Chapter 83: Unexplored Territory

A thunderous explosion tore through the air, ripping apart Yang Hao’s domain and even impacting the Desolate God Ram’s phantom.

Seizing the moment, Lin Fanyun transformed into a blood-red streak, forcibly breaking free from the unstable constraints and escaping through the rift in the domain.

“Damn it!” Yang Hao extinguished the explosion’s aftermath and smoke. 

Reacting swiftly, he suffered only minor injuries, nothing serious. But his appearance was disheveled, covered in ash and dirt.

“Escape? After taking a direct hit from me, you still think you can escape? Lin Fanyun! I will tear you to pieces!” 

Yang Hao was furious, almost to the point of exploding. Without a moment’s hesitation, he scanned the area with his Observing Microcosm Divine Eyes, quickly finding the traces left by Lin Fanyun.

This time, the traces were much more abundant, clearly indicating that the injured Lin Fanyun was not moving as smoothly as before.

Yang Hao soon caught up with Lin Fanyun.

Still at a certain distance, Yang Hao used his power to sense the lingering energy he had left in Lin Fanyun’s body, pinpointing his exact location.

He threw a powerful punch at that spot, causing the air within hundreds of meters to implode.

However, what met Yang Hao’s eyes was a large piece of mangled, bloody flesh. It even shimmered with a dangerous glow.

In Yang Hao’s horrified gaze, another massive explosion enveloped him.

In the distance, Lin Fanyun was flying at high speed, coughing up blood. His chest bore a gaping wound the size of a basin, horrifying in its severity. Of his internal organs, only three remained. His heart and lungs were missing, and broken ribs and spine were clearly visible.

“Hmph, did you think I wouldn’t be prepared for the power you left behind in that strike?”

Hearing the explosion echoing from afar, Lin Fanyun coldly smiled.

Yang Hao’s punch, which had shattered Lin Fanyun’s heart, had also left a trace of his power within Lin Fanyun’s body.

If it had been an ordinary Law Manifestation stage cultivator, they might have only been able to temporarily contain Yang Hao’s power in one part of their body, waiting for a safe moment to slowly expel it.

But Lin Fanyun had taken a more ruthless approach, excising the chunk of flesh where Yang Hao’s power was contained.

He then used this flesh to set a trap.

Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t choose such a method. Once a physical body was damaged, even if it could be repaired, it took a lot of time and significantly hampered cultivation speed.

This method could only be employed by those who had cultivated powerful regenerative techniques and possessed an inherently strong recovery ability.

Tiny tendrils of flesh squirmed and knitted together, repairing the gaping wound in Lin Fanyun’s chest.

The power within his body was rapidly depleting.

Fortunately, through the connection between his avatar and true body, a continuous stream of power flowed into him, preventing his strength from being entirely exhausted.

Lin Fanyun had no intention of launching a counterattack. From their previous encounters, he understood Yang Hao’s strength well. Even enduring two massive explosions, Yang Hao would hardly be injured, maybe just sustaining some superficial wounds.

With both sides having such solid foundations, the gap in their cultivation levels wasn’t easily bridged. Especially since his self-detonation wasn’t a sacrifice of everything, just an explosion of a portion of his flesh, its power was limited.

Taking advantage of this, Lin Fanyun finally reached the border between the explored and unexplored regions.

Ahead lay a vast expanse of white mist, separating the two areas.

When he extended his senses into it, they could only penetrate halfway.

“As expected, the unexplored region severely disrupts divine senses and various forms of perception.” 

Lin Fanyun glanced back at Yang Hao, who was rapidly closing in.

He didn’t have many options left.

“I wonder if you’ll follow me in,” Lin Fanyun smirked and flew into the mist, Yang Hao’s eyes blazing with fury.

Just before disappearing, Lin Fanyun silently mouthed some words.

Moments later, Yang Hao reached the edge of the mist. Furious, he stared into the fog, hesitating for a moment, but ultimately did not enter.

“Fleeing like a coward, and you dare tell me to clean my neck and wait? Do you really think you stand a chance against me?”

With his keen eyesight, Yang Hao had clearly read Lin Fanyun’s final words.

He sneered disdainfully.

“Never mind whether you can catch up to me. If you manage to come out of the unexplored region alive, I’ll consider you capable. But if you do survive, I will take your head,” Yang Hao fumed. 

Letting a piglet slip through his fingers had been a great humiliation.

***

Inside the mist, Lin Fanyun flew for a while, but his expression showed no relief at evading Yang Hao. Instead, it grew even more grave.

“This chilling, bone-deep cold, the disorienting sense of misdirection, and the pervasive feeling of danger—this must be the unexplored region,” Lin Fanyun thought, his heart pounding. 

He had only just entered the area and was already lost, unable to find his way out.

Not only that, but powerful and terrifying auras emanated from the mist and beneath the sea. Many of these auras were on par with Yang Hao’s.

This was just the edge of the unexplored region, and already there were so many formidable beings. Lin Fanyun shuddered to think what would happen if he flew recklessly and accidentally intruded into one of these monster’s territories, only to be killed by a casual swipe.

“No wonder everyone speaks of the unexplored region with such fear. This place is truly treacherous and unpredictable.”

Unlike the explored regions, where the fog and sea monsters had been cleared out by powerful cultivators of various races, the unexplored regions were still rife with danger. Although monsters occasionally wandered from the unexplored regions into the explored ones, the biggest threat in the explored areas was still other cultivators.

“Fortunately, these monsters seem to lack intelligence and rely only on innate abilities. They don’t possess other martial techniques to compensate for their weaknesses. Otherwise, I’d be in real trouble.”

Lin Fanyun concealed himself, completely masking his aura.

This was the only way he could avoid conflict with the monsters prowling the mist and the seabed, at least for the time being.

If these monsters had martial techniques or innate abilities to see through concealment, he would already be their prey.

“I can’t act recklessly, nor can I afford to expose my aura easily.”

Suppressing his fear, Lin Fanyun took out an ordinary piece of wood, tens of meters long, from his storage pouch.

It was fortunate that he had looted plenty of resources recently and hadn’t yet had the chance to sort through them, otherwise, he wouldn’t have had this ordinary wood.

“This ordinary wood, devoid of any spiritual energy, is actually an excellent vessel in the mist. It won’t attract the attention of those powerful monsters at all.”

Tossing the wood into the sea, Lin Fanyun settled on top of it.

He didn’t dare to fly around randomly. In this disorienting mist, where even the sun was invisible. Flying aimlessly could mean crashing into a powerful monster’s territory. The residual force of the monster’s casual movements could kill him.

Using the wood as a boat to drift with the current was slower but safer. It reduced the chances of being detected, as he didn’t have to fly himself.

“Luckily, I have ample resources and don’t need to rely solely on meditation to absorb spiritual energy for cultivation.”

If an ordinary cultivator ventured into the unexplored regions and tried to meditate and cultivate, they would either be an exceptionally powerful martial artist or a complete fool.

Lin Fanyun retrieved a Law Manifestation stage spiritual fruit from his storage pouch and popped it into his mouth.

He consumed it quickly, using concealment techniques to ensure no spiritual energy leaked out.

Once the spiritual fruit was ingested, Lin Fanyun’s flawless body ensured that no spiritual energy leaked out, fully converting it into experience points to enhance his physical strength.

“This place is shrouded in darkness and too dangerous to stay in for long. However, since I can’t leave for the time being, I can search for a way out while improving my physical cultivation. It’s not a waste of time.”

Suddenly, Lin Fanyun remembered something and took out a terminal leaf to access the main network.

The usually continuously updated information on the main network had become intermittent, with only two or three updates in half an hour.

Clearly, the means of information transmission on the main network, which even puzzled his true body, was also affected by this mist.

The terminal leaf itself didn’t store information, so when its connection to the main network was obstructed, it was practically useless. Fortunately, the connection between Lin Fanyun and Zhang Shen remained intact and unaffected.

The connection between the blood and flesh avatar and the true body was evidently stronger than that between the main network and the terminal leaf.

When Lin Fanyun entered the unexplored region, Zhang Shen began searching for information about it on the main network.

By now, Zhang Shen was no longer using the token from Lin Yuan City to access the main network. He had secretly obtained an anonymous Law Manifestation Stage terminal leaf.

With significantly increased permissions, he could access far more information than before.

Unfortunately, he still hadn’t found much useful information.

Lin Fanyun silently received the memories from his true body.

“Only true gods can navigate the mist without being affected, coming and going as they please. That’s quite a high bar.”

He couldn’t help but complain. Achieving that was beyond his reach, likely impossible even in a thousand years.

As for other methods, they existed, but all were highly challenging and difficult to achieve.

“I need to figure something out, or I’ll end up drifting in this mist for a thousand years. And that’s only if the monsters don’t find me first.”

However, that was not realistic.

When breaking through major cultivation stages, it would inevitably cause some commotion, making it hard to stay hidden.

Fortunately, given his current physical cultivation level, reaching the demigod stage would take considerable time, giving him ample opportunity to find a way out or locate a safe place for future breakthroughs.

At the thought of the latter, a flash of insight struck Lin Fanyun. He remembered something he had overlooked.

“Yes, a safe place for a breakthrough!” 

Lin Fanyun glanced at the ordinary wood beneath him, realizing what he had neglected.

Islands!

The Abyssal Sea was dotted with countless islands, both in explored and unexplored regions.

Lin Fanyun had a sudden epiphany, “An island would be the perfect place.”

Although such islands were as rare as stars in the vast Abyssal Sea…

“Phew, I was so rattled by the monsters in the unexplored region that I completely overlooked this.”

As long as he could find a deserted island, he could safely bide his time. After all, both the monsters in the mist and those in the deep sea preferred to reside in areas rich in spiritual energy.

In less resourceful areas, even if inhabited by unintelligent monsters, Lin Fanyun wouldn’t be afraid.

Would any powerful beings stay on such barren islands? Certainly not someone like Lin Fanyun. 

For a moment, the realization swept away the lingering unease in his heart.

“If I can find a deserted island, I’ll have the minimal safety I need to survive. Afterward, I can look for a way out.”

Just then, a surge of fear welled up inside him.

A flash of light appeared in the mist—two bright orbs, like suns.