A ter-wide, two-ter-tall rainbow beam stood upright in the sky, shining brightly and crystal-clear, with a solid appearance like a piece of translucent crystal.
Inside it was a young woman around eighteen or nineteen years old. Her face was as fair as jade, her figure tall and slender, with a slim waist and straight legs. She wore a light blue dress that flowed naturally, exuding an ethereal aura.
Everyone was montarily stunned. This young and beautiful woman looked like a fairy untouched by the mundane world, exuding a transcendent beauty, like a pure white lotus with dewdrops or a fresh snow lotus from the mountaintop, giving off a sense of otherworldliness.
The world is not lacking in stunningly beautiful won, but it’s rare to find soone with such an ethereal temperant. It was as if she had transcended the mundane and rged with nature itself.
This graceful and serene girl remained calm as she gazed down at the crowd. She spoke, her voice pleasant to the ear, but everyone took a mont to understand her words. It resembled ancient Chinese, soft and gentle, requiring careful interpretation.
“We are a group of people in distress. Are you a fairy? Can you save us?” a female classmate cried out tearfully. At this point, her body was withered, skin wrinkled, looking old and decrepit. Seeing what appeared to be a fairy-like girl, she imdiately cried and begged for help.
Lin Jia and Li Xiaoman also stepped forward with hopeful expressions. Once extrely beautiful and proud won, the blow they had suffered was worse than death. Seeing such a pure and lovely girl made their desire to regain their youth even more urgent.
In midair, dots of light sparkled like a piece of refined essence from a rainbow, condensed into a beautiful jewel, sealing within it an elfin-like young woman.
In reality, the crystal-like beam wasn’t solid, though it appeared so. The girl inside was not bound at all. Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, gently fluttering, eyes misty like water, skin white and glowing, shimring with a radiant beauty.
“Have you entered the Desolate Forbidden Ancient Realm?”
Another soft, lodious sentence was spoken. The group again had to pause briefly to understand the ancient Chinese-like words.
“Yes, we just escaped from there,” an elderly-looking female student replied helplessly through tears, looking up with a pleading gaze. For a woman, such a tragic transformation was a devastating blow. Her mind was in turmoil, and she spoke without much thought.
The girl in the rainbow light was visibly shaken upon hearing this, her calm expression showing clear surprise.
“To have co out alive… that’s truly remarkable,” she said softly. Then her gaze began scanning over Liu Yiyi, Zhang Ziling, Pang Bo, and Ye Fan repeatedly, as if recalling sothing. Suddenly, she looked shocked and urgently asked, “Is this your actual age?”
“No, we’re not this old. We don’t know why we lost decades of youth and vitality,” a male student replied anxiously, looking nervously and hopefully at the girl in the sky.
But the girl didn’t look at him, as if she already knew they had lost their youth. She was directing her question to Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
Ye Fan responded, “We were all in our twenties. We don’t know why so people aged, while others beca younger again.”
“Really?” The girl in the sky appeared visibly shocked. She stared intently at Ye Fan and Pang Bo and asked urgently, “Did you eat a kind of red fruit, bright red, crystal-clear…”
Ye Fan could confirm that the strange fruit they had eaten matched her description. There was no way to deny it, especially since Zhou Yi and others had seen it too, so he nodded.
The girl in the rainbow beam looked at Ye Fan and Pang Bo with a strange expression, like she was examining a rare treasure. Despite her beauty and grace, her gaze made the two of them feel uneasy.
“Can the people who aged still be saved?” Wang Ziwen could no longer remain calm and desperately wanted to know whether he could regain his youth.
“Don’t despair. Although restoring appearance is difficult, you have gained much in exchange for your youth. Once outside, many people will compete for you,” the girl in the sky said. Seeing the crowd’s confused expressions, she continued, “Don’t worry, them fighting over you isn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s an opportunity.”
“I… I just want to get my looks back,” a female student sobbed. Having aged like this, she felt she had lost the will to live.
“All right, I’ll first take you out of this desolate ancient forest.” The mysterious girl gently waved her hand, and a rainbow of light descended, enveloping everyone in the mountains and lifting them into the air to stand beside her.
This truly was a mysterious world, it seed like magic to them.
“We’re very far from any populated area. If you tried to walk out, it would be nearly impossible. There are many terrifying beasts in this prival forest, even I have to go around them.”
Pang Bo looked puzzled and asked, “Aren’t you from the fairy palace up ahead?”
“Fairy palace…” The girl in the sky showed confusion and asked, “What fairy palace?”
Pang Bo pointed at the mountain in front and said, “Aren’t there many grand palaces over there, stretching across the mountain range? So many immortal cranes flying above them!”
“The legend is true…” the girl said, revealing a strange expression.
“What legend? Didn’t you see it?”
“No, I saw nothing,” the rainbow girl said thoughtfully. “The Desolate Forbidden Ancient Realm, an ancient dead zone, a life-forbidden area, since ancient tis, those who entered and managed to survive all said they saw a fairy palace nearby, but it was always unreachable.”
Indeed, the group realized the girl’s explanation matched their experience. Soone asked, “Was it just an illusion?”
“Not an illusion. You can only truly approach the palace at a specific ti and with special ans. That kind of great opportunity is beyond most people’s reach, it can only be hoped for, not obtained.”
Zhou Yi, deeply concerned about his situation, asked, “What happens to those who survive the Desolate Forbidden Ancient Realm?”
The girl, graceful like an icy jade tree, glanced at him and calmly replied, “Entering the life-forbidden zone is almost certain death. Even if you survive, you age rapidly and your life is near its end. However, your ‘Sea of Bitterness’ is awakened, so if you embark on the path of cultivation, you’ll advance more easily.”
“Can youth be restored?”
“It’s difficult, but not impossible. As you deepen your cultivation and strengthen your vitality, you might eventually regain your appearance,” her words ignited hope in many hearts.
“What exactly is in the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Realm? What power made us lose our youth?” Wang Ziwen couldn’t help asking. It was a question that had plagued them all, they hated it, yet felt powerless.
“This question is ancient. Many have asked over the ages, but no one can give a clear answer.” The girl continued flying rapidly with the group. Surrounding them was a gentle rainbow glow shielding them from harsh winds, allowing conversation without obstruction. She went on, “It’s said that at the bottom of the forbidden zone lies the ‘Desolation’, perhaps an ancient being, or perhaps a terrifying force.”
“Hasn’t anyone tried to explore it?” Ye Fan asked.
“Countless have tried since ancient tis, but almost none returned,” the mysterious girl replied. She looked back at the vast forest and added, “Every inch of that land has been soaked in blood. Countless corpses have piled up there. Once, a supre power gathered its greatest force during its peak era, tens of thousands of powerful cultivators, to breach the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Realm and seize the rumored treasure. But all of them perished. The sect nearly vanished from the world. Only three or five returned, and the inheritance was nearly lost.”
“So terrifying?!” Pang Bo gasped in shock.
“That land is soaked in endless blood. Pity that supre sect, not only were tens of thousands of cultivators annihilated, but even several peerless experts beca ‘Desolation Slaves’, forever enslaved in the abyss below.”
Hearing this, everyone instinctively thought of the terrifying shadow they had seen, with enormous chains dancing violently. It was likely one of those “Desolation Slaves.”
The colorful rainbow flew at incredible speed. The endless forest below retreated quickly, but even at that speed, it took a full hour to reach the edge of the desolate forest.
By now, night had fallen. In the distance, a small town glowed brightly with lights. As they approached, seven or eight beams of rainbow light soared into the sky. Each contained a figure.
“Weiwei has returned!”
“Did you find anything near the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Realm? All the nearby sects and sanctuaries have sent their forces, looking for sothing. You didn’t run into them, did you?”
“Since our elders sensed sothing from the forbidden zone, those sect experts must have noticed as well.”
These rainbow figures were all elderly, seemingly the girl Vivi’s elders.
“These people are…”
“Could they have stumbled into the Desolate Forbidden Ancient Realm and co out alive?”
When Weiwei confird this, the elderly figures burst into laughter.
“Hahaha… Excellent! Their ‘Sea of Bitterness’ is already activated, they’re great material for cultivation!”
The group quickly descended into the brightly lit town and entered a large hall.
“So young?” Upon seeing Ye Fan and Pang Bo, the elders showed expressions of shock and disbelief.
“Did they eat the legendary fruit? That’s… impossible!” one elder said in astonishnt. “Nine sacred mountains surround the Desolate Abyss. Each is said to have a divine spring and a miraculous fruit, nine springs and nine fruits in total. Obtaining even one transforms your body! But how could re mortals like them get anywhere near there?!”
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