And Loren's questioning this time made Cook P. Jones fall silent for a moment.

For the first time, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, as if recalling something.

After a long while, Cook P. Jones finally raised his head, opened his eyes, and spoke a single sentence:

"The third hidden rule of the ruin: once it involves the core issues of the ruin, it must be the correct question for me to be able to answer you."

"I cannot answer your previous question..."

Upon hearing Cook P. Jones state the third hidden rule about the ruin, a mysterious smile appeared at the corner of Loren's mouth.

He began to carefully analyze the three known hidden rules of the Ancient Ruin...

[One, those who fly within the forest cannot see the entrance to the ruin.]

[Two, as the guide, one cannot voluntarily mention the location, direction, or method of entry of the Ancient Ruin, unless all those being led have noticed something amiss.]

[Three, once it involves the core issues of the ruin, it must be the correct question for Cook P. Jones, as the guide, to be able to answer related questions.]

After pondering the meaning of these three hidden rules for a while,

a strange thought, aided by a large amount of "Fortune," once again surfaced in his mind.

Then!

Loren fixed his blazing gaze on Cook P. Jones opposite him and fired off five questions in a row:

"If the people you lead are all rather careless individuals who have noticed nothing, do they still have a chance to enter the ruin?"

"Is that Ancient Ruin hiding from something? Is that why it set up such harsh rules?"

"Has that Ancient Ruin been secretly watching us ever since we entered the forest?"

"Are you helping that Ancient Ruin select suitable inheritors, Mr. Cook?"

"Did you intentionally leak the information about the ruin to us?"

Upon hearing Loren's five questions, Seena and the other two on the scene subconsciously held their breath!!

Even Cook P. Jones himself, under Loren's questioning, lost his normal breathing rhythm!

Moreover, he once again closed his eyes and lowered his head...

Seeing the reaction of Cook P. Jones opposite him, the corner of Loren's mouth curved into an extremely exaggerated angle...

"Found your weakness, adorable ruin! Quite mischievous, aren't you..."

After smugly praising himself in his heart, Loren put away the smile on his face and quietly waited for Cook P. Jones opposite him to speak again.

Faced with these five special questions.

Cook P. Jones's silence this time lasted longer than Loren had imagined.

5 minutes later.

Cook P. Jones raised his head with a bitter smile and answered with five sentences in a row:

"There is a chance to enter."

"It is hiding from some mysterious entities."

"It has been watching us ever since we entered the forest."

"I am helping it select some candidates to enter the ruin."

"I did intentionally leak the information about the ruin to you!"

Hearing these honest answers from Cook P. Jones, Loren stood up from the snowy ground with a smile on his face.

Standing up, Loren looked down at Cook P. Jones from a superior position.

The light from the burning campfire happened to stretch Loren's shadow behind him, turning it into a long, dark silhouette...

"Mr. Cook, one last question!"

"Do I have the qualification to enter the ruin?"

Loren's tone became dangerous and low.

The bone-chilling wind in the snowy forest also suddenly began to blow...

The magically constructed campfire trembled violently in this sudden gust of cold wind!!

"Of course, Mr. Loren, who has come from afar."

"I submit to your power and have been awaiting your arrival for a long time!"

A "voice" devoid of any audible sound abruptly resounded throughout the nearby snowy forest.

The cold wind grew even more fierce!

The campfire was almost about to be extinguished...

To the ears of everyone present, there was clearly no sound at all!

Yet that "voice" accurately echoed deep within their hearts!

As this "voice" fell!

The eyes of Seena, Hankley, and Tannas instantly became vacant and lifeless!

Seeing this, Cook P. Jones, standing to the side, finally let out a sigh of relief as if a great weight had been lifted...

"The lengthy assessment, at last... is over!"

The fierce cold wind vanished.

The magically constructed campfire once again regained its proper heat and vigor!

As for Loren's tall figure, it had mysteriously and eerily disappeared...

Federal Calendar 7708, December 25th, late at night.

One moment standing within the bone-chilling wind of the snowy forest, the next feeling the scene before his eyes change drastically, Loren clearly realized something!!

He, with his own physical body, had entered this ruin!!!

After gently tilting his neck, he surveyed his surroundings!

The ground beneath his feet was entirely made of large, square white floor tiles, as if cut from some kind of unknown white stone!

All around was shrouded in an impenetrable mist that prevented one from seeing clearly to the left, right, or behind!

Through the layers of heavy mist, the only thing Loren could see clearly!

Was the majestic yet dilapidated white palace directly ahead!

And in the sky behind this white palace hung a sun that had sunk three-quarters of the way down!

The dim, dying sunlight shone upon the dilapidated palace beneath it!

And that sun, about to sink below the horizon, also seemed to be frozen there, stuck at the edge of the sky, not moving an inch!

As if it had been eerily frozen in place, fixed into the time of dusk!

The dilapidated white palace stood tall and unyielding!

This was the scene Loren witnessed at first glance!

After staring for a while at that unwilling-to-set sun, Loren subconsciously shook his head.

He calmly withdrew his distant gaze and began examining the only structure in this place—that dilapidated white palace!

From a distance, Loren roughly estimated the height of that white palace to be a full 99 meters!

Just one meter short of achieving the milestone of a hundred meters in height!

Around the white palace stood eleven extremely thick white pillars, supporting the heavy roof of this white palace!

These white pillars bearing the palace's weight, like the large floor tiles in the square in front of the white palace, likewise showed no discernible material...

The walls of the white palace were also covered everywhere with large, deep cracks.

These cracks, like some kind of mark, silently narrated the past of this white palace...

Indicating that this majestic palace originally should have had twelve load-bearing pillars...

Judging from the weathering marks at the fracture point of this pillar, this place... has passed through endless ages...