Lin Fang carefully inspected the Pill Furnace, and the more he looked, the more satisfied he felt. It truly lived up to its reputation in the Cultivation World, truly extraordinary, even worthy of praise within the Heavenly Court.

He had just been contemplating the Path of Alchemy, and the arrival of this Pill Furnace was timely. Thus, with a thought, he stored the Pill Furnace in the Glazed Glass Tower on the third floor.

He pulled out some Elixirs and handed them over, saying, "I promised you a reward, so take these Elixirs!"

Senior Sister Zhao, seeing the Elixirs Lin Fang handed over, waved her hands somewhat fearfully, "Predecessor, how could we possibly, we really didn’t help you much."

"Just take them; they’re of no use to me anyway."

The two took the Elixirs with extreme delight, carefully storing them in a jade bottle, as these were Elixirs long lost to time and valuable enough to exchange for many precious rewards back at their sect.

They followed Lin Fang out of the attic filled with Elixirs, continuing their adventure.

The journey was smooth sailing, even the wronged spirits that had appeared occasionally before disappeared without a trace, making the surroundings feel almost like a leisurely outing for Senior Sister Zhao and the other. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

As Lin Fang led the way, a smile gradually formed on his face. He wasn’t wrong in his feeling that there seemed to be an invisible hand controlling everything in this ruin.

However, it appeared that the other party was intentionally avoiding him, reluctant to let him interfere.

As they progressed, suddenly a light burst forth, revealing a mysterious passage before them, its spiritual energy overwhelming.

"Could this be the entrance to the secret realm of the Qionghua Sect from back then?" muttered Senior Sister Zhao.

"A secret realm?"

"Rumor has it, in order to ascend as a whole faction, the Qionghua Sect obtained the legendary treasure, Living Soil, by some means and used it to create a secret realm that reportedly became a world unto itself," narrated Senior Sister Zhao, sharing what she knew.

"If that’s the case, let’s go in and see what this rumored secret realm is really like," Lin Fang said, leading the way into the secret realm, with Zhao and the other following closely behind, preferring the comfort of tagging along in exploration where the risks were low but the rewards were not insignificant.

As soon as Lin Fang and others entered the secret realm, a Mysterious Person in the depths of the ruin’s ground breathed a sigh of relief, murmuring, "Finally sent him off, now to continue with the plan."

With a trace of excitement on their face, the Mysterious Person uttered an incantation, and immediately, a violent earthquake erupted throughout the ruin, the whole space shaking so intensely that it was hard to keep standing.

At the same time, nine blood-red stone pillars rose from the ground, each pillar carved with a dragon beast, and upon closer inspection, these were the Dragon’s Nine Offspring: Qiuniu, Yazi, Chaofeng, Pulao, Suan Ni, Bixi, the remained unnamed, their effigies vividly lifelike, the pillars beneath them carved with intricate runes, exuding a mysterious power.

The moment these nine pillars stood erect in the space, everyone who had entered the ruin felt an immense pressure descending upon them.

It was as if Mount Tai was pressing down, the immense pressure making many unable to adjust, involuntarily bending their waists.

Meanwhile, countless wronged spirits found a moment of revelry, bursting forth from the ground with joyous smiles, turning the entire space into something akin to a Ghostly Realm.

"What the hell is this?" someone exclaimed in surprise.

At that moment, the ruins seemed to have turned into a slaughterhouse for wronged spirits, and the people who entered were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, merely awaiting the harvest of the spirits.

The crisis of life and death triggered many to unleash their potential. For a time, the brilliance of various spells lit up every corner of the ruins, but all to no avail.

When prey falls into the hunter’s trap, all its struggles are futile.

Nine pillars, carved with dragon beasts, put the entire space under a suppressive state, the powerful suppression made everyone’s mana felt as if it were congealed; even if one exerted all their strength, the spells they cast had only half their usual power.

However, the endlessly emerging wronged spirits seemed unaffected, moving freely within the space and continuously reaping lives.

The rich scent of blood gradually spread, the blood carried a madness-inducing power, constantly stoking the survivors’ heartstrings, causing many to succumb to this power and enter a frenzy, beginning to indiscriminately attack everyone.

A gruesome massacre began, blood soaked into the earth, flesh turned into sustenance, bones paved the way, a grand sacrifice was about to commence.

The wronged spirits revelled on the land, countless amounts of blood slowly flowed towards the nine dragon pillars, causing the dragon beasts on the pillars to seemingly come to life and roar terrifyingly towards the sky.

The frightening scene reached outside the ruins, and those who were still guarding outside immediately noticed the changes within, all of them lifting their heads to look up at the sky.

The previously clear blue sky above the lake was suddenly enveloped in a blood-red cloud, an ominous aura filled the air.

"Something’s gone wrong with the ruins!" everyone realized.

Many secretly rejoiced that they hadn’t entered the ruins out of greed, and judging by the current situation, it seemed more likely to be disastrous than not.

"Well, it was once the foremost sect, even if the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens knocked it down to the Mortal World, it’s not so easily obliterated. It must have a backup plan; those who went in are probably all dead by now," someone said gleefully.

These people were all afraid to die, too cowardly to venture into the ruins and risk their lives, yet they envied the harvests of those inside; they became extremely excited now, as if to prove that their cowardice was merely wisdom.

Just then, a sword light streaked across the sky, drawing everyone’s gaze. A handsome middle-aged man appeared above on a flying sword, frowning as he surveyed the lake below.

"Such sharp Sword Qi, who is this guy?"

"Shush! You don’t know him? That’s Dao Sansheng from the Qinglian Sword Sect."

The people hearing this gasped in shock.

"My God, what’s this harbinger of doom doing here? Wasn’t it said that he had secluded himself to contemplate the path to ascension? Why would he appear here?"

"Ignorant, aren’t you? A large group of Qinglian Sword Sect disciples had entered the ruins before. Given the current situation, it’s likely they won’t make it out, and they’re probably dead inside," the person chuckled mischievously. Being a Loose Cultivator like him, he least liked these disciples from the Great Sects who were haughty and had access to the best cultivation resources.

This stemmed from a deep-seated jealousy inherent in human nature, so seeing disciples from prestigious sects meet misfortune was often a delightful sight for them. Thus, everyone craned their necks, eager for further developments.