After a Short Few Moments, Zhang Yuxuan and Wei Qiang stepped closer to the enormous bronze gate, their expressions becoming increasingly serious as they examined the ancient structure before them. The closer they approached, the more they could sense the faint fluctuations of spiritual energy hidden within the countless carvings covering its surface.
The bronze itself was covered in marks left behind by countless years, yet despite its age, the enormous gate had not collapsed or even developed a single visible crack. The carvings of dragons and celestial beasts seemed almost alive beneath the dim light of the ruins, and faint traces of an ancient formation could occasionally be seen flickering between them.
Zhang Yuxuan raised one hand and gently circulated his Spiritual Qi, allowing his senses to spread across the entire gate.
His eyes narrowed.
"There seems to be Formation on this gate," Zhang Yuxuan said out loud.
Wei Qiang's expression also became serious as he examined the gate. Although he was not as proficient in formations as Zhang Yuxuan, he could still sense that the energy surrounding the bronze doors was far from ordinary.
Within moments, the two sect experts began discussing the formation with several other cultivators who possessed sufficient understanding of arrays.
Before long, twelve people had gathered infront the bronze gate and formed a wide circle, each person occupying a specific position according to Zhang Yuxuan's instructions. Zhang Yuxuan and Wei Qiang were among them, while the Second Prince of the Yun Imperial Family, Yun Feng, had chosen not to participate personally.
Instead, the two powerful guards accompanying him stepped forward and joined the formation group.
The disparity between their cultivations was immediately apparent.
Zhang Yuxuan had reached the Fifth Stage of the King Realm, while Wei Qiang possessed an even stronger cultivation at the Seventh Stage of the King Realm.
Yun Feng himself was only at the Eighth Stage of the Innate Realm, yet nobody dared underestimate him simply because of his cultivation. As the Second Prince of the Yun Imperial Family, the treasures and techniques he possessed were naturally far beyond what ordinary cultivators could imagine.
His two personal guards were even more frightening.
Both had reached the Ninth Stage of the King Realm, only a single step away from breaking through into the Emperor Realm.
With such experts gathered around the bronze gate, even the surrounding cultivators could not help but feel reassured.
If these people could not open the gate...
Then who could?
The twelve cultivators soon sat down in lotus positions.
Zhang Yuxuan placed both hands before his chest and began forming a series of complicated seals. Spiritual Qi slowly emerged from his body, flowing toward the ground beneath him before spreading toward the other eleven cultivators.
One formation after another began appearing.
At first, the patterns were faint.
Then they became brighter.
Ancient symbols appeared beneath the cultivators' bodies, connecting each person to the next until all twelve became part of one enormous formation.
The surrounding cultivators watched in silence.
Nobody dared interrupt.
Even the rogue cultivators who had been impatiently waiting for the ruins to open understood that disturbing these experts could easily result in their deaths.
Time slowly passed.
The ancient formation embedded within the bronze gate began reacting.
A deep rumbling sound emerged from somewhere beneath the earth.
Rumble...
The entire mountain trembled.
Dust fell from the surrounding cliffs as cracks spread across several already-damaged structures.
Then...
The bronze doors slowly began to move.
At first, they shifted by a few inches.
Yet that small movement was enough.
The entire gathering erupted.
"The gate is opening!"
"Quickly!"
"Get inside!"
The moment the doors began opening, countless cultivators surged forward like a flood that had suddenly broken through a dam.
There was no need for anyone to give an order.
No words were required.
Everyone had come here for one reason.
Opportunity.
The cultivators who had been standing patiently for hours instantly transformed into streaks of light, rushing toward the entrance as quickly as their cultivation allowed.
Zhang Yuxuan, Wei Qiang, and Yun Feng were naturally among the first to enter.
Their figures shot forward, disappearing beyond the widening gap of the bronze gate.
Behind them came thousands of other cultivators.
Some flew.
Some rode magical swords.
Some relied on treasures.
Others simply ran with everything they had.
Nobody cared about maintaining dignity anymore.
Everyone feared that someone else would obtain the treasure before them.
For many of these cultivators, this might be their only opportunity.
There were people whose cultivation had already reached the limit of their natural talent.
Their lifespans were running out.
Their foundations had reached their limits.
Their potential was insufficient to break through.
If they could not find a heaven-defying opportunity here, they would eventually die without ever taking another step toward immortality.
For them, risking their lives was not foolish.
Soon, the area surrounding the entrance became completely empty.
Every cultivator had entered.
The ancient bronze gate stood behind them, slowly returning to silence as the final traces of spiritual energy faded from its surface.
Inside the ruins...
Zhang Yuxuan and Wei Qiang flew side by side through the enormous cavern.
At first, neither man spoke.
Their eyes continuously scanned their surroundings.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The interior of the so-called ruins was enormous.
The cavern stretched so far that the opposite walls were difficult to see clearly, and its ceiling disappeared into darkness high above. There was more than enough space for cultivators to fly freely, although the cavern was not tall enough to stack a hundred blades vertically.
Its overall size was comparable to an entire city.
Yet there was something missing.
Buildings.
Pavilions.
Ancient halls.
Collapsed residences.
Defensive towers.
Treasury chambers.
There was none of it.
Instead, the entire cavern was filled with spiritual stones.
Countless low-grade spiritual stones had naturally formed throughout the ground and walls, created by the extraordinarily dense Spiritual Qi circulating throughout the cavern.
They weren't particularly valuable to the powerful experts who had entered.
Yet to the weaker cultivators...
They were treasures.
As soon as the masses realized that spiritual stones covered the ground, chaos immediately erupted.
Cultivators descended toward the stone deposits, digging desperately into the earth.
Some gathered handfuls at a time.
Others directly shattered the stone floor to search for larger deposits.
Some began fighting over the same area.
Blood quickly began staining the ground.
Yet Zhang Yuxuan and Wei Qiang ignored the chaos beneath them.
Their attention had already shifted toward the far end of the enormous cavern.
There...
A singular massive stone ball rested in the darkness.
Black chains were attached to its enormous surface, each chain disappearing into the ceiling and walls of the cavern.
The stone itself was massive.
It was roughly the size of two or three courtyards combined.
And yet...
It was suspended by chains as though someone had deliberately placed it there.
Yun Feng had already dashed toward it.
Standing atop his flying sword, the Second Prince glanced downward at the cultivators greedily collecting the low-grade spiritual stones.
A faint look of disdain appeared on his face.
"So Poor yet yearn for the path of Cultivation," Yun Feng said as he continued toward massive stone.
Wei Qiang, however, had already stopped.
His instincts were warning him that something was wrong.
Zhang Yuxuan also slowed down, his eyes narrowing as he stared throughout the cavern.
"Your right, This doesn't seem like ruins at all," Wei Qiang said, I had though that the Formation at the Gate was a Fallen Sect's Protective array that was still being operated by a Qi gathering array inside the cave," Wei Qiang said, his expression serious.
Zhang Yuxuan didn't immediately respond.
His gaze slowly moved toward the entrance.
Then his expression changed.
He pointed toward the bronze gate.
Through all the chaos and fighting, nobody had noticed it.
The enormous bronze doors had closed.
Completely.
Zhang Yuxuan's expression became solemn.
They had entered.
But they were no longer free to leave.
Not long after, Wei Qiang also realized this fact.
Meanwhile, Yun Feng had already reached the enormous stone ball.
He descended from his flying sword and slowly extended one hand.
A faint green glow emerged from his palm.
He placed his hand directly against the surface of the massive stone.
For a single moment...
Nothing happened.
Then—
BOOM!
Almost a dozen enormous array circles suddenly appeared across the ceiling of the cavern.
Brilliant light illuminated the darkness.
Every cultivator stopped what they were doing and looked upward.
The enormous stone at the back of the cavern suddenly trembled.
The black chains tightened.
Then, with an earth-shaking rumble, the massive stone began rising.
Slowly. Steadily.
The enormous object was pulled upward by the black chains until it floated beneath the mysterious arrays covering the ceiling.
The spiritual energy throughout the cavern suddenly became chaotic.
Every cultivator felt it.
The cultivators who had been fighting over spiritual stones immediately stopped.
Even those who had not looked toward the light realized that something was happening when a deep voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire cavern.
The voice was old and ancient. Heavy and filled with an indescribable majesty.
"Who here Desires My inheritance?"
The voice reverberated through every corner of the cavern. The sound seemed to shake their souls rather than merely reach their ears.
Silence descended. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.
The cultivators stared upward at the enormous floating stone and the array formations surrounding it.
Then the realization slowly dawned upon them.
This wasn't a ruin.
They had not entered the remains of an ancient sect.
They had entered a Tome.
An inheritance ground.
A place deliberately constructed to test cultivators and filter out those unworthy of receiving its master's inheritance.
And if that was the case...
Then the thousands of cultivators who had entered were not necessarily guests.
They were candidates.
Or perhaps...
They were sacrifices.
Many of those who had entered the cavern were destined to never leave it.