I asked you to go down the mountain and get married, not to shock the world!

Master Lingxu did not answer immediately. He stood with his hands behind his back, his deep gaze sweeping across the boundless, chaotic territory before him, as if measuring something.

After a moment, he slowly spoke:

"We must not act rashly. The environment here is unique, greatly suppressing the range of our divine sense and making it extremely easy to cause energy disturbances. Since the Silent Zen Temple has chosen this place as its base, it must have means to deal with or even utilize this environment."

He pointed to one of the energy nodes that the Blue-Faced Fox sensed: "That node is relatively close and has the latest fluctuations. It may be an outer outpost or a forward outpost."

"We made this our primary objective, approached cautiously, and observed their defensive setup, personnel activity patterns, and how they maintained order amidst the chaos."

"Understood." Everyone nodded.

With a flick of his sleeve, Master Lingxu enveloped the four of them in a layer of extremely faint, almost invisible moonlight.

The faint glow was inconspicuous, yet it subtly assimilated the four people's auras with the chaotic energy background around them, providing the first layer of concealment like a chameleon.

"Walk."

Like ghosts, the four of them blended into the gray-brown mist and the shadows of the broken landmasses, stealthily making their way towards the target node.

The deeper you go, the harsher the environment becomes.

The chaotic energy flow was like an invisible blade, cutting through the protective aura.

The distorted space occasionally generates strange gravitational or repulsive forces, and if you are not careful, you will be swayed or even collide with invisible spatial rifts.

Fortunately, the four were experienced and worked together seamlessly.

After traveling about a hundred miles, the scenery of the target node gradually became clear.

It wasn't built on land, but rather suspended in the center of a relatively stable vortex of turbulent energy.

Dozens of black rocks of varying sizes were forcibly joined together by some force, forming a bizarrely shaped fortress that resembled a twisted Buddhist pagoda.

The fortress's surface was covered with dark gold runes, which shared the same origin as the runes on the Fallen Star Wasteland array, but were more complex and ancient.

These runes flickered slightly, not only resisting the erosion of the surrounding chaotic energy, but also seemingly slowly drawing some specific energy from the turbulent flow.

Around the fortress, several groups of ascetics dressed in grey robes could be seen patrolling.

Their movements seemed unaffected by the chaotic environment; their steps were steady, clearly indicating that they were protected by special methods or artifacts.

Further out, there are some puppets that are as still as stone sculptures, like silent guardians.

"There's definitely something fishy about this," Ye Yan transmitted his voice. "Those runes...are they absorbing the power of the Void Fiend?"

Void Fiend Power is an extremely violent and destructive energy generated after space is shattered and its laws are disordered. It is extremely difficult to tame and utilize.

The fact that the Silent Zen Monastery could use this as part of its base's energy and defense is indeed bizarre.

"Look there." The blue-faced fox suddenly pointed to the lower side of the fortress, to an entrance half-hidden by black rocks.

At the entrance, two ascetics were escorting several weak cultivators bound by dark gold chains into the building.

"They are captured sacrifices!" A glint of fire flashed in the Crimson Flame Fox's eyes.

The monks being escorted were dressed in various styles, some in the common attire of the Holy Land, and a few in ancient styles, clearly from different places, but at this moment they were all like lambs to the slaughter.

“It’s not just offerings.” Master Lingxu’s eyes were sharp as he looked at several window-like openings higher up in the fortress, from which a faint, dark golden light flickered rhythmically.

"They are continuously conducting some kind of ritual or experiment, extracting the power of the sacrifices while also seemingly adjusting or guiding something."

He closed his eyes, pushed his senses to the limit, and tried to penetrate the fortress's runic protection and chaotic energy background to capture that more fundamental fluctuation.

A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, a look of shock flashing across them.

"The aura of the stargate anchor! Although extremely faint and unstable, it is undeniable!"

"This fortress is not just a stronghold; it is attempting to stabilize or connect to a stargate anchor point! They are using the power of the Void Fiend and the power of sacrifices to forcibly open a passage here!"

Everyone was shocked.

How can we forcibly establish stable anchor points in a chaotic place like the Sky Sea?

The madness and ambition of the Jimie Zen Monastery far exceeded their previous estimates!

"We must find out their specific progress and methods," Master Lingxu said in a deep voice.

"Ye Yan, Crimson Flame Fox, you stay here to keep watch and record its patrol patterns and defensive weaknesses. Green-faced Fox, come closer with me; I need to perceive its internal energy flow and the state of that anchor point more clearly."

"It's too dangerous!" Ye Yan said urgently.

"It's alright, I know what I'm doing," Master Lingxu said firmly. "The chaos here is also a cover. Without figuring out the truth, there's no point in discussing further actions."

The blue-faced fox nodded: "I will go with you."

Without another word, the two figures, like wisps of green smoke, drifted silently toward the distorted fortress under the cover of the turbulent energy.

With each step closer, the eerie aura, a mixture of Buddhist power, malevolent energy, void energy, and faint star gate fluctuations, grew stronger, unsettling the mind.

The fortress was right in front of them, and the dark golden runes seemed to flow before their eyes as if they were alive.

Master Lingxu held his breath and concentrated, simulating the frequency of the surrounding void energy with his own moonlight power. He slowly and cautiously probed the runic gaps in the fortress with an extremely subtle wisp of divine consciousness, like a probe...

……

Meanwhile, in another part of the Holy Realm, Yueyao's plan had already quietly begun.

On the edge of the Nanli family's sphere of influence lies a scorching basin called Yan Valley.

This is a favorite cultivation ground for the scions of the Nanli aristocratic family, where the earth fire is thriving and the fire-elemental spiritual energy is abundant.

At this moment, deep within the basin, outside a cave protected by an array.

The young master of the Nanli family, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who possessed a trace of the ancient Vermilion Bird bloodline, had just finished a round of cultivation and was walking out of his cave, feeling refreshed, preparing to return to his family.

He was handsome, with the arrogance and confidence unique to scions of noble families between his brows, and a faint crimson light swirling around him, his aura scorching and pure.

However, the moment he stepped out of the protective array of the cave, the surrounding environment suddenly changed!

The ground beneath his feet, which had been solid, turned without warning into a thick, dark golden swamp that smelled of fishy sweetness!

Several shadowy figures, like octopus tentacles, emerged from the swamp and instantly wrapped around his feet. A cold, chaotic, and soul-piercing corrosive force suddenly erupted!

"what?!"

The young master of Nanli was shocked. His protective spiritual light erupted instantly, and a blazing phantom of a Vermilion Bird appeared behind him as he tried to break free.

But those shadow tentacles were extremely strange; they could absorb and transform his fire spiritual power, making them even thicker and stronger!

At the same time, above the swamp, space slightly distorted, and a figure shrouded in a gray monk's robe with a blurred face quietly emerged, holding a dark gold alms bowl that kept spinning in his hand!