Li Clan and the Ruins

On a mountain several thousand miles from Black Rock City, a spatial rift suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Immediately afterward, a figure slowly stepped out of the rift—a refined young man with a jade-like face who looked no more than fourteen or fifteen!

His eyes were like stars as he slowly swept his gaze over the surroundings with a trace of coldness...

"Gone...?"

Gu Xia frowned. He had clearly sensed that faint fluctuation coming from this direction. Yet now, he could not detect even the slightest trace of an aura. As a peak Dou Emperor, there were practically no auras on the current Dou Qi Continent that could hide from his lock-on...

Gu Xia naturally understood this as well, so he did not dwell on it. That big shot had already said that he was the strongest in this world. There was no doubt about that.

Then, if the issue was not on Gu Xia's end, the answer was obvious...

"Hmm... If it did not vanish by hiding itself, then it must have been due to some external cause?"

As he spoke, Gu Xia closed his eyes once more. His Emperor-tier soul surged forth like a tide, carefully probing the surroundings...

"Something really is wrong!"

In just a moment, Gu Xia discovered an anomaly in this area. Not far to his left, his Emperor-tier soul power was inexplicably being weakened!

After a brief pause, Gu Xia turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished from where he stood...

"Patriarch! All the magic cores have been prepared!"

Some distance from where Gu Xia had disappeared, a group of people stood gathered before a tall, broad stone wall. They had set up an extremely profound and massive formation around it!

Layers upon layers of earth-yellow formation patterns encircled the wall, completely surrounding the entire stone wall, which was at least thirty meters wide!

"Good. Proceed according to the plan!"

Outside the formation stood a sinister-looking middle-aged man in a dark red robe, his face gloomy as he issued command after command.

Under the sinister middle-aged man's guidance, magic cores that appeared to be of considerable grade were embedded into the formation patterns one after another. Upon closer inspection, there were actually more than a hundred of them! Not a single one was below the fifth tier, and there were even several eighth-tier magic cores!

"Lang'er, your father will definitely avenge you! As long as I can open the ancient saint's ruins recorded in this ancient scroll, every sacrifice will have been worth it!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man took out a gray magic core about the size of a human head from his storage ring! The instant it appeared, the phantom of an enormous nine-headed serpent emerged! In an instant, a terrifyingly cold aura filled the entire area.

However, the aura of the nine-headed serpent magic core did not spill outward. Instead, it was suppressed by a strange radiance generated by the broad stone wall...

"Hiss!!"

The phantom of the nine-headed serpent seemed unwilling to be suppressed so easily. Its nine heads spewed streams of gray energy that isolated everything, actually managing to temporarily hold their own against the light emanating from the broad stone wall!

Why only temporarily? Although the gray light could withstand the stone wall's radiance, the stone wall's light was clearly stronger! It was forcing back the gray light at a visible speed. If this continued, the nine-headed serpent phantom would soon be directly suppressed by the stone wall's radiance...

"Activate the formation!"

The sinister-faced middle-aged man knew this as well. At his command, the people beside the outer formation patterns immediately sprang into action, activating the magic cores one by one.

As the formation patterns lit up, gray chains formed one after another. The moment they appeared, they directly bound the stone wall. The gray aura upon them gradually weakened the stone wall's radiance. Though the process was extremely slow, it was undeniably happening...

As time passed, after only a short while, the stone wall's white radiance gradually began to falter under the dual suppression of the chains and the giant serpent...

"..."

As he watched the white light being forced bit by bit back into the stone wall,

the sinister middle-aged man's face filled with delight. His long-cherished wish of many years was finally about to be realized today! "The efforts of my Li Clan's ancestors through generation after generation have not been in vain! This ancient ruin will finally fall into the hands of my Li Clan today! Hahaha..."

As he watched the stone wall, which was about to be completely overwhelmed by the nine-headed serpent, the sinister middle-aged man let out a laugh that seemed utterly out of place. Not only him—everyone around him had eyes filled with suppressed joy and excitement!

This ruin could very well allow the Li Clan to leap directly into the ranks of the continent's first-rate clans! When that time came, as founding elders, they would surely receive considerable benefits!

Yet just as everyone watched with excitement and eager anticipation, a faint voice suddenly rang out...

"Oh? An ancient ruin? So this is what your Li Clan is after...?"

The voice was heard before its owner was seen. This utterly calm voice reached every person's ears with perfect clarity. But the moment it fell silent, a sudden change occurred. Before anyone could react, the stone wall's radiance abruptly erupted, instantly destroying the formation the Li Clan had painstakingly laid down.

All the magic cores lost their luster in that instant, then crumbled into powder and scattered across the ground. Even the nine-headed serpent magic core was no exception. The gray beam released by the nine-headed serpent was completely destroyed by the stone wall's radiance in an instant, without even a chance to struggle!

"This can't be—"

As they watched the suddenly erupting radiance, every member of the Li Clan was swallowed by the white light before they could react. Even their patriarch, the sinister middle-aged man, was directly consumed by the white light without the slightest ability to resist. He did not even finish his sentence!

"Not good! Stop!"

By the time Gu Xia discovered what was happening, it was already too late. He wanted to stop the white light, but he could not make it in time. Before he could even act, he could only watch helplessly from midair as the final clue dissipated within the white light...

"This..."

Gu Xia had a headache. This had been an extremely rare opportunity to capture the mastermind who wanted to frame Xun'er. Yet because he had delayed for just a moment, the lead had been cut off like this. It left Gu Xia deeply frustrated.

However, the white light clearly had no intention of giving Gu Xia the chance to sulk in some corner. For the first time, it condensed into a dazzlingly white dragon and directly swung its claws at Gu Xia!

"Hmm?"

Feeling the power contained in that claw strike, Gu Xia was somewhat surprised. The force contained within the white dragon's claw was actually comparable to the full-force attack of a six-star Dou Saint!