Chapter 1384: Relic Collapse

"You recognize me?" Zhang Xuan was startled.

"You guided my cultivation, helped me understand its flaws, and became my half-teacher. How could I not recognize you?" The stone statue trembled, and a voice resonated.

"Guided cultivation?""Half-teacher?""Teacher Zhang... guided an ancient sage?"Luo Xuanqing, Bi Hongyin, and the others trembled, not daring to breathe.

The implications were too immense; they feared knowing too much would lead to their demise.

"But... aren't you just a wisp of thought?" Zhang Xuan was bewildered by the explanation.

Although they had met in the Qi Wu Palace, the thought wisps were independent. Under normal circumstances, once they left the ruins, there would be no connection. How could it remember?

"Thought wisps are independent, but usually, those left behind cannot know the thoughts and memories of subsequent ones. However, it's not too difficult for later ones to access earlier ones. Furthermore, you carried it with you, and given my understanding of space, it was even easier..." The stone statue explained.

Zhang Xuan understood. He had always carried the Qi Wu Palace with him. Even though it was currently in his storage ring, it wouldn't be difficult for the other party, an ancient sage who mastered space, to know what had transpired within it.

"No wonder you arrived here so quickly and successfully retrieved the Cave Void Gourd. If it was you, it makes perfect sense. Well, I have something else to do... Goodbye!" Seeing that Zhang Xuan understood, the stone statue sighed emotionally, then suddenly, with a "crack!" sound, a fissure appeared.

Immediately after, the oppressive aura that had been pressing down on everyone receded like a tide.

Boom!

Then, the statue shattered into countless pieces, falling apart, and its previously bright eyes dimmed once more.

"This...""The ancient sage's thought wisp... extinguished? The inheritance wasn't even mentioned..."Their eyebrows twitching erratically, Luo Xuanqing and the others couldn't help but tug at their hair.

They had gone through so much trouble to get here, and the inheritance was right before their eyes. Yet, after Teacher Zhang uttered just a couple of sentences, the stone statue exploded, and the thought wisp dissipated on the spot... Was this really happening?

They all turned their heads in unison: "Teacher Zhang..."

Zhang Xuan also wore a dumbfounded expression.

This Ancient Sage Qi Wu was truly unreliable! Last time, he dispersed without revealing the inheritance. This time was even worse; he collapsed after only two or three sentences... He had seen many thought wisps, but in terms of speed, this one was definitely number one! No wonder he could create a unique move like "Limitless Traveler"—it perfectly suited his nature!

However, it seemed... Master Kong was also quite fast. Zhang Xuan had met him twice, but hadn't even had time to ask about the innate fetal toxicity. This master and servant... truly matched each other well.

"This should be a trial left by the ancient sage. It's possible the inheritance is hidden somewhere within this folded space, requiring us to find it ourselves. It's unlikely it would be directly revealed..." Seeing the murderous looks from the crowd, Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched, and he said.

The Qi Wu Palace was just like this: after the ancient sage's thought wisp vanished, he had to carefully study the stone tablet inscribed with "Qi Wu Palace" to successfully find the Yan Kong Heavenly Book inheritance. The same person would likely behave in a similar manner.

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Back then, our ancestor, who received the Ancient Sage Qi Wu's inheritance and comprehended the laws of space, seemed to have had a similar experience. Teacher Zhang is right; if an ancient sage truly leaves an inheritance, they would certainly test one's character, personality, and wisdom... How could they impart everything after just one meeting?" After a moment, Luo Xuanqing said.

"Let's all look around; we should find something!" Seeing him smooth things over, Zhang Xuan sighed in relief and said.

Bi Hongyin and the others nodded, stood up, and slowly moved along the walls.

The palace walls, built of an unknown type of rock, were also engraved with characters, just like the gate. Bi Hongyin and the others couldn't understand them, so they all looked at Luo Xuanqing.

"These aren't cultivation techniques; they're just runes that reinforce the palace. Although this is a folded space, free from wind and rain, it has remained standing for tens of thousands of years, thanks in no small part to these runes!" Luo Xuanqing explained.

Because this space had so many folded layers and abundant spiritual energy, the palace would have collapsed long ago without the reinforced runes.

"The inheritance should also fall under the category of treasures. Yun Lianhai, can you find it?" Seeing that these things were useless, everyone felt a bit dejected and collectively looked at Yun Lianhai, who was not far away.

Since he could find this place, perhaps he could also locate the ancient sage's true inheritance.

"I'll try!" Nodding, Yun Lianhai once again used his special ability to search.

His ability merely utilized his bloodline power; it wasn't a full bloodline activation, so at most it caused some minor damage, but not enough to prevent him from using his power for a month.

The vertical eye on his forehead scanned back and forth, then suddenly stopped. "There seems to be something strange here..." He then pointed to a spot.

Everyone rushed over. It was precisely directly beneath the statue.

They turned over the shattered stone pieces, searched for a long time, and indeed found traces of a folded space.

"Excellent!" Everyone's eyes lit up. Luo Xuanqing joined his fingers and pointed towards it.

A ray of light flashed, and a line of characters immediately surged out from the folded space, appearing before everyone. "Great Compassion Heavenly Demonic Fist!" Zhang Xuan was astonished.

He had only just mentioned it casually, yet he hadn't expected this ancient sage to truly leave behind an inheritance.

"Legend has it that Ancient Sage Qi Wu's most formidable martial arts were separate techniques for fingers, swords, fists, and palms, all bearing the name 'Great Compassion Heavenly Demonic.' The palm technique was around the mid-grade of the Saint Realm, the fist technique high-grade, and the sword technique was top-grade... This set of martial arts was so rare that even our ancestor couldn't find it. I can't believe it's here..." Luo Xuanqing's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Fingers, swords, fists, and palms?" Zhang Xuan was momentarily stunned.

He had learned the Great Compassion Heavenly Demonic Palm, which was indeed a mid-grade Saint Realm martial art, virtually invincible among its peers. He had thought it was just a single move, but from the other's tone, it turned out to be a complete set!

He quickly looked at the characters in the air and mentally whispered, "Defects!"

Swoosh!

A book appeared in his mind. He pointed a finger, and his face once again contorted into an expression of distress.

"Even more defects..." He rubbed his forehead, filled with helplessness.

The Great Compassion Heavenly Demonic Palm had twenty-seven defects, which already caused him immense discomfort. This new one had even more, a total of thirty-one... The cultivation technique was good, and its power was strong, but... he couldn't practice it!

Since he began cultivating the Heaven's Path Divine Art, he had become accustomed to flawless secret manuals. It was like developing a phobia of dirt; even a speck of dust made it hard for him to accept, let alone so many defects...

He retrieved all the fist technique manuals he had previously studied and piled them together with the new one. "Correct!" "Still twenty-eight more..."

Although he had previously read many fist technique manuals, their grades were simply too low. They were still far from sufficient to perfectly fuse with a high-grade Saint Realm martial art. Tens of thousands of them only managed to remove three defects.

"Forget it for now. When I return to the Saint Child Hall, I'll look for more fist techniques to supplement this one..."

He shook his head, no longer dwelling on it. Anyway, there were countless secret manuals in the Saint Child Hall. As long as he passed the assessments, he was bound to acquire many. No matter how many defects this fist technique had, he could definitely complete it if he searched diligently.

No sooner had he finished lamenting than he felt the ground shake, and the entire space became even more distorted. "Oh no, the ancient sage's thought wisp has vanished, and the Cave Void Gourd has been taken. This space can't bear it anymore; it could collapse at any moment..." Luo Xuanqing's expression changed drastically.

Like the Saint Child Hall's main gate, this space, being overly folded and complex, lacked a dedicated core to sustain its operation. Any disturbance would lead to collapse. Its violent shaking now clearly indicated a problem.

"Collapse?" Everyone's face turned pale.

Although their strength was considerable, within this space, they were subject to its influence. If it collapsed, they could very likely be annihilated, dying instantly. Unless they reached a level where they could transcend this space! And that level of power required at least Saint Realm Ninth Layer!

"Exactly, we need to leave quickly, or we'll all die here..." Luo Xuanqing was filled with urgency.

"But... I've only memorized less than two lines of this fist technique..." Bi Hongyin's face flushed as she said.

"I've also memorized two lines..." Yuan Xiao echoed.

This was an ancient sage's martial art, something they might never have a chance to learn in their lifetime. To finally find and see it, only to lack the time to memorize it, filled them with deep reluctance.

"Saving our lives is paramount. No matter how powerful a martial art is, it's useless if you're not alive to learn it... I've only memorized four lines myself. No matter how reluctant we are, it's no use." Luo Xuanqing waved his hand dismissively. "Let's go, quickly!"

This martial art was created by an ancient sage and contained the core of his cultivation. The entire set comprised hundreds of lines. Even with their considerable strength and astonishing memory, memorizing so many characters would take at least half an hour... Less than a minute had passed, so remembering two or four lines was already quite good. However, if they couldn't memorize it, there was nothing to be done. Compared to their lives, no matter how powerful or excellent a cultivation technique was, it couldn't compare.

"Alright!" Seeing the space shake more violently, with cracks already appearing in some areas, Bi Hongyin and the others, though reluctant, knew they couldn't stay any longer. They hurriedly followed Luo Xuanqing, flying rapidly outwards.

Zhang Xuan followed closely. On the way in, they had walked slowly, searching for things and exploring, but now, with danger imminent, they couldn't afford to hesitate. They rushed back along the path they came and, in less than two breaths, were back above the spiritual energy river.

Following the same method, Luo Xuanqing once again encased everyone in a spatial bubble. With his full power surging, he quickly propelled them forward.

After more than ten breaths, they returned to the spot where they had first appeared upon entering.

Crack! Crack!

No sooner had they arrived than they saw massive cracks appearing in the nearby river and space, which were then being annihilated piece by piece.

"That was close..." Everyone broke into a cold sweat.

Fortunately, they had fled quickly. Had they been even slightly slower, they might have already turned to dust.

"Let's leave quickly..." With a sigh of relief, Luo Xuanqing once again used his special method to open the exit channel. Everyone leaped, soaring straight outwards.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The wind roared in their ears, followed by a violent spinning sensation. The next moment, they opened their eyes again and found themselves back in the cave.

As soon as they stabilized, they saw the sesame-sized vortex before them flash once, then vanish from sight, no longer traceable. This ruin... had completely disappeared!