After passing through a small plain, they encountered a vast aerial lake.
Ye Cangtian arrived only slightly later, but the lake had already turned a deep red, filled with corpses. The whereabouts of everyone else remained unknown.
With no other option, Ye Cangtian continued onward.
Further ahead lay a stone forest.
The stone forest here bore a striking resemblance to the one on the island ruins, with colossal stones reaching over ten meters high, interspersed with stone figures possessing incredibly powerful attack capabilities.
The only difference was that the stone figures on the island ruins were mostly below the Earth-level in combat strength, or largely at the Profound-level.
However, the stone figures in this area were all at least at the Earth-level, presenting truly terrifying existences.
Not long after Ye Cangtian ventured in, he had already seen many corpses, illustrating the ferocity of the battles.
"Hahahaha..."
At some point, a sinister laughter echoed.
Ye Cangtian frowned slightly. This strange laughter was undoubtedly human, but he couldn't understand why anyone would make such a sound in such a perilous place.
After a brief hesitation, Ye Cangtian decided to investigate.
A short while later, Ye Cangtian arrived at the edge of the scene.
It was Xue Chan of the Five Poisons Sect and Chang She, along with Brandon of the Guangming Hall. The three were surrounding several injured members of other factions.
"Hou Wenxuan, be sensible and hand over all the harvested spirit stones, or don't blame us for being impolite!"
Chang She spoke menacingly to the injured individuals.
To monopolize the treasures of the aerial city, the Five Poisons Sect had formed a powerful alliance with the Guangming Hall upon arriving here.
They were jointly eliminating all demonic creatures and monsters, while simultaneously launching deadly attacks on other factions.
In the eyes of the Guangming Hall, the Five Poisons Sect was the strongest among all factions. Therefore, by allying with them, they were confident of clearing this place.
Consequently, other factions became dispensable to them.
"Chang She! What do you mean by this!"
"If you want spirit stones, go kill the stone figures yourselves! Why are you robbing ours!"
"Do you know how many companions we lost and were injured to obtain these spirit stones!"
Witnessing Chang She's insidious expression, Hou Wenxuan roared with extreme anger.
Hahaha.
Chang She burst into laughter, then said, "Hou Wenxuan, are you an idiot? Robbing spirit stones from you is much easier than killing stone figures!"
After a pause, Chang She's expression turned icy again, and he asked, "I'll ask you this one thing: will you hand over the spirit stones or not?"
As he spoke, Chang She took out several bottles and jars, appearing ready to act at any moment.
Seeing Chang She's actions, Hou Wenxuan and the others' expressions changed drastically. Ultimately, they had no choice but to obediently hand over the obtained spirit stones.
There was no alternative. They were not the opponents of the other party, and moreover, they were injured. To preserve their lives, they could only cooperate obediently.
"Hahaha, excellent, excellent. You are very obedient."
Chang She laughed heartily as he looked at the spirit stones in his hand.
However, the next moment, he casually waved his hand, and countless powders were instantly scattered from the bottles and jars.
"You..."
Feeling the toxins spreading throughout their bodies, Hou Wenxuan and the others' eyes widened, filled with venomous gazes.
They had been extremely cooperative, yet in the end, they still fell victim to the other party's treachery, their hearts filled with rage and unwillingness.
"Don't blame us. For the sake of secrecy, I can only kill you. After all, only dead men can keep secrets..."
Chang She sneered as he looked at the crowd and spoke slowly, then ignored them further.
He had used the Five Poisons Sect's lethal poison that seals blood upon contact. Once poisoned, death was inevitable, with no chance of rescue.
Therefore, in Chang She's view, Hou Wenxuan and the others were already dead.
However, when he turned around, he was immediately stunned. A wisp of blood flowed from Xue Chan's lips, and then Xue Chan collapsed before him.
Looking at the shocking wound on Xue Chan's back, Chang She's gaze finally fell upon Brandon.
"Why!"
Chang She questioned through gritted teeth. They had clearly allied to rob and kill, so why did Brandon attack Xue Chan!
Only upon hearing Chang She's voice did Brandon snap back to his senses. He glanced over with a hint of confusion and repeatedly shook his head, "It wasn't me, it truly wasn't me!"
"If not you, then who!"
"Is there anyone else here besides you and Xue Chan?"
Upon hearing this, Chang She grew even angrier and roared directly.
Besides the dead, only the three of them remained. Furthermore, Xue Chan had always been behind Brandon. Now that Xue Chan was dead, he didn't believe there could be another killer!
"I..."
Brandon's face flushed red. He had only felt a gust of wind pass by.
The next moment, Xue Chan in front of him had already fallen into a pool of blood.
He hadn't understood what had happened!
Thinking thus, he quickly said, "Chang She, if I said it was someone else, would you believe me?"
"Believe your grandma!"
Chang She looked at the other party furiously and said, "If someone acted nearby, they would certainly not escape our perception! Did you perceive anyone present?"
"No, no."
Upon hearing this, Brandon's face immediately turned red, and he shook his head with difficulty.
"Then isn't that settled? Besides you, who else could have acted?"
Saying this, Chang She paused and continued, "Further, if someone truly acted and neither you nor I could detect them, then it could only be a Heavenly-level expert. Tell me, among our group, who is a Heavenly-level expert?"
This...
With a single sentence, Brandon was instantly rendered speechless.
His suspicion of a Heavenly-level expert had some merit, as he had indeed felt a gust of wind pass by just now. Perhaps it was a Heavenly-level expert who had acted.
But as Chang She said, in the entire group, there was only one Heavenly-level expert, and that was Dracula.
As for Ye Cangtian, although everyone knew his strength was not weak, Dracula had long stated that Ye Cangtian was merely at the peak of the Quasi-Heavenly level.
With such strength, he would surely not be able to kill Xue Chan from a distance.
Thinking of this, Brandon felt even more exasperated. Since it was Dracula who acted, what was the difference from him acting?
He just didn't understand why Dracula would act.
Thinking thus, he looked at Chang She and said slowly, "Chang She, you should believe me. It really wasn't me who acted. As for the real culprit, I will find a way to help you investigate!"
"Forget it. I dare not cooperate with you any further!"
"I fear my life won't last long. From now on, let's go our separate ways!"
Chang She quickly waved his hand, cutting off Brandon's words, and then disappeared into the stone forest without looking back.
...
Looking in the direction Chang She had departed, Brandon's mouth twitched. Ultimately, he walked in another direction with resignation.
Just after Chang She and Brandon went their separate ways, in a certain corner of the surrounding stone forest.
Ye Cangtian slowly revealed his figure from behind a large stone.
He had witnessed the robbery carried out by the Guangming Hall and the Five Poisons Sect alliance firsthand. It was for this reason that he had intentionally acted to kill Xue Chan.
The purpose was simple: to sow discord between the Guangming Hall and the Five Poisons Sect.
This was not only for the sake of other factions but also for his own.
If the Guangming Hall and the Five Poisons Sect truly clashed to the end, with their cruel natures, it would be a disaster for anyone.
He had now successfully provoked both sides. If he could add a little fuel to the fire later, it might ignite a conflict between the two factions.
Thinking thus, Ye Cangtian's figure flashed, and he directly merged into the stone forest.
...
As time passed, the formation trapping the stone forest, as well as the stone figures within it, could no longer impede the steps of the treasure-hunting team.
The team finally began to arrive at the city one after another.
Four ancient characters were inscribed on the city walls. Those familiar with ancient scripts could immediately recognize these four characters as 'City of Chaos'.
However, at this moment, no one showed any signs of excitement.
They had originally thought that entering the city would bring a brief respite. However, upon entering, they were greeted by rows of skeleton guards clad in armor.
These guards were numerous, appearing densely packed. Most crucially, the strength of these skeletons was in no way inferior to the stone figures they had encountered earlier.
In other words, these densely packed skeleton guards were all at the Earth-level.