Chapter 266: Dark Energy Enters the Body!
Xiao Ze and the great elder were both at the Dou Zun level, so their travel speed was extremely fast. The Huangquan Pavilion wasn't far from the Dark Sea. In less than half a day, Xiao Ze saw the vast expanse of black water.
To the eye, the black surface of the sea merged with the horizon in the distance, where the water and sky met, forming a clear contrast between black and white.
On the coast of the Dark Sea, there were large and small camps scattered, full of people. From Xiao Ze's position, it looked like a large crowd of ants. However, in Xiao Ze's perception, there were many powerful and hidden auras on that coast.
"That's the Dark Sea!" murmured Xiao Ze. He knew something about the Dark Sea. It was said that dozens of ancient battles had taken place here, and the Dark Sea had submerged countless corpses. There were both human practitioners and magical beasts. There were even records of powerful Dou Sheng falling here.
Zhongzhou was a vast and infinite land with deep foundations. Just the places recorded where Dou Sheng fell were numerous throughout Zhongzhou. These places attracted countless adventurers, dreaming of gaining a small chance from the places where Dou Sheng fell, hoping to rise to the heavens in one fell swoop.
But if they didn't have enough strength and still coveted the objects left by the Dou Sheng, those opportunities would quickly turn into deadly calamities. The Dark Sea was precisely one of these places. The endless ancient wars had filled this tranquil and peaceful sea with an infinite amount of dark energy.
No one knew exactly how dark energy was generated, but the damage it caused to living beings was extreme. Without Dou energy protection, if dark energy penetrated the body, it would start to deteriorate and decompose, as if moving towards death.
While Xiao Ze recalled information about the Dark Sea, they had already reached a mountain near the coast. On the mountain waved a flag with a large black tower. Before Xiao Ze and the great elder approached, an elder in the attire of the Pill Tower came towards them, smiling.
"Great elder, Elder Xiao Ze, after a long journey, you must be tired. Please come into the camp to rest."
"Haha, Elder Mu, good to see you," said the great elder, laughing.
"Greetings, Elder Mu," Xiao Ze bowed in respect.
Xiao Ze noticed that there were many strong guards around the camp. This was not surprising, considering the resources of the Pill Tower; raising strong warriors was not difficult.
Soon, the three of them sat inside the camp.
Sigh "It was my fault for not protecting the information well, and I let the secret of the ancient ruins leak out...," Elder Mu sighed. The great elder consoled him, "No one could have predicted it. Now we can only try to gain some opportunity from these many forces."
"Elder Mu, could you explain the details about these ancient ruins?" Xiao Ze was interested in learning more.
"Of course, we discovered these ancient ruins by chance. When I was leading my team here, we noticed an anomalous energy, so we investigated..."
After Elder Mu's explanation, Xiao Ze understood better. There was dark energy scattered near the surface of the Dark Sea, making it a very dangerous area for adventurers. But at that time, a large vortex appeared in the sea, containing abundant energy, temporarily breaking the dark energy barrier. This revealed the presence of the ancient ruins. Since then, the vortex appeared periodically.
Elder Mu continued, "The interval between the vortex's appearances is getting shorter. When the vortex is continuous, the ancient ruins will open!"
"According to our calculations, there are about three days left."
"This time, only Xiao Ze and I will go. Elder Mu, stay here to receive us when we return," said the great elder after brief consideration.
"Understood," nodded Elder Mu, remembering something else, and added, "There is a market near the coast. If you are interested, you can go take a look."
"Market?" Xiao Ze was confused since this didn't seem related to the ancient ruins.
"Yes. This time, the ruins have attracted many solitary practitioners. These practitioners, who usually live isolated in the mountains and love adventures, have brought many rare and strange objects. Taking advantage of the presence of so many strong warriors, they gathered to organize this market."
After Elder Mu's explanation, Xiao Ze showed some interest; perhaps he could find something valuable in that market.
"Haha, Xiao Ze, if you're interested, you can go," said the great elder, noticing Xiao Ze's interest. "I no longer have much interest in these things."
"Then I'll go see if I can find something valuable."
Upon arriving at the market, Xiao Ze noticed that some individuals had dark skin patches on parts of their bodies, as if affected by something. Xiao Ze thought, this was probably the result of dark energy infiltrating the body, causing necrosis and deterioration. This condition could only be cured with high-level pills.
Boom!
The sound of a water bottle breaking caught Xiao Ze's attention. Not far away, a team of adventurers seemed to be having a conflict. Xiao Ze saw a large man with symptoms of dark energy on his right hand. The man's face was twisted in pain; he had probably broken the bottle.
"This dark energy is really incurable!"
The large man cursed in frustration. He felt as if his right hand no longer belonged to him, as if it were dead. The team members also had gloomy faces, with signs of dark energy on their bodies. Xiao Ze observed, knowing they were lucky to be alive. They probably hadn't ventured deep into the Dark Sea. If they had, with their Dou Huang levels, they would already be dead, devoured by the fish.
This small incident drew the attention of many, but most just mocked. There was also a deep fear of the Dark Sea.
At the market entrance, two strong Dou Zong were on guard, placed there by the solitary practitioners. It was a way to deter troublemakers. The two elders observed Xiao Ze and, detecting nothing unusual, let him pass. They couldn't see Xiao Ze's true level because he had many methods to avoid detection.
Shortly after Xiao Ze entered, a white-haired man also arrived. The two elders were surprised and showed pleased smiles. But the white-haired man ignored them and walked straight in.
After the white-haired man entered, one of the elders murmured, "The people of the Demon Phoenix race (Tian Yao Huang) are really arrogant!"
"Shh! Do you want to die? We solitary practitioners must avoid provoking these great forces," said the other elder, visibly scared. The white-haired elder sighed.
"I know."
(End of chapter)
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