Chapter 549 - 257: Death and Rebirth, Communicating with the Land of the End

Chapter 549: Chapter 257: Death and Rebirth, Communicating with the Land of the End

With the death of the Fearless King Spine Zerg, the active volcano that had been spewing lava also began to die down, cooling rapidly within minutes.

The thick clouds of volcanic ash that had gathered due to the active volcano also began to dissipate, as did the acid rain forbidden zone leading to the outer world.

Lin Feng led the nine others to the Fearless Energy Ball, where they stopped to gaze at it.

As promised, this Energy Ball was to be left for Qin Hu to absorb.

So, everyone remained silent, waiting for Lin Feng to make a decision.

"Should we wait here, or take it and leave?" Lin Feng asked after a moment of hesitation.

Ling Yi frowned slightly, her gaze fixed on the dissipating dark clouds and acid rain outside. The path to the Unyielding Volcano was now clear and unobstructed.

"If Qin Hu resurrected immediately after death, we should be able to see him by now, assuming he flew here at top speed with his Membrane Wings..."

"Let’s wait a little longer. As long as we’re in the Mental Realm World, the Mental Energy Ball won’t dissipate."

Seeing how the fierce battle had left everyone exhausted and disheveled in the howling wind on the mountaintop, Ling Yi added,

"You can hold it. Let’s go down to the foot of the mountain and wait. We can rest there for a while and repair our weapons and equipment."

Lin Feng stepped forward slowly, hesitating, worried that an accidental touch might destroy the precious Mental Energy Ball.

Ling Yi scoffed, strode forward, and grabbed the pale golden Energy Ball.

"Don’t overthink it. People who haven’t fused with Spine Zerg genes can’t absorb it."

"This is a legacy world belonging to the Spine Zergs. Only Genetic Warriors like them, who possess Spine Zerg blood, can fuse with the Spinal Zerg Realm."

"Let’s go. Give me another ride."

Lin Feng nodded with an awkward laugh.

He concealed the hesitation in his eyes.

’After all, there was no way to predict what effect his Particle Control Realm would have on the Mental Energy Ball after scanning it.’

’Besides, he didn’t want to risk any consequences that might lead to him accidentally becoming tainted with Spine Zerg genes.’

’That would sow the seeds of disaster for the final war against the Zerg Race.’

And so, they returned to the foot of the mountain where the airflow was stable.

After a period of rest, the group recovered.

During this time, a few of the Genetic Warriors who were still in decent shape went out to either kill or collect the corpses of Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs. They stripped the thick outer shells and dragged them back to the temporary camp.

Lin Feng then used the materials to repair everyone’s worn-out weapons and equipment.

By the time they finished, half an hour had passed.

But Qin Hu, whom everyone was eagerly awaiting, was still nowhere to be seen. A few of them had even flown back to the mountain peak to look out for more than ten kilometers, but there was no sign of him.

Logically, it was only a fifty-kilometer journey. The two outer rings of Unyielding King Spine Zergs had already been dealt with, and now that the volcano was extinguished, there were no more Spine Zerg Swarms to interfere. The path should have been completely clear.

Even if Qin Hu were walking, he should have arrived within ten minutes.

Among the ring of cloud-shrouded Fearless Volcanoes, only the one where Lin Feng’s group was located had clear skies. It was impossible for him to have gone the wrong way.

Now, over half an hour had passed, far longer than expected, yet Qin Hu was still nowhere to be seen...

The group began to worry.

After forty minutes, Lin Feng noticed the deep worry in the eyes of the nine Genetic Warriors and turned to ask Ling Yi,

"Do members who die have to wait until this Realm Trial is over before they can resurrect?"

Ling Yi shook her head.

"No. If that were the case, he’d lose his chance to be reborn when the Mental Realm World collapses."

"As long as General Qin’s own spiritual state is fine and he has sufficient Spiritual Power, then with the stable world created by this collective trial..."

"Reforming seven or eight times shouldn’t be a problem."

"But something is definitely wrong now. If worse comes to worst, we should go look for him ourselves. Just sitting here waiting is pointless. A round trip would take less than fifteen minutes."

After hearing Ling Yi’s suggestion, Lin Feng nodded and looked back at the other nine.

Aside from Qin Hu’s three subordinates, who were worried about their leader’s safety, the other six Genetic Combat Team Leaders were more concerned about the resurrection of consciousness within the Realm Trial...

’Had something gone wrong?’

It was only because Lin Feng and Ling Yi had promised that they could die and resurrect multiple times in the Mental Realm World that everyone had dared to risk their lives. They had boldly approached the High-tier King Spine Zerg to engage it in close combat with their Tiger-toothed Chainsaw Swords.

’If they only had one life, then death here would be permanent. Their physical bodies in the outside world would be left in a vegetative state—the living dead...’

Seeing the worry on their faces, Lin Feng knew he had to find Qin Hu as soon as possible and discover the reason for his disappearance. Otherwise, with everyone in this state, they could forget about conquering the remaining nine Fearless Volcanoes.

"Let’s go. We’ll deal with this first!"

Lin Feng slowly rose, wrapping an arm around Ling Yi’s slender waist. He had her hold the Mental Realm Energy Ball securely before unfurling the Membrane Wings of his Flying Tiger Armor.

Following Ling Yi’s directions, he led the group behind him, flying toward the edge of the Mental Realm World where they had first appeared—their Birth Resurrection Point.

With everyone anxiously pushing for speed, it only took five minutes to reach their destination fifty kilometers away.

However, just as the group arrived at the familiar place and saw the edge of the Mental Realm World two or three kilometers away...

The boundary that had once appeared like a simple texture map in their vision had suddenly turned a dark, sullied blood-red...

The entire boundary of the Mental Realm World, including the curtain of sky above, was stained scarlet, as if it had been invaded by some unknown, evil power.

Upon closer inspection, it looked like a torn-open gateway to Hell, revealing a demon’s fangs.

As Lin Feng and the others took in the sight, their hearts sank, and their expressions grew grim.

Led by Lin Feng, the group landed five hundred meters from the edge of their birth zone, warily observing the sudden transformation.

Lin Feng’s and Ling Yi’s eyes met. As Tier Two Peak masters of Realm Power, they both immediately understood the gravity of the situation.

Because the scarlet-invaded boundary before them,

was emitting a familiar aura...

It was the same one from the Trial World they had experienced last time—the Slaughter Realm from Shen Jie!

The density of the Slaughter aura now far surpassed what Shen Jie had managed to conjure.

After infecting the boundary space, the seeping Slaughter aura condensed into tangible scarlet fangs, corrupting their former Birth Resurrection Point.

Lin Feng walked forward with a grave expression, looked back at Ling Yi, and asked:

"What’s going on? Could this be a Slaughter Realm that failed to form before and is now re-condensing?"

Ling Yi snapped out of her daze and quickly shook her head:

"Impossible! There are already seventy Mental Realm Volcanoes. There can’t be a seventy-first."

"And neither of us has the Spine Zerg bloodline, so this Slaughter definitely isn’t from this Realm Trial!"

The other nine people present looked on, confused and alarmed by their conversation.

Lin Feng’s brows furrowed.

"Then you mean, they..."

Ling Yi swallowed, her expression conflicted and hesitant. She continued, sounding uncertain:

"Get a little closer. I can’t see clearly from here."

"Don’t worry. As long as we don’t touch the boundary space or the vibrating scarlet ripples, we won’t be corrupted by this Slaughter Realm."

"Besides, I can clear away its influence."

Lin Feng nodded. Just in case, he told the other nine to stay put. He then lifted Ling Yi and flew toward the edge of the world, which was being steadily encroached upon by the Slaughter Realm.

They flew another one hundred and fifty meters forward.

The two of them hovered in mid-air.

Now they could see cracks outside the spatial ripples, torn apart by scarlet fangs, spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A golden light flickered in Lin Feng’s eyes. His own Particle Control Realm instantly dispelled the nearby spatial turbulence.

A strange glint flashed in Ling Yi’s eyes. She clearly hadn’t expected Lin Feng’s control over Realm Power to be so profound. He could refine his control down to the most basic particles and even influence the nearby scarlet energy waves.

’In fact, Lin Feng had already discovered within his own Spirit World that he could instantly annihilate and create any substance, with the sole exception of synthesizing life itself.’

’It seemed his mastery over Particle Control was maxed out within the Spirit World.’

With the spatial turbulence cleared, Ling Yi first observed her surroundings, then channeled her Spiritual Power into the dark red Slaughter Realm before them.

Soon, following her investigation...

Ling Yi’s face gradually grew pale.

Lin Feng realized something was wrong and immediately brought her back to the group two hundred meters away.

Coming to her senses, the golden light in her eyes faded. Ling Yi shuddered, gripped Lin Feng’s arm tightly, and her voice trembled as she spoke:

"Th-this is..."

"The aura of a Tier Four Spine King..."

"On... on the other side, is from the depths of the Earth Core..."

"The Land of the End!!"