Exploring Immortality Cultivation
Chapter 427 - 180: The Secret of the Demon Clan's Extinction, Wielding the Power of Spirit Awakening

With the digestion of a large amount of food, Wang Qi's body began to transition from skeletal thinness to normal. After his muscles fully recovered, the protective layer of fat started to reemerge. This signified that Wang Qi's recovery was nearing its end. At the same time, he came to understand more about the ruins.

Indeed, the ruins were remnants left by the Ancient Demon Clan, but during the Middle Ages, they had been occupied by Loose Cultivators of the Human Clan. Zhen Chan lived ten thousand years ago when Spiritual Energy was exhausted, and resources scarce, an era called the End of Law Era, which greatly necessitated the exploration of ancient ruins to replenish oneself. Thus, Zhen Chan also conducted considerable research on the Demon Clan ruins.

According to Zhen Chan, this place was likely a gathering point for a major Demon Clan family. The Demon Clan did not acknowledge parents but only venerated mentors; the concept of a "clan" or "sect" was hard to apply to their family model. What was certain was that this was most likely a settlement with a temple at its core. Because it was a habitat, there weren't many lethal killing methods around to prevent Little Demons with insufficient Spirit Wisdom from accidentally triggering a Killing Array. For a Demon Clan settlement with numerous inhabitants, using the complex terrain to slow down enemies and then methodically encircling them with superior forces was an excellent choice. Apart from a main entrance, the outskirts of a Demon Clan settlement were laced with these complex and intricate passageways.

"Complex and intricate? How complex can it be?"

Zhen Chan explained, "As far as I know, it's like a small maze. For someone who remembers the way, they can pass through quickly, and even if one doesn't know the path, they can figure it out after several attempts. The maze itself doesn't confine or kill people, but if you walk into a dead end, it will activate a mechanism, and from the small doors at the end of the passageway, a Guardian will emerge..."

"A Guardian? Are you kidding me? How many years has it been since the Demon Clan perished?"

Zhen Chan replied, "It is not a living member of the Demon Clan. Some objects have persisted from the Ancient times to the present day and are still operational."

Wang Qi then expressed his confusion, "This is an abandoned settlement, right? The Demon Clan left, but they still left a guard behind? That mindset is quite peculiar."

"The Modern Immortal Path also regards it as an Unsolved Mystery," Zhen Chan continued. "Many Ancient Demon Clan ruins, although clearly abandoned, do not contain a single corpse. The Spirit Prohibitions remain intact, and sometimes, there are even guards similar to Spiritual Artifacts. The inhabitants here seem to have received an order and retreated in an orderly manner."

Zhen Chan's words sent a chill up Wang Qi's spine.

He thought back to earlier mentions of the "Fermi Paradox," the "Great Filter"... Could it really be that in this universe there's some mechanism like "when a civilization reaches a certain standard of advancement, it triggers a great cleansing"? Did the Ancient Demon Clan Civilization abandon all their achievements because of that?

The thought flashed through Wang Qi's mind and he quickly tossed it aside. If the Reapers came, they'd meet the Divine Castle, and if that reverse-spiral thing arrived, it'd be welcomed by a drill. In any case, there was no need for a junior like Wang Qi to step forward and bear the brunt. What's most important now was to get out of here...

After some thought, Wang Qi asked Zhen Chan, "So you're saying that triggering the mechanism is inevitable if one walks into a dead end? But there must be some limit to this triggering system, right?"

It's like an automatic fire suppression system; if its sensitivity is turned up to the maximum, and it sprays water whenever the temperature of something below it rises above human body temperature, then the area under its coverage will surely never catch fire. However, the trade-off is that no one will be able to live in that area either.

Any similar defensive mechanism would have certain conditions for activation.

Zhen Chan said, "Only Unopened Spirit Demon Clan members can enter a dead end without triggering the Restriction. For everything else, if it carries Mana fluctuations, whether it's a human, a Magic Artifact, or an opened Spirit Demon member, it will all incur the wrath of the Guardian."

"Unopened Spirit Demon Clan members... Who the hell would bring such an encumbrance to explore ruins?"

Wang Qi sighed in resignation and slapped the wall of the passageway heavily with his palm.

"Be careful, boy! Breaking the wall will still summon enemies!" Zhen Chan scolded in a low voice.

Wang Qi then asked, "Is finding the small door through the maze of passageways the only way in? Once found, can we just go straight through?"

"Of course not. In fact, controlling the passageway is just a desperate measure, because the small door at the end of it is also sealed with Restriction, only allowing Guardians to pass through. Unopened Spirit Demon Clan members who touch it will be repelled, while Human Clan Cultivators will be mercilessly annihilated!"

"Going through the passageways is actually just a chance for Loose Cultivators or smaller Sects to strike it lucky. The simplest method is to 'forcefully attack the main gate.' That leads directly to the Demon Clan Temple, and according to Demon Clan faith, it cannot have guards, so there's only a Restriction at the small door that is more than ten times stronger. A direct assault on the main gate doesn't require fighting with Guardians, one simply needs to wear down the Restriction with successive attacks."

"That custom... No guards in the temple? Really hard to comprehend."

"Demon Clan customs are quite different from those of humans; there's nothing difficult to understand," Zhen Chan was saying when he suddenly heard a grating "giggle crackle" sound. Turning to look, he was shocked to see Wang Qi prying a piece of rock from the wall with his bare hands. "Boy... what are you doing?"

Using his ability to split rocks with bare hands and then injecting a Material Wave into the crevices to widen them further, Wang Qi quickly pulled out a dozen or so rocks. "These rocks aren't terribly hard to break, some more talented open Spirit Demon Beasts could also pry them apart. So this probably won't trigger an alarm..."

Zhen Chan roared, "What if it does? Boy, don't forget that your 'Strong Luck' doesn't come into play when you can't connect to the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm!"

A Protagonist Halo that needs WiFi to work... sounds rather lame. Wang Qi waved his hand dismissively and pointed to the claw marks on the ground and walls: "These claw marks are quite fresh."

Armed with his rock-splitting ability, Wang Qi quickly extracted over twenty pieces of stone from the walls and floor. Zhen Chan asked, "What do you want so many stones for?"

"These stones have been near Spirit Prohibition for a million years, faintly infused with Spirit Power Flow, so they have undergone a qualitative change," Wang Qi said with a smile. "And now, it's time to witness a miracle."

He tossed the stones into the air and shouted, "Wood large, wood large, wood large, wood large!" Amidst the erratic shouts of "wood large," Wang Qi struck each stone with a punch. The rocks, under the force, scattered and fell. After a brief moment of stunned silence, Zhen Chan asked, "That's the miracle?"

"Didn't you see?" Wang Qi countered.

Just as Zhen Chan was about to unleash his sarcasm, it was as if he heard the sound of a seed breaking through its shell.

There was life.

Life was being born before his very eyes!

In Zhen Chan's astonished Spiritual Sense, the stones that Wang Qi had just struck had incredibly completed their Spirit Awakening in an instant! (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)