"Hmm?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and looked in the direction where Monk Huang had disappeared. "Is it because of that guy Monk Huang?"
"Yes!"
Wu Ye Lin nodded. "Monk Huang is a direct descendant of the Huang family in the Explorer's Guild. Otherwise, he wouldn't have something as priceless as the Desperate Teleportation Array!"
"Monk Huang has a nickname, 'Cruel Hungry Wolf.' In the Explorer's Guild, he basically kills anyone he dislikes and robs any woman he fancies... In recent years, he's become almost brazen. Even Grandpa finds him quite a headache..."
"More importantly, although Monk Huang's conduct is extremely overbearing and he does whatever he pleases, he's also very sharp..."
"He just deduced from Uncle Liu's words, 'I am saving your life,' that your strength might be considerable, which is why he immediately used the Gu Talisman!"
Wu Ye Lin explained rapidly to Ye Feng.
"Gu Talisman?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly. "This thing seems to be some kind of strange magic array that quickly penetrates the target's arcane energy, restricting it as well..."
"Exactly!"
Wu Ye Lin looked at Ye Feng with considerable surprise. "This is also a secret technique of the Huang family. The Gu Talisman is like a virus that can directly invade the human body through arcane energy, especially in the bodies of arcane cultivators. It can spread throughout the body in a very short time..."
"Finally, the afflicted person will be bound by a strange black rune array. Even the slightest attempt to mobilize arcane energy will cause excruciating pain throughout their body!"
"Moreover, this black rune array will continuously absorb the arcane energy of the afflicted person, like some strange Gu worm, thereby further restricting them..."
"This is how the name 'Gu Talisman' came about!"
Saying this, Wu Ye Lin looked at Ye Feng with great astonishment. "Ye Feng, has your strength perhaps reached Diamond rank?"
"No!"
Ye Feng shook his head decisively, looking rather puzzled. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because for anyone below Diamond rank, once afflicted by the Gu Talisman, they are almost defenseless!"
"But the Gu Talisman seemed to have no effect on you just now!"
Wu Ye Lin blinked, full of curiosity and surprise.
"The Gu Talisman was deciphered by Ye Feng!"
At this moment, Old Man Liu interjected. "The binding array formed by the Gu Talisman invading Ye Feng's body was deciphered by Ye Feng!"
"Wh-what?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Ye Lin and Lei Jianquan were greatly shocked.
Because for the Gu Talisman, even the other vice-president of the Explorer's Guild, who was also well-versed in arcane runes and magic arrays, would require a considerable amount of time to decipher it, and couldn't guarantee success...
Yet Ye Feng had deciphered the Gu Talisman almost instantaneously, and from his previous actions, it seemed like the first time he had encountered the Gu Talisman...
"Not only that, but the protective magic array on Monk Huang, 'Ghostly Grasp,' was also deciphered by Ye Feng!"
"That's why Ye Feng's fist could directly hit Monk Huang's chest!"
After a pause, Old Man Liu spoke again.
"Gulp... Gulp!~"
Wu Ye Lin swallowed, too shocked to speak.
"Ghostly Grasp?"
Ye Feng turned to look at Old Man Liu. "Was that the rune array on Monk Huang just now that absorbed arcane energy attacks and made them disappear?"
"Yes!"
Old Man Liu nodded, his face also filled with shock. "Ghostly Grasp is one of the two major treasures that core disciples of the Huang family carry. It can absorb others' attacks, whether arcane energy or explosions, and nullify them!"
"Although Monk Huang's personal strength is only Gold First Rank, with the 'Ghostly Grasp' array, even a Gold Fourth Rank arcane cultivator wouldn't dare to claim victory for sure!"
Old Man Liu spoke rapidly to Ye Feng.
"Ye... Ye Feng, what... what have you encountered on your journey so far..."
"Not only has your arcane energy cultivation reached such a high level, but you also have such profound research in arcane runes and magic arrays..."
"Arcane runes and magic arrays are not even a little bit easier than cultivating arcane energy..."
Wu Ye Lin looked at Ye Feng, who was about his age, and murmured in disbelief.
Lei Jian, on the other hand, looked at Ye Feng as if he were a monster.
"Ye Feng!"
At this moment, Old Man Liu looked at Ye Feng with great seriousness. "You must be extremely careful from now on!"
"You've beaten Monk Huang so badly, given Monk Huang's disposition and the Huang family's overbearing ways, you've likely forged an irreconcilable enmity with them..."
"Especially if the Huang family learns of your astonishing talent in both arcane energy and arcane runes, they will definitely try to eliminate you without hesitation!"
After Old Man Liu finished speaking, Wu Ye Lin added, "I previously received news that Monk Huang's two older brothers were also planning to go to the Giant Ruins, but for some reason, they didn't accompany us!"
"Uh... Let's talk about it later~"
Ye Feng scratched his head, not overly concerned. He turned to look at Wu Ye Lin. "Speaking of which, Lin, since this is Earth, what era is it now?"
"This..."
Hearing Ye Feng's words, Wu Ye Lin was slightly taken aback. She glanced at Old Man Liu and Lei Jian. "It should be the 37th year of the Cataclysmic Era, right?"
"Should... be?"
Ye Feng was somewhat perplexed. He noticed that Wu Ye Lin seemed a bit unsure, and Old Man Liu and Lei Jian also showed difficulty, clearly not very certain either.
"Ye Feng, when this great cataclysm of unknown origin occurred, the entire world fell into immense chaos, and human civilization was almost completely destroyed..."
"Most people during the great cataclysm were busy trying to survive and paid little attention to time. It was only after the cataclysm subsided somewhat that some larger human survivor bases began to record time."
"However, due to the global simultaneous super power outage... information transmission became extremely hindered, leading to fragmented time records..."
"After the great cataclysm, many natural rules changed, and various terrifying disasters, monsters, and demonic beasts... completely altered the way humans lived..."
"Coupled with the fact that the original time records were disputed, people designated the year the great cataclysm occurred as the first year of the Cataclysmic Era to record things..."
Wu Ye Lin organized her thoughts and slowly explained to Ye Feng.
"But this recording method also has some discrepancies!"
"Because during the great cataclysm, many places experienced strange situations where large crowds of people fell unconscious without warning. Those who woke up had no idea how long they had been unconscious... Some thought it was a day, some three days... a month, and some even thought they had been unconscious for a year..."
"In addition, some areas experienced perpetual day or perpetual night phenomena... so there are differences in time records, but not by much!"
After a pause, Wu Ye Lin added again.
"I see~"
Hearing Wu Ye Lin's explanation, Ye Feng fell into thought.
...