After the monster vanished, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed. They gasped for breath and collapsed wearily onto the ground. The fierce battle with the monster had exhausted almost all of their spiritual and physical strength.

Lin Feng looked at his equally disheveled companions, his heart filled with emotion. If it weren't for their united efforts, they would have had no chance of survival against such a powerful monster. He slowly stood up and walked to the wall. The array on the wall had gradually dimmed, but the mysterious runes still emitted a faint glow.

"This formation is so powerful that it directly annihilated that monster," Su Ran exclaimed, his eyes still filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.

Xuanfeng nodded slightly, and said thoughtfully, "This ruin is far more complex than we imagined. These runes and formations may hold important secrets about this ruin."

The female general stood up, straightened her armor, and said, "In any case, we've overcome another obstacle. But who knows how many more dangers await us in these ruins?"

After resting for a while, everyone's physical and spiritual energy had recovered. They once again turned their attention to the runes on the wall. Lin Feng leaned closer to examine them carefully and discovered that the runes seemed to form a piece of text, but it was too ancient, and the text was obscure and difficult to understand.

Just then, the woman from the Blood Shadow Sect, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "I have seen similar words in the sect's ancient books, and perhaps I can decipher them." Upon hearing this, everyone gathered around.

The woman from the Blood Shadow Sect stared intently at the runes, her brows furrowed, muttering incantations. After a long while, she slowly said, "These inscriptions record that this place was once the cultivation ground of an ancient powerhouse. This powerhouse was skilled at fusing the power of multiple elements, creating unique techniques and supernatural abilities. And that monster just now seems to have been the last line of defense he set up to protect his legacy."

"Inheritance?" A hint of excitement flashed in the white-robed woman's eyes. "If we can obtain the inheritance of this ancient powerhouse, our strength will surely increase greatly."

Lin Feng's heart stirred, and he asked, "Then do you know where the inheritance is located?"

The woman from the Blood Shadow Sect shook her head and said, "The runes don't mention it explicitly; they only say that those who pass the test will receive guidance."

As the group was discussing, a melodious bell suddenly rang out from within the ruins. The sound seemed to come from a great distance, yet it also seemed to echo right beside them. As the bell rang, the runes on the walls lit up again, and the light began to extend deeper into the ruins, as if guiding the group forward.

“It seems this is what they call guidance,” Xuanfeng said.

They exchanged glances, each seeing unwavering resolve in the other's eyes. Guided by the runic light, they ventured deeper into the ruins. Along the way, various strange murals appeared on the walls of the ruins, depicting a powerful figure in a long robe, fighting against numerous opponents, unleashing powerful spells that combined elements of water, fire, wind, and earth, resulting in astonishing power.

"This ancient powerhouse is indeed formidable, able to wield the power of multiple elements so skillfully," Su Ran couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

As they ventured deeper into the ruins, the surrounding temperature began to drop sharply, and a thick layer of frost covered the ground and walls. Lin Feng sensed the dense ice-elemental spiritual energy around him and a thought struck him: perhaps this ancient powerhouse also possessed unique insights into ice-elemental spiritual energy.

Suddenly, a wide river appeared ahead. The water was black and exuded a chilling aura. There was no bridge across the river, and its end was nowhere in sight. Lin Feng tried to touch the river with his Ice Halberd. As soon as he made contact, a thicker layer of ice formed on the halberd, and a cold force traveled up the halberd, making his arm go numb.

"There's something strange about this river, everyone be careful," Lin Feng warned the group.

Just then, a huge splash suddenly appeared in the river, and a monster resembling a giant turtle emerged from the water. Its shell was covered with sharp ice spikes, its eyes gleamed with a ghostly blue light, and its breath carried an icy chill.

"Looks like we're in trouble again." The female general gripped her long sword tightly, and the Zhengyang Army soldiers quickly formed ranks.

The giant tortoise opened its massive jaws, unleashing a jet of icy water towards the group. The water jet moved with incredible speed, reaching them in the blink of an eye. Lin Feng quickly activated an ice shield, protecting everyone within it. The water jet struck the shield, splashing up large amounts of ice crystals, and the shield itself trembled slightly from the powerful impact.

Feng Wu urged the five-colored phoenix forward, its body ablaze with blue flames, as it charged towards the giant tortoise. The giant tortoise, however, remained unperturbed, its head retracting and its entire body shrinking into its shell. The phoenix's flames struck the tortoise's shell, producing only a hissing sound, but failing to cause any real damage.

Seeing this, Xuanfeng condensed countless wind blades and shot them towards the gaps in the tortoise shell. However, most of the wind blades were deflected upon hitting the shell, with only a few managing to squeeze into the gaps, but even those seemed to have no effect.

Although Xuanfeng's wind blades squeezed into the cracks in the tortoise's shell, they didn't seem to cause much damage. After lying dormant inside the shell for a moment, the giant tortoise suddenly poked its head out again, spewing out an even more intense burst of icy air. This air transformed into a massive wave of ice, sweeping towards everyone with overwhelming force.

Knowing the power of the ice wave, Lin Feng acted decisively. While maintaining his ice shield, he shouted, "Everyone, concentrate your spiritual power and reinforce the shield!" Hearing this, everyone poured their spiritual power into Lin Feng's shield. The ice wave crashed heavily against the shield with a deafening roar, and countless fine cracks instantly appeared on its surface.

"This shield can't hold!" Su Ran shouted anxiously. Just as the shield was about to shatter, the female general suddenly shouted, "Zhengyang Army, listen to my command! Pierce with your spears and break through the ice waves!" The Zhengyang Army soldiers thrust their spears into the ice waves in perfect unison, using the force of the spears to slightly reduce the impact of the ice waves.

At the same time, the woman in white and the woman from the Blood Shadow Sect joined forces to cast a spell. The woman in white formed intricate hand seals, summoning a blazing barrier of flames, while the woman from the Blood Shadow Sect moved with uncanny agility behind the barrier, continuously launching projectiles imbued with crimson light. The flame barrier hissed upon contact with the icy waves, releasing a large amount of steam that temporarily blurred the giant tortoise's vision. Taking advantage of this opening, the crimson projectiles shot towards the giant tortoise's eyes.

Sensing danger, the giant tortoise retracted its head into its shell, but several projectiles still grazed its eyelids, making it feel threatened. It angrily rolled in the water, the splashes shooting towards the group like cannonballs.

Seeing the opportunity, Lin Feng shouted to Feng Wu, "Feng Wu, attack its head now!" Feng Wu understood immediately and urged the Five-Colored Phoenix to charge towards the spot where the giant tortoise had just poked its head out. The flames around the Five-Colored Phoenix burned even more fiercely, and as it approached the giant tortoise, it transformed into a giant firebird and fiercely pecked at the tortoise's head.

The giant tortoise couldn't dodge in time and was pecked by the firebird, leaving a deep wound on its head from which blood flowed freely. In pain, it thrashed its body wildly, causing the entire river surface to tremble violently.

"Keep attacking! Don't give it a chance to breathe!" Lin Feng shouted. Everyone unleashed their strongest spells, and for a moment, various lights and spells intertwined and flashed on the river surface. Xuan Feng condensed a huge wind dragon, roaring as it charged towards the giant tortoise; Su Ran conjured countless sharp ice spikes around the giant tortoise, shooting them at it like a torrential rain; the female general led the Zhengyang Army soldiers, hurling their spears at the giant tortoise.

Under the relentless attacks of the group, the giant tortoise gradually lost its ability to resist. Its shell was covered in cracks, and its body was riddled with wounds. Finally, it sank helplessly to the bottom of the river, and the surface gradually returned to calm.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but they dared not let their guard down. They carefully observed the river surface and, after confirming that there was no sign of the giant turtle reappearing, began to think about how to cross the black river.

Just then, Lin Feng noticed some shimmering stones floating on the river. These stones seemed to have appeared just after the giant tortoise was defeated, and they formed a winding path that stretched all the way to the opposite bank.

"Looks like this is the way to cross the river," Lin Feng said. The group carefully stepped onto the stones, walking step by step towards the other side. During the crossing, Lin Feng sensed a peculiar spiritual energy contained within the stones, seemingly guiding the flow of spiritual energy within their bodies, which he found quite wondrous.

After the group successfully reached the other side of the river, a magnificent stone gate appeared before them. The gate was covered with runes similar to those on the walls they had seen earlier, and in the center of the runes was a circular groove.

Lin Feng subconsciously took out the rune-engraved stone he had obtained in the ruins and tried to place it into the groove. As soon as the stone was placed in, the runes on the stone door shone brightly, and the stone door slowly opened.

Behind the door was a huge stone chamber, in the center of which sat a crystal coffin radiating multicolored light. Inside the coffin lay a skeleton dressed in a magnificent robe, holding in its hand an ancient book that exuded a mysterious aura.

As the group approached the crystal coffin, they sensed the powerful spiritual energy emanating from the ancient text. The woman from the Blood Shadow Sect carefully examined the skeleton and the ancient text, saying, "This should be the remains of that ancient powerhouse, and this ancient text is very likely the inherited cultivation technique he left behind."

Just as everyone was preparing to examine the stone chamber further, the floor suddenly began to shake violently, and cracks spread out from all directions. From the cracks, large amounts of black mist surged out, and faint, eerie roars could be heard from within the mist.

"Oh no, something's happened again!" Lin Feng gripped the Ice Sword tightly, alert.