Ye Xinglan had been observing this cluster of islands this entire time, trying to search for one that matched the shape of the island on the map given to them by the academy.

Everyone cast their eyes toward the direction she was pointing at, and sure enough, there was a larger island that was very similar in shape to the island on the map.

Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had already changed directions and were flying toward that island even without being prompted by Tang Wulin.

They were currently at an altitude of around 1,000 meters, and they slowly descended from there. All of a sudden, all seven of them shuddered in unison, and they were struck by the feeling that they had just passed through something invisible. Immediately thereafter, the surrounding space twisted and warped before they continued to descend.

To Tang Wulin and the others, they all felt as if they'd experienced an instant of absent-mindedness, and in that instant, all seven of them disappeared from the radars of the Northsea Legion.

The gravitational force suddenly increased, sending Tang Wulin and the others plummeting downward at a faster speed. Tang Wulin yelled, "Don't panic, everyone; we'll be fine. Xiaoyan, use your Astral Chains to link all of us!"

Xu Xiaoyan's soul rings appeared around her body, and she instantly activated her fourth soul skill, conjuring up a series of shimmering golden Astral Chains that connected everyone.

Back when they'd abandoned the aircraft, they were at an altitude of around 3,000 meters. If they were to plunge downward in complete free fall, it would take them two minutes at most before they crashed down onto the ground.

Even with Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu's wings to slow their fall, it had still only taken them around five minutes to drop down to this altitude. Both of them had already eaten Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns and were flapping their wings with all their might, doing everything they could to prevent everyone from falling to their deaths.

Meanwhile, Tang Wulin connected everyone with his thick Bluesilver Emperor vines, and he wore a very calm expression, seemingly completely unflustered by the situation that was currently unfolding.

The more they descended toward the ground, the clearer the view they had of the island. The ground below them was entirely black, but it didn't seem to be comprised of rocks or soil. There were plants growing on the undulating hills on the island, but even they were completely black. Looking at them from up above, they were like a series of black monstrous beasts.

With the enhancements from their suits of battle armor, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were still able to just barely adjust the direction they were flying toward despite the increased gravitational force, carrying everyone straight toward their target island. They were getting closer and closer to the ground.

"Everyone, prepare for impact!" Tang Wulin yelled as his five soul rings shimmered around him, and more and more Bluesilver Emperor vines began to emerge from his body.

They were about to reach the ground at any second now, and both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were flapping their wings with all their might to try and slow their fall, but the seven of them were still plummeting at an alarming speed.

Right at this moment, Tang Wulin's second soul ring suddenly lit up. One Bluesilver Emperor vine after another shot forth like giant pythons, plunging straight into the ground. His fourth soul ring also lit up, and those vines instantly expanded to around the thickness of a human leg. In the instant that the vines pierced into the ground, they immediately began to bend, buffering the impact and slowing everyone's fall in the process like a bouncy pad.

A streak of golden light erupted forth, and what appeared to be a small golden dragon sprang up from the ground, repelling Tang Wulin into the air again. All of his friends were connected to him through his Bluesilver Emperor vines, so they were also flung into the air along with him. Thus, their downward momentum was completely arrested, and they slowly drifted down onto the ground.

The Bluesilver Emperor vines were withdrawn, and a safe landing was achieved.

"That was way too intense!" Xie Xie yelled with excitement, and indeed it had been.

This was the first time all of them had encountered such a situation, and it had to be said that they had done very well.

Tang Wulin wasn't the pilot of the aircraft, but he had exerted exemplary control over the entire operation. In particular, his decision to release his Tyrant Dragon in that dire situation was a masterstroke. If it weren't for that stroke of genius, there was definitely no way that they would've been able to escape from those fighter aircrafts and mechas so easily. After all, the Northsea Legion certainly wasn't full of slouches.

"How is everyone?" Tang Wulin asked.

"We're fine!" Everyone gave Tang Wulin a hand signal to indicate that everything was normal. They were all one-word battle armor masters, and there was some slight impact during the final moments of their descent, but the defensive prowess of their suits of battle armor was more than enough to nullify that force.

Tang Wulin waved a hand, and everyone quickly got into formation. Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, and Yuanen Yehui were situated on the outside of the formation, while the other three stood on the inside.

Only then could they better observe their surroundings. The sea by the northeastern region of the continent was very cold, so most of the trees on the island were pine trees, and they all appeared to be thriving. However, the unsettling thing was that all of the plants here were of an inky-black color, just like the earth. It was a rather harrowing sight to behold.

Tang Wulin's eyes narrowed slightly as he released his spiritual power to sense the surrounding area.

He discovered that even though this place was completely black, there was no overabundance of dark elements in the air. Everything was very normal, just like in a normal forest, so what was the reason behind the appearance of this island?

Tang Wulin's heart stirred slightly. This place had been referred to as the demonic island, so there had to be something special about it. Otherwise, the academy wouldn't have set this place as the location for their military training.

Even Elder Cai and the others seemed to have been traumatized by this experience, so it was most definitely not for the faint of heart. After all, every Hyper Douluo had to have been brilliant prodigies in their youth!

"What do we do now, Boss?" Xie Xie asked.

Tang Wulin replied, "We'll rest in shifts and recover to our best condition first."

They couldn't afford to just forge ahead blindly in this unfamiliar place. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had just consumed Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns, and expended a lot of energy. Everyone else also required some rest. In particular, the thrilling ordeal that they'd just endured was quite mentally taxing, so it was very much necessary to rest and recover both physically and mentally.

Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie sat down first to recover their soul power, while the other four surrounded them on the outside. Tang Wulin's third soul ring lit up, and halos of light radiated from his body, forming a Bluesilver Golden Array. This was a powerful group control soul skill that had an elemental stripping ability.

"Zhengyu, Yuanen, you two should take a rest as well; Xinglan and myself should be enough here."

"Sounds good!"

The backlash from the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns was already beginning to set in, and even though both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were quite powerful, they were still feeling quite tired. In particular, Yue Zhengyu had recently used his Sacrifice ability and burned through a significant portion of his life force, so he was feeling even more exhausted than he otherwise would.

Purple light radiated from Tang Wulin's eyes as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes while carefully appraising their surroundings. At the same time, his Bluesilver Emperor vines spread outward, allowing him to sense the life essence on this island.

Ever since his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Abyss realm, his sensory abilities had become far more powerful than they were in the past. In particular, after combining it with his Bluesilver Emperor vines, it became very easy for him to communicate with all types of plants.

Right at this moment, Xie Xie, who had sat down first, suddenly opened his eyes, and exclaimed, "Why are there no natural energies? I can't recover my soul power at all!"

His voice had only just trailed off when everyone else also opened their eyes with astonishment etched on their faces.

They had just discovered the same thing; there seemed to be no presence of natural energies whatsoever on this inky-black island.

Tang Wulin's heart stirred as he hurriedly focused his attention to verify this for himself. As a result, he also discovered that this demonic island was completely devoid of natural energies. He didn't even need to use his Bluesilver Golden Array as all of the elements in this place seemed to have been stripped away already. Everything else here appeared to be completely normal except everything on the island was black, and there were no natural energies to be found.

Without natural energies, there was no way for them to replenish their own soul power. The issue was that soul power would constantly dwindle unless they were to use no soul power at all, but that simply wasn't practical.

As Soul Masters, especially five-ring Soul Kings like them, they were constantly expending soul power. Activating their soul power to protect their bodies had already become second nature to them, and the cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Method never stopped, so their soul power was constantly circulating. The amount of soul power being used up during this process was quite minuscule, but it certainly wasn't negligible when there was no way to replenish soul power. In a place without natural energies, they didn't even need to consciously expend their soul power and it would still be used up sooner or later.

Yue Zhengyu's expression changed slightly as he mused, "Could this be a legendary taboo zone?"

Tang Wulin turned to him, and asked, "What's that?"

Yue Zhengyu explained in a grim voice, "According to the records in our clan's tomes, there were some places that were punished by the Divine Realm due to certain special properties that they possessed, and those places are known as taboo zones. There's no way for life to be born in these places, and no natural energies can be found, either. Come to think of it, this place doesn't fit that description as there are still plants around! Plants shouldn't be able to grow in taboo realms."