Lin Gui couldn't be sure if Roger had done it on purpose.
Perhaps he simply didn't believe that Lin Gui's group would actually attempt the crossing.
After all, even as a High-tier Legendary, Roger himself couldn't do it.
So he had just marked a general direction to brush them off.
But according to the results of Lin Gui's high-altitude reconnaissance—
In the center of that area where many wandering spirits and demons were entrenched.
There indeed existed a small "vacuum."
A strange blank zone where almost no spectral demons were active.
He couldn't help but believe that place was Avalon.
Picking up his charcoal pen, Lin Gui rapidly drew two straight lines on the map.
One pointed to the blank zone, marking the path of entry.
The other slanted out from the blank zone, marking the evacuation route.
After finishing the drawing, he looked up.
Under the dual vision of his 【Eyes of the Netherworld】 and 【Demon Eyes】.
Deep within the Wailing Corridor, that most dazzling crimson light...
Suddenly, extremely faintly, it flickered once.
Lin Gui's breath abruptly hitched.
Across several kilometers of thick fog and night, he "saw" it clearly.
That was not a mass of unconscious light.
Rather, it was a massive, twisted, humanoid silhouette composed of countless wailing souls.
It seemed to have sensed the distant peering.
That crimson mass turned slightly, actually "looking" over.
Two hollow sockets burning with blood flames pierced through layer after layer of mist.
For a split second, they locked onto Lin Gui's gray eyes in the void.
Cold, tyrannical, and nearly tangible malice and silence.
Following that gaze, they slammed violently into Lin Gui's mind!
Lin Gui let out a muffled groan, and his eyes instantly welled with soreness.
He shut his eyes tightly, cutting off the link to the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】.
His back was already drenched in cold sweat.
"What happened?" Theia asked urgently, noticing something was wrong.
Lin Gui took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, he had regained his calm.
"Nothing."
He wiped the beads of cold sweat from his brow and pointed to the evacuation route on the map.
"I was just confirming..."
"A 'big trouble' we'll need to bypass later."
Recalling the locked gazes from a moment ago, Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
He picked up the charcoal pen and, at a certain position near the edge of the original map—
He made a small, strange, sharp-angled mark.
It looked like an abrupt turn, or perhaps some kind of warning.
This wasn't the first time he had "locked eyes" with that crimson spectral demon.
That entity... was very strange.
Judging by the "weight" of its soul...
It wasn't the strongest spectral demon in the corridor.
It might even be the weakest among the several Legendary and Epic existences Lin Gui had just caught a glimpse of.
In the vision of his 【Eyes of the Netherworld】, the situation deep within the Wailing Corridor gradually became clear.
The number of demons was far fewer than expected.
But every single one of them was powerful enough to make one's heart skip a beat.
Their souls took various forms.
Some were like tangled, churning pitch-black giant pythons, coiled deep within the rifts of the basin.
Some resembled a silent, burning pale bone mountain, emitting a soul-freezing chill.
The crimson figure in the center that had "looked back" at Lin Gui earlier actually appeared "small" in comparison.
However, even if it was the "weakest" among them.
The solidity of its soul and the intensity of its light...
Still far surpassed all living beings and demons Lin Gui had seen since obtaining the Eyes of the Netherworld.
Whether it was the Mid-tier Legendary Freya.
Or the Low-tier Epic Fortress Lord Balin Heavyhammer.
Though their souls were as bright as the scorching sun, they still fell within the "mortal" category.
But these spectral lords entrenched in the Wailing Corridor...
Their "presence" was almost akin to a natural phenomenon.
Like moving mountains, like calamities given form.
Lin Gui silently withdrew his gaze.
In his memory, only that silhouette he had glimpsed at the bottom of the Netherworld Sea...
That Demigod demon Sathos, who had caused the collapse of the entire western side of the continent.
Only the vastness and terror of its soul stood above these monsters before him.
Recalling how the soul of the Demigod Sathos filled the entire undersea abyss.
Compared to that, these few Epic demons didn't seem like much.
He took a light breath, his fingertip unconsciously tracing the sharp-angled mark on the map.
Then he used the pen to cross it out.
Lin Gui knew in his heart that this mark actually served no practical purpose.
Because the other party was constantly moving along with him.
That terrifying spectral lord had likely "noticed" him since he first started scouting.
To be precise, it had "seen" him.
Lin Gui never believed that his unconcealed high-altitude observations could hide from the perception of any Epic demon within.
Just as he expected.
His strength simply couldn't arouse even a sliver of "interest" from the other party.
In his observation, besides those few colossal beings, many Low-tier Hero Rank and even weaker spectral demons were wandering within the Wailing Corridor.
They managed to barely maintain their existence at the edges of the Epic lords' activity ranges.
As for spectral demons from the High-tier Hero Rank to the Mid-tier Legendary rank...
Lin Gui didn't see a single one.
It seemed the trait of high-level demons devouring low-level ones to grow stronger was also applicable to spectral demons.
As long as one didn't step into the range where the other could "eat them in passing"...
There generally wouldn't be too much danger.
To demons, living beings like humans, elves, and dwarves were no different from other demons.
They were all just "consumable energy bodies."
This was also why, despite the explosive number of demons in the wilderness, city-states could still survive.
Take New Covenant City, for example; it had no protective barrier and no large-scale concealment array, yet it survived while surrounded by the Black Demon Forest.
Was it that the demons of the Black Demon Forest didn't want to invade New Covenant City and eat the hundreds of thousands of people inside?
Actually, they really didn't.
Even if a demon devoured hundreds of thousands of commoners, it wouldn't bring any increase in strength to a single demon.
And the highest-strength warrior in New Covenant City was only a High-tier High Rank.
That rank was commonplace throughout the Black Demon Forest.
Aside from demons that had failed in territorial disputes and were forced to migrate—
Like those the Twilight Fortress defended against year-round.
Or those whose living space was being constantly squeezed—
Like the undersea demons that fled when the Silent Sea expanded.
Few demons would actively and organizedly attack city-states.
Because compared to their powerful and numerous kin in the wild...
The "energy" and "threat" provided by settlements of humans and other living beings were simply not enough to pique a demon's interest.
That was why Lin Gui often said that in dangerous places, being weak actually made one safer.
Right now, to those Epic spectral lords...
He was like an ant crawling through their field of vision.
Visible, but never worth specifically opening their mouths to eat.
But...
Lin Gui's gaze fell back on that crimson mass in the depths once again.
According to that brief "eye contact" and the seven hours of continuous mutual observation.
In the corridor, there was one that... seemed a bit different.
Lin Gui's heart stirred.
Could it be that the dispelling trait of the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】 toward spectral demons had caught that specific spirit's attention?
But the other spectral demons hadn't shown much of a reaction.
Those low-level spirits that were closer and came into direct contact with Lin Gui's gaze had fled in panic the moment they caught a glimpse of his gray eyes.
Meanwhile, the demons blocked by terrain or dead trees, who hadn't "locked eyes" with Lin Gui, continued to loiter in place.
As for the spectral lords above the Legendary rank...
They were unresponsive and indifferent to Lin Gui's "gaze."
The dispelling effect of the Eyes of the Netherworld relied on 'visual contact.'
Furthermore, the rank it could deter... had an upper limit below the Legendary rank.
As for why that fellow would pay special attention to him...
Lin Gui's gaze fell on the map, on that blank zone he had circled.
Then he scanned the few dashed arcs he had marked outside the blank zone.
Those were the movement and dwelling trajectories of that crimson spectral lord over a long period.
The trajectories tightly circled the blank zone, almost forming a defensive perimeter.
Lin Gui stared at the pattern and suddenly let out a soft laugh.
"So it's a gatekeeper."
"It seems Avalon doesn't have a barrier capable of defending against demons either."
"Well, it makes sense; no barrier can defend against spectral demons that can penetrate all physical and magical obstacles."
"If that's the case, then I won't have to knock on Avalon's door."
Rate on N.U.
