Chapter 293: Chapter 178: Mutual Destruction

Hm?

Gu Zheng looked up at Nangong Yaoguang.

"There are a few Ancient Demons in those ruins."

Nangong Yaoguang maintained his smile and continued his Divine Strange Sound Transmission, "As you know, Gu, you can’t judge the strength of these Ancient Demons by their normal rank."

"In the ruins I found, the aura emanating from the Ancient Demons was only that of Second-Order. But the feeling they gave me was even stronger than a Third-Order!"

"That’s precisely why I didn’t go in to explore. I decided to leave it for now and come back later."

"The person lurking nearby might just be able to help us take care of the Ancient Demons in the ruins!"

Nangong Yaoguang winked at Gu Zheng.

Gu Zheng was speechless.

Whether it was a Heroic Body, a King’s Body, or even a True Body, as long as one was human, they had a limited lifespan.

The same went for Demon Fiends. Third-Order, Fourth-Order, Fifth-Order—no matter how powerful, when their time was up, they too would die.

However, due to certain special reasons, the lifespans of some Demon Fiends were stretched to tens of thousands of years.

These Demon Fiends were collectively known as Ancient Demons. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

An Ancient Demon’s cultivation realm became fixed the moment its lifespan changed. A First-Order would forever remain a First-Order, and a Second-Order would forever remain a Second-Order.

But the unique nature of Ancient Demons made their strength incredibly unstable.

Their auras and power could erupt with strength far beyond their actual rank.

For every gain, there was a price to pay.

Once an Ancient Demon was formed, its range of activity became restricted.

They were eternally trapped in a specific area.

Like being imprisoned for life!

No matter how much time passed, they could only ever remain in that one spot.

What sentient being could endure an eternal prison sentence?

Because of this, every single Ancient Demon possessed a frenzied and wrathful nature.

Any outside entity that entered their "territory" would become a target for their attacks.

Nangong Yaoguang’s goal was simple.

Lure the person hiding in the shadows into the ruins to fight the Ancient Demons.

Ideally, they would fight until both sides were grievously wounded—or better yet, destroy each other completely!

...

"If you think it’s fine, Gu, shall we go?"

Nangong Yaoguang asked aloud.

"Let’s go!"

Gu Zheng nodded. "I’ll have to trouble you to lead the way, Nangong."

"Of course." Nangong Yaoguang smiled, popping two Treasure Pills into his mouth as he spoke.

"Let’s move!"

With a tap of his toes, Nangong Yaoguang leaped into the air, healing his wounds as he traveled.

Gu Zheng followed behind him.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The cold wind and snowflakes drifted between heaven and earth.

A vast expanse of white was everywhere.

The day and night cycle in the Shadow Realm had no fixed rhythm.

Gu Zheng judged from the passage of time that it was almost his second day since entering.

However, Nangong Yaoguang refuted this.

The flow of time in the Shadow Realm was different from the real world; it was faster here.

One day here was roughly equivalent to three days in the outside world.

The entrance would remain open for about a month, which meant they could stay in the Shadow Realm for ten days at most before they had to leave.

For every day spent in the Shadow Realm, three days passed in the outside world!

...

"We’re here."

Having mostly recovered after taking the Treasure Pills, Nangong Yaoguang suddenly spoke, descending from the sky and landing on the edge of a large crater.

It was less of a crater and more of a basin.

Its area was just as vast; even with his eyesight, Gu Zheng could barely make out the far edge of the basin.

The drop was nearly a hundred meters deep.

It was only because of this depth that the snow inside the basin hadn’t piled up to be level with the surrounding land.

"The ruins are behind that sheet of ice over there."

Nangong Yaoguang said, then leaped into the air again and flew over.

Gu Zheng followed behind.

The two first descended, then followed the ice-covered cliff face of the basin, flying to the right.

"Gu, did that person follow us?"

En route, Nangong Yaoguang used Divine Strange Sound Transmission to ask Gu Zheng.

"He followed."

Gu Zheng replied with his own Divine Strange Sound Transmission, "He’s close behind."

"Good."

The corners of Nangong Yaoguang’s mouth tilted up as he transmitted, "Just follow my lead in a bit. The Ancient Demons in the ruins are Three-headed Wind Dogs, or at least that’s what I saw before. They’re extremely fast and can manipulate the wind, allowing them to appear anywhere inside the caves."

"The ruins I found are located in an underground cavern. The entrance is obscured by ice."

"It’s right there!"

Nangong Yaoguang spoke this last sentence aloud, simultaneously pointing to a large sheet of ice hanging from the cliff face ahead like a frozen waterfall.

SWISH! SWISH!

Nangong Yaoguang and Gu Zheng stopped at the same time, hovering in mid-air before the sheet of ice.

"The entrance is this way."

After glancing around, Nangong Yaoguang descended slightly, approaching a crevice between two sheets of ice.

Though called a crevice, the gap was large enough for a grown man to pass through.

Of course, it wasn’t straight, but winding. The inside wasn’t smooth, either; icicles and ice spikes were clearly visible.

"I’ll go in first."

Nangong Yaoguang said, then ducked his head and was the first to slip into the crevice.

With a surge of Divine Wondrous power, he slid in like an eel.

Gu Zheng followed close behind.

Nangong Yaoguang cleared the path, sweeping away the ice spikes and icicles.

They twisted and turned through the crevice until their vision suddenly darkened, and they entered a spacious underground cavern.

The cavern was mostly natural.

Only the central area had stone houses built in it. Although time had passed and more than half of these stone houses had collapsed into ruin, their general outline was still visible.

"Go!"

Nangong Yaoguang transmitted via Divine Strange Sound Transmission, silently approaching a half-collapsed, temple-like structure to the left.

Seeing this, Gu Zheng also concealed his aura and drifted over.

The two had just entered the structure and hidden themselves behind a wall that was still standing.

"He’s in."

Gu Zheng informed Nangong Yaoguang via Divine Strange Sound Transmission.

"So fast?"

Nangong Yaoguang raised an eyebrow, transmitting back, "It seems he’s not planning to hide anymore. Now that he’s followed us to the ruins, there’s no more need to lurk."

"Perfect. I left a few tricks on the other side."