The Primordial Ancient Mine area was eerily silent, with only the occasional breeze stirring some dust.

After advancing another hundred miles, Ye Fan and his group began to see some towering stone pillars. Each one was immensely thick, standing tall on the ground despite the passage of countless years.

"Where did the first Earth Master go?"

Ye Fan pondered secretly. The Ancient Mine was incredibly vast, and without a specific target, finding traces of the Earth Master in this Forbidden Zone was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Truth be told, although he also believed the Forbidden Zone was fraught with danger, he didn’t think mere words would bring about inexplicable calamities. Liu Da and his companions were overly cautious.

However, he didn’t voice this thought. Better safe than sorry; since even Liu Da and his companions, frequent visitors here, were so wary, there must be a reason.

"What are these relics? If they’re buildings, they’re too gigantic! Could they be the abodes of giants?" Shi Ye was astonished, touching the stone pillars with his hand.

"Everyone look, there are also cut marks on these stone pillars, as if they were slashed by some monster!" the young man exclaimed, calling everyone over to see.

"Boom!"

Before anyone could react, Liu Da and his companions decisively struck out, delivering a punch to the young man. The fierce Punch Ray hit him hard, sending him flying away.

"Cough, cough..."

The young man wasn’t dead, coughing out a few mouthfuls of blood, angrily standing up and shouting, "Why did you hit me? I didn’t say anything! Is even that taboo?"

"You need to realize where you are; the Primordial Ancient Mine is more unbelievable than you imagine!"

Liu Da and his companions scolded, "Five years ago, I witnessed over twenty cultivators die tragically in front of these relics. If you want to die, I won’t stop you, but don’t endanger us all."

"Over twenty cultivators died tragically? What’s going on?"

Ye Fan couldn’t help but ask, thinking that those who dared come here would likely have a higher cultivation than his, yet they also died tragically. Doesn’t that imply this is a death trap?

"I don’t know either. I was far away at the time and only saw from a distance that their blood shot skyward and was instantly vaporized, with their bodies turning to ashes." Liu Da and his companions seemed to have lingering fears.

Ye Fan used the Dragon Seeking Skill to observe the surrounding terrain, but found nothing suspicious. This indicated that the danger did not originate from the forces of heaven and earth.

The group continued forward, with Liu Da and his companions deliberately avoiding the young man. Though they hadn’t killed him yet, they didn’t make another move either, returning his Spirit Stone and saying, "From now on, you’re no longer part of our group. Please don’t follow us."

The group proceeded several hundred miles, stopping less than a hundred miles from the so-called Primordial Ancient Mine’s edge. It was already considered a Forbidden Zone here, with many Waste Stones around and no grass growing.

"Alright, I suggest you don’t go any further. Fly up to the sky here, utilize your Divine Skills, observe carefully, and then we’ll retreat." Liu Da and his companions suggested.

"Aren’t there still seventy or eighty miles left? We’re still in the safe zone, so why not advance?"

"Master Ma, let’s go a few dozen more miles. We can’t see anything from here!"

"This... fine."

Liu Da and his companions hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn’t resist everyone’s persuasion and agreed.

After advancing another thirty miles, nearing the Primordial Ancient Mine’s edge, he refused to go further.

"I think going another ten miles is fine. I still want to search for some stone materials on the edge of the Primordial Ancient Mine. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll gain something substantial."

The young man injured by Liu Da and his companions had fully recovered during the journey. Now, he spoke to everyone in a strongly persuasive voice: "Everyone, we’ve reached here. Don’t you want to take back a few pieces of stone? If something valuable is cut out, it’ll be a huge gain."

"What did you say?" Liu Da and his companions roared angrily, "Do you really want to get everyone killed?"

"I’m just speaking the truth. Master Ma, you’re being overly cautious," the young man said.

"You..."

Without another word, Liu Da and his companions turned and left, instantly distancing themselves from the young man.

At that moment, a whooshing wind suddenly sounded in everyone’s ears. A fierce wind whipped up, filling the sky with sand, and a sound of the wind came from afar.

"Not good!"

Ye Fan’s face changed, immediately sending a message for Hu Fei, Shi Ye, and Wenren Jing to come closer to him before he approached Liu Da and his companions.

Earlier, Elder Xuan had warned him that something lurked within the wind. The Nine Heavens Xuan Emperor had once ventured deep into the Ancient Mine, and Elder Xuan had some impressions of this fierce wind.

Liu Da and his companions gaze was solemn as they looked ahead. The red sandfilled the sky like a faint blood mist, moving closer over the group.

"Blood Tornado?"

Liu Da and his companions’ expressions changed drastically, the pockmarks on his face seeming to squeeze together.

In the distant sky, large swaths of crimson shadows quickly approached, swirling like a black cloud pressing down from all directions. The red sand particles, as if soaked in blood, appeared particularly eerie.

"Woo woo..."

The blood-colored whirlwind swept up the sand in the sky, reaching them in an instant. The ground was a sea of blood-red, as if a Blood Pool, with the blood-colored whirlwind creating large vortices.

"Ah..."

A scream came, the young man who always argued with Liu Da and his companions seemed to have been strangled.

"Ah..."

Another person was shattered by the blood-colored whirlwind, only having time to let out a scream.

Within a few short minutes, seven or eight people met with unexpected death. Only Ye Fan and his four followers, and four or five cautious young people who stayed close to Liu Da and his companions escaped the ordeal.

"Run!"

Liu Da and his companions fled even faster than a rabbit. Ye Fan grabbed the wrists of Hu Fei and Shi Ye, and they in turn pulled along Wenren Jing. The three, led by Ye Fan, desperately chased after Liu Da and his companions.

The direction he took did not have the blood-colored whirlwind, but it was the direction into the primordials of the ancient mine. At this moment, nothing else mattered but escaping; they had to survive for as long as possible, and as for what to do next, they could only leave it to fate.

At this moment, Ye Fan deeply regretted. Had he known how sinister the primordials of the ancient mine were, he would not have come to trace the footsteps of the first Earth Master.

Now, it was too late to say anything. In this mining area, one absolutely couldn’t fly, as doing so would be courting death. Liu Da and his companions repeatedly warned that flying into the sky would bring certain death.

Liu Da and his companions moved at an incredible speed. With three people in tow, Ye Fan had to exhaust his divine power using the Chasing Star Step just to barely keep up. The others didn’t fall behind, especially the young man named Huai Gu, who seemed to have some energy to spare.

"This guy’s cultivation must be at least at the mid-stage of the Lord Realm!" Ye Fan judged.

The speed of the blood-colored whirlwind exceeded their expectations and quickly caught up to them, making everyone turn pale with fear.

Now, with survival being paramount, Ye Fan no longer cared about revealing his identity; he directly summoned the Emperor Weapon, taking in Hu Fei, the three others, and himself completely.

Bang bang bang bang...

The blood-colored whirlwind came like a slashing Heavenly Sword, striking the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown and creating an earth-shattering noise.

Subsequently, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown emitted a dazzling light, blocking all these blood-colored whirlwinds outside the light, unable to harm the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown in the slightest.

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown, after all, is an Emperor Weapon. Although damaged and not fully restored, it still possesses the supreme power of the Nine Heavens Xuan Emperor. In the world, other than Emperor Weapons of the same level, nothing can cause any damage to an Emperor Weapon.

"Dang, dang, dang, dang..."

Ye Fan heard the tumultuous roar outside. It seemed that others had also summoned their spiritual treasures to resist the blood-colored whirlwind, though the effect was far inferior compared to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown.

"Ye Zi, what do we do now?" Within the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown, Hu Fei asked Ye Fan, his face pale.

"At this point, all we can do is take one step at a time, but don’t worry, I will make sure to get you all out safely," Ye Fan said with a bitter smile.

This is not blind confidence. With the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown, Ye Fan believed that as long as they don’t venture too deep into that sinister ancient mine, their safety could be ensured.

"Ah..."

In a daze, Ye Fan seemed to hear another scream accompanied by the sound of a vessel being shattered outside!

"Is this really just a blood-colored whirlwind? How can it have such power?"

Ye Fan was full of doubt and uncertainty, but he dared not risk going out to check, only hiding inside the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown, enduring the clanging and deafening noise outside.

Vaguely, Ye Fan seemed to hear heavy breathing, as well as the sound of massive footsteps. The ground seemed to tremble slightly.

"Is there some unknown creature lurking in the blood-colored whirlwind?"

Ye Fan strongly suspected that there were some unknown creatures present in this forbidden zone.

"The ancient mining area, since ancient times, has had many legends. The most widespread is that there is something here comparable to a Great Emperor, and all who trespass become nutrition for replenishing its primordial life," Wenren Jing mentioned a rumor.

"Such rumors are not to be trusted. Some even say that each of the Five Life Forbidden Zones has a being comparable to a Great Emperor," Hu Fei dismissed it with a wave.

Ye Fan also felt such legends were unreliable. How could a Great Emperor seclude themselves and turn it into a forbidden zone?

Unless there is some unspeakable reason!

Moreover, there are no Great Emperors existing in the world right now. The last known Great Emperor, the Nine Heavens Xuan Emperor, disappeared thousands of years ago, so it’s impossible for there to be a being comparable to a Great Emperor in the forbidden zone.

If there truly was, each one emerging would be an apocalyptic catastrophe. The combat power of an Emperor Level being could destroy a world with a mere wave.

Who knows how much time passed, but the sound of the wind subsided, and tranquility returned to the world, with no special sounds heard anymore.

Ye Fan and the other three emerged from the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown, then quickly put away the Nine Heavens Mysterious Crown, as he didn’t want others to see it, lest it cause enormous trouble.

Looking as far as the eye could see, the surrounding environment had changed completely, having run countless miles, blown by the blood-colored whirlwind. No one could tell where they were now.

The area lay in ruins, red sand scattered everywhere. Besides Liu Da and his companions, only five people were lucky to survive, with everyone else dead, leaving not even blood or flesh behind!

...

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