128: Chapter 128 Investigation

Ding Yuan's body lost its support and collapsed limply to the ground. His eyes remained open, pupils unfocused, with a look of terror and unwillingness still lingering on his face.

Wu Li withdrew his claws, blood dripping from the tips onto the ground with a rhythmic patter.

"It's yours to feast on."

"Many thanks, Master!"

Wu Li did not waste any more time on the corpses of Ding Yuan and the others; he folded his wings and walked toward the bronze vat.

The great hall was filled with a thick scent of blood, and corpses lay scattered everywhere.

Behind him, Zhang Huaiyuan crept out from the shadows outside the hall. His footsteps were light, and a fawning smile hung on his face, like a cat that had caught the scent of fish.

He hurried to the side of the nearest Xuanyi Sect Disciple's corpse, crouched down, extended his right hand, and pressed it against the corpse's chest.

A dark red light lit up in his palm, and wisps of blood were extracted from the wound, converging in the air into a thumb-sized blood bead. It was crystal clear and emitted a faint fluorescent glow.

Wu Li ignored him.

A huge bronze vat stood in the center of the great hall, the dense runes on the vat wall glowing faintly in the gloom.

Wu Li stood before the bronze vat, raised his right claw, and pressed it gently against the wall. Demon Power surged from his palm and slowly probed into the vat.

The bronze vat trembled slightly, emitting a low hum.

The moment his Demon Power touched the wall, a heavy feedback surged from within the vat, as if it had slammed into a great mountain. It was an invisible barrier that blocked his Demon Power from entering.

Wu Li frowned slightly and increased his Demon Power, but the feedback intensified accordingly, like a wall—if you push it, it pushes back; the harder you push, the harder it pushes.

There was no danger, but it also meant that it was unrealistic for Wu Li to break through this barrier relying solely on Demon Power.

The runes on the bronze vat were dense, each one like a lock, sealing the spiritual liquid inside tightly.

These runes were ancient, yet the flow of spiritual power remained stable.

"Tricky."

Wu Li withdrew his claw, his blood-red pupils fixed on the runes on the bronze vat, and he fell silent for a moment.

Then, he raised his head, and his Blood Pupil slowly opened between his brows, its scarlet light sweeping over every rune on the vat wall.

Under the perspective of the Blood Pupil, the runes became clear. Their arrangement, the paths of their spiritual power flow, and the connections between them resembled a precise net, wrapping the entire bronze vat tightly.

Soon, Wu Li withdrew the Blood Pupil, a flash of hesitation in his eyes. If Wu Li were currently at the Three-Transformation Realm of the Blood Pupil, he could have scanned it once and directly broken the Restriction.

But as it stood, while he could unravel it bit by bit, it would require wasting a significant amount of time.

Wu Li was somewhat reluctant to waste all his time here... There were clearly many good things in this Secret Realm.

After weighing the pros and cons for a while, Wu Li withdrew his claw from the bronze vat. He understood the principle of losing the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds; the spiritual liquid in this bronze vat before him was the key to his Breakthrough to the Third Rank. He couldn't be too ambitious...

"You..."

Wu Li did not turn back, his voice hoarse and indifferent.

Zhang Huaiyuan lifted his head from the pile of corpses, a smear of blood still uncleaned at the corner of his mouth, and hurriedly replied, "Master."

Wu Li turned around, his blood-red pupils fixed on him, his voice hoarse and indifferent. "Go outside and continue searching for anomalies. Report back immediately if you find anything."

Zhang Huaiyuan was stunned for a moment, a flash of hesitation in his eyes as he looked toward the giant vat.

Wu Li saw through his thoughts and snorted coldly, his voice as cold as ice shards. "Don't think about what you shouldn't."

"Do you not know what you are?"

Zhang Huaiyuan's body shuddered violently, and he lowered his head, not daring to look into Wu Li's eyes. He knew Wu Li was telling the truth.

He had no Spiritual Root and could only rely on the Blood Seal Pagoda to absorb Spiritual Qi from the essence blood of other Cultivators to Cultivate.

Spirit Medicine, spirit fruits, and Spirit Pill were all useless to him; he couldn't refine them even if he ate them. Their only use was to trade for Spirit Stone. Spirit Stone was also useless to him; he could only drink blood.

"Yes, Master."

Zhang Huaiyuan turned and walked toward the outside of the hall. His footsteps were light, and he soon disappeared into the mist outside.

Wu Li watched his disappearing back without the slightest worry that Zhang Huaiyuan would swallow any treasures he found. The treasures in this Secret Realm were useless to him anyway.

Wu Li withdrew his gaze and looked back at the bronze vat. He raised his right claw, pressed it against the wall, and probed his Demon Power into the vat once more.

This time, Wu Li focused on his innate Divine Ability, transforming the Colorless Profound Light into countless threads as thin as hair, which seeped in bit by bit along the gaps between the runes. It was like a key inserted into a keyhole, turning slowly.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Secret Realm, amidst a desolate ruin.

The Iron-Backed Bear King's massive body squatted on a pile of rubble. The fat on his belly was piled in several layers, and he was panting heavily, his eyes, the size of a bronze bell, fixed on the half-collapsed stone wall in front of him.

"Finally opened it."

The Rift-Wind Wolf King squatted beside him, his eerie green eyes scanning the surroundings, his tail flicking back and forth, ears pricked straight up. When the two of them were teleported to this ruin, there was no one else around.

"Old Bear, do you think there's anything good in this lousy place?" The Rift-Wind Wolf King's voice was hoarse and low, carrying a hint of impatience.

The Iron-Backed Bear King scratched his belly and grunted, "I don't know, but it's still better than staying on that wretched wasteland." As he finished speaking, he slapped the stone wall in front of him again; the wall shattered in response, and rubble flew everywhere.

As time passed, beneath the pile of rubble, a blue stone slab gradually appeared. The surface of the slab was covered with dense runes, which were dull and lusterless, as if they had long since become ineffective.

"I told you I wasn't wrong." The Iron-Backed Bear King slapped the blue stone slab again, shattering it into several pieces and revealing a pitch-black hole underneath.

The moment the opening was revealed, a terrifying aura surged from within the cave, as heavy as a mountain, causing the expressions of both the Iron-Backed Bear King and the Rift-Wind Wolf King to change simultaneously.

But that aura also carried an indescribable attraction, like a magnet, pulling at their souls and making them unable to tear themselves away.

The Iron-Backed Bear King swallowed his saliva and grunted, "Go down and take a look?"

The Rift-Wind Wolf King felt the same, a flash of greed in his eerie green eyes. "Let's go."

The Iron-Backed Bear King jumped down first, his massive body scraping against the cave walls and sending up a spray of rubble. The Rift-Wind Wolf King followed closely behind, his figure like lightning, landing silently on the ground.

It was pitch black inside the cave, so dark one could not see their own fingers. The night vision of the Iron-Backed Bear King and the Rift-Wind Wolf King was greatly compromised here, and they could only see a range of a few zhang.

They walked forward cautiously, their footsteps echoing in the empty cave, each step crunching against the rubble. After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a "creak-creak" sound came from ahead, like rusty gears turning.