218: Alone in a remote land, the ancient temple glows faintly.

The land was absolutely silent, with gray mist like a veil.

Medusa’s figure sped across the boundless skeletons and shattered earth, her Seven-Colored Dou Qi retracted into her body, leaving only a thin layer of flowing light to resist the omnipresent erosion of decay. She suppressed her aura to its lowest, moving like a ghost through this land that symbolized an end.

Each step was as light as a feather, each movement as swift as lightning. Her seductive eyes were now as sharp as an eagle’s, constantly scanning the surroundings, searching for auras or characteristics similar to the seven dark-gold skeletal carvings she had previously found.

This process was far more difficult and dangerous than imagined.

After leaving the relatively safe cave area, the true face of the desolate land gradually revealed itself. The air was filled with a denser Qi of decay, even beginning to condense into gray, corrosive dew or thin frost, clinging to skeletons and the ground. The space in some areas was extremely unstable, occasionally tearing open a tiny black crack without warning, emitting an all-consuming suction force. Though fleeting, it was enough to make one’s heart chill.

She had once seen from afar a 'sea of bones' composed of countless tiny skeletons, within which lurked several wolf-shaped Evil Spirits condensed from pure Nirvana Evil Qi, whose strength was probably no weaker than a Peak Dou Zong. She decisively detoured, not easily provoking them.

She had also mistakenly entered a seemingly calm, desolate plain, only for the ground beneath her feet to suddenly become soft and viscous, like a swamp, with a powerful suction force pulling her towards the ground. She erupted her Dou Qi, narrowly escaping. Looking back, the 'plain' had already returned to its original state, with only a few dull bubbles occasionally rising, which was chilling.

These were all areas where fragments of the Nirvana True Understanding might exist, but they were also accompanied by deadly threats.

Medusa relied on her powerful Soul perception and rich combat experience to repeatedly turn danger into safety. She was not searching blindly, but rather following a faint, ethereal sensation—a subtle guidance from the silent ruin, which, after devouring the first seven fragments, produced a weak trace of Dao rhythm of the same origin. She trusted this sensation, pushing deeper into the desolate land, towards the core area where the Dao rhythm of decay was denser and more ancient.

Time lost its measure here. Perhaps it was one day, perhaps three.

Medusa didn't know how deep she had gone, only feeling the increasing pressure around her. The gray airflow had almost solidified, drastically increasing the consumption of her protective Dou Qi. Her supply of restorative Medicinal Pills was almost depleted, and her internal injuries showed signs of recurring due to continuous travel and vigilance.

But she did not turn back. The image of Li Ao's silent face and faint vitality in her mind gave her infinite motivation.

Finally, after traversing a 'bone forest' formed by huge, twisted spinal skeletons, the scene before her suddenly changed.

Ahead was no longer an endless wilderness, but a relatively intact plaza paved with some kind of dark black giant stones. At the end of the plaza, a dilapidated but still grand ancient palace stood majestically!

The palace was entirely dark gray, its material neither metal nor stone, covered with marks of time's erosion and huge claw prints and sword marks, as if it had endured a fierce battle countless years ago. Most of it had collapsed, leaving only the main framework and some broken walls, standing silently in the center of this desolate land.

What made Medusa’s heart suddenly skip a beat was that she clearly felt the jade pendant in her arms (a wisp of her aura connection she had deliberately left before departing), which was used to sense the state of the silent ruin, transmitting a clearer and stronger throb than ever before!

The source of the guidance was within that ruined ancient palace!

And not just one place! Inside the ancient palace, there seemed to be multiple streams of Nirvana Dao rhythm, of the same origin as the Nirvana True Understanding, but more complete and grander!

Hope was at hand!

Medusa’s spirits were greatly lifted, her fatigue swept away, and her eyes became incredibly sharp. She carefully observed the ancient palace and the plaza in front of her.

The plaza was empty, with only a few strangely shaped, severely damaged stone sculptures standing in the center. They could vaguely be identified as some kind of Vicious Beast never seen before. The entire environment was eerily quiet, as if even the desolate airflow slowed down upon reaching here.

But the calmer it was, the more vigilant Medusa became. How could a palace that survived in the core of this desolate land be an easy place to deal with?

She took a deep breath, adjusted her state to the best, and her Seven-Colored Dou Qi slowly circulated within her body, like a coiled, ready-to-strike viper. Step by step, she cautiously tread upon the dark black giant stones of the plaza.

The moment her foot landed, it seemed to trigger something.

“Om…”

A low, ancient hum, as if from the netherworld, slowly emanated from beneath the plaza and from the depths of the ruined ancient palace.

At the same time, in the hollow eye sockets of the damaged Vicious Beast stone sculptures in the center of the plaza, two clusters of… dim, ghost-fire-like gray light suddenly lit up!

A mountain-like pressure, mixed with monstrous ferocity and the Qi of death, instantly enveloped the entire plaza!

Medusa’s pupils constricted, her figure instantly froze, and all her muscles tensed.

She knew that the final, and most dangerous, hurdle in her search for the Nirvana True Understanding had arrived.