215: Chapter 214 The Lost Ones on Rainbow Avenue! Three explorers suddenly appear—who are they?
Lin Feng deployed his Wind Wings and flew into that colorful crack.
The moment he crossed the layer of twisted air at the edge of the rift, he instinctively tensed every muscle in his body.
The array sequence for the Taixu Shield was poised at his fingertips, ready to activate at any moment.
But the Void Storm he expected did not appear, nor did the anticipated chaotic energy turbulence.
The surrounding violent primordial energy suddenly quieted down, as if he had crossed an invisible door—outside the door was chaos and roaring, while inside was absolute silence.
His Wind Wings flapped gently behind him, each stroke creating a faint, seven-colored ripple that slowly spread through the air.
He lowered his head; beneath his feet lay a Rainbow Avenue.
It was not a metaphor; it was a real rainbow.
Seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—paved a road about ten meters wide, extending from the rift entrance into the deep Void Realm at the end of his line of sight.
The road surface was smooth as a mirror, with a slight elasticity, as if he were walking on solidified light.
With every step he took, the color beneath his feet would brighten slightly, as if responding to his stride.
Lin Feng squatted down and reached out to touch the surface; it felt warm and smooth, like touching a piece of jade warmed by the sun.
Even more eerie was the fact that it was slowly flowing—not the entire road moving, but each color flowing forward at different speeds: red was the fastest, violet the slowest, and the seven speeds overlapped to create a sense of flowing layers.
"This road is alive," he said in a low voice.
Xiao Guang jumped down from his shoulder, squatted on the road surface, and poked a blue band of light beneath its feet with its finger.
The moment its fingertip sank into the light band, blue light spread up along its finger, circulating on the surface of its golden skin a few times before slowly receding.
"It is not a living creature, but a solidified energy body. These colors themselves are energies of different wavelengths forcibly compressed by something, with extremely high density. The surface is warm and smooth, but the internal structure is more stable than any metal. I haven't seen this kind of Materials in any ancient books—although the Divine Stone of the Taigu Dojo also contains seven colors, that is a naturally formed energy crystal, completely different from this artificially compressed solidified energy body."
It stood up and looked around, its tablet already out to start recording data.
Lin Feng stood up and re-examined the surroundings.
On both sides of the Rainbow Avenue were not walls, nor the gray, ruinous scenes from the Void Corridor.
On both sides was the Universe Void Realm—the real, vast, and boundless Universe Void Realm.
The pitch-black background was dotted with countless stars; some gathered together to form brilliant star clusters, while others were scattered in the further darkness, their outlines softened by faint halos of light.
A house-sized meteorite drifted slowly not far to the left, its surface riddled with pits, each embedded with fine ice crystals that reflected a diamond-like, fragmented luster under the illumination of the seven-colored avenue.
Further away, one could see the blurred outlines of several planets, one of which had a light blue ring. The ring rotated slowly, with occasional flashes of lightning-like energy fluctuations at the edges.
The distance between the meteorite and the planet looked very close, but Lin Feng knew that was only because the sense of scale in the Void Realm had been distorted—in reality, they might be tens of thousands of kilometers away, or they might be just a few steps away.
"This place has twisted macroscopic distance and microscopic perception together."
Xiao Guang sat cross-legged in the open left palm of the mecha, with the tablet resting on its knees, its hands constantly swiping through the energy spectrum on the screen.
"Look at that meteorite next to you—you think it's only a few steps away, but its position on the energy spectrum shows it is extremely far away. And this road itself has not left any traces on any energy band; it looks like space fragments torn from different corners of the Universe and pieced together, and very casually at that."
Lin Feng looked toward the other side of the avenue following its words, where there was a huge nebula, with purple and dark blue gases slowly rotating. In the core of the nebula, one could faintly see a few newly formed stars emitting orange-red light.
He discovered that the light of the nebula and a certain layer of color beneath the Rainbow Avenue were flashing in synchronization—the nebula core would brighten, and the purple light band on the avenue would follow, as if there were some kind of weak energy resonance between the two.
It was not just the nebula; the planetary rings in the distance and the ice crystals on the nearby meteorite all had their light corresponding to a certain color beneath his feet.
This Rainbow Avenue did not exist in isolation—it was like a string, and the surrounding Universe Void Realm was the lingering sound resonating on the body of the instrument.
Xiao Jin carefully poked its head out from his shoulder.
It had been huddled in his pocket earlier, not daring to come out, but now, feeling that there were no Void Realm energy fluctuations around, it was a bit bolder.
It stared at the huge meteorite drifting slowly on the left, the purple light patterns on its antennae flashing several times—the ice crystals embedded in that meteorite were of the same composition as the void crystal found in the laboratory secret room, just dozens of times larger in size.
It raised its front legs to point at the meteorite, then looked back at Lin Feng.
"That one can't be taken away; it's too big."
The light patterns on Xiao Jin's antennae wilted instantly, its two front legs hugged together, lying on the roadside watching the meteorite drift away, emitting a faint and sad squeaking sound.
Lin Feng ignored it, stood in place, and watched the nebula for a while. When he withdrew his gaze, he happened to scan the front side of the avenue.
Then his gaze stopped.
Not far ahead, on the side of the avenue near the Universe Void Realm, stood three people.
They were wearing Explorer uniforms, the style identical to the spare combat suit in Chu Han's Storage Ring—that was the standard equipment issued by the Federal Explorer Association to Advanced Explorers many years ago, with dark blue fabric, the association emblem printed on the left chest, and a mission badge on the right arm.
The clothes were already tattered, with several long tears on the cuffs and hem, revealing the pale skin underneath.
The weapon belt at the waist was half empty; the dagger and secondary weapon were missing, leaving only the main weapon still in the scabbard.
They stood at the edge of the Rainbow Avenue, facing the Universe Void Realm, motionless, like three sculptures placed there at random.
When Lin Feng's perception swept over, his heart skipped a beat—there was no breathing, no heartbeat, and no spiritual power fluctuations.
But their bodies were wrapped in a layer of extremely faint seven-colored light film, the frequency of which was perfectly synchronized with the energy pulse of the Rainbow Avenue beneath their feet; every time the light film flashed, the seven-colored light band on the avenue would follow.
Lin Feng put away his Wind Wings, drew his sword, and walked toward the three people with light steps.
He made sure of every step before taking the next one. The light band beneath his feet glowed slightly, but the Breath-Hiding Array on him was still active, suppressing his energy fluctuations to the lowest level so as not to disturb anything for the time being.
Xiao Guang put away the tablet and retreated into the mecha cockpit. The mecha squatted down into a low-posture alert mode; the Dark Energy Cannon on the right arm did not pop out, but the dark red light at the cannon barrel interface had already begun to preheat.
Xiao Jin flattened its antennae against its head, moving its six legs as lightly as possible, inching forward.
As he got closer, Lin Feng saw more details.
The person standing at the very front of the three was a middle-aged man, tall and sturdy. His Explorer uniform was torn in several places, and the exposed skin was covered with gray-white fine lines—that was the typical trace left after long-term erosion by Void Realm energy in a Void Realm environment.
The man had a square face, thick eyebrows, and an old scar on his chin, extending from below his left ear to the center of his chin, which was likely an old injury from his early years that had worsened due to secondary erosion by Void Realm energy.
His right hand was pressed on the hilt of his sword, the blade still inserted in the scabbard, but the knuckles holding the sword were stiff, as if he had maintained this posture for a very, very long time.
The surface of the scabbard was covered with a layer of gray-white fungal carpet, the same kind of fungal carpet Lin Feng had seen on the walls of the office building.
Standing to his left was a short-haired woman, tall and slender, with deep facial features and the corners of her mouth slightly drooping; even with her eyes closed, one could tell she was a person who did not smile easily when she was alive.
Her Explorer uniform was relatively well-preserved, only the left sleeve was torn off at the root, revealing her entire arm.
There was a black Phoenix tattooed on that arm.
Lin Feng recognized this tattoo.
He had seen this Phoenix when organizing the team photos his parents had taken; it was tattooed on the left arm of a woman surnamed 'Lu'.
His father's diary had mentioned her: Lu Yun, the team's deputy captain, Ice attribute Dual Cultivation, specializing in long-range control, with a cold personality but never failing at critical moments.
The last text record showed she was still helping his mother organize the space structure model of the latter half of the Void Corridor.
Standing on the right was a young man, looking only in his early twenties, the youngest of the three.
His hair was shaved very short, his face was round, and almost no gray-white fine lines of Void Realm erosion could be seen on his skin.
He was the only one of the three holding a weapon—his right hand gripped a broken short blade, the blade had several gaps, and the handle was wrapped with long-faded anti-slip tape.
A red rope was tied to his left wrist, the color still very bright, out of place with the surrounding gray tones.
At the end of the red rope hung a small peace knot, tied crookedly; one could tell the person who braided it was unskilled.
He was half-kneeling on the ground, his head lowered, the broken blade propped in front of him, maintaining the last posture of his life.
Lin Feng had seen such a photo the first time he saw Chu Han's name; he was smiling faintly at the camera in a tent, and now he was curled up on the edge of the Rainbow Avenue, not knowing how many years he had maintained this posture.
Lin Feng walked past the side of the three people and did not walk any further.
He had already reached behind them; any further ahead was the endless Void Realm at the edge of the avenue.
And looking from here, after the Rainbow Avenue passed under the three people's feet, it continued to extend forward, shrouded by a layer of seven-colored mist-like halo not far ahead.
Deep in the halo, one could vaguely see more blurred figures, motionless, arranged on both sides of the road like tombstones.
Some stood relatively far away, their identities unrecognizable; but on this latter half of the road, it seemed that more than just these three people were resting in eternal sleep.
"It's Chu Han's team. I've seen his peace knot in the photo; the red rope tied to his wrist is the same one. It can't be wrong."
Lin Feng squatted down and gently touched the peace knot at the end of the red rope on Chu Han's wrist.
The moment his fingertip touched the red rope, the seven-colored light film wrapping the three people suddenly flashed violently at the same time.
The pulse frequency of the light film was synchronized with the three people's heartbeats—there were no heartbeats, but the light film was simulating the last vital signs of their lives.
Chu Han opened his eyes first.
Then Lu Yun.
Then the middle-aged man.
The three people opened their eyes at the same time; their pupils were gray-white, without focus, without emotion, and without a trace of vitality.
It was exactly the same as the gray mist that Xiao Ta had just collected—the gray-white, churning, viscous consciousness residue like magma was flowing in their bodies.
Chu Han's fingers, gripping the broken blade, moved slightly, and the blade began to hum.
Lu Yun's fingers, hanging by her side, condensed a layer of extremely thin frost, the edges of the frost glowing with a faint seven-colored light—she was an Ice attribute Dual Cultivation practitioner when alive, and after being possessed by the gray mist, she still retained part of her skill instincts.
The middle-aged man's fingers, pressed on the sword hilt, tightened suddenly, and his knuckles made a clicking sound of bone friction.
Xiao Guang's pupils contracted, the Dark Energy Cannon on the right arm of the mecha popped out instantly, and the dark red light of the cannon barrel's charging illuminated the Rainbow Avenue for several meters around.
"Lin Feng! They are controlled by the gray mist—the same state as when that Aggregate fought back after death, but more stable, more like living people. The gray mist has completely eroded them!"
Lin Feng took two steps back and crossed the taixu sword and dragon slaying sword in front of him to defend.
Two crossed sword shadows were reflected on the ground, penetrating the flowing light film on the surface of the Rainbow Avenue, revealing three pale and numb faces slowly turning toward him.
Xiao Ta vibrated in the Sea of Consciousness again, the vibration stronger than any previous time, as if urging him—but it did not take action on its own.
The seven-colored light film wrapped around these three people was different from the gray mist that had floated out of the Void Beast remains earlier; the gray mist could be swallowed at will, but it dared not touch this layer of light film, seemingly afraid of hurting the people beneath it.