Puppet Sect, Core of the Dreaded Land.

Sixteen Elders, along with the Ancient General Shadow Puppet, almost gathered the Puppet Sect's strongest power.

Although the Elders felt something was strange about this place, it wasn't enough to instill fear. Moreover, the Sect Leader supported them from behind to ensure that "no one would slack off, and no one would stab another in the back," so they each prepared and then entered.

A rustling sound suddenly arose, with the Slaughter Liquid like a bizarre multi-headed Blood Serpent, or like a dense, hidden red web, started spreading across the core area's space before crazily lunging at those who entered.

But the Elders were not easy targets, forming a round array, each displaying their skills.

Seventeen Crimson Palace experts spun like a revolving lantern to meet the enemy, then rolled like a wheel into the depths of the Dreaded Land.

Although the Slaughter Liquid was terrifying, the Elders, under pressure, began their exploration.

With Song Yan watching, no one dared to slack off.

And these cunning demons each grew up in an environment of mutual deception. Who among them doesn't have a keen eye for detail?

Through their cooperation, the exploration was completed in approximately six or seven hours.

Among the sixteen Elders, one early-stage Crimson Palace Elder was lost. That Elder, lacking a countermeasure, failed to resist effectively when the Slaughter Liquid abruptly erupted. Thus, his ankle was torn by the Liquid, which then burrowed into his body, causing red patterns to surface all over his body, leading to a tragic death.

At first, the remaining Elders intended to rescue him, but seeing the Liquid had already entered halfway into his body, they decisively gave up and withdrew. Once the Liquid had fully entered, Blood Cliff even licked his lips and remarked, "It's a pity."

The lament of "It's a pity" was not for the Elder dying so soon after entering the Crimson Palace, but for not being able to bring back the body to make a powerful Blood Corpse due to the Liquid's corrosion.

At this time...

The Elders had already retreated.

And once they left a certain boundary, the distant Slaughter Liquid ceased its hunting, stealthily retreating and reentering the shadows.

Song Yan, having the Ancient General Shadow Puppet, had a rough understanding of the internal situation. However, due to the rapid exploration, he couldn't grasp all the details alone.

But the Elders made up for this gap.

After a consensus, they reached a final conclusion:

The long-term Slaughter Land had produced an Earth Demon eruption, "upgrading" the core's concentration, resulting in the appearance of Slaughter Liquid.

In it, the Skin Masters making Shadow Puppets for Ghost Cultivators died miserably on the spot, their bodies now grotesque and tumor-laden, no longer recognizable. However, from scattered skinning tools and identity plates, their living identities could be discerned.

Besides, a very deep Rift Valley was discovered inside. The valley's traces were clearly fresh and could only be created by a powerful Crimson Palace cultivator. Together with the surrounding top-grade Flying Sword, it further proved that the "Ghost Scarlet Mist Master" died here.

Of course, deep in the CORE, they also encountered some frenzied Advanced Demon Beast Shadow Puppets. That Shadow Puppet... many Puppet Sect Elders recognized it as Cheng Danqing's "Silver Armored Elephant".

As the "Silver Armored Elephant" Shadow Puppet was now ownerless, guessing its owner's fate was not difficult.

As for the whereabouts of the Ghost Cultivator leader "Zhang Han," it remained unknown. However, they suspected: Zhang Han, who previously fought with Fox Grandma, was heavily wounded and likely perished during the sudden Earth Demon eruption.

After all, when the Earth Demon eruption initially occurred, its power was exceedingly violent.

It was as though the Slaughter Liquid of the entire core gathered together and enveloped a single person.

Who could withstand that?

Neither Blood Cliff nor Copper Beard nor Qu Yue claimed they could survive such an Earth Demon eruption, let alone the heavily wounded Zhang Han?

The current eruption had already spread, its power not as intense as during the initial outburst. Coupled with the joint effort of the entire Puppet Sect's Crimson Palace Elders, they completed the exploration with only one casualty.

Song Yan's gaze swept across some already somewhat corroded "relics," stopping on the identity plate of "Wang Susu." He raised his hand to retrieve it, glanced at it, and tossed it to Gong Libai, saying, "Since it's Junqing's partner's relic, return it to him."

Gong Libai took it and respectfully retreated.

All Elders quieted down, looking at Song Yan, waiting for the next steps.

To everyone's surprise, Song Yan casually said, "Since the exploration is complete, let's return. Mark this place as a forbidden zone, prohibiting anyone from entering.

Though the Dreaded Land is terrifying, as long as not many cultivators die here, it's not a major concern."

The Elders, upon hearing they were to return, initially felt it was much ado about nothing, but on further thought, having figured out what was happening in the Dreaded Land indeed left no reason to linger.

...

...

Several days later, the Jin Kingdom capital sought aid from the Puppet Sect due to a "Fox Demon calamity."

Song Yan eagerly accepted the task under the pretext of "stretching his limbs" and then on his way back, circled back to the mountain region of the Puppet Sect and once more stood before the border of the core of the Dreaded Land.

No one knew he would appear here at this very moment.

The suspicion of Elder interference had been cleared.

The situation within had been understood.

The so-called "Earth Demon eruption" referred to "Evil Qi accumulated in the ground, gradually increasing to a point of transformation, leading to volcanic-like natural disasters amidst unknown crustal energy movements, akin to disasters Song Yan envisioned."

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