Chapter 48: Survival in a Desperate Situation? I Break Through the Boundaries and Return!

"The ruins are self-destructing?! One incense stick of time?!"

Lin Xuan’s heart sank violently! He had not expected that after taking the core inheritance, these ruins would actually trigger a self-destruction sequence! This was clearly leaving no path of survival for those who came after!

Rumble—!

The entire underground palace began to shake violently. Debris and dust fell incessantly from the ceiling, and the ghostly gems on the walls flickered, as if they would extinguish at any moment. That invisible spatial barrier was like a sturdy cage, trapping him firmly within this passage leading to destruction!

"Must get out!" Lin Xuan’s eyes were sharp as knives, forcing himself to calm down. Panic could not solve any problems.

"System! Scan the spatial barrier structure, analyze its energy composition and weak points! Simultaneously simulate all possible escape plans, priority: survival!"

[Ding! Highest priority command confirmed! Consuming 15% of remaining energy for overclocked scanning and simulation!]

[Scan complete! The spatial barrier is driven by the ruins' core array; the energy source is the nether energy of the earth veins and the power of residual soul fire. The weak point is located at the junction of the barrier and the right wall, where the energy flow exhibits a periodic fluctuation gap of 0.3 seconds.]

[Simulation complete! Providing three plans:]

[Plan 1: Forcibly bombard the weak point. Requires unleashing attack power close to the early Nascent Soul stage within the 0.3-second gap. Success rate: 12%.]

[Plan 2: Utilize the understanding of space from "Earth-Shrinking Step" to attempt a short-distance spatial jump during the gap. Risk: Extremely high chance of being caught in or torn apart by spatial turbulence. Success rate: 8%.]

[Plan 3: Utilize the newly acquired "Nether Soul-Suppressing Token" (damaged). This token contains fragments of spatial laws; one can attempt to draw upon its power to forcibly tear the barrier. Warning: The token is damaged, the artifact spirit is dormant, and forcing it may trigger backlash or unknown consequences, and it requires a massive amount of magic power and spiritual sense. Success rate: Unknown (estimated 30%-50%).]

Time was tight, allowing no hesitation! He could not yet reach the power required for Plan 1, and the success rate of Plan 2 was too low, practically suicide. Only Plan 3, despite the unknown risks, had the highest success rate!

"I'll gamble on it!" A ruthless glint flashed in Lin Xuan’s eyes, and he took out the dark red Nether Soul-Suppressing Token without hesitation!

As the token entered his hand, that icy, heavy aura—as if it could suppress the souls of all heavens—permeated the air once more. Lin Xuan could feel that the token contained an unimaginably vast power, but it was like a dormant volcano, difficult to trigger.

He tried to inject his chaotic spiritual power into it, but the token was like a bottomless pit, swallowing a vast amount of spiritual power without any reaction!

"It’s not working! Ordinary spiritual power cannot trigger it!" Veins bulged on Lin Xuan’s forehead; the shaking of the ruins grew more violent, and huge stones had already begun to crash down from the ceiling!

[Suggestion: Attempt to merge a wisp of spiritual sense into the token’s core restriction to resonate by simulating the fluctuations of the nether origin! Simultaneously use chaotic spiritual power as a guide to forcibly pry open its internal laws!]

The system provided the key hint!

Lin Xuan immediately followed suit! He separated a tiny wisp of spiritual sense and cautiously probed toward the incredibly complex runes at the core of the token. The moment his spiritual sense made contact, an icy, dead, soul-freezing intent almost swallowed his spiritual sense whole!

He held his mind steady, exerting all his strength to simulate the pure nether origin aura he had felt when previously encountering the Nine Nether Soul Fire and the Nether Blood Core!

Hum...!

Under the dual effect of his spiritual sense and chaotic spiritual power, the Nether Soul-Suppressing Token finally had a reaction! The dark red light on the surface of the token lit up slightly, and the rune formed by countless entangled vengeful souls seemed to come alive, slowly circulating!

A power far more vast, ancient, and majestic than Lin Xuan’s own spiritual power, like a beast that had slept for eons, awakened a sliver from the depths of the token! The mere leakage of this sliver of power caused the surrounding vibrating space to freeze for an instant!

Now is the time!

Lin Xuan had a flash of inspiration; he poured all his spiritual sense and spiritual power into the token like a floodgate opening, and guided that sliver of ancient power he had pried loose to strike fiercely at the weak point of the spatial barrier ahead!

"Open—for me!!"

He let out a low roar, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth due to overexertion!

Sshhh—!!!

A harsh sound, as if fabric were being forcibly torn, rang out!

That incredibly tough spatial barrier, in the face of the power of the Soul-Suppressing Token containing a sliver of nether law, was like meeting its nemesis; it was forcibly torn open into a twisting, trembling crack only wide enough for one person to pass through! Beyond the crack was no longer the valley he had come from, but a chaotic void filled with spatial turbulence!

"Go!"

Lin Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest; he put away the now-dimmed, seemingly over-drained Soul-Suppressing Token, executed "Earth-Shrinking Step," pushed his speed to the limit, and transformed into a streak of light, plunging fiercely into that crack!

The second after his figure disappeared, the crack snapped shut! And the entire ruin, amidst an earth-shattering roar, finally collapsed and annihilated completely! The terrifying energy shockwave even reached the valley outside, turning that area into a bottomless giant crater!

Chaos, distortion, tearing!

This was Lin Xuan’s only sensation after stepping into the spatial crack. All around were bizarre, irregular, colorful turbulent currents, and powerful spatial forces squeezed in from all directions, as if to grind him into powder. He felt like a fallen leaf in a gale, having completely lost control of his body; he could only desperately drive his chaotic spiritual power and "Nine-Turn Thunder Body" to protect his body, while shrinking the Black Tortoise Shield to guard his vitals.

He did not know how much time had passed—it could have been an instant, or it could have been an eternity. Just as he felt his spiritual power was about to be exhausted and his physical body was reaching its limit, a faint point of light suddenly appeared ahead!

An exit!

Lin Xuan’s spirit lifted, and he rushed desperately toward that point of light!

Swish!

A powerful repulsive force arrived, and he was "spat out" from the spatial passage like a cannonball!

Thump!

He landed heavily on solid ground, rolling more than a dozen times before barely coming to a stop. His whole body felt as if it were falling apart, his internal organs churned, and he couldn't help but spit out another mouthful of blood.

He struggled to lift his head and looked around.

It was no longer the gloomy environment of the Black Wind Mountain Range, but an unfamiliar, lush mountain forest. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of grass and trees. Although the spiritual energy was not particularly dense, it was full of vitality.

He had successfully escaped! He just didn't know where he had been randomly teleported to.

"Finally... survived..." Lin Xuan collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, feeling the relief of surviving a disaster. This time, it was truly a narrow escape! If he hadn't risked using the Nether Soul-Suppressing Token at the last moment, he would surely have been annihilated along with those ruins.

He sat up with difficulty and checked his condition. His injuries were not light, both internal and external; his spiritual power was almost exhausted, and his spiritual sense was also severely depleted. Because it was forcibly triggered, the Nether Soul-Suppressing Token’s light was now completely restrained, becoming like ordinary iron, requiring a long time of nourishment to recover. The system energy was also down to a pitiful 5%.

The price was huge, but... it was worth it!

He had survived, and successfully brought out the most precious inheritance from the ruins—the Nether Soul-Suppressing Token and the "Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Scripture"!

He found a hidden cave, set up a simple warning array, and began to go into seclusion to heal his wounds.

Three days later, his injuries stabilized and his spiritual power recovered by thirty to forty percent, and only then did Lin Xuan walk out of the cave, preparing to figure out where he was.

He climbed the highest nearby mountain peak, looked into the distance, and took out the Imperial Territory Map gifted by the Ninth Elder to compare.

"This is... the southern part of the Tianyuan Dynasty, near the edge of the 'Southern Wilderness'?" Lin Xuan looked at the map, his brows slightly furrowed. The Black Wind Mountain Range was located in the northwest of the dynasty; he had almost crossed the entire territory of the dynasty in one go, having been teleported tens of thousands of miles away!

"That's fine, being far away from the troubles of the Imperial Capital is just right for me to heal and digest my gains here." Lin Xuan quickly adjusted his mindset. Although it was remote, it was relatively safe, suitable for him to lie low for a while.

He returned to the cave and began to count and digest the gains from this trip to the Black Wind Mountain Range.

The biggest gain was naturally the Nether Soul-Suppressing Token (damaged) and the "Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Scripture." The Soul-Suppressing Token needed to be slowly nourished and studied, and while he would not make the scripture his primary cultivation, the methods within it regarding soul tempering and controlling nether power were of great benefit to perfecting his "Nine-Turn Chaos Scripture" and improving his actual combat ability.

Next were the Nether Blood Core fragments and the White Bone Banner; these were all precious resources and trump cards.

In addition, there were the large amounts of spirit stones and materials obtained from the storage bag of the Old Ghost of the Nether Skull, as well as the spirit herbs and ores collected along the way.

"It is time to attempt to break through to the late Golden Core stage." Lin Xuan’s gaze was firm. After successive fierce battles and the adventure in the ruins, his foundation was more solid, and his understanding of cultivation techniques was deeper—especially after witnessing and personally triggering a sliver of the power of laws, he felt the bottleneck of the late Golden Core stage had loosened.

He took out elixirs and spirit stones and entered deep seclusion once again.

This time, he would transform all his gains into tangible strength!

(End of Chapter 48)