eels, and they are now rarely seen in the world.

It chose its ambush moment well; at this time, Rui Lin's neck had already passed over the kelp gate, conversely exposing his abdomen beneath the monster's mouth. The one guarding this position was precisely Ling Yun Xianjun.

Ling Yun Xianjun had long been on full alert; with a sweep of his horsetail whisk, hundreds of steel needles shot out, aiming to shred the monster's head and face.

Though this move was plain and unadorned, the monster seemed to recognize the threat, shrank its head to dodge, and opened its mouth to spit a mouthful of yellow mist at Ling Yun Xianjun and Hulu Tian.

Rui Lin's dharma body blocked six or seven tenths of the mist, and the remainder was swept away by the whisk, but a few strands still drifted onto Ling Yun.

The protective gang qi he had raised surprisingly failed to block this bit of mist, which clung to his clothing.

These few strands of yellow mist began to wriggle, silently burrowing into his clothes, drilling through even without seams. Ling Yun Xianjun examined closely and discovered they were actually slender threadworms, not much thicker than hair, yet capable of boring through anything—even the treasure garments on his person could not stop them.

These things had no face, only a mouth, within which lay ring after ring of inwardly spiraling fine teeth, capable of adhering to almost any surface, drilling holes while sucking blood and gouging flesh, relentlessly boring inward.

In merely a moment or two, Ling Yun Xianjun felt literal skin-piercing pain.

"Burn them to death with fire!" He Lingchuan turned and advised, "These are sea monsters, they fear fire!"

Taking her hint, Ling Yun Xianjun ignited true fire, shouting "Hu—" as he transformed himself into a great fireball, barely managing to clear the yellow worms from his body surface.

He did not know that this creature was called sea silk eel, its rotary mouth extremely sharp, fond of boring holes into prey to devour fresh flesh and organs. However, they were actually not companions of the viper eel.

Only in this special place could they be spat out from the viper eel's mouth.

At the same time, as the great powers passed through the jungle, several vines suddenly came alive and launched an assault.

Again viper eels, and this time a whole swarm. In the forest, a giant viper eel leapt out, its body over five times larger than its kin!

The immortals and demons already knew how to deal with them, but each acting separately would inevitably be delayed.

Mu He Shen formed a hand seal with both hands, and shouted low:

"Bathe in fire!"

The Heart-Purity Pearl turned, and Rui Lin's dharma body surface ignited with Xiong Xiongdahuo!

This was true yang flame fire; the several viper eels that rushed upon it were instantly burned down to the bone, screaming in pain as they hastily retreated, whereupon their kin, seeing this, dared not advance.

That giant viper eel, however, lowered its head, sucked dry the water in the pond in one gulp, and sprayed it toward Rui Lin.

What it sucked in was clear water, but what it sprayed out was yellow water. Though Rui Lin was an illusion, being struck by the yellow water caused his entire body to hiss and smoke, his true fire largely extinguished, and several large patches of his scales corroded.

Mu He Shen flew into a rage, pointing at the viper eel leader and saying: "Kill!"

Rui Lin delivered a backward strike, lunging fiercely at the viper eel leader. However, the latter merely spat one mouthful and shrank back into the palace, plunging with a splash into the large water pit below.

"Hurry up!" Hulu Tian's voice rang in everyone's hearts, "This place is not fit for lingering!"

Rui Lin then turned back, running toward A Lian's direction.

It was right ahead.

It accelerated its speed, and the wounds on its body surface quickly healed—this was at the cost of drawing upon the power of immortals and demons.

Ling Yun Xianjun, however, gritted his teeth and stabbed himself twice, both wounds on his right ribs; the excised flesh contained several sea silk eels striving to bore inward.

If he did not act decisively, this thing would soon burrow into his viscera, devouring him in large chunks.

"What kind of little world is this?" He Lingchuan lifted his head to gaze at the sky, seeing only a crescent moon, sparse starlight, "Otherwise, with such bright stars and moon, how could it block the gods' sight?"

"No." Hulu Tian affirmed, "This is not a little world."

He is the god of space, and has authority over the space here: "This place has a severe severance from the real world."

Other immortals and demons may feel nothing, but He can sense that this place and the real world are two entirely different layers, with a clear boundary between them.

No matter how closely this place imitates the real world, it is not the real world!

"Could it be an illusion?"

"Illusions are still within this realm, merely with an added layer of disguise, but they cannot block the gods' gaze." Hulu Tian said in a deep voice, "I think this place is more like a secret realm."

Secret realm and illusion differ by only one character, yet their essence is worlds apart.

"Secret realm?" He Lingchuan exclaimed in surprise, "Ling Yun, you have long guarded Ling Yun Palace—do you know if there is such a secret realm near Yun Xia Bay?"

"Never heard of it."

Everyone understood, this was abnormal.

Bai Zhu Island is only dozens of miles from Yun Xia Bay; the heavenly palace's ships travel to and from Bai Zhu Island, with bird demons, cultivators, and immortals constantly coming and going nearby—how could they possibly overlook a secret realm here?

Thus He Lingchuan asked Hulu Tian: "Can you confirm this place is a secret realm?"

Hulu Tian remained silent.

It just came in—how could it be sure? Though I claim to be the god of space, this ghostly place must have undergone meticulous disguise!

"Keep exploring forward." Helu Tian took a deep breath, "Ailian is right ahead!"

The palace where Ailian is remains intact, with towering pillars and high eaves—one can tell it was once magnificent.

At this moment, moonlight poured over the roof and slanted down, perfectly enveloping the little girl.