The Black Mist's unusual activity caused Zhao Li to fall into deep thought. He felt there must be some connection between the stone coffins that could cause the Black Mist to vibrate like that.
Ascending for a panoramic view, he marked the three stone coffins and meticulously analyzed them. Zhao Li formed some conjectures.
After experimenting, Zhao Li felt a mix of heaviness and anticipation:
"The Eight Trigrams?"
Since he had found a method, Zhao Li didn't delay any longer. He restored all the stone coffins, but only opened eight of them, corresponding precisely to the positions of the Eight Trigrams.
Suddenly, intense spatial fluctuations appeared at the location of the central stone coffin. Immediately, a channel emerged and swallowed the stone coffin.
Looking at the channel before him, Zhao Li pondered for a moment before slowly approaching.
The unknown can bring both fear and curiosity.
"Was this created by an exceptionally brilliant figure of this world, or...?"
Carrying this question, Zhao Li stepped into the channel.
Not long after he entered, Venerate Shenzang appeared at the location with his people.
Watching the Spatial Channel about to close, a figure swiftly darted over, entering the channel at the last moment.
Shenzang was startled and shouted:
"Venerable Elder!"
He moved even faster, but the channel he had arrived through was closing. His heart was filled with anxiety.
Soon, Venerate Shenzang calmed down. The Venerable Elder was far stronger than him. If he encountered Zhao Li inside, taking him down should be easy. Right now, he should focus on seeing if they could open the channel again.
Understanding the crucial point, Shenzang said in a deep voice:
"Everyone, there's something unusual here. Perhaps the true Ruins haven't appeared yet. Let's explore separately. If we find anything, we can make further progress. If not, we can only report it and alarm Heavenly Venerate."
The others had no objections. People are self-interested, and they also hoped to gain some benefits within the Ruins. Naturally, they didn't want to report the situation immediately. Moreover, it was still unknown if the channel led to the Ruins; it was just a guess.
The few people split up and began exploring the area...
After entering the Spatial Channel, Zhao Li didn't take long to reappear outside. It was completely different from the wormhole he had created earlier. Rather than a channel, it was more like a gateway.
Leaving the channel, Zhao Li scanned his surroundings. Before him was a boundless plain.
Focusing his perception, Zhao Li was somewhat surprised. The Dou Qi in this place was much richer than outside, and he could sense that the Space here was more fragile than outside.
Zhao Li speculated to himself:
"Could this be a Pocket World?"
Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, Zhao Li casually chose a direction and left on his own.
No matter what this place was, since he was here, he had to explore it.
Not long after Zhao Li left, a black figure appeared on the plain. It was the Soul Hall's Venerable Elder - Mo Yu, the future Nine Heavenly Venerates, who was now a Five-Star Dou Venerate expert.
Heavenly Venerate Mo Yu appeared on the plain, a look of joy on his face:
"I didn't expect this to be the true location of these Ruins. It seems I, Mo Yu, am destined for this opportunity."
With his knowledge, he could naturally discern that this was a Pocket World. His heart filled with joy, imagining the immense gains from this trip, which would allow him to compete for a position among the Nine Heavenly Venerates.
Mo Yu chose a direction and left, which happened to be the opposite of the one Zhao Li had taken.
The wind rustled the grass, and the empty plain fell silent once more...
Although it was just a Pocket World, it was extremely vast. Zhao Li felt like a fish entering water here; the feeling of freely controlling Space was truly captivating.
Even so, Zhao Li walked for two days before encountering a village.
Entering it, he saw crisscrossing paths, heard chickens and dogs, and saw elderly people with yellowing hair and young children with pigtails, all living contentedly.
Zhao Li's Soul Power subtly extended, and his heart was immediately startled.
The village wasn't large, with about forty to fifty households and a population of less than two hundred.
In Zhao Li's perception, although there were no powerful experts here, he discovered that everyone in the village was a cultivator. Most of the older individuals were Dou Spirits, with only a few younger ones being below the Dou Spirit level. Zhao Li was horrified:
"How is this possible?"
Although he longed for a world where everyone had a chance to become strong, where the strong had principles and the weak had opportunities, seeing the situation in the village still shocked him.
Zhao Li was keen to investigate. Even if he found nothing, he at least wanted to know what era this place originated from.
Zhao Li didn't immediately go out. He first observed for a while, learning their language.
Combined with his powerful Soul Power, he could sense the mental fluctuations of their communication and roughly understand what they meant.
Two days later, Zhao Li changed his appearance, becoming identical to the villagers, though much thinner than them. Only then did he walk in.
Under the large tree at the village entrance, two old men saw Zhao Li, looked at him repeatedly, and furrowed their brows:
"Who are you? I've never seen you before."
Zhao Li gestured with his hands and explained in a halting language:
"My home is on the other side of the mountain. It was attacked by Magical Beasts and is gone now."
As he spoke, Zhao Li's eyes dimmed.
The elder was silent. They also encountered such situations, but because there were many strong hunters in the village, they had managed to survive.
A moment later, the two elders nodded and invited Zhao Li into the village.
"Little Melon, come in first."
Zhao Li was suddenly stunned when he heard this. A feeling of familiarity rose in his heart.
It had been a long time since he had heard the address 'Little Melon'.
Seeing that he seemed to still be immersed in grief and hadn't reacted, the elder called out again.
Zhao Li came back to his senses and, after thanking them, walked into the village.
Having finally met people, Zhao Li naturally wanted to stay for a while, at least until he learned the language.
Although the inheritance in this world didn't necessarily have to rely on written words, that was the privilege of powerful forces. And this kind of inheritance could easily be interrupted if a strong person suddenly died. More things were passed down through writing.
What's more, with a village this incredibly strong, there was no reason for Zhao Li not to explore it. If his ideals could become reality and universal Cultivation Techniques could reach this level in the future, he would be extremely satisfied.
Zhao Li moved into the village, but for several days, he was like an orphan, quiet and withdrawn.
On the second day, Zhao Li silently built a small house in a corner of the village. When others saw him, they didn't bother him, and occasionally someone would even bring him food.
A month later, Zhao Li seemed to have emerged from his sadness and began to integrate into the village.
During this time, although Zhao Li rarely interacted with people, he had been observing and learning.
He discovered that these people went out hunting once every half a month, and their life the rest of the time was just like that of ordinary people outside – a normal village, except for their astonishing strength.
One day, two children passed by and greeted Zhao Li:
"Big brother, hello. Want to go to the Academy together?"
Zhao Li's eyes flickered. In the past month, although Zhao Li could listen and speak, he hadn't seen any written words, and even if he had, he wouldn't know their corresponding sounds and meanings. The Academy should be the most likely place to learn. Perhaps then he could find out the origins of these people.
Zhao Li nodded and put down the work he was doing.
"Oh, it's you. Okay, let's go together."
At the end of the village, there was a small courtyard that had been vacant for a long time and was set up as an Academy. Several older people in the village often taught classes here.
Zhao Li and the two children came here and sat quietly in a corner.
The things the elder taught were very ordinary, nothing more than recognizing characters and talking about the deeds of predecessors. But the children, who were born in the village and had never been outside, listened happily, their eyes sparkling.
Zhao Li silently memorized these words.
The class didn't last long, about an hour before it ended.
The following days passed quietly in this peaceful routine.
A few days later, after the young adults in the village returned from hunting again, Zhao Li looked at the fallen prey, a Fourth Tier Magical Beast, and asked in shock:
"Village Chief, they are all so strong. This Magical Beast looks even stronger than the one that destroyed my home. How did they manage to hunt it?"
The Village Chief looked at Zhao Li's small body and sighed:
"Good child, since you've settled here, start practicing with them tomorrow."
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