Zhang Deming frowned and said, "Haven’t you all noticed how quiet this forest is? It’s deathly still."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces showed dawning realization. Seeing this, Zhang Deming raised an eyebrow and asked, "Isn’t that strange?"

Dang Ruyu chuckled. "Junior Brother Zhang, you only arrived today, so it’s understandable that you’d find it strange.

Over the past few days, we’ve searched more than half of the core area.

Whether it was the architectural zone before or the surrounding forests, it’s all been like this. There hasn’t been the slightest movement. Aside from the plants, there are no signs of any living creatures.

At first, we were all extremely cautious.

But after discovering that everything was deathly still and there wasn’t a single living creature, we all relaxed quite a bit.

After all, if a powerful Demon Beast were present, there might be no large animals, but it’s impossible for there not to be even a single mosquito or bug.

Therefore, this must be a completely lifeless region."

Zhang Deming’s frown deepened. "But shouldn’t this complete stillness be the biggest problem of all?"

Dang Ruyu said, "This place has been sealed for who knows how many years. This should be considered normal, right?

This dead stillness was probably caused by the same disaster that made this Blessed Land fall in the first place."

Zhang Deming reluctantly accepted her explanation and didn’t argue further, but he kept his frown as he continued to move forward quickly.

The island wasn’t large to begin with, and the group was moving swiftly. In just a short while, they reached the island’s center.

Several people were already stopped up ahead.

Once they got a clear look at the center of the island, the advancing group stopped in their tracks.

Originally, the center of the island should have been a clearing in the forest, dotted with a few scattered buildings.

He estimated it was like the Turtle Water Pavilion, with a Scripture Pavilion and some disciple residences, nothing too grand.

This was all a guess on Zhang Deming’s part, based on the layout of the Turtle Water Pavilion and the current situation.

Because at this moment, all the buildings in the island’s center had vanished. Only at the edges, near the forest, were there a few dilapidated ruins, offering a faint clue as to what was once there.

In place of the buildings was a pool of viscous liquid that looked like crude oil, but it wasn’t black. Its color was mottled, primarily a yellowish-green, and it occasionally shimmered with a metallic sheen.

The thick liquid churned sluggishly, an occasional bubble rising to the surface.

Surrounded by the forest, the pool of liquid looked somewhat like a heavily trampled bog.

Above the viscous liquid, the space itself was extremely unstable, constantly fluctuating.

Silvery-white spatial rifts would occasionally appear, dripping an even more viscous liquid. It looked like mercury, but wasn’t entirely silver.

This liquid dripped into the bog below, causing it to churn violently before gradually fusing with the rest.

Peering through the occasional spatial rift, one could see the other side, where an immeasurable amount of this viscous fluid formed a vast ocean.

"Hiss... What in the world is this?"

"I don’t know. It looks terrifying."

"It’s giving me the creeps."

"Don’t tell me this is the source of the mutations on the back mountain!"

"A lot of people have been speculating about that these past few days—that the Demon Beast mutations on the back mountain are because of whatever this is."

"That can’t be. This is a Secret Realm, after all. It has no connection to the outside world. If there was a link, we would have found it by now after searching for so long."

As they stared at the liquid, hushed discussions broke out among the disciples.

The few people leading the group, however, just frowned deeply as they surveyed the area.

"What in the world is this stuff?" Zhou Zhixin asked.

"I’m not sure." Fan Dexian shook his head and looked toward Dang Ruyu.

Dang Ruyu shook her head. "I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like it, and none of the information I have mentions anything of this sort."

Hearing this, Fan Dexian replied, "If I’d known, we shouldn’t have left Fatty Yang behind. We should have brought him with us."

Dang Ruyu said mockingly, "Heh, you really think he had no way of crossing the lake?

Even without a flying Technique, he must have had plenty of items in his pockets that would let him fly.

Knowing his personality, he obviously sensed something and wasn’t willing to risk taking the lead. That’s why he did what he did—so the three of us could be his guinea pigs.

And even if we do find something, with that whole group of junior and senior brothers he has with him outside, do you really think we could keep it all for ourselves?

If we tried, we wouldn’t have to worry about leaving this Secret Realm alive.

It would be a rare day indeed if someone from the Resources Department let themselves be taken advantage of by you."

"And you were still willing to take the lead, knowing all that?" Fan Dexian asked.

"Be that as it may, whoever takes the biggest risk gets the first sip of the soup. If you don’t put it all on the line, how can you expect to go far on the path of cultivation?" Dang Ruyu replied.

"I think we should leave as soon as possible. Forget about any Secret Realm Artifact Spirit; this place doesn’t look like it could have anything left.

Looking at the situation, it’s clearly not something we can handle. The best course of action is to leave immediately, notify the Sect, and let them resolve it."

Zhang Deming said, looking at the pool of liquid. He felt his skin crawl as he couldn’t help but think of the strange Demon Beast he had seen before.

"Yes, I also think this is rather ser—"

"Do you guys see that? Something’s glowing in the middle."

Dang Ruyu hadn’t even finished her sentence before Li Shifan cut her off.

The group paused, stunned for a moment. With so many silver spatial rifts shimmering above the liquid, no one had paid much attention to what was in it.

But now that Li Shifan had pointed it out, everyone felt they could see it too. It did indeed seem to be glowing.

"Senior Brother, something at your waist is glowing too," a young disciple standing behind Li Shifan said.