Every time a rune imprint was completed, the faint starlight that was about to escape would be forced back under the oilcloth.

It was as if some violent living creature was forced back into a cage, and even the dark cultists carrying their luggage let out a low groan.

So careful? The seal is reinforced so frequently?

Does that package contain a powerful Star-Moon monster? Or... some kind of fuse that could easily dissipate and, if exposed, could awaken something deep within the rift valley?

It can't be that what's inside is really the fragments of the "meteorite core", right?

While the Black Anvil Church was desperately working on the surface to build a 'super pile driver', the Dark Church was quietly moving towards the bottom of the valley with the suspected core fragments.

What a good move! Repairing the plank road in the open while secretly crossing Chencang!

Although it is unknown what exactly these people from the Dark Church brought, it is clear that these things must be related to the "Heart of the Star Corpse" controlled by the "Deep Furnace" branch of Graybeard!

Enzo's clan branches and the source of the power of the star corpse are all at the bull's eye!

Mark was complaining madly in his heart, but his body was as motionless as a frozen rock, and even his breathing was regulated by Xiao Mu to be almost inaudible.

The team did not go towards any of the built fortresses, but instead wandered around and finally came to the edge of an inconspicuous rift cliff.

The terrain here is steep, and below is a bottomless abyss with thick white fog rolling in it. There is nothing except rugged ice walls and howling winds.

Mark was wondering what they were doing here, but the next scene made his pupils shrink suddenly!

I saw those seven or eight dark believers jump up without hesitation!

The figure was instantly swallowed by the white mist!

Jumped?!

Mark's heart skipped a beat.

The ice reflected the astonishment in his eyes.

Madman? Suicide martyrdom? Sacrifice?

No, not like that!

The people of the Dark Church are neither that noble nor that stupid, there must be something fishy going on!

Is there an unknown foothold on the valley wall? Or some kind of teleportation array? What if there's nothing below?

No, that's too risky... But if we miss this secret passage that might lead directly to the valley floor, and try to force our way into the rift's core through known locations, the chances of success and the noise would be low...

After hesitating for less than half a second, the doubt in Mark's eyes was replaced by determination.

He slapped his arms and said, "Xiao Mu!"

“Hmm!”

Xiao Mu understood what he meant, and his body suddenly squirmed and deformed, no longer in the gray-black permafrost mimicry.

Instead, it transformed into a lightless shadow of almost absolute black, tightly wrapping Mark's entire body, completely dissolving even his outline, like an imperceptible ripple extending from the abyss itself.

At the same time, Mark concentrated his mind and compressed the power of his soul to the extreme, like a stone blending into the storm.

The man and his pet slid silently to the edge of the cliff where the group of people were jumping off.

Mark cautiously stuck out half of his head, and the strong wind blew across his cheeks with a biting chill.

Below is a surging, bottomless milky white abyss.

Just when he was about to give up his vision and rely solely on his soul's perception to explore...

"What?!"

Mark's heart was shocked and his chin almost hit the frozen rock!

The seemingly vertical and smooth cliffs.

At the vertical direction where they jumped, only three meters below, there suddenly appeared a depression that was almost completely covered by hanging ice spikes and could not be seen from above!

It was a relatively flat stone platform about three or four square meters!

The natural ice curtain formed by the ice spikes is like a curtain, cleverly covering this small area tightly.

If you don't get close to the edge and witness the cliff jumper being instantly swallowed by the depression, or if you are in a tricky position and look down from this specific angle, you will never discover the mystery of this place.

What surprised Mark even more was that on the inner side of the small platform, which was close to the cold rock wall, traces of artificial excavation were clearly visible!

A narrow staircase that is only wide enough for one person to pass sideways, but it is a smooth stone staircase that has obviously been carefully polished.

Like a hidden blood vessel winding towards the heart of the abyss, it is deeply embedded in the steep rock, going all the way down and disappearing in the thicker fog and behind the bends of the rock wall!

This is definitely not a natural formation!

The smooth surface of the steps, the regular chisel marks and the ultimate use of the angles and space of the cliff all carry the rigor, efficiency and secrecy unique to professional master stonemasons!

Full of practical sophistication.

Wow! There's actually a secret passage leading to the bottom of the valley!

Was it a backdoor that the dwarves of the Deepfurnace branch left for themselves? Or was it specifically dug out by the churches of the Fordragon Settlement?

No wonder they built fortifications at both ends of the cliff in the central area of ​​the rift. It turns out there is something fishy going on here!

Mark's mind raced, and he instantly connected many clues.

But he didn't pause, taking a deep breath of air mixed with cold and dangerous air.

"Let's go! Xiao Mu, follow closely!" Mark's voice was blown away by the wind.

Before he finished speaking, his figure, like a raindrop merging into the abyss, silently leaped down from the edge of the cliff where the Dark Church members had just disappeared.

ice.

The coldness that penetrates into the bone marrow and freezes the soul.

This was Mark's first feeling after jumping into the rift.

After jumping into the narrow depression, Mark walked down silently along the stone steps embedded in the vertical cliff that seemed to have been forgotten by the gods.

The invisibility cloak that Xiao Mu transformed into tightly wrapped him, helping to conceal his body while also isolating him from the deadly cold that penetrated every pore from the outside.

As a former fire slime, Xiao Mu's body felt particularly warm in this environment.

Even so, when passing through the fog in the valley that was almost solidified and like thick white ink, Mark could still clearly feel that the ubiquitous ice-attribute magic was frantically trying to erode his magic protection.

They carried needle-like malice, and every impact caused subtle ripples in their own and Xiao Mu's original magic.

"This damn place..."

Mark secretly clicked his tongue.

If it weren't for Xiao Mu's superb natural defense "artifact", he would probably be frozen into a human-shaped ice sculpture in an instant by this extreme cold.

No wonder Frostwhisper chasm is a forbidden zone for life. Even the most ferocious monsters on the ice field stay away from this place.

If the people from the Dark Church did not have special protective equipment or divine powers to deal with this kind of environment, there would be no way they could have arrived here safely.

This in itself also proves that the Dark Church members were well-planned and prepared for this trip.

Once entering the rift, the visual range was compressed to the limit. The thick fog swallowed up the light and also swallowed up the figures of the Dark Church team in front.

Mark completely lost his visual tracking ability and could only rely on his soul to sense the faint and familiar sticky dark breath, just like groping for a thin thread in sticky syrup, struggling to lock the direction.

The further down you go, the less rocky the road becomes. Instead, it becomes covered with a smooth, hard, ancient ice shell. If you are not careful, you will be doomed.