Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. “I’m afraid you’re right. I have not sensed any life source from the plants around here.”
Where they landed was a piece of land that was relatively flat. The pitch black forest was not far away from them. Tang Wulin walked quickly toward it. When he pressed his palm against a large tree, it was cold to the touch. Putting aside the fact that there was no life source that came from it, a dense feeling of deathly stillness arose instantly from it. If it were not for Tang Wulin’s extremely strong life source and blood essence, his body would have certainly suffered some damage being tainted with this death aura.
“These trees aren’t real, it’s as if they were all carbonized. They’re as tough as metallic rocks, but they don’t have an ounce of life source within them,” Tang Wulin’s brows were tightly knitted.
If there were no origin energy, there was no point for them to cultivate here. The others gathered around Tang Wulin.
Xu Xiaoyan posed a question, “Captain, without origin energy, other than affecting our soul powers, will it affect our life energy as well? Or should I say, will it affect our blood essence power?”
Tang Wulin smiled bitterly, “It will. Everything relies on origin energy to survive, there’s no doubting this point. Water and sunlight are the sources of life. The energies they possess are nourishment to the life force. In a place where there is no life force, our own life source will be constantly depleted. It won’t affect us much in the short term, but if this goes on, I’m afraid we’ll turn into dried carcasses here, or maybe we’ll be carbonized like the plants here.”
When Tang Wulin said this, everyone’s expression changed.
“Than what should we do?” Xie Xie asked, slightly fidgety.
Tang Wulin drew a deep breath. “Since the academy sent us to do our military training here, they certainly wouldn’t send us here to die. Besides, we still have no idea where our military training is actually at. From the view above, this archipelago is completely black, even the seas around it are black. However, beyond three hundred meters, the seas return to their normal colors. I can infer from this that we should be able to sense origin energy around the normal-colored seas. In other words, we can try to absorb some origin energy from the normal seas to restore ourselves when the time comes.
Ye Xinglan smiled. “You always manage to be so calm. I think the situation is like what you just said.”
Tang Wulin returned the smile. “I’m actually worried as well, but there’s no point in me worrying about this. I still need to face it. Alright, since we can’t absorb origin energy to restore ourselves, we’ll first make for the beach. After all, we arrived within the stipulated time frame. The first obstacle, Golden Path should be over. We’ll go have a look at the beach first, and then Zhengyu and Yuanen can fly out to see if my judgment was right or wrong.”
All this was due to the inexplicable pressure the pitch black island gave them. For the moment, they were still unable to get to the bottom of the situation. It was undoubtedly very important for them to find a way out of the current situation. That was why Tang Wulin was in no hurry to scout the island.
They landed on the fringes of the island. After they had gotten hold of their bearings, they did not have to walk far to where they could already see the ocean.
It was two starkly contrasting feelings to look at the black seas from the skies and from the ground. It was even more shocking for them since they were the ones actually experiencing the situation. The waves rippled and broke against the shore. The seawater which was pitch black as ink appeared like a terrifying deep abyss. It seemed to be able to swallow a person whole at any moment.
Tang Wulin unleashed one Bluesilver Emperor and sent it into the sea.
The Bluesilver Emperor had just touched the surface of the water when Tang Wulin suddenly felt his body shook. Shortly after, a terrifying suction force came from the sea. The stamina and blood essence power within Tang Wulin immediately surged out of his body like a swarm of bees along this Bluesilver Emperor.
He quickly lifted the Bluesilver Emperor out of the water. However, within this short span of time, the Bluesilver Emperor’s tip had already turned greyish-white.
“Whatever you do, don’t come into contact with this seawater. The seawater will consume all of your origin energy. Once you come into contact with it, it’ll accelerate the depletion of your origin energy.”
Tang Wulin felt very fortunate that they did not drop directly into this black seawater just now. If that were the case, once they touched the water, their depletion would have increased multiple-fold.
Yuanen Yehui said, “We’ll go check it out.”
Tang Wulin nodded, “Be careful. Turn back immediately the moment you feel something’s off.”
“Hmm!” Yuanen Yehui nodded. The Fallen Angel’s wings were unleashed behind her. She flapped lightly and flew into the skies. Then, she slowly hovered over the patch of black seawater.
She was in midair above the sea’s surface when the black mist suddenly appeared faintly on her body. Yuanen Yehui hastily flapped her wings and flew to a higher altitude. Only then did the black mist on her body dissipate somewhat. Then, she flew further away.
She traversed the distance of three hundred meters rather quickly. Between islands, other than the black seawater, some patches of clear seas still existed due to the large distances between the islands. Yuanen Yehui finally flew out of the three hundred-meter range. However, in that instant, her figure suddenly disappeared.
“She disappeared? Yuanen!” Xie Xie was greatly worried. He called out her name with anxious tones.
Tang Wulin grabbed him, “Don’t panic. Let’s wait and see.”
How could Xie Xie not panic? He was about to say something when a shadow moved swiftly and Yuanen Yehui reappeared far away. Then, she flapped her wings strongly and shot back toward her companions like an arrow. She landed lightly.
It was only then that Xie Xie heaved a sigh of relief. He quickly walked up to her. “Yuanen, are you hurt?”
“I’m not.” Yuanen shook her head. “The situation is more or less like what our captain inferred. As expected, there is origin energy once I flew out of the three hundred-meter range and enter the area of the normal seas. However, there are extremely ferocious oceanic soul beasts in the normal seas. I felt like I was in a trance as if I had exited this world, then I saw a huge bloody mouth which opened toward me. Its aura was very strong. After that, I came back as quickly as I could. It’s strange. That oceanic soul beast was extremely powerful, but it dared not come into contact with the black sea on this side. Nonetheless, if we want to go out, it won’t be easy as well.”
Tang Wulin had a slight frown. “Do you guys have the feeling that this place resembles a prisoner’s cage as if it’s imprisoning something?”
There was no origin energy on the inside while there were ferocious oceanic soul beasts on the outside. From Yuanen Yehui’s reconnaissance just now, they could surmise that this island seemed to be located within some barrier.
“Yeah, it does.” Yue Zhengyu nodded, “In any case, I don’t feel too comfortable here. I reckon that you guys feel the same. There’s no origin energy here, and everything’s filled with a dead stillness. It’s truly uncomfortable! Why don’t we go take a look further on the island?”
Tang Wulin shook his head. “There’s no hurry. The dangers outside are mainly from the oceanic soul beasts. Usually, oceanic soul beasts can’t leave the ocean. We’ll have to look for a way out first. Yuanen, can you try again? Fly out from a greater height this time, and see if you’re attacked by the oceanic soul beast again.”
“Okay!” Yuanen Yehui agreed. She flapped her wings and flew to a greater height in the skies. However, she had not even started to fly out toward the black sea when, all of a sudden, her body which had just reached a height of a hundred meters fell. Although she beat her wings desperately, she only managed to stabilize herself once she reached a height of fifty meters.
“Flight prohibition!” Yuanen Yehui exclaimed with fright. “There seems to be an invisible barrier up there. I only flew up to around a hundred meters when I felt as if I was swatted by someone. Thank goodness my reflexes were quick enough.”
Prisoner’s cage! These two words appeared in the minds of everyone again. Only these two words could aptly describe their current predicament.
They could not rise into the skies nor go out over the sea. They could come in, but they could not get out. Furthermore, they are running low on origin energy. If that were the case, would waiting for their demise be the only option?
Tang Wulin made a decision. “Let’s go. We’ll go further into the island and have a look.” He firmly believed in one thing from the beginning until the end. Since the academy sent them here for their military training, the academy must have its aim and reasons. It would be irrational for the academy to just put them in a prisoner’s cage for no reason at all.