Upon hearing this, the female general's eyes flashed with delight: "This might be an important clue. May I ask if you could tell me in detail where the stone tablet is located?"

The woman from the Blood Shadow Sect frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said, "The ruins are located deep in the Misty Forest, surrounded by all sorts of dangerous restrictions and demonic beasts. I only managed to enter by chance, and the stone tablet was protected by a mysterious force, so I couldn't take it with me."

Lin Feng chimed in, "In that case, why don't we head to the Misty Forest together and explore it? Perhaps we can find key information related to Yunze Ancient City on the stone tablet, and then find one of the Five Divine Artifacts."

Ling Yun nodded in agreement: "I also think this plan is feasible. However, the Misty Forest is fraught with dangers, and we must be fully prepared."

After discussing the matter, the group decided to first replenish their supplies and elixirs in a nearby town, while also returning to prepare some magical artifacts to deal with potential dangers. A few days later, the group met at the agreed location and set off together towards the Misty Forest.

As they reached the edge of the Misty Forest, a thick fog rolled in, carrying a faint, decaying odor. Lin Feng wrinkled his nose: "This fog is strange. Everyone be careful, don't get separated."

Holding his sword, Ling Yun cautiously observed his surroundings: "I've heard that this Misty Forest is not only home to various powerful demonic beasts, but also to some ancient remnants of restrictions. A slight misstep could lead to utter destruction."

The female general gripped her spear tightly, her eyes resolute: "No matter what, in order to find a way to deal with the crisis of the demon god, we must take this risk."

The group cautiously entered the Misty Forest. As they ventured deeper, the fog thickened, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Suddenly, a deep roar echoed from ahead, followed by a massive beast bursting forth from the mist. This beast resembled a black panther, its body covered in sharp scales, and its eyes gleamed with an eerie green light.

Ling Yun reacted first, wielding his sword and unleashing a golden sword aura towards the demonic beast. The beast nimbly dodged the aura, then opened its blood-red maw and lunged at Ling Yun. Lin Feng swiftly cast an ice spell, conjuring a thick layer of ice beneath the beast's feet in an attempt to halt its advance. However, the beast was incredibly fast, using the ice as leverage to continue its charge towards Ling Yun.

Seeing this, the female general thrust her spear forward, the tip imbued with sharp spiritual energy, aiming straight for the monster's throat. Sensing the threat, the monster forcibly twisted its body in mid-air, avoiding the fatal blow, but the female general's spear still managed to carve a deep wound on its body.

Taking advantage of the moment, the woman in white cast a spell, sending countless flower petals flying towards the monster. The petals transformed into sharp blades, slicing through the monster's skin. The monster roared in pain, its scales suddenly bristling, shooting out black spikes that hurtled towards the group.

Everyone hurriedly cast spells to defend themselves. Xuanfeng used his wind-elemental spiritual power to deflect most of the spikes, while Linfeng used his ice halberd to block the spikes flying towards him. The Blood Shadow Sect woman flashed, appearing behind the monster like a ghost, and stabbed her dagger fiercely at the back of the monster's neck. Sensing the attack from behind, the monster swept its tail, sending the Blood Shadow Sect woman flying.

Seizing the opportunity, Ling Yun unleashed the Heavenly Sun Sect's ultimate technique, the "Nine Yang Sword Art." Flames erupted from the sword, transforming it into a gigantic sword shadow that slashed towards the demonic beast. Sensing this immense power, the beast tried to dodge but it was too late. Struck by the sword shadow, it let out a miserable cry, its massive body collapsing to the ground and dissipating into a wisp of black smoke.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could rest, the ground suddenly began to shake violently. Lin Feng's expression changed: "This is bad, the battle just now may have triggered some kind of restriction."

The surrounding mist rapidly condensed, forming massive pillars that pressed down on the group. Ling Yun shouted, "Don't panic, everyone! Join forces to resist!" The group immediately channeled their spiritual energy, unleashing their strongest spells in an attempt to withstand the mist's attack.

However, the power of the mist pillars was beyond imagination, and the group's resistance was proving difficult. The female general gritted her teeth, channeling all her spiritual energy into her spear. The spear shone brightly, and with a shout, she thrust it towards one of the mist pillars. With a "boom," a gap was pierced in the mist pillar, but it quickly reformed.

Just as everyone was in trouble, the woman from the Blood Shadow Sect suddenly remembered a mysterious jade pendant she carried. She had obtained this pendant from the ruins; at the time, it emitted a faint light, seemingly resonating with some power within the ruins. She hurriedly took out the pendant, and under the influence of the restriction, its light intensified.

The Blood Shadow Sect woman tried throwing the jade pendant towards a pillar of mist. After spinning a few times in the air, the pendant suddenly released a soft light, enveloping the mist pillar. Miraculously, the mist pillar, enveloped by the light, began to slowly dissipate. Seeing this, everyone was overjoyed and placed their hopes on the jade pendant.

The Blood Shadow Sect woman manipulated the jade pendant, causing its soft light to gradually spread and envelop more of the mist pillars. Under the pendant's light, the originally menacing mist pillars dissipated, and the tremors of the ground gradually ceased. The crowd gazed at the jade pendant, their eyes filled with surprise and curiosity.

Lin Feng couldn't help but ask, "What is the origin of this jade pendant, that it has such miraculous effects?"

The woman from the Blood Shadow Sect gently shook her head: "I'm not quite sure either. I only know that I obtained it in those ruins. When I entered the ruins, it began to emit a faint light, seemingly resonating with some kind of power within them."

Ling Yun looked at the jade pendant thoughtfully: "It seems that this jade pendant must be closely related to the ruins we are looking for. Perhaps it can help us find more clues in the Misty Forest."

The group continued on their journey, and with the jade pendant's guidance, the dangers they encountered significantly decreased. The pendant occasionally emitted a faint light, indicating their direction. As they ventured deeper, the surrounding fog gradually thinned, and the outline of an ancient building began to appear in the distance.

"It seems this is the place." The female general gripped her spear tightly, watching the area ahead warily. The group slowly approached the ancient building, only to find its doors tightly shut, covered with various strange runes and patterns. These runes and patterns were extremely similar to those on the "Lingxiao Sacred Scripture" and the stone tablet mentioned by the Blood Shadow Sect woman.

Ling Yun stepped forward and carefully examined the runes: "These runes seem to contain some kind of ancient formation. Opening them rashly may trigger danger."

Lin Feng also came over and tried to decipher the meaning of the runes by circulating his spiritual power: "Although I have some knowledge of runes, these runes are too complicated and difficult to decipher in a short time."

Just when everyone was at a loss, the woman in white said softly, "Perhaps I can give it a try." Everyone turned to look at her, and saw that the woman in white took out a jade slip that emitted a soft light. This jade slip was a legacy from her sect, and it was said to have miraculous effects on breaking various restrictions and runes.

The woman in white affixed the jade slip to the door. The jade slip shone brightly, resonating with the runes on the door. The runes began to flicker and dance, as if they had come to life. As the runes changed, the door slowly opened, and an ancient aura wafted out.

Behind the door was a long corridor, its walls inlaid with glowing gems that illuminated the path ahead. The group walked cautiously along the corridor when suddenly, Lin Feng felt an unusual fluctuation beneath his feet. Startled, he shouted, "Everyone be careful! There's a trap!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the passage floor suddenly cracked open, revealing bottomless black holes. At the same time, countless sharp arrows shot out from the walls. Ling Yun reacted quickly, casting his "Nine Suns Shield," a golden flame shield enveloping everyone and blocking the arrows.

Lin Feng conjured a thick layer of ice above the black hole to prevent everyone from falling. The Blood Shadow Sect woman seized the opportunity, flashing towards the mechanism on the side of the passage. With a swipe of her dagger, she destroyed the trap's mechanism, stopping the ground from cracking and halting the arrows from being fired.

The group continued forward, and at the end of the passage was a huge stone chamber. In the center of the chamber, a stone tablet stood silently. The tablet was covered with dense patterns and characters, exactly as the Blood Shadow Sect woman had described.

The crowd excitedly gathered around, carefully studying the contents of the stone tablet. Ling Yun circulated his spiritual power, attempting to decipher the ancient characters: "These characters seem to record a hidden history of Yunze Ancient City. Yunze Ancient City was once the stronghold of a powerful sect in ancient times. This sect guarded a mysterious artifact, which is said to possess the power to suppress demons."

The female general frowned and said, "But how can we know if this artifact is one of the five great artifacts? And where is Yunze Ancient City now?"

Lin Feng looked at the patterns on the stone tablet and noticed that some of the lines seemed to form the outline of a map: "Look, these patterns look like a map. Perhaps we can find the location of Yunze Ancient City through it."

Xuanfengzi also chimed in: "But this map is incomplete; we need more clues to piece it together."

Just as everyone was focused on studying the stone tablet, the door to the stone chamber suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang. Immediately afterwards, a group of stone figures emerged from all around the chamber, wielding weapons and charging towards the group.

Ling Yun shouted, "Everyone be careful! Although these stone figures are lifeless, their strength should not be underestimated." With that, he swung his sword at the stone figure charging at the front. The sword struck the stone figure, sending sparks flying. The stone figure only swayed slightly and continued its attack on Ling Yun.

The female general wielded her spear, the blade flashing, forcing back the approaching stone figures. Lin Feng, meanwhile, used ice magic to create ice walls among the stone figures, hindering their movement. The woman in white manipulated flower petals, transforming them into sharp blades that sliced ​​through the bodies of the stone figures.