Chapter 148: Inescapable

"Th... That's wonderful..."

Before Bian could finish, he vomited several more mouthfuls of blood.

First severely injured by Mu's Starlight Extinction, and then releasing his suppression on the injuries to forcefully burn his Cosmo, his condition had deteriorated drastically. He was not far from death.

"Hey, you're not going to just die like this, are you?" Seeing him vomit blood, Io grew somewhat anxious.

Bian's injuries exceeded his expectations.

"I won't die just yet... but I'll need a very long time to recover... I must ask you to look after the North Pacific as well..." Bian replied weakly.

As fellow guardians of the Pacific Realm, he could only entrust the nearby Scylla Io with this duty.

"No problem! Leave it to me!"

Io hoisted Bian onto his shoulder and walked toward the Pillar of the North Pacific.

The General's shrine was located there, where Bian could rest and recover.

Amidst the ruins of the continent of Mu, Mu withdrew his Crystal Wall barrier, and he and Yin Seventeen slowly stood up from the crater.

Although he was also quite heavily injured, protected by his Gold Cloth and having dampened the impact with his own powerful Cosmo, his actual injuries were far less severe than those of Yin Seventeen and the others, and he could still exert at least half of his combat power.

"Is this the continent of Mu? It doesn't look any different from the rest of the undersea realm, does it?" Supported by Yin Seventeen, Shun looked around and asked with confusion.

The ground was covered with colorful, exotic corals, presenting a vibrant and lively scene rather than the gloomy and terrifying forbidden zone of death he had imagined.

He began to doubt whether this land was truly as dangerous as Mr. Mu had claimed.

Guessing the young man's thoughts, Yin Seventeen said gravely, "Sometimes danger is hidden beneath such unpretentious tranquility."

"Do not let your guard down, Shun!"

Mu had once said that generations of the Jamir clan had entered to explore, but all of them had met violent deaths, with not a single one managing to leave alive.

This proved that the danger of this land was real; they simply hadn't witnessed it yet.

Beside them, Mu gazed around, his expression equally serious. "This place is shrouded in a strange field. The detection range of my sixth sense has been suppressed, and even the transmission of telekinesis is hindered."

Just moments ago, he had tried to transmit his telekinesis back to the Sanctuary, but it was interfered with by a strange energy field here, making telekinetic communication extremely difficult.

At last, he understood why every generation of Jamir explorers who entered could only send back fragmented words.

Logically speaking, given the convenience of telepathic communication, people outside the continent of Mu should easily be able to learn the results of the exploration within.

As it turned out, telepathic communication had been restricted.

Hearing this, Yin Seventeen and Shun also tried to project their telekinesis and sixth sense into the distance.

Alas, an invisible force seemed to hide within the air here; their telekinesis and sixth sense could only probe a mere few meters before they could go no further.

"There really is something wrong with this place!" Looking at the tranquil earth, Yin Seventeen's mood grew heavy.

"I think we should leave this place first!" Mu looked up toward the sky and reached out to grab both of them by the shoulders.

Though he also wished to explore this lost continent, the timing was wrong. He still had to protect the Sanctuary and prepare for the impending Holy War; he could not risk lingering here.

Flying directly upward to leave was perhaps their best choice.

"I agree!"

"I have no objection either!"

Yin Seventeen and Shun voiced their agreement one after another.

Immediately, Mu grabbed their shoulders, lightly touched the ground with his feet, and soared instantly into the air.

Yet as the three of them flew higher and higher, Mu gradually sensed something was amiss.

For every fraction of height he gained, the energy field in the air condensed by a fraction, bit by bit weakening his upward momentum.

By the time he carried the two of them a hundred meters high, that energy field had nearly materialized, feeling like stepping deep into a quagmire—exhausted, unable to struggle any further.

"What is going on?" Yin Seventeen also noticed the anomaly.

With Mu's speed of light, it should have been easy to cross the ocean waters above the realm and return to the human world.

In truth, however, they hadn't even touched the sky formed by the seawater before Mu's upward velocity was driven to zero.

Whoosh!

The upward momentum completely ceased, and the three of them accelerated downward toward the ground.

Boom!

Mu safely brought the two down to earth, leaving yet another deep crater in the already shattered ground.

"Mr. Mu, what is wrong?" Shun asked hurriedly.

Mu looked up at the sky and said gravely, "The field shrouding this land not only restricts our telekinesis and sixth sense, but it even hinders our departure."

"The higher we ascend, the stronger the resistance grows, until it completely nullifies our speed!"

"Without our burden, would you be able to break through on your own?" Yin Seventeen asked earnestly.

"No!"

Mu gently shook his head and added, "Your weight means nothing to me; it does not affect my speed in the slightest."

"Even without you, I still couldn't break through."

"Does that mean we'll be trapped here forever?" Shun asked with a trace of worry.

"Perhaps we can try crawling down the cliff over there and leaving this land." Yin Seventeen looked toward the other side, the direction from which they had flown into the continent of Mu.

That was the edge of the continent of Mu and also the shortest land route out of this territory.

As long as they climbed down the cliff, it should suffice.

However, he held no great expectations for this method.

The Jamir explorers of past generations could never have failed to think of this method, yet still not a single person had ever walked out of the continent of Mu.

Just then, a booming voice echoed from deep within the continent.

"Do not bother trying. Without my permission, no one can leave this place!"

Hearing this unfamiliar voice abruptly, the three instantly heightened their vigilance.

Mu shielded Yin Seventeen and Shun behind him, gazed into the depths of the continent, and shouted loudly, "Who is there?"

The owner of the voice did not appear, remaining far away in the depths of the continent, and said indifferently, "Judging by your appearance, you must be a brat of the Jamir clan?"

"After all these years, you fellows still refuse to give up."

"Were it not for Athena's protection, I would truly slaughter every last one of you, sparing myself further annoyance."

Noticing Mu's dot-like eyebrows, he recognized at a glance that those were the distinct characteristics of the Jamir clan.

Every so often, Jamir people would come here, annoying him beyond endurance.

Hearing this, Mu wore a serious expression and guarded himself, saying, "It seems you must be the murderer who has repeatedly slaughtered the ancestors of my Jamir clan!"

The voice replied from afar, "Indeed. I am tasked with guarding this land, and I forbid anyone from entering or leaving."

"Trespassers shall die—"

The person spat out the final word with force, the sound waves shaking the heavens as a violent gale rose from the flat ground, carrying sand and stones as it swept overwhelmingly from the depths of the continent like a ferocious dragon eager to devour men.