Chapter 2372: Probing the Jade Capital City

Any sentient being entering the Panlong Ruins in such a state would become alert, but out of respect for the Earth Mother's dignity, they could only grit their teeth and press forward.

Fortunately, everything was peaceful.

They ran wildly through the ruins, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

There were no mechanisms, traps, unknown creatures, ghosts, or guardian spirits.

It seemed to be nothing more than an ancient city site forgotten by time.

However, once the avian demons in the sky attempted to descend into the city, they were blocked by an invisible barrier.

It appeared that entering through the city gate was the only way to traverse the Panlong Ruins.

When the monsters had nearly finished their exploration, the avian demons in the sky let out several sharp cries, and the monsters hastily retreated from the city gate.

He Lingchuan stared at the water mirror: "The next wave of probing is coming."

In the valley seven li outside, the ghostly face on the gate of Yujing City suddenly moved—first rolling its eyeballs, then shaking its head, and suddenly lunging forward with great force!

Usually only its head was exposed outside; with this lunge, its powerful body broke free from the wall.

Its physique resembled that of a human: upright lower body, no tail, but with bulging, knotted muscles, and bronze rings on both hands and feet.

These were not ornaments, but bindings.

Yujing City had once devoured an ancient relic, and this evil spirit was its guardian, named Qingtu.

The relic had already become part of Yujing City, and Qingtu had been tamed by the Earth Mother and sent to guard the gate.

Perhaps having stayed too long within the city walls, Qingtu stretched lazily, loosened its bones and muscles, picked up a stone from some unknown corner of the city, and hurled it fiercely toward the direction of the Panlong Ruins!

The throwing motion was extraordinarily standard; once released, the stone soared high into the sky, truly deserving the description of rising straight up nearly a thousand zhang.

Given Qingtu's size, the stone it could grasp with one hand was at least the size of two door panels.

When it reached its highest point and began to fall, it also underwent a drastic transformation.

He Lingchuan and the others saw everything clearly through the water pool:

The stone suddenly expanded, its volume increasing by at least a hundred thousand times within a mere twenty breaths!

It had become a colossal mountain, its base circumference actually exceeding that of the Panlong Ruins by an entire circuit.

"Holy crap!" Dong Rui jumped in fright, "How is this done? Are we going to be crushed together?"

A mountain of this size falling from a thousand zhang above would surely reduce the Panlong Ruins to dust!

The shockwave from its impact could even crack the outer walls of distant Heishuicheng!

Zhu Xiuer then praised: "Moving mountains and filling valleys—now that's the true method of immortals!"

"Don't praise yet—what are we supposed to do now?" Dong Rui sweat beading on his forehead, "Can we still escape in time?"

Although we are currently in the Panlong Secret Realm, if the real ruins were smashed, the secret realm wouldn't exist either—when the skin is gone, where would the hair attach?

Returning from the Fu Pool to the real ruins, we'd still have to run out the South City Gate to be safe. Judging by the time, we should make it, but we must set out now.

He Lingchuan also stared at the massive mountain hanging in midair. It had already begun to fall, and its landing point was undoubtedly the Panlong Ruins!

The avian demons fled in panic.

When the Earth Mother acts, she does so on this grand a scale—Zhu Xiuer was right, this is truly the method of immortals. The mountain the Qixia Sect forged using golden cores to block the Luo River is not even one-tenth of this!

"Stay calm." He Lingchuan's thoughts raced, "The Earth Mother's throw this time is merely a probe. If the Panlong Ruins were so easily taken, why would she have previously expended great effort to gather the Panlong Wasteland?"

The Earth Mother is an expert in consuming relics; she most likely senses the anomaly of the Panlong Ruins, otherwise she wouldn't be so cautious.

"Besides, the Great Great Great Fanghu has not yet truly separated from the Panlong Ruins."

This is He Lingchuan's reason for not leaving.

During their conversation, the mountain plummeted vertically, pressing down with the force of ten thousand jun upon the Panlong Ruins directly below.

Judging by its posture, it would not rest until it had flattened the ruins into a thin pancake.

After a few breaths, Dong Rui saw that the mountain seemed unchanged. He couldn't help but ask: "Will the Great Great Great Fanghu really make a move?"

He Lingchuan stared without blinking, too lazy to say more: "It will!"

After another thirty or so breaths, the mountain continued to fall, showing no sign of slowing or dissipating.

Dong Rui rubbed his hands: "If we don't act now, it'll be too late."

If we don't run, we won't make it in time!

He Lingchuan remained silent.

As Dong Rui was about to ask again, Zhu Xiuer's dozens of eyes locked onto the water surface, and suddenly she moved her eight legs, darting into the city like a flying creature.

"Where are you going, Auntie?"

Zhu Xiuer didn't look back: "I'm going outside to take a look."

She had sensed something.

"I'm going too!" Dong Rui couldn't see it, but it didn't stop him from wanting to go to the surface.

Just as he swung his arms to run, He Lingchuan called out to him:

"Put this on, or the avian demons will spot you."

What he threw over was the hide of Lord Boshan.

This pelt has a disguise function, and He Lingchuan had altered it into an invisibility cloak; wearing it allows one to blend with the surroundings.

Dong Rui took three steps in two, putting it on while running, following behind Zhu Xiuer.

He Lingchuan watched their retreating figures, shrugged, and stirred the water pool a few times with his hand.

"This angle isn't good—let's switch."

After the water surface calmed, the image indeed changed to a new perspective, pulling back to a wide-angle view from ground level looking up.

One person and one spider jumped into the Fu Pool, crossed the Red Sea, and upon opening their eyes, were already back in the Panlong Ruins.

To find the mountain, one need only look up—it hovered directly above the ruins.

Dong Rui looked up and exclaimed: "Huh? Something seems off!"

He could of course see Dashan, but its area seemed not as vast as it looked in the Secret Realm's water mirror.

Was it an illusion?

"The Great Vase has indeed made its move," Zhu Xiuer also stared at the sky, "This mountain is continuously shrinking."

The two looked up to observe.

It was no illusion; the flying mountain overhead was visibly shrinking at a rapid pace.

The lower it fell, the faster its shrinking speed became.

After merely seven or eight breaths, its size was more than half smaller than when Dong Rui first saw it.

Now, its volume was less than one-fourth of the Panlong Ruins.

And this diminution continued without cease.

How could the Panlong Ruins or the Great Vase, having not even touched this mountain, exert influence upon it?

Dong Rui relaxed, even squinting as he gestured with his hand:

"Ahaha, it's falling slowly…… Wait for it to land, Aunt Zhu, guess how big it'll be?"

"This is probably the legendary Reversion Divine Ability, restoring objects and artifacts to their original size." Zhu Xiuer explained, "Many artifacts can transform into giant forms to overwhelm with momentum, like the Mountain-Sealing Seal, and Reversion Technique was specially developed to counter them."

It paused: "But even in ancient times, those who mastered this divine ability were exceedingly few. The prerequisite for reversion is an extremely profound understanding of the nature of artifacts and divine abilities."