"These people's souls..."
Ye Ling noticed the abnormality in Yang Zhuo's soul and frowned slightly. His gaze swept over the other members of the Hongchen Pavilion, finding that they, like Yang Zhuo, had lost half of their souls.
What surprised Ye Ling even more was that with each bow the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators made to the Calamity Mother, their souls weakened further, as if they were sacrificing their souls to the Calamity Mother.
However, given the Calamity Mother's current scale, even if the Hongchen Pavilion members sacrificed all their souls, it would be like a drop in the bucket for the Calamity Mother, having no effect whatsoever.
"What are they trying to do?"
Ye Ling was puzzled and chose to walk in front of the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators without interrupting their ritual.
Ye Ling saw that the eyes of all the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators, including Yang Zhuo, had lost their luster. They were like puppets at this moment, performing their actions mechanically.
They had lost their consciousness.
"Emperor, it seems they have lost their consciousness. They are now like walking corpses," Jiu Ling said to Ye Ling after glancing at the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators.
She was inherently sensitive to matters of consciousness. Seeing Yang Zhuo and the others, she could immediately tell they had become living dead. Their true consciousness had long since vanished.
Jiu Ling speculated, "Could it be that these cultivators have sacrificed their consciousness to the Calamity Mother?"
Ye Ling shook his head. "No... If they truly wanted to sacrifice, it would have been faster to feed themselves to the Calamity from the start. There's no need for such a roundabout way."
"Moreover, the Hongchen Pavilion went to such great lengths, offending all the top powers in the world to awaken the Calamity Mother, and possibly even drawing the attention of the Heavenly Court."
"They would not have paid such a heavy price just to sacrifice themselves after the Calamity Mother awoke."
Jiu Ling's brows furrowed, extremely puzzled. "Then what exactly do the people of the Hongchen Pavilion want to do? They went through all the trouble to achieve their goal, only to sacrifice their consciousness at this moment..."
"Wait... What did you just say?"
Hearing Jiu Ling's words, Ye Ling's heart stirred, and he quickly said.
Jiu Ling was slightly taken aback and looked at Ye Ling in surprise, unable to react for a moment. She stammered, "I... I said that the people of the Hongchen Pavilion sacrificed their consciousness..."
Ye Ling: "The sentence before that."
Jiu Ling: "They went through all the trouble to achieve their goal?"
"That's the one!" Ye Ling slapped his thigh, suddenly enlightened. Jiu Ling, on the other hand, was still confused, not understanding what information her sentence contained. Wasn't it stating the obvious?
Ye Ling's eyes lit up, and he smiled. "I always thought the Hongchen Pavilion's goal was to awaken the Calamity Mother!"
"Is there a problem?" Jiu Ling was confused. "Didn't the Hongchen Pavilion guys do just that?"
Ye Ling explained, "Actually, there's another possibility. Their goal was never to awaken this Calamity Mother. The awakening of the Calamity Mother is just one part of their process to achieve their objective."
Jiu Ling became increasingly confused. "I don't understand... Emperor, are you saying that the Hongchen Pavilion awakened the Calamity Mother to achieve some goal of their own?"
"Why would they do that?"
Ye Ling said, "When the Calamity Mother awakens, the spiritual energy of the entire ancient ruins will become chaotic, filled with the Calamity Mother's violent aura. Even the laws of time sleeping beneath the ancient ruins will awaken, disrupting the power here."
"Coupled with the descent of one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals, the composition of the spiritual energy here has become extremely complex. Everyone's perception will be affected, including myself."
Hearing this, Jiu Ling seemed to understand something. "If the Calamity Mother awakens, everyone's attention will be focused on her. Furthermore, with the spiritual energy in chaos, even if the Hongchen Pavilion people are doing something secretly, the Emperor might not be able to perceive it."
"Their consciousness, is it to escape from here during this opportunity?"
Ye Ling nodded. "I suspect there is another space within this ancient ruin, and the Hongchen Pavilion's true goal is not this ancient ruin at all, but another space!"
"The Hongchen Pavilion has entered this ancient ruin several times. Logically, there should be nothing left in this ruin to attract them. Yet, they persistently send people to their deaths each time, with only a handful surviving to return."
"I couldn't figure out their purpose for doing this before. From what I see now, they started their plan during their previous entries into this ancient ruin, with the goal of entering another space!"
Jiu Ling asked, "Then how do we enter the other space?"
She had lost a portion of her core memories, and her knowledge of the secrets of this ancient ruin was scarce. If Ye Ling hadn't mentioned it, even she, who had spent a million years in this ancient ruin, wouldn't have known about another hidden space within it.
However, after Ye Ling spoke of another space, Jiu Ling vaguely felt that such a space existed.
Ye Ling said, "Indeed... We know very little about this ancient ruin. Even Tian Yuan, who has been the patriarch of the Tongtian tribe for countless years, doesn't know its secrets. It's too difficult to find that hidden space in a short period."
Hearing this, Jiu Ling also felt a bit regretful and blamed herself. "If I could still remember some things, I could help the Emperor now, and we wouldn't be at a loss here..."
Seeing Jiu Ling's remorseful look, Ye Ling smiled and said, "Actually, it's not impossible to enter that hidden space. I already have some ideas."
Jiu Ling was startled. "Emperor, you already have an idea?"
Ye Ling took out Su Xue'er's silver bracelet and said, "This bracelet has had no connection with anything in the ancient ruins so far, yet it is one of the most important things here."
Jiu Ling stared at the bracelet in Ye Ling's hand and guessed, "Emperor, are you implying that this bracelet came from the hidden space?"
Ye Ling replied, "That's right... When Ye Feng and Su Xue'er entered this ancient ruin last time, they must have stumbled upon the hidden space by chance. Su Xue'er brought out this bracelet from the hidden space, while Ye Feng, representing the Hongchen Pavilion, began to set their sights on the hidden space of this ancient ruin."
"But even if this bracelet came from that hidden space, we still don't know how to get in..." Jiu Ling was still confused...
"We do know."
Ye Ling looked at Jiu Ling, tossed the bracelet to her, and narrowed his eyes with a smile. "However... I need your help."
Jiu Ling was immediately stunned. "My help?"