Douluo: Martial Soul White Tiger, I am the White Emperor of Heaven

Qian Renxue looked in the direction he pointed. On the distant horizon, there was an irregular crack. The crack wasn't wide, only about half a meter, but it seemed to stretch from the ground into the clouds. There was no light or sound from the crack, only a faint grayish-white mist, slowly drifting outwards and settling on the ground, causing the grayish-white shrubs to wither even more.

She walked over, gripped the railing of the observation point, and leaned forward slightly. Without divine power, her eyesight was about the same as an ordinary mortal's; she could only make out the general outline of the rift. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, discovering that the edge of the rift seemed to be wriggling slightly—not violently shaking, but rather, as if alive, slowly contracting and expanding.

"Don't look at it for too long." Lin Mo walked over, holding a black instrument in his hand. A string of green numbers was flashing on the instrument's screen. "The grayish-white mist in the rift has a slight corrosive effect. Ordinary people will feel dizzy if they look at it for too long, and even Soul Masters will have to consume their Soul Power to resist it."

Qian Renxue withdrew her gaze and turned to look at Lin Mo. She noticed that Lin Mo's fingers were rapidly sliding across the instrument screen, his fingertips slightly white, clearly a mark left from holding the instrument for a long time. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes were focused, completely different from his gentle demeanor in Beifeng Town.

"How long has this rift been there?" Qian Renxue asked. Her voice was calm, not deliberately raised, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the absolute silence.

Lin Mo pressed a button on the instrument, the numbers on the screen stopped, and a simple interface popped up. "Exactly three months," he replied, his tone calm. "Initially it was just a small crack, only as wide as a finger, and nobody paid attention to it, assuming it was left by tectonic shifts. It wasn't until a month ago, when the crack started to widen, the surrounding plants began to wither, and nearby villagers started showing symptoms of erosion, that it was taken seriously."

Qian Renxue nodded and looked towards the direction of the rift. She tried to mobilize the last bit of her weak divine power, not for attack or defense, but simply to sense the essence of the rift. But as soon as her divine power approached, it was repelled by a cold force. That force was not aggressive, but it carried a hollow sense of nothingness, making her heart tighten slightly.

"How is it?" Lin Mo noticed the change in her expression and asked. He put down the instrument, took out two masks from his backpack, and handed her one. "Put this on. It can filter out some of the fog. It may not be useful to you, but it's better than nothing."

Qian Renxue took the mask; it was a simple cloth mask with a thin layer of filter cotton sewn on. She didn't put it on immediately, but instead touched the filter cotton with her fingers. The texture was rough, clearly hastily made. "The power in this rift is the same kind of void erosion that I sensed," she said, "but it's purer and more stable."

Lin Mo put on his mask and adjusted its tightness. "We've been monitoring it for a month and found that the rate of fissure expansion is accelerating." He pointed to the instrument screen. "Look, this is the data from a week ago. The fissure width was only thirty centimeters, and now it's fifty centimeters. At this rate, in another six months, the entire North Wind Town will be shrouded in fog."

Qian Renxue picked up the binoculars Lin Mo had placed aside and aimed them at the crack. The binoculars weren't very powerful, only allowing her to see the details at the crack's edges. She saw that the inner wall of the crack was dark gray, without any texture, like a space that had been forcibly torn apart. Mist slowly seeped out from the cracks in the inner wall, falling onto the ground and leaving tiny grayish-white marks. These marks quickly blended into the ground and disappeared.

"Have you tried closing the rift?" Qian Renxue asked, putting down her binoculars.

Lin Mo's expression darkened. He bent down to check the energy detector, which emitted a soft "beep" sound. "We tried," his voice was low. "Half a month ago, the Spirit Hall sent three Soul Douluos to try and seal the rift with their soul power. Not only did they fail, but they were also corrupted by the void power within the rift and are still undergoing treatment." Qian Renxue's fingertips twitched slightly. The Spirit Hall's Soul Douluos weren't weak, yet they were corrupted by the void power to the point of needing long-term treatment. This showed that the rift's power was stronger than she had imagined. "Void power can corrupt soul power?" she asked.

“It’s not eroding soul power, it’s devouring it,” Lin Mo corrected. “It doesn’t destroy soul power, but rather turns it into nothingness energy just like itself. After a soul master’s soul power is devoured, their body will gradually become transparent and eventually disappear completely, as if they never existed.” He paused and added, “That’s how Xiaoyu’s father disappeared.”

Qian Renxue fell silent. She remembered Xiaoyu crying while hugging her teddy bear, remembered that ordinary yet warm moment in her memory. If even a Soul Douluo couldn't resist, then ordinary mortals would truly be powerless against nothingness. Her previous enhancement of Xiaoyu's memories could only temporarily slow down the erosion, but it couldn't solve the problem at its root.

Just then, the instrument suddenly emitted a sharp alarm, and the green numbers on the screen instantly turned red, fluctuating wildly. Lin Mo's expression changed, and he immediately rushed to the instrument, quickly operating it. "Not good, the rift energy fluctuation is abnormal!" he shouted, his voice tinged with panic.

Qian Renxue immediately turned to look at the crack. The crack suddenly widened; what was originally half a meter wide instantly became over a meter wide, and grayish-white mist surged out, several times faster than before. The surrounding air began to grow cold, the hollow, odorless feeling intensified, and she could even feel a slight stinging sensation on her skin.

"Back off!" Lin Mo grabbed Qian Renxue's arm and pulled her to a corner of the observation point. He took out a silver dagger from his backpack, gripped it tightly, and stared warily at the direction of the crack. "The fog concentration is too high; it'll be dangerous if we stay here any longer!"

Qian Renxue stumbled as he pulled her. She could feel Lin Mo's grip was tight, his fingertips icy cold—he was clearly nervous. She didn't struggle, but steadied herself, her gaze fixed on the rift. She could feel the ethereal power surging from the rift growing stronger, spreading through the air like countless tiny tentacles trying to grasp everything around them.

"We must evacuate immediately!" Lin Mo pressed the emergency button on the instrument, which emitted a series of urgent signal beeps. "The outpost will receive the signal and send reinforcements, but we can't wait. We must leave now!"

Qian Renxue nodded, turned around, and picked up her backpack. Just as she bent down, she caught a glimpse of something moving in the crevice out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't the flow of mist, but a rhythmic swaying, as if a creature was inside the crevice.

"Wait." Qian Renxue grabbed Lin Mo's arm. "There's something in the crevice." (End of Chapter)