Soon, the three of them arrived in front of the altar.

"Ye Xuan!"

"Yun Aoxue!"

"Xia Qixi!"

Upon seeing Ye Xuan’s group arrive, a series of delighted voices rang out. Ye Xuan looked over and saw that Master Dongfang Yanyu, Zhu Tianlan, and the others were already there. It seemed Ye Xuan’s group was the last to arrive.

However, Ye Xuan also noticed that the original team of twenty-one who had entered the forbidden land was no longer complete. Every team had suffered casualties and injuries to varying degrees.

For instance, of the three from the Celestial Gold Kingdom, only Master Zhu Tianlan and another vice-chairman remained. The Dongsheng Kingdom was also left with only Zuo Yi Alliance and one other person. The Fire Crow Kingdom had Xuu Xin Hua and a vice-chairman left, while the Shizhen Kingdom had also lost one member.

Only three teams were still fully intact: the Liuyun Kingdom’s team, Ye Xuan’s team, and Luan Hong’s team.

As Ye Xuan glanced at Luan Hong’s group, they shot back a murderous look, the corners of their mouths curling into a chilling smile.

In their few days within the forbidden land, everyone’s strength had clearly risen a level. Most of the Third Grade Soul Refiners had broken through to Fourth Grade, while Luan Hong and Zhu Tianlan had actually managed to reach Fifth Grade.

Ye Xuan’s brow furrowed. ’It seems Luan Hong’s group is more capable than I thought. To break through to Fifth Grade, one must kill a Tier Five Soul Beast. That’s something an ordinary person could never do.’

"Ye Xuan, you sure are lucky to be alive. To think you’re completely unharmed."

Luan Hong suddenly sneered.

"Aren’t you?" Ye Xuan replied with a faint smile.

’This Luan Hong is so arrogant now. He’ll get what’s coming to him soon enough.’

A glint flickered in Luan Hong’s eyes.

He had also tried to track Ye Xuan down in the forbidden land, but the area was simply too vast. Coupled with their need to hunt more Soul Beasts, they had eventually put the matter aside.

’Now that we’ve run into Ye Xuan, the guy is still acting so arrogant. Doesn’t he know what kind of enemy he’s facing?’

’Or does he really think the tiny Liuyun Kingdom can protect him?’

With this thought, Luan Hong and his men all sneered inwardly.

After some brief exchanges, Ye Xuan immediately turned his attention to the altar up ahead.

The entire altar was over ten meters tall. At its center was a stone platform covered in a dense web of Restrictions and runes, leaving everyone stunned.

But the most shocked of all was Ye Xuan.

He already had some understanding of the Restrictions within the Floating Light Secret Realm and immediately realized that the Restriction on this altar was hundreds of times more powerful than the ones that had sealed the Celestial Fire and Jin Lin.

If Ye Xuan could still analyze and dismantle the Restrictions that sealed the Celestial Fire and Jin Lin, then merely looking at the one at the center of this altar made him feel dizzy.

It was clear that the person who had set up this Restriction possessed a mastery of Arrays that was more than just one level higher than his own.

But he was already a Ninth Grade Array Master. Ye Xuan couldn’t imagine who else on this continent could possibly possess a mastery of Arrays so far superior to his.

What shocked Ye Xuan even more was that the Restriction on the altar had already been broken. This damage wasn’t done by chipping away at it from the outside; it had been blown apart directly from within.

’This must be the damage caused by that sealed entity Jin Lin mentioned, right?’

’This Restriction is already so powerful, and it was specifically designed to seal that thing. It’s hard for me to imagine what could possess enough strength to shatter it directly from the inside.’

"This should be the core of this area. That rainbow-colored light above the altar must be a teleportation Array. We should be able to leave this place just by stepping into that light."

Kuchen and the others had arrived about a day before Ye Xuan and had already observed the altar in great detail.

Although they couldn’t perceive the terrifying nature of the Restriction at the center of the altar, they could still tell that the pillar of light above it was a teleportation Array leading out.

However, a weaker Restriction still surrounded the altar’s perimeter. They had been trying to break it this whole time but had made no headway.

"I don’t know who set up this Restriction, but it’s far too profound."

"Yeah, the one who set up this altar back then must have been a great power, a Tier Seven Array Master at the very least."

Hearing the conversation between Zuo Yi Alliance and the others, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but find it amusing. ’The experts of the Thirteen Nations Alliance have such a limited perspective. A Tier Seven Array Master? Honestly, a Tier Seven Array Master isn’t even worthy of carrying the shoes of the great power who created these Restrictions.’

"Everyone, let’s stop wasting time and figure out how to break this Restriction. The Floating Light Secret Realm is closing in just a few days. If we can’t get out, we might be trapped here forever."

Zhu Tianlan said in a grave voice.

Normally, when the Floating Light Secret Realm closed, all human Martial Artists inside would be automatically teleported out. But now that they were in such a strange place, no one was sure if that would still happen.

Ye Xuan also walked up to the Restriction and examined it closely. Ideas flowed through his mind, and he soon found a way to break it.

’That guy Jin Lin should be just about ready, right?’

Ye Xuan glanced into the distance, then suddenly pretended to casually touch a core point of the Restriction. A dense ripple of energy spread out, and with a CRACK, the outer Restriction shattered instantly.

"Haha, the Restriction is open!"

"Great, we can get out now!"

"Little friend Ye Xuan, how did you know the Restriction’s weak point was there?"

Zhu Tianlan and the others were instantly thrilled.

They had gained so much here; it would have been a huge loss if they couldn’t get out.

"Heh, just a coincidence," Ye Xuan said with a smile.

Only Kuchen and his group knew that Ye Xuan breaking the Restriction was definitely no coincidence.

"Let’s go, let’s get out of here."

Just as Zuo Yi Alliance and the others were about to step onto the altar, an enraged roar like a clap of thunder suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.

"Who? Who dares disturb the great Demon King’s slumber?"

As the rumbling, furious shout resounded, a streak of golden light descended from the sky, landing instantly upon the altar.

It was a Profound Beast with golden horns, golden pupils, and a body covered in golden Scale Armor. The moment it appeared, its golden eyes stared indifferently at the crowd. A terrifying pressure from its Soul Thought, like a great mountain, bore down heavily on everyone present.

"Humans, was it you who disturbed the great Demon King’s slumber? What is your crime?"

The golden Profound Beast looked down at Zhu Tianlan and the others with frigid eyes, utterly enraged.

Seeing Jin Lin appear, terror filled everyone’s faces. It was too frightening. The pressure emanating from Jin Lin alone was enough to render them motionless. Their Profound Power felt like solidified glue, and even circulating it seemed like a luxury.

"What’s going on? Where did this terrifying Profound Beast come from?"

"It’s terrifying! ’Lord Demon King’... could this Profound Beast be a Tier Seven Demon King?"

"Why is there a Profound Beast Demon King here?"

A panicked discussion immediately broke out among the crowd. A flicker of terror passed through everyone’s eyes as they communicated with each other via sound transmission, their tones filled with despair.

The aura radiating from Jin Lin was simply too terrifying—so terrifying that no one even had the slightest thought of resisting.

Especially its claim to be a Demon King. Everyone knew that only a Tier Seven King Level Profound Beast was qualified to call itself a Demon King.

They were just about to leave this strange place, but a terrifying Profound Beast had appeared at the critical moment. Everyone’s hearts sank instantly into a pit of despair.

"Esteemed Lord Demon King, we meant no offense. We ask that Your Lordship not be angered." Zuo Yi Alliance was the first to speak from the crowd, his voice panicked.

"No offense? Hmph." The golden beast swept its gaze over the crowd, a mocking, teasing expression on its face. "I am the guardian beast of this land. You trespassed on my territory, hunted the Soul Beasts I was raising, and even destroyed my resting place. How could I not be angered by you pathetic humans? Speak!"

Cold sweat broke out on everyone’s foreheads. From the golden beast’s words, they all understood that this land was the Profound Beast Demon King’s habitat, and the Soul Beasts they had been hunting were actually being deliberately raised here by this Demon King.

"Th-this... Esteemed Lord Demon King, we didn’t know!" Xuu Xin Hua cried out. Suddenly, as if he’d thought of something, he hurriedly pointed at Ye Xuan and said, "It was him! That kid is the one who destroyed Your Lordship’s resting place! We didn’t do anything just now!"

Dongfang Yanyu’s expression changed. "Xuu Xin Hua, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"What do you mean, ’nonsense’? The Restriction set up by the Lord Demon King was sitting here perfectly fine. We were here for so long and didn’t break it, but as soon as your Liuyun Kingdom’s Ye Xuan arrived, he destroyed it! Now the Lord Demon King is furious. Am I wrong? Lord Demon King, we really didn’t do anything just now!"

"You..."

Xuu Xin Hua’s shamelessness made Dongfang Yanyu and the others grit their teeth in hatred.

’What nonsense about them not breaking it after being here for so long? It was only because they *couldn’t* break the Restriction! When Ye Xuan opened it just a moment ago, they were all so excited, yet not one of them thanked him. Now that there’s trouble, they’re pushing all the blame onto Ye Xuan. How could someone so shameless exist in this world?’

"Oh? So it was you who broke my Restriction?" The golden beast’s indifferent pupils turned to Ye Xuan.

On the surface, its tone was cold, but secretly, it was hurriedly sending a sound transmission to Ye Xuan: "Ahem, Your Highness, didn’t you ask me to act as the guardian beast here? Uh, the cold tone... please don’t take it personally."

Jin Lin felt a little nervous, afraid that Ye Xuan would get angry.

"Lord Demon King, it was him!" Xuu Xin Hua was overjoyed and said hurriedly.

Ye Xuan’s power made Xuu Xin Hua extremely wary. He had long since decided that he couldn’t let Ye Xuan continue to grow stronger, but he hadn’t found an opportunity in the Floating Light Secret Realm. Now, seeing Ye Xuan offend this Demon King, a plan to kill with a borrowed knife immediately popped into his head.