Huazhou was massive. It took several hours before Yang An finally led Wen Yin and Zhou Quan to its border.

By now, Wen Yin and Zhou Quan had long since recovered, but Yang An was still the one carrying them along. Otherwise, the journey would have taken much longer.

Huazhou was located at the edge of the Fusheng Domain, bordering the Treasure Temple Domain.

After asking the Bow Lady, he learned from Wu Yun's memories that the State Territory bordering Huazhou was called Tosha State.

However, it wasn't so easy to get from the Fusheng Domain to the Treasure Temple Domain.

Although the Four Outer Domains bordered each other, an invisible barrier called the Broken Armor lay between each territory.

So while they appeared to be connected, each domain was, in fact, independent.

This was to ensure that the Four Domains did not affect one another and to prevent major conflicts from erupting between them.

No one knew how the Broken Armor had come to be or who had created it.

It had existed since ancient times.

And to get from the Fusheng Domain to the Treasure Temple Domain, one had to enter the Broken Armor and successfully emerge on the other side.

Inside the Broken Armor, all powers were nullified. Anyone who entered would be reduced to an ordinary person.

This included the Undying Body and Physical Power, as well as the respective costs one had to bear. Everything would vanish without a trace.

Even mountain spirits and wild beasts that had cultivated into human form would revert to ordinary animals and birds upon entering the Broken Armor.

Hearing the Bow Lady's description, a question couldn't help but surface in Yang An's mind.

'If all powers and their costs are nullified inside the Broken Armor, doesn't that make it an excellent sanctuary for Cultivators?'

'When the cost is about to erupt, couldn't they just enter the Broken Armor to ride it out safely? Turn a crisis into a non-issue?'

'And even if Cultivators don't go in, mortals could. They'd be completely safe inside, with no need to worry about being harmed by Cultivators or Demon Fiends. Wouldn't that be a good thing?'

To this, the Bow Lady merely scoffed.

"If you think the Broken Armor is safe for everyone, you're dead wrong!"

"Why is that?" Yang An asked curiously.

"Because inside the Broken Armor exists a countless swarm of monsters—a species called the 'Beng Bird!'

"No matter who enters the Broken Armor, they will be attacked by these monsters. It's impossible to survive," the Bow Lady explained.

"What about Original Spirits? Do even they, who are not suppressed by the Power of Rules, lose their strength inside?"

"No one! Not even Original Spirits are an exception!"

"By that logic, doesn't it mean crossing the Broken Armor is practically impossible?"

Yang An found it hard to believe. How could such a massive obstacle exist between the Four Outer Domains? If that were true, travel between the Four Domains would be completely cut off.

"Of course not. There is one way to pass through the Broken Armor safely!"

"What is it?"

"Get your hands on something called a 'Primordial Stone.' If you eat it, you won't be attacked by the monsters inside the Broken Armor.

"However, the Primordial Stone's effect is time-limited. It only lasts for a quarter of an hour. If that time runs out, using a second Primordial Stone right away is useless.

"That's why the Broken Armor has another name. The people of the Four Domains also call it the 'Primordial Continent'!"

'Primordial Stone? Primordial Continent?'

Yang An's brow furrowed.

"How can I get one?"

"Two ways. First, you could go back to Huazhou right now. You might be able to trade for one from those Sects and factions. The Golden Soul Sect has them; every branch does. Wu Yun even had some in his original Storage Magical Artifact, but you destroyed all of that."

"..."

'Sometimes, I feel this Light Magic of mine, which leaves nothing behind—not enemies, not their things—isn't necessarily a good thing.'

"Tell me the second way," he said, decisively abandoning the first option.

Even if those Sects and factions had a Primordial Stone, the Treasure Temple Domain was right in front of them. Besides, he had already killed a State Lord and a Zombie God from the Golden Soul Sect. He was in deep trouble and couldn't possibly turn back now.

"As for the other way... that would be to enter the Broken Armor. The Primordial Stone is a product of the Broken Armor itself, so you can find it inside. But it's extremely risky. Are you sure you want to go in?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

Yang An sighed.

"No."

The Bow Lady answered bluntly, then described the Primordial Stone to Yang An.

The Primordial Stone was a red, jewel-like crystal. Eating it would generate a gray barrier on the body's surface, rendering the person imperceptible to the Beng Birds for a limited time. This would allow them to evade the attacks and safely pass through the Broken Armor.

Yang An nodded. He then looked at Wen Yin and Zhou Quan and told them everything about the Broken Armor.

"You can choose for yourselves whether you want to come in with me or wait for me out here."

Yang An said it plainly. He was just going in to test the waters. Finding a Primordial Stone would be for the best, but more importantly, he needed to verify just how much he would be affected inside the Broken Armor.

After all, seeing is believing.

Without much hesitation, both of them decisively chose to enter the Broken Armor with Yang An.

Out here, the two of them would only be a burden. But since all powers were nullified inside the Broken Armor, it meant all three of them would be on a level playing field. If danger arose, they could look out for each other.

Of course, their individual reasonings were different.

Wen Yin felt that Yang An had been the one protecting them this entire journey from Han State. If she didn't step up now, it would be an act of cowardice.

As for Zhou Quan, if the other two went into the Broken Armor and he was left alone, his own strength, combined with the suppression from the Power of Rules, meant he probably couldn't handle even a single random Demon Fiend. Given that, he'd rather follow them into the Broken Armor.

Yang An didn't say much. He just nodded and led the two of them to the front of the barrier.

The barrier was like a warped, transparent wall. Through it, they could see the scenery of the Treasure Temple Domain on the other side, but looking through the Broken Armor, everything was distorted.

Filled with caution and having prepared themselves, the three of them stepped forward in unison, entering the Broken Armor.

It felt like a soft, formless substance brushed past them. In the blink of an eye, everything before them changed.

They were standing amidst ruins. All around them was a scene of decay, with gray dust covering everything. It was as if time itself had stopped in this place.

Wild grass snaked between shattered bricks and stones, growing wantonly and untended. In the distance, the remains of buildings stood silently, as if recounting a story of past glory and present sorrow.

The sky here was a dreary gray, and a dead silence hung in the air. Not a single living creature could be seen.

It felt as though just entering this place was enough to make one's mood heavy and oppressed.

But when he saw the ruins in the distance, Yang An's gaze suddenly sharpened.

Ceramic tiles... Dragon pillars... Stone lions...

And... a glass door?!

The toppled buildings were buried deep underground. Only a few corners, eaves, and broken walls were visible, yet he could clearly see exposed, hardened concrete and steel rebar within the fractured walls...

Yang An even saw a plaque, half-buried upside down in the dirt.

...Street Residents' Committee?

In that instant, an absurd feeling washed over Yang An.

'Aren't all these things products of modern society? Why are they here? And from the looks of it, this place has been completely destroyed. It looks like the apocalypse, as if it's been silent for a very, very long time.'

'Am I hallucinating?'

Yang An rubbed his eyes. When he looked again, it was still the same. He couldn't help but turn to Wen Yin and Zhou Quan, wanting to ask them.

But when he looked at Wen Yin, he saw that the mass of blood vessels that had been exposed in her eye sockets was gone. Now, only two empty sockets remained, and her face wore a look of confusion and fear.

"Senior Brother! I... I can't see anything."

Wen Yin said nervously.

Yang An understood at once. Upon entering this place, everything about Wen Yin would revert to normal. Even her perception was gone, so she could no longer use it to see.

In other words, at this very moment, she had become completely blind.

Yang An reached out and gently patted Wen Yin's shoulder to let her know he was there, but she immediately grabbed his hand and held it tight.

Yang An instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but he paused. He had never seen Wen Yin look so helpless, so he let her be.

He tried calling for the Bow Lady in his mind, but there was no response.

The longbow slung over his back seemed to have become a completely ordinary bow.

Yang An had no choice but to turn to Zhou Quan, who was curiously sizing up their surroundings.

When he saw Yang An looking at him, Zhou Quan flinched slightly.

"Senior Brother, the buildings here look so strange. I've never seen anything like them."

Hearing his words, Yang An more or less understood. It seemed what he was seeing was real, not a hallucination.

'But why are these things here? Could the so-called Broken Armor, or Primordial Continent, have some connection to modern society?'

A heap of questions flooded Yang An's mind, but he had no clue where to even begin.

Not only that, but upon seeing these things, a strange sense of panic slowly began to grow within him.

He tried to test his powers. His Mana seemed to have vanished; he couldn't sense it at all, nor could he condense the Celestial Gnomon Light.

Even his Meat Burial Talisman and all other Storage Magical Artifacts had lost their function. The Storage Bracelet on his wrist had become an ordinary item, and the bracelet of the Six Golden Secret Seals had vanished without a trace.

Yang An touched the longbow with his hand. To his surprise, an information box appeared. The description of the Bow Lady within it hadn't changed, but all the text had turned gray.

Upon seeing the information box appear, Yang An couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

'This is my greatest reliance. If even this had disappeared, I'd be much more worried. Thankfully, it's still here.' 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Thinking of this, something else came to Yang An's mind—an item he hadn't used in a long time.

He slowly reached for his lower back. Through his clothes, he immediately felt a feather pressed flat against his back, near his waist.

The feather felt as if it had grown from his very flesh, rooted in his spine. When he touched it, a faint numbing tingle spread through him.

This was the item born from the atavism of his own flesh and blood, an object connected to his body, marrow, bone, and bloodline—the Spinal True Feather!

'It's still here!'

And when Yang An slipped his hand under his clothes and touched the feather, an information box immediately popped up before his eyes.

The color of its text, unlike the gray that had appeared for the Bow Lady's information, was a normal white!