100: Chapter 100: Exploring the Outer Edge of the Ruins, Encountering Cultivators from the Heavenly Star Sect

The consolidation retreat in the Cangyun Mountain Range allowed Ye Qing to reach a state of perfect mastery over his Nascent Soul Stage power.

He left the valley and flew west, heading towards the boundary between the core area of the Dragonfall Abyss and Starfall Valley.

The closer he got to the target area, the more violent and chaotic the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth became, and spatial fluctuations became more frequent.

The sky took on an ominous dark red hue, and in the low-hanging clouds, tiny spatial fissures occasionally flashed by, emitting piercing hisses.

On the ground, vegetation became increasingly sparse, revealing large swathes of scorched black or dark red rock layers. Many places were left with huge claw marks, craters from Spell bombardment, and dried, blackened bloodstains, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had broken out not long ago.

Ye Qing slowed his flight speed, keeping his Divine Sense maintained within a thousand-zhang radius around him, carefully sensing every trace of energy fluctuation and spatial anomaly.

He did not head directly to the core area of the legendary ancient teleportation array ruins, but instead, based on the information obtained from the Golden-Eyed Yao Race Young Lord's Jade Slip, as well as the clues provided by Shopkeeper Zhou Ming, Deacon Chen Xuan, and others, he cautiously explored the outskirts of the ruins.

This place had clearly been designated as a restricted area by various factions, with several powerful Restrictions and warning Formations remaining on the perimeter, along with traces of Cultivator patrols.

Ye Qing avoided those obvious warning lines and patrol routes, choosing instead to sneak through remote, energy-chaotic, and easily overlooked corners.

After exploring like this for several days, he had a rough understanding of the terrain, the distribution of Restrictions, and the activity ranges of the various factions on the outskirts of the ruins.

The ancient teleportation array ruins were located in the center of a circular basin formed by a massive energy impact.

The basin was over a hundred miles in diameter, shrouded year-round in a dense, grey-black mist mixed with spatial turbulence and star-based Evil Qi, which severely hindered both vision and Divine Sense.

On the edge of the basin, one could vaguely see a few crudely built yet sturdy fortresses or watchtowers, belonging to different factions, confronting each other while remaining on guard.

One day, while Ye Qing was hiding in a collapsed crevice on the edge of the basin, observing the flow patterns of the mist ahead, he suddenly sensed a burst of rapid air-piercing sounds and fluctuations of Spiritual Qi from afar.

He immediately suppressed his aura, blending his figure into the shadows of the crevice.

A moment later, three streaks of light flew out from the mist in a panic, landing behind a large boulder not far from where Ye Qing was hiding.

They were three Cultivators wearing the standard pale blue robes of the Tianxing Sect, all at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. At this moment, the three of them were pale, their auras were chaotic, they had many wounds on their bodies, and their robes were damaged, appearing quite disheveled.

"Damn it! That 'Star Core' was clearly right in front, but that 'Three-Eyed Star Wolf' was guarding it! We almost died in there!" one of the young Cultivators said with lingering fear, cursing under his breath while sprinkling medicinal powder on his wounds.

"It's good enough that we made it out alive. That beast is at least at the Third Order Late Stage; the only reason we could retreat unscathed was because of Senior Brother Sun's 'Star Concealment Talisman' and this 'Formation-Breaking Awl'." Another slightly older Cultivator sighed and looked at the leader, Senior Brother Sun, whose aura was relatively steady but whose face looked equally grim.

Senior Brother Sun shook his head, his expression grave: "That 'Star Core' is one of the key Materials for repairing the 'Seven-Star Star-Fixing Plate'; the task assigned by Revered Master must be completed. We cannot force our way in; we must find another way. I heard that Liuyun City has also sent people, seemingly looking for 'Void Realm Stone' and 'star source crystal'. Perhaps we can cooperate with them and get what we each need."

"Cooperate? The people from Liuyun City have always been overbearing; cooperating with them is like bargaining with a tiger for its skin," the young Cultivator frowned.

"It's better than sending ourselves to our deaths. Besides, I heard that the one leading the Liuyun City team this time is 'Iron Sword Zhao Wuji'. Although this person started as a Loose Cultivator, his reputation is quite honorable; perhaps we can talk to him," Senior Brother Sun mused.

The three discussed in low voices for a few more moments, took some Medicinal Pills to regulate their breathing for a while, and then, not daring to stay long, they took to flight again, heading in another direction and quickly disappearing from view.

Ye Qing slowly emerged from the shadows of the crevice, his eyes flickering.

"The Tianxing Sect is looking for a 'Star Core' and 'Void Realm Stone'? And they want to cooperate with Liuyun City? It seems they have hit a Bottleneck in the repair work of the ancient teleportation array. 'star source crystal'... I do have a few pieces on me, but this item is precious and should not be easily shown to others. I could follow them and see if I can find an opportunity to reach the core of the ruins, or... trade with them for some useful intelligence or fragments of the Formation base?"

He had a plan in mind, but he did not immediately follow the three Tianxing Sect Disciples. Instead, he continued to lurk where he was, observing the mist and the surrounding movements.

About half an hour later, a low rumble, like the roar of a giant beast, suddenly came from deep within the mist. Immediately following this, a brilliant silver pillar of light shot into the sky, piercing through the mist, and lasted for several seconds before slowly dissipating.

Where the pillar of light dissipated, a more ancient and vast aura, carrying the Dao rhyme of space and stars, spread out like a tide; even from dozens of miles away, Ye Qing could clearly sense it.

"There is a disturbance deep in the ruins! Could it be that a Restriction was triggered, or... has some treasure appeared?"

Ye Qing's heart stirred. No longer hesitating, his figure flickered, turning into an almost imperceptible phantom as he quietly slipped into the grey-black mist, heading in the direction where the silver pillar of light had vanished.