The six people pushed forward in the northeast direction for three days. The deeper they went, the more the surrounding scenery changed.
The hills gradually turned into flat land, and the gravel beach was replaced by large areas of scorched earth. The soil underfoot changed from blue-gray to dark brown. There was no longer a crisp sound of gravel when you stepped on it, but a dull rustling sound.
The smell in the air has also changed, the smell of dust is getting lighter and lighter, replaced by a very light salty smell, mixed with the burnt smell that has persisted for thousands of years.
The density of the camps is obviously much higher than before. The remains of simple Buddhist camps can be seen every few miles. The camps are not large in scale. Most of them are a few stone houses surrounding a small Buddhist hall. The Sanskrit characters carved on the stone walls have long been worn away by the wind and sand, leaving only shallow dents. There are still futon-shaped stone slabs for monks to meditate next to some campsites, and the stone slabs are covered with dust.
Going further, the ruins of Buddhist temples begin to appear in patches.
Some have only half a broken wall, and only a vague outline of the Arhat relief carved on the wall remains. Some are larger in scale. Although the roof has long since collapsed, the stone pillars of the hall are still standing. The pillars are embedded with fluorite lamp holders that have long been extinguished. The Spirit Rune on the surface of the lamp holder will occasionally flash a very faint light.
Liu Suifeng used the formation disk to sweep the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations as he walked.
"Those shining relics, there should be some remaining Law Artifact or items that have not been taken away. In the past few days, monks have been coming out of them one after another. Judging from their expressions, they have learned a lot."
Lin Chuan kept walking, "Go around. Our first goal is to complete the task of getting sea water first, and the return trip will take time, so we won't stop unless necessary."
Liu Suifeng extended the detection light on the array disk a little further into the distance and nodded.
"That's right. It's been almost ten days since we came in. Even if we drive at full speed, the return trip will take seven or eight days. If something unexpected happens in the middle, a month will not be enough."
Qin Tiexin was walking in the front row, the tail of his Zen staff making shallow pits in the scorched earth.
He noticed that some broken metal fragments, charred spiritual wood remains, and several bone fragments that were obviously shattered by Law Technique began to appear in the soil under his feet. The density became higher and higher as they moved forward.
Du Heng picked up a fragment half buried in the soil at his feet. There was still a very faint Spirit Rune luster on the surface of the fragment.
"Look at the material and structure of Spirit Rune. They are fragments of Upper-Grade Law Artifact. Broken into pieces like this, it shows how fierce the battle was."
"This should have been the main battlefield at that time." Ling Shuyao's gaze swept across a hilltop in the distance that had been completely flattened. The cross-section of the hilltop was so smooth that it did not look like natural erosion, but more like it had been directly wiped by an extremely thick spiritual light.
"In the areas we passed before, the structure of the camps was very regular, with obvious intervals and buffer zones between the camps. They should be the garrison areas or repair areas of each sect. From here on, instead of large areas of scorched earth and debris, we may have entered the core area of the war."
Liu Suifeng suddenly stopped, and the array disk in his hand buzzed rapidly.
He looked down and saw that several marks on the disk were flashing at the same time, which were early warning signs of space cracks and spiritual energy turbulence.
"Stop! Thirty feet ahead is the space crack zone."
He scanned the detection light forward accurately, and several extremely fine dark red cracks were outlined on the array disk. These cracks were completely invisible to the naked eye, but under the spiritual detection, they were as clear as spider webs. They moved in the air at an extremely slow speed, some were only as thin as a finger, and some were so wide that they could swallow an adult.
"The war a thousand years ago was so intense that the space structure has not fully healed yet."
Liu Suifeng picked up a piece of gravel from the ground and threw it forward. Shitou drew an arc in the air and broke silently into two pieces when it passed through one of the cracks. The fracture was as smooth as a mirror.
The six people walked around for half an hour before passing through this space crack zone.
The map here is no longer accurate in many places. The war has changed the landscape too much. The originally marked safe route may have been covered by new cracks, while some dangerous areas marked on the map have stabilized.
He could only rely on the real-time detection of the formation disk to adjust his route, and his traveling speed was much slower than before.
Lin Chuan raised his head and looked at the sky. The dark red sky did not distinguish between day and night, but the fatigue of everyone from the continuous journey was real.
"Keep your formation and advance carefully. It's better to take a long way around than to force your way through."
Three days later, a huge Buddhist temple appeared in everyone's sight.
Even though the distance is more than ten miles, the four big characters can still be clearly seen on the high plaque.
Pure Land Chan Temple.
The six people stopped on a low slope and looked at the suffocating building in front of them, even though half of it collapsed.
The Buddhist temple is built on the mountain. The main body is a tower-shaped structure. From a structural point of view, it originally had at least six floors, but the upper floors have all collapsed, leaving only three broken main beams stuck diagonally in the pile of rubble.
The lower three floors are still there, with the remaining formations supporting the crumbling main structure. Most of the diamond reliefs on the outer wall have had their heads cut off, and the remaining arms, legs and feet glow with a blue-gray stone light under the dark red sky.
From time to time, spiritual lights flashed between the ruins of the temple, and some were fleeting glimmers, like something buried deep in the ruins that briefly lit up when the wind blew. Some were continuous flashes of Spirit Rune afterglow, indicating that although the formations inside the temple were seriously damaged, some Spirit Rune were still functioning.
Looking beyond the temple and looking further away, traces of the Vast Waves Sea can already be seen.
Looking from this angle, the sea level glows a dull gray-blue under the dark red skylight. Although the distance is still far away, at least hope can be seen.
"Good guy, we're finally here." Du Heng poked the broad sword on the ground and moved his shoulders. He looked around, "This temple is too miserable. How many masters came to make it like this."
"Pure Land Chan Sect was the main battlefield of Vast Waves Great War thousands of years ago." Ling Shuyao glanced up along the central axis of the ruins of the Buddhist temple. "According to ancient records, Pure Land Chan Sect was almost completely destroyed in Vast Waves Great War. From the abbot to the sweeping monk, almost no one left the temple alive."
Liu Suifeng took out the map Jade Slip from Storage Bag and flipped through it, then looked up at the situation around the Buddhist temple, and his brows slowly wrinkled.
"Everyone, I'm afraid this trip won't be that easy. Look -"
Everyone followed his hand and looked forward.
Originally, a huge dense forest had formed on the outskirts of the temple, which might have been a training ground or the mountain gate.
The tree species in the forest are mixed, including ancient locust trees, bitter bamboos, and several unnamed vines, which are densely covered from the hillside to the temple gate.
The postures of these trees are extremely abnormal. The branches of the ancient locust trees do not grow upward, but stretch out around like tentacles. At the end of some branches, there is a corpse of Demon Beast that has been sucked dry of its blood. It looks like the body of Rock-Climbing Monkey is Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. The flesh and blood have been sucked clean, leaving only a skeleton wrapped in dry skin hanging on the tree.
Not far away, deep in the bamboo forest, the wind blows and makes a cry like a baby. The sound is distant and sometimes close. Listening to it for a long time makes your scalp numb.
There seemed to be something crawling in the vines nearby. Although it couldn't be seen clearly, the faint Demon Power fluctuation was stronger than the bamboo forest and the ancient locust tree combined.
Looking further outside, there are several extreme areas around the dense forest.
There was a small area to the west where thunder continued to fall. Thunderbolts struck the same open space one after another, and the ground turned into a dark green glass-like crystal.
There is a piece of land to the east where it has been raining. The rain curtain glows with a strange purple-black color under the dark red sky. The rain falls on the scorched earth and makes a sizzling corrosive sound.
The area next to the temple gate in the north is a completely dead land, with no grass growing, not even the wind blowing, and it is so quiet that only the footsteps of a few people are left.