As we ventured deeper into the passage, the surrounding light grew dimmer! However, we were well-prepared, and thanks to the brilliant beams of the Luminous Pearls, we could still clearly see everything around us!
The cavern walls were meticulously lined with slabs of the incredibly hard Duanlong Jingtieshi stone, and our footsteps upon them produced crisp, echoing metallic sounds. Our group naturally split into two columns, left and right, each formation cautiously watching the other while keenly observing the immediate surroundings!
The cavern seemed to stretch endlessly, and the further in we proceeded, the more we felt waves of bone-chilling cold. This forced us to circulate our vital energy, channeling Dou Qi to guard our bodies against the relentless intrusion of the chill!
After walking for what felt like an age, the oppressive closeness finally gave way, and the space opened up into an astonishingly vast hall! What was even more surprising was the dense, potent surge of spatial magic emanating from within the hall. Right in the center stood a massive hexagram formation!
Within the star formation, peculiar, multicolored light pulsed, accompanied by intense magical fluctuations!
Beside the grand array rested a large stone stele, entirely covered in carved inscriptions!
“This is a Spatial Magic Teleportation Array,” Long Xin observed carefully, scrutinizing the strange nexus, before turning her gaze back to the inscriptions beside it!
“Could this be the spatial magic array leading to the Land of Heroes?” Mo Luo Yinfeng analyzed thoughtfully.
“It seems highly likely,” I murmured, instinctively scanning the surroundings. “After all, there are no other passages here.”
“What do we do now?” Sui Yun asked. “Just step into the teleportation array?”
“We’ve come this far; why hesitate?” Xiang Tian was decisively straightforward.
“But don’t you find it strange!” Mo Luo Yinfeng hesitated slightly. “Given the cunning nature of the Little Fox, she wouldn't leave such a Spatial Teleportation Array perfectly intact for us, would she?”
“Marshal Mo Luo suspects a trap,” I conceded, finding his analysis entirely reasonable.
“Yes, I also sense something is amiss with this array,” Feng Xiao stated gravely.
“But this is the only teleportation array to the Land of Heroes,” Ao Fei countered. “Are we just going to give up?”
“Perhaps the situation isn't as dire,” Feng Fei offered. “The Little Fox might not have anticipated we could defeat the Demon Dragon Cult Master to reach this point, so she might not have expected us to arrive here.”
“Mmm,” the others nodded in agreement.
“Besides, even if this teleportation array has been tampered with, we wouldn’t be able to tell,” You Yue pointed out. “None of us have been here before, so we certainly wouldn't know if the array runes for a spatial teleportation array are correct or flawed.”
“Time is pressing,” You Quan urged. “If we keep hesitating, by the time the Orcs seize the Unnamed Hero, we won't have a chance!”
“What should we do?” Mo Luo Yinfeng instinctively looked toward me, and everyone else fixed their hopeful gazes in my direction!
“There is no reason to retreat now that we’ve reached this stage,” I declared. “Here is what we will do: to ensure safety, we must split into two advance teams. Marshal Mo Luo and I will each lead five people as the vanguard squad to enter first. If everything goes smoothly, it won't take long before we send someone back to inform those remaining here! But if we haven't sent word after a full day, the rest of you must find another way.”
“An excellent idea!”
No one voiced dissent to my proposal! After all, activating the teleportation by having everyone step onto the array simultaneously was too risky. If anything went wrong, it would mean total annihilation.
For fairness, the two factions each drew five names to form the initial exploration squads!
I naturally took my place in the first batch, accompanied by Sui Yun, Xiang Tian, Long Xiang, and Han Yunzhen!
Regarding my arrangements, Long Xin, Xing Ye, and Xing Zhan were naturally displeased, but they could not defy my orders and had to remain with the second team. Of course, I had a deeper reason for this arrangement; Xing Ye and Xing Zhan are the future bloodline continuation of the Demon Dragon Empire, and they absolutely could not be exposed to unnecessary peril!
The other team entering the array consisted of Mo Luo Yinfeng, Feng Xiao, You Quan, Ao Fei, and Feng Fei—ten individuals in total—who stepped into the formation together!
Amidst a blinding glare, the familiar sensation of weightlessness immediately manifested! I instinctively circulated my protective Dou Qi, carefully sensing the surrounding conditions! However, I soon realized that something was terribly wrong!
I was no stranger to spatial teleportation, but this journey felt bizarrely abnormal! The strange weightlessness persisted for an unusually long time—over ten seconds—with no sign of ending, meaning we were still firmly in transit!
Even more astonishingly, within this distorted space, I began to perceive faint, blurry images of massive mountains, countless rivers, and even cities and villages, all rushing toward us!
It felt as though we had been sucked into a whirlwind, spinning uncontrollably and being flung in all directions. My head reeled violently, my ears roaring, and every fiber of my being felt shredded by the sheer force of the energy!
Everyone else was tossed about like leaves caught in an autumn gale, crashing helplessly into one another!
“Ah!” I cried out in shock. “What is happening?”
“It’s a Spacetime Turbulence!” Han Yunzhen shrieked!
“Damn it, the Spatial Teleportation Array has been tampered with!” Feng Xiao roared!
“The Orcs did this!” Mo Luo Yinfeng exclaimed in fury.
Terror gripped everyone!
What was known as Spacetime Turbulence was an unexpected anomaly arising from fluctuations in spatial magic during teleportation—akin to a modern airliner encountering catastrophic failure! Once encountered, the possibility of survival was nearly nonexistent! It was exceptionally perilous because it signified a catastrophic breakdown of the spatial magic, triggering an explosion of incredible magical intensity!
Such a magical detonation occurring mid-teleportation could vaporize a person down to ash! Even if one miraculously escaped that, they would be flung into a spatial rift, trapped forever, becoming a desiccated husk drifting between the seams of space and time! Yet, such accidents in spatial teleportation were rare! But now, we had collided with one! Clearly, the Little Fox had plotted against us again!
But realizing it now was far too late!
“Huddle together! Protect your bodies!”
Amidst the muffled, sharp whistling sounds, Feng Xiao’s shrill command cut through!
I instantly curled into a ball, pushing my protective Dou Qi to its absolute limit!
CRASH! BOOM! Successive dull thunderous roars echoed as potent magical shockwaves battered my body relentlessly! The pain made me feel on the verge of disintegration! Yet, all I could do was tightly maintain my protective sphere, tossed about like a rubber ball by the overwhelming vortex force!
The dull roaring continued! The Spacetime Turbulence seemed endless! Like a monstrous entity, it raged with the destructive power to swallow clouds and consume the sun, pillaging and shattering everything nearby, surging onward toward an unknown destination!
The surroundings had long dissolved into a blur. Even with the protective mask of the Feng Tian Mo Jia shielding my eyes, I couldn't see clearly, and my mind grew increasingly hazy due to the intense pain and vertigo! In a daze, I saw clouds obscuring the heavens, lightning flashing, and felt myself being dragged toward a massive gate leading straight to the abyss.