Fang Xiu surveyed the scene before him, and it was nothing like he had imagined. In his mind, this place should have been gloomy and sunless—a pitch-black expanse thick with resentful energy. But the reality he now saw was nothing of the sort.
When the white light faded, Fang Xiu found himself facing a lush, verdant landscape.
He wasn’t in a forest, but a sea of flowers.
Just moments ago, when he’d first entered this space, the air had been thick with the resentful energy of Demon Beasts. Fang Xiu’s Nether King’s True Eye had seen it clearly.
But now that he was truly inside, he was met with this scene instead.
"Brother Fang!"
Just then, Ye Fan’s voice called out from behind him.
Fang Xiu turned to see him also staring at their surroundings in astonishment.
"Are we in the wrong place?"
Ye Fan asked, surprised.
"What do you mean?"
Fang Xiu’s Nether King’s True Eye would activate automatically if he encountered an illusion.
Just as it had in the white light.
But now, the sea of flowers before him was real.
And so was Ye Fan.
"When I first came in, I was surrounded by Demon Beasts. I wanted to kill them, but I found that my Awakened Ability had vanished. I was just a normal person. All I could do was watch them swarm me, watch them tear me apart and devour me..."
Ye Fan described.
Then he continued, "And in the blink of an eye... it turned into this. Is this place an illusion?"
"It’s not an illusion. Let’s go check things out ahead."
Fang Xiu shook his head.
This place was no illusion.
It was real.
Whether it was dangerous or not, however, was something Fang Xiu couldn’t be sure of.
He would have to take a good look around to find out.
"Oh, okay!"
Ye Fan nodded slightly.
He fell in line behind Fang Xiu.
They headed in one direction across the sea of flowers.
Truthfully, Fang Xiu didn’t know where to go or what kind of good stuff to look for.
"Have you heard anything before? Where did the others find their things?"
Fang Xiu suddenly remembered that Ye Fan had apparently read some guides.
Did the guides mention where to find anything?
"No. They said the world behind the key is different every time. They didn’t mention anything else!"
Ye Fan replied after a moment of thought.
Fang Xiu’s brow furrowed. "So no one mentioned it at all?"
"Right. None of the people who’ve been in here have ever talked about it!"
Ye Fan carefully recalled the posts he had read and shook his head.
"Looks like the information is being suppressed, then,"
Fang Xiu said with a smile.
He then reached out and turned off the camera on his badge.
"This..."
Ye Fan paused, taken aback.
"Gotta take a leak,"
Fang Xiu said slowly.
Ye Fan immediately got the hint. "Guess I’ll take a leak too. Fertilize these flowers a bit!"
Saying that, Ye Fan also turned off the camera on his badge.
"Brother Fang, what are you planning?"
Only after turning it off did Ye Fan ask.
Fang Xiu smiled and said, "Since there are some things they don’t want us to know, there’s no need for them to know what we find in here either."
"Yeah! I get it, Brother Fang!"
Although Fang Xiu was talking about the people from the Awakening Hall, Ye Fan knew that Fang Xiu was also reminding him not to go blabbing about everything that happened.
Ye Fan might be a bit rough around the edges, but he could still take a hint.
"Good. Let’s just wander around, then."
Since there were no real guides,
He simply started walking forward randomly.
After all, the other Awakened who had entered this place probably hadn’t been told which direction to go either.
They were all just wandering aimlessly, and Fang Xiu was no exception.
As for Ye Fan, he had even less of a choice.
He would go wherever Fang Xiu went.
After all, he hadn’t originally had a spot to enter.
Fang Xiu was the one who had gotten it for him.
So, sticking close to Fang Xiu was definitely the right move.
This sea of flowers was vast.
The two of them walked for nearly an hour but still couldn’t see the end.
"Strange."
Fang Xiu stared at the sea of flowers, which seemed to stretch on forever.
"Are we just going to walk through this sea of flowers forever?"
Ye Fan sounded helpless at this point.
His brows were knitted together.
He didn’t understand. There were no Demon Beasts, no danger, just a sea of flowers. Why couldn’t they reach the end?
"It is a bit strange. Let’s keep walking and see."
Fang Xiu nodded slightly.
This place was indeed strange, but when he checked with his Eye of the Nether King, he saw nothing suspicious.
Everything here was normal.
"Right."
Ye Fan had no other option but to keep walking.
After all, if even Fang Xiu couldn’t see anything special, he certainly couldn’t either.
Right now, Ye Fan only had one thought.
Follow Fang Xiu.
He didn’t think about anything else.
This was the ultimate sign of his trust in Fang Xiu.
Of course, this trust came from the respect he had developed for Fang Xiu over the past few days.
Whether it was fighting Demon Beasts or matters of intellect,
Ye Fan felt he was no match for Fang Xiu.
So, if Fang Xiu said to walk, Ye Fan would follow.
The two walked for another hour.
But along the way, they encountered no Demon Beasts and no danger.
There was still only the sea of flowers.
Fang Xiu’s brow was tightly furrowed.
Everything was real, so why couldn’t they reach the end?
And they hadn’t come across any Treasure Chests to open either!
"Brother Fang, do you think that Demon Beast Tombstone tricked us? We’ve been in here for so long, but we haven’t seen any Demon Beasts or any tombstones!"
Ye Fan said with a hint of resignation.
He knew that Fang Xiu had threatened the Eight-armed Octopus Demon Beast to get him in here.
Could it be that the Eight-armed Octopus Demon Beast held a grudge because of that?
And was now messing with them?
Otherwise, how could there be a sea of flowers like this? They had been walking for almost three hours and still couldn’t reach the end.
"The Octopus would have to be brave enough. If it isn’t afraid of me using it for a Sacrifice, then it’s welcome to try and trick us,"
Fang Xiu said coolly.
If the Octopus really was tricking them, it was probably watching them.
In that case, it would have definitely heard what Fang Xiu just said.
If the Octopus were smart enough, it would let them out of the flower sea now.
But Fang Xiu didn’t sense any change in their surroundings.
’Looks like it’s not the Octopus,’
Fang Xiu thought to himself.
The sea of flowers hadn’t changed, and his Nether King’s True Eye hadn’t activated. This proved that nothing was being controlled, nor was it an illusion.
"That’s true. With you here, Brother Fang, if it dared to trick you, we’d just smash its Demon Beast Tombstone!"
Ye Fan nodded.
Never knowing how to flatter, he had managed to squeeze out a single line.
Fang Xiu just smiled and didn’t reply.
That attempt at flattery was indeed a bit awkward.
"Demon Beast Tombstone?"
Just then, something occurred to Fang Xiu.
This place was called the Demon Beast Tombstone.
It wasn’t just what the Awakened called it; the system prompt had also called it the Demon Beast Tombstone.
In other words, the name was established by convention.
There was no changing it.
Even if Deities were to arrive, it would still be called the Demon Beast Tombstone.
But Fang Xiu had only seen a tombstone on the back of the Octopus Demon Beast outside.
Originally, Fang Xiu had assumed that the name "Demon Beast Tombstone" came from the combination of the Demon Beast—the Octopus—and the tombstone on its back.
But now, it was obvious there was more to it.
Why do tombstones exist?
They exist because something has been buried. Demon Beasts!
Furthermore, when they first entered this space, that illusion-inducing white light had been formed from the resentful will of Demon Beasts.
That meant that many Demon Beasts had already been buried within the space of the Demon Beast Tombstone.
"Buried?"
Fang Xiu had finally thought of a crucial point.
"Brother Fang, what did you figure out?"
Ye Fan asked as he looked at Fang Xiu.
"The Demon Beast Tombstone isn’t just the name of that Eight-armed Octopus Demon Beast; it’s the name of this entire place!"
Fang Xiu said with a smile.
By now, he had a rough idea of what was going on.
He just hadn’t fully pieced it together yet.
"What?"
Ye Fan still didn’t understand.
"Old Ye, think about it. Where do you need to put up tombstones?"
Fang Xiu asked in return.
Ye Fan thought for a moment and said, "A graveyard!"
"Exactly. So, this place is actually a Demon Beast graveyard. There are no living Demon Beasts here, only this sea of flowers, because beneath it are the buried Demon Beasts."
Fang Xiu explained, "The reason these flowers are so vibrant is that the Demon Beasts here have turned into fertilizer!"
"Huh? Then what should we do now?"
Ye Fan was stunned.
He had no idea what they were supposed to do!
"Dig!"
Fang Xiu said directly.
Ye Fan froze for a second, then it clicked. "Brother Fang, are you saying we should dig up the Demon Beast corpses?"
"Yes. But if I’m not mistaken, what we’ll find inside won’t be Demon Beast corpses. It will probably be Treasure Chests, Equipment, or things like that."
Fang Xiu nodded.
In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure.
But if he was right, it definitely wouldn’t be Demon Beasts or corpses.
This was the true nature of the Demon Beast Tombstone.
This sea of flowers was a graveyard.
"Okay. You rest, Brother Fang. I’ll dig."
With that, Ye Fan took out a shovel.
Fang Xiu was surprised. ’Ye Fan even brought one of these?’
"Sometimes you run into Spirit Grass, so you can dig it up directly!"
Ye Fan quickly explained, seeing Fang Xiu’s look.
Fang Xiu nodded slightly and didn’t stand on ceremony, stepping aside to watch Ye Fan dig.
After all, Ye Fan was a Level 40 Power Awakener.
Manual labor like this was nothing for him.
Meanwhile, Fang Xiu remained vigilant, watching their surroundings.
If Ye Fan dug up a Demon Beast instead of treasure, Fang Xiu would be able to react quickly.
But just as Ye Fan’s shovel dug into the ground...
DING!
A crisp sound rang out.
It didn’t seem to come from underground, but rather as an alert from the space itself.
This instantly left both Fang Xiu and Ye Fan stunned.
"This..."
Ye Fan froze on the spot, not daring to move!

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