Chapter 153 - 152: Obstacles in Exploration, Saint Clan’s Throne

"There’s no hurry to continue descending yet. Let’s look around this ’greenhouse’, and wait for the news from the surface."

Su Qiong responded.

"We are already in a very deep area of the underground cavern. If we venture further, there are too many uncertainties."

She continued.

"You should have realized that although we have been moving in a straight line, we have been going deeper underground. Referencing the underground caverns beneath the remnants, we must be at least tens of thousands of meters deep by now."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing nods silently.

He felt that they have been moving deeper underground all the way.

The interconnected underground caverns are not parallel.

The orientation is always towards the deeper underground.

Each time they pass through a cavern, they move a little deeper underground.

After a short pause, Li Jing says.

"We definitely need to explore this ’greenhouse’ thoroughly. I understand that you are waiting for the updates from above. However, in my opinion, we should not stay in this ’greenhouse’ for too long."

"Could you elaborate?"

Su Qiong turned towards him.

"The fact that these caverns always descend demonstrates two points. The caverns were not naturally formed but excavated deliberately to move deeper underground. Moreover, the caverns beneath the ruins are at a considerable height, close to the surface."

Li Jing explained, slowly.

"We have passed through dozens of caverns to reach the point where the ’greenhouse’ where the Parasite Insects are being cultivated is located. If the caverns were excavated by an unknown civilization, they clearly made efforts to avoid detection. Considering the guess I proposed last night, the excavators also strived to distance themselves from the deadly aura on the surface."

He said calmly.

"If these points are correct, we might have truly entered the realm of influence of the unknown civilization. If we delve deeper, we will uncover more. Our presence may have been sensed already, we don’t have much time for thorough preparations or relocation."

Su Qiong listened to Li Jing’s explanation and pondered.

"Using your logic, your points do make sense. However..."

"Never mind the ’however’"

Li Jing shakes his head and continues.

"According to the Research Institute’s estimation, the entrance to the Secret Realm will only remain open for about seven days. Our time is limited. Within this limited time, we don’t need to consider clashing with the unknown civilization or eliminating them, but we must ascertain whether the reopening of the pathway to the Secret Realm has anything to do with them. If there is a connection, their aim must be clarified. Otherwise, we will always be on the defensive, waiting for their move."

Su Qiong remained silent.

Li Jing’s account was very matter-of-fact.

The limited exploration time is unavoidable whenever the Secret Realm opens.

This time the Management Bureau also entered the Secret Realm primarily to understand why the pathway to the Secret Realm opened again in such a short time, disregarding resource collection.

Deciding to seize the opportunity to expose the true face of the unknown civilization, Su Qiong agreed after due consideration.

"Alright, we shall thoroughly search through the ’greenhouse’ before we proceed deeper underground."

Having persuaded Su Qiong, Li Jing nodded and suggested.

"To save time, shall we split up?"

"Yes."

Su Qiong didn’t hesitate and pointed to the communication earpiece in her ear.

"Our communication earpieces can maintain connection as long as we stay in the same cavern. Make sure to keep in contact."

Then, she added.

"Be careful. The Parasite Insects in the Secret Realm Space are confirmed to be mutants through dissection. Whether they have the ability to hibernate is uncertain for now, but it’s highly probable. The unknown civilization maintains a large amount of Parasite Insects as weaponry which needs feeding to keep alive. If they can’t put the Parasite Insects in dormancy, they would risk back-biting. Now that we have found a ’greenhouse’ for cultivating Parasite Insects, there must be places to let them hibernate. Be highly observant during the exploration process, don’t miss anything out or cause unnecessary disturbance."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing raises an eyebrow.

Only when Su Qiong mentioned it did he remember about the hibernation status of the Parasite Insects.

The parasites in the Secret Realm space were mutated, this was revealed by Chen Jing before they entered the Secret Realm to investigate the case last time. Yang Qiuci wanted samples for dissection analysis.

Definitely must watch out for this!

Group of parasite insects, that gives a lot of experience points.

If he could find a group of dormant Parasite Insects, he could soar to new heights in minutes.

Nodding to indicate his understanding, Li Jing ascends into the air, heading deeper into the ’greenhouse’.

To scrutinize the ’greenhouse’ thoroughly, Sword Controlling isn’t feasible.

The speed of the sword light is too quick to capture the details. Sky Control seems more appropriate.

Seeing Li Jing control the sky and depart, Su Qiong followed suit, moving in another direction.

...

About half an hour later, Li Jing and Su Qiong had thoroughly explored the "Greenhouse".

The "Greenhouse" cavern was roughly three to five times the size of Jianghai City.

The vegetation was lush and vibrant, yet it was devoid of any living creatures.

Apart from the giant tree initially found with insect eggs, there were no anomalies in the entire "Greenhouse".

After completing the exploration, Li Jing and Su Qiong rendezvoused at an entrance to a cavern passage at the southernmost end of the "Greenhouse".

Meeting up with each other, Li Jing asked.

"Any news from the surface?"

"Not yet."

Su Qiong shook his head and said.

"I checked just now; the ’Greenhouse’ is connected to at least six different cavern passages, each heading in a different direction. Should we continue straight to the south, or...?"

"It will be better to proceed straight."

Li Jing said, adding,

"With so many interconnected caverns in the Secret Realm underground, it’s not an exaggeration to call it a massive labyrinth. The nature of the next cavern remains unknown; hastily changing direction could risk us getting lost."

Having said this, Li Jing turned his head and entered the southern cavern passage.

Seeing this, Su Qiong followed suit by sky control.

Soon, the two of them arrived at the next cavern through the passage.

This cavern has no oasis, merely a bare cave.

After separately exploring the area, they didn’t discover anything special and chose to continue onward.

...

Unbeknownst to them, over four hours had passed.

Li Jing and Su Qiong consecutively passed through and explored eleven caverns. They didn’t encounter a second "Greenhouse" and made no further discoveries. Instead, their exploration encountered a problem.

As they delved deeper underground, the oxygen content in the air was becoming increasingly sparse.

At their current location, the oxygen was already so thin that it was becoming difficult to breathe.

However, the concentration of Spiritual Qi underground was exceedingly rich.

Still, Spiritual Qi couldn’t replace oxygen for breathing.

This made for quite a tricky situation.

If not for their Four Realm cultivation level; reducing their oxygen needs, they might have already been forced to stop due to a lack of oxygen.

Continuing deeper would only worsen the conditions.

This problem was quite tricky.

To alleviate it, an oxygen generator would be needed.

As they controlled the wind to head for the next cavern, Su Qiong spoke.

"If we continue like this, oxygen deficiency will affect our condition. Let’s check one more cavern. If we don’t find anything, we turn back and choose a different direction to explore."

"Alright."

Li Jing nodded in agreement.

While other adverse conditions barely mattered, a low concentration of oxygen was indeed lethal.

Stubbornly continuing deeper might lead to unexpected trouble.

...

Soon, the duo entered the twelfth cavern following the "Greenhouse".

The moment they entered the cavern, both of them furrowed their brows.

This cavern, same as the previous ones, was just a barren cave.

However, deep within the cave, a palace stood in the distance.

This unexpected find was quite surprising and also put them on alert.

All the way down, aside from the previous "Greenhouse", the duo hadn’t encountered any anomalies.

Yet now, they had come upon a palace.

Exchanging a glance, Li Jing whispered.

"The architecture style of this distant palace is drastically different from the surface ruins. It probably belongs to an unknown wisdom civilization, but it looks like it’s been abandoned for quite a long time."

"Hmm."

Su Qiong replied, saying.

"Let’s get a closer look, be cautious."

"Let’s go."

Li Jing summoned the Flying Sword Blue Edge, leading the way by riding on sword light.

Upon seeing this, Su Qiong also utilized Sky Control to burst forth, following at a slightly slower pace.

In no time, both of them arrived near the palace.

The palace was indeed deserted.

Furthermore, judging by its existence, it seemed to be older than the group of ruins found on the surface.

Inside and outside the palace were severely dilapidated, with collapses everywhere, giving off a sense of rot and desolation.

Hovering near the palace, Li Jing turned his head.

"Can you smell anything?"

"No."

Su Qiong shook her head, saying.

"There’s nothing here."

Upon receiving this response, Li Jing glanced left and right, saying.

"The palace sits here all alone. Regardless of who it belongs to, there must have been intelligent beings living here once. Let’s go in and have a look, we might discover something."

Having said that, Li Jing landed on the ground.

Upon seeing this, Su Qiong took out her phone, capturing the full view of the palace before landing.

Entering the palace one after another, they found that the palace had a single large empty space within.

At the end of the palace, lay two thrones, one large and one small.

As for their size, the two thrones were incredibly large in general.

The smaller one was seemingly large enough for two people to lie on it as a bed and then could make several rolls back and forth.

The larger one was sufficient for over ten people to partake in a group activity.

The two thrones appeared to be made of stone, but their material was clearly not that simple.

While the entire palace was in ruins, the two thrones remained in great condition, with clear edges, only covered with heavy dust.

Upon seeing the thrones, Su Qiong slightly frowned.

"This palace seems to be a place for audiences?"

"It does seem so."

Li Jing responded, saying.

"There are two thrones, indicating that at least two intelligent beings held superior positions. Probably a male and a female, a king and a queen."

Saying this, he looked around the interior of the palace.

"This palace has no side halls or compartments, and the thrones are designed to be so huge, indicating that the intelligent beings owning this place were not small in size. There are no other buildings around the palace, which could have been destroyed in some disaster, leaving only this palace."

Su Qiong nodded upon hearing this.

Just as she was about to say something, her communicator in her pocket suddenly vibrated.

Noticing the movement, Su Qiong took out the communicator, saying.

"I have received a message from the ground, it’s a good time for me to report, you take a look around first."

"Alright."

Li Jing agreed, flying to the two thrones deep inside the palace, waving his hand to dust off the thrones.

Dust scattered, revealing the true face of the thrones.

The main body of the thrones was carved from a material similar to jade.

At first glance, there wasn’t anything special.

However, their preservation suggested they were at least some sort of spiritual objects.

Ordinary objects would inevitably decay under the impact of time.

Even spiritual objects would inevitably deteriorate with time, unless they had some special features.

Li Jing touched the throne lightly with his hand. The cool sensation told him that this throne was a treasure.

Since it’s a treasure, he must surely take it away, right?

He glanced down at the floor and saw that the two thrones were connected to the floor. Li Jing didn’t rush to tear them down and sat down on one place.

As soon as his backside touched, an angry roar sounded.

"Impudence! Who dares to defile my sacred clan’s throne?"

The sudden roar was deafening.

Li Jing shivered all over, quickly standing up.

As he was about to draw the Flying Sword Blue Edge, he looked up to see Su Qiong at the palace entrance, contacting the surface, oblivious to the anomaly.

Looking around, he saw nothing strange popping out anywhere.

No abnormalities were seen under the observation of the Sky Eye Technique.

Turning back to stare at the throne, Li Jing furrowed his brows.

Su Qiong obviously didn’t hear the roar just now, only he did.

But the roar wasn’t sounding directly in his ears.

What on earth was happening?

An auditory hallucination?

And what was this Saint clan?

Li Jing looked suspiciously at the throne for a while before deciding to sit on the smaller throne.

Subsequently, the angry roar rang out once again.

"Impudence! Who dares to defile my sacred clan’s throne?"

This time, Li Jing did not stand up. He just sat there, firm.

The roar of the weights continued to ring in his ears, repeating the same sentence over and over, getting louder and louder.

Li Jing scratched his ear, waiting quietly.

A repeating machine wasn’t something to panic about.

He wanted to see if sitting on the throne would summon anything.

Unfortunately, no strange phenomena occurred, only that the volume of the roar was gradually increasing.

After listening for a while, Li Jing could not determine if the throne itself was abnormal or there were other entities messing around. But he felt it necessary to check.

He stood up, turned around and drew the Flying Sword Blue Edge, striking in response.

"Ding!"

A crisp sound, the Flying Sword Blue Edge struck the throne and bounced off high, leaving no mark on the throne at all.

That hard?

Li Jing was surprised.

How sharp was the edge of the Flying Sword Blue Edge, which was already at treasure-level 10?

A single strike would typically cause damage unless met with an equal level treasure or a higher quality spirit weapon.

However, his strike couldn’t even leave a mark on the throne.

What a treasure!

Li Jing’s eyes lit up.

At this moment, Su Qiong ended her communication and flew over.

"What are you doing?"

Li Jing turned to her upon hearing the sound.

"These two thrones have a problem. See if you can sit down and check."

"A problem?"

Looking slightly stunned, Su Qiong sat on the smaller throne, then quickly stood up, her face full of astonishment.

"This roar is...?"

"No need to panic, it’s just a recording."

Li Jing waved his hand, saying.

"You stand back a bit, I’ll try to blast this throne. It’s hard to say about other things, but at least these two thrones seem to be treasures above Level 10, we need to take them with us."