Ancient Ruin Emerges!

Time always passed quickly in cultivation. Three months had gone by since the last Beast Tide.

One day, while Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing were cultivating, they received word that an Ancient Ruin had appeared in Cloud Dream Marsh. It had only emerged a few days ago, and formations and restrictions blanketed the entire ruin. Unless those restrictions were broken, no one could enter.

"Brother, looks like that Ancient Ruin is real. Should we go take a look? Maybe we can fish up some good stuff while we're at it."

Taishu Jing had spent the past few months at home doing nothing but cultivating. He was practically bored enough to fade into a bird. Now that something interesting had finally come up, he was already itching to go.

"Mm, let's go have a look. We've stayed home long enough."

Taishu Yun nodded. To him, battle was the better path to growth. It allowed him to weave together everything he had learned and comprehended, turning it into fighting power.

"Right, Brother, how many spirit veins have you opened?"

"Eighty-one."

"I've opened seventy-seven. That's still pretty fast. I've been suppressing my cultivation all this time too. Sure enough, this young master is still a genius," Taishu Jing said narcissistically.

"Jing, how many Dao Law Runes do you think we can condense in the Dao Foundation Realm?" Taishu Yun asked.

Taishu Jing thought about it. A million? No, that was wrong. Ten million? That probably wasn't right either. For a protagonist, that was still too little.

A hundred million should barely satisfy him, Taishu Jing thought before saying, "Brother, how about a hundred million?"

"Oh? I didn't expect you to think the same as I did, Jing."

Taishu Yun looked at him happily, as if to say, As expected of my little brother. Great minds think alike.

"Haha, of course."

"System Master, is it really possible for us to condense a hundred million Dao Law Runes in the Dao Foundation Realm?" Taishu Jing was somewhat uncertain.

"Host, have you ever heard this saying?"

"What saying?"

"A man's courage is as great as the harvest his land can yield!"

"Damn it, I'm not plowing fields or running production here. Is it possible or not?" Taishu Jing was speechless.

"Where there's a will, there's a way. Host, you must believe in yourself. Nothing is impossible."

After saying that, System Master fell silent. Taishu Jing secretly despised System Master. If it didn't want to tell him, then fine, but it actually used such words to fob him off. What a strange thing.

But on second thought, if they really could condense a hundred million Dao Law Runes for every Great Dao in the Dao Foundation Realm, that would be interesting.

"Jing, what's wrong?" Seeing him lost in thought, Taishu Yun waved a hand before his eyes.

"Ah, nothing. We still have a long road ahead if we want to condense a hundred million Dao Law Runes," Taishu Jing said earnestly.

"Do we? I feel it won't take long. Be confident, Jing." Taishu Yun patted his shoulder.

Damn it!

I only wanted to show off a little, Brother. You won't even let me do that? This is too much!

Taishu Jing felt exhausted. Still, when he thought about how he and Taishu Yun had each condensed more than a hundred thousand of every type of Dao Law Rune during this period, he felt it truly would not be too difficult. It might not even take two years.

Condensing Dao Law Runes depended on how deeply a cultivator comprehended the Great Dao. With the comprehension of Taishu Jing and Taishu Yun, they improved almost every day, constantly condensing new Dao Law Runes. Their cultivation advanced naturally, though they deliberately suppressed it, while their bodies became tougher strand by strand.

Perhaps this was the power of the Divine Body. The Divine Body Origin within their Divine Bodies was steadily growing stronger, and their Divine Bodies were being tempered every moment, slowly advancing toward Lesser Accomplishment. Only upon reaching Lesser Accomplishment would the Divine Body's might begin to reveal itself.

However, the two brothers did not spend much time comprehending the Divine Body Inheritance. It was not that the Divine Body was not appealing, but their current Divine Bodies were still insufficient to unleash the proper power of that inheritance. Besides, the Dao was the foundation. The brothers naturally understood this well.

At this stage, there were only a few methods from the Divine Body Inheritance suitable for them to use. One was the Divine Eye, which could pierce through space and see through the Dao Laws of the world, even formations and restrictions.

There was also the movement technique, Divine Step. Every step landed upon the veins of space, allowing one to come and go without a trace, impossible to predict. Ordinary formations and restrictions could do nothing against it. It was exquisitely profound, and if one mastered the Way of Space, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.

The brothers informed Taishu Feng and the others, then set off for Cloud Dream Marsh.

Cloud Dream Marsh was also a body of water within the Great Marsh of Cloud Dream, spanning several thousand li. Within Cloud Dream Marsh, the most famous place was Cloud Dream Water Mansion.

Like Blood Soul Island, Cloud Dream Water Mansion was a power within the Great Marsh of Cloud Dream. It had Dao Foundation Realm experts overseeing it and was established on an island in the center of the waters of Cloud Dream Marsh.

Unlike Blood Soul Island, Cloud Dream Water Mansion had an upright style. Its inherited cultivation art was the Pure Spirit Art, whose spiritual power was righteous and imposing. Furthermore, most disciples of the Water Mansion were humble, gentle, and willing to help others, so they had an excellent reputation.

The inherited cultivation art of Blood Soul Island, the Blood Soul Art, produced scarlet spiritual power that looked somewhat demonic. Moreover, Blood Soul Island's people tended to be overbearing and unreasonable, each with more or less some flaw in their temperament. Most of the time, people from Blood Soul Island were unwelcome.

Over the past few days, news of the Ancient Ruin's emergence had made Cloud Dream Marsh lively. Great numbers of cultivators flocked there, hoping to enter the Ancient Ruin and seek opportunities.

Besides those cultivators, people from Blood Soul Island and Cloud Dream Ancient City had also rushed over upon hearing the news. As a power as famous as Blood Soul Island and Cloud Dream Water Mansion within the Great Marsh of Cloud Dream, Cloud Dream Ancient City also had Dao Foundation Realm experts overseeing it, so it naturally would not miss this newly emerged Ancient Ruin.

Cloud Dream Marsh was considered Cloud Dream Water Mansion's territory, so over the past few days, many Water Mansion disciples had begun patrolling these waters, preventing anyone from causing trouble at this critical juncture.

In the sky.

Little Fire carried Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing above Cloud Dream Marsh. Looking down at the lake, they saw an ancient ruin rising from beneath the water, larger than an ordinary small island. And that was only the part above the surface—the portion below the lake might be even larger.

The ruin was covered by formations and restrictions, giving off a faint halo as though draped in a protective film. It looked thin, yet it was extremely sturdy. Attacks from the Spirit Vein Realm had no effect at all, while even Soul Palace Realm cultivators could only stir a few ripples of spiritual power.

However, the layer of formations and restrictions appeared to have grown very thin. Its halo flickered in and out of sight. There was no need for the people outside to break it by force; after only a few days of waiting, it would disperse on its own.

Many cultivators had already crowded the banks around these waters, all waiting for the ruin to open.

There was no need to mention Cloud Dream Water Mansion. People from Blood Soul Island had already arrived as well. The only ones yet to come were from Cloud Dream Ancient City.

"Brother, there must be good stuff in that ruin." Taishu Jing stared at the Ancient Ruin below, his eyes gleaming. His instincts told him that there was definitely nothing simple inside.

"Mm, I feel the same. This restriction will soon disperse on its own, within the next few days." Taishu Yun activated his Divine Eye and quickly saw through the restriction.

"Then let's find somewhere to settle down first. Little Fire, take us down." Taishu Jing patted Little Fire's back.

Cry!

Little Fire gave a soft cry and carried the two of them down to a less crowded place, where they waited for the ruin to open.

Two days later.

The restriction surrounding the Ancient Ruin was on the verge of collapse and would soon vanish. In less than two hours, it would open.

Roar!

A tiger's roar rang out as two tiger-shaped fierce beasts pulled a carriage over, causing the cultivators to retreat one after another. These were Third-Order Fierce Beasts, Blood Tigers, equivalent to human Soul Palace Realm cultivators. Their auras were powerful enough that ordinary cultivators could barely endure them.

"That's a carriage from the City Lord's Mansion. Is someone important inside?"

"Yes, that's the carriage used by the City Lord of Cloud Dream Ancient City when he travels. Could he have come in person?"

"..."

Whispers spread through the crowd. Many believed the City Lord of Cloud Dream Ancient City had personally arrived, because throughout the Great Marsh of Cloud Dream, no one else used this carriage.

"Miss, we've arrived," the old servant driving the carriage said respectfully.

Tap!

A graceful figure slowly stepped from the carriage. Her bright eyes shone, and black hair cascaded down her back. A pink veil covered her face. She had a slender, elegant figure and wore a long palace dress, dignified and beautiful, her noble bearing plain for all to see. The instant she appeared, she drew countless gazes.

"Wow, whose daughter is this? She's so beautiful!"

"Could she be the City Lord of Cloud Dream Ancient City's daughter?"

"Nonsense. That City Lord's daughter is only around ten years old. This young woman looks seventeen or eighteen at least."

"..."

Soon afterward, a squad of armored soldiers appeared and guarded the carriage, preventing others from approaching. These soldiers were from Cloud Dream Ancient City, the City Lord's personal guard. Every one of them had cultivation at Greater Accomplishment of the Spirit Vein Realm.