After stepping through the portal, Meng Lin found herself in a lush green forest, with tall trees that seemed to reach the sky. The air was fresh and cool, and she could hear the sound of a nearby stream.

She looked around, feeling a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of the place. The leaves of the trees were a vibrant green, and the flowers that bloomed on the forest floor were a rainbow of colors.

As she walked, she saw small animals scurrying about, and she could hear the chirping of birds in the distance.

Meng Lin felt a sense of peace and tranquility wash over her. She had been sent on a mission to retrieve an artifact, but for a moment, she forgot all about it, lost in the beauty of the forest.

But then, she noticed something strange happening, her forehead was burning, and she didn’t know why.

She felt her spiritual consciousness react on its own, and spread out to cover a 50 meter radius.

It was only then that she started to see the colors around her beginning to blur, and the sounds beginning to fade away.

She felt dizzy and disoriented, like the world around her was shifting and twisting.

Meng Lin closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and focusing her spiritual consciousness. She visualized a shield around her, a protective barrier that would protect her from mental attacks.

After a few minutes of staying like that she felt that she got it right. She opened her eyes and found that she was no longer in the lush forest. Instead, she was in a dark and ominous forest, with gnarled and twisted trees that seemed to reach out and bend weirdly.

The sky was a dark shade of grey, and the clouds swirled and twisted in the wind. She could feel the dangerous aura emanating from the air, and she knew that this was no ordinary place.

Meng Lin quickly recollected the information shared to the group about the mapping of the Nether Cloud Domain.

She seems to been in The dead zone, at the very edge of the dimension, it was the most dangerous place in the dimension because of its low survival rate, it has weird and unexplainable things happening in and out of nowhere.

However that’s not the reason it was named such, it was the most dangerous because it was an enclosed space inside a barrier that stops everything from leaving, most individuals that had found themselves within it would have to spend the rest of their life in there.

Only a select few with access to resources from their sect’s higher up can leave the barrier and even then it’s not a guarantee that they will survive.

“Sigh” Meng Lin sighed at the thought of such a situation, it was no wonder she became trapped within an illusion.

The air inside the dead zone was said to cause any cultivators or spiritual beings to experience illusions before leading them to ancient beasts to be killed.

She was glad that she was able to get out in time, otherwise it would’ve been dangerous.

Meng Lin began to think as she puts a hand under her chin, their goal should be near the center of the dimension, the closer they were, the more they could finish their mission, so her priority should be leaving this dead zone.

Releasing her spiritual consciousness outward, she was able to scan the area and found a single building a few dozen meters away. It was an ancient structure that seemed to be thousands of years old.

However, she realized a limitation to herself, she could only look as far as 50 meters with her consciousness.

Back in the sect, after her multiple breakthroughs, she was able to increase her spiritual consciousness to 110 meters, but it was almost halved in here.

However It didn’t matter to her that much as long as she could still use it.

Right now, she was feeling a sense of wonder and reverence as she looked upon the ancient building, knowing that it held the secrets of the past.

All across the ancient building were silver white formations that covered the whole body of the building as if restricting it, it made her curious about the insides.

She took a deep breath and stepped towards the ancient building. The air was thick with an ominous energy, and the air was musty with the scent of dried trees.

As she got closer, she could see the intricate details of the building's design. The stone walls were covered in intricate carvings, and the pillars were adorned with symbols she didn't recognize.

She cautiously stepped inside, her figure ready. The inside of the building was dimly lit, and it was not difficult to see around.

She walked through a huge hallway that looked to be intricately designed for some major figure as everything looked expensive.

She could hear the sound of her footsteps echoing throughout the hallways, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up as she felt the presence of something watching her.

Meng Lin's heart raced as she continued forward, she brought out one of her low-grade swords and held it tightly in her hand.

Suddenly, she heard a soft whisper, and she froze in her tracks.

The whisper grew louder, and she could hear the sound of multiple voices speaking in unison. The words were unfamiliar to her, and the language was weird.

Meng Lin’s heart sank as she realized that the more she waited, the closer the voices became. It was as if the voices were right next to her, whispering in her ears.

She looked around at the dimly lit hallway and couldn’t see anything, so she released her spiritual consciousness outward.

Meng Lin’s heart tensed as what she saw within her spiritual consciousness was unimaginable to her, it caused her heart to skip a bear.

Around her, just a few inches from her were dozens of floating shadows.

Their figures fixed on her with hungry and maddening auras, Meng Lin felt her body chill as she stopped moving.

She had never encountered anything like this before. She looked around, and she couldn’t see anything but within her spiritual consciousness were dozens of beings surrounding her.

She closed her eyes and focused on her spiritual consciousness to look around, but the moment she did so, large eyes began opening up on their bodies as their whispers turned to wails.

A dark and twisted voice echoed within the building as it rang out across the hallway.

“You… can see Me.”

Meng Lin's heart raced as she tried to comprehend what was happening. The beings around her began to move closer, their whispers turning into screams.

She raised her sword, ready to defend herself, but as she swung it, it passed right through the beings as if they were were not there.

The voice spoke again, sending shivers down her spine. "You have entered my stomach, mortal. You will never leave."

Meng Lin felt a cold sweat on her forehead as she realized the gravity of the situation.

She tried to run, but her feet wouldn't move, slowly she began to sink, It was as if the floor had become mud.

The beings closed in on her, their screams growing louder and more intense. She could feel their cold breath on her face.

It was only then that Meng Lin, in her panicked state released over half of the brute qi within her, causing a burst of chaotic energy to be released from within her.

Boom!

“Ahh” the floating beings were shockingly forced back as the whole hallway began to lit up in chaotic qi.

Meng Lin took a deep breath and jumped towards the exit, her heart pounding in her chest.

As she stepped out of the building, she looked behind her and the sight made her stomach drop.

Roar!!!

The once majestic structure was now towering over the landscape, its walls pulsating and shifting as if they were made of living flesh.

The windows twisted and contorted, forming grotesque, gaping mouths that oozed with an otherworldly slime and the top of the building sprouted jagged 10 meters long spikes that towered over the sky, casting an eerie shadow over the surrounding area.