The Fifth Elder of the Black Flood Dragon Clan moved swiftly from one room to another, his heart growing colder with each empty space.
He had paid a tremendous price to find this ruin. He had carved away a large portion of his own flesh, even his facial skin, and had willingly accepted humiliation for it.
He had expected to recoup his losses with immense gains from such an ancient site, but now he had found nothing.
Looking at the empty rooms, a deep sorrow welled up within the Fifth Elder.
"Is this it..."
After twenty-odd rooms yielded nothing, just as he was about to give up all hope, he discovered a door with a restrictive formation on it. He couldn't enter.
At this moment, far from being dejected, he became exceptionally excited.
"Finally, I've found a different room!"
The Fifth Elder, feeling much better, mustered his spirits and unleashed his divine abilities towards the formation on the door.
"Boom!"
"Boom boom boom..."
Two quarters of an hour later, the Fifth Elder was panting like an ox, yet the restrictive formation before him remained unchanged.
The demon race was generally not adept at formations. He couldn't discern anything special about the restrictive formation before him, only thinking of breaking it with brute force.
However, the current situation proved that sheer force wouldn't work. He needed to find some helpers to break it together!
Just as he was about to look for help, two rat demons, one large and one small, walked around the corner.
The father and son, with their pea-like eyes, had been searching the ruins for Xiao Fei. Hearing the commotion, they came to investigate.
The father and son had arrived earlier and had been hiding in the shadows, watching this faceless fool continuously bombard the formation. Only when the Fifth Elder completely gave up on his assault did they reveal themselves.
"Fellow Daoist, who are you?"
The Fifth Elder asked loudly and warily.
"Hahaha... No need for pleasantries. Although your disguise technique is rather peculiar, I suspect you are the Fifth Elder of the Black Flood Dragon Clan, aren't you?"
The pea-eyed demon didn't believe the other party wouldn't recognize him and directly revealed his identity. Don't think I won't recognize you just because you carved off your face.
"So what if I am? This ruin belongs to the virtuous."
The Fifth Elder felt stifled. Did they think I enjoyed carving off my face? I even offered my wife to your son for his enjoyment, what more could I do!
Having gained nothing so far, he had lost his wife and his soldiers!
"Fifth Elder, you misunderstand. The treasures here naturally belong to the virtuous. My son and I have come to find you because we wish to cooperate with you..."
The pea-eyed demon then explained the characteristics of the formations here to the Fifth Elder.
The restrictive formations left on the doors of each room were connected to the natural formations on Turtle Island. Attacking any door was equivalent to attacking the island's natural grand formation.
To forcibly break through with brute strength, one would have to break the entire natural grand formation of the island, otherwise, it would be impossible.
The pea-eyed demon's purpose in finding the Fifth Elder was to cooperate and gather the five elements.
The natural grand formation here was a Five Elements Formation, and therefore, the small branches derived from this grand formation were also of the same nature. They could only be broken by the five elements.
Xiao Fei was nowhere to be found now. If they couldn't find Xiao Fei, they had to have some backups.
Everyone came out for wealth, and for the sake of profit, old grievances could be put aside for the moment.
"Good! I agree!"
Although the Fifth Elder had suffered a loss in terms of his wife, and he didn't particularly like the Golden-Haired Rat, he was ultimately a sensible and pragmatic person.
After finalizing their cooperation, the two went to find others who had entered the ruins, hoping to gather the five elements.
Their luck this time seemed not too bad, as they managed to find the other five East Sea demons who had entered the ruins.
Moreover, the eight of them successfully formed a set of five elements, with three remaining as reserves.
Next, the eight of them, working together, first located the restrictive formation on a door and simultaneously unleashed five streams of spiritual power, successfully opening one of the doors.
The moment the door opened, the eight of them rushed in. Fortunately, no conflict arose.
...
After Xiao Fei emerged from the volcano, he headed towards the areas with specks of light. When he returned to the cluster of buildings, the pea-eyed demons and their group had already successfully opened a door and rushed inside.
This room still contained many rare spiritual items, and the eight people naturally engaged in some抢夺 (qiǎngduó - snatching/scrambling), but they were currently restrained, and no one had died yet.
Xiao Fei did not deliberately search for the pea-eyed father and son. Possessing the five elements and cultivating the "Primordial Chaos Technique," opening the restrictive formations here posed no difficulty for him.
After searching for a while, he found another door with a restrictive formation and easily opened it using the "Primordial Chaos Technique."
Entering the sealed room and searching around, he found that this dwelling contained only spiritual ore and similar items.
These spiritual ores might have been valuable originally, but in this place devoid of spiritual energy, after countless years, the spiritual energy within the ores had gradually dissipated, rendering them useless.
Xiao Fei could only sigh and shake his head, leaving the room to search for the next one.
His solo actions were much more convenient and flexible than the scheming among the eight members of the pea-eyed group.
Furthermore, every room he opened, all the treasures within belonged solely to him, without needing to share with anyone.
In the subsequent rooms he opened, there were times he returned empty-handed, but often he found rare treasures within.
Overall, excluding the Fire Spirit Fruit and the large teleportation array, he was still richly rewarded.
However, there were not many valuable rooms in this ruin. Under the sweep of Xiao Fei and the pea-eyed group, they had been explored almost entirely.
Coincidentally, just as Xiao Fei reached a rather tall building, he saw the pea-eyed group approaching from another direction.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao Fei! So you're here!"
Upon seeing Xiao Fei, the pea-eyed demon's heart filled with joy, and he quickly led his son towards Xiao Fei.
Partnering with an old acquaintance like Xiao Fei felt much more reassuring. He had directly abandoned his previous teammates.
With new favorites, who would remember the old ones!
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, we've been looking for you quite hard! The restrictive formations on these doors are quite difficult to deal with; one must simultaneously unleash the five elements to open them."
The pea-eyed demon was afraid Xiao Fei wouldn't know and quickly explained it to him.
Although he had known for a long time that Xiao Fei possessed the five-element spiritual root, he was unaware that Xiao Fei's cultivation of the "Primordial Chaos Technique" was even more miraculous, allowing him to cultivate all five elements simultaneously.
Xiao Fei said little and immediately nodded in agreement.
Following this, Xiao Fei and the pea-eyed father and son, along with the remaining six demons, acted together.
Neither side dared to fall behind, and they quickly opened the restrictive formation at the door, all surging inside together.
The world behind this door appeared quite spacious, and there was even some spiritual energy that had not completely dissipated within.
The room contained many rare treasures, and they were all preserved in their original state.
Just as everyone was sharpening their claws, ready to grab the treasures,
"Bang!"
A dark shadow materialized in the stone chamber.