Since they both wanted to escape this god-forsaken land alive, Yin Ming and Feng Yan, the only two with combat power, happily formed a self-rescue team.

The two were rushing towards the direction from which the old man's screams came. Yin Ming raised the illuminating bead in his hand so that the light could cover a wider area.

They now appeared to be in a dark, damp underground cave, surrounded by jagged rocks.

What's even more peculiar is that the ground beneath their feet was not only extremely hard, but also pitch black in color.

Upon seeing this, Feng Yan frowned, bent down, placed his hand on the ground, and carefully sensed it. His expression became even more puzzled.

"I sensed a strong sense of resentment in this place earlier, but I didn't expect that the underground also contained a lot of resentment."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "And the further we go, the stronger the resentment in the world becomes."

Yin Ming nodded. The spiritual energy here was very thin, probably because of the large amount of resentment that had accumulated.

The two continued along the passage in front of them. As they went deeper, the distance between the cave ceilings grew farther and farther, the space inside the cave became larger and larger, and even the view became more and more open.

Yin Ming felt that they had almost reached the interior of the cave, where they could see a body of water with a small island surrounded by a barrier in the center.

The small island resembled a small boat, drifting on the still water.

The old man was sitting near the water, hugging his legs and groaning.

Yin Ming glared at him with annoyance. This old man not only stole his things, but he also dared to run so fast without any cultivation. He deserved it.

Although he was very dissatisfied with the old man's behavior, he had clearly been attacked, and Yin Ming couldn't bear to ignore him, so he went over to check his injuries and asked him what had happened.

"That water..." The old man covered his feet and uttered these two words.

What happened to the water?

Yin Ming subconsciously turned his head to look at the water behind him, and what he saw shocked him.

Because of the dim lighting in the cave, everything appeared dark in color, so Yin Ming didn't pay much attention to the color of the underground water.

Only when he shone the light on the water did he realize that it was completely black!

Realizing something, Yin Ming looked at the old man's foot wound with some disbelief.

The old man's feet were emitting wisps of black smoke, and his skin was corroded as if it had been splashed with sulfuric acid, with the white bones faintly visible.

"You just waded through the water?"

The excruciating pain seemed to be taking a toll on the old man. He had no time to pay attention to Yin Ming's problem; he simply grabbed Yin Ming's hand and pleaded in a hoarse voice:

"Please, cut off my feet!"

Yin Ming was startled by his request. This was not a popular thing, and he couldn't bring himself to do it.

After a quick thought, Yin Ming covered his hands with a layer of spiritual energy and gently brushed it over his feet, which were being eroded by the black energy.

As the black aura gradually dissipated and the pain on the old man's face lessened, Yin Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems he was right; the reason the groundwater is black is indeed because resentment has settled in it.

Yin Ming raised the light bead to examine it and discovered that the pool of water was not small.

The fact that the resentment that has settled in such a large body of water has the ability to corrode the human body shows just how terrifying the resentment contained within it is.

Yin Ming covered his hands with another layer of spiritual power and quickly touched the water surface. Even with his eighth-realm physical strength, he still felt a slight pain.

I fear that cultivators of the fourth realm who fall into this water will be completely corroded.

It's no exaggeration to say that if someone told Yin Ming right now that this was a body of water formed from solidified resentment, Yin Ming would believe it.

How could the forbidden area of ​​the divine realm be like this?

Feng Yan also looked very serious. He seemed to have thought of something and began to explore along the boundary of the waterway.

The old man was already injured, and now he had suffered this ordeal, making his life force even weaker.

If the wound wasn't treated quickly, it would only get worse, so Yin Ming took out a bottle of topical wound medicine and handed it to the old man.

Perhaps sensing Yin Ming's kindness, the old man murmured a thank you.

With a pale face, he applied the medicine to his skin, which was corroded by the black water, and tore off some of his clothes to make do with bandages.

Then she took out a silver hairpin from her bosom and gently stroked the tassels on it.

After a long pause, he clung to Yin Ming's clothes and pleaded, "Could you... take me to that island?"

Yin Ming looked at the island in the direction he was pointing. "What's on that island?"

Light flowed around the barrier that enveloped the island, so Yin Ming couldn't see what was on the island.

But it seems rather unusual for a small island to appear in such a place.

In this place where danger could be everywhere, Yin Ming really didn't want to take unnecessary risks unless absolutely necessary.

Just as the old man was about to answer, a sudden noise came from the water.

The black water nearby surged, and a huge creature emerged from it.

Yin Ming instinctively reached for the old man's hand, trying to pull him away from the water's edge. However, the old man was splashed by water droplets stirred up by the monster, letting out a scream before instinctively curling up.

This action caused Yin Ming's outstretched hand to grasp nothing.

As the monster approached, the water level rose rapidly, and Yin Ming watched helplessly as the old man was swept away by the black water, disappearing without a trace in a few moments.

The monster inhaled a mouthful of black water and swallowed the old man's body. As if not satisfied, its scarlet eyes immediately locked onto Yin Ming.

Seeing that there was no way to reverse the situation, Yin Ming could only quickly retreat to a place where the monster could not reach him, watching everything that was happening in front of him with suspicion and uncertainty.

The monster realized that Yin Ming had already left its reach, and could only reluctantly sink back into the water, which immediately returned to calm.

Having personally experienced this perilous scene, Yin Ming was panting heavily, still shaken.

If the old man hadn't been closer to the water than him, Yin Ming might have fallen victim to the monster's attack.

This is terrifying! What kind of monster is this?!

Hearing the commotion, Feng Yan rushed back. "What happened?"

Yin Ming took a deep breath to calm himself down, and still looked at Feng Yan with some lingering fear, "That old man was eaten by the monster in the water."

Yin Ming also sensed that the monster's cultivation level seemed to be quite high as well.

"A monster in the water? No wonder." Feng Yan paused, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

“I just looked around. Logically speaking, the Divine Realm has sent quite a few people in over the years, but I haven’t seen a single skeleton.”

Yin Ming frowned slightly upon hearing this. "They should all have gone into that monster's belly."

It seems that the most dangerous thing about this land abandoned by the gods is not the black water filled with resentment, but the man-eating monster in the water.

As for that small island, Yin Ming is still unable to determine its nature.

Since this is a forbidden area of ​​the divine realm, there might be some unspeakable secrets on the island.

This ferocious monster was likely imprisoned here by the people of the divine realm, who used its indiscriminate attack to protect the island and eliminate all sinners.

Feng Yan sighed heavily. "Judging from the current situation, that is indeed very likely. It seems we need to get away from this area and find another way to leave."

Yin Ming shook his head in disagreement. "Things can't be that simple. You said you brought in quite a few people, so there must have been some who noticed the monster in the water, just like us. But they still died, and some were even completely destroyed."

Feng Yan frowned immediately. "You mean..."

“Either the monster has another way to get ashore, or this water…” Yin Ming looked down at the shallow layer of black water that had somehow reached his feet, “will rise in tide.”

Thinking of the golden gate deep within the prison, Yin Ming became even more certain that hiding on the shore was not a permanent solution.

And now he finally understands the significance of that door.

Firstly, to prevent the black water from flooding the prison after the tide rises; secondly, to stop the monster from floating out with the current!

"So, does that mean we're doomed?" Feng Yan pursed his lips, somewhat dejected. "No wonder everyone who came here never came back."

Yin Ming shrugged helplessly upon hearing this.

Who can argue with that? No wonder the road leading from the entrance to here was all black.

It's probably the result of corrosion from the black water after the tide comes in.

They need to find a way out quickly, otherwise when the black water rises again and covers the entire land, fighting in the water will be extremely difficult, and they might all become monster food.

Yin Ming carefully observed the changes in the water level, deduced how much time they had left, and then turned to Feng Yan and said...

"Let's go back to the entrance and study it properly then."

Just as he was about to turn around and walk back, a silvery-white, strip-shaped object stopped in front of Yin Ming, carried by the surging black water.

Yin Ming sighed softly and bent down to pick up the tassel hairpin.