After entering the Sea of Doom, Lan Ling continued diving down, deeper and deeper!
The depth surpassed 2,000 metres, 3,000 metres, 4,000 metres!
Behind him, Ji Xiuning led the Heavenly Guardian Knights in relentless pursuit, getting closer and closer.
Fortunately, they were deep beneath the sea, where there was no light at all, making it impossible to see anything. Therefore, Ji Xiuning could only sense Lan Ling’s energy trail. She could not see his figure, nor could she see the three headed Chimera Beast.
However, she was already rapidly catching up. The distance was less than 500 metres.
At that moment, Gou Li suddenly turned around and charged towards Ji Xiuning and the others.
She wanted to sacrifice herself to buy Lan Ling some time. Without saying goodbye, she simply went to her death.
“Don’t be foolish! We have immortal bodies. We can dive to the deepest part of the sea.” Lan Ling grabbed her leg and desperately pulled her downwards.
Then, the two of them and the beast continued diving madly.
4,000 metres.
Gou Li’s body transformed into crystal once again, becoming incredibly hard and capable of resisting the terrifying water pressure.
Lan Ling and the three headed Chimera Beast continued diving. The giant beast’s body had originally been enormous, but now it became smaller and smaller.
They reached 5,000 metres.
This was almost Lan Ling’s limit.
Once he exceeded his limit, his entire body would explode and be shattered into pieces.
Of course, he still would not die, but he would lose an enormous amount of energy.
He was gambling. He was betting that Ji Xiuning and the others would not be able to withstand the astonishing water pressure and would eventually be forced to retreat.
Ji Xiuning continued chasing them, reaching 3,000 metres, then 4,000 metres!
At this depth, the total pressure on the human body had already exceeded several million pounds.
The diving speed of Ji Xiuning and the Heavenly Guardian Knights had clearly slowed down, but they continued descending.
1,000 metres away from Lan Ling, 800 metres, 500 metres…
Ji Xiuning and the others were getting slower and slower.
Their mounts were fine. They were probably Phantom Mounts created by the Demon Laboratory, which were also energy-based lifeforms. Ji Xiuning herself could still endure the pressure as well.
However, the water pressure here had already exceeded the limits of some of the Heavenly Guardian Knights.
Just when Lan Ling felt slightly safer.
Suddenly…
Ji Xiuning and the hundred Heavenly Guardian Knights began forming a formation. A powerful energy erupted, directly creating a vacuum in the deep sea.
Everywhere they passed, the surrounding seawater completely disappeared, leaving behind a vacuum. This allowed them to continue diving without obstruction.
This… this was terrifying.
He really could not escape, whether in the heavens or beneath the sea.
Ji Xiuning led the hundred Heavenly Guardian Knights and continued their relentless pursuit.
Lan Ling and Gou Li exchanged a glance through their minds. They had to make a decision.
Thus, the two of them and the beast continued diving madly, deeper and deeper!
5,000 metres was almost the limit for Lan Ling and Gou Li.
Once they exceeded 5,000 metres, the bloodline within Lan Ling’s body would no longer be able to maintain the balance against the pressure, and his entire body would explode.
Gou Li’s crystal body would also shatter instantly.
But at this point, they had no other choice.
The two of them and the beast continued diving desperately, deeper and deeper…
5,500 metres.
6,000 metres.
6,500 metres, 7,000 metres, 8,000 metres…
“Crack…”
Cracks began appearing in Gou Li’s crystal body.
Then, in the very next moment.
“Bang!”
Gou Li’s incredibly hard crystal body instantly exploded into pieces.
Lan Ling’s body first collapsed inward, then a crack appeared.
Immediately afterwards!
“Poof!”
His entire body suddenly exploded and was shattered into pieces.
At the same time, the body of the three headed Chimera Beast had shrunk from 60 metres long to only 60 centimetres, compressed to its absolute limit by the terrifying water pressure.
Then…
“Bang!”
The three headed Chimera Beast also suddenly exploded into pieces.
Lan Ling, Gou Li and the three headed Chimera Beast exploded at the bottom of the sea, 8,000 metres below the surface, their bodies shattered completely.
Then…
They lost their physical bodies, leaving behind only energy and souls!
Whether it was Lan Ling, Gou Li or the three headed Chimera Beast, only a mass of almost weightless soul energy remained.
Then, both Lan Ling and Gou Li were completely stunned!
The moment their physical bodies were shattered and they became souls, the world around them at the bottom of the sea completely changed.
The underwater world seemed to transform into a mirage, becoming the ruins of a city.
A mysterious and beautiful city in ruins.
Of course, it was merely an image, as though it had no physical substance.
The soul energy of Lan Ling, Gou Li and the three headed Chimera Beast rapidly descended deeper and deeper.
Even though the three of them had been reduced to nothing but souls, Ji Xiuning and the Heavenly Guardian Knights still pursued them relentlessly. She could not see Lan Ling’s figure, but she could still sense his energy trail.
Without the burden of physical bodies, Lan Ling, Gou Li and the three headed Chimera Beast descended rapidly, without feeling any pressure at all.
Soon, they reached a depth of 13,000 metres.
The entire seabed was a gigantic city in ruins. Of course, it was only an image and had no physical substance.
At the entrance of the city ruins was a pitch black gate, filled with powerful energy fluctuations.
Sensing that Ji Xiuning behind them was getting closer and closer, Lan Ling knew that although he no longer had a physical body and only possessed soul energy, Ji Xiuning and the Heavenly Guardian Knights could still kill him.
The Heavenly Guardian Knights were specifically created to deal with ghosts and spirits.
“Go inside!” Lan Ling shouted through his thoughts.
Then he charged towards the entrance of the city ruins, towards the gate that looked like a black hole.
“Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!”
The two of them and the beast suddenly entered the black hole like gate.
At the same time, Ji Xiuning and the Heavenly Guardian Knights rapidly reached the seabed. At their closest point to Lan Ling, they were less than 100 metres away.
However, suddenly…
Lan Ling and the others’ energy trails completely disappeared from Ji Xiuning’s mental perception.
They vanished without a trace.
Lan Ling’s soul could see the city ruins that looked like an illusion.
But in Ji Xiuning and the others’ eyes, there was nothing at the bottom of the sea, only countless rocks and constantly flickering energy jellyfish.
The three energy entities they had been tracking had completely disappeared.
Ji Xiuning was unwilling to give up. She searched everywhere on the seabed, releasing her powerful mental energy and sensing every location within a hundred li, but found nothing.
“Saintess, could they have died?” one of the Heavenly Guardian Knights asked.
Ji Xiuning said nothing. She continued searching and exploring the seabed.
…
After entering the black hole like gate.
Lan Ling’s soul experienced a period of confusion and travelling through space.
It took quite some time before he regained consciousness and his senses.
There was no seawater here. They were no longer at the bottom of the sea.
Moreover, he, Gou Li and the three headed Chimera Beast were no longer soul projections. Their complete physical bodies had been restored.
Looking around, the ruins were no longer mere images either. They were real ruins.
The ruins stretched endlessly.
Everywhere he looked, there were decaying remains of a city.
Yes, this was the ruins of the Demon Capital of Doom, the capital of the ancient Doom Empire.
Previously, when Lan Ling had searched the entire seabed, he had been unable to find these city ruins because they existed between two different worlds.
Strictly speaking, only the dead could see these ruins. Only souls could see them.
After Lan Ling, Gou Li and the three headed Chimera Beast’s bodies were destroyed and they became pure souls, they could see the ever present ruins of the Demon Capital of Doom.
Moreover, they no longer needed to worry about Ji Xiuning and the others catching up, because they were now truly separated by the boundary between life and death.
Walking through the enormous ruins of the Demon Capital of Doom was truly like walking through a primitive forest.
The entire city had completely lost its original appearance. Everywhere there were broken walls and ruins. Not even a single complete building could be found.
With such enormous ruins, where were they supposed to find the Ghost King?
Where had the Ghost King entered the ruins from? Where had it eventually died? They did not even know whether it was dead or alive.
“Master, let’s fly into the sky and search!” Gou Li said.
Lan Ling immediately slapped his forehead.
They had already entered the world of the ruins and were no longer beneath the sea. Of course, they could fly into the sky.
Thus, Lan Ling and Gou Li mounted the three headed Chimera Beast and flew into the sky.
At this moment, Lan Ling discovered that this world of ruins seemed to exist in a different spacetime from the real world.
It was not an illusion. It truly existed.
It simply existed in another spacetime.
Lan Ling rode the three headed Chimera Beast higher and higher. He discovered that he could never see the sun. The sky was always covered by thick clouds, making it seem as though they were in the underworld.
Moreover, the dark clouds never moved.
The ruins here did not change either.
There was no wind, no sunlight, and no rain.
When they reached an altitude of 20,000 metres, the entire ruins came into view.
Yes, this was the location of the Sea of Doom, with exactly the same circular outline.
However, within this space, the 350,000 square kilometres had become a vast ruin, and it was a sunken circular ruin.
Tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years ago, this was the location of the Demon Capital of Doom.
A single city was this enormous. It was clear just how astonishing this demonic civilisation had been.
What kind of power could have destroyed such an enormous city in an instant?
“Master, the three headed Chimera Beast cannot fly out,” Gou Li said.
“Of course it cannot. This is a separate space,” Lan Ling said.
Gou Li asked, “This place seems to have completely died. What kind of weapon could destroy such an enormous city in an instant?”
Lan Ling said, “It was a weapon from outer space, the legendary power of the stars. It destroyed the Demon Capital of Doom in an instant. The enormous energy tore everything apart, including time and space. That is why time has stopped here. Although tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years have passed outside, within this place, the destruction of the Demon Capital happened only a second ago. This world after the destruction was permanently preserved in an instant, isolated into an independent spacetime plane. Meanwhile, outside, the Sea of Doom continued through the normal passage of time, and the enormous crater created by the impact eventually became the vast Mediterranean Sea.”
Gou Li said, “In other words, we are still inside the Sea of Doom. We are simply in the same location but in a different spacetime?”
“Yes!” Lan Ling replied.
Gou Li asked, “How do you know?”
Lan Ling said, “Look at the broken walls and ruins of the Demon Capital. Do you see any signs of wear?”
Gou Li looked carefully.
Indeed, there were none. All the ruins looked new, as though they had only just been destroyed.
Gou Li asked, “Then why aren’t there any corpses? If time has been frozen, there should be corpses.”
Lan Ling said, “There are two possibilities. First, when the enemy attacked the Demon Capital of Doom from outer space with the power of the stars, all the lifeforms were instantly reduced to nothing, leaving not even a trace behind. Second, the people of the Demon Capital of Doom knew that the end was coming and escaped beforehand.”
Gou Li said, “Hopefully they escaped beforehand.”
Lan Ling was stunned.
“Why? You don’t seem like someone who is sentimental.”
Gou Li said, “Because they were from the same country as us, my master.”
Then Gou Li asked, “Master, do you think the Ghost King is in here?”
“He definitely is,” Lan Ling said.
Gou Li said, “The spacetime here has stopped and become frozen. In other words, if it is here, then it has not died!”
Lan Ling nodded.
A Ghost King that had not yet died, hiding somewhere inside the ruins of the Demon Capital, would be terrifying beyond imagination.
How powerful was the Ghost King?
At that time, it had single handedly unified one third of the Southern Wilderness and defeated the allied forces of the seven great demon clans.
With such power, even if it was inferior to the Dragon Emperor, it was probably not far behind.
If it was still alive and hiding somewhere within the ruins of the Demon Capital, while Lan Ling was actually attempting to devour its energy…
That… that would truly be absurd.
The Ghost King could probably crush a Demon Sect with a single finger.
Lan Ling and Gou Li rode the three headed Chimera Beast, circling above the ruins of the Demon Capital of Doom in search of traces of the Ghost King.
…
After searching for several hours, they still found nothing.
Ji Xiuning finally gave up temporarily and led the Heavenly Guardian Knights back to the surface.
“Guard every part of the sky above the Sea of Doom. He will eventually come out,” Ji Xiuning ordered.
“Yes!”
The hundred Heavenly Guardian Knights immediately dispersed. Each person monitored an area of 3,500 square kilometres, releasing mental energy to monitor every energy fluctuation.
Ji Xiuning said, “Send a message to the Sky Temple. Tell them that we have discovered the remnants of the Ghost King and request reinforcements from more Heavenly Guardian Knights!”
“Yes!”
One of the Heavenly Guardian Knights flew eastwards.
It was convenient to travel from the human kingdom to the Southern Wilderness. They only needed to pass through the Aurora Gate.
However, returning to the human kingdom was troublesome. They would have to fly tens of thousands of kilometres.
Ji Xiuning then led the remaining ninety nine Heavenly Guardian Knights in monitoring the Sea of Doom, quietly waiting.
Three hours…
Five hours…
One day, two days, three days, five days…
Time slowly passed, yet Ji Xiuning showed no sign of impatience.
Just then, the clouds in the sky suddenly seemed to split apart.
A dazzling light appeared!
Then…
One stunningly beautiful woman after another appeared through the gap in the clouds, each riding a fire phoenix.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of them!
Anyone who witnessed this scene would be completely stunned.
Seeing even one breathtakingly beautiful woman was already rare.
Yet at this moment, there were thousands of them.
Each one possessed an extraordinary bearing and graceful figure.
There was only one place in this world that possessed so many beautiful women.
The Witch Kingdom.
A kingdom that did not need men to reproduce, where all the children born were female.
Thousands of witch warriors surrounded Ji Xiuning’s Heavenly Guardian Knights from every direction!