Outside the entrance to the ruins, ten ragged cultivators arrived.
These ten individuals were covered in scars and looked utterly disheveled, yet they maintained resolute expressions, appearing deeply wronged.
News travels fast; it was only natural that the one with the beady eyes would find this ruin and subsequently inquire about it, searching for information.
His unusual actions had long since drawn the attention of other cultivators.
Among them, the Black Flood Dragon clan was the most willing to go to great lengths. To extract intelligence, the Fifth Elder directly adorned himself with a rather conspicuous green hat.
The Black Flood Dragon clan paid a considerable price to track down Turtle Island, and other major powers also employed various means to arrive here successively.
Apart from Xiao Fei and his group, dozens of Nascent Soul stage powerhouses had arrived at Turtle Island before and after.
The news had practically spread to all the major factions.
It was just that these later arrivals had rather poor luck. They could never have imagined that a certain cultivator ahead of them would be so insidious and wicked, setting up those bursting spirit fruits all along the way.
These Donghai demon races, with their simple folk customs, had frequently and accidentally triggered Xiao Fei's bursting spirit fruits since landing on the island.
Originally, the juice of these bursting spirit fruits was quite potent. Nascent Soul stage powerhouses could still evade or defend against it when prepared.
However, upon entering Turtle Island, everyone became blind and deaf. They were completely unable to guard against the suddenly exploding and splattering juice.
The demon race cultivators following behind suffered heavy losses, with a large portion of their manpower killed or wounded.
They still had no idea what was happening, believing it to be the inherent dangers of the island itself, and died without complaint.
The various demon race powerhouses, harried by unknown attacks, had already become like startled birds.
Several groups in the darkness accidentally encountered each other and immediately erupted into fierce combat. They were unable to communicate normally or distinguish friend from foe, engaging in a chaotic free-for-all.
At this time, no one dared to show mercy. If you didn't kill others, they would kill you.
They only stopped when the fighting had reduced both sides to near annihilation, making further combat impossible.
At this point, with their last reserves of strength, after some communication, they discovered the truth.
"Damn it! They're our own people!"
His maternal uncle, his paternal uncle, and his paternal aunt and uncle had all perished in mutual destruction.
The blunders that occurred in this endless darkness were far from over. Even if they knew it was a misunderstanding this time, the next time something happened, they would still have to strike first.
After this arduous journey, only ten out of the dozens of powerhouses successfully reached the light gate.
Furthermore, these ten were all injured.
Especially the Fifth Elder of the Black Flood Dragon clan, who had slimmed down considerably and lost his face.
He had previously managed to bravely and steadfastly reach the entrance of the light gate without being affected by the blunders due to his injuries.
At this moment, he discovered the female lizard, dismembered by the Golden Fur Mouse on the ground, and felt a pang of sadness!
"They walked ahead on this path, experiencing more dangers. They must all be injured now.
If we catch up, we'll kill them first, and then slowly scavenge the treasures within the ruins."
The Fifth Elder of the Black Flood Dragon clan analyzed the situation. He felt that although his group of ten were all injured, their condition was definitely better than that of the beady-eyed group, and he harbored confidence in victory.
The ten injured demon races cautiously scouted the light gate ahead. Finding no danger, they walked through together.
However, as soon as they passed through the light gate and before they could even take a breath of the sweet air within the ruins, a change had already occurred.
No one knew who accidentally triggered the mechanisms previously set up by Xiao Fei, causing dozens of bursting spirit fruits to explode simultaneously.
Countless red juices rained down upon the ten Nascent Soul cultivators present.
"Ah! Ahhh!"
"This thing again!"
They had a deep impression of this kind of attack. Only now did they finally see its true form: it was a kind of red juice.
After one round of bursting spirit fruit explosions, only six incomplete individuals remained among the ten Nascent Soul powerhouses.
The six looked at each other. Despite their mangled state, they still decided to act separately, choosing not to huddle together for warmth.
...
On the other side, Xiao Fei had already headed in the direction of the light and found a cluster of buildings.
These buildings were tall and magnificent, primarily constructed from spirit wood. Even after countless years, they showed no signs of decay.
Perhaps because this place had been shrouded in darkness for a long time, the original spirit herbs and the like had all perished. Xiao Fei searched the ruins for a long time but couldn't find even a single blade of grass with life.
The doors of many houses were open, and the interiors were meticulously cleaned, with no valuable items left behind.
It was likely that when the members of this ancient sect departed, they did so with composure. But one wondered where such a powerful sect had relocated.
Based on the remaining traces of vegetation on the ground, this should have been a normal island before, not shrouded in darkness.
Xiao Fei inspected the houses one by one but found nothing, feeling a sense of disappointment.
After all the effort, wearing out a pair of shoes, it turned out to be an emptied ruin, utterly worthless.
Just then, ahead of him, there was a pillar, on which was placed a glowing stone block the size of a millstone.
The scattered specks of light he saw from afar were all emitted by these stone blocks.
Behind this pillar, he finally found a locked door, and he was ecstatic at that moment.
This door was tall and imposing. The main gate was protected by a formation, which was connected to the main formation guarding the ruins.
Xiao Fei observed for a moment, then stepped forward and placed his palm on the restriction formation at the entrance. A surge of profound Hunyuan magical power flowed into the formation.
Gradually, the formation in front of the main gate receded to both sides, revealing the position of the door.
Xiao Fei released dozens of Iron Fire Ants into the area. Encountering no danger, he also walked in.
The Iron Fire Ants could no longer keep up with his pace; they could only be used occasionally for experiments or to scout the way.
Upon entering the gate, he discovered that the temperature inside was extremely high. After looking around, he realized this place was likely used for alchemy and artifact refining, with channels for underground fire connected from beneath.
However, after searching around, he still found nothing, not even a trace of any treasure. His intuition told him something was amiss. If there were no treasures, why would the formation be specially preserved for protection?
At this moment, his gaze suddenly fell upon a rather inconspicuous stone shelf. He slowly applied force and pushed it. The stone shelf gradually moved aside under his push, revealing a dark underground passage beneath.
A wave of scorching heat surged from the underground passage.
Xiao Fei slowly walked forward along the passage. It became hotter the further he went, forcing him to circulate his "Hunyuan Gong."
As this cultivation technique circulated, the heat applied to him was absorbed and converted into Hunyuan magical power, making the journey forward significantly easier.
After walking along the underground passage for about half an hour, the area suddenly became very wide, forming an underground space.
A lake composed of molten lava was located at the very center of the underground space, bubbling with gas.
Xiao Fei's gaze, however, was fixed on a small withered tree by the edge of the lake.
He sensed a trace of life from this tree. If it could be transplanted into his space, it might still survive.
Although this was the first time he had seen this tree, he had read about it in ancient texts.
This was a Fire Spirit Fruit Tree, on the same level as the Wood Spirit Fruit Tree he had planted in his space.
Fire Spirit Fruits could also be used to refine Fire-attribute Marrow Cleansing Pills, which could enhance the talent for Fire-attribute spiritual roots.