Starting as a prodigy wanting milk? A world-destroying deception in the opposite direction.

Shen Zhen tried to unleash the Shadow Strike with his newly recovered Nen power, but the current situation did not allow it, so he had no choice but to swing his Nen Ruler to block.

"clang!"

The immense force struck, and Shen Zhen was sent flying backward, coughing up blood, his old wounds bursting open.

"Captain Shen!" Chen Xi exclaimed, immediately activating her telekinetic power to condense several telekinetic blades in her hand, which she then blasted towards the monster's eyes.

She knew she was no match for the monster, but she couldn't let Shen Zhen face the danger alone.

Sensing the threat to its eyes, the monster tilted its head to dodge the psychic blade, then turned to look at Chen Xi, its eyes gleaming even more fiercely. It suddenly opened its blood-red maw and lunged at Chen Xi.

Chen Xi drew her weapon and slashed at the monster's neck, but her psychic power was like an ant trying to shake a tree in front of the monster, and was instantly shattered.

She was thrown away by the impact and landed on the sand, unable to get up for a while.

The monster turned around, its golden vertical pupils locking onto the easier target, and it approached step by step.

Seeing this scene, Shen Zhen felt a surge of overwhelming anger.

He thought of Lu Renjia, and the figure who sacrificed himself to protect his comrades.

He will never allow such a thing to happen again!

"No!"

Shen Zhen let out a low growl, his eyes bloodshot, the image of Lu Renjia falling superimposed on the figure of Chen Xi in front of him.

An indescribable rage and despair exploded from the depths of his heart, as if some dormant taboo had been awakened.

Shen Zhen herself didn't know what had happened, she only felt that the energy in her body suddenly became violent, and a powerful force surged out from the depths of her body.

He vaguely felt that this feeling was somewhat familiar, as if he had also felt a slight tremor when he was in Qingwu Town, only this time, it was more thorough and more violent.

A faint, dark golden halo appeared at the edge of his vision. The world became exceptionally clear yet exceptionally distant in his eyes. A moment of bewilderment flashed in his eyes, which was then replaced by a cold, indifferent will that looked down upon all living beings.

However, he himself did not notice anything unusual, only feeling a surge of power.

A faint "crackling" sound, like shattering glass, emanated from the space around Shen Zhen.

He looked up at the monster.

There was no anger in his eyes, only an almost inhuman coldness.

The monster sensed a threat, a profound fear stemming from its incomprehensible, instinctual fear of survival.

Its golden vertical pupils suddenly contracted, its ferocity replaced by surprise and doubt, and it let out a low roar, but it was still unwilling to show weakness. It abandoned Chen Xi and pounced on the more threatening target.

Shen Zhen didn't make any unnecessary movements, nor did he utter a single word.

He simply raised his hand, and with a flick of his fingertips through the air, as if brushing away a wisp of dust, he faced the gaping maw that was about to devour him.

"laugh--"

The monster's lunge suddenly froze, and a perfectly smooth black line appeared where its massive head connected to its body.

It seemed to want to let out a final roar, but only a hissing sound came from its throat.

The emotion in those vertical pupils shifted from ferocity to extreme confusion, and finally solidified into a deathly silence of fear.

The next moment, the head slid off, and foul blood gushed out like a waterfall, turning the lake water black.

Sold out instantly!

Chen Xi collapsed to the ground, even forgetting to breathe.

She wasn't unfamiliar with powerful psychic abilities, but the aura Shen Zhen exuded when he raised his hand just now was icy, deathly, and seemed capable of severing the very soul, making her tremble from the very marrow of her bones.

Before the relief of being rescued could even rise, it was replaced by a stronger unease.

Shen Zhen in that instant was terrifyingly unfamiliar.

That wasn't the Captain Shen she knew. There was no human warmth in his eyes; he was more like a predator at the top of the food chain, indifferently dealing with its prey.

She instinctively took half a step back, then felt ashamed of her reaction.

That was Captain Shen; he saved her, but his heart was still pounding.

"Captain Shen...?" Her voice was hoarse.

The strangeness in Shen Zhen's eyes quickly faded and gradually returned to normal. The eerie aura around him also dissipated, replaced by immense weakness. He swayed and almost fell over.

He coughed violently, looking at the monster's corpse and the blackened lake water, feeling somewhat lost.

What just happened? I felt an uncontrollable force surge forth.

Chen Xi struggled and staggered over to support Shen Zhen:

"Captain Shen! How are you? What was that just now...?"

She could sense that what Shen Zhen had just used was definitely not spatial power. That power was too strange and too powerful; it did not belong to any of the divine beings she knew.

But Shen Zhen quickly returned to normal, which made her relax a little.

Shen Zhen shook his head and said weakly:

"I don't know either... It's like my body moved on its own... Let's not worry about that for now, let's get out of here."

All he wanted to do now was recover his strength as soon as possible and find his companions. He was also filled with a vague unease about what had just happened.

Just then, the blackened lake water boiled again, and then, as if by a pair of invisible giant hands, the lake water was pushed to both sides.

An ancient and decaying stone staircase slowly emerged, extending down into the bottomless darkness below.

A faint, almost imperceptible call, seemingly resounding deep within the mind, emanated from inside the cave.

Shen Zhen and Chen Xi exchanged a glance. The appearance of this cave was too strange, as if it had been waiting for a long time. They wondered what was hidden inside.

"Should we go in and take a look?" Chen Xi asked hesitantly.

Shen Zhen looked at the deep cave entrance, then at the boundless desert, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Right now we don't know where we are, or how to find Ye Zhi Qiu and the others."

Staying in this oasis will inevitably lead to danger sooner or later. We might as well go in and explore; perhaps there's a way out.

The lake water silently separates on both sides, forming a transparent water wall channel that leads directly to the bottom of the lake.

Beneath my feet are ancient stone steps, covered in moss, stretching into the unknown depths of darkness, the air filled with an indescribable ancient aura.

The faint sense of calling became clearer after Shen Zhen stepped into the passage, as if guiding him forward.

"Stay close to me," Shen Zhen whispered, gripping the Mind Ruler tightly. Although his mental energy was depleted, he did not relax his basic vigilance, and Chen Xi followed closely behind.

After walking down the stone steps for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a cave entrance appeared ahead.

As you step into the cave, the lake water quietly closes in behind you.

Suddenly, a huge underground palace opened up before them.

The palace ceiling was inlaid with strange crystals that emitted a soft white light, illuminating the entire palace. Although the light was not dim, it gave people a dull and oppressive feeling.

The stone slabs underfoot were carved with ancient patterns, but they had long since faded.

Dozens of stone sculptures of various shapes and sizes stood around the palace, some human, some animal, and many more twisted, half-human, half-animal forms. Without exception, they faced the center of the palace, their expressions a mixture of pain and piety.

Chen Xi always felt that the eyes of those stone sculptures were slightly moving as they moved.

But when she looked closely, it was just a cold, lifeless object.

"Captain Shen," she whispered.

"Don't you feel... that these statues are watching us?"

Shen Zhen also sensed the piercing gaze upon her.

He approached a statue with a snake's head and a human body and examined it closely.

The black gemstone-encrusted eyes gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the crystal's illumination, like a deep pool.

He waved his hand in front of the statue's eyes; the gemstone remained unchanged, but the feeling of being stared at did not disappear.

"Static," he said in a deep voice.

"But the atmosphere here is strange. My mental perception feels like it's stuck in a quagmire, and all I get back is deathly silence."

Just then, a faint whisper drifted from the depths of the palace. The contents were indistinct, but it sent a chill down one's spine.

The whispers lasted for a few breaths, then abruptly disappeared, as if they had never happened.

"Is it the sound of the wind? Or..." Chen Xi asked intently.

"I don't know." Shen Zhen shook his head. "Stay vigilant, let's go check with the central government."

In the center of the palace is a dilapidated stone altar.

The altar has an ancient style, somewhat similar to the one in Tucheng, but it is older and severely damaged, covered with marks of chisels and axes, as if it had been through a fierce battle.

The faint sense of calling seemed to become slightly clearer as it approached the altar, but its source remained elusive.

Look here!

Chen Xi squatted down on one side of the altar base, brushed away the thick layer of dust, and discovered some blurry carvings.

The marks were severely worn, but still faintly discernible in the dim light:

The first image shows countless tiny figures kneeling in worship of a luminous mountain peak, their postures devout.

The second image shows a cracked peak revealing a massive skeleton.

The third image: Golden light shone from the skeleton's eyes; wherever the light swept, the little figures twisted and grotesque, then went on a frenzied battle, a scene of utter carnage...

In the last blurry area, there were several ancient characters that had been almost worn away; Chen Xi could barely make out two words:

"God of Bones...human sacrifice..."

A chill ran through Shen Zhen as Qiu Zhengnan and Gu Chengye's words suddenly came to mind.

Could this be the ancient temple that Wei Qingxu once mentioned, the one mentioned in the rumors?

The Wolf Batu tribe is searching for this site, which is related to their belief in the "God of Bones."