In the canyon, by the lakeshore, a large number of amethyst beasts were gathered. A small purple whelp stood atop a giant beast's head, staring at the lake.
One by one, amethyst beasts climbed out of the water and onto the shore, each with its head bowed.
"You're all useless — you can't even find a few humans who slipped in there," the young purple beast raged.
None of the purple beasts dared to make a sound.
The young beast hesitated for a moment. "We've already wasted half a day at this lakeshore. The Fog Tide is almost over for the day. We can't afford to waste all our time here." It then raised its voice: "Minions, let's go! Leave this place and get back to killing humans!"
"ROAR~~" Immediately, countless amethyst beasts roared in excitement.
They wanted to kill too, after all. The Fog Tide only came once every hundred million years — this was the only day they could emerge. The time was precious. If they wasted it all here, they would feel it had been for nothing.
Countless amethyst beasts roared and followed the purple whelp as they departed.
"Hmph, hmph. I've remembered those few people. I hope you're still around during the next Fog Tide. Then I'll be sure to give you a proper welcome," the young beast said, a glint of cunning flashing through its clear eyes.
The slaughter continued. A massive number of amethyst beasts spread across every location, and many humans met their end. This time, the god-level powerhouses who had entered because of the Fog Tide — originally numbering well over a hundred million — now, after the carnage, fewer than one in ten survived. Those still alive, even including those who had originally been in the Amethyst Mountain Range, numbered less than ten million.
When the blood sun set and the purple moon rose, the Fog Tide day came to an end.
Of course, the Amethyst Mountain Range was shrouded in white fog year-round, so the blood sun and purple moon could not be seen.
But the entire Amethyst Mountain Range was remarkably punctual. The 108 Amethyst Magic Caves dramatically reduced the quantity of amethyst they ejected, returning to their normal state. Outside the Amethyst Mountain Range, the forces of the eighteen families all ceased their activities, feeling excited about the amount of amethyst they had obtained.
Inside the Amethyst Mountain Range, the amethyst beasts immediately set off on their return journey and quickly vanished from sight. So many amethyst beasts had been there, yet the god-level powerhouses could hardly find a single one.
Lin Lei and the others, still inside the cave, weren't sure of the exact time, so they simply waited another ten-plus hours. The following day, they finally emerged from the bottom of the lake.
By the lakeshore in the canyon, the six of them sat resting on the ground.
Jarod's face was full of joy as he said excitedly, "The Fog Tide day is finally over. After this, we'll have another hundred million years of peaceful quiet. I never imagined that I, Jarod, would live to see two Fog Tide days in a row."
"Just surviving is worth it, even if I lost a divine clone," Galant thought, equally happy.
Lin Lei looked at Jarod and Galant. He could tell that their joy came from the depths of their hearts, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled. He asked, "Jarod, in this Amethyst Mountain Range, we can only see about a hundred or two hundred meters. It's covered in white fog year-round, and we can't leave. You really don't mind at all?"
When Lin Lei said this, it struck a chord with Bei Bei and Olivier as well.
In the Amethyst Mountain Range, apart from the Fog Tide day, there was no danger at other times. But enduring that tremendous gravitational pull year-round meant they couldn't even fly. And being limited to visibility of only a hundred or two hundred meters, day after day — it was indeed monotonous and painful.
Jarod and Galant exchanged a glance and both smiled.
Jarod turned to Lin Lei. "Lin Lei, it's not that we don't want to leave. It's that this damned place is simply impossible to escape. Since we can't get out, what can we do? Just enjoy life quietly. At least I still have Galant."
Galant's face reddened slightly, and the gaze she turned on Jarod held a deep, abiding affection. Having depended on each other for nearly an eternity, they could no longer be apart.
"I don't believe we can't get out," Bei Bei snorted. "We'll just walk straight ahead without flying until we reach the very edge of the Amethyst Mountain Range. And keep going! I don't buy that we can't walk out. And if that doesn't work, once I reach the edge, I'll burrow underground and go that way!"
The ground outside the Amethyst Mountain Range wouldn't be nearly as impenetrable.
"You can't walk out!" Galant warned. "The gravity of the Amethyst Mountain Range isn't simply directed straight up and down. The entire massive range attracts everything from all directions. Whether you're underground, on the surface, or in the air above, you'll be pulled in by the Amethyst Mountain Range!"
"What?" Lin Lei was shocked.
He had read that book on the summaries of profound laws, including the section on "gravity space." That involved creating a gravitational field within a certain area. He had never heard of an entire landmass attracting everything from every direction.
This Amethyst Mountain Range was like an enormous magnet.
Whether you stood below it, to the side, or above it, you had to endure that gravitational pull.
"Besides the gravity, there's also that strange wind-sound zone. Within that zone, you simply cannot pass through," Jarod said. Then he smiled. "Dilia, Lin Lei, thank you both for this. Galant and I will be heading off now."
After Jarod and his wife departed, Lin Lei, Dilia, Bei Bei, and Olivier did not give up. Although Jarod had told them as much, until they had seen it with their own eyes, they refused to abandon hope. The four of them immediately set off in a straight line.
The canyon where Lin Lei and the others were located was at least tens of thousands of li from the outermost edge of the Amethyst Mountain Range.
The gravity inside the Amethyst Mountain Range was enormous, so their speed was not particularly fast. It took them over half a month to reach the edge. But when Lin Lei tried to take another step forward, he felt a terrifying gravitational force instantly slam into his entire body, pulling him straight back into the Amethyst Mountain Range.
Extremely bizarre!
Standing on the rocks at the very edge of the Amethyst Mountain Range, they were fine. But the moment they tried to step beyond it, that gravitational force would suddenly drag them back.
This strange gravitational phenomenon was something Lin Lei had never encountered.
Gravity space — the gravitational force there pulls things downward. But this force actually used the Amethyst Mountain Range as its center, pulling in all directions.
They couldn't even take a single step out of the Amethyst Mountain Range. How were Lin Lei and the others supposed to leave?
At the edge, Lin Lei and the others racked their brains for a full month, but they gained nothing. In the end, they had no choice but to reluctantly give up. The four of them settled into a mountain valley just a few hundred li from the edge.
In the valley, Lin Lei's Wind, Earth, and Fire divine clones were all cultivating, while Lin Lei's main body stayed with Dilia.
Lin Lei sat casually on the ground, leaning back against the stone wall behind him. Dilia sat beside him, leaning against his side. She looked up at Lin Lei. She knew in her heart that he longed for a life full of passion. If he had to stay in this Amethyst Mountain Range for hundreds of millions of years — that was simply unimaginable.
Dilia still remembered their month of constant attempts at the edge of the Amethyst Mountain Range.
The attempts themselves could have been done in half a day.
But it was because Lin Lei and Olivier refused to give up. They had desperately wracked their minds, trying again and again, each time hoping to find a way out, wanting to leave this place and return to Hell. But after persisting for a full month, Lin Lei finally gave up. Dilia understood that his heart still burned with unwillingness.
"Lin Lei, do you really want to get out?" Dilia said softly. "Or... perhaps use one drop of that azure water drop?"
Lin Lei turned his head to look at her and gently shook his head.
The matter of the Sovereign's might — after parting ways with the Volcano Giant Posero, during the twenty years of quiet cultivation, Lin Lei had told both Dilia and Bei Bei about it. They all knew of Lin Lei's final trump card: the Sovereign's might.
Using the Sovereign's might, he would certainly be able to counteract that gravitational pull.
But could he afford to use it?
Lin Lei shook his head. "Even if I use the Sovereign's might and can counteract the gravity, there's no telling whether I could fly out through that chaotic zone. Dilia, you should know — there were once Highgod powerhouses who could overcome the gravity, but in that bizarre wind-sound zone, even they couldn't fly out."