Yu Cheng felt some relief. He stood up, and called out: “Prodigy Gongyi.”
Gongyi Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “Have you made suitable preparations?”
Yu Cheng reflected for a moment, and replied: “There won’t be any problems entering the ruins.”
Tianheng plainly said: “For this trip, besides me and you, my personal pharmacist, Pharmacist Gu, will be accompanying us. In addition, there’s two Ascendant Realm and several Atomic Realm battle slaves for protection. Do you have any objections?”
Yu Cheng naturally said: “None at all.”
Within the historical ruin, there might be danger. While it probably wasn’t good if too many people were brought along, it was necessary that such people were elites and small in number. It was only natural that he didn’t have any complaints.
No one had any intentions of eating a meal here. Tianheng signaled a hidden shadow cat race member to pay the bill, and smiled at Yu Cheng’s somewhat hard-pressed expression: “There’s no time to lose. Since preparations have been made, we’ll leave now.”
Yu Cheng quickly reacted. He wasn’t perplexed by his mood any longer: “Yes, Prodigy Gongyi.”
With just these couple of meetings and conversations, Yu Cheng’s impression of Tianheng was already getting better and better.
Afterwards, Tianheng travelled light, and only brought a few experts. Under Yu Cheng’s eager guidance, they left Ten Ultimates City. The territory they proceeded towards was an unacknowledged city that few people would pay attention to.
Because this city was relatively remote and desolate, the majority of talents here who had some aptitude looked for opportunities elsewhere and sought shelter in more powerful places. Later on, not many returned. Thus, even though this city was also within the jurisdiction of the silver-ranked Ten Ultimates Sect, the powerhouses within this city…weren’t very strong.
In this place, the person who was regarded as the strongest was merely a high Atomic Realm old man. As for the leading families in this city, some of the strongest people in these families were only approaching or at the cusp of reaching the Atomic Realm. In this way, those at the Atomic Realm were already admired by the entire city.
Gu Zuo couldn’t help recalling the Peripheral Continents where they hailed from.
As it turned out, the more remote a place was on the Central Continent, the closer it resembled the Peripheral Continents… Also, not every location on this landmass was so formidable.
As a result, when Yu Cheng previously came here by himself, it went smoothly.
One couldn’t focus on the fact that he was Xiantian stage six. In this city, a Xiantian stage six at his age could basically do whatever they wanted. It was to the point that many older people weren’t as strong as him.
When they reached the city gates, Tianheng and the others restrained their qi emissions.
However, even though this group lowered their presence, their complexions and bearings were still out of the ordinary. The soldier guarding the city gates didn’t dare make things difficult for them. After receiving the normal city entrance fee, the soldier allowed them inside.
Yu Cheng had some experience, and quickly led everyone to a tavern. At the same time, he spoke: “In this city, this tavern is the most comfortable. It’s also rather secretive. Other places aren’t as good. Merely, it’s just that an unacknowledged place like this can’t compare to even larger cities. Therefore, the comforts will be limited. I hope that this prodigy…”
Tianheng said: “Everything is plain and simple when out on a journey. There’s no need to explain yourself in so many words.”
Yu Cheng sighed in relief.
He settled on several rooms, which were all on the first floor. He similarly checked into one of them.
After that, they made arrangements and ate meals. They were going to wait until the next day to officially proceed towards the location of the ruins.
The next day.
Yu Cheng took the initiative to lead the way. The place where they travelled to was beyond the city gates. It was a tract of scorching, yellow sand dunes.
The yellow sand stretched as far as the eyes could see. Whenever gusts of wind blew by, the sand would swirl up until the sandstorm hid the sky and covered the earth. It was quite difficult for people to bear.
Gu Zuo asked: “This place is the location of the historical ruin?”
Yu Cheng nodded his head: “That’s right. This area is called the Disorienting Yellow Shore. Yellow sand has covered this area for countless years. Within the dunes, there are many sand scorpions and sand worms. Nothing grows here, and it’s incredibly desolate. Even though martial artists previously tried entering it on expeditions, many had lost their bearings. When any survivors came out, they hadn’t been able to find any precious or rare things, and couldn’t exchange for other resources. Gradually, fewer and fewer people ventured inside. As for why the city has never advanced beyond the unacknowledged rank, this desert isn’t necessarily without blame.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head: “In that case, how will we recognize the path after we enter?”
Yu Cheng said: “Once we travel five kilometers inside, we can continue onwards with the Jade Heart Pendant.”
If it wasn’t for the fact that the Yu Family didn’t know the historical ruin was here and that only the Jade Heart Pendant could guide the way correctly, they wouldn’t have been so persistently coercive. However, even if one knew that the ruins were hidden in the yellow sand, it was practically impossible to find without the Jade Heart Pendant. For the sake of protecting the inheritance, the Xiao Clan likewise used many methods.
Tianheng smiled and said: “Then, let’s go.”
After Yu Cheng gave the affirmative, he still took the initiative to move to the front. In a split second, he was battered by the sand kicked up by the wind. His face and hair were buffeted by the sand. He jolted the true qi that surrounded his body to shake off the sand, but in the next moment, he was swept up in the sandstorm again.
The flourishing wind and sand had arrived in abundance.
Tianheng reached out a hand: “Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo raised his head: “Yeah?”
Tianheng took Gu Zuo’s arm, and pulled his pharmacist to his side: “Let’s move together so we don’t get separated if we encounter any accidents.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head, and shifted closer to Tianheng.
The Ascendant and Atomic Realm battle slaves no longer concealed themselves. Instead, they acted accordingly, and followed close behind.
It didn’t take long for the yellow sand to spill across the sky like a deluge. The silhouettes of the group of people also vanished inside the all-encompassing sandstorm.
It wasn’t known how long they travelled. Though the direction couldn’t be distinguished, when all was said and done, everyone’s strengths were out of the ordinary. It was unlikely for them to be completely lost.
After gradually walking along a path, Yu Cheng halted his steps. He took out a lustrous-green jade pendant from the folds of his robe, and placed it in the hollow of his palm: “Prodigy Gongyi, honorable sirs, I’m about to begin. Please come to my side.”
Then, he said: “Once there are unusual changes, everyone must hover in the air.”
Gongyi Tianheng and the others naturally advanced quickly, and stayed close to him.
After that, Yu Cheng bit his finger, and let the dribbling blood fall onto the Jade Heart Pendant. Immediately following which, he quickly used his fingertip to smear the blood, dyeing the entire jade pendant a beautiful blood-red color.
The lustrous-green and blood-red intermingled. In the blink of an eye, a beam of radiant light shot out from the Jade Heart Pendant and rushed straight into the sand dunes!
Shortly thereafter, just ahead of them, countless grains of sand began to frantically shift and churn like they were being drawn downwards by something. The yellow granules formed streams of sand that revolved around the center. As for the center, it rapidly turned into a huge hole that swallowed even more yellow sand.
Soon, a gigantic empty space appeared there.
All of a sudden, everyone felt that the sand under their feet was also flowing swiftly. It was as if the land beneath them was no longer sturdy and solid. It was somewhat hollow…
Tianheng quickly reached out a hand, scooped up Gu Zuo, and threw him onto his own back. Gu Zuo had gotten used to this long ago, and his hands fastened into a tight hug. Then, Tianheng and the others mobilized their qi, and soared into the air.
Yu Cheng reminded them at almost the same time: “Be careful!”
At this time, everyone lowered their heads and saw that this place had suddenly changed.
Where was the desert that had been brimming with thick, yellow sand? It was clearly an enormous and barren ancient city under the sand!
The ancient city sprawled out for several kilometers. There were many old buildings that towered within the cityscape. Looking at it from the outside, one would only think that it held a type of boundless atmosphere. But upon closer inspection, one would feel that this ancient city was constructed in the shape of concentric squares. The direction and positioning of the layout was bizarre, and the entire ancient city was like a labyrinth.
Apparently, there really were layers upon layers, one after another.
Tianheng unhurriedly opened his mouth: “When and how should we descend?”
Although this wasn’t the first time Yu Cheng came here, he was still fascinated by the strangeness of the ancient city. At this time, he heard Tianheng’s voice, and promptly responded: “We can go down now. After entering the city, there will be many tests from the outer circle to the inner circle. We need to be cautious.”
After he finished speaking, in order to prove that what he said was true, Yu Cheng landed first and stood at the threshold of the ancient city’s gates.
While carrying Gu Zuo on his back, Tianheng dropped down next to Yu Cheng. The several Ascendant and Atomic Realms likewise followed suit. But despite it being this way, they still maintained their vigilance.
Yu Cheng pushed open the city gates: “Please come in together, and be sure not to fall behind me. Otherwise, your lives may be at stake.”
Tianheng and the others didn’t neglect anything, and strode inside.
Yu Cheng let go of those gates, and swiftly dashed in between the gap.
At the exact same time, countless grains of yellow sand fell from high up. This avalanche was going to fall onto their heads in the blink of an eye!
Gu Zuo was startled: “&#k2014;This is?”
Yu Cheng hurriedly said: “There’s no need to worry. The sand isn’t really falling down!”
Sure enough, this was only a self-defense mechanism of the sunken ancient city.
Those densely-packed grains of sand rained down like a flood, but seemed to have been blocked by something invisible. It was just that the canopy of the bright and shining sky was covered, so nothing in the ancient city could see a trace of the light from outside.
Tianheng furrowed his brows: “This ancient city has a city-wide prohibition array.”
Yu Cheng nodded: “Prodigy Gongyi’s knowledge is extensive. That’s right, this is the prohibition array of the ancient city. Now, if anyone from outside is looking around, all that they’ll see is a vast and boundless desert. They won’t notice this ancient city. After everything is concluded, whether the tests were failed or passed, the ancient city will directly kick us out. Though, there won’t be any harm done.”
Tianheng raised an eyebrow: “You don’t need the Jade Heart Pendant?”
Yu Cheng had an upright expression as he said: “There’s no need, but if Prodigy Gongyi has any doubts, I can hand over the Jade Heart Pendant to this prodigy for safekeeping.”
Hearing these words, Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “Very well.”
He didn’t refuse the Jade Heart Pendant, and took it from Yu Cheng’s hand.
It wasn’t that Tianheng didn’t believe Yu Cheng’s words. It was just that the level of trust he had in Yu Cheng didn’t outweigh the lives of the group, which had been placed in his hands.
There weren’t any ulterior motives in Yu Cheng’s heart. Although he stared blankly at Tianheng’s candid and direct actions, he quickly returned to normal. Tianheng inwardly nodded after looking at his expression.
Once this trip was over, if nothing wrong happened, Tianheng would naturally return the Jade Heart Pendant to Yu Cheng. After all, this item was left behind by his mother. Even though it was the key to this historical ruin, it was also a type of memento.
Soon after, the group looked ahead.
It was strange. After the light from the outside world was obscured by the yellow sand, the interior of the ancient city was momentarily plunged into pitch-black darkness. Then, everything was brightly illuminated as if it was daytime.
In front was a tall stone wall. At this time, Yu Cheng spoke: “Honorable sirs, please withdraw. Allow me to demonstrate.”
Tianheng, with Gu Zuo riding on his back, took several steps backwards.
The other battle slave powerhouses did the same.
Following this, everyone discovered the changes happening to that stone wall.
In an instant, the stone wall produced many bulging sacs. And from these bulging sacs, several sinister-looking sand scorpions burrowed out. They brandished large pincers and made threatening gestures as they charged at Yu Cheng!
Gu Zuo couldn’t help saying: “This is a test?”
He could tell that the strength of these sand scorpions was around Xiantian stage two and three. They weren’t very strong. With Yu Cheng’s Xiantian stage six strength, he ought to be able to handle them easily.
Yu Cheng’s strength was indeed impressive. When the sand scorpions attacked, he swiftly engaged them in battle. His palm made a grasping motion, and held a long spear — Unexpectedly, he was also a spear user.
However, his spear techniques were far less sophisticated than Tianheng’s. Moreover, it could be seen that, although the essence of some spear techniques were incorporated, because the user wasn’t fully proficient, his might was only somewhat strong. It didn’t reach the level that would astonish others. However, this fight wasn’t without points of excellence. Yu Cheng had given up on certain areas that were flashy but without substance. With moves that flowed along dauntless and agile trajectories, he possessed some prowess.
Before long, the several sand scorpions were slain under Yu Cheng’s hands.
Then, the stone wall underwent another change. The number of sand scorpions that appeared instantly doubled. On top of that, these scorpions were twice as large. As they swarmed over to attack, their dozens of legs made skittering noises. The suppressive might they carried caused Yu Cheng’s expression to turn solemn.
The strength of these sand scorpions was already comparable to Xiantian stage five martial artists!
At once, Yu Cheng was caught up in an encirclement.
With his realm at Xiantian stage six, dealing with these slightly weaker sand scorpions was going to be very challenging.
However, Tianheng and the others didn’t hastily step forward to help him. They only waited on the side, and watched Yu Cheng do everything he could to fight and kill until these scorpions were all dead.
After that, what appeared were still sand scorpions comparable to Xiantian stage five. But the amount this time had doubled again!
It was even harder for Yu Cheng to kill them, but in any case, he still succeeded.
The next moment, the numbers doubled once more. And this time around, after going through several struggles, Yu Cheng repeatedly fell into dire straits. It took a lot of thought and effort to barely escape the sand scorpions’ encirclement.
Ultimately, Yu Cheng’s defenses were overturned, and he retreated the the rearmost line.
Tianheng spoke with his hands full: “How are you doing? Is there still no need for us to take action?”
Yu Cheng wiped away his sweat: “For the time being, there’s no need to act. I will give this prodigy an explanation for the way things are done in here.”
During this time, Gu Zuo realized that, after Yu Cheng retreated to this position, the sand scorpions that hadn’t been killed quickly burrowed back into the wall. It was like the battles never happened.
He was somewhat surprised, and more than a little confused.
Since it was a test, why did those sand scorpions only attack Yu Cheng alone? Moreover, the strength of the scorpions also closely matched Yu Cheng’s. Could it be that everyone else who was following along were already being ignored?
Then, Yu Cheng explained: “This place is the Xiao Clan’s historical ruin. Within it, the Xiao Clan’s inheritance was also left behind. As a result, the tests that remain will only target the Xiao Clan’s bloodline. It’s just that if it’s someone with a pure Xiao Clan bloodline, the tests they face aren’t this complicated. Instead, they’ll be immediately delivered to a certain location. After a slight inspection, they’ll be able to obtain the inheritance directly.
“As for someone like me, who has an impure Xiao Clan bloodline, I need to go through many hurdles. But in the end, because I am related by blood, taking the tests one at a time will only temper me. So long as I withdraw in time, there also won’t be any intent of taking my life…”
After that, Gu Zuo and the others knew what was going on.
The Xiao Clan’s direct descendants could immediately acquire the inheritance, but collateral relatives from the cadet branches or those such as Yu Cheng could take many things by passing a number of tests. And if all of the tests were passed, then they could take the inheritance. This would’ve been regarded as satisfactory to the members of the Xiao Clan.
Speaking of which, the degree of difficulty for the tests had nothing to do with the strengths of those who came later. No matter what kind of descendants arrived here, they would all be subjected to the same tests. If a descendant brought more people in, then the gains would naturally be split up. Of course, that was on the basis of voluntary action.
Merely, prior to entering, one needed to have a Xiao Clan descendant’s blood smeared onto the Jade Heart Pendant to open the historical ruin. And when entering the ruins, only the Xiao Clan descendant could push open the city gates. Once the descendant entered, the city gates would close, and the yellow sand would bury everything. Those who couldn’t enter the city would suffocate under the desert sands and perish.
Previously, this was the exact reason why Yu Cheng went into the city last.
Gu Zuo finished listening. While he understood, he still furrowed his brows.
It wouldn’t be good to criticize anything right in front of Yu Cheng, so he secretly transmitted his voice to Tianheng.
[Big brother, shouldn’t he have clearly explained these things in the beginning? Although he has given reminders in advance at every step, and told us everything that needed to be said, since he came to find us first, he should’ve taken the initiative to describe his experiences so that we could gain an understanding.]
Tianheng gave a slight smile.
[These are just some careful thoughts. I am indulging him because of his pitiful past.]
Gu Zuo was puzzled.
[What careful thoughts?]
Tianheng’s gaze faintly moved.
[He came looking for my help, which was originally very risky. If he told us all of his experiences beforehand, he might worry that he would be completely useless once I gained an understanding of the matter.]
Gu Zuo understood a little bit, but he still had doubts.
[Ah, that’s not right. Opening the gates also required him… That’s to say, his identity isn’t without use, right?]
Tianheng light raised an eyebrow.
[If I wanted to control him, the methods I possess are countless.]
Gu Zuo made a helpless expression.
[So you’re saying that he felt there was a possibility of being directly controlled if he talked. But if he didn’t talk, then big brother would value him a bit more because of what he didn’t say? After reaching the ruins, he spoke clearly every step of the way, which also displayed his own worth? En… This is also a show of sincerity?]
The corner of Tianheng’s mouth curled into a grin.
[Correct. Therefore, these are simply careful thoughts. Such harmless things are of no great matter.]
This time, Gu Zuo thoroughly understood.
To put it bluntly, there was no sense of security. Intellectually, Yu Cheng knew that Tianheng should’ve been a trustworthy person. However, emotionally, he wanted to hold onto a bargaining chip. At the same time, he was afraid of offending this prodigy… When Gu Zuo thought about it, this Yu Cheng’s frame of mind was truly complex.
Though, it really was just as his big brother said. There was no harm in indulging these careful thoughts. After all, they weren’t ill-mannered guests, nor did they have any intentions of kicking Yu Cheng out.
After understanding this, Gu Zuo no longer bothered about these things.
It wasn’t easy for Yu Cheng. When a child was playing house, it was up to himself to find happiness.
Following this, Tianheng plainly said: “What does it mean now that the sand scorpions have returned to the stone wall?”
Yu Cheng answered: “It means that the first checkpoint has already been challenged and failed… The last time, I succeeded, but I suffered greatly for it. Dozens of sand scorpions had been the first checkpoint’s highest level of difficulty. If I want to challenge it a second time, I only need to attack the stone wall.”
Gu Zuo was still resting against Tianheng’s back: “Then, let’s start now.”
Yu Cheng answered positively. He waved his palm, and struck a blow towards that stone wall.
The next moment, bulging sacs suddenly appeared on the wall. Numerous sand scorpions gushed out, and swarmed towards Yu Cheng. But this time, Tianheng and the others didn’t waste any time allowing Yu Cheng to act on his own. Instead, after Tianheng made a gesture, an Atomic Realm powerhouse took action. A single palm slapped out, and shattered all of the sand scorpions!
Subsequently, even more sand scorpions came out. As before, they were crushed by the Atomic Realm powerhouse. Soon after, another batch appeared only to be slain once more.
After doing this over and over again, the sand scorpions stopped showing themselves. The first checkpoint was thoroughly cleared.
Right at this time, the stone wall separated to either side. What welcomed them was an ancient palace hall.
Yu Cheng said: “The rewards of the first checkpoint are inside the hall.”
Gu Zuo curiously said: “The last time you came, you also cleared it. What you saw was this palace hall?”
Yu Cheng nodded his head: “Precisely so. However, although I passed the test, not everything in the ancient hall could be taken. Rather…” Speaking up to here, he paused, “It’s complicated to explain. In a moment, Pharmacist Gu will understand with one look.”
Gu Zuo didn’t pursue the matter.
The group of people quickly stepped into the ancient palace hall.
In this hall were quite a few long tables. Several objects were placed on top of each table. At a glance, Gu Zuo saw that the product grades weren’t the same. The brightness of the lights enveloping the long tables were also different.
Only the centermost table wasn’t enveloped by any light.
Yu Cheng led them over, and stood in front of the long table.
On the table, there was a human-ranked spirit weapon, a suit of battle armor, several bottles of medicinal pils, and several dozen spirit crystals.
While these things weren’t too precious, as far as Xiantian Realm martial artists were concerned, this was classified as a rather large sum of wealth. In addition, many resources needed by Immortal Realms were also prepared. For any Xiao Clan descendants who came here, so long as they acquired these things, it would be a long time before they had to rush around accumulating resources again.
However, with regards to Tianheng and the others, these things weren’t that useful.
Tianheng said: “Yu Cheng, you can put these things away. They are useless to us.”
Yu Cheng was naturally grateful.
This prodigy didn’t like them, but he needed them very much.
As a result, he didn’t hold back, and took all of these resources.
Gu Zuo considered something. He tilted his head, and looked at Yu Cheng: “After you cleared the checkpoint last time, what did you get?”
Yu Cheng replied: “It was similar to these things. Only, the types of spirit weapon and battle armor were different. Every time the test is passed, the light covering a long table will vanish. However, there aren’t any ways to easily obtain the items on the tables whose light covers haven’t disappeared.”
Gu Zuo paid attention to one word in this response.
“Easily”.
There weren’t any ways to easily obtain these objects, but one could still get them?
Yu Cheng already took the initiative to bring it up: “If someone attacks the light covers, the virtual image of a ferocious beast will appear. This beast’s strength is incredibly high, and well above my own. I gave it a try last time, but I wasn’t able to oppose that ferocious beast. I was forced to retreat outside the ancient hall, and I could only stare helplessly as the hall closed shut.”
He didn’t lose his small life, but there also weren’t any unexpected harvests.
Similarly, it was also because Yu Cheng saw so many resources that, thinking there might be more in the next checkpoint, he made up his mind to find Tianheng after much consideration.
He was only afraid that…a long night would bear many dreams.
Tianheng slightly nodded his head. He gestured at several battle slaves: “Break all the light covers, and take everything inside them.”
The battle slaves received their orders, and swiftly went to attack the light covers.
— It was just that, after these attacks, it seemed that there weren’t any reactions?
Tianheng pondered for a moment, and understood clearly.
Shortly thereafter, he instructed: “Yu Cheng, you will go. But you must be careful.”
Yu Cheng wasn’t stupid. Right away, he realized that these light covers needed him, a descendant of the Xiao Clan, to personally strike them. Therefore, he took a deep breath, utilized his footwork to its peak state, and unleashed high-speed attacks toward the dozen or so long tables in the palace hall. His disposition was incomparably vigorous. Every hit was as fast and nimble as a dragon. The entire ordeal was exceedingly quick.
In only one or two breaths of time, all of Yu Cheng’s attacks fell onto those light covers!
The next moment, the sounds of quite a few beastly roars echoed out. Pale-white virtual images rushed out of those long tables. Every one of these beasts was extremely fierce. They didn’t seem to have bodies and there wasn’t any stench of beasts, but once they approached, the terrifying chill was self-evident. The intimidation was enough to make a person weak in the knees. Even if someone counterattacked immediately, their bravery would be suppressed by the other side’s imposing aura.
Naturally…it would be hard to defeat them.
But it was different this time around. It wasn’t only the lone Yu Cheng — If he was by himself, how could he dare provoke them this frantically? Hence, after the virtual images of these ferocious beasts lunged up, several battle slaves were already rushing over to launch attacks. Many powerful moves and styles burst out violently, all heading towards the virtual images.
Gu Zuo watched for a moment. All of a sudden, his attention fell onto a corner of those light covers.
Over there was a depression. Inside of it, something round and plump was spinning. What was it?
If his memory wasn’t wrong, that thing was…
Just as he thought this, a ferocious beast’s virtual image charged straight at Gu Zuo and Tianheng’s position. Its strength was comparable to a high Immortal Realm. While Tianheng was at the peak of this realm, he was carrying a “little package”. Compared to the other powerhouses, it was only natural that this pair was easier to deal with.
Granted that these were virtual images, they also knew that “the softest persimmons were the easiest to pinch”…
Unfortunately, that ferocious beast’s virtual image had counted its chickens before they hatched, and was promptly shattered.
Without waiting for Tianheng to swiftly take action, the space between Gu Zuo’s brows had already burst forth with a sharp spear of psychic power. In a flash, it broke the virtual image, which immediately scattered its remnant soul!
Gu Zuo retrieved his psychic power. His heart tensed.
He seemed to sense that his psychic power had improved somewhat after scattering that remnant soul?
This…
But it really wasn’t the time to carefully think about such things. Gu Zuo’s attention quickly fell onto the battle slaves who were continuously shattering all of the ferocious beasts’ virtual images.
They just seemed to be doing the most common, trivial things. Once their work was done, they withdrew simultaneously.
Tianheng swept a glance over those long tables.
Sure enough, all the items were very much the same, and only differed in the small points. Even though just one or two were somewhat special, they weren’t necessarily that special. These things were likewise ordinary in Tianheng’s eyes.
As such, there wasn’t any problem with doing a few good deeds.
Hence, Tianheng yielded the benefits. These things also entered Yu Cheng’s possession. All except those spirit weapons. Each battle slave who shattered the ferocious beasts’ virtual images took one weapon — These weren’t for their own use. Rather, they could bring these weapons back to their racial groups to be allocated to their race members at will.
After everything was taken away, the interior of this ancient palace hall was empty.
Once they composed themselves, the group was standing before a stone wall once again.
Gu Zuo: “…”
Besides stone walls, couldn’t they have thought of any other scenes?
Oh, he almost forgot — The ancient palace hall just now.
However, he couldn’t think of any better adjectives to describe the hall’s decorating style other than decrepit.
Disregarding the disorderly thoughts for the time being, one only had to mention that stone wall.
Once Yu Cheng and the others reappeared in this area, quite a few sand scorpions of especially large sizes burrowed out from the wall. Whether it was the strange qi emissions they released or the sharp teeth that lined their mouthparts, the scorpion tails behind them all appeared to be a hundred times more powerful than those seen before!
Gu Zuo swept his eyes across: “Their strengths are comparable to Immortal Realms.”
But this also didn’t account for much.
With Yu Cheng’s strength, after passing the first checkpoint, he would be powerless against the second one. Thus, after gaining first-hand knowledge of these terrifying sand scorpions, even more reverence bloomed in his heart.
Merely, these awe-inspiring sand scorpions couldn’t make more than two moves in the hands of the battle slaves.
When they met face to face, these scorpions had already lost.
Following this, the subsequent scorpions became increasingly fierce and numerous.
Yet, the battle slave powerhouses dispatched their targets skillfully and easily. Not only were all of the sand scorpions eliminated in the end, even their own energy consumptions weren’t worth mentioning.
This time, Yu Cheng didn’t know what they would see. Thus, he kept silent, and followed behind the others. Immediately after this, his eyes shined.
What appeared this time was similarly a quiet and peaceful palace hall.
In the hall, there were twelve pill furnaces and twelve medicinal cauldrons. Set around every pill furnace and medicinal cauldron was a gloomy-blue halo of light. There was only one pair among the furnaces and cauldrons that lacked any barrier.
Yu Cheng hesitated somewhat, and stepped forward: “I’ll go to collect the things inside.”
Tianheng said: “Handle yourself prudently.”
Yu Cheng responded solemnly. He arrived in front of that pill furnace first, and extended a hand to open the furnace lid.
In a split second, a whiff of peculiar pill fragrance flowed out.
Gu Zuo promptly recognized it: “Jade Muscle Pills! These are…grade twelve flawless pills.”
One couldn’t focus on how strange the Jade Muscle Pill’s name sounded. While it seemed to specialize in giving female martial artists a beautiful and youthful appearance, it didn’t actually have this use. Rather, it was an exceptionally good medicinal pill for tempering a martial artist’s physical body.
It was just that, when this pill was used, it would be excruciatingly painful. One would feel the agony of their flesh and meridians burning — The wider a person’s meridians, the more suitable it was to use this pill.
Gu Zuo was aware of this pill’s prescription. However, because this medicinal pill was a little unorthodox, and because its effects would be poor for Tianheng, whose meridians were insufficient, he never refined it.
Meanwhile, after Yu Cheng heard the words “grave twelve flawless” and Gu Zuo’s quick explanation of the pills’ marvelous effects, he already reached out a hand to grab the pills inside.
There weren’t that many medicinal pills inside this furnace. There were no more than five pills, but the total count of this type of pill should’ve reached nine. It was an excellent human-level pill, and it was suitable for Xiantian and Immortal Realm martial artists — While there were only five pills, these five pills were all flawless ones. This meant that the other few pills had been sacrificed. From this, one could see that the capability of the pharmacist who controlled these pill furnaces was out of the ordinary.
An average human-level pharmacist would hardly be able to accomplish this. As such, what kind of strength did that pharmacist have?
Gu Zuo didn’t make any casual guesses.
However, he did have other ideas, which were yet to be confirmed.
Afterwards, Yu Cheng walked to the front of the medicinal cauldron, opened the cauldron lid, and another burst of exotic odors assailed the senses.
A pill furnace refined pills, but a medicinal cauldron refined medicine.
While pills were medicine, not all medicines were pills.
Consequently, what appeared inside the cauldron was a handful of light-purple powder.
Gu Zuo recognized this as well: “Flawless Violet Light Powder. Its hemostatic effects are exceptionally good.”
It was similarly an exceedingly precious medicament. For external wounds, its medicinal effects were extraordinarily good. One shouldn’t look at how it had the form of fine powder. This was because, during refinement, a medicinal decoction would be boiled down until all that remained was its quintessence.
— Medicine refinement was divided into three large categories: Medicinal pills, medicinal decoctions, and medicinal cuisines. However, there weren’t only these three large categories.
Take the Violet Light Powder, this type, for example. Some powders were differentiated within the medicinal pills. While the finished goods were in pill form, further refinement would cause the pills to burst and crumble, creating a fine powder. There were also some that were differentiated among the medicinal decoctions. Just like the Violet Light Powder, the decoction would be refined until all of the liquid was evaporated. The complexities between these categorizations were difficult to fully describe.
Violet Light Powder was also within the human-level medicaments. In that realm, what Gu Zuo frequently refined were the Revitalization Pills, which could treat internal and external injuries, as well as other more exquisite, but not quite as unorthodox, medicaments. Likewise, he was only aware of the Violet Light Powder, and never actually refined it.
Though, flawless Violet Light Powder was the same as flawless pills. Both were basically free of impurities.
After this recounting, Tianheng said: “These two types of medicines will also belong to Yu Cheng.”
The gratitude in Yu Cheng’s heart deepened.
He couldn’t obtain these kinds of medicaments easily — Although it wouldn’t be hard to purchase medicinal pills, with his financial resources, where would he be able to buy things of flawless quality?
This was considered as delivering coal in the middle of winter. Yu Cheng put away the Jade Muscle Pills and the Violet Light Powder. Once he returned, he could further temper his body and increase the difficulty of his adventures.
After that, everyone’s lines of sight fell onto the other eleven pairs of pill furnaces and medicinal cauldrons.
If nothing unexpected happened, the medicaments inside them would be like these two types, or their effects would be similar. Merely, what made people feel anxious was that the exteriors still had a layer of gloomy-blue light.
At this moment, Gu Zuo jumped down from Tianheng’s back: “Big brother, let me go this time.”
The others didn’t have any objections.
Those gloomy-blue halos looked too strange. Who knew what these things were? A pharmacist’s methods included fantastic oddities of every description. It was basically impossible for ordinary martial artists to guard against them. For many affairs, only those who were also pharmacists could get a glimpse of the clues and find solutions.
In this place, only Gu Zuo was a pharmacist. Letting him go was naturally the best choice.
Hence, Gu Zuo approached those furnaces and cauldrons. His line of sight quietly dropped to the areas surrounding these vessels.
In those places, there were also depressions. And within those depressions were pearl-like objects that quietly hibernated.
Gu Zuo carefully inspected them for a short while. Then, he sighed: “Soul pills.”
When these words were uttered, the others were astonished.
Soul pills?
This sounded somewhat familiar…
Contrary to what one might expect, Tianheng had an impression of these things. He opened his mouth: “Extracting the soul of a living thing and integrating it into a blank pill… That soul pill?”
T/N: Retroactively changed “nonconventional” to “unacknowledged”.
Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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Yu Cheng felt some relief. He stood up, and called out: “Prodigy Gongyi.”
Gongyi Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “Have you made suitable preparations?”
Yu Cheng reflected for a moment, and replied: “There won’t be any problems entering the ruins.”
Tianheng plainly said: “For this trip, besides me and you, my personal pharmacist, Pharmacist Gu, will be accompanying us. In addition, there’s two Ascendant Realm and several Atomic Realm battle slaves for protection. Do you have any objections?”
Yu Cheng naturally said: “None at all.”
Within the historical ruin, there might be danger. While it probably wasn’t good if too many people were brought along, it was necessary that such people were elites and small in number. It was only natural that he didn’t have any complaints.
No one had any intentions of eating a meal here. Tianheng signaled a hidden shadow cat race member to pay the bill, and smiled at Yu Cheng’s somewhat hard-pressed expression: “There’s no time to lose. Since preparations have been made, we’ll leave now.”
Yu Cheng quickly reacted. He wasn’t perplexed by his mood any longer: “Yes, Prodigy Gongyi.”
With just these couple of meetings and conversations, Yu Cheng’s impression of Tianheng was already getting better and better.
Afterwards, Tianheng travelled light, and only brought a few experts. Under Yu Cheng’s eager guidance, they left Ten Ultimates City. The territory they proceeded towards was an unacknowledged city that few people would pay attention to.
Because this city was relatively remote and desolate, the majority of talents here who had some aptitude looked for opportunities elsewhere and sought shelter in more powerful places. Later on, not many returned. Thus, even though this city was also within the jurisdiction of the silver-ranked Ten Ultimates Sect, the powerhouses within this city…weren’t very strong.
In this place, the person who was regarded as the strongest was merely a high Atomic Realm old man. As for the leading families in this city, some of the strongest people in these families were only approaching or at the cusp of reaching the Atomic Realm. In this way, those at the Atomic Realm were already admired by the entire city.
Gu Zuo couldn’t help recalling the Peripheral Continents where they hailed from.
As it turned out, the more remote a place was on the Central Continent, the closer it resembled the Peripheral Continents… Also, not every location on this landmass was so formidable.
As a result, when Yu Cheng previously came here by himself, it went smoothly.
One couldn’t focus on the fact that he was Xiantian stage six. In this city, a Xiantian stage six at his age could basically do whatever they wanted. It was to the point that many older people weren’t as strong as him.
When they reached the city gates, Tianheng and the others restrained their qi emissions.
However, even though this group lowered their presence, their complexions and bearings were still out of the ordinary. The soldier guarding the city gates didn’t dare make things difficult for them. After receiving the normal city entrance fee, the soldier allowed them inside.
Yu Cheng had some experience, and quickly led everyone to a tavern. At the same time, he spoke: “In this city, this tavern is the most comfortable. It’s also rather secretive. Other places aren’t as good. Merely, it’s just that an unacknowledged place like this can’t compare to even larger cities. Therefore, the comforts will be limited. I hope that this prodigy…”
Tianheng said: “Everything is plain and simple when out on a journey. There’s no need to explain yourself in so many words.”
Yu Cheng sighed in relief.
He settled on several rooms, which were all on the first floor. He similarly checked into one of them.
After that, they made arrangements and ate meals. They were going to wait until the next day to officially proceed towards the location of the ruins.
The next day.
Yu Cheng took the initiative to lead the way. The place where they travelled to was beyond the city gates. It was a tract of scorching, yellow sand dunes.
The yellow sand stretched as far as the eyes could see. Whenever gusts of wind blew by, the sand would swirl up until the sandstorm hid the sky and covered the earth. It was quite difficult for people to bear.
Gu Zuo asked: “This place is the location of the historical ruin?”
Yu Cheng nodded his head: “That’s right. This area is called the Disorienting Yellow Shore. Yellow sand has covered this area for countless years. Within the dunes, there are many sand scorpions and sand worms. Nothing grows here, and it’s incredibly desolate. Even though martial artists previously tried entering it on expeditions, many had lost their bearings. When any survivors came out, they hadn’t been able to find any precious or rare things, and couldn’t exchange for other resources. Gradually, fewer and fewer people ventured inside. As for why the city has never advanced beyond the unacknowledged rank, this desert isn’t necessarily without blame.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head: “In that case, how will we recognize the path after we enter?”
Yu Cheng said: “Once we travel five kilometers inside, we can continue onwards with the Jade Heart Pendant.”
If it wasn’t for the fact that the Yu Family didn’t know the historical ruin was here and that only the Jade Heart Pendant could guide the way correctly, they wouldn’t have been so persistently coercive. However, even if one knew that the ruins were hidden in the yellow sand, it was practically impossible to find without the Jade Heart Pendant. For the sake of protecting the inheritance, the Xiao Clan likewise used many methods.
Tianheng smiled and said: “Then, let’s go.”
After Yu Cheng gave the affirmative, he still took the initiative to move to the front. In a split second, he was battered by the sand kicked up by the wind. His face and hair were buffeted by the sand. He jolted the true qi that surrounded his body to shake off the sand, but in the next moment, he was swept up in the sandstorm again.
The flourishing wind and sand had arrived in abundance.
Tianheng reached out a hand: “Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo raised his head: “Yeah?”
Tianheng took Gu Zuo’s arm, and pulled his pharmacist to his side: “Let’s move together so we don’t get separated if we encounter any accidents.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head, and shifted closer to Tianheng.
The Ascendant and Atomic Realm battle slaves no longer concealed themselves. Instead, they acted accordingly, and followed close behind.
It didn’t take long for the yellow sand to spill across the sky like a deluge. The silhouettes of the group of people also vanished inside the all-encompassing sandstorm.
It wasn’t known how long they travelled. Though the direction couldn’t be distinguished, when all was said and done, everyone’s strengths were out of the ordinary. It was unlikely for them to be completely lost.
After gradually walking along a path, Yu Cheng halted his steps. He took out a lustrous-green jade pendant from the folds of his robe, and placed it in the hollow of his palm: “Prodigy Gongyi, honorable sirs, I’m about to begin. Please come to my side.”
Then, he said: “Once there are unusual changes, everyone must hover in the air.”
Gongyi Tianheng and the others naturally advanced quickly, and stayed close to him.
After that, Yu Cheng bit his finger, and let the dribbling blood fall onto the Jade Heart Pendant. Immediately following which, he quickly used his fingertip to smear the blood, dyeing the entire jade pendant a beautiful blood-red color.
The lustrous-green and blood-red intermingled. In the blink of an eye, a beam of radiant light shot out from the Jade Heart Pendant and rushed straight into the sand dunes!
Shortly thereafter, just ahead of them, countless grains of sand began to frantically shift and churn like they were being drawn downwards by something. The yellow granules formed streams of sand that revolved around the center. As for the center, it rapidly turned into a huge hole that swallowed even more yellow sand.
Soon, a gigantic empty space appeared there.
All of a sudden, everyone felt that the sand under their feet was also flowing swiftly. It was as if the land beneath them was no longer sturdy and solid. It was somewhat hollow…
Tianheng quickly reached out a hand, scooped up Gu Zuo, and threw him onto his own back. Gu Zuo had gotten used to this long ago, and his hands fastened into a tight hug. Then, Tianheng and the others mobilized their qi, and soared into the air.
Yu Cheng reminded them at almost the same time: “Be careful!”
At this time, everyone lowered their heads and saw that this place had suddenly changed.
Where was the desert that had been brimming with thick, yellow sand? It was clearly an enormous and barren ancient city under the sand!
The ancient city sprawled out for several kilometers. There were many old buildings that towered within the cityscape. Looking at it from the outside, one would only think that it held a type of boundless atmosphere. But upon closer inspection, one would feel that this ancient city was constructed in the shape of concentric squares. The direction and positioning of the layout was bizarre, and the entire ancient city was like a labyrinth.
Apparently, there really were layers upon layers, one after another.
Tianheng unhurriedly opened his mouth: “When and how should we descend?”
Although this wasn’t the first time Yu Cheng came here, he was still fascinated by the strangeness of the ancient city. At this time, he heard Tianheng’s voice, and promptly responded: “We can go down now. After entering the city, there will be many tests from the outer circle to the inner circle. We need to be cautious.”
After he finished speaking, in order to prove that what he said was true, Yu Cheng landed first and stood at the threshold of the ancient city’s gates.
While carrying Gu Zuo on his back, Tianheng dropped down next to Yu Cheng. The several Ascendant and Atomic Realms likewise followed suit. But despite it being this way, they still maintained their vigilance.
Yu Cheng pushed open the city gates: “Please come in together, and be sure not to fall behind me. Otherwise, your lives may be at stake.”
Tianheng and the others didn’t neglect anything, and strode inside.
Yu Cheng let go of those gates, and swiftly dashed in between the gap.
At the exact same time, countless grains of yellow sand fell from high up. This avalanche was going to fall onto their heads in the blink of an eye!
Gu Zuo was startled: “&#k2014;This is?”
Yu Cheng hurriedly said: “There’s no need to worry. The sand isn’t really falling down!”
Sure enough, this was only a self-defense mechanism of the sunken ancient city.
Those densely-packed grains of sand rained down like a flood, but seemed to have been blocked by something invisible. It was just that the canopy of the bright and shining sky was covered, so nothing in the ancient city could see a trace of the light from outside.
Tianheng furrowed his brows: “This ancient city has a city-wide prohibition array.”
Yu Cheng nodded: “Prodigy Gongyi’s knowledge is extensive. That’s right, this is the prohibition array of the ancient city. Now, if anyone from outside is looking around, all that they’ll see is a vast and boundless desert. They won’t notice this ancient city. After everything is concluded, whether the tests were failed or passed, the ancient city will directly kick us out. Though, there won’t be any harm done.”
Tianheng raised an eyebrow: “You don’t need the Jade Heart Pendant?”
Yu Cheng had an upright expression as he said: “There’s no need, but if Prodigy Gongyi has any doubts, I can hand over the Jade Heart Pendant to this prodigy for safekeeping.”
Hearing these words, Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “Very well.”
He didn’t refuse the Jade Heart Pendant, and took it from Yu Cheng’s hand.
It wasn’t that Tianheng didn’t believe Yu Cheng’s words. It was just that the level of trust he had in Yu Cheng didn’t outweigh the lives of the group, which had been placed in his hands.
There weren’t any ulterior motives in Yu Cheng’s heart. Although he stared blankly at Tianheng’s candid and direct actions, he quickly returned to normal. Tianheng inwardly nodded after looking at his expression.
Once this trip was over, if nothing wrong happened, Tianheng would naturally return the Jade Heart Pendant to Yu Cheng. After all, this item was left behind by his mother. Even though it was the key to this historical ruin, it was also a type of memento.
Soon after, the group looked ahead.
It was strange. After the light from the outside world was obscured by the yellow sand, the interior of the ancient city was momentarily plunged into pitch-black darkness. Then, everything was brightly illuminated as if it was daytime.
In front was a tall stone wall. At this time, Yu Cheng spoke: “Honorable sirs, please withdraw. Allow me to demonstrate.”
Tianheng, with Gu Zuo riding on his back, took several steps backwards.
The other battle slave powerhouses did the same.
Following this, everyone discovered the changes happening to that stone wall.
In an instant, the stone wall produced many bulging sacs. And from these bulging sacs, several sinister-looking sand scorpions burrowed out. They brandished large pincers and made threatening gestures as they charged at Yu Cheng!
Gu Zuo couldn’t help saying: “This is a test?”
He could tell that the strength of these sand scorpions was around Xiantian stage two and three. They weren’t very strong. With Yu Cheng’s Xiantian stage six strength, he ought to be able to handle them easily.
Yu Cheng’s strength was indeed impressive. When the sand scorpions attacked, he swiftly engaged them in battle. His palm made a grasping motion, and held a long spear — Unexpectedly, he was also a spear user.
However, his spear techniques were far less sophisticated than Tianheng’s. Moreover, it could be seen that, although the essence of some spear techniques were incorporated, because the user wasn’t fully proficient, his might was only somewhat strong. It didn’t reach the level that would astonish others. However, this fight wasn’t without points of excellence. Yu Cheng had given up on certain areas that were flashy but without substance. With moves that flowed along dauntless and agile trajectories, he possessed some prowess.
Before long, the several sand scorpions were slain under Yu Cheng’s hands.
Then, the stone wall underwent another change. The number of sand scorpions that appeared instantly doubled. On top of that, these scorpions were twice as large. As they swarmed over to attack, their dozens of legs made skittering noises. The suppressive might they carried caused Yu Cheng’s expression to turn solemn.
The strength of these sand scorpions was already comparable to Xiantian stage five martial artists!
At once, Yu Cheng was caught up in an encirclement.
With his realm at Xiantian stage six, dealing with these slightly weaker sand scorpions was going to be very challenging.
However, Tianheng and the others didn’t hastily step forward to help him. They only waited on the side, and watched Yu Cheng do everything he could to fight and kill until these scorpions were all dead.
After that, what appeared were still sand scorpions comparable to Xiantian stage five. But the amount this time had doubled again!
It was even harder for Yu Cheng to kill them, but in any case, he still succeeded.
The next moment, the numbers doubled once more. And this time around, after going through several struggles, Yu Cheng repeatedly fell into dire straits. It took a lot of thought and effort to barely escape the sand scorpions’ encirclement.
Ultimately, Yu Cheng’s defenses were overturned, and he retreated the the rearmost line.
Tianheng spoke with his hands full: “How are you doing? Is there still no need for us to take action?”
Yu Cheng wiped away his sweat: “For the time being, there’s no need to act. I will give this prodigy an explanation for the way things are done in here.”
During this time, Gu Zuo realized that, after Yu Cheng retreated to this position, the sand scorpions that hadn’t been killed quickly burrowed back into the wall. It was like the battles never happened.
He was somewhat surprised, and more than a little confused.
Since it was a test, why did those sand scorpions only attack Yu Cheng alone? Moreover, the strength of the scorpions also closely matched Yu Cheng’s. Could it be that everyone else who was following along were already being ignored?
Then, Yu Cheng explained: “This place is the Xiao Clan’s historical ruin. Within it, the Xiao Clan’s inheritance was also left behind. As a result, the tests that remain will only target the Xiao Clan’s bloodline. It’s just that if it’s someone with a pure Xiao Clan bloodline, the tests they face aren’t this complicated. Instead, they’ll be immediately delivered to a certain location. After a slight inspection, they’ll be able to obtain the inheritance directly.
“As for someone like me, who has an impure Xiao Clan bloodline, I need to go through many hurdles. But in the end, because I am related by blood, taking the tests one at a time will only temper me. So long as I withdraw in time, there also won’t be any intent of taking my life…”
After that, Gu Zuo and the others knew what was going on.
The Xiao Clan’s direct descendants could immediately acquire the inheritance, but collateral relatives from the cadet branches or those such as Yu Cheng could take many things by passing a number of tests. And if all of the tests were passed, then they could take the inheritance. This would’ve been regarded as satisfactory to the members of the Xiao Clan.
Speaking of which, the degree of difficulty for the tests had nothing to do with the strengths of those who came later. No matter what kind of descendants arrived here, they would all be subjected to the same tests. If a descendant brought more people in, then the gains would naturally be split up. Of course, that was on the basis of voluntary action.
Merely, prior to entering, one needed to have a Xiao Clan descendant’s blood smeared onto the Jade Heart Pendant to open the historical ruin. And when entering the ruins, only the Xiao Clan descendant could push open the city gates. Once the descendant entered, the city gates would close, and the yellow sand would bury everything. Those who couldn’t enter the city would suffocate under the desert sands and perish.
Previously, this was the exact reason why Yu Cheng went into the city last.
Gu Zuo finished listening. While he understood, he still furrowed his brows.
It wouldn’t be good to criticize anything right in front of Yu Cheng, so he secretly transmitted his voice to Tianheng.
[Big brother, shouldn’t he have clearly explained these things in the beginning? Although he has given reminders in advance at every step, and told us everything that needed to be said, since he came to find us first, he should’ve taken the initiative to describe his experiences so that we could gain an understanding.]
Tianheng gave a slight smile.
[These are just some careful thoughts. I am indulging him because of his pitiful past.]
Gu Zuo was puzzled.
[What careful thoughts?]
Tianheng’s gaze faintly moved.
[He came looking for my help, which was originally very risky. If he told us all of his experiences beforehand, he might worry that he would be completely useless once I gained an understanding of the matter.]
Gu Zuo understood a little bit, but he still had doubts.
[Ah, that’s not right. Opening the gates also required him… That’s to say, his identity isn’t without use, right?]
Tianheng light raised an eyebrow.
[If I wanted to control him, the methods I possess are countless.]
Gu Zuo made a helpless expression.
[So you’re saying that he felt there was a possibility of being directly controlled if he talked. But if he didn’t talk, then big brother would value him a bit more because of what he didn’t say? After reaching the ruins, he spoke clearly every step of the way, which also displayed his own worth? En… This is also a show of sincerity?]
The corner of Tianheng’s mouth curled into a grin.
[Correct. Therefore, these are simply careful thoughts. Such harmless things are of no great matter.]
This time, Gu Zuo thoroughly understood.
To put it bluntly, there was no sense of security. Intellectually, Yu Cheng knew that Tianheng should’ve been a trustworthy person. However, emotionally, he wanted to hold onto a bargaining chip. At the same time, he was afraid of offending this prodigy… When Gu Zuo thought about it, this Yu Cheng’s frame of mind was truly complex.
Though, it really was just as his big brother said. There was no harm in indulging these careful thoughts. After all, they weren’t ill-mannered guests, nor did they have any intentions of kicking Yu Cheng out.
After understanding this, Gu Zuo no longer bothered about these things.
It wasn’t easy for Yu Cheng. When a child was playing house, it was up to himself to find happiness.
Following this, Tianheng plainly said: “What does it mean now that the sand scorpions have returned to the stone wall?”
Yu Cheng answered: “It means that the first checkpoint has already been challenged and failed… The last time, I succeeded, but I suffered greatly for it. Dozens of sand scorpions had been the first checkpoint’s highest level of difficulty. If I want to challenge it a second time, I only need to attack the stone wall.”
Gu Zuo was still resting against Tianheng’s back: “Then, let’s start now.”
Yu Cheng answered positively. He waved his palm, and struck a blow towards that stone wall.
The next moment, bulging sacs suddenly appeared on the wall. Numerous sand scorpions gushed out, and swarmed towards Yu Cheng. But this time, Tianheng and the others didn’t waste any time allowing Yu Cheng to act on his own. Instead, after Tianheng made a gesture, an Atomic Realm powerhouse took action. A single palm slapped out, and shattered all of the sand scorpions!
Subsequently, even more sand scorpions came out. As before, they were crushed by the Atomic Realm powerhouse. Soon after, another batch appeared only to be slain once more.
After doing this over and over again, the sand scorpions stopped showing themselves. The first checkpoint was thoroughly cleared.
Right at this time, the stone wall separated to either side. What welcomed them was an ancient palace hall.
Yu Cheng said: “The rewards of the first checkpoint are inside the hall.”
Gu Zuo curiously said: “The last time you came, you also cleared it. What you saw was this palace hall?”
Yu Cheng nodded his head: “Precisely so. However, although I passed the test, not everything in the ancient hall could be taken. Rather…” Speaking up to here, he paused, “It’s complicated to explain. In a moment, Pharmacist Gu will understand with one look.”
Gu Zuo didn’t pursue the matter.
The group of people quickly stepped into the ancient palace hall.
In this hall were quite a few long tables. Several objects were placed on top of each table. At a glance, Gu Zuo saw that the product grades weren’t the same. The brightness of the lights enveloping the long tables were also different.
Only the centermost table wasn’t enveloped by any light.
Yu Cheng led them over, and stood in front of the long table.
On the table, there was a human-ranked spirit weapon, a suit of battle armor, several bottles of medicinal pils, and several dozen spirit crystals.
While these things weren’t too precious, as far as Xiantian Realm martial artists were concerned, this was classified as a rather large sum of wealth. In addition, many resources needed by Immortal Realms were also prepared. For any Xiao Clan descendants who came here, so long as they acquired these things, it would be a long time before they had to rush around accumulating resources again.
However, with regards to Tianheng and the others, these things weren’t that useful.
Tianheng said: “Yu Cheng, you can put these things away. They are useless to us.”
Yu Cheng was naturally grateful.
This prodigy didn’t like them, but he needed them very much.
As a result, he didn’t hold back, and took all of these resources.
Gu Zuo considered something. He tilted his head, and looked at Yu Cheng: “After you cleared the checkpoint last time, what did you get?”
Yu Cheng replied: “It was similar to these things. Only, the types of spirit weapon and battle armor were different. Every time the test is passed, the light covering a long table will vanish. However, there aren’t any ways to easily obtain the items on the tables whose light covers haven’t disappeared.”
Gu Zuo paid attention to one word in this response.
“Easily”.
There weren’t any ways to easily obtain these objects, but one could still get them?
Yu Cheng already took the initiative to bring it up: “If someone attacks the light covers, the virtual image of a ferocious beast will appear. This beast’s strength is incredibly high, and well above my own. I gave it a try last time, but I wasn’t able to oppose that ferocious beast. I was forced to retreat outside the ancient hall, and I could only stare helplessly as the hall closed shut.”
He didn’t lose his small life, but there also weren’t any unexpected harvests.
Similarly, it was also because Yu Cheng saw so many resources that, thinking there might be more in the next checkpoint, he made up his mind to find Tianheng after much consideration.
He was only afraid that…a long night would bear many dreams.
Tianheng slightly nodded his head. He gestured at several battle slaves: “Break all the light covers, and take everything inside them.”
The battle slaves received their orders, and swiftly went to attack the light covers.
— It was just that, after these attacks, it seemed that there weren’t any reactions?
Tianheng pondered for a moment, and understood clearly.
Shortly thereafter, he instructed: “Yu Cheng, you will go. But you must be careful.”
Yu Cheng wasn’t stupid. Right away, he realized that these light covers needed him, a descendant of the Xiao Clan, to personally strike them. Therefore, he took a deep breath, utilized his footwork to its peak state, and unleashed high-speed attacks toward the dozen or so long tables in the palace hall. His disposition was incomparably vigorous. Every hit was as fast and nimble as a dragon. The entire ordeal was exceedingly quick.
In only one or two breaths of time, all of Yu Cheng’s attacks fell onto those light covers!
The next moment, the sounds of quite a few beastly roars echoed out. Pale-white virtual images rushed out of those long tables. Every one of these beasts was extremely fierce. They didn’t seem to have bodies and there wasn’t any stench of beasts, but once they approached, the terrifying chill was self-evident. The intimidation was enough to make a person weak in the knees. Even if someone counterattacked immediately, their bravery would be suppressed by the other side’s imposing aura.
Naturally…it would be hard to defeat them.
But it was different this time around. It wasn’t only the lone Yu Cheng — If he was by himself, how could he dare provoke them this frantically? Hence, after the virtual images of these ferocious beasts lunged up, several battle slaves were already rushing over to launch attacks. Many powerful moves and styles burst out violently, all heading towards the virtual images.
Gu Zuo watched for a moment. All of a sudden, his attention fell onto a corner of those light covers.
Over there was a depression. Inside of it, something round and plump was spinning. What was it?
If his memory wasn’t wrong, that thing was…
Just as he thought this, a ferocious beast’s virtual image charged straight at Gu Zuo and Tianheng’s position. Its strength was comparable to a high Immortal Realm. While Tianheng was at the peak of this realm, he was carrying a “little package”. Compared to the other powerhouses, it was only natural that this pair was easier to deal with.
Granted that these were virtual images, they also knew that “the softest persimmons were the easiest to pinch”…
Unfortunately, that ferocious beast’s virtual image had counted its chickens before they hatched, and was promptly shattered.
Without waiting for Tianheng to swiftly take action, the space between Gu Zuo’s brows had already burst forth with a sharp spear of psychic power. In a flash, it broke the virtual image, which immediately scattered its remnant soul!
Gu Zuo retrieved his psychic power. His heart tensed.
He seemed to sense that his psychic power had improved somewhat after scattering that remnant soul?
This…
But it really wasn’t the time to carefully think about such things. Gu Zuo’s attention quickly fell onto the battle slaves who were continuously shattering all of the ferocious beasts’ virtual images.
They just seemed to be doing the most common, trivial things. Once their work was done, they withdrew simultaneously.
Tianheng swept a glance over those long tables.
Sure enough, all the items were very much the same, and only differed in the small points. Even though just one or two were somewhat special, they weren’t necessarily that special. These things were likewise ordinary in Tianheng’s eyes.
As such, there wasn’t any problem with doing a few good deeds.
Hence, Tianheng yielded the benefits. These things also entered Yu Cheng’s possession. All except those spirit weapons. Each battle slave who shattered the ferocious beasts’ virtual images took one weapon — These weren’t for their own use. Rather, they could bring these weapons back to their racial groups to be allocated to their race members at will.
After everything was taken away, the interior of this ancient palace hall was empty.
Once they composed themselves, the group was standing before a stone wall once again.
Gu Zuo: “…”
Besides stone walls, couldn’t they have thought of any other scenes?
Oh, he almost forgot — The ancient palace hall just now.
However, he couldn’t think of any better adjectives to describe the hall’s decorating style other than decrepit.
Disregarding the disorderly thoughts for the time being, one only had to mention that stone wall.
Once Yu Cheng and the others reappeared in this area, quite a few sand scorpions of especially large sizes burrowed out from the wall. Whether it was the strange qi emissions they released or the sharp teeth that lined their mouthparts, the scorpion tails behind them all appeared to be a hundred times more powerful than those seen before!
Gu Zuo swept his eyes across: “Their strengths are comparable to Immortal Realms.”
But this also didn’t account for much.
With Yu Cheng’s strength, after passing the first checkpoint, he would be powerless against the second one. Thus, after gaining first-hand knowledge of these terrifying sand scorpions, even more reverence bloomed in his heart.
Merely, these awe-inspiring sand scorpions couldn’t make more than two moves in the hands of the battle slaves.
When they met face to face, these scorpions had already lost.
Following this, the subsequent scorpions became increasingly fierce and numerous.
Yet, the battle slave powerhouses dispatched their targets skillfully and easily. Not only were all of the sand scorpions eliminated in the end, even their own energy consumptions weren’t worth mentioning.
This time, Yu Cheng didn’t know what they would see. Thus, he kept silent, and followed behind the others. Immediately after this, his eyes shined.
What appeared this time was similarly a quiet and peaceful palace hall.
In the hall, there were twelve pill furnaces and twelve medicinal cauldrons. Set around every pill furnace and medicinal cauldron was a gloomy-blue halo of light. There was only one pair among the furnaces and cauldrons that lacked any barrier.
Yu Cheng hesitated somewhat, and stepped forward: “I’ll go to collect the things inside.”
Tianheng said: “Handle yourself prudently.”
Yu Cheng responded solemnly. He arrived in front of that pill furnace first, and extended a hand to open the furnace lid.
In a split second, a whiff of peculiar pill fragrance flowed out.
Gu Zuo promptly recognized it: “Jade Muscle Pills! These are…grade twelve flawless pills.”
One couldn’t focus on how strange the Jade Muscle Pill’s name sounded. While it seemed to specialize in giving female martial artists a beautiful and youthful appearance, it didn’t actually have this use. Rather, it was an exceptionally good medicinal pill for tempering a martial artist’s physical body.
It was just that, when this pill was used, it would be excruciatingly painful. One would feel the agony of their flesh and meridians burning — The wider a person’s meridians, the more suitable it was to use this pill.
Gu Zuo was aware of this pill’s prescription. However, because this medicinal pill was a little unorthodox, and because its effects would be poor for Tianheng, whose meridians were insufficient, he never refined it.
Meanwhile, after Yu Cheng heard the words “grave twelve flawless” and Gu Zuo’s quick explanation of the pills’ marvelous effects, he already reached out a hand to grab the pills inside.
There weren’t that many medicinal pills inside this furnace. There were no more than five pills, but the total count of this type of pill should’ve reached nine. It was an excellent human-level pill, and it was suitable for Xiantian and Immortal Realm martial artists — While there were only five pills, these five pills were all flawless ones. This meant that the other few pills had been sacrificed. From this, one could see that the capability of the pharmacist who controlled these pill furnaces was out of the ordinary.
An average human-level pharmacist would hardly be able to accomplish this. As such, what kind of strength did that pharmacist have?
Gu Zuo didn’t make any casual guesses.
However, he did have other ideas, which were yet to be confirmed.
Afterwards, Yu Cheng walked to the front of the medicinal cauldron, opened the cauldron lid, and another burst of exotic odors assailed the senses.
A pill furnace refined pills, but a medicinal cauldron refined medicine.
While pills were medicine, not all medicines were pills.
Consequently, what appeared inside the cauldron was a handful of light-purple powder.
Gu Zuo recognized this as well: “Flawless Violet Light Powder. Its hemostatic effects are exceptionally good.”
It was similarly an exceedingly precious medicament. For external wounds, its medicinal effects were extraordinarily good. One shouldn’t look at how it had the form of fine powder. This was because, during refinement, a medicinal decoction would be boiled down until all that remained was its quintessence.
— Medicine refinement was divided into three large categories: Medicinal pills, medicinal decoctions, and medicinal cuisines. However, there weren’t only these three large categories.
Take the Violet Light Powder, this type, for example. Some powders were differentiated within the medicinal pills. While the finished goods were in pill form, further refinement would cause the pills to burst and crumble, creating a fine powder. There were also some that were differentiated among the medicinal decoctions. Just like the Violet Light Powder, the decoction would be refined until all of the liquid was evaporated. The complexities between these categorizations were difficult to fully describe.
Violet Light Powder was also within the human-level medicaments. In that realm, what Gu Zuo frequently refined were the Revitalization Pills, which could treat internal and external injuries, as well as other more exquisite, but not quite as unorthodox, medicaments. Likewise, he was only aware of the Violet Light Powder, and never actually refined it.
Though, flawless Violet Light Powder was the same as flawless pills. Both were basically free of impurities.
After this recounting, Tianheng said: “These two types of medicines will also belong to Yu Cheng.”
The gratitude in Yu Cheng’s heart deepened.
He couldn’t obtain these kinds of medicaments easily — Although it wouldn’t be hard to purchase medicinal pills, with his financial resources, where would he be able to buy things of flawless quality?
This was considered as delivering coal in the middle of winter. Yu Cheng put away the Jade Muscle Pills and the Violet Light Powder. Once he returned, he could further temper his body and increase the difficulty of his adventures.
After that, everyone’s lines of sight fell onto the other eleven pairs of pill furnaces and medicinal cauldrons.
If nothing unexpected happened, the medicaments inside them would be like these two types, or their effects would be similar. Merely, what made people feel anxious was that the exteriors still had a layer of gloomy-blue light.
At this moment, Gu Zuo jumped down from Tianheng’s back: “Big brother, let me go this time.”
The others didn’t have any objections.
Those gloomy-blue halos looked too strange. Who knew what these things were? A pharmacist’s methods included fantastic oddities of every description. It was basically impossible for ordinary martial artists to guard against them. For many affairs, only those who were also pharmacists could get a glimpse of the clues and find solutions.
In this place, only Gu Zuo was a pharmacist. Letting him go was naturally the best choice.
Hence, Gu Zuo approached those furnaces and cauldrons. His line of sight quietly dropped to the areas surrounding these vessels.
In those places, there were also depressions. And within those depressions were pearl-like objects that quietly hibernated.
Gu Zuo carefully inspected them for a short while. Then, he sighed: “Soul pills.”
When these words were uttered, the others were astonished.
Soul pills?
This sounded somewhat familiar…
Contrary to what one might expect, Tianheng had an impression of these things. He opened his mouth: “Extracting the soul of a living thing and integrating it into a blank pill… That soul pill?”
T/N: Retroactively changed “nonconventional” to “unacknowledged”.
Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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