Exploring the Ruins

The night was so dark it seemed impossible to see through.

The torchlight flickered on the rugged mountain path, barely illuminating the jagged rocks and bottomless ravines beneath their feet. The procession stretched out, and the panting, suppressed sobs, and the groans of those carrying heavy loads mingled with the mountain wind, sounding all the more frail.

Lu Yuan walked at the front, his old injury on his side throbbing with pain, his Soul Power flowing sluggishly, yet his steps remained steady. Lin Xiao was like a shadow, sometimes disappearing into the shadows of the cliff on the left, sometimes emerging from behind the rocks on the right front, leaving only a very soft thud as he landed.

No one spoke.

Nearly three hours after leaving the valley, many of the elderly and infirm had arrived, slowing their pace compared to expectations. Lu Qinghe brought up the rear, while Shen Moxin led a girl and supported an old woman. Mo Chen protected several men carrying tools.

"Stop."

Lu Yuan raised his hand. The ranks came to a halt.

Ahead was a near-vertical rock face, covered in dark brown vines, resembling a fuzzy wall in the darkness. The wind rustled through it.

Mo Chen squeezed to the front to take a look. "Is this the place on the map?"

"Hmm." Lu Yuan pulled out a rough piece of parchment. "Sixty miles northwest of the Mute Pass, on the shady side of the Black Stone Ridge, a crack covered by vines."

Lin Xiao slid down, his voice extremely low. "No signs of life nearby. There's Nocturnal Rock Lizard droppings, no more than three."

Lu Yuan nodded and parted the vines.

A cold wind, carrying the smell of mildew and rust, swept out. The crowd stirred.

"This is it." He gestured to Mo Chen and Lin Xiao, "Clear the entrance. Be careful of any remaining traps."

Mo Chen pulled out a short pole with hooks and a probe. Lin Xiao's Martial Soul Possession, his fingernails became sharp, and his pupils glowed slightly in the darkness. The two of them peeled away the vines from the left and right.

Shi Jian led his men to maintain a watchful eye.

About fifteen minutes later, an irregular, downward-sloping crack appeared on the rock wall. The edges were rough, and a few steps in, one could see traces of artificial chisel work and smooth engravings. The depths were pitch black.

Lu Yuan took the probe, injected a small amount of Soul Power, and the crystal at the top emitted a dim white light. He bent down and went inside.

Mo Chen followed. Lin Xiao gestured to Shi Jian and also slipped inside.

Those outside held their breath.

Time seemed to pass very slowly.

Finally, Lu Yuan's deep voice came from the crack. "You can go in now. Two people at a time. Watch your step and don't touch anything that looks like metal or has patterns on it."

The group began to slowly and silently crawl into the crevice.

The passage was narrow at first, but it suddenly opened up after a dozen or so steps.

The probe's white light illuminated a massive, sloping passageway. It was two zhang wide, with an arched top, clearly man-made. The walls were made of gray-black stone, covered with Spiderweb- like cracks, inlaid with completely dull, dusty crystal fragments, and twisted, broken metal conduits protruding abruptly.

The air smelled of musty dust, mixed with a faint, sweet, fishy odor of sulfur.

Lu Yuan stood at the entrance of the passageway, the probe light slowly moving. Mo Chen crouched down. "Look at the ground."

The ground was covered with a thick layer of ash, beneath which regular patterns could be faintly seen – drainage channels. There were dried, dark red stains in the channels.

"Residual Soul Power transmission," Lu Yuan judged. "It's been a long time; the energy has dissipated, but the structure remains."

He looked up into the depths of the passageway. The darkness seemed tangible, swallowing up the light.

"Everyone stay close," he ordered. "Mo Chen, walk beside me and watch out for any unusual Soul Power fluctuations. Lin Xiao, guard the flanks and rear. Shi Jian's men, protect the elderly and weak in the middle. Mr. Shen, take care of the wounded."

The commands are clear and concise.

The group, like a cautious centipede, began to wriggle deeper into the ground.

They walked extremely slowly. Lu Yuan would stop every few steps to carefully illuminate the object with a probe. The pointer of the palm-sized instrument in Mo Chen's hand would occasionally tremble slightly.

"On the left front wall, about three zhang away, there's a faint accumulation of Soul Power," Mo Chen said, his voice tense. "It's unstable, like the remnants of a malfunctioning mechanism."

Lu Yuan signaled the group to stop and stepped forward alone.

The probe beam focused on the wall. The surface appeared normal. He probed it with a wisp of extremely subtle Soul Power, and suddenly a faint, almost invisible, dark red light flashed within the cracks in the wall.

A burst of scorching air!

Lu Yuan dodged to the side. The air current brushed past his sleeve, struck the opposite wall with a soft hiss, leaving a shallow dent and a few wisps of smoke.

A suppressed gasp came from behind.

"It's nothing." Lu Yuan turned around, his tone calm. "The flamethrower device is malfunctioning. The trigger threshold is low; its power is only residual heat." He looked at Mo Chen. "Mark it."

Mo Chen quickly drew a triangle symbol with a charcoal pencil.

keep going.

The passage, which was only a hundred feet long, took nearly half an hour to traverse. During this time, two harmless traps were triggered—once, gravel and dust fell from above, and the other time, the stone slabs on the ground sank, making a hollow, clicking sound.

Each trigger caused panic. A young woman was so startled by the falling rocks that she almost fell, and her child cried in fright. Shen Moxin quickly went over to comfort her, "It's alright, the rocks are just loose. Follow me, don't look up."

Lu Yuan never turned around.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Waves of pain shot through his side, indicating that his Soul Power was being depleted more than expected.

Finally, the passageway came to an end.

Ahead lay a much wider space. The probe light shone in, but it seemed diluted, revealing only a vast hall with massive, broken stone pillars supporting the ceiling. The floor was a complex network of inlaid metal mesh, mostly rusted and deformed, with many sections warped.

The sweet, fishy smell in the air was stronger.

Lu Yuan stopped and raised his hand.

The team held their breath.

In the dead silence, a very faint rustling sound could be heard coming from the depths of the hall, like many tiny feet crawling.

The pointer on the Mo Chen meter began to vibrate erratically.

"Take three steps back," Lu Yuan said in a low voice.

The line moved slowly backward.

Lu Yuan picked up a loose pebble, weighed it in his hand, and threw it forcefully into the depths of the hall.

The stone traced an arc and landed on the metal mesh with a crisp clang.

Instantly, the rustling sound amplified!

In the darkness, a dense cluster of tiny, fingernail-sized dark blue lights appeared, rapidly surging towards the spot where the stone had fallen! The lights moved extremely fast, converging into flowing dark blue spots that covered the stone. Immediately following this was a sickeningly fine cracking sound.

After a few breaths, the light dissipated.

Lu Yuan shone the probe over there.

The surface of the stone was covered with honeycomb-like pores, as if it had been corroded by an extremely acidic substance.

"Metal-Devouring Ant." Mo Chen gasped. "A mutated species, with a weak corrosive effect from Soul Power. They feed on metal and Soul Power residue. They live in groups and are afraid of strong light and violent Soul Power shocks."

"Quantity?"

"Judging from the sounds... there are quite a few. This hall might be one of the nests."

Someone in the line was trembling.

Lu Yuan was silent for a few seconds, then looked around. "Clear this area. We'll camp at the entrance to the passageway tonight. The main hall is off-limits."

He pointed to the relatively flat ground on both sides of the passageway exit. "Shi Jian, take your men to clear away the gravel and dust. Check the cracks in the walls and floor, and temporarily seal them with mud. Mo Chen, prepare insect repellent—use it if you have the materials, otherwise use fumigation. Find some dry moss and wood."

At the command, the crowd sprang into action.

Survival instinct overcame fear. Shi Jian and several men quickly cleared the area. Mo Chen rummaged through his backpack, muttering the names of herbs, and Shen Moxin went to help. Lin Xiao stood guard at the entrance of the passageway, staring at the dark hall, his amber vertical pupils like two cold flames.

Lu Qinghe settled the elderly and infirm, and distributed the remaining water and dry rations.

Lu Yuan walked to the entrance of the passageway, and the probe light was once again cast into the hall.

The dark blue lights had disappeared into the darkness, but the rustling sound had not completely disappeared.

His gaze swept over the broken stone pillars, the rusted metal mesh, and the dark passageways leading in different directions deeper within.

The ruins were larger and more complicated than the Gray Harrier described.

But trouble also means there might be more to it.

He turned to look at the busy crowd.

The cleanup was not going smoothly. The dust on the ground had been accumulating for who knows how many years, and each shovelful kicked up a cloud of dust that was choking. There were more cracks in the walls than they appeared, and some cracks even had weak, unstable Soul Power seeping out, so they had to be carefully avoided.

A man was moving a large stone slab when he accidentally cut his hand on the edge of a raised metal mesh. The wound was not deep, and the blood that flowed onto the ground was instantly absorbed by the dust.

Strangely, a few breaths later, the dust around the drop of blood stirred slightly.

It was as if something below was drawn by the smell of blood.

Lu Yuan's eyes sharpened. "Stop!"

He strode over, gesturing for the man to step back, then squatted down and gently brushed away the blood-stained dust with a thin twig.

Beneath the dust, several rice-grain-sized, milky-white, translucent objects were visible.

They were slowly wriggling towards the bloodstains.

"Soul Moss Spores," Lu Yuan recognized. "They feed on residual Soul Power and organic matter. They go dormant in light and activate in dark, damp conditions. They are harmless, but large accumulations can drain Soul Power from the air, making the environment even more barren."

He stood up and said to the man, "Bandage the wound properly. Don't let the dust come into direct contact with your skin."

The man nodded repeatedly, his face pale.

Lu Yuan walked back to the entrance of the passageway, his mind even more on edge.

This place is practically a collection of traps filled with "little surprises".

He had to lead this diverse and unevenly skilled team to survive here and transform it into a usable base.

The pressure felt like an invisible stone pressing down on my shoulders.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, only a calm, cold light remained.

"Mo Chen."

"Yes." Mo Chen looked up, his face covered in ash.

"Starting tomorrow, you, along with Su Yan and Li Wangye —who have the most stable control over their Soul Power —will be responsible for marking and recording all discovered danger points and creating simple maps."

"Good."

Shi Jian.

"Mr. Lu!" Shi Jian immediately stood up straight.

"Your men will be divided into two groups. One group will be responsible for daily guard duty and protecting the exploration team. The other group will follow me and learn to identify the most basic Soul Power traps and the characteristics of dangerous creatures. We need to clear this outer area inch by inch."

"Understood!" Shi Jian's voice was filled with suppressed excitement.

"Mr. Shen." Lu Yuan looked at Shen Moxin.

Shen Moxin adjusted her glasses and waited.

"The elderly, infirm, and wounded need a relatively safe environment. Take a few people and set up the simplest shelter in the cleared area. Make sure there is good ventilation and keep them away from wall cracks and any suspicious metal parts."

"Leave it to me."

Lu Yuan said no more, walked to the side, sat down against the wall, and closed his eyes.

The Soul Power slowly circulated, repairing the body's fatigue and hidden injuries.

All I could hear were suppressed coughs, the rubbing of stones being moved, a child's soft sobs, and the never-ending rustling sounds from the depths of the distant hall.

All of this weighs heavily on this ancient ruin.

It also pressed down on his shoulder.

After an unknown amount of time, insect repellent smoke rose. The pungent smell of burning dry moss filled the air, temporarily suppressing the sweet, fishy odor. The rustling sounds from the depths of the hall seemed to have faded into the distance.

People huddled together in a narrow clearing less than ten feet square, wrapped in thin clothes and blankets, huddling together for warmth. Torches were stuck in the cracks of the rocks, their flickering light casting swaying shadows on everyone's faces.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes.

Mo Chen leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Brother Lu, after a preliminary look, the area near the tunnel exit is relatively 'clean.' The remaining mechanisms are mostly ineffective, and the traces of the Metal-Devouring Ant' activity are mainly in the depths of the hall. But..." He paused, "I sensed very subtle and unstable fluctuations of Soul Power coming from deeper within. They come in waves, like... a heartbeat."

Lu Yuan looked into the deep darkness.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," he said. "Let's make sure we're safe tonight. Is the night watch schedule arranged?"

"Lin Xiao in the first half of the night, Shi Jian in the second half."

"Um."

Lu Yuan closed his eyes again.

But he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.

Every detail of entering the ruins kept replaying in my mind.

All of this points to one fact—even though this ancient Soul Tool facility has been abandoned for a thousand years, some kind of residual "system" "inertia" still exists within it that has not completely subsided.

They intend to stay here.

To establish a homeland.

On the ruins.

The next few days passed slowly and tensely.

Lu Yuan divided the limited Soul Master force into three teams. Mo Chen's team was responsible for technical reconnaissance and marking; Lin Xiao's team was responsible for short-range force exploration and eliminating small threats; he himself led Shi Jian and several other students with the strongest learning abilities to clear the perimeter while teaching them basic Soul Power environmental identification and danger avoidance knowledge.

Progress was slow and full of surprises.

The next day, while cleaning a corner of the wall, the young Soul Master disturbed a nest of glowing flying insects hiding in a crack. Startled, the insects burst open, scattering fluorescent powder with a paralyzing effect, causing three or four people nearby to temporarily experience numbness in their hands and feet.

On the third day, Shi Jian's group unearthed a buried metal pipe while expanding their camp. The pipe was already rusted through, and a viscous, dark green unidentified liquid was flowing out. Upon contact with air, it quickly evaporated, emitting a sweet fragrance that made people dizzy. Lu Yuan noticed it in time and had his men cover it with soil, using his Soul Power to temporarily isolate the area.

On the fourth day, they finally cleared the area near the tunnel exit to a relatively safe state. rubble and debris were piled in designated corners, suspicious cracks in the walls were sealed with mud mixed with insect-repelling herbs, the ground was leveled, and a small, dry "plaza" was paved with relatively intact stone slabs they found.

Shen Moxin, along with the women and children, used whatever they could find to build several makeshift shacks.

The camp was taking shape.

But food and water shortages began to emerge. Dry rations could last for at most two days. There were no obvious water sources nearby, the air was dry, and dust absorbed a lot of moisture.

Lu Yuan had no choice but to shift his focus of exploration to finding water and food sources.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Lin Xiao's team discovered a very thin stream of water seeping from a crack in the rock at the end of a collapsed passageway. The water flow was not large, but Mo Chen confirmed it was non-toxic after testing it with simple herbs. They used a broken half of a metal container they found to collect the water, and although it was slow, they finally had a stable supply.

On the same day, Shi Jian's team discovered a patch of thick, grayish-white fungus growing in a place where weak Soul Power had accumulated in another side road. Lu Yuan recognized it as a "Lichen Mushroom" that had mutated under the influence of Soul Power. It was edible, but required long cooking time to remove trace amounts of toxins.

The survival crisis has been temporarily alleviated.

The atmosphere in the camp subtly changed. The initial fear and confusion were diluted by the daily work and "solving problems." People began to get used to living in the ruins, began to learn to recognize the danger signs taught by Lu Yuan, and began to cooperate with each other.

The light in Shi Jian and his companions' eyes grew brighter and brighter. They truly felt that their "incomplete" Martial Soul and abilities were not useless here. Shi Jian's Rock Shield was particularly effective at clearing landslide debris; another man with the "shovel" Martial Soul was far more efficient at digging than ordinary people; even the girl with the "breeze" Martial Soul could help disperse the toxic dust in certain areas.

Lu Yuan's theories are gradually becoming a tangible reality on these ruins.

By the evening of the sixth day, the campsite was basically stable.

Lu Yuan summoned Mo Chen, Lin Xiao, Shen Moxin, and Shi Jian to the small square paved with stone slabs. Torches were planted around the square, casting flickering light.

"The outer perimeter is safe for now," Lu Yuan said, his voice hoarse, "But this isn't a long-term solution. We need to solidify our base, we need to understand the complete structure of these ruins, especially..." He paused, "... the source of that Soul Power fluctuation deep within."

Mo Chen nodded immediately. "Yes! That fluctuation has been there for the past few days, weak but continuous. I suspect that some functional units deep within the ruins may still be operating at low power? Or at least retaining some core energy that hasn't completely dissipated."

"Tomorrow," Lu Yuan said, "The four of us— Mo Chen, Lin Xiao, and Shi Jian— will go in to investigate. Our objective: to determine the main passageway's route, confirm the approximate location and nature of the source of the fluctuations, and assess the risks. We won't go deep or make contact."

Lin Xiao licked his canine teeth. "He should have gone a long time ago."

Shi Jian clenched his fist and nodded emphatically.

Shen Moxin pushed up her glasses, hesitated, and finally only said, "Be careful."

On the morning of the seventh day.

The four-person team prepared to set off. Lu Yuan only brought the necessary tools—a probe, Soul Power fluctuation detector, a marking charcoal pencil and rope, as well as a few crude smoke bombs made by Mo Chen, which Lin Xiao insisted on bringing.

Shen Moxin stayed behind to oversee the camp, while Lu Qinghe was in charge of security.

They stepped into the dark hall once more.

Several days passed, and they gained a better understanding of the habits of the Metal-Devouring Ant. These mutated creatures dislike strong light and intense Soul Power fluctuations, and are less active during the day. They chose to set off at dawn, using smoke to disperse the ant colonies near the entrance beforehand.

After passing through the empty hall filled with rusted mesh, three paths appeared ahead.

According to the instrument's indication, the Soul Power fluctuation originated from the leftmost line.

The side passage was narrower and more dilapidated than the main passage. Stone fragments fell from the ceiling from time to time, and there were more crystal fragments and metal conduits remaining on the walls, some of which remained eerily intact, only completely faded.

The sweet, fishy smell in the air had faded, replaced by a drier, dusty smell with a faint ozone odor.

They walked slowly. Lu Yuan led the way, his probe beam steadily scanning every inch ahead. Mo Chen followed closely, the instrument's pointer trembling slightly. Lin Xiao was to the side and behind, his ears perked up to catch the slightest sounds. Behind Shi Jian Hall, the phantom of the Rock Shield appeared and disappeared.

Several malfunctioning mechanisms and a small amount of dormant Soul Moss were found along the way, all of which were carefully avoided or marked.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the path began to slope downwards. The slope wasn't steep, but you could feel that you were going deeper into the mountainside.

The fluctuations in Soul Power became increasingly clear.

It wasn't a violent outburst of energy, but a deep, rhythmic "pulse," like the slow heartbeat of a sleeping behemoth, or the final, remnant rhythm of some massive machine.

Finally, the fork in the road came to an end.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

The probe light barely illuminated the huge, circular underground space.

In the center of the space was a circular base about three feet above the ground and over five zhang in diameter. The base was made of dark silver metal, and its surface was covered with complex and dazzling grooves and inlaid holes, but most of the holes were empty or contained fragments of broken crystals. Dozens of thick, broken or severely twisted metal conduits connected around the base, like dead giant pythons winding their way to the surrounding walls and disappearing into the darkness.

The walls are no longer simple stone, but covered with large areas of carved dark gold patterns.

Those patterns...

Lu Yuan paused for a barely perceptible moment.

The probe light moved slowly, illuminating a section of wall.

The dark gold patterns are not random decorations. They are composed of countless fine, interlocking lines and symbols, forming a vast and intricate array. Many symbols are blurred, and some lines are broken, but the overall structure and rhythm can still be felt.

These symbols...

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

In his previous life, he had seen similar diagrams in some extremely ancient and taboo documents. They were primitive theoretical symbols about "the convergence of the Origin energy" and "the transformation and purification of Soul Power," which were much older and more fundamental than the Soul Tool rune system currently in use on the Douluo Continent, but also closer to some of its essence.

The array of symbols here is more complete, systematic, and complex than any fragment he can recall!

He subconsciously took two steps forward, closer to the base.

The Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul within his body trembled without warning.

It wasn't the chaotic resonance that was forcibly aroused during the previous Soul Power storm.

Instead, it was a clearer, more subtle, yet more "desiring" stirring of the heart.

It was as if some residual, extremely faint energy field here resonated inexplicably with some Origin deep within the Blue Silver Grass.

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks, his fingers unconsciously tightening.

Mo Chen, oblivious to the anomaly, was squatting at the edge of the base, carefully scraping away a layer of accumulated grime with a tool. "Brother Lu, look at the patterns on the base's surface; they're connected to the array on the wall! This is definitely the core energy chamber! Judging from the direction of these conduits, energy used to gather from all directions, be transformed here, and then transported to..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

The scraper in my hand touched a slightly raised, inconspicuous metal plate at the bottom edge of the base.

The metal plate didn't seem to be completely welded; it made a very slight clicking sound when the scraper was applied.

Then, near the bottom of the base, a slightly darker-colored metal plate, about the size of a palm, sank in half a step and then slowly slid open, revealing a dark, narrow interior space.

Mo Chen froze, and immediately shone the probe light over.

The small space did not contain the expected Soul Tool parts or energy crystal remnants.

Instead, it was a smooth-surfaced object, neither gold nor stone, with a dull, dark gray color, about the thickness of an adult's forearm, and about a foot long...

Sealed container.

The container surface is completely unmarked, except for a small, faded circular indentation at the top.

Mo Chen's throat was dry, and his voice had changed tone:

"Brother Lu... look here! Under this base... there seems to be something there, not Soul Tool part, but something like... a sealed container?"