The map of the Lament Ruins had been downloaded at the Secret Realm Management Center before he entered.

Nearly half the map consisted of black, unexplored areas, while explored regions were labeled with hazard levels from D to S.

At the very top of the map was a small, bright red "Forbidden Zone," conspicuously marked in red lettering: "Off-limits."

The upper-left corner displayed: Overall Exploration: 59%, Current Exploration: 0%.

Lu Yuan checked his position; he was at the very bottom entrance point on the map.

A large area above him was already explored; the vast majority of unexplored black regions were in the upper portion of the map.

Clearing out the Evil God Sect adherents within the Secret Realm, obtaining valid information about it, and collecting its special materials... all these can be converted into corresponding exploration progress, but it will only be tallied after leaving the Secret Realm...

Lu Yuan casually opened the exploration task list for the Lament Ruins and glanced at it, finding that all tasks generally fell into these three categories.

I'll check out an unexplored black area first. As for whether to venture into the red Forbidden Zone, I'll consider that later...

Lu Yuan glanced back at the entrance he had come through.

He saw the luminous, crack-like entrance begin to ripple violently, as if something was trying to break in from outside.

He figured it was the squad he had just seen outside about to enter. Lu Yuan, being slightly socially anxious, didn't want to run into them, so he randomly chose a direction and sprinted off.

The explored area was very calm, with no sign of the evil presences mentioned in the data.

The flat ground was bare, devoid of any vegetation, with only occasional ruins of low-lying buildings.

These dilapidated walls were ancient and crude, reminding Lu Yuan of the collapsed mud-brick houses in the countryside that had fallen into disrepair over many years.

According to a rumor circulating within Yellow Bear, the Secret Realm was a habitable land created by an ancient Evil God for his followers. To create such an independent, small world-like space for people to live in... just how powerful were the ancient Evil Gods?

Lu Yuan thought to himself as he walked.

The deeper he ventured into the Secret Realm, the more he sensed his own insignificance.

Such a world-creating feat was something he had only ever encountered in novels.

When the imagined words from books materialized into tangible reality before him, the awe and trepidation that welled up from deep within his heart for this unknown, mighty power... were difficult to describe.

Lu Yuan stopped amidst a relatively large expanse of ruins.

He dispersed his mist-like Spiritual Power, searching meticulously through the ruins, but unfortunately, found nothing.

Lu Yuan wasn't disappointed; after all, this area had already been explored by others.

lv3 [Death Omen Eye], activate!

Lu Yuan suddenly activated the skill. Both his eyes turned pitch black, with a streak of pale white in the center. He lifted his head to observe his surroundings.

It was a spontaneous attempt.

The feedback he received, however, surprised him somewhat.

He clearly saw that the Death Qi, which seemed to be drifting aimlessly in the air, was actually flowing like water from high to low, all heading in a few general directions.

He consulted the Secret Realm map, chose the direction closest to him, and hurried off.

While en route, Lu Yuan also activated his lv3 [Crow Language] and lv8 [Circulation of Death Qi] skills.

His mist-like Spiritual Power radiated outward rapidly upon activating [Crow Language].

Soon, he received a dense stream of feedback.

Tiny black dots appeared in his vision, rapidly converging on Lu Yuan.

As they drew closer, Lu Yuan realized the crows he had summoned this time were rather unusual.

Dead?

Lu Yuan casually grabbed a crow and was startled to find that this crow, summoned from within the Secret Realm, was completely decayed. It was devoid of flesh, with only a few feathers clinging to its body.

It was entirely enveloped in dense Death Qi, and its eye sockets were empty.

Yet, it could still fly.

Although the consciousness it fed back was extremely murky, it could still serve to monitor his surroundings.

With his current 22 Intelligence, his Spiritual Power detection range was less than 300 meters.

Having crows as scouts was much better than relying solely on himself and a barely functioning drone.

Dead Spirit Crows, huh...

Lu Yuan released the crow. Dense Death Qi surged towards him from all directions like a tide, enveloping him.

It resembled silently burning black flames or a tattered cloak billowing in a fierce wind.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes, recalling his battle with Calophis, the Crow God Sect's Strong Divine Envoy.

The Death Qi around him began to slowly gather behind his back, gradually forming two enormous black wings, their shapes barely discernible.

"Fly!"

Lu Yuan stomped his foot hard. BOOM! A large crater appeared in the ground.

His entire body shot upwards like an arrow piercing the sky, instantly reaching a height of tens of meters.

Then he began to fall. During his descent, he desperately flapped the wings on his back.

However, this only slightly slowed his fall; he continued to plummet uncontrollably.

Finally, with another loud BOOM, he landed heavily on the ground.

My body's density is too high; my weight is many times that of Calophis. The Death Qi isn't strong enough, and my skill in manipulating it is too crude...

Lu Yuan summarized the reasons for his "failure" and let out a soft sigh. He wasn't too dejected, though.

He had come to the Lament Ruins this time intending to upgrade his [Death Teller (Extraordinary)] level and refine his [Death Teller] skills.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.