Not only the people, but even the insects were driven out.
The humans stood on one side, the insects on the other, both watching each other warily.
The Strange Fiend also walked out from inside, swept his gaze over the crowd and snorted coldly. With a wave of his hand, the insects rushed out of the palace. Then he turned and questioned Zane Tiernan, who had just recovered from his madness: "Are you sure that kid went in?"
"I'm certain." At this moment, Zane Tiernan was still preoccupied with the madness he'd just experienced—he didn't even have the nerve to go back in, and the others felt the same.
"Damn it, that kid." The Strange Fiend flickered and disappeared again.
"What on earth is going on?" Mason White asked Lance Blue on behalf of everyone.
Lance Blue explained, "This light circle—anyone at late-stage Spirit-Wandering Realm or above can enter, but the formation inside is especially tempting for Spirit-Wandering cultivators, showing signs of inducing madness. If you stay too long, you'll go insane. That's why the continent always said that entering the End of the Sky leaves no way out—it's either death or madness."
This explanation woke everyone up. None dared try entering again, but Lance Blue's status in their minds rose even higher—at the very least, he had already surpassed the Spirit-Wandering Realm.
"Wait here. I'll go inside and see what's really going on." With that, Lance Blue hurried in.
He was also eager to find out whether Evan Yang had really gone in, and whether the formation inside was truly, as the Strange Fiend claimed, a gateway to another world.
When Lance Blue reached the light pillar outside the mist array, the Strange Fiend was already there inspecting it. Seeing the traces left behind, his face turned green. "Damn it, someone really has been here."
"He really went in? But isn't his cultivation still below Spirit-Wandering Realm?" Lance Blue asked suspiciously.
"That guy's a freak—normal logic doesn't apply to him." The Strange Fiend said angrily.
"Why so angry?" Lance Blue said, speechless.
"How could I not be? My whole plan is ruined." The Strange Fiend sighed.
"What plan?" Lance Blue asked, still suspicious.
"What plan? The plan to rule this continent! Now I can't even protect myself." The Strange Fiend had lost all his earlier arrogance—he seemed as if he'd always been oppressed by some overwhelming force, coming here to act tough, but now that his hiding place was exposed, he reverted to his true nature, anxious and afraid.
Lance Blue ignored his so-called plan and instead asked, "So can we leave now?"
"Yes, but I'm going to destroy this place." The Strange Fiend suddenly thought of something—if he destroyed it again, that would solve the problem.
"No way!" Lance Blue had finally found some hope—how could he let the Strange Fiend destroy it?