In the blink of an eye, we closed within thirty meters of the High-Level Undead. Just as we thought success was imminent—

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

A chorus of sharp, air-rending sounds suddenly pierced the stillness. A wave of icy killing intent, like a surging tide, washed over us. Through the mist, several vague silhouettes flashed out, and streaks of green light swept in like lightning, aiming straight for our waists.

“Careful!” roared the Big Baldy. “Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders!”

The skeletons and Skeleton Axe-Wielders emerging from the fog looked virtually identical to their ordinary counterparts, but the skeletons glowing with green light indicated these were Reinforced variants, mutated through thousands of years of evolution. Like the Reinforced Skeleton Archers, the Axe-Wielders possessed astonishing strength. However, unlike the archers, these Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders were absolute masters of close combat. Judging by the power standards of the Ranger world, each one was equivalent to the peak of the Crimson Moon tier, a master on par with Li Xie—far beyond what we could handle. It was clear we had fallen for the High-Level Undead’s scheme once again. We had pushed too far ahead, leaving the supporting Mages too far behind. They wouldn't have time to launch covering fire before these undead reached us. Moreover, once we were locked in melee, even if the Mages caught up, they wouldn't dare unleash spells, as the magic would inevitably harm us amidst the close-quarters fighting.

We saw through the High-Level Undead's trick immediately, but retreating was impossible now. These Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders had clearly been waiting, poised for this ambush.

Swish!

The sheer velocity of the swing transformed the green, heavy-backed broadsword into a weapon emitting a shrill, grating whistle, as if tearing the very air apart. The intense friction caused the gruesome green blade to blaze with an almost flame-like heat.

So fast! I thought in terror! I channeled my battle aura to the max, my speed suddenly exploding. In a flash of lightning and sparks, I dodged that lethal strike.

Roar! Bang!

Simultaneously, a deafening explosion erupted beside me. Big Baldy, Long Zhan, and Fang Rou were sent flying backward like soccer balls, recoiling at incredible speed, while three plumes of scarlet mist sprayed high into the air.

In a single exchange, Long Zhan, Big Baldy, and Fang Rou were violently thrown back, coughing up blood.

“Ah! Long Zhan!” I cried out in alarm! I tried to rush over, but four more bursts of fierce wind immediately descended upon me, leaving no room for distraction.

“Don’t worry about us! You have to kill that thing!” Long Zhan’s agonized roar faded as he was flung backward.

The three Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders didn't wait for their comrades to land before instantly pursuing the retreating trio.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

At the crucial moment, several Ice Roars plummeted from the sky, slamming into the three Skeleton Axe-Wielders. It was the supporting Mages, led by Bai Shuang, who had arrived just in time.

The impact from the Ice Roars immediately slowed the affected Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders considerably, the freezing effect taking hold. Their speed dropped dramatically.

Thud!

Only then did Long Zhan and the other two crash heavily onto the ground. All this transpired in a mere instant. I had already evaded close to fifty whirlwind attacks from the two Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders assailing me.

The two Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders besieging me were formidable in strength, speed, and technique, but my own power had surged, and with the aid of the Gale Ring, my speed far surpassed what it was before. Even clad in the heavy War God Armor, the impact on my movement was minimal.

My feet flashed with Electric Steps, and my Dragon Shadow Sword danced. For a time, I managed to fight the four Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders to a standstill. Yet, even amid the fierce battle, I keenly observed the surroundings. The supporting Mages were desperately attacking the other three Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders.

The High-Level Undead, which had been fleeing rapidly, suddenly stopped, seeming to observe the engagement between myself and the four Axe-Wielders.

It seems Long Zhan and the others are safe, I thought, somewhat reassured. I immediately refocused and launched a fierce counterattack against the four surrounding Axe-Wielders. I never engaged them head-on, always attacking their weak points in the instant I dodged.

However, the four Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielders appeared versed in combined assault arts; their movements were perfectly coordinated, their offense and defense utterly flawless. While my superior speed allowed me to evade their strikes, killing them proved incredibly difficult—a situation strikingly similar to my previous fight against Li Xie.

Another downward chop struck towards my head, while two swings simultaneously swept in from the left and right flanks. Behind me, a fourth blade flashed like lightning. In that moment, four gruesome green broadswords whipped around me like four crazed, writhing snakes, completely enveloping me. This four-strike combination was the most perfect I had ever witnessed in speed, technique, and power. Each blow was immensely powerful, vicious, and skillfully executed, yet carried an underlying rigidity and stability. Most fatally, these four strikes completely sealed off every avenue for me to dodge or shift my position. There was simply no room to evade.

Damn it. I guess I have to use my ultimate move. If I held back any longer, I was finished. Instinctively, I activated the Gale Ring. A wave of ineffable lightness and agility washed over me, and the speed of my Dragon Shadow Sword’s swing instantly skyrocketed. With a sudden dip, executing the "Inverted Willow Hanging Down," my body slipped past the three frontal strikes, my chest almost brushing the blade of the fourth sword slashing from behind. The Dragon Shadow Sword shot out like lightning.

Swish!

A blue light flashed, a golden arc streaked, followed by a faint snap. The Dragon Shadow Sword, moving at phenomenal speed, sliced through the throat of one Reinforced Skeleton Axe-Wielder. The moment the strike landed, I instantly inverted the sword and swept it backward in a "Rebound Horse Whip" counter-sweep. A blue U-shaped arc suddenly shimmered. All of this was accomplished in a mere flicker of time. With my speed at maximum and aided by the Gale Ring, my velocity had increased to an unbelievable degree.

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack! Four brief, sharp sounds almost merged into one.

The four green skulls tumbled separately, yet nearly simultaneously, onto the ground.

Having secured that advantage, I dared not pause. I charged with all my might toward the High-Level Undead, a hundred meters away.

But that vague silhouette merely flickered once, then vanished abruptly. The manner of its disappearance was utterly bizarre, leaving me stunned on the spot.

“……………” How is this possible? Can it teleport? I could barely believe my eyes.

The Undead illusions surrounding us began to disperse the moment the High-Level Undead vanished.

Far behind me, the Mages had finished dispatching the remaining three Reinforced Skeleton Archers and were rushing toward me. However, seeing my bewildered gaze fixed on the distance, and the mist slowly receding, they quickly grasped the situation.

“It got away,” Long Zhan stated.

“Yeah,” I said with a wry smile. “It just vanished into thin air.”

“Vanished into thin air?” Long Zhan exclaimed, astonished.

“Could it be teleportation?” Big Baldy asked in horror. On the Mafa Continent, only the ultimate skill of a Space Mage, Instant Teleportation, could make someone disappear like that. Of course, certain rare magical artifacts had similar effects—like the Return Scroll I had used, or the Random Teleport Scrolls Shen Yin and Shen Yi used to escape. But those items were exceedingly scarce, relics of a previous civilization, consumed with each use. As far as anyone knew, no one currently alive could craft Return Scrolls or Random Teleport Scrolls.

“Regardless, chasing it off is a relief,” Big Baldy said, still shaken. “I never imagined the Reinforced Skeletons would be this powerful.”

“Indeed,” Fang Rou added, equally shocked. “The force they wielded was terrifying; I couldn't even block a single strike.” Fang Rou then turned to the four headless skeleton remains on the ground in the distance, her face etched with disbelief. “But you actually managed to kill them.”

“And four of them at once,” Bai Shuang murmured.

Everyone looked at me with increased respect. Long Zhan, naturally, was an exception; he was more aware of my true capabilities. “The Undead Illusion is gone. We should hurry back to the main company.”

The illusion had dissipated. As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with scattered skeletal remains. It was evident that Bai Ling’s group had also endured a fierce battle. Ultimately, they had won. Yet, everyone stared back along the path we had taken with expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

“That’s strange. The path we came from is gone,” Dong Guan said, startled.

The route was gone. Long Zhan and I exchanged bewildered glances, instinctively looking back, only to see solid rock walls everywhere. It was as if the path in our memory had never existed. Yet, everyone clearly remembered walking that route to reach this place.

“What in the world is happening?” My head felt like it was exploding; the current situation had utterly confused me.

“Could the Undead Illusion still be active?” Big Baldy suggested.

“No,” Bai Ling said with a wry smile. “I think we might have entered some kind of barrier.”

“What?” I gasped. “A barrier?”

“A barrier.”

“Could this be the Yellow Springs World?” Dong Guan asked in alarm.

“……………”

Everyone was gripped by dread. Several of the more timid female Taoists collapsed onto the ground in fright.

“This... this isn’t possible. We didn't see any barrier layer,” Long Qi stated.

“Barrier layer!” Bai Ling offered a strained smile. “The Undead Illusion was likely the surface layer of the Yellow Springs Barrier. The moment we stepped into the illusion, we were already on the edge of the barrier.”

“But that doesn’t prove this is the Yellow Springs World!” Long Qi stammered.

“I don’t know how to describe it!” Dong Guan said. “Actually, I specialized in Space Magic at the academy. The record in our Space Magic codex, Mirrored Labyrinth, states that the Yellow Springs World exists in the form of a barrier. However, this concept lacked sufficient evidence, so it remained mere speculation. Not just the Yellow Springs World, but the Illusionary Realm and the Six Great Dark Magic Domains (referring to the Hall of Confusion, Hellfire Descent, Graveyard, Abyss Demon Realm, Scuttling Insect Nest, and Temple of Death) are also special barriers formed by unique spatial magic.”

“………..” Dong Guan’s words stunned everyone into silence.

“The Yellow Springs Barrier,” Bai Ling whispered in horror. She immediately pulled a directional instrument (like a compass) from her pouch and placed it flat on her palm. The needle spun like an old odometer, refusing to settle. “The directional instrument isn’t working here!”

“It can’t sense the external magnetic field, and the magic fluctuations are extremely chaotic—at least at the Crimson Moon level,” Dong Guan said, his face drawn. “What other barrier could possess such terrifying isolation capabilities besides the Yellow Springs Barrier?”

“God, we’re doomed now,” Long Zhan muttered.

“I wonder if this counts as bad luck,” I said subconsciously.

“So the function of that Undead Illusion was to confuse our sight,” Fang Rou remarked, looking thoughtful.

“Exactly,” Bai Ling confirmed. “The High-Level Undead’s objective was clearly to force us deeper into the barrier.”

“No wonder so many Skeleton Legions charged out from the direction we came, and the Reinforced Skeleton Archers were working so hard to push us into a corner,” Big Baldy realized with dawning comprehension. “It’s just too late that we figured it out.”

“It seems we have become prey inside the Yellow Springs Barrier,” Long Xin said mournfully.

Long Xin’s words instilled a sense of despair in everyone. For centuries, a terrible saying circulated in the Ranger world: those who entered the Yellow Springs World never returned. People only knew of its existence through fragmented pieces of lore recorded in the Source Texts. The reality seemed to mirror the legend. There were indeed people who explored the fifth floor of the Bone Demon Cave and left alive, but those individuals had never found the Yellow Springs World. However, many had vanished inexplicably. These people, we now surmised, had stumbled into the Yellow Springs Barrier just like us, never to emerge again.

“I’m sorry, I led everyone here,” Xia Na said, her face ghostly pale, almost crying. Thinking back, the path we chose was a gamble based on her hunch; no one expected such a catastrophe.

“It’s not your fault,” Bai Ling countered. “Besides, our original mission was to find the passage to the Yellow Springs World. We just never imagined the passage would manifest in this terrifying, trap-like manner.”

In the Ranger world, many believed that below the fifth floor of the Bone Demon Cave there had to be another level—the true Yellow Springs World ruled by the Yellow Springs Patriarch. Therefore, rangers assumed the passage to the barrier would be something like a cavern entrance, hidden somewhere in the vast expanse of the fifth floor. Finding such a gate was thought to be the key.

Who could have guessed the entrance to the Yellow Springs Barrier would be a trap that sprung before they realized it? By the time they reacted, they were already in a desperate situation. No wonder no one had ever heard of anyone leaving the Yellow Springs World alive over the millennia.

The atmosphere grew frighteningly heavy. Everyone instinctively looked toward Bai Ling.

“The Four Sub-Halls, take stock of casualties,” Bai Ling commanded calmly.

“Yes.”

The casualty reports came in quickly.

“Martial Hall: Five men dead, one hundred twenty injured.”

“Magic Hall: Twenty-three dead, forty-six injured.”

“Taoist Hall: Eleven injured, no fatalities.”

“Vanguard Hall: Sixteen injured, no fatalities.”

……………..

No one had expected this exploration mission to devolve into such a situation, resulting in so many deaths. Such casualties were rare in the Ranger world, usually only occurring in life-or-death guild battles. Everyone was overwhelmed with grief, which only deepened the fear and anxiety in their hearts. These losses were all inflicted by the Reinforced Skeleton Archers, demonstrating how terrifying those hidden archers were. But how many more such fearsome undead creatures lurked in the Yellow Springs World? And there was that elusive High-Level Undead, and the even more terrifying Yellow Springs Patriarch. No one dared to imagine their future fate.

“What do we do now?” Big Baldy murmured to himself.

“Are we going to die here?” Jin Hong asked, his face bloodless, swaying as if about to collapse, mere tears away from breaking down.

“……………” Long Qi also had no words, only looking around with deep unwillingness, clearly searching for a solution.

“No, we won’t die,” Long Zhan asserted. “I refuse to believe the Yellow Springs Barrier is inescapable. I’ll hack through it if I have to.”

“It’s useless,” Dong Guan countered. “The strength of this barrier is beyond our ability to shatter. It’s like trying to cleave the air with a blade.”

“Are there any other methods besides that?” Bai Ling asked.

“Yes, we must destroy the barrier’s magical power source,” Dong Guan said with a strained smile. “In other words, we have to kill the Yellow Springs Patriarch. If I’m correct, the Patriarch is the source of the Yellow Springs Barrier.”

“Kill the Yellow Springs Patriarch?” Fang Yuan scoffed. “That’s even more unrealistic than destroying the barrier itself.”

“Basically, we have no hope,” Dong Guan admitted, sinking into dejection.

“We’ll take things one step at a time,” Bai Ling decided, turning to the group. “I’m truly sorry; it’s possible everyone might die here today.”

“Guild Leader, it’s not over yet! We can’t give up!”

“No matter what, we have to get out alive.”

“Ah! I don’t want to die yet!”

“No, no, I’m not married, I haven’t even been with a woman!”

The surrounding crowd erupted into chaos. No one wanted to face the terror of death here. Many were hysterical.

Honestly, I regretted joining this expedition. Dong Guan and Long Xin looked equally guilty; if those two hadn't wanted to tag along for the excitement, none of this would have happened. But I only thought this internally. To be frank, facing death didn't feel terrifying to me—perhaps dying in this world would mean returning to modern times. However, I truly couldn't bear to abandon my newfound family—my mother, and brothers like Chen Feng. Moreover, Yan Luo and Shen Yin were ties I couldn't easily sever.

“Everyone, calm down!” Bai Ling shouted. “Look at yourselves! Even if we are inside the Yellow Springs World, we might not die.”

“But no one has ever heard of anyone leaving the Yellow Springs World alive,” someone among the panicked guild members immediately shouted back.

“Not leaving doesn’t necessarily mean dying here,” Bai Ling reasoned. “We are all Rangers. Choosing to become a Ranger means accepting the duty to face all disasters, even death. Look at yourselves—where is the courage and confidence essential for a Ranger?”

“……………” No one could refute Bai Ling’s words. Yes, if one chose to be a Ranger, one had to possess the courage to confront every disaster, even death.

“Furthermore, we are only trapped within the barrier; we aren't dead yet. Don't let panic destabilize us.” Perhaps Bai Ling was a born leader; a few words managed to restore some courage to the group.

“That’s right! We are only trapped here; we aren't dead yet,” Bai Zhan added. “So everyone pull yourselves together. If we resign ourselves to fate now, we truly will die.”