Chapter 237: Ruins of the Ancient City
After they entered the hall made of black stone, Li Yuanqing slowly descended from the top of the valley. He had already sized up the entire valley from above.
This place occupied a huge area. Moreover, after looking around, he felt that this place did not seem to be natural. If this valley was naturally formed, there would definitely be many traces. The geology would also have a specific shape and structure.
For example, these mountains were all the same height, and the connection with the valley below was a little too flat. It was completely like a building built by humans.
No matter where Li Yuanqing looked or where he checked, the structure here was the same.
However, the tall wall at the end was a little different. It was much taller than the two mountains beside it, and its overall thickness was thicker. The slope of the shape below was also smoother than the other two.
Li Yuanqing told the Blood Vine his doubts.
The Blood Vine explained, “Actually, there’s no such valley here. There’s only this mountain, the last wall. This mountain is only a few hundred meters wide, but it connects a few mountains together to form a small mountain range that is more than ten kilometers long.
“This forms the basic situation and structure of this valley. The pa.s.sageway is at the bottom of this mountain. All the fortresses were built around this mountain.
“This is a fortress.
“Humans always like to build strange things, don’t they? Although it looks fancy and can’t save their lives in the end, it’s still quite lamentable, right?” The Blood Vine said to Li Yuanqing mockingly.
“Why are those humans guarding here? Why must it be here? If this is only the wilderness, what’s the use of them guarding here? Could it be to suppress the devils in the pa.s.sageway below? I’m afraid they wouldn’t spend so much effort to build this fortress if it’s to suppress them.”
The Blood Vine hesitated for a moment and said slowly, “Actually, devils are not the only ones at the bottom of the mountain. A huge mineral vein in the entire underground world was discovered at the bottom of this mountain, it was also because of this mineral vein that the human race was very glorious.”
“A mineral vein?”
“Master, don’t you want to know why they built all this? It’s to guard the huge mineral vein below. That’s the foundation of the human race and the source of everything.”
Li Yuanqing did not know that the dilapidated human race had such a glorious time in the past.
The overall structure of the catacombs was that the Black Dragon covered the sky with one hand and had countless demon subordinates. The humans were all slaves of the demons. After Li Yuanqing arrived, the situation improved. The humans had already fought for two cities.
There was also a city that had fallen into the hands of the devils. As long as they chased these devils away, Sea City would be in their hands. It looked like it was thriving, but the humans had too few resources. The mineral veins in the Catacombs were basically controlled by the demons.
These large cities were established by the above few special mineral veins. However, there were many other mineral veins scattered in the bas.e.m.e.nt. They were still controlled by other demons, and even the most important ones were under the control of the Black Dragon.
The mineral vein was the source of all power and the beginning of all power. Only by controlling the mineral vein could his clansmen continue to grow.
“How big is the mineral vein below?”
“The mineral vein under this fortress is a vein that leads straight to the center of the earth. It’s hundreds of meters in diameter and thousands of miles in length.”
“It’s actually so huge?”
“Moreover, this mineral vein is connected to a main vein in the catacombs. As long as it’s not mined all at once, it can repair itself within a certain period of time. It can be said to be a very huge force.”
As the Blood Vine spoke, he seemed to recall the very glorious years of the past. His voice could not help but be filled with emotions.
“At that time, the human race was so glorious. As long as this continued, it seemed like everything would develop in a good direction. This Catacombs world would eventually be completely unified by the human race.”
The Blood Vine seemed to have reached an emotional point, but he was suddenly interrupted by Li Yuanqing.
Li Yuanqing had already arrived at the entrance of the hall. “Hurry up and go in. The two of you have already been in for so long. Don’t die inside later.”
As Li Yuanqing spoke, he stepped into the hall.
This hall was very wide and tall, just like the majestic appearance outside. After entering, he saw two rows of thick pillars standing in the hall. These stone pillars supported the ceiling, as if they were supporting the sky. There were exquisite patterns carved on the stone pillar, and all kinds of rare beasts were circling it. It indeed had the style of a human building.
They walked through the stone pillars into the alley. In the deepest part of the hall was a wide altar that protruded out. Beside the altar was a broken black cover.
As Li Yuanqing walked, he looked at the stone pillars on both sides. The lifelike rare beasts and powerful men on them seemed to have a life of their own as they looked at him.
Li Yuanqing suddenly reached out and placed his hand on one of the pillars, silently feeling the fluctuations. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and took a step back. When he looked up again, the naked man covered in big muscles on the pillar seemed to have leaned forward.
This thing’s gaze landed on Li Yuanqing and seemed to land on the blood vine on Li Yuanqing’s shoulder. It slowly retreated and finally fused perfectly with the pillar, turning into a sculpture.
“What? Alive?”
Li Yuanqing looked at everything in front of him in shock. He had never seen such a thing before. If this place had been here for more than a thousand years, why were the things on these pillars still alive? What kind of mechanism could keep such a thing alive for thousands of years?
However, the Blood Vine said to him, “Master, you’re wrong. It’s just a pillar. Even a thousand years ago, it was an inanimate object. Now, it’s even deader. How can it be alive?”
“No, I didn’t see wrongly. He clearly moved just now.”
“Master, let’s not dwell on this thing. If we watch for a while longer, we won’t even know where the fellow inside is. Let’s follow him quickly.”
Although Li Yuanqing really wanted to investigate what was below, he could not find anything for the time being. Therefore, he walked to the altar.
At this moment, a familiar voice sounded in his mind.
[Sign-in successful! Reward received for the ruins of the human race’s Ancient City of Cangjue!]
[Reward One: Spirit Cultivation Technique!]
[Reward Two: Mechanism Technique!]
Li Yuanqing was stunned on the spot. These two choices were so tempting. These were things he had never obtained before. He did not expect to obtain such a reward. He was really overjoyed.
After thinking about it again and again, Li Yuanqing still chose the more useful Spirit Cultivation Technique.
“I’ll choose the Spirit Cultivation Technique!”
[Reward issued!]
“Master?”
The Blood Vine was already prepared to stick to Li Yuanqing, but Li Yuanqing suddenly stood at the entrance and was stunned.
After calling out a few times, Li Yuanqing finally came back to his senses.
“Master, what happened to you just now? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I was just thinking about the past. It’s nothing. Let’s continue walking.”
“Just go straight down the steps from here.”
The round entrance on the carpet was only about ten meters in diameter. It was not particularly terrifying. A piece of it was even taller at the side, which matched the broken lid. There was also a winding staircase built into the circular wall of the pa.s.sageway. As long as he followed this staircase down, he could reach the bottom of the pa.s.sageway.
Moreover, there was a faint light in the pa.s.sageway. It took a long time for one to see one of these lights. It had been so many years, but it could still emit light continuously. Everything that happened here was so intriguing.
Li Yuanqing walked down slowly. The deeper he went, the bigger the opening became. Originally, he could still see obvious man-made traces on the wall.
However, after walking down for about a thousand meters, the diameter of the entire wall became a few hundred meters wide like the Blood Vine had said. Moreover, there was only a layer of stone behind the wall. It was not as empty as Li Yuanqing had felt just now. It was already completely connected to the mountain.
Li Yuanqing slowly walked forward. The Devil King and the Blood Vine were also constantly searching down.
The more the Devil King walked, the more anxious he felt. The uneasiness in his heart grew stronger. If this was really a place where the devils had invaded, then why did he feel so fl.u.s.tered here? Moreover, the deeper he went, the more suppressed he was.
“Kid, are you sure you can really let the devil warriors up here?”
“Your Majesty, if you really don’t believe me, I can go down alone. Your Majesty can wait here. I’ll go down and investigate first before coming back to report to you. What do you think?”
“How long will I have to wait when you figure out the bottom? There are Anti-Devil stones stuck beside this place. How did the devils pa.s.s through this place back then?”
The Blood Vine explained, “Your Majesty, why don’t you think about it? It’s precisely because the devil warriors killed their way in that the human race pasted Anti-Devil stones all over this place to prevent the devils from invading again. However, now that there’s no one to control it, the effect of these Anti-Devil stones is greatly reduced. They won’t pose any threat to Your Majesty.”
“Then why is there such a strong aura of the spirit vein here?”
He did not know that this was once a main mineral vein. All he knew about the situation in the catacombs was the rumors in the Devil Realm.
The Blood Vine casually explained, “Back then, a huge battle happened here and the human race suffered heavy losses. They must have left many marks here. This is normal. Isn’t Your Majesty a little too nervous?”
“Am I overly nervous?”
“Your Majesty has the lives of tens of thousands of clansmen on your shoulders. It’s naturally normal for you to be worried.”
The Devil King was silent for a moment before increasing his pace.
“What kind of seal is below? How long will it take to open?”
“In my opinion, the seal below has become loose after more than a thousand years. Although I can’t open it, with Your Majesty’s strength, you can definitely open it without any effort.”
“Don’t flatter like that at a time like this. I want the truth.”
“Your Majesty has such a huge amount of power in your hands. It will probably only take two hours to wear out a crack in the seal. As long as this crack appears, the devils below will have a way in.”
“Two hours?”
The Devil King turned around and glared at the Blood Vine. If he wasn’t lying, how strong was the seal below? He had so much power condensed in his body now. Even a fifth-grade Formation Arrangement Realm expert was probably inferior to him in terms of instantaneous explosive power.
However, with the enhancement of this power, it would still take two hours to break the seal below. How powerful was the seal below?
The Blood Vine suddenly smiled and looked at the Devil King. “Maybe I underestimated your strength, Your Majesty. Perhaps thirty minutes is enough. As long as Your Majesty goes there to take a look, won’t you know?”
“I hope so. I don’t want to hear another lie from you!”
As the Devil King spoke, he sped up and went down quickly.
This place was surrounded by the black Anti-Devil stone. Even with their strength, it was very difficult for them to use their power without any scruples.
Therefore, they had always been walking on these steps. Now, it was as if the two of them were running here. These stone steps that had been here for thousands of years were still so tough.
Behind them, Li Yuanqing followed closely, controlling his footsteps so that his steps could not be heard.
In this empty cave, there were no other sounds. The two people in front would sense it immediately if anyone else was following them. Only Li Yuanqing’s powerful body technique could achieve such a silent state.
In front of him, the Devil King was focused on walking down. He did not notice at all and keep going straight down. The two of them followed the winding huge pa.s.sageway and kept going down.
The lower he went, the thicker the very vast aura became. It was almost corporeal and kept hitting Li Yuanqing’s face.