From outside came the sound of wind, and Zhu Shuang, covered in dust, hurried into the cave.

"Miss..."

Just as he was about to speak, his expression froze.

He saw Chen Mo sitting cross-legged, resembling an old monk in meditation, while An Mengni curled up with her head resting on his thigh, her body gently rising and falling, a position that seemed like...

"Hmm?"

Hearing a noise, An Mengni woke from her dreams, rubbed her eyes, and turned her head to look, "Town Patrol Commander Zhu, why are you back?"

Zhu Shuang quickly bowed his head and said, "I really shouldn't have come back, um... you two continue, I'll wait outside..."

With that, he turned and swiftly left.

"What's that guy talking about?"

An Mengni was somewhat puzzled, noticing the drool stain on Chen Mo's robe, suddenly realized, her cheeks flushed, cursing this weak body for sleeping so deeply.

Just at this moment, Chen Mo opened his eyes, a gleam flashing briefly.

"Ahem, Mr. Chen, how is your recovery?" An Mengni cleared her throat and asked.

"Although not yet at peak condition, it's about eighty percent, which is sufficient." Chen Mo stood up and said, "Let's go, we've delayed here long enough."

Noticing the wet spot on his robe, he didn't say much and stepped towards the entrance of the cave, while An Mengni followed closely behind.

Exiting the cave, the crisp cold mountain wind invigorated them.

"Miss, Mr. Chen."

Zhu Shuang bowed in greeting, pretending nothing had happened.

An Mengni glanced at him and asked, "I told you to be on the lookout nearby, why did you take so long to come back?"

Zhu Shuang scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Miss, I got lost."

?

An Mengni's mouth twitched, "Are you joking with me?"

"No, I'm telling the truth." Zhu Shuang pointed towards the sky, "Miss, see for yourself."

An Mengni followed his finger, saw the strange scene, and couldn't help but exclaim softly, "What's going on here?"

At that time, the sky was gradually brightening, a rising sun leapt from the horizon, yet the bright moon hanging outside the clouds did not fade away. Sun and moon hung in the sky simultaneously, coloring the clouds with splendid hues.

Seeing the sun and moon together in the sky, Chen Mo's expression grew somber.

Yin and yang reversed?

Could this be the cause of the magnetic field disruption?

"I was originally setting up an array on the outskirts of the mountain range to prevent outsiders from approaching, but the array kept failing." Zhu Shuang said seriously, "I realized something was wrong and thought to report it first, but I had trouble distinguishing directions, and even my divine sense was affected. Although it was just a hundred li away, it took several hours to find my way back..."

Chen Mo spread his divine sense, finding Zhu Shuang's words true.

Soul power was suppressed by a certain force, greatly reducing the range of perception and causing some distortion.

"Couldn't even determine direction..."

"In this way, meeting with Zhi'er on the outskirts becomes even more difficult..."

An Mengni tugged on Chen Mo's sleeve and asked, "Mr. Chen, what should we do now?"

After a moment of thought, Chen Mo realized the only way was to explore slowly according to the marked map.

He took out a map from the Heavenly Profound Ring, observed it carefully, and pinpointed a few landmarks, saying, "Though the directions are a bit chaotic, the terrain won't change easily. Let's retrace our route, find the Creation Ancient Tree to confirm our current position, then explore towards the marked base point."

"Alright."

An Mengni nodded.

There was no better plan at the moment, so they had to follow his suggestion.

The three of them leaped into the air, looking down as they noticed fog already enveloped the mountains, a white mist spread across the view, making even the Golden Eyes of Truth unable to see through.

"What kind of ghost place is this?"

Chen Mo furrowed his brows even tighter.

With no choice, they had to rely on An Mengni and Zhu Shuang to lead the way, returning along familiar paths from their memory.

They moved through the mountain forest, the mist growing denser, reducing visibility to less than ten feet, circling for an hour only to find a very familiar cave before them.

"..."

The air fell silent for a moment.

After trying several more times, no matter which direction they flew, they always circled back here, as if remaining in place.

An Mengni's brows knitted, "Could it be that we can't get out?"

The body's capacity was limited, and she only split a trace of divine sense, unable to use many methods. There truly weren't many good solutions at the moment.

Zhu Shuang realized the severity of the situation as well, the Secret Realm's opening was time-bound, and if the World Gate closed before they escaped, they'd surely be trapped here, facing death!

"Wait..."

"Since some force is interfering with perception, we just need to find a way to shield that force..."

Thinking of this, Chen Mo operated the Purple Extreme Creation Mysterious Skill, an invisible field spread out, forming a sphere that enclosed them, completely isolating from the outside.

Though the heavy mist still shrouded them, the sense of distortion was significantly weakened.

"It works!"

Chen Mo's expression lit up with joy, carefully discerning the direction, he said, "This way, stay close."

"Alright!"

The two nodded obediently. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

They clearly regarded him as their backbone now.

Under Chen Mo's guidance, they twisted and turned through the forest for nearly half a day, finally leaving the mountain range, with the mist thinning considerably.

Looking back, the shadowy forms of the peaks seemed like a slumbering giant beast, chilling the heart.

When they returned near the Creation Ancient Tree, the scene was a mess, the corpses of the Wanqi Clan Members had disappeared, the towering tree cut in half, skin and bones exposed, even the roots dug from the ground.

The Creation Ancient Tree was a rare wonder of heaven and earth, every part a treasure.

Though Chen Mo had taken the most precious parts, the resin, roots, and even bark were rare spiritual materials in the outside world.

Zhu Shuang investigated and said, "There are signs of others fighting here, the lingering aura suggests magic from the Netherworld Sect, and at a high realm..."

An Mengni said, "Probably after we left, Hongyin returned with reinforcements and encountered the returning Wanqi Kai, leading to a conflict... but with Shi Wenzhong around, there shouldn't be any accidents."

Chen Mo crouched on the ground, his hand passing over the remaining roots, infusing it with a trace of Vitality Essence.

Seeing new buds sprout from the cut, he stood up and said, "Miss An, try contacting Saintess Yu."

An Mengni took out a Communication Talisman and infused it with Primordial Qi.

After a moment, she shook her head, "No, the message can't be sent out."

This was within Chen Mo's expectations, under the influence of the sun and moon in the sky, all communication methods had failed, though Yu Hongyin had First Grade Grandmaster protection, what truly concerned him was Ling Ningzhi.

He wondered if she had met up with Elder Zhu.

"Let's head towards the base first, and search along the way for any Earth Element Immortal Materials..."

The trio left the area, continuing to fly south.

After flying nearly a thousand li, the forest gradually thinned, the ground turned brown and barren, scattered with small stones, and the air carried a faint sulfurous smell.

Boom—

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion echoed.

The faint sound of clashing metal could be heard, as if someone was battling.

As they drew closer, they saw a peak in the distance, its cone-shaped body towering into the clouds, the top forming a volcanic crater, spewing gray-white smoke.

The rock was dark and rough, marked with the grooves of flowing lava, the sulfur smell growing more pungent.

At this moment, two figures were battling above the volcano.

One was a burly figure, glowing with golden light, resembling a Golden Arhat, none other than the monk Hui Neng from Wuwan Temple.

The other was shrouded in black mist, their appearance unclear, likely the leader from the Sikong family.

Golden light and black mist clashed, the void trembled endlessly, the terrifying aura palpable even from a distance.

Chen Mo eyed Hui Neng, a cold gleam flickered, and his lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Ha, so I encountered an old acquaintance..."