On the edge of the clearing, trees laden with enticing plums swayed in the wind. The plums were crystal clear, brimming with spiritual energy, making one’s mouth water at first sight, wanting to devour them in one bite.

Ye Yunxiu shook his head and quickly regained his clarity.

As a Dark Spirit with strong spiritual power, he rapidly shook off that mental temptation. When he turned back to look at Lin Sisi, he saw her smiling and nodding at him, and Ye Yunxiu instantly understood what was going on, feeling a wave of astonishment.

At the same time, within this Shadow Barrier, at the rescue team in the old-age home, the vest-wearing man and others also saw the distant scene in the sky. Like Ye Yunxiu, the pattern of the mountain expanded rapidly before their eyes, and in no time, they could all clearly see the plums on the edge of the clearing.

These people were ultimately just warriors and ordinary folks; how could they resist the allure of the plums? The moment they saw the plums, they couldn’t help but drool, as if nothing else in the world mattered. They all had only one thought in mind - to eat that plum.

At this moment, countless people couldn’t help but take action.

They slowly reached out their hands, stretching towards the inaccessible plum grove across the distant horizon.

Yet, what should have been a meaningless action brought about an unexpected outcome in the next moment.

The vest-wearing man felt his hand suddenly touch something cold, and the intoxication in his mind was instantly replaced by that chill, bringing him back to his senses.

Only then, when he looked around, he was surprised to find himself in another place he hadn’t realized.

This was no longer the dim scene of the old-age home. The sky was blue, the flowing water was clear, and crisp mountain forests stretched to the horizon with no end in sight.

"Where... have I arrived...?"

The vest-wearing man’s mind was a bit muddled, instinctively glancing around at the equally bewildered faces in the crowd, and a bold guess suddenly emerged in his heart.

"Could it be... have I actually come to that mountain forest on Sky Mountain...?"

The vest-wearing man shivered all over. He didn’t know what methods the other party had used or how he had inexplicably traversed the distance. Clearly, he was so far from that peak, yet just by extending a hand, he ended up here?

Wait, just extending a hand?

The vest-wearing man looked down at the crystal-clear plum resting calmly in his palm, and a phrase he recently learned came to mind.

Thirst Quenched by Imaginary Plums!

"Could it be that... quenching thirst by imagining plums is real?"

The vest-wearing man was a bit confused at this point, although the process of quenching thirst seemed a bit different from what the books described.

The surrounding people were evidently as bewildered about their current situation as he was.

But despite their inner confusion, many inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

Anyway, they had finally escaped from that damned barrier!

This was where the Transcendents had directed them, so there should be no danger, and their little lives were basically safe now.

After a moment of daze, the crowd wept with joy, hugging each other to celebrate their narrow escape from death.

On the nearby clearing, the chubby blue cat Xiao Hua lay boringly on a stone, licking the small plum in its embrace, looking at the group with an expression of observing fools.

"Swish!"

A figure appeared; it was Ye Yunxiu.

Ye Yunxiu glanced at the small plum in his palm, feeling the spiritual power fluctuation within, and had the urge to store it in his Storage Space.

However, the small plum suddenly transformed into specks of light and vanished, leaving his plan to collect it unfulfilled.

"So that’s how it is..."

Ye Yunxiu couldn’t help but smile bitterly and shook his head; the Spirit Fruit here was indeed prohibited from being taken out.

Many gradually calmed down from the emotions just now, and some had already instinctively swallowed the plums in their hands, feeling a refreshing sensation spread from the mouth throughout the body, involuntarily letting out a moan of utter satisfaction.

Seeing those who had eaten the fruit weren’t poisoned, others began to consume their fruits as well, and soon the crowd wore expressions of immense enjoyment.

Some wanted to go back into the grove to pick another fruit or two, but as soon as their hands touched the plums, they suddenly dissolved into specks of light and vanished. After several tries, they didn’t dare to risk it any further.

Subsequently, people gradually noticed Ye Yunxiu’s presence, his Anti-Demon Alliance uniform clearly stating his identity.

"Everyone, you are now safe."

Ye Yunxiu’s words were convincing, quickly bringing everyone to complete calm. Thus, the civilians inside the Shadow Barrier were successfully rescued.

However, what he didn’t tell them was that these people were actually still within the Shadow Barrier, only because they were on Da Niu—Earth Mother’s back, and thus couldn’t perceive it.

"The civilians are safe; how is the situation below?"

In the temporary command camp at the center of the barrier, Su Changqing looked at the distant mountains and immediately knew the result, then turned his attention to exploring the underground base.

The communicator emitted intermittent sounds.

"Star Lord, we have reached the GTBU base and are advancing toward the core area. However, the Shadow Barrier’s strength here is much greater than above. Our wristwatches are severely affected, and even with the enhanced stabilization mode activated, the effect is negligible."

This was Beelu’s reply.

"Understood, continue to explore deeper. If communication channels are disrupted, use Spiritual Connection for transmission. Deploy spiritual marks along the way to enhance the runes, ensuring the link can be used normally."

"Copy that!"

After a brief silence, Su Changqing found that the screen of his wristwatch suddenly went black and soon received the system prompt "Disconnected."

"Exploration Team, report the situation."

He quickly switched to spiritual power connection to inquire.

Beelu’s voice sounded in his mind.

"Star Lord, we have reached five thousand meters underground and discovered numerous Hurricane Bureau warrior corpses here, initially deduced to be victims of a Shadow Demon attack." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Any other special findings?"

"None for the moment."

"Keep going deeper."

"Copy that!"

They advanced further, and about five minutes later, Beelu took the initiative to contact Su Changqing.

"Star Lord, we have reached fifty-five hundred meters underground. Based on surrounding environment assessments, this is where the main containment facility is located, with all containment items concentrated on this level. We’ve also found signs of an intense firefight, presumed to be a battle between the Hurricane Team and Alien Species, which occurred roughly ten minutes ago."

Su Changqing frowned slightly.

Ten minutes ago, which means the two sides should be quite close.

However, from Beelu’s current status, they seemed not to hear any other disturbances. Was it possible that the Shadow Barrier isolated their senses?

Unable to understand what was happening, Su Changqing continued to inquire:

"Exploration Team, report nearby combat situations."

"Currently, twenty-six human corpses discovered; cause of death seems to be body distortion, likely killed by a Shadow Demon. There are signs of deeper entry, but no other Alien Species corpses found for now."

"Wait! No other Alien Species corpses found? What’s going on?"

As if suddenly realizing something, Su Changqing immediately questioned.