Chapter 938: Unusual Activity

Within a certain palace in the Great Ruins.

The palace was vast, spanning several hundred zhang in area, with dark green floor tiles and walls of the same color, filling the hall with a cold and eerie atmosphere.

At the center of the palace stood a square altar platform, upon which three figures were standing.

The one in the middle was none other than E Kuai, with Madam Liuhua and the hawk-nosed man standing on his left and right, respectively.

The ground near the altar was in disarray, pitted with many deep craters littered with fragments of puppets, clearly indicating a fierce battle had taken place, the outcome of which was self-evident.

E Kuai paid no attention to his surroundings, his gaze fixed on the top of the altar.

The top of the altar was circular, smooth and flat, densely covered with star runes forming a complex star formation.

At the center of the star formation was inserted a blood-red object.

Most of this object was buried in the altar, making it impossible to see what it was.

A dazzling white light emanated from the star formation, forming a white pillar of light that firmly protected the blood-red object within.

"Fellow Daoist Liuhua," E Kuai said, glancing at Madam Liuhua.

Madam Liuhua acknowledged with a sound and busied herself on the altar, quickly placing array tools for star prohibitions around the formation while taking out a Star Ripple Brush and swiftly drawing outside the formation.

After working for a full half hour, he stopped, having laid another array prohibition outside the star formation on the altar.

Madam Liuhua muttered an incantation, then pointed a finger, shooting a white light from his fingertip.

The formation outside the altar suddenly activated, humming as beams of white light shot out, merging into the white pillar of light on the altar.

These white lights were not intense, but as soon as they entered the white pillar, the pillar seemed to encounter its bane, rapidly dispersing to reveal the blood-red object within.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Liuhua lives up to your reputation, breaking the Starlight Tianxuan Formation so easily." Seeing this, E Kuai smiled with satisfaction.

"You flatter me, City Lord. But please hurry; this Anti-Tianxuan Formation was hastily set up and will soon fail." Madam Liuhua said modestly.

E Kuai nodded, moved, and stepped onto the altar, walking toward the blood-red object.

The array patterns on the altar had not yet failed; as E Kuai stepped on them, they seemed stimulated, emitting dazzling white light like countless arrows shooting at him.

However, as soon as these white lights approached E Kuai's body, they dimmed and subsided, failing to impede his steps.

E Kuai walked leisurely, reaching the white object in a few steps, grabbed it, and pulled upward with force.

The blood-red object emitted a brilliant blood-red light and slowly rose.

At that moment, the entire altar began to rumble and shake, causing the surrounding hall to tremble as well.

E Kuai paid no attention to his surroundings, his expression serious, with faint light of acupoints appearing on his arms, indicating that pulling out this blood-red object was not easy for him either.

The blood-red object was gradually pulled out, revealing a half-foot-long item, but the blood light was too bright to see clearly.

After the last part was pulled out, a cracking sound emerged, all white light on the altar dimmed, and the array patterns turned gray.

The blood light on the object also completely dissipated, revealing its true form: an ancient half-foot-long key, entirely blood-red, seemingly made of some ancient jade.

The key bore faint, extremely tiny runes, indicating it was no ordinary item.

"The second one," E Kuai murmured, looking at the key in his hand.

"Congratulations, City Lord," the hawk-nosed man congratulated.

Madam Liuhua remained expressionless and said nothing.

...

Meanwhile, in a pitch-black cave somewhere underground in the Great Ruins.

Blood-red lines were carved on the stone ceiling of the cave, crisscrossing to form a massive array.

Faint blood light emanated from the array, illuminating the dark space slightly, revealing figures standing on the ground below the array.

These figures were densely packed, extending to the edge of sight, countless in number.

The blood-red array on the cave ceiling suddenly flickered twice, then completely extinguished, plunging the entire underground cave into endless darkness.

But at that moment, the eyes of one figure on the ground flickered, lighting up with two white points, and its lowered head slowly lifted.

As if triggered, the eyes of the figures in the cave lit up one after another, and in an instant, the entire cave was filled with countless white points of light, twinkling like stars in the night sky.

...

Han Li and Shi Chuankong were naturally unaware of these changes underground.

At this moment, they were still exploring deep within the square beneath the altar.

The square was so vast that after exploring for most of the day, they finally found a hidden divine hall deep within.

The hall was no more than a hundred zhang high, built entirely of huge black stone blocks, with little external carving or decoration, except for the two tightly closed giant stone doors, which were embossed with an unfamiliar night sky star map.

"Brother Li, I bet there must be puppets far stronger than before inside this stone hall. Do you believe me?" Shi Chuankong looked at the embossed design on the stone door and asked with a smile.

"I won't bet with you. Winning brings little gain, losing is unlucky—not worth it..." Han Li shook his head.

Along the way, they had searched many relic buildings, mostly finding nothing, and encountered some puppets, none of which were very strong, easily dealt with.

Han Li looked at Shi Chuankong, who seemed quite fond of gambling, and felt there was something subtly different about him, a change not in appearance or cultivation aura, but an indescribable feeling.

Han Li knew the reason but never brought it up again on the journey. Regardless of what Shi Chuankong thought, Han Li had noted the debt of the 'Voidburst Space Talisman.'

"Let's go." Han Li set aside his distracting thoughts and said.

With that, he stepped forward, pressed one hand against a heavy stone door, and pushed it back with force.

"Rumble..."

With a loud grinding sound, the stone door slid back, revealing a gap wide enough for two people, dark inside, with a musty smell wafting out.

After a brief glance, Han Li gripped the white curved blade and slipped inside.

Shi Chuankong followed closely behind.

As soon as they entered, flames burst forth on the stone walls on both sides of the hall, spreading along grooves in the walls, illuminating the entire hall.

A somewhat sweet smell filled the air, seemingly from the burning oil.

Under the firelight, Han Li scanned the hall and saw a rectangular pool not far in front of them, its water long dried up, with two white stone arch bridges crossing it horizontally and vertically.

The surrounding stone walls were carved with various floral patterns, soft yet clear and three-dimensional, interspersed with various exotic beast patterns, looking very exquisite and ornate.

At the far end of the hall stood seven or eight black stone statues, two of which faced each other, both standing.

The left statue was a tall male demon, with short spiky hair, a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, protruding fangs, wearing a pitch-black demon armor, and holding a purple-black staff as tall as his eyebrows.

The staff, as thick as a child's arm, was carved with thundercloud patterns, appearing to be made of a different material from the statue.

The right statue was a slender human woman, beautifully carved with very lively facial features, her robes fluttering as if she were soaring through the air, lifelike.

Her hands were held before her chest, cradling a blood-red key about the size of her palm, reflecting crystal-like light in the firelight.

Below them, three halberd-wielding warriors knelt on one knee, all identical in appearance, with bare, muscular upper bodies, exuding a sense of power.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong exchanged a glance, then walked down the stone steps before them to the edge of the pool. After surveying the dry pool, they stepped onto the stone arch bridge leading to the opposite side.

As they reached the middle of the bridge, they felt a slight tremor beneath their feet, tensed up, and quickly looked around, but found nothing unusual.

"Splash..." Just then, a faint sound of flowing water came from beneath the bridge.

Han Li looked down and saw a spring at the bottom of the pool, with gurgling water flowing out, quickly spreading across the entire pool.

"This is..." Shi Chuankong also looked puzzled.

"Something's off. Let's get to the other side first," Han Li said with a frown.

As soon as he spoke, the sound of flowing water suddenly grew louder, and the spring water surged faster, quickly filling most of the pool.

At the same time, white mist rose from the churning water, enveloping the surroundings.

Han Li sensed something and looked up, seeing specks of white light flickering on the hall's ceiling, resembling a brilliant star map.

He frowned slightly and took a step forward with Shi Chuankong.

With that step, the scene before them suddenly shifted, and they found themselves in a magnificent palace.

The air was filled with the sound of silk and bamboo instruments, and beautiful women in colorful dresses, some holding their arms before their ample chests, others holding a white jade pipa behind their necks, played and twisted their waists, dancing with exotic charm.