Chapter 4: Information from the Great World (Part 2)

Li Ran nodded and said, “You don’t need to worry about this. Focusing on improving your own strength is what matters. This seems to be a very small relic, not a defensive fortress. So… everyone can start searching for useful things. Hmm, Guo Shier, see if there are any records of the Tianling tribe living here, especially those from before they migrated. If there are, it would be of great help to us.”
Guo Shier replied, “I guess… finding useful records is almost impossible. But I’ll still look around. Maybe there will be some other surprises.” With his experience, he knew such a small relic wouldn’t hold many surprises. The only thing that surprised him was that relics started appearing here—perhaps further ahead, even larger ones might exist. And what was most exciting was that it seemed no one had been here before.
The four of them dispersed, each choosing a direction.
Guo Shier flew into the air and observed carefully for a while before descending. He entered a room that was half-destroyed, with a thick layer of dust on the floor and a low table in the middle. When he touched it lightly, the table collapsed into pieces.
Only then did Guo Shier realize how many years this relic had existed. When he saw the giant pillar sculptures, their shiny, brand-new appearance due to the thulium gold had given him the illusion that everything was brand new, as if it had just been created, with no signs of age. It was only here that he truly understood that this relic was still thousands of years old, if not tens of thousands.
At that moment, Sericlin also descended. She had wanted to search on her own, but after seeing Guo Shier land, she couldn’t help but follow. For some reason, she felt a strange sense of unease here. After witnessing the strength of the three others, she lost confidence in herself for the first time and didn’t dare act alone.
Guo Shier asked in surprise, “Why did you follow?”
Sericlin’s face turned slightly red as she said, “It’s better to work together.” She didn’t want to admit she was timid—it would be too embarrassing. She was a top expert of the Blade Clan, yet even she could feel fear.
Guo Shier didn’t refuse and smiled, “Alright, let’s go together.”
The old man in the altar suddenly said, “Kid, go down there. I think… if there are any remnants, they must be on the lowest level of the building. Go take a look.”

Guo Shier also had this idea. He said, “Cecilin, come with me.” The two entered a passage inside the building and moved deeper inward. There was no part of the building that had collapsed; countless passages stretched out like a spider’s web. Guo Shier and Cecilin began searching as they went further down. Soon, they became disoriented—there were so many rooms that it was impossible to check them all. After going through so many rooms, they found nothing useful, only some decayed daily items and personal belongings of little value. Guo Shier said, “This seems to be a residential area, not a working area. There’s no value here.” Cecilin agreed, “Mm, nothing good. Just trash.” They searched for a while longer before realizing there was no way to go further down. Cecilin was impatient. In her urgency, she drew her dual knives and made a crack in the ground before jumping straight through it. Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile—he had almost done the same. This floor was still a residential area. It was unclear how many people of the Tianling tribe had lived here; there were rooms everywhere. Soon, both of them grew impatient. This time, Guo Shier didn’t wait for Cecilin to act. His Moon Blade flew out, creating a large hole straight to the bottom floor. Cecilin’s heart skipped a beat. She had known from her first strike how hard this floor was. She was confident she could break through one layer, but it was impossible to pierce all the way through like Guo Shier had done. She realized that in front of these abnormal experts, every move they made dealt a blow to her, making her increasingly lacking in confidence. Without confidence, Cecilin became more timid. Guo Shier asked, “What are you daydreaming about? Let’s go!” He leaped down through the open hole. Cecilin replied, “Oh!” and jumped after him. They descended several hundred meters in just a few seconds and arrived at the bottom floor of the building. It was an open space with many square pillars. There were no sculptures on these pillars, nor were they made of silk-gold, making them appear extremely old. Water dripped from the ceiling, echoing in the open space, and there was a large amount of water on the ground. At first glance, aside from the square stone pillars, there was nothing else—unknown to what purpose the ancient Tianling tribe had used them. Guo Shier stamped his foot forcefully, and a buzzing sound was heard. Listening carefully, he said, “It’s probably empty down there…”

Cerislin volunteered, “Let me open it!” She drew her twin knives and slammed them down on the ground with a loud crash. Staring in astonishment, she said after a long while, “Good heavens, how hard could this be? I could only leave a single mark—this ground must be reinforced.”

Guo Shier also was surprised. Cerislin was quite skilled, especially since the attacking power of the Blade Clan relied entirely on their knives. Her twin knives had been refined with the help of the old man, and though they didn’t reach the level of sacred artifacts, they were still countless times stronger than before. Yet they couldn’t even break through a layer of ground—indicating just how hard it was.

“Let me give it a try!”

This time, he didn’t use the Moon Blade but instead summoned the Jie Bainazhu Sacred Artifact, which was mostly in the old man’s possession. Countless threads of various flames flew out from his palm. Through years of refinement by the old man, its power had grown significantly. Besides being used to break down materials, it could also be used for refinement and even attack. The threads landed on the ground, emitting a hissing sound.

In an instant, the ground began to collapse rapidly.

Cerislin watched in shock as the ground sank downward. She couldn’t understand the threads from Guo Shier’s hand—vibrant in color, they shone brilliantly in the dim hallway. Yet deep down, she feared those dazzling threads, instinctively sensing extreme danger. She cried out, “What is this? It’s so powerful!”

Guo Shier smiled slightly and said, “It’s a tool that can quickly break down anything—well, not everything, but most things can’t resist its decomposition.”

Cerislin shook her head repeatedly. “A tool? That’s too exaggerated. I… sense a threat to me. This thing can kill people!”

Guo Shier replied, “Of course. But it wasn’t meant for killing from the start—it was originally just a tool.”

Cerislin said, “You Spell Clan people are really strange. You have all kinds of amazing things—it’s truly incredible.” Her tone was filled with envy.

That layer of ground was ten meters thick, with various metals embedded in it—no wonder Cerislin couldn’t cut through it. But no matter how solid the ground was, it couldn’t stop the Jie Bainazhu’s decomposition. In just a few moments, it was broken down, revealing a large hole from which white mist billowed out. Guo Shier stepped back and said, “I don’t know what’s on the next level. Be careful.”

Cerislin drew her twin knives and said, “I’ll go down and explore first.”

Guo Shier said, “No need, I’ll go down first.” He didn’t want to hide behind a woman. With that, he summoned his Moon Blade to protect himself and said, “Wait a moment before coming down.” His body gradually rose, swayed slightly, and then he disappeared into the cave entrance.

After waiting for a while, Sericlin gritted her teeth and jumped into the cave entrance, instantly falling inside.

Guo Shier cast a spell, and instantly the surroundings became brightly lit, allowing him to see the environment clearly. It was another room, about over a thousand square meters in size, with a ceiling about ten meters high. It was a semicircular room, and the cave he had entered through using the Xiebaina beads was located in one of the corners. As soon as he entered the room, he felt an extremely cold atmosphere—no wonder white mist had emerged from the cave entrance earlier.

At first glance, he saw a sculpture in the center of the room. It wasn’t very large, about six or seven meters tall, and was a dark brown statue of a strange figure sitting on a large throne. Due to the distance, he couldn’t see the details of the statue, so he stayed where he was and didn’t move immediately. He had long heard that the Tianling clan had many peculiar methods, so he had to be careful.

Guo Shier’s feet didn’t touch the ground; instead, he hovered about a foot above it, slowly floating toward the statue. Since there was only that statue in the entire room and nothing else, his attention was entirely on it.

Carefully approaching the statue, it wasn’t until he was about ten meters away that Guo Shier could see the dark brown statue clearly. It was extremely delicate, as if it were alive. It depicted a person wearing strange armor, with a peculiar mask on their face as well. The figure sat upright on a large metal throne, with both hands resting naturally on the armrests. The arms and wrists were covered in exquisite armor, though its color was unattractive—a dull dark brown.

Just as Guo Shier was examining it closely, Sericlin followed him. She flew to his side and also looked at the statue, exclaiming, “Oh my god, it’s from the ancient Tianling clan… royal armor!”

Guo Shier asked in surprise, “What do you mean? Royal armor?”

Sericlin’s face turned red with excitement as she said, “This is a treasure—a royal armor, a type of lost weapon equipment that’s extremely powerful. Even the current Tianling clan doesn’t have many of them. Only their most famous experts can possess them. If one has such equipment, the strength of a Tianling clan member can increase several times over. If they can fully unleash its power, their strength can rise to an terrifying level.”

Guo Shier didn’t understand. “Is this royal military force? Isn’t this just a sculpture?” As he stepped forward, the entire ground began to tremble in an instant.
Ceciline screamed, “Be careful!”