The river that flowed through the Phantom Butterfly village was much longer than Raymond had expected, as the mountain range before it was only the surface of its origin.

For several days after seeing the giant petroglyphs, the procession followed the river, but when the mountain range that hid the huge petroglyphs was interrupted in vain, the landscape ahead was in vain transformed into a huge basin, and the surging river was also hidden underground, becoming a dark river.

According to Hima, the river originates in a desert outside the basin, so if you want to follow its course, you need to cross the basin to reach the desert and eventually reach its source.

The dangers in this basin all come from the underworld plants called 'treacherous willows' that grow in it, and if you don't want to intersect with these treacherous willows, you can only go around, which will take more than ten days.

Since it was only a threat from the plants of the underworld, Raymond naturally would not detour in order to avoid it, so he followed the direction of the dark river into this basin.

The basin was dotted with countless pools of water that had been formed by the occasional uplift of the dark river, and the plants of the underworld that could emit a glimmer of light were the first to be seen, and then the willows that were more than ten meters tall and looked like dead wood.

After entering the basin, Raymond inspected the environment and found that the air pressure here was not only very low, but also the temperature dropped sharply at an altitude of thirty to forty meters above the ground, and the extremely chaotic air flow was also unstable. It was as if the effect of the forbidden sky had been formed, making it impossible for the creatures with slightly lower strength to resist at all.

Raymond, who was trying to protect Uru and Hima from the sky, found that it was difficult to last with the help of the barrier. And the longer he stayed in the air, the more the pressure from the sky increased, so after a little trial to confirm that it was not possible, he also dispelled the idea of crossing through the air, landed and started hiking.

With the pale green lenses given by the Sirens, and the glimmer of the plants of the underworld, Raymond could see the road ahead without having to cast illumination, as well as the strange willows that looked like dead trees.

The entire trunk of the tree is covered with nodulous scars. The slender branches have no leaves on them, and they make a dry clicking sound when they sway in the wind, and they really look like dead trees that can break in the wind at any time.

It's just that when he entered the basin, the phantom butterfly Himala confessed. These willows have a range of six meters, and they do not change in any way as long as they are not approached.

Therefore, Raymond has no interest in provoking these seemingly dead willows, but as the team continues to deepen, the willows with a height of more than ten meters are gradually connected. It's inevitable.

There is no response to sentient probing. But as soon as they entered the edge of the range under their control, the dead branches were silently cut down like sharp blades.

Each willow has hundreds of branches, and although it is silent when it is launched in vain, it is also a little intimidating when it comes at it.

It's just that this slightly purely physical attack can't shake Raymond's defense at all, but the entanglement and twisting power formed by the willow after launching it is actually far more hidden and powerful than the futile slash.

In an instant, it would be entangled in hundreds of pitch-black, shriveled willow branches, and even Raymond's defensive barrier would be squeezed inward. And only the burning of the invisible fire can cause it to be severely damaged and retracted.

The well-developed root system seems to be difficult to completely exterminate the willow, which caused Raymond a lot of trouble in the initial encounter. But with the increase in the number of incinerations, these treacherous willows, as if they were able to share information, no longer caused trouble for the team, and even took the initiative to retract their branches when Raymond and the others entered the area under their control, making the road clear!

Such a strange change made the Phantom Butterfly Hima close her mouth in surprise, and although the Butterfly Uru did not show any abnormality, the horror in her eyes was noticed by Raymond.

Raymond, who was also a little surprised, said strangely after crossing the central area of the basin. "Could it be that these tricks can transmit messages between each other?"

"Haven't heard of it...... Because the willows that grow here do not have any collection and use value, they used to avoid and go around directly when they led a team to approach......"

Uluqi, who had been close to this place, was unable to explain this phenomenon, and after quickly crossing the basin to its edge, the vague city that stood in the desert had become brighter in vain was finally revealed to Raymond.

Without waiting for Himma to speak, Uru, who had been here before, pointed to the faintly visible outline of the castle and said. "It is said to have been founded by a very powerful lich, but after it was destroyed, it became a dead realm where no living creatures could live......"

Standing at the junction of the basin and the desert, Raymond could only see the extremely ethereal shadow of the city, and the desert surface in front of him was composed of a kind of coarse quartz sand with a fluorescent glow, which made the environment much brighter.

But in Raymond's senses, it's almost synonymous with desolation.

Because that's what he first feels.

And because of the gentle breeze, the smell of extreme dryness is what comes to you, but when you get close to it, the river that really hides deep underground and becomes a dark river is also difficult to detect because of the slow flow rate and the decrease in the amount of water.

However, the faint vibration from the underground river could still allow Raymond to vaguely grasp its flow, and the city destroyed in the desert in his sense was where its source was.

Since this place was not suitable for the creatures of the underworld, Raymond, who had promised to keep Jima's village from being detected by the guardians of the Soul Fruit Tree, left Uru and Hima at the edge of the desert and set out on his own.

Once on the road, Raymond noticed an anomaly in his environment shortly after he was on the road.

It is like a visually distorted desert, creating many afterimages of the city that should be located in a very distant location, and after being constantly overlapped and covered, it will give people the illusion that the city is not far in front of them.

But in fact, the city is extremely far away from the basin, and there is still a phenomenon in the air that seems to be in the sky, making it impossible to maintain high speed for a long time.

But since there were no creatures of the underworld here, Raymond also walked on foot.

After about two hourglasses, the shadow of the castle that had remained neither far nor close to him was finally visible because of the actual distance.

It is like a huge city that has been completely destroyed by a fierce attack, and there are still traces of the attack on the outer walls.

The faint aura of energy, coming from the direction of the city, was somewhat imperceptible but was noticed by Raymond, and the closer he got to the city, the more obvious the radiation power became.

When Raymond actually approached the wall, he noticed that the touch under his feet had become a little soft, and after leaning down to check it, he found that the rough quartz gravel before was extremely finely crumbled here, as if it were extremely fine sand that could leak through his fingers.

The towering walls were full of gaps, and Raymond, who had jumped up the walls, saw a corner of the city.

At that time, it should have been a fairly large city, but now its interior is about to be buried in fine sand, and every thing that comes into view is a ruined wall covered with gravel.

Huge broken stone pillars, smashed, strange stone statues, collapsed houses......

A city of considerable size must have cost a lot of money when it was built.

Raymond, who came to an opening, saw a two-meter-square stone bar that was more than ten meters long, and even found traces of a broken rune hidden inside the city wall.

What kind of existence would it be possible to build a city of this magnitude in such a barren place at any cost?

Raymond was a little confused...... (To be continued......)