The Time Had Come: An Omen at the Ruins and a Tower of Blood and Vitality Hundreds of Meters High

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was time for everyone to explore the Wu Ming Ruins.

The Wu Ming Ruins were closest to Jiangnan's urban center, so they had agreed to meet there first. As their host, Liu Qing'er had prepared off-road vehicles, camping gear, and other outdoor equipment well in advance.

One Pillaring Grandmaster and four Transforming Strength Great Boxers. Add Li Xingming, Wang Xiaoai, Ye Zhen, Wang Xiu, and Liu Qing'er—five boxers at the Manifesting Strength level—and it was an impressive lineup, capable of unleashing terrifying destructive power.

Gu Chen, of course, had come alone. He was only there to watch from the sidelines and adjust the progress of the Wu Ming Ruins scenario whenever necessary.

Four Transforming Strength Great Boxers and a Pillaring Grandmaster had gathered in one of Jiangnan's urban districts. Their appearances were distinctive, and they made no attempt to hide. The authorities had already flagged them as extremely dangerous, so word of their gathering was urgently passed up the chain, drawing widespread attention.

The officials responsible for the Jiangnan region immediately convened a meeting to discuss and analyze the situation. They also mobilized the region's well-equipped Special Operations Team to guard against any potential threat.

"Why have these Transforming Strength Great Boxers and that Pillaring Grandmaster suddenly gathered together? What the hell is going on?!"

"Can we make contact and find out what they're after?!"

"Martial artists are prone to taking the law into their own hands. Keep them under constant surveillance through the street cameras..."

While Jiangnan's officials were discussing their response, the Transforming Strength Great Boxers, the Pillaring Grandmaster, and their disciples climbed into the off-road vehicles and headed for the outskirts.

The sudden update left the Jiangnan officials baffled. They could not work out what these dangerous martial artists intended to do, but curiosity got the better of them, and they sent a car after the convoy.

An hour later, the rumble of off-road engines rose from a remote road beneath a wooded mountain. The vehicles stopped, and everyone got out to survey their surroundings.

"Over the past month, I've gathered quite a bit of information. This mountain is called Ming Gu Mountain, and there's a village on it called Da She Village. Deeper in, there's a depression where the three tomb robbers dug up the Fragmented Ancient Scroll. It's also the location the scroll marks as holding the Human Immortal Martial Dao cultivation method..."

Liu Qing'er took out a map, compared it with the surrounding terrain, and began to explain.

Once they had confirmed the location and direction, the vehicles followed a rough mountain track to Da She Village. Everyone got out.

They were outsiders unfamiliar with the area. Finding one particular spot in the mountains on their own was clearly impossible, so Liu Qing'er had brought plenty of cash and planned to hire two sturdy villagers as guides.

As Liu Qing'er spoke with the villagers, Gu Chen stood behind her, his eyes glinting. Without giving anything away, he drew on his system's power and spent 5,000 Origin Points to activate the power he had placed in the Wu Ming Ruins several kilometers away.

Rumble...

A deep rumble sounded, and the ground beneath their feet trembled. In the distant forest, a visible Blood-colored Wolf Smoke Pillar suddenly surged upward, rising hundreds of meters into the sky.

"Wh-what is that...?"

Liu Qing'er, Ye Zhen, Wang Xiaoai, Fang Xiu, and Li Xingming all stared at the strange sight, dumbfounded. The description in the Fragmented Ancient Scroll sprang to mind: a Martial Dao Human Immortal, with blood and vitality like a dragon.

Even from more than a kilometer away, they felt a pressure bearing down on both body and mind. It was like the instinctive terror a person felt upon suddenly encountering a venomous snake—a fear rooted in life itself.

Five or six hundred years had passed. Could a Martial Dao Human Immortal still be alive in the Wu Ming Ruins? That was impossible to believe!!

The four Transformation Boxers and the Pillaring Grandmaster turned grave. Their five senses were sharp, their instincts for danger extraordinarily strong. With their level of mental cultivation, they could feel the terrifying pressure of that blood and vitality all the more clearly.

The villagers of Da She Village were just as stunned by the Blood-colored Wolf Smoke Pillar billowing up from the mountains. Cries of alarm rang out. Many pulled out their phones, filmed the sight, and posted it to Moments, online forums, and apps like Douyin.

In the official surveillance car secretly following them up the mountain, the observers stared wide-eyed at the Blood-colored Wolf Smoke Pillar rising from the forest. They, too, felt that indescribable pressure.

By now, they were almost certain the dangerous individuals they had been ordered to monitor had come for this strange phenomenon.

Watching the towering pillar of Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke, Gu Chen let the corners of his mouth curl upward.

After meeting Liu Qing'er, Fang Xiu, and the other members of the Group Chat earlier, he had thought things over and changed the scenario. A Pillaring Grandmaster and several Transforming Strength Great Boxers, along with their disciples, had stumbled upon clues to the mysterious Human Immortal Martial Dao. While exploring them, they encountered an upheaval at the ruins. The resulting omen drew countless eyes and began to unveil Wu Ming's mysterious legend of the Human Immortal Martial Dao.

The stage was set. Now he just had to wait for everyone to walk into his trap!!