Chapter 943: The Second Altar

"Brother Li, have you found something?" Shi Chuankong asked hastily.

"I have indeed found something. Follow me." Han Li nodded and quickened his pace.

About a quarter of an hour later, the two stopped one after the other and looked ahead.

At the end of the desert as far as the eye could see, a huge river suddenly appeared.

The river was quite vast, over a dozen miles wide, and its water was also a crimson color, churning with countless waves as it rumbled forward.

Han Li walked to the riverbank and tentatively tested the crimson water.

The crimson water was filled with a scorching heat, as if flowing with magma. A flicker of surprise crossed his face.

"Unexpected to find a river in the desert... I think we should follow the river downstream. This river's appearance is strange, and there must be something unusual downstream." Shi Chuankong said after a moment's deliberation.

"I was thinking the same." Han Li nodded.

The two then changed direction and followed the crimson river downstream. After four or five days, they soon made a discovery: a vast oasis appeared ahead.

Although it was an oasis, most of the plants there were crimson, while the rest were entirely white.

The vegetation in the oasis was tall and dense, a mix of red and white, looking quite splendid.

Seeing the oasis, the two were delighted but not impulsive. They exchanged a glance, then each restrained their aura and stepped onto the oasis, heading inward.

"Brother Li, look!" As they walked a distance inward, Shi Chuankong suddenly called out to Han Li, pointing at the dense jungle ahead.

Han Li looked over and saw a faint footprint in the jungle, still relatively fresh, likely left not long ago.

"It seems someone has arrived here before us. We don't know if they are friend or foe. Be extremely careful." Han Li transmitted his voice.

Shi Chuankong nodded solemnly.

The two continued forward, keeping an eye on the ground. The further they went, the more similar footprints they found.

Judging by the number of footprints, those who entered before them were a group, estimated to be four people.

The two soon passed through the dense jungle, and the view ahead opened up. A huge city stood before them.

Inside the city stood rows of buildings with spiky roofs, like giant swords piercing the sky, all of them crimson.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong exchanged a glance and advanced silently, entering through a half-open city gate.

The buildings inside the city were somewhat decayed, but much better than the previous ruins; most of the structures remained intact.

The two searched the buildings near the gate, but they were all empty, with signs of having been rummaged through, likely by the group ahead. They found nothing.

"How strange. Isn't the Great Ruin said to be filled with treasures? We've been here for a while and have only found two star artifacts, nothing else of value." Shi Chuankong transmitted with some reluctance.

"Finding one or two star artifacts is already a considerable gain. Let's go. This place has already been searched by the group ahead; there's probably nothing left. Let's head straight to the city center and see if we can find something there. But we must be extremely careful." Han Li transmitted back with a smile.

Shi Chuankong's spirits lifted at this, and he agreed.

The two sneaked toward the city center. The city was not large, and they soon reached the center, where their expressions changed simultaneously.

At the city center was a large square, and in it stood a massive altar.

This altar was also entirely crimson, and in appearance, it closely resembled the silver-gray altar they had encountered in the previous ruins.

A plaque hung at the entrance of the altar, inscribed with three large characters in ancient script: "Youming Hall."

"This place looks very similar to the previous altar. There should be some good things inside. Should we go in and take a look?" The two hid in a building near the altar entrance, looking at its open gate. Shi Chuankong transmitted with eagerness.

"Let's go in and have a look. But on the way here, we didn't encounter the group ahead. I think they might have already entered this place. As I said before, be extremely careful." Han Li looked at the altar ahead and said after a moment's thought.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Shi Chuankong patted his chest and said.

"Let's go." Han Li glanced at his chest and transmitted.

The two figures flickered out from the building, turning into two wisps of green smoke, and in a flash, they vanished into the altar entrance.

Shortly after they entered, a white light flickered on the ground at the entrance, revealing an oval-shaped pattern.

This oval pattern was composed of eight star runes, each extremely complex, far surpassing the star runes Han Li had learned from Madam Liuhua.

The oval pattern slowly lit up, and streams of white light emerged from it, converging toward the center to form a white vertical line. With the oval outer frame, it looked like an eye.

The white vertical line trembled slightly, as if peering twice into the depths of the entrance, then quickly dimmed and disappeared.

Unaware of what was happening behind them, Han Li and Shi Chuankong proceeded deeper after entering the gate.

Behind the altar entrance was a passage several hundred zhang long. Like the previous silver-gray altar, the walls were covered with array patterns, and the place was filled with a restrictive force that suppressed spiritual sense.

However, the restrictive force here was slightly weaker than that of the silver-gray altar, allowing Han Li's spiritual sense to barely extend two or three zhang from his body.

The two carefully walked through the passage, and a massive hall of about a thousand zhang in size appeared ahead.

The hall was quite bright, empty of anything, but on the four walls were dozens of square recesses, each several zhang high, numbering two or three hundred, all empty.

What lay on the hall floor were pieces of crimson puppets, all humanoid in form, already dismantled into pieces.

The floor was pitted and in a mess, covered with traces of battle.

These crimson puppets had complete internal organs, and large amounts of silver viscous fluid oozed from their remains, spreading across the floor, much like the black ape puppet Han Li had encountered earlier.

The wolf and tiger-headed puppets from previous battles were not like this; they had no internal organs and were merely roughly crafted bodies from materials.

Seeing this, Han Li's mind turned, and he gradually formed an understanding of the puppets in the Great Ruin.

He casually picked up a fragment of a puppet, examined it closely, and a gleam flickered in his eyes.

The fragment seemed to be made of fire jade. Though now just a piece, it still shimmered with red crystalline light, appearing highly spiritual and of excellent quality, far superior to the material used for the black ape puppet, and likely stronger in strength as well.

Fortunately, these puppets had been destroyed by those ahead; otherwise, being besieged by dozens of such puppets would have been troublesome.

But thinking further, those who could eliminate these puppets must be formidable.

"This place is dangerous. Be careful." Han Li's eyes flickered as he said slowly.

Shi Chuankong seemed to understand the implications of the scene before them and nodded gravely.

The two did not linger here and walked toward the depths of the hall.

Behind the hall was a doorway, beyond which was a dim passage leading deeper.

As he walked, Han Li looked at the scattered puppet fragments around and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

The puppets here were too thoroughly dismantled, not like the result of fierce combat, but rather as if someone had been searching for something within them, smashing each one after the battle to create this scene.

What could be inside these puppets that was worth such effort to find?

The two soon passed through the hall and entered the passage behind.

Han Li immediately shook his head, collected his thoughts, and stopped dwelling on other matters. He carefully advanced along the passage while concentrating on probing the surroundings.

The passage was not straight but winding, and the terrain kept descending.

After turning a corner, three identical forked paths suddenly appeared ahead.

The light in the three forked paths was also dim, and they could not see far.

Shi Chuankong turned to look at Han Li without speaking, but his gaze clearly asked: "Which way?"

Han Li's eyes swept over the three paths and soon stopped on the ground of the middle path.

Though very faint, he could see a few footprints leading deeper.

The other two paths were clean, with no signs of anyone having passed.

"Let's take the side paths. The middle path is where the group ahead went. If there were any good things, they would have taken them. Taking the side paths might yield something." Han Li said after a moment's deliberation.

Shi Chuankong thought for a moment and did not object.

After a brief discussion, the two stepped into the right path.

The passage was quite spacious, enough for four or five people to walk side by side, and the further they went, the larger the passage seemed to become.

Thin white light seeped through the stone crevices, making the illumination slightly brighter than at the start.

But before they had gone far, a sharp whistle suddenly came from ahead.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong's expressions changed slightly, and they immediately stopped.

Before they could react, a white figure flashed ahead, and a man in white rushed over like lightning, holding a white light sword. He turned into a cold light, stabbing straight at Han Li's chest, who was in front.

The sword strike was as fast as lightning. Han Li was startled and quickly sidestepped to dodge.

At the same time, a white light flashed in his hand, and he already held the white curved blade. With a swing, it turned into a thunderous blade light, and as the two figures crossed, it struck the white-clad man's chest.

A bizarre scene appeared!

The blade light passed through the white-clad man's body as if cutting through air, with no sense of resistance at all.

Seeing this, Han Li couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation.

The white-clad man's rushing figure did not change at all; he charged straight at Shi Chuankong behind, his light sword once again turning into a cold light, stabbing at his chest.

Shi Chuankong was momentarily stunned, but his reaction was quick. He swiftly dodged to the side, barely evading the sword.

The white-clad man was extremely fast, but his adaptability seemed somewhat lacking. After missing his attacks on Han Li and Shi Chuankong, he rushed forward a distance before stopping.

But he immediately turned and charged at the two again.