Heaven and Earth returned to clarity, and within a radius of a few miles, the flowing sand churned, vaguely moving towards the previous location of the collapsed Sand Mountain.

A ten-foot-wide Earth Abyss faintly appeared amidst the flowing sand.

"Is this... the Ancient Saint Relics?"

Ao Ying was secretly startled in her heart; she was not unfamiliar with this abnormality.

Many Ancient Secret Realm relics are buried underground.

The Great Yue Kingdom of the Northern Hunt is such.

A hundred years ago in the Demon Country, because of peace, many Great Cultivators were still around, barely accounting for an era of "flourishing incense." At that time, there was a rumor circulating within the Demon Country that whenever one encountered an "Earth Abyss" in the Desolate Realm, it was a moment of Great Creation and great opportunity. Mo Zhen Venerable gained the Undying Spring from an Earth Abyss, and thus rose to become a first-class Mountain Peak Great Cultivator in the world.

Thus countless Demon Cultivators flocked to the southern part of the Demon Country, desperately searching for similar relics...

Earth Abysses did exist, of course.

However, most contained no opportunities, only disasters.

At this moment, the "Eye of the Sea" formed by the collapsing flowing sand in this [Ruins] clearly originated from a thousand years ago, with the swirling yellow sand falling down. No one knew what lay beneath the Earth Abyss.

Xie Xuanyi swooped down on his sword, expressionless, heading towards the flowing sand.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The enormous Life and Death Dao Domain that enveloped Heaven and Earth gradually dispersed. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

But many sleeves of Sword Qi still hung suspended from the Heavenly Peak.

The wisp of Sword Qi holding Ao Ying did not disperse and did not forcibly carry her down.

Ao Ying knew that Xie Xuanyi was still "taking care" of her.

She had no interest in the Earth Abyss Creation, and Ao Ying was sensible enough to know that even if a relic of an Ancient Saint truly lay below, given her strength, it would only invite disaster.

"...Master Xie!"

Ao Ying struggled slightly and finally spoke.

She lowered her eyes and softly said, "Master Xie, be careful, Ao Ying will wait for you here."

This was both a reminder.

And a response.

She was willing to follow Xie Xuanyi and establish a new [Ancient Dragon Court] in the Demon Country.

...

...

There were many rumors about the [Ruins] outside, but very little confirmed information.

No one knew what exactly happened a thousand years ago in the [Ruins], or why the entire Territory had become so desolate... Looking over the entire Snow Desert, with a radius of thousands of miles, not a single living creature could inhabit or survive. Whether it was the Demon Country or the Human Race, they were more inclined to believe that this was once an Ancient Battlefield from a thousand years ago, and because the Evil Qi was too heavy and the Great Dao damaged, it had deteriorated to this state.

Xie Xuanyi slowly descended into the Earth Abyss.

He released a wisp of Sword Qi, forming a simple Array Realm around himself.

The wind and sand surged.

This Earth Abyss was quite narrow and extremely deep, and Xie Xuanyi descended several thousand feet before finally landing.

All around was pitch black.

Divine Thought seemed to be "sealed."

"Hiss!"

Xie Xuanyi slightly furrowed his brow, releasing sword fire to drive away the dark fog, only then seeing the scene before him. In the void, sheets of broken and tattered talisman papers floated, already quite old and weathered through hundreds of years, with ancient text from a thousand years ago inscribed on them. It must be said that the power contained within this "ancient text" was quite mighty, as after such a long time, the talisman papers had not turned into waste paper; as the wind blew, hundreds of talisman papers produced a rustling sound.

Beneath the Earth Abyss, a magnificent great hall was hidden.

"So underground... there truly is an Ancient Saint Relic..."

Xie Xuanyi raised his head.

The great hall left by an Ancient Saint had already crumbled, and the plaque hanging in the main hall was also mottled and old, with only one word inscribed in ancient text, which was quite obscure. Xie Xuanyi found it vaguely familiar; a thousand years ago, when the Saints roamed, there were factions among ancient texts and secret techniques. If he wasn’t mistaken, the word inscribed in this Ancient Saint Relic should stem from the same faction as the [Bronze Ancient Sword].

The owner of this ancient hall likely had connections with the owner of the Bronze Ancient Sword.

Thinking of this.

Xie Xuanyi took out Master Ni Yu’s ancient sword from the Sword Qi Cave Heaven and held it above his head.

This move indeed worked.

The bronze sword energy lightly vibrated, dispersing the dark shadow in all directions, and scattered strands of Divine Radiance fell, illuminating the entire great hall like daylight.

"This great hall doesn’t seem to be tainted by Filthy Spirits..."

Xie Xuanyi slowly moved forward.

All around the great hall stood giant pillars.

On the giant pillars, exquisite and strange murals were carved, depicting all sorts of bizarre and weird beasts, which should be the "Demon Descendants" from a thousand years ago. Xie Xuanyi released a sword thought, attempting to find the aura of Filthy Spirits, but the sword thought fell short... It seemed those foul entities only existed on the surface, while this Earth Abyss buried beneath the sand mountain was quite clean.

"So, is this a Secret Realm suppressed by the Filthy Spirits?"

A thought suddenly emerged in Xie Xuanyi’s mind.

The aura of Filthy Spirits couldn’t be hidden; it was extremely conspicuous.

Since this great hall had nothing to do with the Filthy Spirits, there was only one possibility... Those foul entities had condensed into a sand mountain that occupied the top, intending to firmly cover this Secret Realm. This might be why they never left the [Ruins] to the human world; compared to conquest, their more important task was to guard this great hall’s Secret Realm.

Dong!

Dong!!

Dong!!!

Suddenly, muffled sounds of bells and drums echoed from the distant great hall.

Xie Xuanyi stopped his steps; the deep and forceful bell and drum sounds were quite grand and powerful, causing light tremors in his Divine Sea. Fortunately, he had already Harmonized; otherwise, dealing with just these muffled bell and drum sounds would require using the Boundary Stele of [Primordial Swallowing Sacred Realm] for defense.

"Are there still living beings in this great hall?"

Xie Xuanyi squinted his eyes, a hint of killing intent rising in his heart.