The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 185 - 169: It Looks Like We’ll Have to Go In and Find Out for Ourselves

"A Forbidden Land? What's that about?"

Hearing Wen Yin's words, Yang An immediately frowned and asked.

Zhou Quan knew nothing about these matters and had the lowest status, so he could only listen obediently from the side. It wasn't his place to speak.

"The Witch Barrier Land is a place of no return. Great Demon Fiends above the Corpse Transformation realm often appear inside, so it's been designated a Forbidden Land by Si State. Very few Cultivators ever go in."

Wen Yin replied slowly, then hesitated for a moment before adding,

"There are rumors that the Witch Barrier can lead to the legendary Outer Continent, but no one has ever confirmed if they're true. Everyone who has gone in has never returned."

Hearing Wen Yin's words, Yang An fell into deep thought.

According to the Workshop Master, to get to the Treasure Temple Domain, he first had to enter the Fusheng Domain in the Outer Continent through the Witch Barrier.

In other words, this Outer Continent where he was located bordered the Fusheng Domain.

And the Workshop Master had also said this was the fastest way to enter the Fusheng Domain.

"Are there any other ways to get to the Outer Continent?"

He asked Wen Yin, but she just shook her head. She didn't know either.

The Outer Continent had always been mysterious. She knew very little about it and couldn't answer Yang An's question.

"Perhaps the people who entered the Witch Barrier and never came back just made it to the Outer Continent. They can't all be dead, right? Don't worry too much," Yang An could only say.

'This might be survivor bias,' he thought. 'It's just that the people who entered the Witch Barrier didn't manage to come out, so there are almost no survivors to report back.'

Since the Workshop Master had sworn that it was possible to enter the Outer Continent through the Witch Barrier, it had to be feasible.

Besides, time was short, and there were no other options. They had to at least try.

"We'll listen to you, Senior Brother."

Wen Yin and Zhou Quan both nodded.

Since this was a task assigned by their master, and Elder Life Crane was not present, Yang An was their leader. His Cultivation Level was also higher, so it was natural for him to make the decisions. The other two only had the right to make suggestions.

"Let's go see if the Earth Worm is still there first," Yang An said.

If it were just him and Wen Yin, they wouldn't need the Earth Worm; they could just fly over.

But they had to bring Zhou Quan, who was a liability. His Cultivation Level was only at Fake Food. Not only could he not perform Sky Control, but he also couldn't keep up with their speed at all.

The Life Crane Sect had been destroyed. He didn't know when Elder Life Crane had taken away the fourth senior brother's half-corpse, but the original path from Corpse Saliva Valley to the dungeon was still there.

If the Earth Worm was still around, they could use it for now and recover some Mana along the way.

The three of them soon found the original entrance to the dungeon. The blank Stone Stele was gone, and a large hole leading underground was exposed in its place.

After entering the dungeon, Yang An quickly found the Earth Worm Mother.

The creature wasn't injured, but it seemed very agitated now. On its ugly, bloated human-like face, a pair of large eyes stared straight at them, looking very aggressive.

When the three of them got closer, Zhou Quan, seeing the Earth Worm Mother for the first time, had a face full of terror.

Seeing the restless Earth Worm Mother, Wen Yin was also worried about whether they could safely enter its mouth. It seemed to be brimming with aggression.

Fortunately, with Yang An's current Cultivation Level, he could immediately sense that the Earth Worm Mother's aura was only at the Visceral Stone Realm.

'I would have been afraid before, but not now.'

"Quiet down!"

Yang An walked straight over, fully releasing the aura of his Cultivation Level, and shouted in a low voice.

The previously agitated Earth Worm Mother instantly quieted down. It looked at Yang An, its eyes suddenly filled with terror.

"Open your mouth!"

With another command, the Earth Worm Mother immediately reacted, obediently opening its huge mouth.

This scene stunned both Wen Yin and Zhou Quan. Zhou Quan's eyes in particular lit up, his gaze toward Yang An filled with adoration.

"Let's go."

Yang An said concisely, leading the way into the Earth Worm Mother's mouth and walking toward its depths.

The other two followed behind him, relieved. The Earth Worm Mother didn't dare to make a single move.

They soon entered the Earth Worm Mother's belly. The smaller Earth Worms inside were still intact.

Yang An had originally wanted to let Wen Yin control the Earth Worm. 'I'm the Senior Brother now, after all. Can't I just enjoy the ride?'

But then he remembered Wen Yin's terrible sense of direction; she had led him the wrong way last time.

And Zhou Quan was a total rookie who knew nothing.

'Forget it. I'd better do it myself.'

The three boarded the Earth Worm. With his prior experience, Yang An expertly took the helm. The Earth Worm quickly burrowed underground, speeding toward Si State.

「Five hours later.」

The three of them disembarked from the Earth Worm, having successfully reached Si State, at a spot about half a mile from the Witch Barrier.

Yang An had wanted to try commanding the Earth Worm to enter the Witch Barrier directly from underground, and perhaps even go all the way to the Outer Continent.

But the Earth Worm refused to go any further, like a stubborn horse that had encountered something terrifying. It would only take them this far before stopping. After they got off, it dove underground and vanished in a flash.

'Looks like we have no choice but to go in and check things out ourselves.'

The three had no choice but to walk toward the Witch Barrier. Before them was a plain, but at its end were two towering cliffs, like a natural chasm.

The entrance to the Witch Barrier was between those two cliffs that pierced the clouds. There was only a single narrow passage, giving it the appearance of a thin line of sky.

Passing through this entrance would lead to the true Witch Barrier. From the outside, the scene within looked like a boundless jungle.

As the three of them headed for the entrance, they stopped halfway.

There were other people at the entrance!

Three people in total.

All three had the appearance of middle-aged men and wore identical short, cyan shirts.

One at Corpse Transformation, and two at the Late Stage of Visceral Stone!

Yang An scanned them and instantly knew their Cultivation Levels. The one at Corpse Transformation was at the Early Stage, just like him.

Cultivators of such a level were rare. Even back in Han State, Yang An had gone out several times and had basically never encountered anyone with such a profound Cultivation Level.

But here, at the entrance to the Witch Barrier, he had run right into them.

These men were probably from some major Sect in Si State.

Generally speaking, a Sect without even a Visceral Stone Realm cultivator was considered second-rate.

Those with Visceral Stone Realm Cultivators were considered small or medium-sized Sects.

If a Sect had a Corpse Transformation expert presiding over it, it could be called a major Sect.

"Looks like we're not the only ones trying to enter the Outer Continent from here." Yang An's faint remark instantly put Wen Yin and Zhou Quan on alert.

"Senior Brother, we shouldn't go over there just yet. Let's observe the situation first," Wen Yin immediately suggested.

Although Yang An's Cultivation Level was now higher than hers and she could no longer see through it, she also couldn't see through the Cultivation Levels of the men ahead.

There were only the three of them. She herself had only just broken through to the Visceral Stone realm not long ago, and they had Zhou Quan dragging them down. If they got into a conflict with these Cultivators, it would be very difficult to handle, and something bad could happen.

This was a lesson Wen Yin had learned from her long experience carrying out missions in the outside world: one must always be cautious, no matter what.

"Mm, let's wait a bit before going in. We'll watch them for now."

Yang An nodded. He was thinking the same thing.

No one knew what would happen inside the Witch Barrier, but if these men went in first, he might be able to get a glimpse of what to expect and be better prepared.

The three of them came to a complete stop, waiting for the men at the entrance to go in first.

But to their surprise, the men just stood at the entrance, whispering to each other. They didn't enter the Witch Barrier after a while; instead, they charged toward them.

Their speed was immense. In the blink of an eye, they crossed several hundred meters and were about to reach them.

"Senior Brother!"

Seeing this, Wen Yin cried out instinctively.

Zhou Quan also instinctively backed away.

But before Yang An could respond, the three men had already arrived and surrounded them.

The leader, a middle-aged man with a black cloth wrapped around his face covering one eye, sized up Yang An's group with his remaining one eye, a slight smile on his face.

"Fellow Daoists, which Sect are you Cultivators from?"

He immediately asked about their origins without introducing himself, clearly looking for trouble.

Seeing this, Yang An felt a little helpless.

'I thought we could just wait from a distance for these guys to go in, but I didn't expect them to come looking for us.'

'Because I'm still maintaining my Illusion Technique, in these men's eyes, our group probably consists of only two Visceral Stone Realm cultivators—me and Wen Yin—plus Zhou Quan, a complete nobody. We're nothing to worry about.'

'Of course, these guys aren't idiots. They must have had the same idea as us and wanted to find someone to scout the path into the Witch Barrier. We just happened to show up and become their target.'

'I thought maintaining the Illusion Technique to hide my aura would keep me from attracting too much attention, but it seems I've still drawn some troublesome flies.'

'Looks like in the future, I should only use the Illusion Technique when appropriate. I should be more open about my power normally; otherwise, any random riffraff will think they can step all over me.'

Seeing that none of the three answered and were just watching them warily, the Cultivators laughed instead of getting angry.

"Not talking, are you?

Fine, it doesn't matter. I assume you're also planning to enter the Witch Barrier. How about we let you go in first?"

As he spoke, the lead Cultivator cleared a path, looking at Yang An's group with a beaming smile.

Without a doubt, they wanted to use Yang An's group to scout the path ahead. If they didn't do as they were told, there would be other consequences.

Sighing, Yang An turned to Wen Yin and Zhou Quan and said, "You two go on ahead. Wait for me at the entrance."

A hesitant look appeared on Wen Yin's face. She understood Yang An's meaning and seemed worried. Zhou Quan, on the other hand, just shrank back.

Yang An gave them a reassuring look. Only then did Wen Yin nod and lead Zhou Quan toward the entrance of the Witch Barrier.

But just as the two reached the entrance, before they could even steady themselves, they heard a chorus of bloodcurdling screams from behind them, which abruptly stopped as suddenly as they had begun.

A flash of light illuminated the night, making it as bright as day for an instant.

By the time they turned around, the blinding light had already faded rapidly, and darkness returned.

Yang An shook his hands, which still ached slightly, and walked up to them.

"Looks like we'll have to go in and find out for ourselves after all," he said helplessly.

'Can't be helped. This is the downside of my power. I can't leave anyone alive when they're this close. It's not like I can tell them to run a few hundred meters away before I make my move.'

"Let's go."

Yang An said calmly. He also deactivated his Illusion Technique, walking between the two of them with an unruffled expression to take the lead.

Meanwhile, Wen Yin and Zhou Quan stared in the direction where the three men had surrounded them, unable to process what had just happened for a long time.