First Exploration of the Primordial World, Endless Mysteries

The two short knocks and one long knock the rock lizard had made still echoed in my ears. I stood up and sheathed Flowing Abyss on my back. The spirit beast lay on the ground, ears pressed to the earth, its tail swaying lightly. It looked up at me, unease in its eyes.

I knew it did not want to leave.

I walked over and crouched beside it, placing a hand on the fur around its neck. "The valley is safe for now, but we can't keep guarding it forever," I said. "There are more things outside that we don't know about. Only once we figure them out can we truly protect this place."

It stared at me for a while, its nose twitching, then slowly rose to its feet and stood by my side.

I took out the directional compass the system had given me. It was a reward I had exchanged for by answering questions a few days ago. Fine lines were carved around its surface, and a speck of light flickered faintly at its center. I poured in a thread of spiritual power, and the light immediately pointed east. There was an area there I had probed with my spiritual sense before. Its spiritual energy fluctuations were unstable, as if something beneath the ground were moving.

"We'll go that way," I said.

We left through the mountain pass. The soil beneath our feet shifted from black to gray, and the grass thinned out. The farther we went, the stronger the wind became. There was a faint metallic smell in the air—not blood, but more like the scent stones gave off after being baked through by the sun.

After about half an hour of walking, the terrain began to sink. A cracked plain appeared ahead, its ground covered in deep ravines as though some enormous creature had torn it apart. I stopped and checked the compass again. The light still pointed ahead without shifting.

"This place isn't right," I said.

The spirit beast let out a low growl and scraped at the ground with its claws.

I opened the system interface and selected the environmental analysis function. A few seconds later, a line of text appeared:

[Residual law traces detected. Low-altitude gliding is recommended to avoid the edge.]

I had never seen true law power before, but I knew it was what remained of the rules governing heaven and earth. This was not a place to force our way through.

I took out the Cloud Slippers, a low-grade flying artifact rewarded by the system. They looked like a pair of gray cloth shoes and felt extremely light on my feet. I activated them with spiritual power, and a thin mist rose beneath my feet, lifting me half a foot off the ground. The spirit beast could not fly, so I had it travel close to the ground while I kept pace with it.

The moment we entered the Spiritless Plain, the air changed. One moment it was hot, the next cold, and the flow of spiritual power through my meridians became sluggish. Sometimes a powerful current surged up without warning, nearly scattering my control. Whenever that happened, I stopped to regulate my breathing and noted the changes around me.

Along the way, I spotted a section of tree root buried in the sand. Half of it was exposed, covered in patterns like golden threads. I leaned closer for a few looks, but before I could touch it, the system suddenly presented a question:

[Question: What kind of divine tree remnant is this?]

There were four options. The first said it was a remaining Fusang root, the second said it was a Jianmu fragment, the third said it was an old root of Peaches of Immortality, and the fourth said it was an ordinary ancient tree.

I stared at the question for a while. Fusang was linked to the sun, Jianmu connected heaven and earth, and Peaches of Immortality grew in Kunlun. None of them should have been found in such a wasteland. But the golden patterns on this root were unusual, like traces left behind after it had borne an enormous amount of spiritual energy and then been drained dry in an instant.

I remembered Zhen Yuanzi mentioning that, in ancient times, some divine trees had been used as supports for formations. They were later destroyed in great wars and scattered everywhere. Such remnants usually carried weak resonance and could affect the spiritual energy around them.

Though the root before me had withered, its golden patterns still flickered slowly, proving that some residual reaction remained.

I chose the second option.

[Correct answer]

[Reward: One low-grade Purification Talisman]

A yellow paper talisman floated into my inventory. I put it away and glanced back at the root. It lay silently in the sand like a forgotten bone.

We continued onward, and the cracks in the earth grew wider and wider. Some fissures were bottomless, releasing grayish-white vapor. We went around them, choosing the most intact ground we could find.

The sky had not changed, but the light seemed to have been swallowed by something. On the distant horizon stood several stone pillars, barely visible. Their shapes were orderly, clearly not naturally formed.

"That's the target," I said.

The spirit beast's ears twitched, but it refused to go any farther.

I took a few steps forward, but it remained where it was. I returned and patted its back. "Wait here. I'll go take a look ahead."

It shook its head, shuffled after me for a short distance, then stopped and lay down on a relatively flat patch of ground. It meant that it would not leave, but it would not get too close either.

I headed toward the stone pillars alone.

The closer I got, the heavier my head became. It felt as though someone were striking a bell inside my skull, each blow numbing my temples. I slowed down, stopping to catch my breath every ten steps.

I stopped a hundred yards away.

From this distance, the stone pillars formed a ring, each one carved with dense symbols. The lines were curved and intricate, impossible to recognize as any kind of writing. But I noticed their arrangement—five main pillars on the outside, seven secondary pillars within, and one tallest pillar in the center with a piece missing from its top.

The structure felt familiar.

I recalled a question I had answered about the relationship between stellar positioning and formation-eye layouts. The example the system had given then used a five-pointed, seven-rayed star pattern with a central main star. Such a layout was usually used to observe celestial phenomena or guide star power.

The stone pillars before me were likely an abandoned observatory.

I closed my eyes and extended my spiritual sense. The instant it touched the nearest pillar, a sharp pain exploded in my head, as if needles had pierced my temples. I immediately withdrew my spiritual sense and gasped for breath.

No. Direct probing would injure my soul.

I sat down and pulled out the information record I had received for answering the earlier question. It mentioned the geographical changes of the early Primordial World, saying that the Eastern Wasteland had once been an area where ancient god clans were highly active. Later, after the earth veins ruptured, most ruins sank underground.

This cluster of stone pillars might have been left behind from that era.

I opened the system again, wanting to see whether there were any new questions. The moment I did, a prompt appeared:

[Determine what type of formation hub this place once belonged to.]

I reviewed the details I had observed. The five outer pillars corresponded to the directions of the Five Elements, while the seven inner pillars were arranged according to the offset angles of the Big Dipper. Though the central pillar was damaged, there was a groove in its base, likely meant to hold some kind of core crystal.

This design was more than a simple observatory. It could gather star power, convert it into usable spiritual energy, and perhaps even open a spatial passage for a short time.

I chose "Star Power Gathering Array."

[Correct answer]

[Reward: Fragmented Map Piece (marked "Edge of the Eastern Wasteland"), supplementary information on early Primordial World geography]

A yellowed scrap of paper fell into my inventory. I took it out and spread it open. Rough terrain lines were drawn across it. A small area in the west was marked "Unknown Valley," which was exactly where my valley was located. Extending eastward was a jagged mountain range, and farther beyond were several blurred markings labeled "Forbidden Zone," "Sunken City," and "Broken River."

So the place where I had been staying was only a tiny corner at the very edge.

I put away the map, and for the first time, I had a sense of direction.

I did not need to venture deep into dangerous territory immediately, but at least I now knew where to look.

I stood and headed back. When the spirit beast saw me return, it immediately rose and came forward a few steps. I rubbed its head. "I saw some things. They'll be useful to us."

It rubbed against me without making a sound.

We retraced our path. When we reached the edge of the rift valley, I stopped. I looked back toward the valley, but its outline was no longer visible. Ahead lay a range of mountains floating in the air, wrapped in clouds and mist, their full shape impossible to make out.

"We'll go there first," I said, pointing at the floating mountains.

The spirit beast looked over, and a low rumble rolled from its throat.

Just as I was about to step forward, another system prompt suddenly appeared:

[Unknown energy frequency detected. Source: floating region ahead]

[Activate exploration prediction question bank?]

I stared at the words.

Before I could tap confirm, a blue flash flickered atop a distant mountain peak and vanished in an instant.