Ye Xinglan had always been observing this archipelago. She was searching for the island that resembled the one on the map provided by the academy.
As they looked in the direction of her pointing finger, there was indeed a larger island that was similar to the one on the map.
There was no need for Tang Wulin to give an order. Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui had already adjusted their directions and they glided toward the island.
They were currently about a few thousand meters in the sky and were descending slowly. Suddenly, the seven of them felt their bodies tremble at the same time. It was as if some invisible object had propped them up for a moment. Shortly after, the space around them distorted slightly for a brief moment. They then continued their gradual descent.
For a passing moment, Tang Wulin and the others felt a little confused. However, on the Northsea Army Corps' radars, the seven of them had vanished.
The gravitational force intensified noticeably. It pulled on all seven of them, and they fell at a quicker pace. Tang Wulin yelled in a deep voice, "Stay calm everyone, we'll be alright. Xiaoyan, Star Chain!"
Xu Xiaoyan's body shone with her soul ring's glow. She unleashed her fourth soul skill, the brilliant golden Star Chain which swiftly connected all of them together.
When they leaped out of the aircraft, they were roughly three thousand meters above the ground. From a height of three thousand meters, if they did a freefall without wings, the longest it would take was two minutes before they would crash onto the ground.
Even with the wings, only five minutes had passed before they almost touched the ground.
Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had eaten the Bloodthirst Bean Buns. They were flapping their wings with all their might as they tried to stabilize their bodies so that they would not be smashed to pieces when they landed.
Tang Wulin acted as the hub as he connected everyone via his thick vines. He was very calm. He was barely flustered by the situation they were in.
The closer they were to the ground, the clearer their view became. The ground was completely black, but it was not made of rocks or soil. On the island where the mountain ranges rose and fell, plants covered the terrain. Surprisingly, these plants were black as well. That was why, from afar, the island resembled a black monster.
With the enhancements of their battle armors, Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui managed to stabilize themselves despite the stronger gravitational force. They flew toward their targeted island as they got closer to the ground.
"Everyone, brace yourselves!" As Tang Wulin shouted the reminder, the five soul rings on his body glowed faintly. Bluish-golden Bluesilver Emperor vines extended from his body in increasing numbers.
When they were about to hit the ground, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu flapped their wings rapidly to break their momentum. However, the seven of them were still charging toward the ground like meteors chasing after the moon.
At this very moment, the second soul ring on Tang Wulin's body suddenly shone brightly. The Bluesilver Emperor vines immediately became as thick as a person's thighs. The instant the vines touched the ground, they bent downward. With the strong resilience of the elastic vines, they drastically dampened the impact of Tang Wulin's fall acting like a cushion to soften the landing.
A beam of golden light resembling a golden little dragon shone brightly. It pushed hard against the ground, and the powerful rebound sent Tang Wulin flying again. He shook his arms, and the Bluesilver Emperor that was wrapped around his comrades shook as well. Immediately, they were flung back into the air again. Thus, the impact forces were dissipated. They hovered in the air for a brief moment before they dropped to the ground albeit slowly this time.
He retracted his Bluesilver Emperor once all of them landed safely. They were more scared than hurt.
"This is truly exhilarating!" Xie Xie cried out excitedly.
It was truly exhilarating as It was everyone's first experience of skydiving. However, the whole sequence of events was still within their manageable range.
Although Tang Wulin was not the pilot, he was the mastermind who coordinated their strategies and ensured everything went well. It was truly a stroke of genius especially when he unleashed the Overlord Dragon. That was what enabled them to shake the fighter aircraft and mechas off their tails. If not for the sudden high-speed dip, it would not have been easy for them to break free of the roundup. The Northsea Army Corps was not an easy organization to deal with.
"How's everyone?" asked Tang Wulin.
"We're alright!" The others signaled gestures to Tang Wulin indicating they were fine. They were all one-word battle armor masters. Although they were subjected to the impact force upon landing, the defensive abilities of their battle armors were sufficient to protect them.
Tang Wulin gestured and the others quickly gathered in a formation around him. Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, and Yuanen Yehui surrounded the other three.
It was only now during the brief respite that they could observe their surroundings better. The sea northeast of the Continent was freezing. That was why this island was mainly covered by coniferous forests which appeared a luxurious green. The only thing depressing thing was that all the trees, vegetation cover, and even the ground itself were completely pitch black, as pitch black as ink. It struck fear into their hearts when they looked at it. It was as if there were a multitude of ghost shadows lurking in the landscape.
Tang Wulin squinted his eyes slightly. He unleashed his spiritual power and felt the aura of his surroundings.
He noticed that although everything here was black, it was not filled with a dense, dark element aura. Everything was quite normal. It was not much different from any typical forest.
'What's with this place?' Tang Wulin's heart wavered slightly.
Since this place was known as Demon Island, there must be something unique about it. The so-called military training of the academy in this place could not possibly have been coincidental. Even Elder Cai and the others had unpleasant experiences back then when they were here. It was not difficult to speculate which of the experts who became Hyper Douluos were exceedingly talented and outstanding people when they were youths.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Xie Xie asked softly.
Tang Wulin replied, "Let's take turns to rest. First, we'll need some time to recover and be in tiptop condition." They could not plow on blindly. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had just consumed Bloodthirst Bean Buns just now, and they were very much spent. The others were also exhausted to varying degrees. The landing just now had given them quite a shock both physically and mentally. It was apparent that they needed to calm their spirits before they attempted anything else.
Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Xie Xie sat down first to recover their soul powers. The other four formed a circle around them. Tang Wulin's third soul ring lit up with circles of light spreading outward from him, the Bluesilver Golden Array. It possessed the ability of Elemental Stripping and a collective powerful controlling soul skill.
"Zhengyu, Yuanen, you guys can take a rest as well. It should be fine with XInglan and I standing guard."
"Okay!"
The after-effects of the Bloodthirst Bean Buns began manifesting themselves. Although the cultivation bases of both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were not weak, they had still expended much of their energies. Yue Zhengyu, in particular, had used Sacrifice before this which consumed much of his life energy. After his all-out effort just now, he was truly exhausted.
Purple light flickered within Tang Wulin's eyes. He unleashed Purple Demon Eyes and surveyed his surroundings carefully. Then, he silently extended his Bluesilver Emperor outward as he felt the life source on this island.
Ever since his spiritual powers reached the realm of Spirit Abyss, his senses were more sensitive than before. Especially after it was combined with the Bluesilver Emperor, it was quite easy for him to communicate with the flora.
At this moment, Xie Xie who was the first to sit down suddenly opened his eyes. He uttered with fright, "Why isn't there any origin energy? I can't recover my soul power."
His voice barely faded when the others opened their eyes as well. Their eyes also displayed shock.
They had the same feeling. On this island, they did not feel the presence of any origin energy.
A thought flashed through Tang Wulin's mind. He hastily focused his mind to sense it. It was true! Demon Island was empty. He did not need the Bluesilver Golden Array. It seemed like this place had already undergone Elemental Stripping. All the other auras were normal, but origin energies were nowhere to be found.
Without origin energy, they had no source energy to restore their cultivation bases. Soul power could be depleted unless they do not utilize any soul power at all. However, how was that possible?
As a soul master, especially one who had already attained the rank of a Soul King, one would be unconsciously expending one's soul powers. Utilizing one's soul power to protect one's body was the norm in one's daily life. Moreover, the cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Method was a continuous process. One's soul powers would be used constantly. Although the dissipation of one's soul power would be at low levels, it was still a depletion. If one were in a place with absolutely no origin energy, one did not even have to expend one's soul powers for it would gradually run dry.
Yue Zhengyu's expression changed as he said, "Is this the legendary forbidden land?"
Tang Wulin looked at him, "What's this about a forbidden land?"
Yue Zhengyu said in a deep voice, "It's written in our clan's ancient records. During the primordial era, some places were punished by the Divine Realm due to their special nature, and these places turned into forbidden lands. They were stripped of any existence of life. It was impossible for any kind of origin energy to be formed on such lands. But clearly, there are plants here! If this is a forbidden land, there shouldn't be plants here!"