Chapter 139: The Labyrinth – Apocalyptic Vine

Three groups of people were marching from different directions toward the ancient castle. No one knew what might exist inside the sole building of this realm, just as no one could tell whether towering giant pythons would emerge from the bizarre sky—half white and half red—or if it would start raining blood.

The gray and the red seemed to share no definite boundary. From the ground to the sky, they appeared to be battling for territory. At one moment, the red would swallow the gray, but soon the gray would strike back undauntedly. Yet, no matter how fiercely they contended, they never strayed too far from the stone steles on the ground.

Boundary steles—the steles Wang Jiao had discovered only after enduring dozens upon dozens of deaths while unconscious. Gray steles, inscribed with a blood-red character representing "Boundary." Perhaps only these steles allowed the red and gray to coexist in this dimension.

"Do you have any idea what is happening?" On the crimson earth, every footstep felt as though it were treading upon a road forged from blood. There was no wind, no rain, and no cycle of day and night. Everything, from the moment of awakening until now, had remained entirely unchanged.

Tian Xin, walking at the very front, paused in his steps and said, "I do not know the specifics either. I can only tell you that this world is not simple, this space is not simple, and we might no longer be on Earth, or even in our original spacetime."

Li Feng had remained silent ever since regaining consciousness. He had neither spoken nor asked where they were, but upon hearing Tian Xin's words, his ragged steps grew even more faltering, and an aura of death crept across his face.

"Then how did we escape that monster?" No matter what, Bai Wan'er was still an upper-stage Foundation realm cultivator. Although her strength fell short of Tian Xin's, she was the strongest among the ten members of the Terran Tribe and the Purple Star Academy aside from Tian Xin himself. She had endured the giant python's breath for the longest time.

Bai Wan'er knew very well that with her cultivation, surviving such a ferocious breath should have been impossible. Perhaps, apart from Tian Xin, not a single one of the ten would have made it out alive. Yet, the reality was quite the opposite; her injuries were actually lighter than Tian Xin's.

"The Earth-Binding Dragon-Shifting Formation—a secret array unique to our Terran Tribe. Spatial locking and spatial transfer. I forcibly initiated this array together with the other four core members to relocate us to the domain of the red sky."

Tian Xin gazed at the distant ancient castle, which loomed ever taller. What had originally been nothing more than a tiny black dot had grown so massive by now that it nearly dominated the entire corner of the crimson sky.

"At the final moment before I lost consciousness, I saw a dragon." Tian Xin hesitated for a moment before speaking out. There was no point in keeping secrets from Bai Wan'er and the others anymore; since they were all trapped within this space, the more truth they uncovered, the better.

"A dragon? An Earth Dragon Guardian?" Bai Wan'er suddenly recalled what Wang Jiao had said.

Tian Xin shook his head. At the time, he had been single-handedly sustaining the entire formation while the other four core members had already passed out under the crushing pressure. He had no way to concentrate everyone's transfer to a single location and could only send them randomly to wherever the red sky existed.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But this space is truly terrifying." Tian Xin looked up at the sky, his eyes flickering incessantly.

Up above, however, the crimson clouds churned in reverse. From the edge of the sky—where the ancient castle stood—emerged a four-legged green-skinned monster comparable to the heaven-reaching giant python. Resembling an earth dragon, the two seemed to be irreconcilable enemies, instantly entangling in a fierce brawl upon meeting. The sky itself seemed to collapse, leaking black fissures alongside gushing streams of red and gray Qi.

"A dragon, you say!" Bai Wan'er forced a strained smile at the corners of her lips, then strode briskly forward, bypassing Tian Xin. "I certainly would love to witness one."

Against the crimson backdrop, Bai Wan'er appeared utterly solitary. For a fleeting moment, Tian Xin was mesmerized.

"What on earth is this...?" Ye Bai stood directly in front of the ancient castle's entrance, rubbing his eyes and blinking several times before confirming what he saw was real. "Is this meant to be a door for humans?"

Ye Bai could guarantee that this was the largest door he had ever laid eyes on since birth. Calling it a door was hardly adequate; it was unimaginably, absurdly massive. He had thought the grand gates of the Green Forest Main City were majestic and immense, but compared to the portal before him, he felt like a mere ant.

The Blade tilted his neck, attempting to catch a glimpse of the top of the door, but nothing could be seen beyond the shroud of crimson mist at the very summit. "Do you honestly think there's anyone else here besides us?"

"Then why on earth is there an ancient castle here—a structure built exclusively by humans?" Ye Bai understood just as well that this was never meant for human passage. Even if prehistoric giant races still existed, they would have no use for a gate of this magnitude, let alone descendants ten thousand years later.

The entire gate bore a dark crimson hue, yet as one traced it upward, it appeared to be coated with a thin layer of gray paint.

Ye Bai stepped forward and gave the giant gate a vigorous push. It did not budge an inch. Channeling the elemental power within his body, he pushed again. Still, it remained completely motionless.

"Are you certain you want to go inside? We haven't the faintest idea what lies within. If there are creatures dwelling behind a door this colossal, do you expect them to share our stature?" The Blade stepped back a few paces, continuously observing the faint traces flickering across the door amid the red clouds.

Ye Bai gave up after a few futile attempts. How could he fail to consider what The Blade had thought of? A door of this scale would house a creature of unfathomable proportions—that went without saying. Yet, they had journeyed all the way here without spotting a single soul. If their deductions were correct, everyone would eventually converge at the castle. With a stronghold this vast, could they guarantee every single person would reach this exact gate?

Ye Bai spread his hands in resignation, stepping back to stand beside The Blade. Following the direction of The Blade's gaze, he said, "Even if we wanted to go in, we can't. This gate is simply not something we can push open."

Before Ye Bai's voice had even faded, the Ink Blade abruptly materialized in The Blade's hand, wisps of dark ink threads continuously drifting off the weapon and winding back around the blade itself.

"What is this? These markings are identical!" Ye Bai had noticed the inscriptions on the gate before The Blade did, initially dismissing them as useless totem-like decorations. Yet, the patterns on the Ink Blade matched the markings on the gate down to the last detail.

Without a word, The Blade pressed one hand gently against the gate and shoved with all his might. It did not move. He pushed harder. The result was the same.

Frowning, The Blade pressed the Ink Blade flat against the door alongside his hand and heaved forward. The exact moment the Ink Blade made contact with the gate, a wisp of dark ink thread coiled around The Blade's hand.

A crisp crack rang out, followed by a dull, grinding friction. The colossal gate cracked open, revealing a gap just wide enough for a single person to pass through.

"Wang Jiao, how on earth do you know so much? What else are you keeping from us?" Led by Lang Xin, a group of five arrived at the gates simultaneously—though not the one where Ye Bai and The Blade stood.

It was an identical gate: equally massive, equally boundless in height, bearing the exact same markings, and resting on the same crimson earth.

Wang Jiao shook her head in silence. She had no intention of sharing the horrors she had endured. Even Bai Wan'er only knew the broad strokes. She refused to dredge up the agonizing process of dying time and time again; the mere memory of that terror threatened to suffocate her.

Slowly, Wang Jiao walked forward and pressed both hands gently against the gate.

"You're a frail girl, yet you expect to push this door open? Delusional." Zi Xin watched Wang Jiao's aloof posture with a twinge of displeasure. If not for them rescuing her, she would long ago have become fodder in the belly of the giant serpent. Not only did she show no gratitude, but she also acted so arrogantly.

Before Zi Xin could finish speaking, her eyes widened in disbelief. By then, Wang Jiao had already stepped inside the ancient castle. At the exact moment of her entry, the final wisps of dark ink threads winding around her weapon trailed along the doorframe toward the markings shrouded in the crimson mist.

"She actually pushed it open?" Zi Xin wore a look of utter perplexity, having already tried and failed to budge it earlier.

"Are you going in or not? If you don't, we're all going. If the door closes and leaves you out here alone, see what you'll do." Hui Xin was already half-submerged through the doorway, calling back to remind Zi Xin.

"Oh, coming right now, wait for me!" Zi Xin hurried after Hui Xin into the castle.

Tian Xin and Bai Wan'er successively raised their heads to stare at the unimaginable doors before them, while Li Feng walked expressionlessly behind the two.

Tian Xin shoved hard against the gate, but it showed no sign of movement. Immediately afterward, a milky-white radiance enveloped his entire body, yet the gate still refused to budge.

"It won't open," Tian Xin said, glancing at Bai Wan'er. As for Li Feng, Tian Xin had long since written him off as non-existent. He could not fathom how such a weak-willed person had managed to secure a spot in the Purple Star Academy's team; collapsing after a single brush with life and death meant he would never achieve anything grand.

Tian Xin mentally crossed people like Li Feng off his list of prospective associates. Associating with such individuals brought countless harms and zero benefits.

Bai Wan'er raised her gaze to study the giant gate when a set of markings half-hidden within the red mist suddenly caught her eye.

*Have I seen those somewhere before?* she wondered inwardly, stepping up to the door to push it herself.

"Ah—!" The moment her palm touched the door, a sharp sting pierced her hand.

"What's wrong?" Tian Xin was by her side in a fraction of a second.

"It's nothing." Bai Wan'er stared at the tiny puncture wound on her palm resembling a needle prick. How could a surface so smooth feature a sudden thorn?

No one noticed that among the droplets of blood falling from Bai Wan'er's palm, wisps of dark ink threads began to gather toward the markings.

Shaking her head, Bai Wan'er said, "It won't budge. What do we do now?"

Tian Xin looked at her and replied, "Let me try again."

His reasoning aligned closely with Ye Bai's: the odds of encountering anyone by waiting outside were far too slim. They had to go inside and check if the castle offered any vantage point to spot the others.

"Oh? It opened." Shrouded thickly in milky-white energy and preparing to exert his utmost strength, Tian Xin barely applied any force when the door smoothly parted, revealing a gap wide enough for one person.

"Blade, didn't we just pass through here?"

"Mm."

"What is that hanging overhead?"

"Remnants of the Doomsday Vine."

"I think we might be lost."

The Blade walked in front, with Ye Bai close on his heels.

The moment the two stepped inside, the ancient castle gates slammed shut. The trailing wisp of crimson light that had slipped through the crack instantly vanished, plunging their field of vision into absolute darkness.

Ye Bai produced a pre-prepared firefly lamp. Before he could even activate it, the entire interior of the castle flared with a crimson glow, mirroring the world outside.