Chapter 545 - 328: Ruins of Xuyuan

Chapter 545: Chapter 328: Ruins of Xuyuan

「One week later, in the Mysterious Realm.」

With Ye Shuping’s full support, the expedition to the Ruins Origin Relics officially began.

Because the mission concerned the mystery of Sima Hong, the exploration team was actually quite small. Aside from Ye Shuping and Zhuo Feiming, Yuqing University was only represented by Tang Shengquan and an unfamiliar female Martial Saint named Ren Hongxia—a rather old-fashioned name.

The most important person on this trip was none other than Yu Fei. According to the results of Mr. Tang’s research, Yu Fei’s Sword Qi was the key to undoing the seal on the Ruins of Xuyuan.

After passing through the Cross-Border Black Fog, a low-lying forest, alive with the scent of flowers and the songs of birds, appeared before them.

"It’s best not to fly here. It’s easy to trigger a teleportation and get trapped in a dead zone."

Ren Hongxia warned them in advance. She was a Martial Saint affiliated with Yuqing University who specialized in alchemy research. The Mysterious Realm produced all sorts of precious herbs and was an important cultivation base for Yuqing, so Ren Hongxia was very familiar with it.

The moment Yu Fei entered, he felt an extremely intense spatial power. Within his perception, most of the Mysterious Realm was divided into various different regions, which could be seen as individual shattered realms.

These shattered realms varied in size; the smallest were only a few square kilometers, while the largest spanned over a thousand. He deduced, ’Yuqing University’s so-called safe zone is actually just one of the larger shattered realms.’

Yu Fei also perceived that the spatial power at the edges of these small worlds was constantly shifting. This meant that the areas connected to each small world were changing every moment. If one were to accidentally wander in, it would be highly likely they would never be able to return to their original spot.

Thus, if someone got lost, they could truly be trapped forever. The Mysterious Realm was divided into tens of thousands of fragmented domains, making it nearly impossible to return to where one started.

"Everyone, be careful not to cross the line of Blue Glow Flowers. We’ve planted these blue flowers along the border to mark the safe zone."

Ren Hongxia explained as she led the way. Within Yu Fei’s perception, he could tell that these vibrant little blue flowers were not planted right up against the border; there was still some safe distance.

Tang Shengquan and Ye Shuping were together, and the latter heard Mr. Tang proudly explain:

"This Blue Glow Flower is a special, artificially cultivated species. It has a peculiar trait: when it grows in a place with strong spatial power, its blossoms turn white, allowing us to effectively monitor the dangerous areas. What’s more, at night, the flowers emit a blue fluorescence that is clearly visible from several miles away..."

’How many people must have been sacrificed back then to map out this safe boundary,’ Yu Fei thought.

Mr. Tang’s explanation continued. "To determine the boundary of the spatial power over a hundred years ago, we selected a unique local creature: the Illusion Weasel Rat. When this little thing gets scared, it releases a foul-smelling yellow gas that also stains its surroundings. So, we bred countless Illusion Weasel Rats and let them roam freely in this land. When they encountered the spatial power and were teleported away, they would leave a yellow stain on the spot."

"Using this unique biological mechanism, we were finally able to determine the safe zone."

Ye Shuping nodded in agreement. "I remember you were the one who led this project back then, right? A brilliant idea. As far as I know, the high-tier herbs from the Mysterious Realm account for about 8% of the total share. Mr. Tang’s contribution to that is undeniable."

Ye Shuping was much older than Tang Shengquan, but he still held respect for a Martial Artist who was a pure researcher.

’I’m so foolish,’ Yu Fei thought as he listened. ’I actually believed this safe passage had been mapped out by human explorers.’

The group continued forward until they reached a gravelly beach. Although they could clearly see a river and waterfall in the distance, the area of the beach near the riverbank was densely planted with Blue Glow Flowers, some of which had already turned white.

"We’re here! This is the place!"

Tang Shengquan’s gaze was dazed. He had been showing this kind of expression from time to time today. His failure to break through to the Martial Saint realm had caused irreversible damage to his spiritual soul.

"If we head toward the river, we will reach the area of the ruins... After staying there for a full 15 days, we will automatically be sent back here.

You can also trigger the boundary, but you’ll get caught in an endless loop of teleportations. This is also the only shattered realm we’ve found with a different method of teleportation..."

Then, Yu Fei followed the others and took a step forward. Even though his perception told him everything was normal, and he could even see the fish in the river with perfect clarity, the moment he stepped toward the water, the world changed around him.

Yu Fei looked around. They were now in the middle of a vast ocean-like lake, standing on a gravelly Lake Heart Island where not a single blade of grass grew.

Suddenly, Yu Fei took a small Compass from his clothes. Inside it was a steel needle containing Sima Hong’s aura. His senior sister, Zhuo Feiming, had refined and made it; the three of them each had one, but at this moment, only Yu Fei had taken his out.

The needle, which could detect Sima Hong’s aura, was spinning wildly as if having a seizure. When Yu Fei took it out, everyone came over to look.

Zhuo Feiming’s brow furrowed. "Judging by the frequency of its rotation, Sima Hong’s aura was present here three years ago..."

Ren Hongxia was perplexed. "The entrance to the Ruins of Xuyuan has always been under our surveillance. How did he get in?"

Thinking about what he had perceived with his spatial talent, Yu Fei subtly guided the conversation, "Perhaps he found another entrance? After all, the area of the Mysterious Realm that we actually control isn’t very large. Maybe there are other paths that lead here!"

"That’s possible. Because of the Cross-Border Black Fog, we’ve always called the places outside our control ’dead zones.’ Perhaps the nature of every area is the same."