Chapter 405: Chapter 390: Nascent Soul Remains? [1st update, please subscribe]
Both Zhouyang, Xu Song, and even Xiao Ying were very curious about how Zhou Yuanyao and her mother got trapped in the underground ruins.
This underground ruin is protected by a Tier Five High-grade Array. With the help of Xu Song, a Tier Five Middle-grade Array Master, it took over ten years to break through the array and enter.
At that time, Zhou Xuan Yu had only a cultivation level of Third-Layer Foundation Establishment, and Zhou Yuanyao had a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation level. How did the mother and daughter manage to enter without breaking the array?
And how did they survive during the nearly eighty years?"
It is known that Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators and Foundation Establishment Cultivators cannot fully rely on Fasting. Even if they carried many Grain Avoidance Pills and "Golden Pearl Rice" when they left, it surely wouldn’t be enough for so many years!
Addressing these questions, after the mother and daughter stabilized emotionally, Zhouyang inquired about them one by one.
Of course, before that, both he and Xiao Ying considerately took out some dried Demon Beast Meat, preserved fruit, Spirit Wine, and other food and drinks to offer the mother and daughter a hearty meal.
And indeed, Zhou Xuan Yu and Zhou Yuanyao could not resist the temptation of these foods. After gorging and drinking heartily, they answered Zhouyang’s questions with a look of contentment.
As it turns out, the mother and daughter became trapped in the underground ruins purely due to an accident.
At that time, Zhou Yuanyao, under the secret protection of her mother Zhou Xuan Yu, went out for her experience because she knew that with the protection of a Foundation Establishment Stage mother, she naturally feared nothing and was daring enough to get involved in any adventure team.
That time, while blending in with a group of Loose Cultivators, she joined a team of Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators exploring the ruins of an ancient cultivator’s cave mansion deep in the Desert Sea.
This team was composed of seven Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators, and including Zhou Yuanyao, three members were at Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation. In terms of strength, this team was quite good among Low-Tier Cultivators.
Thanks to their strong capabilities, the team dared to venture deeper into the Desert Sea in search of treasures. They ventured deep into the Desert Sea until reaching about thirty thousand miles away from the starting oasis, and by the time they arrived at the destination, they had already spent over three months on the road.
After reaching the destination, the team leader explained the details of the adventure.
It turned out that the ancient cultivator’s cave mansion they were about to explore was believed to be left by a High-Tier Cultivator from thousands of years ago. The arrays inside had deteriorated over time, and their power was less than one-tenth of their peak. With proper preparations, Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators could barely enter to explore.
Upon hearing that they were about to explore a cave mansion left by a High-Tier Cultivator, Zhou Yuanyao was immediately intrigued and left a message using a secret code to her mother Zhou Xuan Yu, who was tracking her from behind, hoping to monopolize the cave mansion with her mother’s help.
However, just when Zhou Xuan Yu received the message and followed her into the cave mansion, someone inadvertently triggered a residual array in the cave, leading to everyone inside, including Zhou Xuan Yu, being teleported to the altar in the underground ruins.
The events that followed were straightforward. After realizing they were trapped in the ruins without any means of escape, Zhou Xuan Yu ruthlessly slaughtered all the Loose Cultivators to gather resources for survival, while awaiting rescue from their clan.
Even so, the food resources gathered from the slain Loose Cultivators were certainly not sufficient for the mother and daughter to last nearly eighty years.
The real reason they managed to survive till now was their self-sufficiency by farming in the underground ruins.
According to the mother and daughter, there was originally a pool about three square-feet in size within the "Bright Hall," initially planted with ornamental spirit plants like lotus flowers. When they realized their food was insufficient, they drained the pool and planted "Golden Pearl Rice."
Thanks to the abundant spiritual qi of a Tier Five Spiritual Vein akin to the underground site, and Zhou Yuanyao, who practiced the Wood Element Technique and learned the skills of a Spirit Plant Cultivator on her own, using some accelerating techniques to hasten its growth.
Originally requiring one year’s cycle to mature, the "Golden Pearl Rice" planted in that pool could be harvested three times a year with a yield more than double that of planting in a Tier Three Spirit Field.
Zhou Xuan Yu and Zhou Yuanyao, relying on this less than half-acre Tier Five Spirit Field, managed to barely survive for nearly eighty years!
As for why they were teleported to this underground ruin, Zhou Xuan Yu and her daughter could not figure it out even after nearly eighty years. They speculated that it might be related to a cultivator’s remains they found in the "Bright Hall."
"The remains of that cultivator surely belonged to a Golden Core Stage Senior during their lifetime. There was an array restriction protecting where they stood, which we couldn’t break despite all efforts!"
As Zhou Yuanyao spoke, her gaze sneaked a glance at Xu Song not far away. She had already learned from Zhouyang that this ghostly figure was actually a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, an extremely rare Ghost Cultivator.
"Elder Xu, you heard what Yao’Er said, what do you think of this matter?"
Zhouyang shifted his gaze and asked Xu Song for his opinion.
Among everyone present, Xu Song had the most extensive knowledge, and as a Tier Five Array Master, his opinions on such matters carried more weight than anyone else.
"I just took a look, this altar in the square should be a large-scale remote teleportation array. Such a teleportation array might not match the legendary intercontinental teleportation arrays, but it can teleport over a million miles at once!"
"However, as you can see, the accompanying Profound Crystal Stones on this teleportation array have already been removed, so the array is currently unusable."
"If you are asking how I view these two little girls being inexplicably teleported into these ruins, I judge it to be an accidental event. The array they triggered in that cave mansion should have originally been a one-time teleportation array used for emergency escapes."
"Such a one-time teleportation array is a unidirectional teleportation array. There isn’t a fixed destination for where it would teleport to, but it usually prioritizes teleporting to areas where the Space Laws are weaker."
"The reason these two little girls would be teleported into the ruins is likely because they were accidentally taken in by this teleportation array during their teleportation, since a large-scale remote teleportation array like this would be set up in areas with relatively weak Space Laws!"
Xu Song, indeed, did not hold back and immediately stated his opinion.
However, when Zhouyang heard this, he was greatly astonished.
"What? This altar is a large-scale remote teleportation array? Elder, are you sure you’re not mistaken?"
Zhouyang, with a shocked expression, looked towards the altar in the center of the square, astounded and full of disbelief.
He was, of course, aware of a large-scale remote teleportation array. This sort of teleportation array is essential for maintaining contact between top-tier forces. A single teleportation over a million miles allows support personnel to instantly reach the sect located millions of miles away.
Like the Profound Sun Immortal Sect and their ally, the Yuqing Daoist Sect, even though their mountain gates are separated by hundreds of thousands of miles, the presence of such a large-scale remote teleportation array ensures that when any side faces difficulties, master cultivators from the other sect can swiftly arrive for support through the teleportation array.
To set up such a large-scale remote teleportation array, it doesn’t only require a Tier Six Array Master proficient in space transmission arrays to personally take part, but it also needs the consumption of many extremely precious Tier Five Spiritual Objects. The cost of establishing such a teleportation array alone is worth the entire assets of a small sect.
The appearance of such an invaluable large-scale remote teleportation array in a resource-poor place like the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm left Zhouyang utterly shocked!
"Although I do not know how to construct teleportation arrays, you cannot doubt my eyesight because of this. Besides, whether it is true or not, simply taking out the relic from that skeleton inside will reveal everything!"
Xu Song glanced at Zhouyang with a displeased expression, his voice came low and muffled.
Zhouyang, after being spoken to thus, snapped out of his shock and daze. An awkward expression flickered across his face, and he awkwardly smiled, saying, "Hehehe, Elder, you’re right. Then let’s first take a look at the skeleton inside."
As they entered the "Bright Hall", Zhouyang immediately saw the three plots of land that Zhou Yuanyao and her daughter have relied on to survive over the years.
This great hall, unlike ordinary palaces that have front and rear halls, only consists of an incredibly spacious front hall. After entering the door, there were originally two lotus ponds about ten zhangs long and one zhang wide on both sides, now filled with "Golden Pearl Rice".
Between the two lotus ponds is a path about one zhang wide, leading straight to the deepest part of the hall.
In the deepest part of the hall stands a white jade statue several zhangs high, radiating sacred white light. The statue depicts a dignified and holy male figure holding a white jade magic sword in one hand and a crystal treasure pearl in the other, his eyes facing directly at the entrance of the hall.
As Zhouyang and the others entered the hall, the first thing they saw were the eyes of the white jade statue.
Those eyes seemed to have some sort of spiritual magic ban imposed on them. When Zhouyang and others’ gaze met them, they felt a pressure emanating from the depths of their divine souls, compelling them to lower their gaze and bow in respect.
Since they had been forewarned by Zhou Xuan Yu and her daughter, Zhouyang, despite being somewhat displeased by the subtle imposition, did not attempt to defy it, and lowered his gaze slightly as a gesture of respect.
Not only did he do so, but even a Golden Core Stage Cultivator like Xu Song also did not choose to resist.
This is because, according to Xu Song’s speculation, if they chose to resist the power emitting from the statue’s eyes, it might trigger some self-destruct magic ban within, causing the entire hall and possibly the entire ruins to be destroyed.
Once they entered the hall while bowing, Zhouyang immediately caught sight of the so-called skeleton.
The skeleton, sitting on a mat beneath the statue, had all its flesh and skin eroded away with time, leaving only a lustrous ivory-like skeleton. Just by the radiant jade bones, Zhouyang could tell that Zhou Xuan Yu and her daughter were right; the skeleton’s owner, during his life, must have possessed Golden Core Stage cultivation.
"No, this isn’t an ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivator’s remains, these are the remains of at least a Ninth-Layer Golden Core, possibly even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator!"
A cry of astonishment erupted beside him, and when Zhouyang turned his head, he saw Xu Song’s gaze fixated on the skeleton, his ghostly green eyes filled with greed.