Standing atop the stone platform, feeling the terrifying aura and pressure that had completely dissipated around him, Xiao Yan felt a great sense of relief.
Raising his gaze, Xiao Yan looked ahead with a mixture of caution and curiosity in his eyes.
What appeared before Xiao Yan was not the endless staircase as before, but a huge plaza.
The plaza is circular in shape and covered with mysterious runes. It is not difficult to tell from these runes that this should be a formation.
The formation was encompassed within the plaza, a hundred feet away from where Xiao Yan was standing.
Looking around the square, one sees huge stone pillars, each carved into the shape of a lotus flower, with no two alike.
Upon closer inspection, there were a total of thirty-one stone pillars, each maintaining a certain distance from the others, encircling the entire plaza. Coincidentally, not far from Xiao Yan's side, there was a stone pillar with a lotus flower in full bloom on it. Although it was carved from stone, it appeared incredibly lifelike, seemingly swaying in the air as if it were real.
After looking around, Xiao Yan's gaze finally turned to the center of the square. At the very center of the square, a huge statue stood gracefully.
The moment Xiao Yan saw the statue, his expression changed slightly, and his pupils contracted. The statue depicted a stunningly beautiful woman!
However, to Xiao Yan's surprise, the statue's appearance was exactly that of the Xiao Yan he had seen in the maze when he first entered the ruins!
Although the woman was shrouded in mist at the time, when Xiao Yan left the formation, his Spiritual Strength detected the appearance of a woman. Now, comparing it with the statue in front of him, Xiao Yan suddenly realized what was going on.
"So, she was the owner of this ruin?"
Xiao Yan nodded slightly and murmured to himself.
Immediately afterward, the One-Horned Whale Serpent beside him moved its body and transformed back into the exquisite shape of a small snake, hovering in the void beside Xiao Yan. Its pair of bright eyes, like jewels, curiously scanned the surroundings. Without Xiao Yan's permission, it dared not wander around.
"Hehe, this gentleman is indeed quite capable. It took us all a lot of effort to climb up here, but you made it so easy for him. I am truly impressed!"
Just then, a slightly familiar loud laugh came from behind Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan turned around and saw that the speaker was none other than Huo Ba, the leader of the Huo Clan.
Beside him followed Huo Tianyi, whose face was slightly pale. It was obviously impossible for the latter to withstand the pressure alone and come here. It is likely that Huo Ba's help was indispensable. Otherwise, with Huo Ba's strength, it would not have taken so long to get here.
Upon seeing the two, Xiao Yan's gaze swept over them quickly from beneath his black robe, but he dared not linger.
The other party is a genuine Dou Di expert. If he rashly investigates, he will only give the other party an opportunity to expose him, which is not what Xiao Yan wants to see.
His gaze swept quickly over the two people in front of him, and then Xiao Yan looked behind them.
Now that the Huo Clan has arrived, the other three families should arrive soon as well.
Sure enough, as Xiao Yan looked up, Bai Ying of the Bai Clan, Sun Shuo of the Sun Clan, and Zhuo Bentang and... Zhuo Lin of the Zhuo Clan also came into Xiao Yan's line of sight.
"Hehe, this gentleman is indeed incredibly powerful. I am Bai Ying, the patriarch of the Bai Clan family, one of the Four Great Clans. May I ask your name?"
Bai Ying robes, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Xiao Yan and said in a humble tone.
Upon hearing this, the other three families immediately turned their attention to him. But at that moment, the One-Horned Whale Serpent floating in the void beside Xiao Yan suddenly opened its mouth and roared. Instantly, the faces of the Four Great Clans changed drastically, and they hurriedly retreated.
"Roar!"
After the roar subsided, the members of the Four Great Clans turned their sullen gazes to the One-Horned Whale Serpent.
Although the little snake in front of them looked harmless, after witnessing the previous scene, even though everyone present was Dou Di powerhouse, they dared not underestimate this little snake in the slightest.
After all, it was a Dou Di powerhouse, and as a magical beast, its power was already formidable. Moreover, it was one of the best in the Beast Realm, which made it even more worthy of being underestimated.
With the One-Horned Whale Serpent interfering, the Four Great Clans never received the answer they wanted to hear. Therefore, they could only glance at each other and suppress their doubts and resentment.
The crowd dispersed, then focused their gazes intently. After a few gasps of surprise, their eyes finally settled on the statue in the very center of the square.
The statue depicts an unparalleled beauty, and at this moment, between the two raised palms of the statue, a ball of golden light, like a flame, is slowly rising, emitting a dazzling golden light that makes people dare not look directly at it.
"This is..."
"It seems that the oppressive aura is emanating from that thing."
"The power of inheritance, huh? No wonder it's so powerful."
The members of the Four Great Clans stared at the ball of light with varying expressions, their eyes gleaming with sharp light. At the same time, their minds were filled with all sorts of thoughts.
However, in the end, after everyone's gaze slowly swept over the array on the ground of the square, no one was willing to step forward and give it a try.
Such a powerful formation left behind cannot be easily eroded by time. It seems that someone needs to trigger it before the entire stone platform will truly come to life. But who knows what kind of terrifying formation they will face then?
"Tap tap tap..."
Just then, heavy footsteps began to sound behind them. When they turned around, they saw that some of the Dou Di experts behind them had finally managed to crawl here!
Time flew by, and about an hour later, nearly thirty Dou Di powerhouses finally gathered in one corner of this huge square. This number of Dou Di powerhouses was enough for them to sweep away any force in the Western Region, and even the powerful Four Great Sects were no exception.
Of course, at this moment, the target of this group of people was not the Four Great Sects, but the golden ball of light that was being held in the palm of the statue.
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, but no one dared to move, for none could guarantee what terrifying dangers lurked within the area enveloped by the formation.