The three Academy students were gone. Lin Yun continued his descent, holding Chen Xin.

There was nothing around them but the canyon’s rock walls. Lin Yun, still holding Chen Xin, muttered to himself, "I’ll have to risk it."

"Hold on tight," he told Chen Xin. With a flash from his Space Ring, the Overlord Spear instantly appeared in Lin Yun’s hand.

Gripping the Overlord Spear, Lin Yun poured his Elemental Power into it without reservation. Infused with his power, the Overlord Spear began to tremble uncontrollably.

’It’s all up to you now.’ He could faintly make out the ground below. Lin Yun knew he had to take a desperate gamble.

He violently thrust the Overlord Spear into the adjacent rock wall. Sparks flew as the spear plunged deep into the stone, grinding down the cliff face as they slid.

After nearly a kilometer, the Overlord Spear finally ground to a halt, stopping their fall when they were just over ten meters from the ground.

By now, Lin Yun’s hands were trembling. The force of the impact was so great that an ordinary person would have lost their grip long ago.

If not for his Flawless Flesh Body and unwavering willpower, Lin Yun likely wouldn’t have been able to hold onto the Overlord Spear.

After a brief pause, the Overlord Spear in Lin Yun’s hand let out a sharp CLANG and snapped clean in two. Still ten-odd meters in the air, Lin Yun and Chen Xin fell without warning, crashing hard onto the ground.

Lin Yun had instinctively shielded Chen Xin during the fall, but the drop of over ten meters still left them both completely dazed.

A full quarter of an hour passed before Lin Yun managed to stagger to his feet. He walked over to Chen Xin and asked, "How are you? Are you okay?"

"We’re... not dead?" Chen Xin asked in disbelief upon hearing Lin Yun’s voice.

"Just rest for a moment." After reassuring Chen Xin, Lin Yun leaped up. Using the nearby rocks as footholds, he quickly reached the Overlord Spear and pulled the broken halves out of the wall.

Looking at the Overlord Spear, now completely snapped in two, Lin Yun’s heart ached. It wasn’t a Divine Soldier, but it was his very first Spirit Soldier.

Lin Yun was deeply attached to the Overlord Spear, and this time, it had saved his life.

’I’ll definitely get you fixed,’ Lin Yun vowed silently, looking at the Overlord Spear, now completely devoid of its spiritual aura. The only way to repair it now would be to find an Artifact Refiner.

He was alive, but in a completely unfamiliar place. Not dwelling on it, Lin Yun stored the broken Overlord Spear and began to survey his surroundings.

’What a grim atmosphere... and this Evil Qi is so dense.’ He hadn’t noticed it before, but upon closer inspection, he could only smile wryly. It was a classic case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.

This place exuded a sense of extreme danger. Even the usually carefree Little Ape had grown serious for the first time.

HOO HOO HOO... Leaping onto Lin Yun’s shoulder, Little Ape let out a continuous low growl, as if trying to tell him something.

"Lin Yun, I’m so scared. This place is so creepy." Chen Xin, also deeply frightened by her surroundings, struggled over to Lin Yun and fearfully tugged on the hem of his clothes.

Feeling her body tremble, Lin Yun knew this was likely the most terrifying thing Chen Xin had ever experienced. As the only daughter of a Grand Scholar in Yanhuang Country, she must have lived a life of pampered luxury, never once enduring such hardship.

He reached out and took her small hand, saying softly, "It’s okay. There’s a saying: ’Surviving a great disaster brings future blessings.’ We’ll definitely find a way out."

With Lin Yun holding her hand, Chen Xin’s fear subsided significantly, but she still refused to leave his side for even an instant.

He had no idea where to go, and he’d never heard of such a place back at the Academy. All Lin Yun could do was proceed with caution, taking things one step at a time.

Visibility at the bottom of the canyon was extremely poor, at most three meters. Lin Yun carefully led Chen Xin onward, while Little Ape, perched on his shoulder, occasionally let out a low growl to point the way.

It seemed Little Ape’s perception of this place was far keener than Lin Yun’s. Little Ape guided them the entire way, and Lin Yun followed its directions without deviation.

The deeper they went, the lower the visibility dropped, and the denser the Evil Qi became. The presence of this aura alone was enough to send a chill down Lin Yun’s spine.

As for Chen Xin, she was now huddled against Lin Yun, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Lin Yun had never encountered Evil Qi this dense. While he could still withstand it, the pressure it exerted on him was immense.

ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR... Following Little Ape’s guidance, they walked a while longer before the faint roars of Demon Beasts began to echo in the surroundings.

These were not the roars of ordinary Demon Beasts. Each cry was laced with profound hatred and unwillingness, like the lamentations of wronged souls from Hell itself.

"Little Ape, are you sure you didn’t lead us down the wrong path? I feel like this is a dead end." By now, even Lin Yun dared not go on. He could barely endure the Evil Qi in the air as it was; if they continued, he couldn’t guarantee he would last.

Little Ape seemed displeased by Lin Yun’s doubt. It let out two low growls and then stared ahead, its eyes filled with an unparalleled seriousness.

ROAR ROAR ROAR... Little Ape bellowed into the surrounding darkness.

As if in answer to its call, the surrounding roars grew more distinct. After a few breaths, it felt to Lin Yun as though the cries were erupting right beside his ears. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

ROAR ROAR ROAR...

ROAR ROAR ROAR...

Little Ape’s roars and the surrounding cries seemed like a conversation. Meanwhile, Little Ape itself had leaped from Lin Yun’s shoulder and grown to the height of a man.

Its fur had turned blood-red. The Little Ape of this moment was completely different from its former self. Its crimson eyes were filled with a dense Evil Qi that complemented the ambient miasma—in fact, its aura was even purer.

ROAR! Standing before Lin Yun, Little Ape suddenly unleashed a deafening roar. The force of the sound alone knocked Chen Xin unconscious, and even Lin Yun was thrown back several steps.

Staring intently at Little Ape, Lin Yun had no idea why it was behaving this way. But his keen perception allowed him to discover a startling fact: Little Ape was absorbing the surrounding Evil Qi.

The Evil Qi surged frantically into Little Ape’s body, and its form was quickly shrouded by the dense miasma. The aura it now exuded was so terrifying that even Lin Yun felt his heart pound with fear.

"This little guy..." Lin Yun murmured. He couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen once Little Ape had absorbed all the Evil Qi in this place.

But right now, even if he wanted to help, he couldn’t. Lin Yun discovered that his body had been completely immobilized; he couldn’t even move a finger.