Undead Ancient Kingdom, the Bottomless Abyss.
The entire Bottomless Abyss lay at the heart of the Illusion Forest, like a colossal black hole that had formed in the midst of an ocean of trees. The hole was roughly the size of an NPC city, with seething black mists billowing from its depths. Even from a distance, the mists radiated an indescribable chill — a cold that seemed to drain all life and leave nothing but deathly silence in its wake.
"So this is the Bottomless Abyss?" Mu Qingcheng gazed at the enormous sinkhole swallowed by the forest, her heart swelling with a shock she could barely articulate.
She was not the only one stunned. Every member of the Purple Shadow Adventure Team gasped in unison, thoroughly overwhelmed by the sight before them.
The Bottomless Abyss was not merely spectacular — the oppressive aura it exuded was terrifying beyond words. Even as Tier 2 experts standing at a distance, they felt their breathing grow labored. None of them dared imagine what it would be like to actually stand within those black mists.
"No wonder the Wind Wolf Adventure Team couldn't last even an hour," Shenqiu Mingdong muttered, watching the seething black mists rising from the sinkhole. He was beginning to understand why members of the Wind Wolf Adventure Team spoke of the Bottomless Abyss with such dread — why they had declared it a domain that no current player could hope to set foot in.
"The mist isn't too thick yet. Let's move in quickly." Shi Feng was thoroughly familiar with the conditions of the Bottomless Abyss and had long since grown used to its terrifying appearance. He glanced at the black mists coiling within the sinkhole, then made his way toward the staircase leading down.
During the ancient war, numerous primordial gods had taken up arms, and the Bottomless Abyss was the result of their battle. Legend held that the destruction had been so catastrophic it had punched straight through the world barrier connecting to the Abyss World, allowing the dark energy of that realm to pour into the Divine Realm and create what was now known as the Bottomless Abyss.
Fortunately, the primordial gods had also erected a magic barrier here, preventing the dark energy within from spilling out beyond the Abyss. That was the only reason the surrounding kingdoms and empires had not been destroyed — for with the full power of the Abyss World unleashed, it could have easily devoured the entire Divine Realm continent.
The dark energy inside the Bottomless Abyss fluctuated in intensity due to the magic barrier's condition. After all, the barrier had endured for an inconceivably long time, and while gods might be immortal, the materials that formed the barrier were not immune to the erosion of the ages — divine-grade materials included.
When the dark energy in the Bottomless Abyss was at its densest, ordinary Tier 1 players could not survive more than three or four hours. Tier 2 players might manage a little over ten hours. Exceed that, and a player's body would be corroded by the dark energy, drastically accelerating the drain on both stamina and mental energy until they collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
And players who died from exhaustion suffered an additional death penalty — dark erosion of the soul, plunging them into a weakened soul state that severely reduced their experience gain, lasting anywhere from three hours to a full day.
Because of this, any team without ample preparation met a miserable end here. Ordinary Tier 2 players did not dare set so much as a toe inside.
However, as a God-tier regional Dungeon, the Bottomless Abyss held considerable rewards for those who dared.
The abundant resources were secondary; the real draw was the staggering concentration of magical power within. Despite being chaotic and impure, it allowed players to level up rapidly. And the Bottomless Abyss was never short of powerful monsters — perfect for players looking to test their strength to the limit.
Put simply, the Bottomless Abyss was a paradise for the strong and a hell for the weak.
That was why the great superpowers of the Divine Realm found themselves caught between love and hatred toward the place.
Shenqiu Mingdong watched Shi Feng stride into the Bottomless Abyss without a moment's hesitation. Gritting his teeth, he ordered his team to follow.
The instant the Purple Shadow Adventure Team crossed the threshold, every member felt an indescribable heaviness settle over their bodies. Their reactions slowed, yet the dense magical energy flooded their minds with an almost exhilarating clarity. It was a sensation of fire and ice warring within them, so alien that their own bodies no longer felt like their own.
It was like running high-performance software on a bottomless pitiful machine.
Moreover, once inside the Bottomless Abyss, their visibility plummeted. What had been roughly a hundred yards dropped to around fifty in the blink of an eye. Within that range, monsters could easily detect players — and strikes could come at any moment.