258: Enter the ruins

I do not know how long they walked, but suddenly the path ahead opened up, and a massive stone door blocked their way.

The stone door was ancient and heavy, crafted from some unknown material, and covered in mysterious, blurred patterns.

An invisible energy field enveloped the stone door, emitting a faint resistance; this was the power of the Restriction.

However, just as everyone had expected, this Restriction had been eroded by the passage of time, and its power was now extremely weak, like a candle in the wind.

Strands of pure cold air drifted out from the gaps in the stone door; this was the source that had attracted the Yao Beast and themselves.

"The Restriction is already weak; breaking it will not be difficult."

Shi Jian, a consultant from Duke Rens Estate, stepped forward. He was experienced, his gaze like torches, and he instantly locked onto the key nodes where the Restriction energy circulated.

He flipped his hand to produce a twelve-foot-long spear, pitch-black all over, its tip glinting with a cold light.

"Break!"

Shi Jian let out a low shout, pouring his powerful Nascent Soul Perfection origin power into the spear. The spear transformed into a black lightning bolt, striking with absolute precision at the weakest and core node of the Restriction energy circulation on the stone door!

Pop!

A soft sound, like a bubble bursting.

The invisible curtain of the Restriction fluctuated violently, then shattered like broken glass, disintegrating inch by inch until it vanished into nothingness.

The entire process was clean and efficient, demonstrating Shi Jian's precise control over his power and his wealth of experience in breaking Restrictions.

"Consultant Shi has excellent techniques!" Yao Delong praised.

Shi Jian withdrew his spear, his expression calm. "Young Friend Yao is too kind. Although the Restriction is broken, what lies behind the door is unknown, and there may be traps or killing Formations. After entering, the team must not disperse; we must proceed step by step and investigate cautiously."

Everyone nodded with solemn expressions. Yao Delong and Li Chen exchanged a glance, and both stepped forward simultaneously, pressing their palms against the cold stone door and pushing with force.

Creak—!

A heavy, grating friction sound echoed in the silent passage, and the stone door, sealed for who knows how many years, slowly opened inward.

A thick, intense cold air, even purer and more ancient, as if from the primordial era, mixed with an indescribable, vicissitudinous dao rhyme, rushed toward them!

At the same time, a soft, cold white light poured out from behind the door.

When the stone door was fully opened and the scene behind it came into view, even though everyone had mentally prepared themselves, they could not help but gasp in unison, their eyes filled with shock!

Before them was not the narrow tomb or treasure vault they had imagined, but an extremely vast underground space!

The high dome was inlaid with countless star stones emitting a soft white light, like a real night sky, illuminating the entire space.

The ground was paved with warm, smooth white jade slabs that emitted a faint chill, reflective enough to see one's reflection.

In the center of the space was a massive lotus dao platform carved from ten-thousand-year profound ice. On the platform, a blurred phantom condensed from pure ice energy sat cross-legged. Although its face could not be seen, it radiated a heart-palpitating majesty and dao rhyme, as if it had existed since time immemorial!

Surrounding the dao platform were nine huge ice pillars also formed from profound ice. On the pillars, naturally formed mysterious dao patterns flowed endlessly, emitting powerful ice-type Law fluctuations.

The entire space was filled with ice-attribute Spiritual Qi that was so pure and dense it was almost impossible to disperse, forming faint white spiritual mists that flowed slowly between the dao platform and the ice pillars, like a fairyland.

The air was permeated with an indescribable atmosphere of tranquility, solemnity, and antiquity.

This was, shockingly, a well-preserved ice-type Cultivate dao field of an ancient powerful being!

The cold air that had been drifting out was merely the tip of the iceberg naturally emitted by this massive ice-type dao field!

"What pure ice-type energy!"

Lin Qingxue's cold eyes brightened astonishingly. The Ice Soul origin power within her body seemed to have received a summons, accelerating on its own and greedily absorbing this impossibly dense ice-spirit Qi.

She felt her Bottleneck faintly loosening.

Li Linger's small face also flushed slightly. Her Profound Yin Physique was also naturally attuned to yin-cold energy. Being here now, she felt like a fish in water, her entire body comfortable, and the fatigue from the previous battle was swept away.

"Expand your Divine Sense and investigate carefully!"

Yao Delong instructed in a deep voice, while his own powerful Divine Sense, like an invisible tide, instantly covered the entire dao field space.

Li Chen, Shi Jian, Zhao Feng, Han Yun, Yue Shan, and other Nascent Soul experts also carefully scanned every inch of the ground, every ice pillar, especially the profound ice lotus dao platform in the center, which radiated a majestic dao rhyme.

Their Divine Sense scanned over it without triggering any of the killing Formations or traps they had anticipated.

The entire dao field space was exceptionally "clean"; apart from the impossibly dense ice-spirit Qi and the ubiquitous ancient dao rhyme, there seemed to be no other danger.

"No traps?" Yue Shan scratched his head, somewhat surprised.

"Do not be careless." Shi Jian's expression remained solemn, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's. "The calmer it is, the more likely it is to hide mysteries. The core of this place is undoubtedly that profound ice dao platform."

Everyone's gaze eventually focused on the blurred ice shadow upon the dao platform.

The phantom sat cross-legged, its posture eternal, and the majestic aura it radiated made even Nascent Soul Perfection experts like Shi Jian and Yue Shan feel a hint of pressure.

"Let's check the surrounding rooms first," Yao Delong suggested.

Everyone looked in the direction he indicated, and indeed, behind the dao platform, near the rock wall, there were several houses carved from profound ice or cold jade. Their designs were ancient and blended seamlessly with the entire dao field.

Everyone reached a consensus and, maintaining a vigilant Formation, slowly approached the quiet rooms.

The closer they got, the more intense the cold became, and even the breath they exhaled instantly condensed into ice crystals.

Pushing open the door to the first quiet room, a much stronger scent of decay rushed toward them.

The room was simply furnished: a cold jade bed, a prayer mat, and an ice crystal table.

On the table were several items: a snow-white Dao robe embroidered with a Phoenix pattern that shimmered with flowing light; a long sword that was deep blue all over and exuded a piercing chill; several jade bottles; a few scrolls made of unknown animal hide; and some Ore spiritual materials shimmering with various spiritual lights.

"Ancient relics!"

Li Linger's beautiful eyes shone, and she couldn't help but let out a low exclamation, filled with excitement. The others also showed expressions of anticipation.

However, when Shi Jian, who was walking at the front, cautiously used his origin power to lift the seemingly intact snow-white Dao robe from a distance—

Sshhh!

It was as if he had touched the most fragile ash; the moment his origin power made contact, the Dao robe silently turned into a cloud of fine ice crystal powder, falling with a rustle!

Along with it, the Phoenix pattern on it also completely dissipated.

Immediately following, that deep blue long sword, the jade bottles, the scrolls, the Ore... no matter how careful they were, as long as they were slightly touched by origin power or Divine Sense, they were like things that had experienced millions of years of decay, instantly turning into fly ash!

Not even a trace of spirituality remained.

"Sigh... time is ruthless."

Shi Jian withdrew his hand, looking at the several piles of differently colored powder on the ground, and sighed helplessly.

These treasures might have been extraordinary in their original materials, but having lost the nourishment of their owner's origin power and the protection of the Formation, under the erosion of the long passage of time, they had long since lost all spirituality, leaving only their form, which crumbled at the slightest touch.