"The ox has appeared, attacking with spiritual power." Chen Xun''s gaze sharpened, and he spoke gravely, "The stabbing pain just now in my spiritual sense, and the fact that your formation couldn''t block it—there''s only one exnation."


    "Moo!" The big ck ox took a deep breath; this was the first time it had encountered something like this in all its years.


    However, once they donned their bandit gear, the ominous wind could no longer prate their spiritual defenses.


    At the rear of the ship, the Five Elements Crane Spirit Tree swayed with the wind. Silently, the tree emitted a faint glow, which vanished as quickly as it appeared.


    The world grew darker and darker, no longer filled with sweeping yellow sands.


    The eerie wind wrapped around the heavens and earth as the massive airship slowly sailed inward. Standing at the ship''s prow, Chen Xun and the big ck ox gazed into the distance, fearless and unflinching.


    A monthter.


    Both Chen Xun and the big ck ox''s eyes widened in shock. Their mouths hung open as something before them shook these thousand-year-old beings to their core.


    "Holy... crap!!!"


    "Moo!!!"


    The exmations echoed as the massive ship came to a halt in the sky, no longer moving forward.


    From this aerial vantage point, they looked down to see thend torn asunder, revealing a gigantic, unfathomable ins. The eerie wind that blew through the area came from this abyss.


    It was as if they stood at the edge of a cliff, but the other side of the precipice was nowhere to be seen. The earth''s path was brutally severed, just like... a celestial divide!


    Chen Xun and the big ck ox gasped. What kind of wondrous natural spectacle was this? How were they supposed to cross?


    They were only at the edge, and even from here, they couldn''t see the other side of the ins. It was beyond imagination, stretching endlessly into the unknown.


    "Old Ox, take notes! Record this, dammit, make a sketch—holy crap!" Chen Xun was so excited he could barely speak coherently, his heart filled with exhration rather than fear. "Incredible, worth every minute of living!"


    "Moo~~" The big ck ox''s eyes bulged like copper bells, still in awe. They had been to many cliffs, but none that had ever left such an impression on its ox heart.


    For an ordinary cultivator, merely approaching this ce would likely result in their spiritual sense being shattered by the ominous wind, causing instant death.


    Chen Xun''s hands trembled as he pulled out a sketchpad and a small booklet. The big ck ox rested its head on his shoulder. Despite the peril of this ce, they found themselves admiring the view, already beyond the realm of an ordinary cultivator''s imagination.


    The ominous wind brushed against their bandit outfits like a gentle breeze, barely an inconvenience. To Chen Xun and the big ck ox, it was a weakling of an opponent.


    "Wait, this is a power that can destroy spiritual senses." Chen Xun suddenly tensed, his brow furrowed. "Old Ox, do you remember how Jin Yu died?"


    "Moo!" The big ck ox locked eyes with Chen Xun. They had carefully studied Jin Yu’s Nascent Soul when he passed away.


    "By all ounts, a cultivator’s Nascent Soul should be able to escape in time. Jin Yu’s showed no sign of attempting to flee."


    Chen Xun grew more pensive, his frown deepening. "And that night, when we ventured to the northern region, something wasn’t right. There was a mountain."


    The big ck ox snorted. Their spiritual senses couldn''t prate the area, and they still had no idea whaty within.


    However, they had gone there only to retrieve bodies, not to start a major conflict.


    As long as they didn''t overstep boundaries, both sides maintained mutual respect. After all, they didn’t want the northern spirit beasts to go berserk once they left.


    "That night, I wasn’t entirely confident. Whatever, they’re probably guarding something." Chen Xun sneered, his eyes cold. "When our strength grows, we’ll return and settle the score. I don’t take action unless I’m certain."


    "Moo!" The big ck ox grinned. Big Brother was right.


    "But the restrictions on spiritual power here are intense. Something must be causing this." Chen Xun gazed into the dark abyss. "Who knows what kind of demons or monsters lurk down there? Old Ox, proceed with caution."


    The big ck ox nced around. Their spiritual sense was limited to a mere mile radius, unable to stretch any further.


    Chen Xun stowed away his sketchpad and booklet. This ce might be connected to the spirit beasts of the northern region.


    "Moo~~" The big ck ox pulled out a simple herb, examining it.


    "What’s up, Old Ox?"


    "Moo?"


    "Hmm?"


    Suddenly, Chen Xun pped the big ck ox and shouted, "Old Ox, what made you think of this?"


    The big ck ox cast a sideways nce at Chen Xun. Weren''t they originally investigating what was corrupting the spiritual energy in the Tian Duan ins?


    Now that they were no longer affected by the spiritual energy, they couldn’t feel the corruption, so they used the herb as a substitute.


    "Damn, Old Ox, you’ve got three-tenths of my brains!" "Moo~"


    The big ck ox suddenly burst intoughter, feeling much smarter than before.


    As the ominous wind blew over the herb, its medicinal properties visibly drained away. In less than an hour, the century-old herb lost all its spiritual energy.


    Chen Xun and the big ck ox exchanged nces—one, two, three times...


    "So it’s this stuff that’s corrupting the spiritual energy."


    "Moo~"


    "Wait, when we were in the Tian Duan ins, there wasn’t any of this wind. There’s more going on here."


    "Moo~"


    The big ck ox nodded repeatedly. Even the underground had no spiritual energy.


    "It must be some long-term process. This ce is incredibly vast—who knows how long this Tian Duan ins has existed." Chen Xun cursed, "This is insane! Is this how the Tian Duan ins came to be?"


    "Moo?"


    "Old Ox, does anyone in our cultivation world even know how the Tian Duan ins were formed? There’s no mention of it in any texts, right?"


    "Moo?"


    "That means the name must havee from that superpower on the other side of the Tian Duan ins. They even cut off ourrge teleportation arrays." Chen Xun shook his head in amazement. "Who knows what happened back then? Fascinating stuff."


    The big ck ox finally understood. It seemed that the superpower knew about all this, and their cultivation world had been abandoned.


    "Old Ox, let’s go down and have a look. If it gets dangerous, we’ll bail."


    "Moo!"


    In an instant, they stowed away their airship. They had already refined it with two Wood Nascent Souls, nurturing it whenever they had time.


    Now, Chen Xun and the big ck ox stood at the edge of the Tian Duan ins, dwarfed by its immensity.


    They stared into the abyss, where gusts of ominous wind surged upwards as if the ins itself were gazing back at them.


    Chen Xun and the big ck ox stepped into the void, plunging into the depths of the ins!


    Inside, it was pitch dark. The ominous wind howled, but it didn’t affect the vision of Nascent Soul cultivators—only their spiritual senses were suppressed.


    "Old Ox, what is this stuff? It doesn’t seem like soil." Chen Xun advanced cautiously, observing the pitch-ck walls of the ins. "This ce feels like apletely different world from the outside."


    The big ck ox sniffed the walls, discovering they weren’t made of dirt but of some kind of stone, altered by the long-term effects of the wind.


    <strong>Boom</strong>!


    Chen Xun punched the wall, causing a thunderous rumble. Stones crumbled down, but there was no echo. The depth of the ins was unfathomable.


    "What the hell is this? Some kind of ore?"


    "Moo?!"


    The big ck ox’s eyes lit up. Could it be they had finally stumbled upon an unimed ore vein?!


    Chen Xun squinted and picked up a chunk of rock, studying it closely. With a gentle squeeze, it crumbled to dust. His expression soured,


    "Old Ox, it’s just ordinary rock, altered by the years of ominous wind."


    "Moo~~" The big ck ox sighed, its dreams of striking it rich dashed.


    "What’s that look for?"


    Chen Xun raised an eyebrow and gave the big ck ox a firm p. "We’ve barely explored anything, and you’re already losing enthusiasm?"


    "Moo?" The big ck ox jolted awake from the p.


    "This ce is unimed territory—who knows what treasures might be hidden here? ording to the Holy Sage’s rule of ''firste, first served''..." Chen Xun paused for effect, then adjusted his robe and folded his hands behind his back. "Old Ox, are you familiar with the rule of rounding up? This ce basically belongs to us!"


    "Moo?!" The big ck ox’s eyes widened in shock. "Moo moo moo???"


    "Heh, it’s been two thousand years, and do you think anyone knows what we’ve been through? We haven’t even found a single chunk of iron essence, dammit!" Chen Xun suddenly grew angry, then mncholic. "But now, the heavens are finally on our side. They’ve seen our sincerity. This ce is ours—anyone whoes will die!"


    "Moo!!!" The big ck ox raised its head and roared, rubbing its head excitedly against Chen Xun. It wanted Big Brother to teach it the art of rounding up—Chen Xun had never exined it before.


    "Heh, Old Ox, stick with me, and you’ll learn plenty. The Great Dao’s teachings are vast."


    "Moo!!"


    The big ck ox was overwhelmed with excitement as Chen Xun held its head, boastfully exaggerating as they slowly descended deeper.


    This ce was devoid of both spiritual energy and spiritual senses—a graveyard for countless cultivators, capable of destroying an entire cultivation world. It was truly a ce of great danger.


    And yet, the man and ox felt perfectly at ease, punching walls and examining stones with casual interest, calm and unhurried.