"What's wrong? Is there a problem here?"

Liu Yunqing didn't say anything, only glanced at Wuchen, and then began digging that section of the ground.

Wuchen originally wanted to ask Liu Yunqing if they should use weapons, but seeing that she was moving very cautiously, and remembering that he had used his divine sense to check before and found nothing wrong, he guessed that this place was probably not a place where cultivators could use their methods.

Whether or not it's useful is no longer important.

By the time Wuchen finished thinking, Liu Yunqing had stopped digging and was carefully lifting a piece of wood with both hands.

The piece of wood landed in Liu Yunqing's hand, and before she could wipe the dirt off it, it flashed with light and transformed into a bow without a string, shooting straight at Liu Yunqing's brow.

Despite the seemingly calm surface, Liu Yunqing's body was violently thrown backward by the impact.

Fortunately, although the force was fierce, it was only for a moment, and after the entire piece of wood entered Liu Yunqing's body, it quickly merged with her aura and had no intention of harming her.

Seeing this, Wuchen knew that this was an opportunity for Liu Yunqing, so he withdrew his probing gaze and lowered his eyes, saying:

"You should rest and recuperate first. I'll go to the entrance to protect you."

Liu Yunqing stopped Wuchen in the next instant, and said after catching her breath:

"No need, I just need to catch my breath. There's still something down there."

In her divine sense, Liu Yunqing only saw the wood on the altar and did not see if there was anything under the altar. However, just after she dug out the wood, she sensed that there was some kind of power fluctuating beneath it.

What is it?

Upon hearing Liu Yunqing's words, Wuchen asked a question while already moving to the edge of the pit.

There was indeed a fluctuation in power, but there should still be some distance between them.

Wuchen dug around with his bare hands, but found little progress. He turned to Liu Yunqing and told him to stand back. Then he threw out a round bowl, made a hand seal, and covered the pit with it.

Liu Yunqing saw the altar begin to shake, and then the buried altar revealed its full form from the ground.

The dust-free bowl did not stop; it increased its strength and sucked hard, dragging the altar away from its original position.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

As the altar was dragged away from its original location, a long-dormant power transformed into hurricanes, causing the temple ruins to tremble precariously.

The wind was so strong that even Wuchen, a Golden Core cultivator, was unsteady on his feet.

Not only were they unable to stand steadily, but the hurricanes that lashed at them caused their cultivation levels to rise rapidly.

How terrible!

Wuchen has only been at the Golden Core stage for a short time, and his cultivation level is rapidly approaching the late Golden Core stage, with no sign of stopping.

Liu Yunqing was already in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and his cultivation level increased rapidly, easily reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Seeing the spiritual energy within her body continuing to accumulate, Liu Yunqing felt a little panicked.

The Golden Core stage is not the same as Qi Refining and Foundation Building. As long as you accumulate enough spiritual power, you can break through the barrier and advance directly.

Spiritual energy can be squeezed to form spiritual liquid, but for spiritual liquid to condense into a golden core, squeezing alone is useless.

Before a cultivator can comprehend the opportunity to advance to the Golden Core stage by squeezing out spiritual liquid, they must first understand the key to condensing the Golden Core.

Given Liu Yunqing's talent and comprehension, if he were to cultivate diligently in the outside world, the opportunity to advance to the Golden Core stage might come naturally when his spiritual energy is sufficient.

In the current environment, so suddenly, Liu Yunqing was completely unprepared and naturally could not grasp the opportunity instantly.

The growth of spiritual power will not stop just because Liu Yunqing has not grasped the opportunity.

Soon, Liu Yunqing felt that her body could no longer hold any spiritual energy, and she gradually felt a faint tearing and soreness in her meridians and acupoints.

If this continues, the only outcome will be death by explosion.

Having no other choice, Liu Yunqing glanced at Wuchen, who was also overwhelmed by spiritual energy and had no time to care for himself. With a determined heart, he gritted his teeth and was determined to force his way to the Golden Core stage.

The hurricane stopped the next instant, and the spiritual energy ceased to accumulate. Just as Liu Yunqing was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a powerful suction force came from the cave entrance where the hurricane had stopped.

Liu Yunqing and Wuchen were sucked into the cave entrance without making a sound and fell downwards again.

"ah!!!"

This series of changes happened so fast that Liu Yunqing instinctively screamed halfway, but the second half of the scream was still stuck in her throat. She looked down and was so shocked by the scene below that she lost her voice.

Within a massive, boundless, transparent fireball, a golden hibiscus tree stands tall.

As the branches of the Fusang Divine Tree swayed gracefully, strands of spiritual energy, imbued with profound Daoist principles, spread outwards through the enormous fireball in all directions.

In this moment, a ray of inspiration flew right before Liu Yunqing's eyes.

Startled, Liu Yunqing felt as if her soul had drifted away with that wisp of light.

Liu Yunqing watched as it burst forth from the fireball, swept past her, and casually plunged into the dark earth, transforming into countless starlight.

Liu Yunqing also turned into starlight, buried deep in the soil, and then waited quietly.

Waiting to be absorbed by the roots in the soil, by the minerals in the soil, and by the rivers that flow through the soil.

They also sensed that the spiritual energy slowly emerged from the depths of the soil, transforming into a vast expanse of spiritual energy that was absorbed by different cultivators or demonic beasts.

Even if Liu Yunqing had never seen this place before, he now understood what it was and what it was.

This is the Earth's core.

That transparent fireball is the fire from the Earth's core.

The Fusang Divine Tree within the Earth's Core Fire is the life-giving tree of the Sun Realm—commonly known as the "Mother Tree" or the "Life Tree."

The abundance of the mother tree determines the concentration of spiritual energy in this realm.

The more lush the mother tree becomes, the more vibrant the realm will be; conversely, if it withers, the spiritual energy will be depleted, and the realm will perish.

If the mother tree flourishes to a certain extent and successfully bears the Dao fruit, then this realm will go through a period of stability before moving to the next level.

If the mother tree withers to a certain extent, it will not only be unable to nourish the realm, but will also need the realm to feed it back. In this case, the realm will become a mortal realm and then dissipate into the void.

"The mother tree of the Sun Realm is actually the Fusang Divine Tree?"

As long as one doesn't harbor ill intentions, the fire from the earth's core isn't scorching. As soon as the two landed, Liu Yunqing quickly ran forward, wanting to get a closer look.

Wuchen, who followed closely behind, looked at Liu Yunqing with some surprise when she heard her call out the name of the Fusang Divine Tree.

Seeing that Liu Yunqing didn't seem to realize that something was wrong, and considering the various signs that she had woken up, he knew that something must have happened during the time when he could sense her but couldn't find her.

The thought crossed Wuchen's mind, but he didn't investigate further. Like Liu Yunqing, he focused his attention on the mother tree.

In his view, the mother tree was thriving and had been providing spiritual energy to the Sun Realm, and did not seem to have lost its vitality and needed to be fed back.

Could it be that the great calamity of the Sun Realm's rank reduction did not originate from the Mother Tree?

But what other circumstances, besides the death of the mother tree, could cause the Sun Realm to be downgraded or even annihilated?

Wuchen was puzzled. After thinking for a moment, he turned to ask Liu Yunqing:

"Fellow Daoist Zhenru, have you discovered anything?"