"Maybe." Evan Yang nodded, noticing several white dots on the map—these marked where they had appeared. Besides those, there were also blue dots scattered across the map.
"What are these blue dots?" Lana Situ pointed at the blue marks.
Evan Yang studied the blue dots. Some were very close to the white ones. He even noticed that the spot where he encountered the blood sphere was a blue dot, and the place where Lana and her group ran into those strange insects was also a blue dot. Even the fortress itself had a blue dot, all not far from the white ones.
"Could the blue dots mark treasures?" Evan Yang muttered as he looked at the white and blue dots.
Lana Situ shook her head. "I think the blue dots mean slaughter."
"Slaughter?" Evan Yang couldn't help but think of the Dragonbane Grass, the blood sphere, and the strange insects Lana's group had encountered. What could be lurking inside this fortress?
After saying this, Lana Situ felt a chill run down her spine. She glanced nervously around, afraid those insects might appear again.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" Warren Wong, who hadn't been anywhere else, naturally didn't know what the white and blue dots meant, so he found their conversation strange.
Evan Yang and Lana Situ ignored him, as if he didn't exist. Warren Wong, furious, stepped forward, glanced at the map, and sneered, "It's just a picture. What's there to be so nervous about?"
Evan Yang didn't bother responding to Warren Wong's arrogance. Lana Situ snapped, "You're just lucky. You showed up and immediately picked up treasures. If you ran into those four insects, you wouldn't even know where to run."
Warren Wong didn't really understand what Lana Situ was saying, but he couldn't help laughing at her tone. "What insects? You think they could actually do anything to me?"
"Hundreds of Foundation-Building cultivators died to those four insects. Want to try it yourself?" Lana Situ couldn't stand Warren Wong's arrogance and snorted coldly.
"Are you trying to fool me? Hundreds?" Warren Wong laughed wildly, not believing that four insects could wipe out so many cultivators.
"Miss Situ, let's go. Let him keep being arrogant." Evan Yang couldn't stand Warren Wong either and turned to Lana Situ.
Lana Situ followed Evan Yang, ignoring Warren Wong's arrogance, and continued along the mural to see how long it stretched and what else it recorded.
"You two..." Warren Wong, ignored again and again, was so angry he couldn't even speak. He hurried after them, wanting to see what Evan Yang and Lana Situ would do next.
The further Evan Yang and Lana Situ traced the mural, the heavier their expressions became. The map was enormous—if Evan Yang tried to walk through it, it would take a month to finish. They exchanged glances, noticing countless white and blue dots, which meant many exits and many dangerous blue-dot treasure sites. Suddenly, Lana Situ cried out in shock, "Impossible!"
"What's wrong?" Evan Yang was puzzled by Lana Situ's sudden exclamation, and Warren Wong, following behind, was also drawn over by her shout.
When Warren Wong saw what was on the mural, his face showed fear for the first time. All his arrogance vanished, replaced by terror. "No way, no way, how could we have ended up in this space!"
"Miss Situ, is there something wrong with this space?" Even though there were many strange things, it shouldn't have made both Lana Situ and Warren Wong react so strongly.
Lana Situ pointed at a cloud-like shape on the mural, above which a mountain floated. Next to the mountain, red characters labeled it: 'End of the Sky.'
"End of the Sky? Is there something special about it?" Evan Yang also noticed the red label, but didn't know what 'End of the Sky' meant.
"End of the Sky appeared on the continent tens of thousands of years ago, not in a pocket space." Lana Situ said gravely. Warren Wong knew this legend, but only Evan Yang was unfamiliar.
"Not in a pocket space?" Evan Yang was surprised. If it wasn't originally in a pocket space, did someone forcibly move it here?
"That's not the main point. The key is, it's related to immortals. Back then, when it appeared on the continent, countless cultivators seeking a higher realm entered the End of the Sky."
"And then?" Evan Yang asked seriously.
"Afterward, many experts disappeared inside, never to return. Even the few who came out were insane, leading later generations to speculate about the End of the Sky."
"No way..." This time, Evan Yang was truly shocked.
"Later generations guessed that place was the closest to the immortal realm, but it never appeared again. Now it's here—who knows what that means." Lana Situ answered gravely.
After Lana Situ explained, Evan Yang felt his heart race. Something from tens of thousands of years ago appearing in a pocket space would shock anyone—especially if it was tied to immortals and had claimed countless experts.
"Enough!" Warren Wong, clearly shaken, didn't want to hear any more and shouted angrily.
After thinking for a moment, Evan Yang asked, "So what does this pocket space have to do with the End of the Sky?"
"I don't know." Lana Situ didn't dare imagine. If this space was really connected to the End of the Sky, or part of it, they'd be in serious trouble. Even ancient experts couldn't escape unharmed, let alone them.
As they each pondered, several screams came from the group of cultivators nearby.
"What's happening?" The three looked toward the crowd, only to see the floor crawling with ant-like insects.
"What are those?" Evan Yang and the others were curious about the ants, but what happened next wiped out any desire to fight. The ant-like insects surged in endless waves over the cultivators; even powerful treasures couldn't block so many. Each bite caused unbearable pain, making them roll on the ground, only to be engulfed by more insects until they were buried under a living tide.
Bitten by thousands of strange insects, the cultivators couldn't endure the agony and destroyed their own dantians, dying instantly.
In just a few moments, the cultivators died one after another, leaving Evan Yang, Lana Situ, and Warren Wong horrified.
"What should we do?" Lana Situ nervously looked at Evan Yang, hoping he'd have an idea. Evan Yang felt his scalp tingle, but quickly steadied himself and said, "Let's go, see if there's another exit."
Seeing Evan Yang and Lana Situ leave, Warren Wong didn't dare stay behind. He finally believed Lana Situ's story about the four insects and hurried to follow them.
Evan Yang and the others ran along the wall, not even remembering where they'd reached—just running nonstop, while the ant-like insects kept chasing them relentlessly.
If it were just a few, they could fight back, but with so many and having just witnessed their deadly power, Evan Yang and the others didn't hesitate—they kept running, hoping to shake off the strange ants.
The three lost track of how far they'd run; the wall stretched endlessly. In this frantic escape, they had no stray thoughts—just determination to find the wall's end and an exit.
It was a good plan, but fate seemed to mock them. They did reach the end of the wall—only to find themselves atop the fortress. The three couldn't understand how following the wall led to the rooftop, but their hearts sank: the rooftop was crawling with ant-like insects.
"We're surrounded." Lana Situ exclaimed, seeing the insects everywhere.
Front, back, all sides—the way was blocked. The three were left with only a small patch of space, staring at the relentless, death-defying ants.
None of them planned to sit and wait for death—they began to fight back.
Lana Situ and Warren Wong's auras had reached the peak of Foundation-Building, while Evan Yang's was only mid-stage. Yet his true strength was no weaker, and together they hacked a bloody path—none of them expected it.
For a moment, as they held back the ants, each took a small spot just big enough to stand on. Now, instead of slaughtering ants, they focused on channeling spiritual power to form qi barriers—the simplest, most direct defense. Ants died crashing into the barriers, but countless more surged forward.
"Is the only thing we can do just hold out?" Evan Yang was unwilling to accept it, and so were Lana Situ and Warren Wong.
All three knew that if this went on, they'd eventually die to the swarm of ants, their spiritual power exhausted.
"I, Warren Wong, won't die here! Never!" Even now, Warren Wong was searching for something useful, but nothing he found could stop the swarm.
Seeing Warren Wong like that, Lana Situ said, "You'll only die faster that way!"
Now, every bit of spiritual power was precious. Seeing Warren Wong waste it, Lana Situ and Evan Yang felt the same—it was just pointless.
Warren Wong refused to give up. After a moment's thought, his anger flared and he unleashed flames.
The flames burned all the ants around him. Now everyone knew the ants feared fire. Warren Wong laughed loudly, "I'm saved!"
"So he can use Ninety-Ninefold Purefire, though it's just a spark now," Evan Yang thought, surprised and excited—at least they wouldn't die to these strange insects.
Lana Situ showed no happiness. She knew Warren Wong's arrogant nature—he wouldn't save others without a reason. Sure enough, as he burned the ants, he smiled at Lana Situ, "Lana, if you agree to be with me, I'll save you right now."
"Dream on!" Lana Situ despised Warren Wong's opportunism, so she immediately scowled and snorted coldly.
"You'd really rather die than reconsider?" Warren Wong sneered, his face twisted.
While maintaining her qi barrier, Lana Situ replied coldly, "My life won't last much longer anyway. At worst, I'll die here!"
"Fine, Lana Situ, since that's how you are, don't blame me for forgetting old ties!" Warren Wong had made up his mind. If she wouldn't accept his help, he'd rather save his spiritual power and leave.
Under Evan Yang and Lana Situ's gaze, Warren Wong controlled his flames and moved away, even mocking Evan Yang: "Little beggar, your talent ends here. When I get out, I'll make sure the whole world knows how a genius alchemist died."