The forest was lonely, the mountain forest was desolate, and the precipices were broken.
Red clouds filled the sky, which looked lifeless. Additionally, grey sunlight shone on the ground.
Looking into the distance, it was as if 2 grey arcs were spreading into the distance, intersecting in the distant horizon.
Lil’ Man was silent as he followed behind Ou Yangming. They had been walking for 3 consecutive days, but they had not met a cultivator. The Big Ruins was simply too huge, and it could even be described as boundless.
Of course, Ou Yangming’s speed was not considered fast because he had a burden with him. Moreover, at night, he still had to find a place to hide from the storm. Although the power of the raging storm was not great, it was extremely fast. Even if the young fellow wanted to escape, he had to increase his speed to the limit, not to mention that he had Lil’ Man with him.
After these few days of getting used to each other, Ou Yangming’s aura was almost the same as Lil’ Man’s.
At this time, no one would connect him to the people outside. The young fellow’s priority was to understand the Big Ruins. As for the rest, he would take things slowly. Besides, he also needed to settle down Lil’ Man. If the child followed him to explore the secrets of the Big Ruins, given that he only had the cultivation base of Extreme Grade, would he not be courting death?
Yellow sand filled the sky, and the cold winds howled.
In the evening, wisps of smoke floated in the air.
“Let’s go quickly! The curling smoke means that there are people nearby, and there are more than one wisp. We’re close to the town.” Ou Yangming rolled up his long sleeves while joy spread across his face. During this period, he had encountered countless strange things. There were tough blood-stained corpses; there were big cats that would roar in the sky with a light roar, blood-dripping coffins, and even heads that could speak. The weakest of them were at least a Spiritualist.
Lil’ Man nodded, his gaze was vacant.
The cold winds whimpered again while yellow sand filled the sky. Under the greylight, 2 figures—one big and one small—slowly disappeared between heaven and earth.
Not long after, a city appeared in Ou Yangming sight. The city was dilapidated, and its walls had collapsed. It had been corroded beyond recognition by the storm, and outside the city stood 10 statues. The statues were covered in dust, and countless cracks crisscrossed like a net of beads, which looked incredibly ancient. If one looked closely, one would see that these 10 statues were 10 azure dragons that looked up at the sky and roared angrily.
Behind the statues stood a massive city. At first glance, it was at least several hundred kilometers long.
Ou Yangming had secretly entered the states of the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous. He released his mental power, transforming it into an invisible state that spread out in all directions like algae spreading out from the sea. The power was densely packed together, filling up a corner of the city. Ancient streets, faint smoke, and slow crowds appeared in his spiritual world.
All of a sudden, the sound of a baby crying echoed.
It was the continuation of life. Ou Yangming realized that even the baby had the aura of a warrior.
In the city, the people with the lowest cultivation base were in the Extreme Grade, which accounted for 90% of the total population. Next, it was Rudimentary Spiritualists, accounting for 90% of the remaining 10%. As for the other formidable powerhouses, there were different numbers of them, so it was difficult to judge. As for whether there were Venerable Ones in the city, it was not something Ou Yangming could detect at this moment.
“Hiss…” After seeing this, even with Ou Yangming’s temperament, he could not help but gasp.
Being born with the aura of a warrior was simply terrifying, so it was no wonder that Venerable Ones in the Big Ruins could discover danger. After all, their starting point was too high. Given such a starting point, how many people could become Venerable Ones? Furthermore, Ou Yangming had figured out that the natives of the Big Ruins all had Bloodline Powers. They had been tempered since they were young, and their combat powers were more than a level higher than that of those from the outside world.
After entering the city, Ou Yangming strolled around for a while, and he became more satisfied. This kind of place with a mix of people would be beneficial for him to gather information.
What he needed at this time was a noble identity.
Ou Yangming discovered that due to the fierce and aggressive atmosphere in the Big Ruins, pills were very expensive. There were only 4 to 5 alchemy masters in this city, and even the pill-refining methods were not up to his standard. On top of that, the majority of the spiritual herbs that the locals brought back were directly applied externally or consumed internally. It was very wasteful as the effects of the herbs were not fully utilized at all.
Therefore, Ou Yangming rented a courtyard in the Longevity Alley and prepared to refine pills.
This was something he had planned before entering, and he had already prepared for it.
In the backyard, Ou Yangming’s eyes flashed. He waved his sleeve forward, and countless Illusion Formation Boards spread out like streams of light, directly enveloping the small courtyard. He bent his finger and pointed, then the rune nodes in the Illusion Formation lit up. The young fellow also used an ingenious method to hide the core hub. This way, even a top-grade Spiritualist would not be able to break the formation in a short time.
After doing all this, he let out a sigh of relief.
He entered a secret room and began to refine a furnace.
With a flash of thought, the Heavenly Phoenix Fire in Ou Yangming’s hand lit up, and a faint purple flame spread out.
The second the Heavenly Phoenix Fire first appeared in the Big Ruins, in a cold and misty place in the extreme north of the Big Ruins…
This was one of the 6 strongest forces in the Big Ruins. They had 2 Venerable Ones, and their combat power was superb. Their area of influence spanned thousands of kilometers. The most eye-catching thing there was a purple phoenix totem that was about 333 meters tall outside of the clan. This phoenix was incomparably beautiful. Other than being overbearing, there was arrogance in its eyes. It spread its wings and made a gesture of wanting to soar into the sky. It was lifelike and every strand of hair seemed to be carved by a knife. It was indescribably perfect.
Today was the day the Xu family tested Bloodline Powers.
In an underground palace, 2 elders sat on the ground. Their auras stirred the void such that even the space around them began to shake.
These 2 people were the Xu family’s great ancestors, Xu Duya and Xu Dulie. They were both top-grade Venerable Ones.
Xu Dulie wore a grey Daoist robe, and a grey and white ribbon was tied around his waist. He wore a pair of black cloth shoes.
As for Xu Duya, he wore a straw raincoat that covered his whole body. He wore a bamboo hat on his head, and his face was wrinkled. Nonetheless, a purple phoenix was reflected in his eyes. He was arrogant and domineering.
As if he was looking ahead aimlessly, Xu Duya chuckled and said, “There are many prodigies among the younger generation of the Xu family. I wonder if there’ll be an Atavistic Bloodline this time.”
“I have to say—you’re really ambitious. An Atavistic Bloodline’s something that’s rarely seene even in a thousand years. It’s enough to suppress the current generation. “I heard that the Blood Dragon clan had an Atavistic Bloodline 6 years ago. It hasn’t been long since then so how can there be another one in the Big Ruins?” Xu Duya raised the brim of his hat, the wrinkles on his face were squeezed together. It was as if he could tear off a piece of dead skin with just a hard pull.
“Hmph, humans must always have thoughts, or we won’t be able to survive in this cursed land! Numerous monsters will run out of those unknown regions every 10,000 years!” Xu Dulie’s voice was dry. He found pleasure in the bitterness.
Xu Duya’s eyes were full of worry. He comforted him, “Don’t think too much. Let’s take it one step at a time! As long as the fight between our clans is temporarily postponed and the overall situation is put first, we’ll stand a chance to survive this disaster.”
“It’s easy to say that, but we’ve been holding grudges for tens of thousands of years, and many of the powerhouses from our families have died. How can this resentment be gone just like that?” Xu Dulie said in a muffled voice.
Just as the 2 of them were talking, a sudden change occurred.
A purple light suddenly lit up from the wings of the phoenix statue. At first, the light was not intense. After a long while, the purple light shot up into the sky, blotting out the sun and covering an area of tens of kilometers. It would be fine if that was all, but the phoenix seemed to have come to life. It burst out a ball of purple flames that burned fiercely, enveloping its body. Even the spiritual Qi around the statue was ignited. The flames grew thicker, giving off an aura that seemed to reach the heavens. It was like a bonfire that was being fueled at all times. The flames rose higher, suppressing the grey sunlight in the sky. The whole world seemed to have sunk into a purple sea.
The faces of the Xu family members changed drastically because this statue was the Xu family’s totem and the source of their power.
Now, it was burning. This was something that had never happened before.
Many of the family elders kowtowed to purple phoenix non-stop. They chanted something and even their souls began to tremble.
In the underground palace, Xu Duya and Xu Dulie exchanged a look. They could see the fear in each other’s eyes.
After a while, Xu Duya licked his dry lips and said in shock, “Brother, what do you think is going on? Even if an Atavism Bloodline appeared, the totem wouldn’t cause such a huge commotion, right?”
Xu Dulie’s eyes revealed a thoughtful look as he kept searching for the answer in the ancient scroll that he had read before.
In the end, he found nothing and sighed. “I’ve never heard of such a situation. This… This is also my first time seeing this!”
At the spur of the moment, the flames on the purple phoenix totem started to spin. It opened its eyes and countless purple flames condensed together. It burned everything in the air completely, turning into a purple phoenix made of flames. It looked awe-inspiring. After letting out a cry, it crashed into the sky, spitting out a tongue of fire.
“Boom!” The purple phoenix crashed into the sky as if it touched an insurmountable shackle.
Next, the world rumbled and purple flames fell from the sky. They were densely packed like silk, and everything in sight was filled with purple. It was tragic and beautiful.
The Fire Phoenix caused a great sensation.
This incomparably shocking scene made the Xu family lose all thoughts.
After a long while, they finally regained their senses and wondered, ‘What on earth is going on?’
Many elders looked at one another, hoping that the other party would give them an answer.
In the underground palace, the candlelights flickered. Xu Dulie stooped down and stroked his chin. After a moment, his eyes narrowed as he exclaimed, “Could it be that someone in the Big Ruins has a bloodline denser than the Atavistic Bloodline?”
“That… That’s impossible, right?” Xu Duya’s voice trembled.
“I don’t know, but it’s possible. After all, the totem’s strange phenomenon this time is too unusual.” Xu Duya shrugged.
“Why don’t we send people out to investigate?” Xu Duya suggested and raised his bamboo hat a little.
“Yes!” Xu Duya nodded and made the final decision.
