Lin Gui couldn't be sure if Roger had done it on purpose.
Perhaps he simply didn't believe that Lin Gui and the girls would actually attempt to cross it.
After all, even as a High-tier Legendary expert, Roger himself couldn't do it.
So he had probably just scribbled down a rough direction to brush them off.
But according to the results of Lin Gui's high-altitude reconnaissance—
—right in the center of the area where countless specters and demons lurked...
...there was indeed a small “vacuum.”
A bizarre blank space where almost no spectral demons roamed.
It was impossible for him to think it was anything other than Avalon.
Picking up his charcoal pencil, Lin Gui quickly drew two straight lines on the map.
One pointed toward the blank area, representing their path of entry.
The other cut diagonally out of the blank area, representing their evacuation route.
Having finished drawing, he looked up.
Under the dual vision of his 【Eyes of the Netherworld】 and 【Demon Eyes】...
...deep within the Wailing Corridor, the most dazzling crimson light...
...suddenly flickered ever so slightly.
Lin Gui's breath caught in his throat.
Across kilometers of thick fog and night, he “saw” it clearly.
It was not an unconscious mass of light.
But rather, a massive, twisted outline cobbled together from countless wailing souls...
...forming a humanoid silhouette.
It seemed to have sensed the distant gaze.
The crimson mass turned slightly and actually “looked” over.
Two hollow, blood-flame-burning sockets pierced through the layers of mist.
For a split second, they locked eyes with Lin Gui's gray gaze in the void.
A cold, tyrannical, almost tangible malice and deathly silence...
...slammed violently into Lin Gui's mind along that line of sight!
Lin Gui let out a muffled groan, a sudden stinging sensation rushing to his eyes.
He snapped his eyes shut, severing the connection to the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】.
His back was already drenched in cold sweat.
“What's wrong?” Theia asked urgently, sensing that something was amiss.
Lin Gui took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, he had regained his composure.
“It's nothing.”
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and pointed to the evacuation route on the map.
“I was just confirming...”
“...a ‘big trouble’ that we'll need to bypass later.”
Recalling that brief exchange of looks, Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
He picked up the charcoal pencil and made a small, sharp-angled mark near the edge of the original map.
It was a tiny, bizarre acute-angle mark.
It looked like an abrupt turn, or perhaps some kind of warning.
This was not the first time he had “locked eyes” with that crimson spectral demon.
It... was very strange.
Judging by the “weight” of its soul...
...it was not the strongest spectral demon in the corridor.
In fact, it might even be the weakest among the several Legendary and Epic entities Lin Gui had just glimpsed.
Within the vision of the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】, the situation deep inside the Wailing Corridor gradually became clear.
The number of demons was far lower than expected.
But each one was terrifyingly powerful.
Their souls took various forms.
Some were like tangled, thrashing black serpents, coiled deep within the basin's rifts.
Others resembled a silently burning mountain of pale bones, emitting a coldness that could freeze the soul.
In contrast, the crimson figure in the very center that had “looked back” at Lin Gui earlier seemed rather “petite.”
Yet, even this “weakest” one...
...possessed a soul so dense and a light so intense...
...that it far surpassed any living being or demon Lin Gui had ever 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 blazed like miniature suns, they still belonged to the “mortal” realm.
But the spectral lords entrenched in the Wailing Corridor...
...their very “presence” was akin to a natural phenomenon.
They were like moving mountains, like calamities given physical form.
Lin Gui silently withdrew his gaze.
In his memory, only the outline he had briefly glimpsed at the bottom of the Netherworld Sea...
...that of the Demigod demon Sathos, who had caused the entire western side of the continent to collapse...
...possessed a soul so vast and terrifying that it reigned supreme over the monsters before him.
Thinking back to the soul of the Demigod Sathos, which had filled the entire undersea abyss...
...compared to that, these few Epic demons seemed like nothing.
He took a soft breath, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the sharp-angled mark on the map.
Then, he crossed it out with his pencil.
Lin Gui knew very well that this mark was actually useless.
Because the other party had been moving along with him.
That terrifying spectral lord had likely “noticed” him...
...the moment he began his scouting.
To be precise, it had “seen” him.
Lin Gui had never assumed that his blatant, high-altitude observation...
...could be hidden from the senses of any Epic demon inside.
And just as he expected...
...his own strength failed to pique the slightest bit of “interest” from the other party.
In his observations, aside from those few colossal entities...
...a number of Low-tier Hero Rank and even weaker spectral demons also wandered around.
They barely managed to exist on the fringes of the Epic lords' territories.
As for spectral demons ranging from High-tier Hero Rank to Mid-tier Legendary...
...Lin Gui hadn't seen a single one.
It seemed that the trait of high-level demons devouring lower-level ones to grow stronger...
...also applied to spectral demons.
As long as they didn't step into a range where they could be “devoured on a whim”...
...there shouldn't be too much danger.
To demons, living beings like humans, elves, and dwarves...
...were no different from other demons.
They were all just “devourable energy sources.”
This was also why human city-states could still survive despite the explosive number of wild demons.
Take New Covenant City, for instance. It had no protective barrier or large-scale concealment formations, yet it still survived while surrounded by the Black Demon Forest.
Was it because the demons of the Black Demon Forest didn't want to invade New Covenant City and feast on its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants?
Actually, they really didn't.
Even if a demon devoured hundreds of thousands of commoners, it wouldn't bring about any increase in strength.
Meanwhile, the strongest warriors in New Covenant City were merely High-tier High Rank.
For the Black Demon Forest, this rank was a dime a dozen.
Aside from those demons that had failed in territorial disputes and were forced to migrate...
...such as those that Twilight Fortress defended against year-round...
...or those whose living space was constantly being squeezed...
...like the undersea demons that fled when the Silent Sea expanded...
...very few demons would actively and systematically 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 the most dangerous places, being weak actually made one safer.
To those Epic spectral lords, the current him...
...was like an ant crawling across their field of vision.
They could see him, but they would never go out of their way to eat him.
But...
Lin Gui's gaze fell back onto the crimson mass deep inside.
Based on that brief “staring contest” and their continuous seven hours of mutual observation...
...there was one in the corridor that... seemed a bit different.
Lin Gui's heart stirred.
Could it be that the dispersal properties of the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】...
...had caught the attention of that particular spectral demon?
Yet the other spectral demons hadn't shown much of a reaction.
Those low-level specters that were close and had made direct eye contact with Lin Gui...
...had fled in panic the instant they caught sight of his gray eyes.
Meanwhile, some demons blocked by the terrain or dead trees, who hadn't “locked eyes” with Lin Gui...
...continued to wander aimlessly in place.
As for the spectral lords of Legendary rank and above...
...they showed no reaction to Lin Gui's “gaze,” remaining completely indifferent.
The dispersal effect of the Eyes of the Netherworld relied on ‘eye contact.’
And the rank it could deter... had an upper limit below Legendary.
As for why that fellow paid special attention to him...
Lin Gui's gaze landed on the blank area he had circled on the map.
Then, he scanned the outer edge of the blank area, tracing several dashed arcs he had drawn.
Those were the paths where that crimson spectral lord had lingered and moved over a long period of time.
The trajectory tightly encircled the blank area, almost forming a defensive perimeter.
Staring at the pattern, Lin Gui suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
“So it's a gatekeeper.”
“It seems Avalon doesn't have a barrier capable of warding off demons either.”
“Then again, no barrier could possibly defend against spectral demons that can phase through all physical and magical obstacles.”
“If that's the case, then I won't even need to knock on Avalon's door.”
Rate on N.U.
