A team of twenty, led by Lin Youwei and composed of ten ninth-grade array masters and ten True Immortal experts, stepped into the teleportation array leading to the Tianlan Mountain Range.
The Tianlan Mountain Range stretched nearly ten million miles from east to west.
The closest city in the Array Realm to the Tianlan Mountain Range was still several million miles away from its outer perimeter.
Even with the teleportation array, it would take several hours to reach their destination.
Despite being the elite of the Array Realm, the group remained vigilant.
This was because none of them had ever ventured into the Tianlan Mountain Range before.
The mountain range served as a barrier between two realms, not merely due to its vast distance but more so because of the dangers lurking within.
The area was teeming with demonic beasts and unpredictable spatial rifts.
After two hours of spatial travel.
The twenty-member team, led by Lin Youwei, emerged from the teleportation array.
Their eyes were greeted by a dense forest of towering trees.
The ground was covered in knee-deep layers of fallen leaves, and the decaying wood beneath, untouched by sunlight, emitted a foul, rotting smell.
"This place should be at the boundary between the outer perimeter and the core of the mountain range," Lin Youwei observed.
"It's said that the Desolate Realm has spent ten thousand years establishing a teleportation array on the outer boundary of the mountain range on their side."
"So, our mission is to traverse the entire core of the mountain range, destroy the teleportation array set up by the Desolate Realm, and, as a precaution, set up as many array restrictions as possible in the surrounding area."
With meticulous planning, Lin Youwei laid out the core objectives of their mission.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Lin Youwei put away the map and carefully led the group through the forest.
Flying openly was out of the question.
Shortly after entering the core area, they had already detected the auras of at least three or four True Immortal-level demonic beasts.
Moreover, unstable spatial rifts could appear anywhere at any time.
Flying at high speeds risked accidentally entering one of these rifts, which would trap them in the void of space forever.
Fortunately, while the Tianlan Mountain Range was vast, most of it was just the outer perimeter. The core area, where True Immortal-level demonic beasts roamed, was only a few hundred thousand miles wide.
"This place is truly unsettling," one of the True Immortal experts couldn't help but complain. "It gives off such a suffocating atmosphere."
"Yeah, anyone who stays here too long is bound to go mad," another array master muttered.
As Lin Youwei and her team continued their journey, chatting casually, a sudden "whoosh" sound came from the sky, as if something had flown past.
The group was startled, their eyes wide with alarm.
One of them stammered, "D-did I see that right? I-I think I just saw someone riding a snail flying past."
"Something definitely flew by, but it couldn't have been a person, right?" another said.
"Yeah, don't spook us with your nonsense."
"This is the core of the Tianlan Mountain Range. Who would dare fly around so recklessly? It's practically suicide."
"So, it must be some kind of demonic beast from the mountains," another added.
For a moment, the group was on edge, speculating wildly.
At that moment, Lin Youwei shouted, pushing someone beside her out of the way.
As soon as the person was pushed aside, a durian fell from the sky, landing heavily on the ground and creating a small crater. The pungent smell of durian filled the air.
This left everyone even more dumbfounded.
"A... a durian? Did a durian just fall from the sky?"
They stared up at the heavens in disbelief.
Lin Youwei covered her nose with her hand, also looking up at the sky with a serious expression.
After a long moment of contemplation, she speculated, "It must have fallen from whatever flew past earlier."
"Was it a person?" someone asked.
"Probably not," Lin Youwei shook her head. "The speed was too fast—so fast that even with our abilities, we couldn't make out what it was. Not even a True Immortal expert at a high level of cultivation could achieve such speed."
"It's likely some kind of flying demonic beast we've never encountered before."
"As for the durian..."
She glanced down at the fruit on the ground and added, "Demonic beasts probably snack on fruits from time to time, right?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, another "whoosh" sound came from the sky.
This time, the flying object turned around and flew back in the direction it had come from.
Along with it came a grumbling voice.
"Damn it, I can't hold it anymore! I need to get to Array Heaven City and find a toilet ASAP!"