She quickly communicated with the fire spirit element, trying to condense flames to illuminate her surroundings.
But Zi Linling was horrified to discover that she couldn't sense the existence of fire spirit elements.
Heavens!
What was going on?
After all, the five spirit elements—gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—were the most basic elements that constituted everything in the world.
Logically, these fundamental elements should permeate every corner of the world, with only variations in quantity.
Yet, Zi Linling couldn't sense them. What did this imply?
Either her divine sense and soul power were not strong enough, or there were simply no fire spirit elements here!
The former possibility was immediately ruled out.
This was because Zi Linling's divine sense and soul power were growing stronger every moment under the subtle influence of the "Human Emperor's Materia Medica."
Her current divine sense and soul power were already comparable to those of a peak minor god realm expert.
In other words, it was absurd for her, with divine sense and soul power that could rival minor god realm experts, to be unable to sense spirit elements.
Therefore, only the second possibility remained—there were no fire spirit elements here at all!
Upon realizing this, Zi Linling's expression turned extremely grave.
How could this be?
She tried to sense the gold spirit element again, and the result was—she couldn't.
Impossible!
Unwilling to accept it, Zi Linling tried sensing the water spirit element—still no.
Wood element—couldn't sense.
Earth element—couldn't sense!
Zi Linling's shock reached an extreme at this moment.
Since she couldn't sense any of the five elemental spirit elements that formed the foundation of the world, it meant her powers were completely unusable here.
Bad!
Just as Zi Linling was in shock, a sense of danger surged from the depths of her heart.
She instinctively dodged to the left and felt a sharp gust of wind sweep past her ear.
Had her reaction been even a fraction slower, this gust of wind would have easily landed on her face.
That would have been a major problem.
At best, it would disfigure her; at worst, it could cost her life.
"So close!"
Zi Linling muttered to herself, her body already drenched in cold sweat.
But before she could exhale in relief, the sense of danger struck her heart again.
This time, relying on instinct, she dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding another blast of wind.
Zi Linling's expression grew even more somber.
Although she didn't know what was attacking her, she had a vague feeling that it was connected to this boundless darkness.
However, she couldn't figure out what this darkness was.
But she had no time to ponder; the sense of danger was becoming more urgent.
It seemed the attacker's moves had become more ferocious.
Zi Linling dared not be careless.
In this darkness, she couldn't use her divine sense or soul power to probe, and her eyesight was completely useless. Her situation was extremely perilous.
Even a slight misstep could lead to her demise here.
At this moment, Zi Linling's spiritual sense was fully engaged, and she dodged entirely based on instinct, occasionally retaliating with a strike, but she couldn't even touch the shadow of the attacker.
Moreover, she couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but she felt the darkness here was growing even more intense.
What should she do?
Zi Linling's mind raced, but her thoughts felt so pale and powerless.
If this continued, her situation would become even more dangerous.
Just then, the Dark Demonic Pearl within her body suddenly stirred.
A peculiar fluctuation appeared within Zi Linling's body and continuously extended outward, connecting with the outside world.
Zi Linling finally perceived a blurry shadow before her eyes, though it flickered in and out of existence.
Suddenly, two words appeared in her mind—Demonic Beasts!
That's right, she remembered a passage in the records of the Dark Abyss—
The Dark Abyss was a forbidden land for humans, but a world for demonic beasts.
Demonic beasts were beasts that had lost their minds due to demonic contamination. They could be ferocious beasts, demon beasts, spirit beasts, sacred beasts, or even a divine beast—the Dark Demonic Dragon.
With these realizations, some of Zi Linling's confusion was resolved, but this was still worlds away from self-preservation.
Currently, to protect herself, she needed to solve two problems.
First, how could she see in the Dark Abyss, even if it was just with her eyes?
Second, without being able to sense the five elemental spirit elements, how could she enhance her combat power?
Thanks to the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl, she could temporarily set aside the first problem.
However, if the second problem wasn't solved, she would still struggle to protect herself.
What should she do?
In such a dark place, how did those demonic beasts survive?
Zi Linling continued to dodge the shadowy figure, thinking rapidly.
Darkness... darkness...
That's it!
Why was it so dark here?
Was it the influence of demonic energy, or the inherent characteristic of the Dark Abyss itself?
If it was the influence of demonic energy, it would be much easier. She just needed to deploy the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl, and the demonic energy here would be cleared.
Zi Linling acted as she thought.
However, the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl had always been a demanding presence within her body, so persuading it might require some effort.
"Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl, can you handle the demonic energy here?"
The Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl shimmered and shot out of Zi Linling's body.
A powerful suction emanated from it.
Zi Linling clearly felt that the oppressive aura around them had weakened slightly.
Huh! It works!
She was overjoyed and praised, "Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl, you're amazing! Keep it up!"
A hint of disdain was transmitted from the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl.
And who was the object of this disdain? It was naturally Zi Linling.
However, Zi Linling didn't care. As long as the Heaven and Earth Demonic Pearl could completely eliminate the demonic energy here, being disdained was a small matter!
Soon, a large area of demonic energy around them was cleared, but Zi Linling's expression changed.
This was because the visibility remained at zero.
If there was anything different, it was that the fearful sensation in the air was gone.
What should she do?
Zi Linling continued to dodge the shadowy figure and rethink her strategy.
Just then, a bright spark appeared in her mind—Darkness Element!
Could it be that the darkness here was due to the Darkness Element?
If that were the case, Zi Linling would be in a bit of trouble.
She knew that among the spirit elements in her body, she had never cultivated the Darkness Element or the Light Element.
Zi Linling gave a wry smile. It seemed she had to start from scratch.
With a thought, she appeared in the Divine Maiden Palace.
Then, she controlled the Divine Maiden Palace and cautiously drew a wisp of the external darkness.