Chapter 630 - Soul Power Farm
Xue Wei's brows furrowed, and his eyes were full of doubt as he kept looking around. His primary focus was on the similarities between this strange tunnel and the chambers he had found before, so he did not pay much attention to the flaming hell above.
"Don't you think that this is very strange?" Hei Gou had no previous memories of the chambers that were causing doubts in the minds of the others, and this made it possible for him to notice other things they had overlooked.
"When we were on the surface level, the magma was bursting through the cracked ground, and the scorching heat was simply overwhelming. It was clear that the underground was full of molten stone, and the dangers we should have faced after dropping down the fissure should not merely be this tunnel."
Hei Gou's words were like an awakening from a dream. Xue Wei and the others quickly wrested their gaze away from the familiar scratch marks on the walls and began to observe their current situation instead.
When looking up, they could hardly see the volatile fire above, and the magma that seemed to be bursting through the surface had also vanished. It would not be reasonable for this magma to leave such a spacious tunnel like this alone unless something was holding it back.
"The heat in here is also not unreasonable when we consider the strange condition of the zone we entered. Although we are underground, it should still be hot and uncomfortable, but I can't help but feel a chill while being within this tunnel." Bai Tianyi had also begun to consider the various doubts in their surroundings, and all of them began to feel that they had stumbled across something important.
"This place is very wicked. There is no actual soul power present within this area, but I can sense a lingering despair and death tainting the walls, making it obvious that many souls have been lost here." Luoluo said as she looked around with furrowed brows.
Although both she and Bai Tianyi were spirits, Bai Tianyi had not been a spirit for as long as she had, and his sensitivity was not as fine-tuned as hers. He could feel the chill and the discomfort in his mind after arriving in the tunnel, but he did not know what caused this emotion, as it was new to him.
"Let us keep moving." Xue Wei could guess that the many scratch marks that were evident on the stone walls were made by those despairing souls as a final struggle for survival, but from the countless traces left behind, it seemed to have been a futile effort.
Even so, Xue Wei did not focus on the loss of life, but instead felt a strange anticipation and hope to finally understand the purpose of those previous chambers they had encountered. Although he had absolutely no leads to base his thoughts on, he had a theory that these chambers and this tunnel were closely connected to his hidden enemy.
Xue Wei took a deep breath as he steadied his mind and took the lead in moving forward within the tunnel.
The tunnel was dark, and the only source of light they had encountered was the light that came down through the fissure in the ceiling, so as they advanced forward, the darkness quickly shrouded them.
"Let us use the luminous orbs to light up the surroundings. Although we might be easier targeted by others when we are lit up like that, we are also in less danger when we can see our surroundings." Hei Gou had already taken out the glass-like orb that contained light as he spoke. Although he understood that the light sources could turn into a double-edged sword, he also knew that they had no other option than to use them for now, as their safety would be even more at risk without these lights.
"I believe that this tunnel is not actually a part of the zone we were in just now. Keep in mind that the zones are just projected into our world, so while we have been walking in another world every time we have been in these zones, I don't think that they can penetrate deeply into the ground of our world, so this tunnel should belong to our own world." Luoluo looked around and spoke out her thoughts as she felt that the chill and uncomfortable air within the tunnel was almost making her sick.
"I would imagine that this tunnel might run through every single zone within No Man's Land. The many corpses and deaths that are needed to fuel the various monsters and creatures in the different zones might also be linked with this tunnel." Xue Wei did not know exactly what was happening, but he had already begun wondering about the sheer amount of deaths they had encountered so far.
He did not believe that so many people would be stupid enough to enter the danger zone one after another, so the only explanation would be that they had been taken there, either against their will or willingly. Even so, it was clear that they had lost their lives, and their souls had likely been trapped within this tunnel system underground.
However, what purpose could there be from gathering souls like this? Spirits like Luoluo and Bai Tianyi were, indeed, in need of soul power to advance, and the cultivators that cultivated spiritual energy also relied on this specific type of energy, but soul power was easily corrupted.
Spirits would not be able to consume soul power that had been tormented to the point of corruption without refining it, but the refining process would take long, and the sheer amount of deaths that had been happening within these zones made it clear that they were mass-producing soul power. A spirit could never be this ruthless unless it was an evil spirit.
Humans, on the other hand, could be the cause, but the power needed to make this elaborate soul power farm was also overwhelming.