No matter how careful they were, it was all useless.
This was not a place ordinary people could enter. No matter how cautious they were, facing the unseen ominous forces, they had no way to resist.
Moreover, these transcended beings did not care about the lives of ants. In their eyes, it was an honor for these ants to be able to do things for them, or even to die.
Ning Beichen also disdained the aristocratic families for constantly sending people to their deaths to appease the transcended beings. He simply couldn't be bothered to care about their lives. After all, Ning Beichen had tried to persuade them, but they didn't listen, truly believing that holding a firearm would make them invincible.
To be honest, dealing with them, let alone unseen ominous forces, even if Ning Beichen could fight a thousand enemies alone in broad daylight, it would be no problem.
As the exploration progressed, they had now reached the interior of the Lotus Cave Heaven. During this process, they had found some miscellaneous items but had not discovered any bronze flakes.
Not long after, several people from the aristocratic families entered a grand hall. However, less than a minute after they entered, they were seen fleeing out in panic.
"Great Immortal, Great Immortal, inside... there's a living person inside."
The one who ran out panted as he spoke.
Upon hearing that there was a living person inside, Ning Beichen and the others also became nervous.
"Could it be... the former master of the Cave Heaven and Blessed Land, the Lotus Hermit, is still alive?"
Zhou Yu's companion said nervously.
If the Lotus Hermit was still alive, even they, the transcended beings, would not dare to provoke him. Not to mention they were only at the Celestial One realm; even stronger individuals would not be the Lotus Hermit's match.
If it were truly the living Lotus Hermit, their only option would be to flee for their lives.
However, this was merely their speculation. After all, it was unknown how many years had passed since the Lotus Hermit's time. If he were still alive, his power and cultivation would likely have reached an invincible state.
Moreover, they had never heard of anyone living for so long, not even those in the realm of transcended beings.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Zhou Yu and his companion said in unison.
"You... you, you, and you, go in first."
Zhou Yu's companion pointed at those who had entered the hall earlier, as well as Ning Beichen.
Seeing Ning Beichen being ordered around by his companion, Zhou Yu secretly thought it was bad. Just as he was about to intervene, he saw Ning Beichen give him a look to shut up.
Zhou Yu immediately dared not speak and lowered his head.
In his heart, he was actually happy to see Ning Beichen going to his death, because only when Ning Beichen died could he be free.
But before Ning Beichen died, he dared not think of anything else.
Ning Beichen and several people from the aristocratic families walked into the grand hall together. To be honest, he was also very interested in the Lotus Hermit, but he did not believe that the Lotus Hermit was still alive.
If the Lotus Hermit could live for so long, the world would have undergone earth-shattering changes long ago.
Upon entering the grand hall, they indeed saw a person sitting inside. However, unlike those who were frightened, Ning Beichen did not sense any life aura from this person.
But to determine if he was alive or dead, they would have to go closer to check.
Ning Beichen, with his usual boldness born from his skill, ignored the people from the aristocratic families and walked towards the person at the front of the hall.
However, Ning Beichen was not a reckless person. He walked up to the person, bowed respectfully, and said, "Da Feng Novel Network.
"Senior, forgive me for disturbing you."
"Senior..."
Ning Beichen called out a few times, but the person before him did not react. Ning Beichen also could not sense his breath or heartbeat.
Thinking of this, Ning Beichen concluded that this person had been dead for an unknown amount of time, or perhaps only a husk remained.
"Senior, I have offended you."
Ning Beichen said, then reached out to touch the person's body.
As Ning Beichen's hand touched the person's body, he saw some faint light, like fireflies, entering his body through his hand.
Ning Beichen was startled. Could it be that an ominous force was trying to invade him?
So Ning Beichen's first reaction was to try and repel this light.
But soon, Ning Beichen felt that this light seemed to have no ill will towards him, nor was it an invasion by an ominous force. Instead, it was a series of memories.
As these firefly-like lights entered his body, images appeared in Ning Beichen's mind.
These were the memories of the person before him, transmitted to Ning Beichen in this manner.
About half an hour later, Ning Beichen finally managed to process these memories.
It turned out that the person before him was not the Lotus Hermit, but a cultivator who lived during the Ming Dynasty.
He had accidentally found this place, and upon entering, he was fortunate enough to obtain the Lotus Hermit's inheritance.
But what he didn't expect was that the Lotus Hermit had set a trap.
Although he obtained the Lotus Hermit's inheritance, after cultivating it, he became confined to this grand hall and could no longer leave, until he passed away there.
Before he died, he preserved his memories.
Once a latercomer touched his body, they would receive his memories, thus avoiding the Lotus Hermit's trap. It could be seen that this Ming Dynasty cultivator was quite a kind person.
However, this Ming Dynasty cultivator also had his own conditions.
That is, whoever obtained his memories needed to help him with one thing. If they refused to help or did not follow through, they would not receive his complete memories.
But this condition was not difficult. Ning Beichen glanced at it. He had left behind his own cultivation technique in his memory, and the condition was to find his descendants and help him pass on the cultivation technique to them.
However, this condition was not easy to fulfill.
Because this person was from the Ming Dynasty, who knew if he still had any descendants alive.
If all his descendants were dead, then he would not be able to obtain his complete memories.
This was somewhat troublesome, but Ning Beichen was not overly discouraged. If his descendants were gone, then Ning Beichen would at most be unable to obtain the Lotus Hermit's cultivation method.
For the current Ning Beichen, having the "Crossing the Other Shore of Suffering Sea" cultivation method was already sufficient.
If he could obtain the Lotus Hermit's cultivation method and ultimately couldn't, there would be no regrets.
Fortune and destiny were personal matters. If one had it, they had it; if not, they didn't. It couldn't be forced.
However, this matter could not be told to Zhou Yu and the others.
At this moment.
The body of the Ming Dynasty cultivator, who had been touched by Ning Beichen, began to weather and disappear, like a shattered porcelain vase. Soon after, a pile of dust remained in the grand hall.
The Ming Dynasty cultivator was no more.