277: Sun, Moon, and Stars

Luo You City is a major city in Star Luo Province.

It belongs to the Nether Antiquity Sect, which is affiliated with the Three Swords Alliance.

Xiao Shi's clone and main body had both successfully arrived in this city.

And on the day of his arrival,

Xiao Shi moved directly into the Wangchen Inn in Luo You City.

At this moment, in one of the independent courtyards of the Wangchen Inn,

Xiao Shi took out a dream jade stone.

This dream jade stone was specially crafted for him by Xiang Zizhen before he left.

It was a dream jade stone specifically for private chats with Man Gui.

Besides this dream jade stone,

Xiao Shi also had a dream jade stone for group chats and another dream jade stone for private chats with Xiang Zizhen.

This ensured that information transmission would not be hindered.

Now, as Xiao Shi took out this dream jade stone,

he immediately entered the Dream World.

and met Man Gui there.

"I've arrived in Luo You City."

Xiao Shi looked at the glowing figure representing Man Gui in the dream.

"Where should we meet?"

However, Man Gui shook his head.

"It's best if we don't meet. The guys from the Prayer God Temple are closely monitoring my every move. If we meet, they will definitely notice you, and then it will be very difficult for you to enter the ancient ruins..."

Xiao Shi was somewhat surprised by this.

"Even in Luo You City, they can track your movements? And know who you've met?"

In Xiao Shi's view,

Luo You City was their Nether Antiquity Sect's territory.

Yet, even on his own territory, he was being monitored by people from the Prayer God Temple.

This was truly terrifying!

"After all, the people from the Prayer God Temple are not traditional martial artists. Their methods are bizarre and unpredictable, making them impossible to guard against."

"However, their people are now also being watched by us, and they similarly won't have a chance to enter the ancient ruins."

Man Gui said.

Xiao Shi nodded.

He thought about the information he had previously learned about the Prayer God Temple.

The Prayer God Temple was the most mysterious of the many forces in Star Luo Province.

The Experts within the Prayer God Temple were not martial artists in the traditional sense.

Instead, they were a group of people skilled in strange and unusual powers.

These included various peculiar powers such as divination, curses, summoning, and prayer.

Although these were not mainstream,

and could even be said not to be martial arts,

when orthodox martial artists faced them, they often found them incredibly troublesome.

"If we can't meet, then how can I enter the ancient ruins?"

Xiao Shi asked.

"Don't worry, I already planned it out early on."

Man Gui said... Meanwhile,

in a secluded mountain valley on the outskirts of Luo You City,

a desolate, dilapidated small temple sat isolated in the valley.

The entire small temple carried a strong sense of age.

exuding an air of vicissitude.

And on both sides of this small temple,

there were two groups of people.

One group wore deep gray robes, their heads also covered. They sat cross-legged on the ground, a staff laid horizontally across their laps.

They continuously chanted a recondite, complex incantation.

causing the small temple before them to be enveloped by an invisible force.

Anyone who approached the small temple would suffer a powerful curse!

The other group consisted of people with fierce expressions.

They also sat cross-legged on the ground.

staring intently at the group opposite them.

A colossal black sphere floated above their heads, emitting bursts of black light.

This also prevented the group opposite from approaching the small temple.

The two sides had been in a stalemate for several days.

Neither could approach the temple ahead.

At the same time, high in the sky,

two figures hovered, facing each other.

These were two Martial Demon Realm Experts.

While mutually restraining each other, they also used their respective methods to monitor key figures within the opposing force.

This ensured that every move of these key figures was under their surveillance and control.

to prevent anyone from secretly crossing the line.

Although they knew that

if they continued this stalemate, no one would be able to enter the ancient ruins.

If the news spread and reached the Star Luo Lord, they might end up with nothing.

However, the two sides could not reach a consensus on entering the ancient ruins.

They could only remain in this stalemate.

Now, they were both waiting for an opportunity to break the deadlock... Late at night.

Under the dark night sky,

Xiao Shi, following Man Gui's instructions, quietly snuck into an unremarkable shop in Luo You City.

In the back courtyard of the shop, he found a dry well.

Whoosh!

He moved.

and directly leaped into the dry well.

Inside the dry well, he saw a teleportation array that Man Gui had previously arranged for someone to set up.

This teleportation array was arranged by Man Gui, who used a cryptic code to instruct his subordinates to have others secretly set it up.

He himself had never been here.

Although he had always been watched by the people from the Prayer God Temple,

when he gave instructions to his subordinates using cryptic codes, the people watching him would not analyze his every word.

They focused more on his whereabouts.

Even though those who had contact with Man Gui would also be monitored, Man Gui this time had his subordinates find others unrelated to them to secretly set up this teleportation array.

With such layers of transmission,

the Prayer God Temple would not be able to monitor everyone.

Thus, Man Gui secretly arranged this teleportation array.

Immediately,

after Xiao Shi entered the dry well,

he immediately activated the teleportation array according to the method Man Gui had previously instructed.

Buzz!

Instantly, enveloped by the light of the teleportation array,

he vanished from within the dry well.

When Xiao Shi's vision cleared,

he had already appeared before a rugged cliff dwelling.

A three-meter-high stone door was embedded in the wall, with an eight-trigram relief carved on it, and characters like Qian, Kun, Zhen, Kan, and Li protruding.

Xiao Shi observed the stone door before him.

He sensed that opening the stone door might require a specific key.

But Man Gui had not given him any key.

He first cautiously checked his surroundings, confirming there were no other people, before taking out the dream jade stone and entering the Dream World.

"I've teleported and arrived at the location you mentioned, but there's a stone door here that I can't open."

Xiao Shi said to Man Gui.

Man Gui nodded.

"The secret to opening this stone door lies in the eight trigrams on it. This is an ancient eight-trigram locking array. As long as you infuse Soul Consciousness along the correct path, it can be unlocked."

"I'll tell you the correct path now..."

Man Gui meticulously explained the entire opening path to Xiao Shi.

"Are you sure that behind this stone door is the ancient ruin?"

Xiao Shi asked.

"Certain."

Man Gui nodded.

"This ancient ruin actually has two entrances. Only one of them has been leaked."

"Currently, very few people know about this entrance."

"However, opening this entrance is very difficult, unlike the other entrance, which can be entered directly."

"Therefore, when we first discovered this entrance, we couldn't enter immediately, and then we were monitored by the Prayer God Temple, making it impossible for us to come over."

Xiao Shi suddenly understood.

No wonder Man Gui needed to find someone who wasn't monitored and was trustworthy to go to the ancient ruins and retrieve the items inside for him.

Immediately,

Xiao Shi infused Soul Consciousness into the stone door according to the opening path Man Gui had instructed.

As the Soul Consciousness flowed along the correct path, forming a circuit on the stone door,

Xiao Shi raised his hand and pressed the pattern in the middle of the stone door.

The stone door rumbled, shaking.

and slowly slid open to one side.

Xiao Shi clearly saw that

behind the stone door was not a dark, gloomy mountain interior, but a candlelit tunnel. The entire tunnel was about three meters wide and five meters high, extending deep into the distance, with no end in sight.

Oil lamps were placed in niches, their bean-sized flames burning quietly.

Xiao Shi stood at the entrance.

He did not immediately enter.

Instead, he spread and extended his Soul Consciousness, wanting to use it to investigate the situation inside the tunnel.

This time, Xiao Shi had come with his main body, not his clone.

His clone was placed in Luo You City.

In terms of Soul Consciousness...

his main body's Soul Consciousness was far stronger than his clone's.

Whether it was the attack power of his Soul Consciousness or its range of diffusion, his clone could not compare.

At the same time, after he cultivated the Dark Eye Spy, his entire Soul Consciousness was further enhanced, and its concealment was exceptionally good.

Before coming to Luo You City, Xiao Shi had specifically asked Xiang Zizhen to test it.

He found that...

when he swept Xiang Zizhen with his Soul Consciousness,

even with Xiang Zizhen's strength and cultivation, he couldn't detect it.

Unless it was a deep investigation,

only then would Xiang Zizhen sense it.

Under normal circumstances of Soul Consciousness probing, the other party would not be able to perceive it.

However, now that Xiao Shi's Soul Consciousness permeated into the tunnel,

his entire Soul Consciousness was instantly greatly suppressed.

It simply couldn't spread too far.

This situation was similar to the situation in the underground palace back then.

But at that time, Xiao Shi had not yet developed Soul Consciousness, so he didn't feel much and couldn't compare it to the current situation.

But he could be certain that...

the suppression of his Soul Consciousness now was not due to an array!

But rather the strangeness within this ancient ruin!

"If it were an array... then there would still be a possibility of breaking it."

"If it's not an array, then it's somewhat unsolvable."

Xiao Shi's expression grew a few shades more solemn.

The suppression of his Soul Consciousness would weaken his strength to a certain extent.

However, since he had already come,

he would not retreat because of this.

He moved, entering the tunnel, and proceeded forward.

The entire tunnel was very long.

After he had walked for more than ten minutes,

Suddenly,

Xiao Shi stopped.

He found a humanoid stone statue standing ahead.

The entire statue was of a burly general leaning on a long sword, facing Xiao Shi. He wore heavy armor, a helmet, and his head was bowed.

Xiao Shi did not approach rashly.

Maintaining a certain distance between them,

his Soul Consciousness spread out.

He used his Soul Consciousness to investigate.

Although his Soul Consciousness was greatly suppressed within this ancient ruin,

Xiao Shi could still maintain its spread within a hundred-meter range.

When his Soul Consciousness touched the stone statue,

Buzz!

The stone statue's eyes suddenly glowed crimson, and with a series of creaking sounds, the statue's bowed head slowly lifted, accompanied by falling dust.

Xiao Shi's heart tightened.

He was fully on guard, ready to fight at any moment.

The revived stone statue's crimson eyes stared intently at Xiao Shi, and it picked up the long sword it had been leaning on the ground.

However, he did not use the long sword in his hand to attack Xiao Shi.

Instead, he plunged the long sword into the ground, drawing a circle on the ground.

Then, with the long sword in his hand, he drew a crescent moon next to the circle.

Finally, next to the crescent moon, he drew a hexagram pattern.

After the stone statue finished all of this,

he once again plunged the long sword into the ground, returning to his previous stance of leaning on the sword.

The crimson in his eyes faded.

and his head bowed once more.

Xiao Shi watched this scene with furrowed brows.

He had initially thought that the revival of the stone statue would lead to an attack on him, but he didn't expect the statue to merely draw three patterns on the ground.

"Could these three patterns represent the sun, moon, and stars?"

Xiao Shi had a guess in his heart.

Since the stone statue merely drew these three patterns and gave no further instructions,

he could only guess based on his feelings now.

"From the current situation, it seems I have to choose one of these three patterns..."

"And my choice will likely determine the situations and encounters I will face later in this ancient ruin."

Xiao Shi fell into contemplation.

The meanings represented by these three patterns were all different.

There might only be one "correct answer."

If he could choose the correct answer, the path ahead would be smooth sailing.

But if he chose the wrong answer,

what awaited him would most likely be utter disaster.

If that were truly the case... then he had to be very careful in choosing among these three patterns!

"If I knew relevant information about this ancient ruin, I could analyze and deduce based on its history."

"But now, knowing nothing, I can only rely on luck!"

Xiao Shi sighed at this.

He greatly missed the Blood Luck Pill that dropped back in the Blood Martial Realm, which could boost his luck. If he had such an item to increase luck now,

then he wouldn't have to worry.

He could just close his eyes and pick randomly.

"Perhaps it's not necessarily just about luck; maybe the answer is hidden nearby..."

Xiao Shi began to carefully observe his surroundings.

He paid particular attention to the tall stone statue before him.

He tried to find any elements related to these three patterns through the statue's attire, including the long sword in its hand.

At the same time, he also observed the ground and walls of this tunnel.

However, after a careful observation,

he found no relevant clues from the stone statue, the ground, or the walls.

He only found that if he didn't choose one of these three patterns, he wouldn't be able to proceed further and would be stopped here.

Xiao Shi took a deep breath.

He could only use his Soul Consciousness to sense the three patterns.

to see if he could perceive anything from them.

As he continuously sensed them,

he immediately clearly felt that

within the circular pattern, a strong heat was hidden.

And within the crescent moon pattern, coldness was hidden.

Finally, within the hexagram pattern, sharpness was hidden!

Xiao Shi's eyes narrowed slightly.

He could only sense this much for now.

"Since I don't know the meaning behind them, I can only choose according to my own feeling!"