In truth, the moment Lin Luo decided to embark upon the Path of the Puppet, his sights had already been fixed upon the Cursed Land. However, at that time, he had no intention of actually venturing there. After all, even high-tier, advanced Divine Craftsmen had entered and never returned; how could he, a mere five-strength nobody, possibly retrieve what he sought from that forbidden zone of life? He wasn't a fool.

But things were different now. Both he and Qiqi had reached the peak of the Earth Tier, and he was almost certain that what he desired was indeed within the Cursed Land. If not now, then when!

However, he had no intention of bringing Xiao Xiao along on this trip.

Lin Luo had never been to the Cursed Land, so he didn't know exactly how perilous it was. But based on what he understood, even with the current strength of himself and Qiqi, they couldn't guarantee a full retreat. If Xiao Xiao were brought along, and an accident occurred, it could lead to annihilation... unless Lin Luo simply didn't care about Xiao Xiao's life, which was impossible.

Xiao Xiao desperately wanted to accompany Lin Luo, but she also knew that going along would only make her a burden. Not only could she not help, but she might even hinder them. Given that, it was better to stay behind.

Thus, several days later, Xiao Xiao temporarily remained in the town, learning puppet crafting and cultivating, while Lin Luo and Qiqi followed the map stored in their memories to seek out the forbidden zone of life.

With their current strength, the two naturally didn't need to trek through mountains and wade across rivers; they simply launched themselves into the air, advancing toward their destination at a speed invisible to the naked eye. Initially, they expected that no matter how distant, even if it were on the other side of the world, it would take at most an hour or two to arrive. But unexpectedly, they flew continuously for three days and still hadn't reached the legendary Cursed Land.

"It must be the Boundary," Qiqi remarked.

"Most likely," Lin Luo nodded. Earth was only so large; flying for three days at their speed and still not crossing half the planet meant only one possibility: the Boundary.

This Boundary wasn't like Yakumo Yukari's 'can reach' or 'cannot reach' divide. Instead, it was a realm separating the Cursed Land from the outside world. No matter where one started or how fast they traveled, unless this Boundary was broken through, the Cursed Land was unreachable—even if they circled the Earth hundreds of times along the surface.

However, since even Divine Craftsmen could break through this Boundary to enter the Cursed Land, Lin Luo and Qiqi clearly had no problem. They simply needed to keep moving forward, ignoring everything else.

And so, the two continued flying non-stop for another seven days. Then, the surrounding atmosphere shifted abruptly.

"We're here," Lin Luo announced, and they instantly halted.

With the change in the atmosphere, Lin Luo felt as if he had stepped into another, distinct world—like a dimension within a dimension, yet fundamentally different. They were still on Earth, but... like the era he currently inhabited, it existed outside the common recognition of ordinary people.

"It really has the look of a Cursed Land," Qiqi observed, glancing around and nodding slightly.

The Cursed Land didn't mean there was no life here. It meant that ordinary people could enter but never leave. In fact, life was abundant. Look—five kilometers away, a Pterodactyl with a ten-meter wingspan flew cheerfully. Ten kilometers to the left, a pair of small Phoenixes were frolicking affectionately. In the ocean below, a prehistoric crocodile dozens of meters long was preying on a massive whale over a hundred meters long. Further ahead on the land, two Tyrannosaurs, each looking to weigh over ten tons, were locked in combat for the right to mate with the female T-Rex nearby.

And there were countless others: dinosaurs, giant turtles, Mountain-Moving Ants, blood-sucking Succubi, Fire-Breathing Divine Hounds, the Nine-Headed Serpent... In short, if you could imagine it, it was visible here.

This was the Cursed Land that had utterly extinguished the Divine Craftsmen!

"These fellows don't seem to fight each other," Qiqi said to Lin Luo after watching for a while.

Among the strange and marvelous beasts they saw, barring those caught in the food chain or those of the same species fighting over territory or mating rights, there was almost no combat between different species. For example, the Phoenix and the Pterodactyl they just saw passed right by each other without incident. The Mountain-Moving Ant on the ground was carrying a massive mountain, moving straight ahead, and when it was about to collide with the dueling Tyrannosaurs, it suddenly veered away, as if making room for their fight. It looked profoundly strange.

That ant was carrying a mountain more than ten times larger than the two Tyrannosaurs combined; it could crush them easily, let alone just bump them. Yet... the powerful yielded to the weak. This defied the law of the jungle.

Lin Luo fell silent for a moment before speaking, "It is a bit strange, but the mere existence of this place is strange enough; we can't judge it by common sense. What truly puzzles me is... why is this place called a Cursed Land?"

Lin Luo's question seemed odd—if it was named the Cursed Land, why wasn't it? But Qiqi understood immediately. She could tell that while the exotic beasts looked terrifying and powerful, enough to kill any ordinary person who entered, they seemed somewhat underwhelming for experts at the high Earth Tier. How could such creatures cause the annihilation of high-tier Divine Craftsmen?

Furthermore, the exotic beasts here gave her a surprisingly gentle impression. The two hovered in the air for several minutes, yet none charged to attack them. In fact...

The two playful little Phoenixes noticed them and flew over affectionately, circling around them. Even when Lin Luo reached out to stroke their heads, they merely closed their eyes and enjoyed it, showing no hostility whatsoever.

Then, the Pterodactyl also flew over, curiously flapping its wing against Lin Luo's head. Next, a fire-breathing dog-like creature stepped onto the void before them, squatted down, wagged its tail, stuck out its tongue, acting like a goofy Husky, begging for food. Furthermore, that unusually sinister-looking Succubus flew up to Qiqi, patted her exposed chest, then glanced at Qiqi's own bust, immediately showing an expression of pride mixed with disdain.

At that moment, even the imperturbable Qiqi was covered in dark lines.

She certainly had seen Succubi before; she had even slain many. But as far as she knew, Succubi were all ferocious and evil creatures that would fight humans to the death upon sight. Yet now... the one before her had no intention of sucking her blood, instead engaging in a contest of breast size... Was this thing sick?

"Hey, this isn't looking good, is it?" After a moment, Lin Luo frowned and spoke urgently.

Initially, when the birds surrounded them, Lin Luo was in a good mood and played along for a while, tossing a piece of beef to the Pterodactyl, complimenting the Phoenixes on their beauty, and even offering a meat bun to the "Husky." But his gestures of goodwill only prompted more birds to fly over from the distance, surrounding the two in three layers—not to attack, but to beg for food and gawk.

It was like they were giant pandas in a zoo, and Lin Luo couldn't stand it.

He had come here to find something, not to play with this group of bizarre creatures.

If they had surrounded them with hostility, there would be no question—he would have simply killed them. But these creatures, who looked ferocious yet were actually very gentle, were here to socialize. Never mind Lin Luo; even Qiqi felt too awkward to strike them. Out of options, they had to use all their skills to escape.

After exerting tremendous effort, they finally shook off the clingy flock of birds and descended to the ground to avoid drawing attention. Although there were many exotic beasts on the ground too, at least the rocks and forests offered them cover, which was better than being exposed in the sky.

Indeed, once on the ground, the harassment lessened considerably. While some strange figures still popped out to gawk at them, the situation improved.

For instance, a savage-looking primitive man, carrying a roasted wild boar weighing several tons and eating while walking, spotted Lin Luo, immediately darted over, scrutinized him up and down, then smoothed his bird's nest-like hair and grumbled at Lin Luo, "You're ugly."

Then, he completely ignored Lin Luo, continuing to eat his boar and humming a little tune as he strolled away nonchalantly.

Lin Luo nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. Damn it! While he wasn't a handsome man on the level of Pan An or Song Yu, he was still a dream prince to countless maidens and noble ladies. Yet now, a filthy savage who looked almost like a caveman was calling him ugly... Go to hell!

Besides cursing inwardly, Lin Luo couldn't find any other words to express his current state of mind.

"Hey, beautiful flat-chested lady, interested in a date with this handsome fellow?" Just as Lin Luo was trying to process his frustration, Qiqi heard a lewd voice whisper by her ear.

Qiqi instinctively wanted to slice this rake into eighteen pieces, but before she could move, she froze upon seeing the source of the invitation. The guy who called himself handsome and asked her out was... a large crow!

Not a crow demon, but an utterly ordinary crow.

With a flicker of anger across her face, Qiqi flicked her wrist and hurled the lustful crow away.

Although she had no issue with her figure, being called flat-chested so brazenly was too much. Luckily, it was just a crow; if it had been a person, she would have made them understand how to write the word 'death'.

"What do you think?" Lin Luo asked, suppressing a laugh and turning his head away from Qiqi.

"...Sick!"

Qiqi spat out two words. She wasn't cursing Lin Luo, but the place itself.

Even the ever-composed Qiqi was extremely unsettled by this location, especially... that bovine Succubus and that despicable, horny crow!

See that? Integrity is here! Where are the monthly tickets?! RS