Chapter 1365: The Ruins Collapse

"You recognize me?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned.

"You guided my cultivation, made me understand my flaws in cultivation, and shared a half-master bond—how could I not recognize you?"

The stone statue shook, and a voice sounded.

"Guided cultivation?"

"Half-master bond?"

"Teacher Zhang... guided an ancient sage?"

Luo Xuanqing, Bi Hongyin, and the others trembled, not daring to breathe.

This matter was too significant; they feared that knowing too much would get them killed.

"But... aren't you a single thought?" Zhang Xuan was bewildered as he listened to the explanation.

Although he had met Qiuwu Gong before, thoughts were independent; normally, once one left the ruins, there would be no intersection—how could he remember?

"Thoughts are independent, but usually, the earlier ones leave no way for later ones to know their thoughts and memories. However, it's not too difficult for later ones to learn about the former, especially since you carried it on you. With my understanding of space, it's even easier..."

The stone statue explained.

Zhang Xuan understood.

He had been carrying Qiuwu Gong with him all along; although it was now in his storage ring, as a sage who controlled space, it shouldn't be hard for the other party to know what had happened.

"No wonder you could get here so quickly and smoothly take away the Dongxu Gourd. With you, it's simple. Well, I have things to do... Goodbye!"

Seeing that he understood, the stone statue sighed, and suddenly—crack!—a fissure appeared.

Then the oppressive aura receded like a tide.

Rumble!

Immediately, the statue shattered into countless pieces and fell, the once bright eyes darkening again.

"This..."

"The ancient sage's thought... extinguished? The inheritance hasn't been passed on..."

Their eyebrows twitching, Luo Xuanqing and the others couldn't help but pull their hair.

After all the hardship to get here, just as the inheritance was within reach, this Teacher Zhang said a few words, and the stone statue exploded, the thought dissipating on the spot...

Could it be any more frustrating?

They all turned to look: "Teacher Zhang..."

"..."

Zhang Xuan was also dumbfounded.

This Qiuwu Ancient Sage was too unreliable, wasn't he? Last time, he didn't say what the inheritance was and just dissipated; this time, even more impressive, after only two or three sentences, he collapsed again...

He had seen many thoughts... but in terms of speed, this guy was definitely number one!

No wonder he could create such a move as Traveler Without Bounds—it perfectly matched his nature!

But, it seemed... Teacher Kong was also quite fast; he had met him twice, and both times he didn't have time to ask about the innate fetal poison.

This master and servant... were truly a perfect match.

"It should be a test left by the ancient sage. Perhaps the inheritance is hidden somewhere in this folded space, and we need to find it ourselves. It can't be directly spoken..."

Seeing the murderous looks from everyone, Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched as he said.

That's how it was with Qiuwu Gong; after the ancient sage's thought dissipated, he carefully studied the stone tablet inscribed with the words 'Qiuwu Gong' before successfully obtaining the inheritance of the Yantian Heavenly Book.

The same person should have the same habits.

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Our ancestor, who obtained the inheritance of Qiuwu Ancient Sage and comprehended the laws of space, seemed to have a similar experience. What Teacher Zhang said is correct. If an ancient sage like that truly wants to leave an inheritance, he will certainly test character, personality, wisdom... How could he impart everything after just one meeting!"

After a while, Luo Xuanqing said.

"Everyone, let's search around. There should be something to find."

Seeing him smooth things over, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and said.

Bi Hongyin and the others nodded, stood up, and slowly walked along the wall.

The walls of the palace were also built of some unknown rock, inscribed with characters like the door.

Bi Hongyin and the others couldn't understand them, so they all looked at Luo Xuanqing.

"These are not techniques, just runes to reinforce the palace. Although this is a folded space without wind or rain, being able to stand for tens of thousands of years is largely thanks to these!"

Luo Xuanqing explained.

This space, because of too many folded layers and abundant spiritual energy, would have collapsed long ago without runic reinforcement.

"The inheritance should also fall under the category of treasures. Yun Lianhai, can you find it?"

Seeing that these things were useless, everyone was a bit frustrated and looked at Yun Lianhai not far away.

Since he could find this place, perhaps he could also find what inheritance the ancient sage left behind.

"Let me try!"

Nodding, Yun Lianhai once again used his special ability to search.

His ability only used bloodline power and did not count as activating the bloodline; at most, it caused some damage, but not to the point of being unable to use power for a month.

The vertical eye at his brow swept back and forth, then suddenly stopped: "There does seem to be something strange here..."

He pointed to a spot.

Everyone hurried over.

It was directly beneath the statue.

After moving aside the broken stones and searching for a long time, they indeed found a trace of spatial folding.

"Great..."

All eyes lit up, and Luo Xuanqing pressed his fingers together and pointed.

Buzz!

A flash of light burst forth, and a line of text immediately gushed out from the fold, surging before everyone.

"Great Compassion Demon Fist!"

Zhang Xuan was startled.

He had only said it casually, never expecting that this ancient sage had actually left behind a legacy.

"Legend has it that Qiuwu Ancient Sage's most formidable martial techniques are, respectively, finger, sword, fist, and palm, all bearing the name 'Great Compassion Demon.' The palm technique is around Saint Domain mid-grade, the fist technique high-grade, the sword technique supreme... This set of techniques, even my ancestor sought but could not obtain. I never expected it to be here..."

Luo Xuanqing's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Finger, sword, fist, palm?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He had learned the Great Compassion Demon Palm, which was indeed around Saint Domain mid-grade and unmatched at the same level. He had thought it was just one move, but from the other's tone, it turned out to be a set!

He hurriedly looked at the text in the air and softly exclaimed in his mind,

"Flaws!"

Whoosh!

A book appeared in his sea of consciousness. He tapped it with his finger, and his face again showed a constipated expression.

"Even more flaws..."

Rubbing his brow, he was filled with helplessness.

The Great Compassion Demon Palm had twenty-seven flaws in total, which had already made him extremely uncomfortable. This one had even more, reaching a full thirty-one...

The technique was good, and its power was strong, but... he couldn't practice it!

Ever since he started cultivating the Heaven's Path功法, he had become accustomed to flaw-free manuals, as if afflicted with a cleanliness obsession. Even a speck of dust was hard to swallow, let alone so many...

He retrieved all the fist technique manuals he had learned before and piled them together.

"Correct!"

"Still twenty-eight flaws..."

Although he had read many manuals on fist techniques, their levels were too low. To fuse a Saint Domain high-grade technique, they were still far from sufficient.

Tens of thousands of manuals had only removed three flaws.

"Forget it, I'll leave it for now. I'll look for fist techniques to supplement when I return to the Saint Son Hall..."

He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

After all, the Saint Son Hall had an abundance of manuals. As long as he took the assessment, he was sure to obtain many. Even if this fist technique had many flaws, as long as he diligently searched, he could certainly complete it.

Just as he finished sighing, he felt the ground shake, and the entire space became even more distorted.

"Damn, the ancient sage's will has vanished, and the Gourd of Void has been taken. This space can no longer hold up; it could collapse at any moment..."

Luo Xuanqing's face changed color.

Like the mountain gate of the Saint Son Hall, this space, due to excessive folding and complexity, lacked a dedicated core to maintain its operation. Once a change occurred, it would lead to collapse.

Now, with violent shaking, it was clearly in trouble.

"Collapse?"

Everyone's faces turned pale.

Although their strength was considerable, within the space, they were subject to its influence. If it collapsed, they would likely be annihilated and die instantly.

Unless they reached a level capable of transcending this space!

And such strength required at least Saint Domain Ninth Layer!

"Right, leave quickly, or we'll all die here..."

Luo Xuanqing was extremely anxious.

"But... I've only memorized less than two lines of this fist technique..."

Bi Hongyin's face flushed as she spoke.

"I've also memorized two lines..." Yuan Xiao added.

This was the martial technique of Qiuwu Ancient Sage, a chance they might never have in a lifetime. Having finally found it and seen it, they had no time to memorize it, and each was filled with reluctance.

"Survival is paramount. No matter how powerful the technique, it's useless if you don't live to learn it... I've only memorized four lines, and even I have to let it go despite my reluctance..."

Luo Xuanqing waved his hand: "Let's go!"

This martial technique, created by the ancient sage, contained the core of his cultivation. The entire set amounted to several hundred lines. Even with their formidable strength and remarkable memory, memorizing so many characters would take at least half an hour...

Less than a minute had passed. Remembering two or four lines was already quite good.

However, if they couldn't remember, there was no help for it. Compared to their lives, no matter how good the technique, it was worthless!

"Alright!"

Seeing the space shake more violently, with cracks appearing in some places, Bi Hongyin and the others, despite their reluctance, knew they couldn't stay any longer. They hurriedly followed Luo Xuanqing and flew outward at top speed.

Zhang Xuan also followed closely.

On the way in, they had moved slowly, searching for things and exploring everywhere. Now, with danger imminent, they no longer hesitated. Following the original path at top speed, in less than two breaths, they were back above the river of spiritual energy.

Following the same method, Luo Xuanqing enveloped everyone in space bubbles again, his whole body boiling with power as he drove them rapidly.

After more than ten breaths, they returned to the place where they had first entered.

Crack! Crack!

As soon as they arrived, they saw huge cracks in the nearby river and space, with patches annihilating.

"That was close..."

Everyone was drenched in cold sweat.

Fortunately, they had fled quickly. If they had been even a little slower, they would have turned to ashes by now.

"Let's leave quickly..."

Sighing inwardly, Luo Xuanqing again used a special method to open the exit passage. Everyone leaped vigorously and jumped straight out.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Wind whistled in their ears. After a violent spin, the next moment, they opened their eyes again and found themselves back in the cave.

Pop!

Just as they steadied themselves, they saw the sesame-sized vortex before them flash with a gleam, then vanish from its spot, no longer to be found.

This relic... had completely disappeared!