At this moment, perhaps only the existence of Elder Qing Yangzi and the others can give Ginsengfruit a sense of security.

After all, they can’t just watch as the precious root seedling of Qingfeng Temple encounters disaster in this space rift.

With this belief, Ginsengfruit quickly calmed their mind.

Meanwhile, Yun Ran, who was caught in trouble, frowned slightly as she saw the place where the scene suddenly changed.

At a glance, this place was much larger than where the entire Book Collection Tower was before.

A bone-chilling cold swept over Yun Ran, and she instinctively wrapped her black robe tighter, but it did nothing to improve the deep feeling of cold.

Without missing a beat, Yun Ran reached into her pocket, rummaged around, and quickly retrieved a demon core emitting a warm light.

Instantly, the previously blurry surroundings cleared up.

Yet Yun Ran’s expression showed no joy; instead, it grew even more solemn.

She hadn’t expected this unknown place to be littered with scattered bones everywhere.

The clothes on those bones ranged from being completely decayed to barely recognizable.

Particularly around these bones lay some magical artifacts that had lost their luster.

Without a doubt, these people, like Yun Ran, were Dark Masters who had ventured into this place.

For those not strong-willed, witnessing such a scene could be quite unsettling.

A sudden wind from nowhere blew towards Yun Ran’s face, and she could almost feel something trying to caress her cheek.

Yun Ran waved her hand, dispelling the wind that was about to brush against her.

Continuing her pace, Yun Ran pressed on, noticing more bones underfoot—besides human bones, there were also many animal skeletons.

All of which Ginsengfruit hadn’t detected beforehand.

"Looks like this place is hiding something good."

This realization made Yun Ran even more excited, as treasure hunting always easily stirred her emotions.

Yun Ran disliked this cold feeling, even more unpleasant than the experience in the Ghost World.

After some thought, Yun Ran took out the Demon-locking Tower and began negotiating with the Fire Essence inside.

"Could you do me a favor?"

After all, she owed these Fire Essences a big favor, so owing a few more was no big deal.

Fire Essence: ...

Although their spiritual wisdom wasn’t very high, they somehow felt like they got the short end of the stick.

But since Yun Ran had promised to find them a better cultivation spot as a ’carrot,’ they decided not to let minor setbacks make them refuse.

In the end, they sent out a moderately-sized batch of Fire Essence to help.

These Fire Essences were still clueless about human treachery and didn’t know that once they agreed to one favor, countless others would follow.

Only after they were entirely onboard this troublesome ship did they realize it was too late to get off.

When the Fire Essences appeared, the icy feeling around them diminished significantly.

Satisfied, Yun Ran looked at the Fire Essences trailing not far behind and felt herself relax.

As she proceeded, Yun Ran’s gaze didn’t miss the scattered magical artifacts on the ground, even though most had turned into worthless scrap.

But what if something valuable turned up? After all, it’s a no-risk trade—any find is a gain.

Fortunately, perseverance paid off; Yun Ran finally spotted a decent magic artifact.

The bones next to the artifact were clearly decayed.

Even the fabric covering the bones, which couldn’t show its material or color anymore, turned to dust with a breeze stirred by Yun Ran’s approach.

Yun Ran: ...

This wasn’t her fault; blame it on the long passage of time since this person’s death.

Reaching for the magic artifact on the ground,

the skeletal hand clinging tightly to it crumbled into dust just like the fabric.

"Hiss! Just how long have they been dead!"

Even expert examiners would find it difficult to assess the situation here.

Thinking it over, Yun Ran took out a piece of talisman paper and muttered incantations for summoning spirits, causing the paper to ignite spontaneously.

Another breeze, originating from nowhere, came; by the time the talisman paper was fully burned, not a single shadow of a ghost appeared.

"Looks like there’s something really odd about this place—though it’s so secretive, it doesn’t even have any ghosts."

A place capable of hiding even from Ginsengfruit’s scan must be extremely secretive, so escaping as ghosts would evidently be difficult for them.

Yet here, at the moment, not a single ghost had appeared, but there was rather some inexplicable wind.

Instantly, Yun Ran had an unsettling suspicion that those ghosts might have already fused into this place, becoming part of its sustenance.

As for the winds spontaneously arising, they were likely the last remnants of those ghosts’ strength.

With this in mind, Yun Ran’s complexion turned quite unpleasant.

If ghosts could be absorbed as nourishment, this place must be a deathtrap!

Yun Ran picked up the somewhat usable magic artifact from the ground and stored it away before continuing her exploration.

Time ticked away, and Yun Ran, trapped here, lost all sense of time.

Outside, three days had passed, and the preliminary rounds for the selection banquet were starting.

Ginsengfruit, having waited endlessly for Yun Ran’s return, had no choice but to assume Yun Ran’s identity and attend.

The person tasked with monitoring Yun Ran saw someone identical to Yun Ran before him and noticed nothing amiss.

Only Er Dan busily scrutinized the ’Yun Ran’ before him with a sharp gaze.

If ghosts could be absorbed as nourishment, this place must be a deathtrap!

Yun Ran picked up the somewhat usable magic artifact from the ground and stored it away before continuing her exploration.

Time ticked away, and Yun Ran, trapped here, lost all sense of time.

Outside, three days had passed, and the preliminary rounds for the selection banquet were starting.

Ginsengfruit, having waited endlessly for Yun Ran’s return, had no choice but to assume Yun Ran’s identity and attend. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The person tasked with monitoring Yun Ran saw someone identical to Yun Ran before him and noticed nothing amiss.

Only Er Dan busily scrutinized the ’Yun Ran’ before him with a sharp gaze.

Only Er Dan busily scrutinized the ’Yun Ran’ before him with a sharp gaze.