At that moment, Ling Sese somehow summoned a powerful force from within.
She managed to shatter the spiritual ribbon formed by spiritual energy. Her body, along with the spiritual tablet, plunged into the boundless lake.
Ling Sese couldn't help but think, if it weren't for that Taoist priest, would she have been able to kill Huang Sandong today?
Ultimately, it was because she was too weak.
Ling Sese never expected that in the end, she would be the only one to die in this man - eating lake.
As her hands touched the spiritual tablet, Ling Sese hugged it tightly and then sank into the lake with it.
As the water covered her head, Ling Sese thought that in this life, she had achieved so little. She had just become a third - rank spiritual herbalist, and now she was going to die like this.
Before her death, her mind was filled with memories of playing games with her grandfather as a child and the dangerous scenes during the trials with her companions in the Dark Swamp.
She also hoped to see her friends one more time.
But she knew this was probably just a vain hope.
Ling Sese's consciousness faded away as the water completely engulfed her.
Meanwhile, in the Ghost Domain.
Feng Zhan had been following the corpse - collecting old man around in this place.
It had to be said that this trip had broadened his horizons a great deal.
The old man who collected corpses always walked with his head down and shoulders hunched. He would just sit there in a daze by a lake. After a while, one or two corpses would surface from the lake, and his job was to throw them into the mass grave.
There, many vultures were foraging.
These vultures were the eyes and ears of the only mysterious organization in the Ghost Domain, the Divine Sect. They could see every corner of the Ghost Domain.
"Little young master, could you please stop following this old man?"
"I have no choice. You're the only living person within a hundred - mile radius, and I'm not familiar with this place. If I go out alone and something happens, I'll lose my life here!"
The old man lowered his head helplessly.
He couldn't argue with this handsome and somewhat rascally young master in front of him. Feng Zhan was very skilled, but he was different from the spiritual herbalists and alchemists here, which puzzled the old man.
This young master named Feng Zhan had neither spiritual nor mental power. How could he leap so high and fly by using the treetops?
If he couldn't figure it out, he might as well not think about it.
There were many strange people in the world. Maybe it was just because he had been in the Ghost Domain for too long that he hadn't noticed such people.
Feng Zhan had his reasons for choosing to follow the old man.
Once, when he went out alone, within just an hour, guess what he encountered? A six - meter - tall fire - breathing beast. Its flames could shoot as far as a hundred meters. Fortunately, Feng Zhan was good at light - footed skills and managed to escape.
Since then, he had been much more cautious whenever he went out.
Sometimes, when Feng Zhan slept on the treetops, he cursed Nineteen countless times in his heart.
"Little aunt, can you understand the question?
I said I wanted the Jianghu! A Jianghu full of free and easy life. Is this the place you said where I could show my talents? This is clearly a new world that devours people without even spitting out the bones."
Feng Zhan had hoped to roam the Jianghu with his martial arts skills.
But now, this was a completely different world.
Strange old men, desolate places, and the roars of wild beasts at night.
He, Feng Zhan, was almost invincible in the Jianghu, but that was back in his own world, not here.
New rules, new environments, and these large wild beasts that appeared from time to time. What the hell was this?
"Little young master, you can go back! The Eastern Swamp Wilderness, the Qingyun Kingdom, the Nine - Continent Mainland. Those are the places suitable for you to stay."
"Places suitable for me to stay?"
The corpse - collecting old man told Feng Zhan.
This was the Ghost Domain. No one could survive on this vast plain for more than a year. Here, no matter how powerful you were, you would only become a piece of meat in the mouth of the ancient fierce beasts.
In the Ghost Domain, it was the territory of the fierce beasts.
However, there was a mysterious organization in the Ghost Domain. They used the flesh and blood of alchemists to feed the ancient fierce beasts and thus built a bridge of connection with them.
That was why they could live with the ancient fierce beasts in the Ghost Domain.
If Feng Zhan could find the location of that organization, he might be able to figure out how to return to the Nine - Continent Mainland.
After hearing this, Feng Zhan speculated silently.
The Divine Sect sounded very imposing.
But his intuition told him that they were not good people.
Just then, the calm lake suddenly rippled, and a woman suddenly emerged from the water.
It was a young girl, probably fifteen or sixteen years old.
She was dressed in red.
Feng Zhan was about to jump into the lake to pull the girl out, but the old man grabbed him.
"What's wrong?"
"Little young master, don't meddle. The corpse will float over slowly. This lake water is not ordinary. If you touch it, it might corrode your skin."
Was the water that poisonous?
But Feng Zhan didn't have time to think carefully because he saw the girl's fingertips twitch slightly.
He leaped into the air, his toes lightly touching the lake surface, and reached the middle of the lake. He picked up the girl and quickly returned to the shore.
"She's okay, isn't she?"
"This old man doesn't know. This lake water can devour people. Maybe you're just lucky, little young master."
Feng Zhan laid the girl down and, following the methods he had learned from the Saint Physician Xuan Jizi, slowly drained the water from the girl's chest.
"Little young master, don't waste your energy. No one who comes here ever goes back alive."
This lake had spit out countless people.
But none of them had ever survived.
Even if they managed to escape death and were still alive when they got here, they couldn't escape the ancient fierce beasts in the Ghost Domain.
The old man had seen many people. When they were washed ashore from the lake, their hands and feet were already badly corroded by the lake water, but they were still alive. They would jump back into the lake crazily, saying that if they jumped in, they could return to the Nine - Continent Mainland.
But the end result was always the same.
Once they touched the lake water again, within a moment, they would surely be completely corroded.
The old man had been collecting corpses here for years and only dared to pull the corpses to the shore when they were close enough.
Feng Zhan's skills just now were something he had never seen before.
"Ugh—"
After a sound, the girl spat out all the water in her mouth.
Feng Zhan let out a sigh of relief.
Finally! He had finally seen a second living being.
Feng Zhan always acted according to his own nature. His mother used to say that he was a scheming child. From a young age, no one could out - scheme him; it was always him who schemed against others.
No matter what Feng Zhan did, it was for his own interests.
But he was different from bad people. Feng Zhan would never harm innocent people for his own gain.
The girl's eyes slowly opened—
"She's awake!"