Qiong Luo

Death Desert.

During the last large-scale operation, the War Gods and Councilors had worked together to clear out this once-dangerous desert.

However, without monsters, there was nothing to gain, so even fewer warrior squads came here than before.

Deep within the Death Desert, in the Despair Oasis, a base had been built around the cylindrical tower at its center.

It belonged to the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's team.

Construction had long since finished, but all sorts of additions were still being made.

Staff members bustled back and forth.

Compared with the desert, the oasis offered a far better environment.

The old monsters had died, and new ones had yet to grow.

For now, this was human territory.

A streak of light crossed the sky and landed on the oasis soil.

"Councilor Dongguan." A guard in a Combat Suit bowed respectfully, while someone else quietly passed on word of Dongguan's arrival.

Even all of them together were no match for Dongguan, but with their numbers and equipment, they could at least stall him. Besides, backing them was Hong, the strongest man on Earth.

"Councilor Dongguan, may I ask what brings you here?" another man, middle-aged in appearance, asked.

He was the supervisor here, responsible for all the base's affairs.

"I came to take a look."

"Well..." The supervisor seemed reluctant.

"Is that not allowed?" It was phrased as a question, but his oppressive presence and dangerous tone made it a clear threat.

Then the supervisor seemed to receive an order.

"Please feel free, as long as you don't take anything away or damage anything." The supervisor bowed and stepped aside.

"I won't." With that, Dongguan walked straight inside.

Watching Dongguan's retreating back, the supervisor asked into his Communication Watch, "Are we just letting him in?"

"Let him in. As long as he doesn't take the altar in the center or damage the building, he can do whatever else he likes," a deep voice replied. "Those are the Hall Master's instructions."

"Understood." Since it was the Hall Master's order, the supervisor would obey without question.

"Come here." He beckoned a guard over and issued instructions.

"Keep watch, but don't disturb him unless he takes the altar or damages the building. If that happens, report to me."

"Yes." The guard immediately went to carry out his orders.

The supervisor considered it. Although he had already assigned others, he still followed Dongguan himself.

Inside the enormous spaceship-shaped building of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

Hong reached toward the screen before him, swiping through the photographs and text one by one.

They were Dongguan's records.

Of particular note was how he had inexplicably begun wearing a forehead protector back then, and how Zhang Gui had also worn one at the recent wedding banquet.

"Both when they reached Apprentice Level 7. Is there some secret to it?" He suspected something, but could not be certain.

"Seal the records."

Whatever opportunity they had encountered, he had no intention of probing into it.

The strong needed their own secrets, especially since Dongguan had just made his Beast Taming Secret Art public. Nothing like it had ever been found among the legacies unearthed from the Ancient Civilization Ruins.

Inside the building at the center of the Despair Oasis.

Dongguan ran his hand over the black stone altar, looking at the wisps of energy above it, thin as threads and resembling green smoke.

He studied his surroundings.

A year ago, he had broken through to the Planetary Grade right here.

Only now, up close, did he notice the green patterns spread throughout the black stone altar's interior. Their strange fluctuations guided cosmic energy, gathering it into green mist above the altar.

Just one breath of that green mist left him feeling refreshed and at ease.

Standing nearby, the base supervisor felt a pang as he watched Dongguan absorb the green mist.

But remembering the Hall Master's instructions not to interfere unless Dongguan took the altar or damaged the building, he held back.

The abundant cosmic energy felt deeply soothing to Dongguan, and he vaguely sensed that he was another step closer to Planetary Level 4.

He did not absorb much, stopping after trying a single wisp.

Absorbing this energy was considerably more efficient than absorbing cosmic energy himself, but there was too little of the green mist. Even absorbing all of it would not be enough to raise him by one level.

Yet a year ago, he had personally seen Hong lift this altar, dispersing the original green mist. These sparse wisps must have accumulated over the past year.

He stepped down from the raised platform holding the altar and asked the base supervisor, "You've been researching this place for a year. Have you gotten any results?"

"This altar continuously gathers cosmic energy, forming 'wood mist.' If enough accumulates, the mist turns into liquid, forming precious 'wood liquid drops.' 'Wood mist' and 'wood liquid drops' are the names we've given them. These phenomena should be related to the green patterns on the black stone altar. Placing the altar in this large building, in its original position, increases the rate at which it condenses wood mist," the supervisor replied.

"That's all you've discovered in a year?" Dongguan questioned. "Haven't you tried reproducing those patterns and building a new altar?"

He could tell that the black stone altar was made from materials native to Earth-or, more precisely, a mineral found in this desert.

"Researching the Ancient Civilization Ruins has always been difficult. Of course we want to replicate this altar, but we can't." The supervisor stepped forward and pointed at its green patterns. "Our analysis suggests that these patterns are only on the surface, with more deeper inside. And although the altar is made of black sand ore, it has undergone some change we can't decipher. The entire altar has fused into a single whole."

"Unless we conduct destructive testing, we can't replicate it. Even with destructive testing, there's no guarantee. We might be able to roughly copy the patterns, but determining their sequence or whether there are other details would be difficult. Besides, this altar is valuable in its own right. We can't do that to it."

The supervisor explained.

In truth, how could they not want to study it thoroughly? But they had no confidence at all. Even the existence of wood liquid drops was something they had deduced from the building's murals.

Compared with the altar, the building was somewhat less durable and consisted of inner and outer layers. The inner layer was relatively sturdy and had probably been formed along with the altar. The outer layer seemed to have been built upon the inner one by ancient humans who had discovered this place, and it bore murals recording information.

The murals showed that the mist gathered by the altar would condense into liquid drops. That was how they had learned of it.

"Is that so?" Dongguan nodded in understanding. "Then have you found anything else?"

He actually attached great importance to this source of the "noise." It might be connected to his origins.

But now that the "noise" had vanished, although he could cultivate normally, he had also lost his lead. This was where that lead ended.

"There shouldn't be anything else." The supervisor spread his hands, then paused. "If there is, would that count?"

"What?"

"This building actually extends deep underground. The altar was originally placed high up, too, but changes in the desert terrain buried most of the structure."

Dongguan looked around and noticed that although the building stood within the oasis, its interior was filled with sand.

He waved his hand, summoning the Sky-Escaping Shuttle from his back, and controlled thirteen blades to begin digging downward.

"Sure enough."

After going underground and investigating, he discovered that this was indeed a tower-shaped building divided into floors. What stood aboveground was only the tip of the iceberg. Of course, because of the altar, the most important part of the ruins was still at the top.

He continued deeper: one hundred meters, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand, two thousand...

"This structure is that big?" Dongguan was somewhat awed. The underground portion extended more than twenty-five hundred meters. Including the aboveground section, it was nearly three thousand meters tall.

"I've reached the bottom."

There was no more sand, only a solid mass. His spiritual force had detected the true bottom of the structure.

He explored farther around it, hoping to find a possible "door."

Just then, a green light appeared before him, and a terrifying suction pulled him inside.

"What is this?" Dongguan felt as though he had entered some sort of transfer passage leading to an unknown destination. Neither his spiritual force nor his physical strength could resist that terrifying pull.

After roughly a few seconds, the transport ended.

He looked around. Though it was dim and unlit, Dongguan could still make out his surroundings: a hall filled with advanced technology.

Light and shadow appeared before him, taking the form of a small figure glowing white, about a meter tall, with no discernible gender.

"Young master Dongguan Qiong Luo, the Qiongluo Ship has waited here for many years. Welcome back."

"Who are you?" Dongguan remained wary.

"I am 'Qiong,' the intelligence that controls the ship."

Above, at the base in what had once been the Despair Oasis and was now Ruins No. 32.

The base supervisor waited for a while after watching Dongguan disappear underground.

After ten-odd minutes passed without Dongguan returning, he instructed the others to keep watch and left alone.

A day later, those keeping watch reported that Dongguan still had not appeared.

He probably found another passage underground and left that way, he thought.

As an Advanced General serving as a base supervisor, he was conscientious enough, but he had absolutely no power to restrict a Councilor's movements. At most, he could rely on the prestige of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall to stand against one.

If the other party refused to listen, there was nothing he could do.

He reported Dongguan's disappearance to his superiors.

"Councilor Dongguan went underground at Ruins No. 32 and subsequently disappeared. He has yet to return and is suspected to have left through another passage."

Once he had submitted the report, he stopped paying attention to the matter.

Dongguan's arrival had been unexpected, and he already had other work to do at the base.

It was not until several days later that Zhang Yu and Zhang Gui in Northern Frontier Base City realized that Dongguan had never returned after disappearing on the night of the wedding.

At first, they assumed he had gone into seclusion. After all, he had broken through to Planetary Level 3 that day, so gaining new insights was perfectly normal. A Planetary Level cultivator spending several months in seclusion was normal as well.

When the vacation ended, Zhang Yu piloted an intelligent fighter jet to take Zhang Gui to Hongning Base City.

Although Zhang Gui's physical fitness had reached the War God Level, he still planned to earn some rewards at the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

Even though his father still had resources available, quite apart from Dongguan's disappearance, he wanted to acquire more resources through his own efforts rather than constantly asking Dongguan for them.

Several months passed without any sign of Dongguan.

Zhang Yu asked around extensively, including among people who knew Dongguan well, such as Yang Bei, Lu Gang, and Luo Feng, but there was still no news.

Even if he had gone into seclusion, couldn't he have left a word?

At the Training Camp, Zhang Gui had complained about it too.

However, neither Zhang Gui nor Zhang Yu thought anything had happened to Dongguan. Aside from a handful of beings such as Hong, Thunder God, and the Beast Emperors, very few on Earth could threaten him now.

While traveling around the world, Luo Feng heard the news and felt a vague concern, so he asked Hong about it.

After learning of the matter, Hong analyzed intelligence from various sources and finally discovered that Dongguan had disappeared in the newly discovered Ruins No. 32.

A blood-red triangular fighter jet rose from Hongning Base City and flew toward Ruins No. 32.

Meanwhile, stirred by something within him, Luo Feng arrived at Fog Island.