Chapter 236: Entering the Return Ruins

Chen Mo's figure suddenly retreated violently, and the Myriad Phenomena Power of heaven and earth gathered in one place, blocking the path before him.

The Gui Xu Gate is open; if there are any changes within, they might surge out through this passage, so taking extra precautions is never a mistake.

The passage connecting to the Return Ruins has been opened, and a faint aura of loneliness and decay is leaking out; there, everything has reached its end, and there is no possibility of any new life.

Chen Mo's gaze is cautious as he continues to stare at that place, while the black scorpion stands honestly behind him, not saying a word.

Time passes second by second, yet the passage remains completely unchanged; seeing this, Chen Mo breathes a sigh of relief.

It seems that even if there is some anomaly within the Return Ruins, it cannot cross this passage to affect the outside world.

Opening this Return Ruins passage cost Chen Mo a full ten thousand drops of Heaven and Earth Divine Liquid; fortunately, once the passage is opened, the cost to send people into the Return Ruins in the future will be very low.

Sending one person in only requires fifty points of Heaven and Earth Divine Liquid, and this price remains the same regardless of their strength.

As for puppets, the price is naturally the same.

If not for this, the Return Ruins should have long since completely disappeared and would never exist within this era.

Even with Chen Mo's current strength, he cannot pass through the Gui Xu Gate before him to project his own power into the Return Ruins.

The Blood Spirit Soldier is entirely crimson, with Blood Qi power circulating within its body; looking closer, it is actually breathing.

Puppets at the Innate Realm can move freely and explore all movements in the surroundings.

Controlling the Blood Spirit Soldier, he steps into the Gui Xu Gate once more.

Because those things, in a strict sense, have long since been destroyed and can only be preserved and used within the Return Ruins; it is impossible to bring them into this era.

The Return Ruins is a special place, a remnant of the previous era, where everything is in a state of lonely finality and should not exist in the world.

Chen Mo reaches back and takes out the Blood Spirit Soldier previously gifted by Fengdu Niangniang, refining it with a wisp of circulating Blood Qi.

Other things simply cannot be brought back.

The time of two incense sticks passes quickly, yet as this time goes by, the puppet has still not returned.

He can only wait; the puppet contains the action plan he previously set.

Of course, this is only the most basic reconnaissance; as for the specific situation, it cannot be clearly explored with the power of this puppet alone.

He cannot even sense whether the puppet that entered the Gui Xu Gate earlier is dead or alive.

In a trance, it seems as if it is not a puppet at all, but a truly living person.

This puppet can perform more actions and can even imitate a living person to a certain extent.

In just an instant, Chen Mo feels his control over the puppet being completely severed.

At the very least, in the Return Ruins space to which this passage leads, even if the Mirage Sea invades, it only has some influence, and no actual Mirage Sea Water remains.

Chen Mo releases a puppet and cautiously approaches the Gui Xu Gate; this puppet was refined by Ziyuan Zhenren.

The grade of this Blood Spirit Soldier is not high, and the strength it can exert is only at the Postnatal Realm.

Even though Chen Mo possesses the Gui Xu Gate, he cannot investigate any situation within the Return Ruins.

Under his control, the puppet walks according to the established route and soon steps completely into the Gui Xu Gate.

However, there is no Mirage Sea power remaining within this puppet, so it can be roughly judged that even if the Return Ruins has been invaded by the Mirage Sea, the situation should not be too serious.

A puppet is a puppet after all; it cannot compare to a living person.

The Return Ruins is dilapidated, lonely, and uninhabited; there is not even grass or trees in the surroundings, only pile after pile of rubble.

It is only because some spirits of the era can survive the End of Era Tribulation that the Return Ruins continues to exist in order to wear them down completely.

The methods are truly extraordinary; even the puppets taken out casually have such remarkable qualities.

Fengdu Niangniang is truly worthy of being a Great Ability from the ancient era.

After the time of two incense sticks, it will return on its own.

The grade is not high; although it is only at the Innate Realm, it is enough to explore the Return Ruins.

And it is more handy for Chen Mo to control.

The puppet walks out of the Gui Xu Gate, and Chen Mo uses his power again to investigate carefully; the Heaven and Earth Myriad Phenomena Laws merge into one to inspect the inside and outside of the puppet, and can also disperse the Mirage Sea Breath.

A puppet, entirely profound black and emitting a cold, piercing light, slowly walks out from within.

But its perception of the outside situation is indeed much stronger than the puppet refined by Ziyuan Zhenren.

Chen Mo carefully senses the information probed by the puppet again; after passing through a narrow passage, the puppet arrives inside the Return Ruins.

As for a puppet at the Tongmai Realm, being able to return safely is already a pleasant surprise; wanting to explore the detailed situation of the surroundings is an almost impossible task.

Because it is already in another world, and this world is an unknown distance away from himself.

Another two incense sticks of time pass, and finally, fluctuations come from within the Gui Xu Gate.

Furthermore, when this puppet arrives inside the Return Ruins, its strength is likewise restricted, and the power it can exert is directly suppressed to the Tongmai Realm.

Chen Mo is not in a hurry and waits very calmly.

The puppet did not bring back anything; in the Return Ruins, apart from a small amount of rare treasures that can withstand the Era Tribulation, and various treasures left in the Return Ruins by the strong of this era.

Chen Mo waits quietly outside the gate for the Blood Spirit Soldier to send back news.

Through the previous puppet reconnaissance, he can conclude that the other Return Ruins region connected by the Gui Xu Gate.

The situation of heaven and earth is relatively stable; although desolate, there is no danger.

Even if there is danger, it might be some inexplicable rules that cannot be detected by ordinary means.

The order Chen Mo gave to the Blood Spirit Soldier was to move around in the vicinity and explore these rules.

He does not know if that place is covered by strange rules and can only continue to try and verify.

If it is not covered by strange rules, then that is naturally a good thing.

If it is covered, then the investigation he is currently conducting is very necessary.

Of course, there is another possibility, which is that he uses all his investigative means but fails to touch the rules there.

However, this is not dangerous; it would only mean that the rules there are extremely obscure and niche.

As long as he tries his best not to touch them, even if there are hidden dangers, it is relatively safe.

There is no help for it; after all, he did not descend with his true body, so Chen Mo can only rely on reconnaissance and cannot personally confirm the situation within the Return Ruins.

Two or three hours passed, and the Blood Spirit Soldier finally returned safe and sound; seeing this, Chen Mo breathed a sigh of relief.

Carefully sensing the situation the Blood Spirit Soldier had scouted, that desolate and lonely place had no human presence, nor any living creatures at all.

It had conducted many investigations there, performed many extraordinary acts, spoken many words, and utilized much power.

Yet it had not encountered any crisis, which was enough to prove that the place was relatively safe; even if rules existed, they were extremely obscure and rare, and would not be easily violated.

The Blood Spirit Soldier further investigated the surroundings; there is a sun of heaven and earth within the Return Ruins.

Yet the heaven and earth do not change, the sun does not move, and time has no meaning there; all things seem to have come to a standstill.

The Blood Spirit Soldier returned safely, and Chen Mo looked at Hei Xie and said, "Go."

He had already carefully instructed her beforehand, telling her the risks of entering the Gui Xu Gate and the investigations she needed to perform.

"This subordinate understands." Hei Xie did not dare to hesitate and immediately strode toward the Gui Xu Gate.

Chen Mo watched her enter the Return Ruins, and immediately felt that the Gu insect within his own body could no longer control or influence her.

This was normal, because strictly speaking, she was now in another world, and not even in this epoch.

The Three Treasures Spirit Control Gu he had refined was indeed not bad, but it was far from being able to span a world to influence the host.

The investigation Hei Xie performed took a long time, but Chen Mo was not in a hurry and waited quietly.

Ten days later, Hei Xie finally returned.

She did not return of her own volition, but was expelled by the Return Ruins.

As the Return Ruins is a region that does not exist in this epoch, living beings of this epoch who enter it will inevitably be subject to some repulsive force, which increases as time goes on.

Ten days is the limit for which the vast majority of living beings of this epoch can stay in the Return Ruins.

The reason it is the "vast majority" is that some living beings are extremely powerful and have slain an Epoch Spirit, earning the favor of the Return Ruins, and thus can stay there for longer.

Anyone who stays in the Return Ruins for a full ten days must wait thirty days in the outside world before they can enter again.

The Gui Xu Gate can accelerate this progress, but it only shortens this time from thirty days to twenty days.

As for Martial Artists who use a Secret Technique to enter the Return Ruins, they cannot enjoy this convenience and must wait a full month outside.

Hei Xie was stained with some aura of the Return Ruins, which was significantly reduced after passing through the Gui Xu Gate.

And the small remaining portion could only be slowly worn away by time.

"My Lord, I have basically finished investigating the situation inside the Return Ruins." Hei Xie strode to Chen Mo's front, bowed, and said.

"The area connected by the Gui Xu Gate is desolate, with no people and nothing at all.

After I entered, my strength was indeed restricted to the peak of the Tongmai Realm.

According to your instructions, I carefully explored the surroundings; three hundred miles to the east of the landing point, there is a large city with many people coming and going. I did not rashly make contact, but only took a look from afar."

Hei Xie reported honestly and acted in strict accordance with Chen Mo's instructions.

Chen Mo had only asked her to investigate whether there were any people, and had not asked her to make contact with those people.

"Also, one hundred miles to the west of that large city, there is a towering mountain range. However, the mountain range is also withered and yellow, without any grass or trees, and only a few giant beasts and fierce birds can be vaguely seen inhabiting it.

As I only had Tongmai strength within the Return Ruins, I only dared to observe from afar and did not dare to enter the mountain range to investigate.

However, judging by the mountain paths, people should frequently enter the mountains there."

Hei Xie recounted everything she had investigated in great detail.

Chen Mo nodded with satisfaction and praised her with a smile, "Well done."

As his voice fell, he took a pill from his Storage Ring.

"This is a Life Creation Pill; it has the power to bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh and bone, enough to treat the injury on your arm."

This pill was something Chen Mo had redeemed from the Good and Evil Reward Token; it was a fifth-grade pill that required fifty thousand Good Merit points.

He still carried the Good and Evil Reward Token on his person; after Chen Mo redeemed the Seven-Tier Spirit Stabilizing Treasure Furnace, he still had hundreds of thousands of Good Merit points unused.

It was just that he had not received any Good Merit points when he previously killed those Mirage Sea creatures.

This surprised him, but upon closer thought, it was not very surprising.

Because Mirage Sea creatures are not products of this heaven and earth to begin with.

The demons he had killed previously, although stained with Mirage Sea power, at least had origins from the normal heaven and earth.

But those Mirage Sea creatures were completely incompatible with this world.

When Chen Mo killed them, the Good and Evil Reward Token did not react at all.

In fact, even now, with Chen Mo's cultivation, he could not figure out what mechanism the Good and Evil Reward Token operated on.

It seemed to contain a Creation Mechanism within it, capable of evolving all things in heaven and earth.

But the source of these powers was very mysterious, and even he could not investigate it clearly.

When he previously entered the Heavenly Court Secret Realm, he activated this Token.

Yet the Token itself seemed to have no direct connection to the Heavenly Court Secret Realm.

With his current strength, he could not investigate these questions clearly at all.

Chen Mo did not delve into it, for a simple reason: with his current strength, no matter how much he studied it, it would be very difficult to reach a concrete result.

"Many thanks, My Lord." Hei Xie took the pill and swallowed it down her throat immediately.

The power of the pill circulated with creation, and in an instant, abundant vitality filled her entire body.

She sat cross-legged on the spot, refining the medicinal properties of the pill to heal her own injuries.

This process was not slow; in just two or three quarters of an hour, her severed arm had regrown.

The dantian and meridians within her body were also reshaped and repaired.

Even the hidden injuries and ailments left over from her early years of cultivation were completely healed under the medicinal power of this pill.

The fifth-grade Life Creation Pill, according to the ancient grading of pills, was a grade sufficient for Supernatural Martial Artists to use.

Not to mention that the Life Creation Pill, containing vast vitality, was itself a top-tier healing pill among the fifth grade.

Black Scorpion is only at the Heaven-Human cultivation level, so the effect of using this medicinal pill to heal her injuries is naturally indescribably good.

"Thank you, my lord, for bestowing this pill to heal your subordinate's injuries. Your grace is like a rebirth; this subordinate will surely serve you like a dog or horse from now on!"

As her injuries healed, Black Scorpion's expression became agitated, and she immediately disregarded everything else to perform a full prostration before Chen Mo.

If not for this medicinal pill, with her current strength, wanting to treat the injuries on her body and dispel the Mirage Sea Breath within her—

—would take at least ten years of effort, or perhaps even longer.

Injuries are easy to heal, but the Mirage Sea Breath is difficult to clear, which would undoubtedly hinder her subsequent cultivation.

It would even be a form of torture for her to have these powers remain inside her body.

"It is no matter; I will naturally fulfill what I promised you." Chen Mo smiled, appearing indifferent to the matter.

"Come, fuse with this wisp of Divine Nature; it will be helpful for your future path of cultivation."

Chen Mo struck out a wisp of Divine Nature, the power of which was brilliant and permeated with an aura of vast majesty.

The number of believers he currently possesses is still slowly expanding; according to his estimation, after waiting for a period of time to accumulate enough Faith Power, he can consider the matter of opening up a Divine Kingdom.

Opening up a Divine Kingdom requires not only a sufficient number of believers but also a sufficient accumulation of Faith Power.

He currently has enough of the former, but the latter still requires time to accumulate.

"This lowly one understands." Black Scorpion did not resist this, as there is no cultivation method for the Incense Fire God Path in this world.

Even many righteous Martial Artists only know that this cultivation method exists, let alone a Martial Artist like Black Scorpion who comes from the Demonic Path.

Fusing with the power of Divine Nature can help her cultivation, and Chen Mo will no longer worry about her loyalty.

Compared to gu-insects, the fusion of Divine Nature power is far more reliable.

Even if her cultivation level increases in the future, Chen Mo does not worry that she will betray him.

Fusing with the Divine Nature took only an instant, and Black Scorpion perceived the world differently in that very moment.

With the help of the Divine Nature power, she can further perceive and observe the Heavenly Law of the outside world, which can indeed accelerate her own cultivation to a certain extent.

"Keep these medicinal pills well; I am going to enter the Return Ruins to investigate. You may just cultivate and wait here in the hall."

Chen Mo casually took out some more cultivation resources; these were originally kept for his own cultivation.

However, as his cultivation level has increased, he has gradually found them unnecessary, but they are more than enough to reward Black Scorpion.

"Thank you, my lord!" Black Scorpion bowed again with a respectful expression, watching Chen Mo walk into the Gui Xu Gate.

(End of chapter)