Mysterious mirror hanging high

Chapter 1072 Exploring the Ruins

"Don't forget, the laws of heaven and earth here are incomplete, which means that you cannot improve your cultivation here. There is no spiritual energy here, nor any precious medicine to replenish your blood and qi, which means that your true essence, blood and qi, and even your soul will be exhausted sooner or later."

"The [Void Demon] is at the same level as us, but those who can be here are all outstanding geniuses among their peers, and there are even some invincible experts among their peers. Therefore, the Void Demon will not pose a threat to us in the short term."

"Don't forget, when our true essence, divine soul, and blood energy are exhausted, will we still be able to ignore beings of the same level?"

Yue Liusu smiled and said, "It's alright. My cave contains a vast amount of immortal essence stones and rare treasures... enough to last for thousands of years."

"What about thousands of years from now?" Fu Changting said coldly, "If we can't find a way out, let alone thousands of years, we'll be stuck here for tens of thousands of years... Heh, of course, we don't need to think about what will happen tens of thousands of years from now, after all, the maximum lifespan of a Cave Heaven Realm cultivator is only 30,000 years."

“Supplies are indeed a problem.” Jian Yunyuan frowned and said, “How many immortal essence stones do you all have in your caves? What about spiritual medicines to nourish your bodies? And what about spirit-gathering treasures that can restore your soul… Perhaps we can combine them and distribute them according to need.”

As soon as Jian Yunyuan finished speaking, he felt something was amiss, and his heart skipped a beat.

As expected, Jian Yunyuan, who was usually a popular figure among the prodigies, was met with silence this time. The prodigies, especially those from the Golden Immortal lineage, all kept their eyes gleaming and remained silent.

Jian Yunyuan sighed inwardly. The next moment, he felt a hand pat his shoulder. He turned around and saw Jing Yu. The gray-robed youth said in a low voice, "It's only human nature."

Jian Yunyuan nodded silently and said nothing more.

About two hours later, the surrounding void trembled, and the spatial secret technique originally enhanced by the Iron Feather Demon Immortal finally failed.

As the invisible barrier separating the space dissipated, the prodigies were finally able to leave the protection of the [Myriad Manifestations Cardinal Instrument Plate] and officially set foot on this legendary forbidden land—the Ruins of Return.

Several prodigies who were also skilled in light magic exchanged glances and tacitly activated their magic power again.

A brighter halo than before shone around them, dispelling the dense, all-consuming darkness that surrounded them.

The first thing that catches the eye is the earth beneath one's feet.

It was a place whose desolation could not be described in words.

The ground was composed of a grayish-black soil, and there seemed to be no sign of life growing in the gray soil.

The light stretched into the distance, and as far as the eye could see, all that remained was this monotonous, despairing gray-black.

The terrain is undulating, forming low, rolling hills.

These hills were also barren, without any vegetation cover, proving that this desolate region was indeed devoid of any life.

There was no smell in the air, no celestial aura, no demonic aura, not even the aura of death—after all, without life, how could there be death?

What's even more unbearable is the sense of incompleteness of the laws... Cultivators have an instinctive sensitivity to the laws of heaven and earth, but here, the five elements are disordered, yin and yang are out of balance, and even the most basic properties of matter are hard to describe completely, let alone the other laws that are not as universal as the five elements and yin and yang.

Yue Xingzhou, whose body was as large as a small mountain, squatted down, casually grabbed a handful of dust, brought it close to his nose to smell it, and then pinched a little and put it in his mouth to taste it.

"Pooh!"

Yue Xingzhou cursed, "There's no spiritual energy at all, it's just ordinary soil... no, it's not even as good as ordinary soil! Ordinary soil at least has some trace of earth elemental energy, but the soil and rocks here are just pure waste! There's nothing inside!"

Upon seeing this, Jing Yu's expression shifted. He also grabbed a handful of dust and secretly channeled his Bitter Crossing Mystic Light, attempting to refine some of it.

"Don't waste your energy... Do you think this is a Celestial Essence Stone?" Fu Changting chuckled, his gaze towards Jing Yu somewhat mocking.

But Jing Yu ignored him and continued to carefully refine the ash in her hand.

An extremely faint energy was extracted from the dust in his hand and, as the [Bitter Crossing Mystic Light] reversed, was absorbed into Jing Yu's body, transforming into strands of body-refining essence.

"It can work!"

Jing Yu's heart skipped a beat.

The "Bitter Crossing Scripture" truly lives up to its reputation as a body-refining technique personally constructed by the "Eternal Green Daoist Venerable." It is almost at the level of a Daoist Venerable, and indeed, it can refine anything. Even the soil and rocks in the "Return to the Void" can be squeezed to extract a trace of useful energy!

His mind gradually calmed down. As long as he could refine the [ash soil] here, at least he wouldn't be killed by the [Void Demon] due to exhaustion.

With the added blessing of "Longevity and Enduring Vision," Jing Yu's lifespan is limitless, and she may find a way out of the Void during the long passage of time.

"What should we do with the [Myriad Manifestations Cardinal Instrument Plate]?" A prodigy asked, gazing at the treasure.

"This is an acquired spiritual treasure. If one is not a Celestial Immortal, one cannot use it at all. To us, it is just a piece of scrap metal."

Jian Yunyuan said, "Take it. If we can escape from [Guixu], we can return it to Xuya Palace."

In the end, Jian Yunyuan stored the spiritual treasure in his cave. After a brief discussion, the group of geniuses decided to explore this desolate wasteland first.

Jian Yunyuan, Jing Yu, Fu Changting and his sister, Yue siblings, and Bai Zhaoyue, Yuan Jiqing, and other cultivators with the highest cultivation levels and most prominent status walked at the front of the group, while the other prodigies followed behind, looking out for each other and forming a loose exploration formation.

The glow of the illumination spell floated around the group, barely dispelling the darkness within a thousand feet, but this light was actually not very useful, because there was not much to see in this wasteland, which was almost entirely monotonous plains or hills.

They first tried the most direct approach—going upwards.

Several prodigies skilled in flight soared into the sky, transforming into streaks of light as they flew away.

However, after flying for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the surroundings remained in that void of darkness. Although the gray-black earth beneath their feet was getting farther and farther away, they never felt like they were reaching the boundary.

Looking up, the darkness remained deep and seemingly endless.

"No! The sky here seems endless, and it might be dangerous to go any higher!" A prodigy who had tried to fly the highest point landed pale-faced and reported with lingering fear.

The method of burrowing underground also encountered difficulties.

The cultivators, skilled in earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique for escaping into the ground), ventured underground and discovered that the layer of gray-black soil and rocks below was astonishingly deep, and the deeper they went, the denser and harder the soil and rocks became.

After traveling tens of thousands of miles deep, there was still no base or anything unusual to be seen, only endless gray and black.

“The sky has no top, the earth has no bottom… this place is truly a secluded and isolated region.” Jian Yunyuan concluded solemnly.

This means that exploring the wasteland horizontally is currently their only viable direction.