Night of Despair

Thud thud thud!

Thud thud thud!

The urgent knocking made the door tremble.

Yu Hong's heart trembled with numbness, a strong bodily instinct seemed to be warning him, inducing a tremble of fear.

He glanced at the door, then quickly looked out the window towards Cai Jing Taoist.

But outside, at some unknown time, had turned pitch black.

The Cai Jing Taoist, who was just there, had completely disappeared now.

Thud thud thud!

Thud thud thud!!

The knocking grew stronger and louder, making the entire safe house shake and tremble.

The warning and trembling in Yu Hong's mind grew stronger, and the True Yuan within him began to operate at high speed, forcibly attempting to pull his consciousness out of this tense state.

But the knocking seemed to be a different kind of power, continuously counteracting the struggle of the Golden Core True Essence.

"Turn off the lights!"

"Turn off the lights!!"

"Turn off the lights!!!"

Suddenly, a faint cry slipped into Yu Hong's ear.

The cry was weak at first, but with continuous repetition, it gradually grew louder.

Although it was still far less than the knocking, it was clear enough for Yu Hong to hear.

At this moment, his True Yuan and the knocking had reached the peak of their confrontation.

Hearing the voice, Yu Hong felt a shock in his heart and quickly slapped the wall.

Snap.

All the lights in the safe house instantly went out.

The knocking also abruptly stopped, completely disappeared, as if the previous noise was just an illusion.

Huff... huff...

Yu Hong breathed heavily, walked to the door, and touched it, feeling a slight numbness in his heart.

He saw that the center of the safe house door had bulged out into a fist-sized bump.

It seemed as if someone outside had used immense force to pound it into this shape.

He walked to the window and looked outside again, everything was calm, the dome-shaped building, now barely a hundred meters away from Black Black Spirit.

But at this moment, the safe house had stopped.

The faint singing voice still lingered around Yu Hong's ears.

"Thanks for the warning earlier." He didn't know where the warning had come from, but since the other party could transmit a voice, it's likely his voice could also be heard by them.

"No problem, didn't expect to encounter a survivor like you in such times." That faint voice sounded again, speaking in the Second Night Language.

"You look like you came from elsewhere?" the voice asked.

"Yes. Friend, where are you? Can we meet?" Yu Hong asked.

"Better not, meeting would be dangerous. It's better for both of us this way." The person replied, sounding like an old man.

"How should I address you, elder? I'm Zheng Rou." Yu Hong said softly.

"You can call me Su Dan," the old man replied, "Names are just codes. Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

"I came from far away, I don't know how I got here either. My ship leads me to find the land of vitality," Yu Hong said truthfully.

"The land of vitality? What's that?" Old man Su Dan asked, puzzled.

Yu Hong explained, but was met with a cold laugh from the other side.

"I don't understand your nonsense about a Savior Ship, you've probably lost your mind after traveling alone for too long. An absolutely safe place that can withstand all Source Disasters, how could such a thing exist!?" Su Dan completely denied it.

Yu Hong didn't mind whether the other person believed him or not, as he couldn't prove it himself. So he changed the topic.

"Let's not talk about that, elder, since you don't want to meet, can you tell me, what is this place?"

"This is the City of No Light," Su Dan replied, "One of the ruins completely destroyed by the Source Disaster. There are many such ruins."

"Ruins? So, the materials here are not completely disintegrated by the Source Disaster?" Yu Hong was stunned.

"I know what you're asking, it won't work here, the materials decompose and disappear periodically, then new materials are replenished from outside," Su Dan replied with a cold laugh. "Basically, this is the last repository for non-Black Disaster materials."

"Black Disaster?" Yu Hong keenly caught the keyword.

"Yes, this is deep within the Black Disaster. Once the ruins of the immensely powerful Spiritual Formula Empire," Su Dan confirmed his query.

Yu Hong frowned deeply.

"Have you heard of the Holy Tower?" He thought of the surrender faction in the depths of the Black Disaster.

"No living thing can exist here for long, the Holy Tower? Never heard of it," Su Dan replied.

Yu Hong pondered for a moment.

His goal was to find the land of vitality, and this place was undoubtedly deep within the Black Disaster. Even the Cai Jing Taoist couldn't last long outside. The intensity here far exceeded all the regions he had previously traversed.

Having found this place, venturing further might exceed his capabilities. Rather than risking it, it would be better to first understand the situation here before deciding.

Maybe he could find some special energy here suitable for Golden Core grinding.

Moreover, judging from Su Dan's words, if this place is truly the deepest ruin in the Black Disaster, he might find some clues about Source Material.

Source Material can resist Source Disasters and not be destroyed. If he could find Black Disaster Source Material, the safety of the safe house would be greatly enhanced.

Thus becoming indestructible.

At least within the Black Disaster, it can be indestructible, absolutely safe.

"Old man, how long have you been here?" Yu Hong asked again, having determined his goal.

"I can't remember. Do you have any music? I'd like to listen to some music, any type will do," Su Dan requested.

Music?

Yu Hong initially thought the other person would seek material assistance from him but didn't expect it to be just this.

He immediately rummaged through the miscellaneous boxes and found a phone, turned it on, and played the locally stored music.

Soon, "Going Home Often" softly played in the confined safe house.

"Find some free time, find some time...."

The melodious music seemed to dilute the recently tense and dangerous atmosphere.

Su Dan also quieted down, listening to the music quietly.

It was a song Yu Hong had transferred from his own phone's memory card. He hadn't expected to dig it up now.

Soon, song after song played continuously.

Su Dan also began to hum along softly, his voice carrying a hint of tremor and nostalgia.

Seeing him enjoy the music, Yu Hong put down the phone and sat cross-legged on the ground, beginning to cultivate during his free time.

Time flowed slowly, and it was unclear how long had passed.

"Thank you...." Su Dan's voice sounded again. "I can't remember how long it has been since I've heard such beautiful music.... It feels like I've come back to life."

His tone carried a renewed vigor, light and powerful.

"You should leave. This is not a place for you to stay long," he reminded.

"Mr. Su Dan, do you know if there's any malevolent energy here that corrodes life and matter?" Yu Hong asked.

"As long as you turn on the light, it's everywhere. Why do you ask?" Su Dan responded, puzzled.

"Never mind that." Then, without waiting for Yu Hong to reply, he sighed. "Since you are here, you must be here to explore treasures. Do you see the hemisphere building in front of you?"

"Yes," Yu Hong nodded, looking at the hemispherical metal structure not far from the window.

"That's the City of No Light. Within the houses there, some traces and items from the initial entry remain randomly. Anything that has survived without disintegrating from the Black Disaster by now is almost always valuable. If you manage to get in, you'll gain a lot. But the prerequisite is...."

"What is the prerequisite?"

"The prerequisite is that you can get through this final absolute distance," Su Dan answered. "From your current position, approaching the City of No Light will expose you to something called Dark Dust. This stuff can quickly condense into a type of monster called Black Puppet, temporarily existing to attack you."

"If you can get past the Black Puppets, you'll earn a ticket to the City of No Light."

"The Black Puppets...."

Yu Hong took a deep breath.

"I'll give it a try first."

He controlled the Black Black Spirit, moving slowly toward the City of No Light.

One meter.

Five meters.

Ten meters.

Hiss.

In an instant, countless black sand grains appeared out of thin air in front of the safe house, condensing into a thin humanoid figure in a gray cloak.

The humanoid's pitch-black hands were holding an icy and sparkling rhombus-shaped white gem in front of it.

"Be careful! This is the Black Puppet! They can't be killed, only temporarily scattered! During the scattering interval, you must quickly approach the City of No Light. Remember, the reassembly time shortens rapidly with each scattering! It will eventually reassemble instantly, making it very troublesome!" Su Dan quickly advised.

"I'll give it a try first." Yu Hong's heart stirred. In an instant, more than ten Cai Jing Taoists appeared out of nowhere outside, simultaneously pointing at the black humanoid figure.

Void One Finger!

Bang!!

In an instant, destructive finger power, driven by True Yuan, struck the Black Puppet within a blink.

Clang!

Immediately, a flurry of faint red sparks burst out.

The cloak on the Black Puppet wasn't even broken, and all the Void One Finger techniques felt like a gentle breeze, completely ineffective against it.

This made Yu Hong's expression change drastically as he immediately controlled the Black Black Spirit to retreat quickly by dozens of meters!

Poof.

Seconds after his retreat, the Black Puppet quickly disintegrated and disappeared as if it had never appeared.

"No." Su Dan's voice came again, "Did you actually take action just now? Don't try to test it; Black Puppets have immunity mechanisms, and the same move is completely ineffective against them."

".... I did just take action...." Yu Hong felt helpless. Having broken through to Golden Core, he supplied significantly stronger True Yuan to Fear Shadow, which should, in theory, have enhanced Fear Shadow's strength.... But....

"You call that taking action? Was that just a tickle?!" Su Dan evidently didn't believe it. "If that's what you call taking action, how did you even survive to get here? Don't joke around, be serious."

Yu Hong: "....." I'm really sorry for being so weak....

He took a deep breath, checked the time, and saw that the fusion of traits was almost complete.

"Senior, this junior really only has this level of strength." The enhanced Fear Shadow collaborated in action, though still much weaker than himself. But using my Eye of Destruction combined with Chaotic God Heavenly Eye, it would at most be twenty to thirty times stronger than just now.

With such power, it would probably still be useless against that Black Puppet.

After all, the combined effort of Fear Shadow's single finger strike didn't even tear the opponent's clothing....