Bai Jing was quite puzzled, still muttering to himself, *Brother, if you don't fancy these spirit stones, you can give them to me! I won't complain about having too many!*
"Could it be that he's already fatigued?"
"Even these spirit stones could affect his speed?"
Yang Chen's eyes widened, and he asked suspiciously.
However, upon further thought, it seemed unlikely. How long had the battle lasted? How could so much stamina be consumed?
"It should be the formation."
Jian Wusheng's tone was calm, but a flicker of light still crossed his eyes. Few people understood formations, and he truly hadn't expected Ye Cangtian, who had just entered the Hua Xia Ruins, to possess such a skill. He continued watching with great interest.
The next moment, after Ye Cangtian stopped throwing the spirit stones, all the fallen stones began to emit a brilliant light. Immediately, thick walls rose from nowhere, cutting off all connection between the wooden puppets.
"Clever."
Despite looking down on Ye Cangtian, Bai Jing gave him a thumbs-up. It was clear that Ye Cangtian's individual strength surpassed that of a single wooden puppet, but he was unable to win due to their coordinated attacks. Now, by using the formation to separate each puppet, he could defeat them one by one.
As Bai Jing had expected, Ye Cangtian easily defeated them individually, collecting twelve large white spirit stones.
"Kid, your formation is rather poor. It likely wouldn't even hold a Profound-tier expert for long."
It was only when Jian Wusheng saw Ye Cangtian that he spoke, offering his evaluation of the formation. The floating, thick walls were brittle and easily broken. The maze, meant to confuse, had simple routes with no variations, making it easy to overcome. It was fortunate they were dealing with wooden puppets and not sentient beings with proper command; otherwise, it would have been useless.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's old face flushed, and he replied awkwardly, "It's my first time using it, I'm not used to it, and it's embarrassing. Fortunately, it separated the wooden puppets; otherwise, I might have needed your help, senior." Ye Cangtian's words weren't an exaggeration; he himself had felt the thrill and danger of being surrounded by twelve wooden puppets.
"Heh heh, enough of that."
"Now we should head to the main hall and see what treasures are inside."
"Oh right, dismantle your formation, I don't want to get lost..."
It was Yang Chen who spoke. Having eliminated the wooden puppets, he was eager to see if the double axes were indeed in the main hall.
"Don't rush. Be more careful towards the end."
Ye Cangtian glanced at Yang Chen and offered a reminder. Then, with a wave of his hand, he dispelled the formation he had set up.
...
Pushing open the door to the main hall, Ye Cangtian was suddenly startled.
"Screech!"
A cold glint came rushing towards him. He instinctively dodged, leaping to the side, narrowly avoiding the cold light.
"This..."
In an instant, Bai Jing and Yang Chen's expressions changed drastically. Fortunately, Ye Cangtian had warned them, and they hadn't rushed into the room. Otherwise, they might not have been able to withstand that attack.
*Creak, creak...*
A series of bone-cracking sounds echoed. Looking closer, a skeleton holding a single axe emerged. The pupils of the skeleton glowed, and its mouth moved, as if it were speaking. Just this alone indicated that the skeleton's intelligence was no less than that of the human-shaped wooden figures outside.
"What are you muttering about? I can't understand you!"
Ye Cangtian frowned as he saw the skeleton's mouth moving. What did these guys mean? However, that single attack had made him break out in a cold sweat. If his reaction hadn't been so fast, he might have lost his life. The fact that the attacking skeleton was also making sounds made him even more furious and amused. Although he couldn't understand it, he knew the skeleton wasn't saying anything good.
On the other side, the skeleton seemed to understand Ye Cangtian's words. It bent its legs and began to wave the axe blade on the ground.
"..."
Writing? Ye Cangtian was certain the skeleton was writing, but the problem was that these were ancient characters, which he couldn't understand at all.
"Damn it, what kind of world is this? Even a rotten skeleton tests one's knowledge!"
Ye Cangtian grumbled irritably, then pointed at the skeleton and said, "I don't care what you're saying. Take off the two spirit stones on your body, and I'll leave your corpse intact!"
As Ye Cangtian finished speaking, the skeleton let out an angry roar and then, brandishing its battle axe, swung it at Ye Cangtian.
"Hmph, it would have been better if you did this earlier, saving all that nonsense!"
Ye Cangtian harrumphed and then charged forward without hesitation. The skeleton dagger in his hand moved with grand sweeps, streaks of black light flashing as he fought the skeleton to a standstill. He wasn't unaware of the skeleton's weaknesses; back in Hai City, he had fought against armies of skeletons with various factions. However, at this moment, Ye Cangtian wasn't attacking in that manner. The skeleton before him clearly possessed sufficient intelligence, so it should also be familiar with the combat techniques of ancient powerhouses. He wanted to see how his current strength compared to those ancient powerhouses. The result of his test left him astonished. The skeleton's speed was comparable to his, and its strength was even greater. After only a few exchanges, his arms felt numb. Furthermore, the skeleton's attacks were incredibly cunning, making it difficult for him to defend. Fortunately, the skeleton had only thrown one battle axe; if it had possessed both, it would have been hard to resist.
"Damn, it's really not easy to deal with!"
Ye Cangtian grumbled and decided to stop holding back. He shifted his focus to the skeleton's lower body, and the next moment, it yielded results. Perhaps due to its high intelligence, the skeleton also realized the importance of its lower body and began to dodge and block with all its might, appearing quite flustered and weakening its attacks considerably. Seeing this, Ye Cangtian revealed a cold smile. He feigned an attack on the skeleton's lower body, and as the skeleton blocked, his dagger struck the skeleton's arm with lightning speed.
*Clack!*
With a crisp sound, the skeleton's arm holding the battle axe fell to the ground.
"Hmph! Even with your high intelligence, how can you surpass a human!"
Ye Cangtian snorted coldly again, and his dagger flew once more, giving the skeleton no chance. The skeleton, having lost an arm and its weapon, could no longer defend itself realistically. After struggling for only a few minutes, it was completely annihilated by Ye Cangtian.
"It's a good thing it was just a skeleton and not a living person, otherwise I might have been in trouble this time."
After eliminating the skeleton, Ye Cangtian felt no joy. If the opponent hadn't been so obvious, he wouldn't have had such an easy time. With that thought, he nodded to the others and cautiously entered the main hall.
Upon entering the main hall, everyone was somewhat dumbfounded. Inside, apart from a coffin, there was only a prayer mat. Judging by the imprints on the mat, the skeleton had knelt before the coffin in the past. Recalling the kneeling postures of the stone figures outside, Ye Cangtian instantly understood everything. The coffin likely contained the owner of the entire secret realm!
"This... Senior, should we open the coffin?"
Looking at the coffin, Bai Jing appeared somewhat hesitant and turned to ask Jian Wusheng. In Hua Xia customs, death was to be respected, and the long slumber of the deceased should not be disturbed. However, to be honest, he was still a bit unwilling to leave without opening the coffin. What if there were many burial objects inside? Wouldn't that mean missing out? Moreover, they were here to explore and would have to submit the maps they drew upon their return, which would naturally include the secret realm. This meant that even if he didn't take anything, he couldn't escape the hands of future generations.
"You don't need to worry about this."
Jian Wusheng said calmly and then pointed to the coffin lid. Only then did they see that a purple spirit stone was embedded in the coffin lid. Ye Cangtian's expression immediately darkened. He was no stranger to purple spirit stones; monsters with embedded purple spirit stones definitely possessed strength at or above the Earth-tier. He himself was only at the peak of the Profound-tier, with a considerable gap between them. In other words, for him, the purple spirit stone was a signal of danger.
*Screech!*
At that moment, a piercing sound was heard, and the coffin lid slowly opened. A large hand suddenly emerged, and then a figure slowly sat up from within the coffin.