In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

Lin Qiye didn't give it any time to react.

He raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and with a touch of the extremely refined dark gold light, like a needle tip, gently touched the giant ape's brow.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no violent energy leakage.

It's that light, seemingly casual flick of the finger.

The giant ape felt as if its soul was being frozen. It wanted to hide, but its body was as stiff as a rock under the oppressive ancient majesty; it wanted to roar, but its throat was choked by an invisible force, and it could not utter a sound.

My fingertip touched the skin between its eyebrows.

No sound.

The giant ape's blood-red eyes, filled with rage and resentment, instantly lost all their luster. All life force and spiritual energy vanished like a punctured balloon in an instant. Its massive, mountain-like body froze in place, still in the posture of an open mouth ready to roar, but it was now just an empty shell.

A gust of wind blew by.

The giant ape's massive body, now devoid of all support, crumbled and weathered silently from the spot where it had been struck on the forehead, turning into countless grayish-white powders that fell down and piled up into a small sand dune in the basin.

From the moment Lin Qiye suddenly appeared in front of the giant ape to the moment the giant ape turned to ashes, the whole process took only two or three breaths.

The basin returned to deathly silence, with only the whistling of the wind blowing across the dunes and the faint, suppressed sobs of children coming from behind the bend in the riverbed in the distance.

Lin Qiye slowly withdrew his finger, the dark golden light in his eyes gradually fading, returning to a deep black. He gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, his face slightly paler than before. That finger strike, seemingly effortless, actually utilized a trace of "primordial pressure" contained within the Candle Bloodline, directly crushing the giant ape's soul core, consuming a considerable amount of energy.

He turned around and looked again at the enormous carcass of the giant lizard at his feet.

Without the threat of the giant ape, he could now investigate more thoroughly.

He crouched down, placing his palm on the giant lizard's cold, thick scales. Dark golden Origin Qi, like a thin stream, slowly seeped into the giant lizard's body, sensing its flesh, bones, and especially all the information remaining in its shattered skull.

Fragmented images and pieces of information flooded my mind—

In the endless darkness of the earth, a river of viscous, scorching lava flows... The call of some ancient will, like the murmur of a slumbering dream... Climbing upwards along winding fissures, devouring every weak life along the way, drawing energy... Breaking through the surface, arriving at this desolate land yet teeming with extraordinary primal energy... Encountering another colossal beast, similarly drawn by the ancient aura, a long standoff and occasional skirmishes ensu... An instinctive awe and avoidance of the black altar in the center of the basin... Until this day, sworn enemies meet, a fight to the death...

The information was disorganized, mostly memories of survival and fighting driven by the monitor lizard's instincts. But Lin Qiye astutely picked up on a few key points:

"The Call of the Ancient Will"—this relates to the will slumbering deep within the altar and the possible existence of the "Gateway to the Realm".

"Land with abnormal source energy" - confirming that this area has indeed been affected by the long-term effects of the energy dissipated from the bloodline of the Candle.

"An instinctive awe and distancing from the altar" – this indicates that although the two giant beasts were attracted there, they were not completely controlled or corrupted by the altar, and still maintained a certain degree of independence and biological instinct. This may be one of the reasons why they were able to grow to such an extent.

Lin Qiye withdrew his hand and fell into deep thought.

These two colossal beasts seemed more like wild animals lured by the "bait" than direct guards or avatars of the altar. Their appearance suggested that deep within this land, many more powerful beings from different eras or realms, drawn by ancient auras, might be slumbering. The journey ahead was likely far more perilous and unpredictable than he had anticipated.

He must leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

Lin Qiye didn't delay any longer. He pointed his fingers like knives, and dark golden light flickered at his fingertips. He easily broke through the giant lizard's hard scales and skull, and took out a fist-sized, dark blue crystal with natural energy patterns on its surface from deep within its brain. This was the "beast core" that was the essence of the giant lizard's body, containing most of its life energy and source qi cultivation. Although it was not very useful to him, it might be useful for research, exchange, or in the future.

He put away the beast core, quickly checked the rest of the giant lizard's corpse, and after confirming that there were no more valuable clues or items, he flashed back to his family at the bend in the riverbed.

The women breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him return safely, but the shock of witnessing the brief yet intense confrontation still lingered in their eyes.

"It's resolved," Lin Qiye said succinctly. "We shouldn't stay here any longer; let's set off immediately."

No one asked any questions. The group quickly regrouped and set off again. This time, they quickened their pace along the dry riverbed. Everyone knew they had to get away from this area where a top predator had just fallen as soon as possible. No one knew what even more terrifying things the thick stench of blood and residual energy might attract.

Lin Qiye walked at the front of the group, holding the still warm dark blue beast core in his hand, his gaze fixed on the unknown eastern horizon.

The carcasses of giant beasts, ancient stone tablets, eerie altars, disguised clones... more and more secrets are hidden in this wasteland, and the road ahead is still shrouded in mist.

Lin Qiye and his family trekked across the wilderness for seven whole days.

The seven-day journey proved more arduous than anticipated. The lingering stench of the battle against the colossal beasts, like an invisible plague, drew in even more greedy eyes from the depths of the wasteland. They encountered three attacks from strange beasts of varying sizes—some were packs of wolves driven mad by corruption, others were giant venomous scorpions lurking beneath the sand, and once, they even encountered a group of bizarre creatures that could fly short distances, resembling bats but covered in bony spurs.

In every encounter, Lin Qiye was like a stabilizing force, his dark golden light flashing across the wasteland time and again, nipping any threat in the bud. His methods were clean and efficient, without any unnecessary movements; often, the battle was over the instant the beast horde showed its face. The women went from initial fear to gradual numbness, and later, they could even quickly shield the children in the center, forming a tacit defensive circle, even in the brief moments between his attacks.

However, the continuous vigilance and battles also took a toll on Lin Qiye. Even with the support of the Candle Bloodline, he was not an inexhaustible machine. During his nighttime rest, his breathing time was noticeably longer, and his face showed a hint of barely perceptible fatigue.