Chapter 55 (continued)

They will most likely suffer from qi deviation and Qi Deviation.

The Illusionless Tree cannot produce a result when they attack each other.

Shen Duheng gently placed his arm around Shan Heyuan's shoulder. "Let's go."

Ignoring the wildly flailing branches, the two of them went straight under the tree.

If any branches try to attack them, just swipe them with your sword and cut them off.

Once you step under the tree, you can see some traces of architecture.

Over thousands of years, the stone steps and walls have been severely weathered and are now dilapidated.

With the Illusionless Tree and the absence of other plants, the original appearance of the buildings is still readily apparent despite their severe damage.

The architectural style of Black She Temple is unlike any other architectural style that Shan Heyuan has ever seen.

These buildings are engraved with all sorts of symbols, mysterious and rugged, giving them a primitive feel.

After examining it for a while, Shan Heyuan whispered to Shen Duheng, "I've seen related records in the academy. That symbol is a simplified version of the Primordial Mother Goddess. It seems the people of Black She Temple are practicing primitive worship."

Shen Duheng glanced at it and said, "Most cultivators who practice witchcraft are like this."

The two walked forward, discerning as they went.

Fortunately, the architectural style is quite different from that of ordinary buildings, but the signs are similar, so they can follow the signs to move forward.

Black She Temple is not very large overall, mainly divided into several areas: living area, planting area, cultivation area, square, etc.

The two headed towards the planting area first.

The planting area is located on the back mountain of Black She Temple, and can only be reached by going around the residential area.

Before arriving, Shan Heyuan thought that this was, after all, the Black She Temple had thousands of years of history, and there might be some good Spirit Plant inside.

To my surprise, upon arrival, all the plants had withered and weathered away, with only the sturdy root systems revealing their former glory.

Not only are there no Spirit Plant here, but the formations and fertilizers used to Spirit Plant are all gone, leaving the place utterly desolate.

No wonder so few people have tried to go into Black She Temple over the years. It turns out it's not just the Illusionless Tree that's the problem; there's simply nothing worth visiting here!

Shan Heyuan slapped his forehead; he should have thought of that sooner.

The plants outside were killed by the Illusionless Tree, so how could they possibly spare Spiritual Power to nourish the Spirit Plant in the Spirit Plant Garden?

For the Illusionless Tree, these Spirit Plant are completely unnecessary except for providing food.

There are no Spirit Plant, and the spring water outside the Spirit Plant garden is just ordinary spring water.

I don't know if it's because the Spiritual Power inside has dissipated over the years, or if these springs were just ordinary springs to begin with. These springs are unremarkable and not even as good as springs in the wild.

Wild spring water is at least clearer and cooler.

Shan Heyuan sighed, "We've really come all this way for nothing; there's nothing here."

"Not necessarily." Shen Duheng faced south. "There's Spiritual Power in their living area. I sensed it just now. We can go take a look now."

The two headed south.

Shan Heyuan casually asked, "How did Black She Temple decline? Did something major happen suddenly and they disappeared overnight, or did it take hundreds of years to decline?"

"The information provided by the Sword Reverence Sect says they went mad overnight and then disappeared. Back then, the Illusionless Tree grew wildly, protecting the area around Black She Temple and preventing anyone from entering to investigate. Some high-level cultivators forced their way in and investigated for several months, but they found no clues and eventually left. Gradually, no one wanted to come here anymore."

"Why did the people at Black She Temple go insane? Is there any investigation conclusion?"

"No, it's just speculation. They worshipped primordial gods, including the world itself. As the cultivation world slowly died out, they went mad."

Upon hearing this, Shan Heyuan asked the crucial question, "Why did the cultivation world die?"

"Because the Heavenly Dao has been severed."

Shen Duheng said in a deep voice, "Back then, another world was invaded by demons, and it was about to reach the cultivation world when powerful beings united to kill that world and protect the cultivation world. Since then, demonic energy has lingered outside the cultivation world, eroding it day and night, while the will of the powerful beings has been resisting the demonic energy and protecting the cultivation world."

Shen Duheng: "Surrounded by both sides, the cultivation world completely severed its connection with the Heavenly Dao of the Upper Realm, leaving only the remnants of its own Heavenly Dao, which eventually died out."

Shan Heyuan's mouth dropped open. "Can't we just reconnect?"

Shen Duheng: "Everyone thinks so too, but no one can reconnect. The cultivators in our realm are now more than a whole realm weaker than in High Antiquity times. Nobody understands why, or how to break through?"

Shan Heyuan: "That sounds really complicated."

Shen Duheng chuckled self-deprecatingly, "If the sky falls down, the tall ones will hold it up. We cultivators with mediocre cultivation levels don't need to worry about it for now."

After saying that, the two fell silent for the second half of the conversation.

They walked towards the residential area of Black She Temple.

There were many people in the residential area, and they even saw some skeletons on the road.

Having been exposed on the ground for thousands of years, most of these skeletons are now broken and only a few parts remain.

The fact that these bones were preserved is largely thanks to the fact that they were cultivators, whose bones are much harder than those of ordinary people.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng dug traps for them one by one.

As they walked, they discovered some relatively high-quality Spirit Artifact along the way.

The Spiritual Power that Shen Duheng sensed was emanating from these Spirit Artifacts.

The cultivators of Black She Temple have been dead for thousands of years, and even if these Spirit Artifact still retain a trace of Spiritual Power, they are almost completely destroyed.

Neither of them were interested in it, so they didn't take it.

As they walked further in, they occasionally found Jade Slip and books, which Shan Heyuan found quite interesting, so he stuffed them all into his storage bracelet.

After walking around the residential area, Shan Heyuan quickly found a well.

The water in the well contains Spiritual Power; it's possible that the well was dug at a spring when it was first dug.

Shan Heyuan moved the stone covering the well opening and peered inside. "The well water is very clean, and the Spiritual Qi is abundant. It's probably a spiritual spring of the Core Formation stage."

Shen Duheng glanced at it and nodded. "It is indeed Core Formation grade spiritual spring, and it hasn't been used for many years."

Perhaps because it has been unused for so long, the bottom of this well is covered with a thick layer of silt, and the walls are covered with a thick layer of moss. It is probably one of only two plants in the entire Black She Temple, besides the Illusionless Tree.

I don't know if it's because they're nourished by the spiritual spring water, but these mosses are also Spirit Plant.

Unfortunately, it was only at the Qi Refining Third Stage, which was useless to Shan Heyuan, and he was too lazy to take it.

Since no one was using the spiritual spring water, Shan Heyuan didn't stand on ceremony and took a bucket from his storage bracelet to fetch the water.

He still had quite a few containers left in his storage bracelet, but even with so many containers, he couldn't fill an entire well with all the water.

After filling several buckets with water, Shan Heyuan realized this predicament.

He turned to Shen Duheng and said, "Forget it, how about I don't fill it with water? I'll just guide it directly into my Dantian Small World."

Can it be placed inside the Dantian Small World?

"It's not a big problem. I usually keep the water tank inside and water the plants quite often, and there haven't been any issues."

"You're going to dig a pond to store this spiritual spring water?"

"Pretty much, just dig a puddle anyway."

One advantage of having Dantian Small World is that this small world is completely under one's control; whatever one wants to do can basically take shape with a single thought.

The hut he built before was constructed in this way, and the Realm Spirit still sleeps inside it.

The longer the Realm Spirit slumbers inside, the more he can perceive its thoughts, including the Principle governing the creation of the secret Realm Spirit.

Although he did not actively cultivate knowledge related to secret realms, with the presence of the Realm Spirit, his knowledge in this area was not lacking, and even more profound than some cultivators of the same level who specialized in cultivating Principle of Space.

Shan Heyuan acted immediately, quickly digging a large pit in his Dantian Small World.