Little Bamboo Peak, the rear mountain.
All the disciples of Emerald Cloud Peak had gathered there.
Chen Yu made a rough estimate.
Nearly a hundred people.
In terms of disciple numbers alone, Emerald Cloud Peak ranked second from the bottom in the Dao Sect's Outer Sect.
Still, there was no need to lose heart. They might not have had the numbers, but when it came to their Outer Sect disciples' total debt... Emerald Cloud Peak was the undisputed champion!
Chen Yu followed the group.
Most of the disciples around him looked eager and excited, counting on making a fortune in the Immortal Ruins.
Among the crowd, Chen Yu spotted the strange neighbor who lived next door. Her head was lowered as she walked silently along the edge of the group. Her hands hung stiffly and awkwardly at her sides, curling and uncurling until she finally clutched the hem of her clothes and kneaded the fabric into a ball.
Was she socially anxious?
Chen Yu wondered.
Just then, the disciples ahead stopped.
Elder Sun stood at the front and addressed them expressionlessly. "Once the Immortal Ruins appear, you may enter on your own."
The other details had already been explained clearly in the sect's notice, so Elder Sun wasted no breath repeating them. He merely issued a warning, his gaze icy. "After leaving the Immortal Ruins, come to me without being prompted to hand over your treasures and submit to inspection."
Elder Sun had barely finished speaking.
Then,
a massive phantom image of a building suddenly appeared amid the vast white mist ahead. Stars seemed to glimmer across its pitch-black walls, and thick chains wound around it, binding it tight.
The phantom image solidified.
"Ah!"
Cries of surprise immediately rose from the disciples.
Although they had long known that the Immortal Ruins would appear at Little Bamboo Peak's Mass Burial Grounds, seeing them materialize before their eyes was still awe-inspiring.
"Go in."
Elder Sun stood beside the entrance to the Immortal Ruins.
As soon as he spoke, disciples rushed inside, shouting.
"Immortal Ruins!"
"Here I come!"
"Heavens, bless me, bless me... please let me find a valuable treasure!"
"..."
In the blink of an eye, more than ten disciples had stepped through the entrance.
Chen Yu disliked jostling with others, so he waited at the back. Only after nearly all the hundred or so Outer Sect disciples had gone inside did he approach the entrance.
When he reached it, a figure appeared beside him. Chen Yu turned to look. It was his strange neighbor.
Socially anxious, so she waited until last?
When his pretty neighbor saw Chen Yu, her cheeks flushed, and she immediately lowered her head timidly.
"Y-you first."
Her voice was soft and gentle, like the clear song of a bird in the woods.
"Oh."
Chen Yu nodded.
He did not insist on letting her go first.
He stepped forward and went inside.
His vision blurred. A moment later, Chen Yu found himself in a spacious corridor.
Candles hung at equal intervals along both sides of the corridor, stretching ahead.
Near the hall, a skeleton knelt on either side of the corridor, draped in tattered blue-green cloth. Their heads hung low, as though they were lifeless objects.
Are these the aggressive skeletons mentioned in the notice?
Chen Yu's heart tightened,
and he took a step back.
After observing them carefully for a long while and seeing no reaction from either skeleton, he cautiously took a step forward, then another, then another...
Crack-
A sound suddenly broke the silence of the hall.
Like machinery rusted from long disuse, the two skeletons began to move in fits and starts. Cracking noises continued as they slowly rose to their feet. A flicker of flame ignited out of nowhere in their hollow eye sockets, casting an eerie green glow.
The pressure the two skeletons gave off was not particularly strong. In cultivator terms, they were only at the third layer of Qi Refining.
With Chen Yu's current strength at the peak of the fifth layer of Qi Refining, he could destroy one with a single kick.
However,
I can't kill them.
If I do, I'll become entangled in karma.
If things really worked as he suspected,
and these Immortal Ruins had an Elo system similar to the extraction games of his previous life,
then the sect's notice was completely wrong in claiming that the skeletons grew stronger the more often someone entered the Immortal Ruins. It was not repeated entry that strengthened them, but killing too many skeletons and raising one's personal kill-death ratio too high.
Whoosh-
Chen Yu took out a gleaming jade stone.
He infused it with spiritual power.
A brilliant light burst forth.
While the two skeletons were disoriented, Chen Yu swiftly slipped into the hall ahead and began searching everywhere.
These Immortal Ruins contained one main hall and thirteen accessible rooms. Besides the two skeletons in the entrance corridor, each room also had skeletons guarding it. Chen Yu did not kill them, merely using the gleaming jade stone to search each room quickly.
Every room contained shelves that towered to the ceiling.
Most were empty, though a few shelves held something.
Chen Yu walked over to take a look.
It was a sword.
Cold light flowed along its blade, making it look extraordinary.
At the very least, it was countless times better than the standard-issue longsword he carried on his back.
Even if I take it, I'll have to hand it over to the sect when I leave.
Chen Yu shook his head and left it where it was.
He continued exploring the other rooms.
Yet despite the immense size of the Immortal Ruins, every room was exceedingly bare. Apart from that longsword, he found nothing else.
Looks like that's all there is on the first visit.
Chen Yu prepared to leave.
Avoiding the two skeletons in the corridor, Chen Yu safely exited the Immortal Ruins.
His vision blurred.
When it cleared,
Chen Yu was back at the Mass Burial Grounds.
Quite a few other disciples had also just emerged from the Immortal Ruins. As Chen Yu went over to Elder Sun to submit to inspection without being prompted, he overheard some disciples talking nearby.
"Ugh! I've already used up one chance, and I didn't find anything!"
"I only found a single Qi Refining Pill..."
"No worries, we still have two chances!"
"Heavens, bless me, bless me... please let me find a valuable treasure next time!"
"Everyone, make sure you don't overlook those skeletons! I didn't find anything in the rooms just now, but among a skeleton's remains, I found
a Qi Gathering Pill."
"Huh? You can find things there too?"
"Why didn't you say so earlier? I killed all those skeletons, but I didn't check!"
"..."
By the time he heard this, Chen Yu had reached Elder Sun.
"This disciple found nothing on this trip," Chen Yu said.
At his words, Elder Sun swept a sharp gaze over Chen Yu, then nodded. "Mm. Go in again."
"Yes."
Chen Yu cupped his hands.
After finishing the inspection, Chen Yu returned to the entrance of the Immortal Ruins.
Without hesitation, he stepped inside again.
Just as on his first visit, his vision blurred, and Chen Yu returned to the familiar corridor.
At the end of the corridor, the same two skeletons were still kneeling on the ground.
When he approached,
the skeletons awakened and slowly rose.
However,
this time,
Chen Yu noticed a difference.
They've slowed down.
The gleaming jade stone in his pocket was ready, but before he even used it, Chen Yu keenly noticed that the two skeletons' movement speed had decreased considerably.
At their fastest, they barely matched a person's walking pace.
Chen Yu's eyes lit up!
Could my guess have been right?