My father is the main character, but the female leads want to kill me.

Wen Qianyi and Shangguan Mengqing shared a surprisingly similar view: this spatial barrier, as it stands, is an insurmountable problem for everyone in this secret realm.

Lin Ran understood Wen Qianyi's meaning, but in the original work, there was indeed a mythical-level magical artifact inside, which Lin Chong later obtained. What does that mean? It means there is a way to break the curse. What is that way?

Lin Ran fell into deep thought. He felt he had grasped a very crucial point, but what exactly was it?

Seeing Lin Ran frowning in thought, Wen Qianyi didn't disturb her, but instead turned her head slightly to quietly watch Lin Ran.

It felt like she had returned to the time at the academy. Lin Ran was sitting at her desk dealing with academy affairs, while she was in Lin Ran's office, watching her. Occasionally, her eyes would sneak away from the ancient books and fall on Lin Ran. That quiet and serious senior was really very attractive to her. She could look at him for a lifetime and never get tired of it!

"My hand is still being held by my senior..."

Wen Qianyi looked down at her small hand, which was being held tightly in Lin Ran's hand. Her palms were sweaty from nervousness, which made her a little scared, and she moved it slightly...

Although the two chose a secluded spot that was difficult to see, they were still spotted by Shangguan Mengqing, who deliberately walked to the opposite corner.

Seeing Wen Qianyi's affectionate gaze fixed intently on Lin Ran, she felt a vague unease; she didn't like this feeling…

"He's nobody to me, why should I care about him? We're from two different worlds, we can never...never be together..."

Shangguan Mengqing thought to herself, but she also knew that if things were really as she said, her state of mind would not be the same as it is now.

In the end, Chen Zixuan gave up on attacking the spatial barrier. He was like a defeated rooster, slumped in place for a long time, staring blankly at the spatial barrier.

After a while, Chen Zixuan came to Shangguan Mengqing dejectedly and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Shangguan, it seems that we really can't break through this spatial barrier with our abilities. Perhaps this place isn't opened in this way at all?"

Chen Zixuan was truly devastated. The opportunity to obtain a legendary, mythical weapon was right in front of him, yet he could only watch helplessly from behind that invisible, thick barrier...

"Well, it's good that you did your best!"

Shangguan Mengqing nodded and said, "It's getting late, and we're not far from going down the mountain. You should hurry and find a safe place to camp!"

Upon hearing Shangguan Mengqing's words, Chen Zixuan looked up and noticed the sky. Seeing the unusually vibrant colors of the twilight, he sensed something was amiss and suddenly said, "Miss Shangguan, is your encampment just a random place near a cave where you set up an array and then rest?"

"Is there a problem with this?" Shangguan Mengqing asked.

Chen Zixuan stared at the sky, slowly shook his head, and said, "Normally, this might not be a problem, but today..."

Chen Zixuan clearly knew something, but after a pause, he said, "Anyway, be extremely careful. We'll be going now, everyone!"

The disciples of Xuanfu Sect, including the female disciples who had fainted and been revived by Chang Wei and the others, thanked Chang Wei and the others and hurriedly followed the group away. The Xuanfu Sect group left in a hurry, and coupled with Chen Zixuan's hesitant behavior just now, Shangguan Mengqing felt that something was amiss.

Although Lin Ran felt that Chen Zixuan was a bit strange, he focused more attention on the invisible spatial barrier in front of him. He wondered if the bronze cube that he hadn't taken out since arriving at the secret realm was the key to opening this invisible spatial barrier.

"Perhaps in the original story, Xiao Chong used that cube to open this spatial barrier..." Lin Ran thought to herself.

He really wanted to try it now, but there were too many people around, and Lin Ran didn't dare to try it easily. But maybe he could try it out tonight...

In the end, Shangguan Mengqing couldn't figure out the reason either. When she saw that the sky was getting dark, she hurriedly led the whole team back to the camp and set up many attack formations or restrictions around the area. She also set up a stronger protective formation at the entrance of the cave before she could relax a little.

Night fell once again upon this land, but this time, unlike before, the bright red full moon in the sky was gradually swallowed by the darkness, turning into a crescent moon, making this desolate land even darker.

On the desolate Gobi Desert where Lin Ran and the others had been, some of the ground had cracked open, from which dark red mist surged out, so thick it seemed almost tangible. This dark red mist, surging from the ground, dispersed in all directions.

The giant rock beast that Lin Ran had once dealt with still lay quietly in the desert, its massive body surging up from the nearby ground, continuously flowing into the dead rock beast.

Under the healing power of the black and red mist, the huge grooves on the rock behemoth's body were completely repaired, and the tightly closed eyes on its head suddenly opened, shining with a dark red light.

The colossal rock beast, which seemed utterly dead, rose once more from the desert, its massive body roaring deafeningly. This time, however, it was enveloped in a thick, dark red mist, and it strode towards the mountain range.

This scene not only occurred in the desert, but also at the bottom of the basin lake. The Tai Shui Lin Long, which had been killed by the Ling Jing Holy Land, lay at the bottom of the lake with its huge, snake-like body. Suddenly, a large amount of black and red mist surged out from the mud and sand at the bottom of the lake, and this mist tightly enveloped the Tai Shui Lin Long.

Not long after, the eyes of the Tai Shui Lin Long turned dark red, and it burst out of the lake. In the sky in the center of the lake, it let out a piercing scream. The black and red mist surrounding its body transformed the Tai Shui Lin Long's body into a pair of huge dark red wings. Its coral-like dragon horns were surrounded by dark red mist, and a dark red energy ball condensed in the center of the dragon horns, which turned into a dark red beam of light that swept towards the lush forest.

As a dark red light swept across the sky, a series of explosions resounded, igniting the forest and setting the night ablaze...

……

Chapter 147 Escape

"It's so lively outside tonight!"

Lin Ran leaned against the rock wall, took a sip of tea, and listened to the sounds outside, sighing with emotion.

Unfortunately, no one responded to Lin Ran's sigh. Sitting at the entrance of the cave, he turned his head in surprise.

Then it dawned on them that Shangguan Mengqing had specially opened a small cave to cultivate inside, so no one could be seen there. Wen Qianyi had also gone into the cave to refine medicine. The other members of the group were sitting in twos and threes in the cave, chatting quietly, while some were resting with their eyes closed.

Lin Ran turned around, looked down at the teacup in her hand. The tea in the cup was still and calm. She shook her head and tilted her head back, wanting to take a sip.

Suddenly, a series of loud explosions rang out outside. Startled by the noise, Lin Ran instinctively loosened her grip on her right hand, spilling warm tea onto her clothes. The ceramic teacup hit the hard ground with a crisp cracking sound and shattered into several pieces.

Ignoring the water stains on her chest, Lin Ran hurriedly went outside the cave. The forest was darker than usual tonight. She subconsciously looked up and saw that the moon tonight was a bright red full moon, with the other half swallowed by darkness.

But that wasn't the most terrifying thing. Lin Ran saw in the direction of the lake that there was a creature in the sky that looked like a dragon, with black and red mist all over its body and huge dark red wings on its back. It was emitting a piercing scream, and dark red energy beams condensed from its horns once again, ravaging the land.

"what is this!"

Lin Ran couldn't recognize what kind of monster it was. Then, he turned his gaze to the vicinity of the encampment and saw that the arrays set up near the encampment had been activated. One after another, various kinds of demonic beasts kept attacking the defensive line they had set up. One gap had already been torn open, and more than a dozen demonic beasts roared and charged towards Lin Ran.

"court death!"

Lin Ran let out a low shout and was about to draw his Autumn Rain Sword when he keenly noticed that the aura of these demonic beasts was not quite right. The yin energy on these demonic beasts was extremely dense, and dark red mist swirled around their bodies, emitting a smell like rotting corpses. They had no signs of life and felt deathly still all over.

He couldn't help but think of the final boss in the Mirror Moon Holy Emperor's Secret Realm, the female evil god Feng Lian. She did indeed have the means to use these dark red mists to control corpses.

According to the original work, these corrupted monsters have no souls, feel no pain, are unaware of life or death, and possess even more terrifying power than when they were alive. Unless you completely annihilate them, even half of their corpses will run towards you.

"Could it be a chain reaction caused by my killing of Jemodo?" Lin Ran was secretly alarmed. If that were the case, the survival pressure in the entire secret realm at night would increase dramatically.

But the attacking monsters gave Lin Ran no time to think. She quickly drew her Autumn Rain Sword and unleashed dozens of sword energies in an instant. Combined with the powerful spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the sharp sword energy pulverized the monsters that rushed in through the gap into countless pieces of flesh, and a rotten stench spread out with them.

"This really stinks!"

Lin Ran couldn't help but cover her nose with her sleeve. When she saw the pieces of flesh still wriggling on the ground, she felt that this was truly top-level mental pollution. She casually released a sword energy barrier to block the gap and then returned to the cave.

At this moment, those who had been chatting and eating in small groups in the cave stood up, looked at Lin Ran, and waited for her instructions. Shangguan Mengqing and Wen Qianyi also came out of their respective small rooms.

Shangguan Mengqing came to Lin Ran's side and asked, "What happened outside?"

Lin Ran gave a brief and serious explanation of the situation outside, then offered her opinion: "I think we might have to leave this place. This time, we are no longer facing an ordinary monster tide."

Instead, it's a horde of demonic beasts controlled by the Void Evil Clan. The fact that these beasts are constantly attacking our encampment shows that this controlled horde is far more adept at searching for humans. Holding out here will only lead to our demise.

"Where should we retreat to?" someone asked.

"Where to retreat to..."

Lin Ran fell into deep thought. He already had an idea in mind, but he wasn't quite sure where the place was, though it was a city-state.

In the original story, as the exploration of the secret realm entered the middle and later stages, a rather extreme monster tide appeared. Someone then discovered an ancient city-state that was able to withstand the vast monster tide.

Later, everyone retreated into the city-state, but no matter how strong and ancient the city-state was, it was in grave danger in the face of the continuous attacks of the monster tides. The living forces in the secret realm were also reduced in this round of attrition. In the end, the outer city fell and they were forced to retreat to the inner city.

After that, for some unknown reason, he fled to another place. He forgot the specific reason, but for now, that place should be considered safe.

"That city must be located in one of these mountain ranges, right?" Lin Ran thought to herself.

He was trying hard to recall, and if he remembered correctly, the city seemed to be located in a canyon pass in this continuous mountain range, and the other side of the city seemed to be the place where the inheritance of the Mirror Moon Saint Emperor was initiated.

However, Lin Ran didn't have time to think further. Another series of explosions rang out, and the array they had set up outside was also destroyed by the continuous stream of demonic beasts, which rushed straight towards the cave. Instantly, a pale blue array light shone in front of the cave, and a powerful force used sword energy to shred the charging demonic beasts and block them outside.

The ear-piercing roars continued. Shangguan Mengqing glanced at Lin Ran, who was still thinking, and said coldly, "While the formation is still intact, everyone prepare for battle. We'll break through together and find a safe place!"

"Yes!"

Chang Wei and the others also took out various weapons, equipment, and emergency medicines, looking like soldiers about to go into battle, checking the equipment and weapons they were carrying.

Shangguan Mengqing looked at Lin Ran and calmly asked, "You must have some thoughts on this, right?"

Lin Ran shook her head and said helplessly, "Let's take it one step at a time. If it really doesn't work out..."

Lin Ran had already decided that if the team was really unable to venture deeper into the mountains, he might try to go to the ancient city wall and see if he could use the bronze cube to open the spatial barrier there. Although he didn't know what dangers might be inside, having this key plot token might be able to turn the danger into safety.

Shangguan Mengqing didn't ask any further questions. She knew Lin Ran must have her own thoughts, and she wouldn't pry. Everyone has their own secrets, and so does she…

The power of the array guarding the cave entrance had weakened considerably, and its original bright blue color had become very dim, indicating that the array was about to break. At this moment, inside the cave, Lin Ran and Shangguan Mengqing stood at the front, followed by Wen Qianyi, Chang Wei, and other people from the Sword Sect Tianli Academy.

Lin Ran turned around and glanced at everyone, then said, "Keep up with me. If anyone falls behind, the others must quickly pull them back and prevent them from leading the group, understand?"

"Yes!"

The crowd responded in unison.

Lin Ran nodded, and his right hand gathered surging golden spiritual power, with the shape of a dragon head faintly appearing on his fist. He couldn't help but look at Shangguan Mengqing beside him and asked in a soul transmission, "Are you scared?"

"I should be asking you that. I'm afraid you'll wet your pants in fear!" Shangguan Mengqing retorted.

"I hope so too!" Lin Ran smiled.

The array in front of them shattered with a crisp sound, and the monster in front of the cave entrance, with its ferocious face, charged in, baring its fangs and claws.

The next moment, a dazzling golden light pierced the darkness of the night, becoming a beam of light that pierced the darkness. The loud dragon roar drowned out the roars of all the demonic beasts. The ferocious dragon head opened its fangs and tore at the demonic beasts. When the golden spiritual power came into contact with the dark red mist, it was instantly dispersed and turned into dark red light spots.

The dazzling light immediately attracted the Tai Shui Linlong in the air. Its dark red eyes seemed to reveal its consciousness, locking onto that direction. Dark red energy orbs once again condensed at the dragon's horns, and in a moment, a dark red ray of light streaked across the sky like a shooting star.

As soon as Lin Ran led his team out, a sense of danger surged into his heart. He looked up at the sky and saw that the flying monster was attacking him.

"Moonlit Waterfall!"

Lin Ran let out a low shout, and with a sudden sweep of the Autumn Rain Sword in her left hand, the golden veil fluttered in the sky. The dark red energy beam struck the defense that Lin Ran had set up. The dark red energy beam and the golden sword energy intertwined, and the two energies were compressed, causing space to distort.

The next moment, the two swirling energies exploded.

"Boom!"

A tremendous sound suddenly rang out, dust flew up, and thick trees were torn in half by the powerful impact. Lin Ran and the others were also knocked over by the force of the impact.

Getting up from the ground, Lin Ran shook off the dirt and quickly helped up the disciples who had collapsed around her, urging them, "Get up quickly, don't faint here!"

The group quickly reunited, and even Shangguan Mengqing, Wen Qianyi, and the others looked disheveled, clearly having suffered a minor setback from the explosion.

"Let's hurry..."

Just as Lin Ran was urging the group to continue leaving, she realized that the monster was actually flying towards them.

"Damn it, they're really keeping a close watch on this area..."

Lin Ran cursed under her breath and looked at Shangguan Mengqing and Wen Qianyi, saying, "You take the team and escape from here as soon as possible. Remember, try to escape deeper into the mountains. Although there are dangers inside, the most dangerous place is also the safest. Rather than facing these demonic beasts that have been controlled by the Void Evil Clan, it is better to face the mysterious and unpredictable restriction formations."

"Senior, what do you want to say..."

Wen Qianyi suddenly realized something and covered her mouth in surprise.

Shangguan Mengqing quietly watched Lin Ran, while Lin Ran looked at the group, rubbed her nose, and smiled, "This monster is already watching us. I have to fight it, and it will also buy you time to escape. Let's run!"

……