Inside the barrier was a teleportation array. Once they placed the teleportation token inside, the two of them were sent to Elderworld.
The teleportation exit appeared in the middle courtyard of a traditional compound.
What met their eyes were houses built from black stone, and a ground paved with the same black stone.
This world was completely devoid of spiritual energy, shrouded in gloom.
"High Saint, why is it so dark here?" Grace looked up at the sky.
There was nothing in the sky—no sun, no clouds, just a hazy gray expanse.
"This is the realm of the ancients," Grandpa Gene said. "The spiritual energy and power of this world are irreversibly fading away. One day, it will vanish into endless void."
"I see..." Grace frowned.
"This is the Dragon Clan's base in Elderworld," Grandpa Gene explained. "Here, we're safe."
"Are there unsafe places in Elderworld then?"
"There are still many ancient beasts alive in Elderworld," Grandpa Gene said. "And it's not just the Dragon Clan—other races have their own ways of entering Elderworld too.
Some of those gateways we know about, but some we have no idea where they are.
So here, you could run into anyone! Many immortals and gods have met their end in Elderworld!"
"So... this place is really that dangerous!"
"That's right!" Grandpa Gene replied. "So don't get any funny ideas! Stick close to me."
"Okay! I promise I won't leave your side, High Saint."
The black stone used to build this compound is a divine stone unique to Elderworld.
The main stone used in the Celestial Palace is also this divine stone.
It's extraordinarily tough, immune to corrosion from the five elements, and lasts for countless millennia.
Grace once tried to cut it with her Celestial Sword, which slices iron like mud, but the stone didn't even spark—it just made her hand ache from the shock.
Grandpa Gene explained that Louis Lin and Quentin Chin were sent to Elderworld for hard labor—they're here to mine this very stone.
"Let me take you to see them first!" Grandpa Gene said.
Grace nodded and followed Grandpa Gene out of the compound, heading toward the back.
Behind the compound was a slope.
Climbing up the slope, a massive pit suddenly came into view.
The pit was truly enormous.
Standing at the edge, Grace felt like an ant perched on the rim of a giant soup bowl.
"What a huge pit!" Grace exclaimed.
"This is the quarry," Grandpa Gene said. "Everyone mining here is being punished for a crime."
"I wonder where those two are?"
"Let me take a look!"
Wood immortals must have sharp eyesight—Grandpa Gene glanced around, then pointed in one direction: "Over there."
He took Grace and flew over.
Sure enough, near the bottom of the pit, Grace spotted Louis Lin and Quentin Chin.
Both wore dull gray clothes, squatting on the ground, holding a specially crafted immortal tool. Only by exerting immense spiritual power could they manage to carve a faint mark into the stone.
It was obvious they were having a hard time chiseling.
And with Elderworld completely lacking spiritual energy, both men moved slowly, their eyes dull and lifeless.
"Quentin! Louis!" The pit echoed with the clanging of tools, so Grace had to shout loudly.
Louis glanced at her, then gave a world-weary, dazed smile and said to Quentin, "Old Qin, I think I just saw Miss Lawrence!"
"Heh!" Quentin chuckled. "Quit dreaming! There's no way she'd come here!"