Chapter 425 Ruins Exploration 2
Wu Shaogan placed his hands on Zhong Cai's shoulders and gently massaged them.
Zhong Cai tilted her head back and rubbed the top of her hair against Wu Shaogan's chin.
Both of them felt something was off.
Gao Sheng only saw Wu Douwang holding Zhong Danwang in his arms in an absolutely protective posture, and then Zhong Danwang responded. He thought it was because the place was too dangerous.
...Of course, it was dangerous, but the two of them were just taking a break from their busy schedules to have some fun.
·
Zhong Cai continued to absorb the airflow using the gas collection bottle. Much of the toxic gas and miasma had condensed into tiny droplets, and the concentration was gradually increasing. But he didn't stop; instead, he started walking around.
Wu Shaogan then moved the hand that was on Zhong Cai's shoulder to his waist and went with him, protecting him closely at all times.
As expected, after Zhong Cai left, the number of color blocks in the bottle increased again, indicating that the types of airflow were also increasing.
Each type of airflow has a variety of colors, and when concentrated, they can all condense into droplets. At first glance, it's impossible to distinguish which are poisonous gases and miasma, and which are special energies.
In general, naturally occurring toxic gases are relatively simple, and the liquids they form are pure in color; miasma can be simple or colorful, and the droplets it forms may even contain many extremely tiny, invisible living organisms; special energies are even more difficult to concentrate, and they may also be simple or complex in composition. Ultimately, the more powerful the energy, the more difficult it is to form droplets.
While collecting the samples, Zhong Cai also observed them carefully.
When he conducted his research, he started with the ones that formed droplets the slowest—after all, while he was also interested in the poisonous miasma and the remaining alien energy in Gao Nan's body, saving lives was his priority.
·
Seeing Zhong Cai collecting the items cautiously, Gao Sheng calmly stood guard on the side.
As expected, the popularity of the place attracted some wild beasts, and he immediately took action to kill them all and collect their corpses.
After Zhong Cai had walked around the area several times, and even had Wu Shaogan carry him around several times, but the number of color blocks in the Qi-collecting bottle had not increased..., Zhong Cai finally took out a rope, strung the bottles together, and hung it around his neck.
Then, under Wu Shaogan's protection, Zhong Cai deliberately picked up nearby plants, soil, and other materials.
Gao Sheng understood that they were looking for something to study.
·
Zhong Cai wasn't searching blindly, and her previous roundabout approach wasn't arbitrary.
Although he couldn't immediately distinguish all the collected air currents, he could basically determine which places and which air currents had a higher concentration in the area he had been traveling through by the speed at which the color blocks formed in the air collection bottle. In this way, things that were most affected by that air current could often be nurtured in the vicinity of those places, such as things that were incompatible or mutated.
If we want to find a way to rescue Gao Nan, we often need to find the necessary things from these things.
Therefore, Zhong Cai did not miss any place.
Before we knew it, the sky had darkened.
It was getting dark.
Whether it's a ruined ancient site or a desolate wilderness, it becomes extremely dangerous after dark.
To avoid any mishaps, Zhong Cai paused the activity and took the airship out again.
The group boarded the airship and spent the night there.
·
This site is quite peculiar; it does not restrict cultivators of any level from entering.
From the heavens to the heavens, you can go anywhere.
Given this, it is naturally difficult to determine the maximum number of dangerous savage beasts and rare animals among them.
According to the Xuan Yin Sect disciples who were secretly captured by Gao Sheng and plotted against Gao Nan, one of their Nirvana Elders stumbled into this place by accident. After a brief exploration, he discovered that there were many poisonous miasma and other substances here. Instead of reporting it to the sect, he planned to make more preparations before conducting a full-scale exploration.
The news of this ruin was shared with important figures in that faction. The disciple whom Gao Nan had offended had reached the Spirit Transformation stage and possessed considerable combat power, holding a high position within that faction.
Later, this disciple really disliked Gao Nan, and since Gao Nan didn't have any powerful backers within the organization, he secretly plotted against him, which led to the subsequent events.
It wasn't easy for Gao Sheng to capture that disciple. After some interrogation, the disciple couldn't bear it any longer and revealed a lot of information.
In short, according to the previous exploration by the Nirvana Elder, no ninth-tier rare beasts were found.
However, there are indeed eighth-order ones.
The entire ruins are also very dangerous... At the same time, it is precisely because there seems to be no ninth-rank here that those Xuan Yin Sect disciples dared to place their scheme here.
They believed they had plenty of defensive and escape methods at their disposal, and that even if they encountered level eight danger here, they could still escape.
However, it is still not entirely certain whether there is a ninth rank here.
Who says that Elder Nirvana's exploration at Xuan Yin Sect was entirely without problems?
Zhong and Wu, along with Gao Sheng, also had some concerns.
Gao Sheng decided to risk his life to protect the couple, not only out of concern for the War God Temple and the Spirit Immortal Sect, but also out of gratitude—because they were willing to take such a risk.
After all, this was originally just an unnecessary trouble.
The Zhong and Wu couple's idea was even simpler.
It wasn't actually that risky.
While ninth-tier rare beasts or savage beasts are undoubtedly powerful, the ancient city's defense level has already reached level nine.
Wu Shaogan will protect Zhong Cai, and he has already reached the seventh level. Even if he faces the pressure of the ninth level, he will not be unable to do anything without "moving his mind".
As long as he has the willpower, he can take Zhong Cai directly into the ancient city.
This is why Wu Shaogan was almost inseparable from Zhong Cai, and why part of his body was always in contact with her.
They certainly enjoy being affectionate and clingy, but it's also for their safety.
·
The airship's defense level is level eight, but it has been equipped with a level nine defensive array.
Several puppets were positioned in different places on the deck of the airship, observing the situation.
Gao Sheng has already achieved Nirvana and doesn't need to sleep to rest, so he is responsible for meditation and keeping watch.
Zhong Cai also stayed awake. Taking advantage of the quiet of the night, he took out all the research materials and began to analyze them.
Wu Shaogan sat next to Zhong Cai, his eyes half-closed, as if he were dozing off, or as if his gaze was always fixed on Zhong Cai.
·
That night was indeed far from peaceful.
As soon as darkness fell, the defenses outside the airship were triggered.
Gao Sheng went out to investigate and, sure enough, saw a giant beast, seven or eight zhang tall, crashing into the airship!
The flying boat was originally small in size and seemed tiny in front of the behemoth, but it had a unique ability to grow larger when the behemoth wanted to trample it from above. It would grow to at least the same size as the behemoth.
So when Gao Sheng came out, he was met with the giant beast's blood-red pupils.
It's creepy.
Gao Sheng was, after all, a seasoned cultivator. After briefly assessing the strength of the giant beast through their mutual pressure, he immediately rushed out of the flying boat and quickly engaged in battle with the giant beast!
The behemoth had just entered the eighth rank.
Even though Gao Shengye was in the early stages of Nirvana, he had gone hunting in the mountains many times over the years to raise resources for himself and his beloved son. Although he was not invincible when facing beasts of the same level, he was extremely experienced and could quickly identify the opponent's weaknesses.
After fighting for more than three hours, the giant beast collapsed with a crash!
Gao Sheng happily accepted the giant beast's corpse.
There were many other peering beast eyes nearby, but perhaps intimidated by the scene of battle, they dared not approach. They only dared to wait on the sidelines for the two terrifying creatures to be defeated so that they could take advantage of the situation.
However, things did not go as these observers had hoped, so the savage beasts died at the hands of the cultivator, and even their corpses quickly disappeared—that cultivator was really stingy, not even leaving them a single drop of beast blood.
Afterwards, Gao Sheng went into the cabin.
At the door, he used his own profound energy to shatter the powerful aura of killing intent and malevolent energy he had carried during the previous battle, so as not to let these auras interfere with Zhong Cai's research after he went inside.
Just as Gao Sheng was ready and entered the room, he heard Zhong Cai's voice, which sounded somewhat surprised.
"That's interesting."
"These savage beasts actually contain only trace amounts of poison?"
“Something’s not right… Old Wu, I took a closer look at the ones you hunted before. Do you know what they have in common? The folds of their skin or the ends of their fur all have tiny specks of dust stuck to them!”
“I took these dust samples and confirmed that they are all exactly the same type.”
"After some research, I discovered that this thing can actually block poison gas..."
Gao Sheng did not disturb him, but simply stood quietly by the wall, listening to Zhong Danwang's story.
But then the young cultivator, who had always maintained the appearance of a boy, used a sharp object to pick up several pieces of savage beast meat that had already had the blood removed and put them into a transparent container next to him.
The container originally contained a lot of clear liquid, but at this moment, all the liquid boiled wildly.
After it finally calmed down, Gao Sheng was shocked to discover that many extremely tiny creatures seemed to have appeared inside, swimming in the strangely colored "water," which was obviously very full of life.
At this moment, Zhong Cai said again:
“Old Wu, look, these are all meats taken from different beasts. We also looked at the beast blood just now. No matter which one it is, almost none of them contain toxins. Only the beasts that are very large and of very high level may have inhaled too much of the airflow in the ruins, so after many years of sedimentation, they contain a trace of toxins in their bodies.”
"In addition, the energy contained in the meat of different beasts often varies. Some are mild, some are violent, and some are very complex, seemingly composed of a variety of energies intertwined together."
"Whether it's beast blood or beast meat, it contains a very high concentration of miasma... Some of it is just ordinary miasma, but much of it is rich in an extremely large number of tiny creatures. They seem to coexist with the beasts in a very delicate internal environment, but how long they 'compromised' with each other before coexisting is unknown."
"Look at the blood of this savage beast. It's no longer the red blood of most living beings, but a bluish-red. After this blue part is placed in a special medicinal solution to settle, it disperses and becomes countless tiny blue creatures. Apart from them, its blood is a fairly pure bright red."
"It probably mutated to this state after struggling to survive in these ruins..."
Wu Shaogan listened attentively, nodding in agreement, and occasionally asked questions, all of which were answered by Zhong Cai.
Gao Sheng listened very attentively, especially after hearing the term "tiny creatures," he suddenly felt a sense of relief—luckily, he hadn't eaten the meat of the beasts he had killed before, otherwise, he feared that miasma would have invaded his body, and with those tiny creatures constantly corroding his internal environment, it was hard to imagine what kind of torment he would have suffered.
I'm really glad he didn't sell it.
Otherwise, if any cultivator gets sick from eating this beast meat, it would be entirely their fault.
Gao Sheng felt a lingering fear in his heart.
At the same time, Gao Sheng's admiration for Zhong Cai grew stronger.
In just a few short hours, this Pill King has already researched so much with incredible success!
He couldn't be happier.
·
The next day at dawn, Zhong Cai still had Wu Shaogan accompany him as they went around in circles looking for materials.
Zhong Cai utilized material resources thoroughly, but the amount of materials he consumed was also enormous.
In just one night, he had already used up a lot of research materials—because in order to be efficient, he did not study one type at a time, but rather studied multiple types at the same time, and would also take time to "do more work" while the research materials were reacting.
The amount of effort Gao Sheng put into Zhong Cai's life was also staggering.
However, he also consciously observed his surroundings, not wanting to hold back the two Pill Kings and Battle Kings.
His level of understanding is the highest; he should be able to play a greater role.
·
And so they collected samples during the day and studied them at night.
Gao Sheng witnessed Zhong Cai making many new achievements every day and eliminating a lot of the alien energy she had collected early on, and he gradually became more and more expectant!
That very night, Zhong Cai's eyes were bright, and she showed no signs of fatigue.
He showed a gas collection bottle, revealing the only two types of energy remaining inside.
Because other color blocks no longer exist, and as these two types of energy are gradually absorbed, they occupy a larger area, forming clearer color blocks that allow people to see with the naked eye what exactly they are.
From this perspective, both energies appear to have an unusual hue within their grayness, somewhat eerie, yet they seem quite powerful.
Zhong Cai shook the Qi-gathering bottle and revealed a bright smile: "These two are the two abnormal energies that Brother Gao Nan still has in his body!"
Since Gao Nan's body only has two types of energy left, it is only necessary to collect blood and refine it with special medicinal liquid to obtain some extremely tiny droplets formed from those two types of energy.
But once you get here, you'll find that there are quite a few color patches in the gas collection cylinders that are similar to this abnormal energy.
Therefore, it is not easy to make a judgment.
Therefore, Zhong Caicai needed to go through multiple verification methods before finally confirming it.
Gao Sheng immediately went over and asked nervously, "Then..."
Zhong Cai's expression turned serious, and he said, "However, the main diffusion range of these two energies is not in places where grass and trees grow and there is a lot of soil."
Gao Sheng held his breath: "...What do you mean?"
Zhong Cai pointed behind him and sighed, "Those two types of energy just happened to come out of the cave entrance. In other words, they are most concentrated deep inside the cave. The energies that are similar to these two unusual energies are what appear in the mountains and forests."
This is why Zhong Cai wanted to thoroughly understand and clarify the situation.
Because even a slight mistake can lead to admitting fault, and once a mistake is admitted, the solution will change, and the consequences could be disastrous.
The reason why Zhong Cai could even distinguish them was because he was extremely perceptive about things related to "alchemy".
It's not visible to the naked eye, but Zhong Cai's subconscious seems to have been giving him hints all along.
This is probably closely related to Zhong Cai's talent in alchemy.
·
After hearing Zhong Cai's words, Gao Sheng immediately wanted to rush into the cave.
Zhong Cai raised her hand and immediately stopped him.
Gao Sheng had only been concerned about his son before, but now that he was being stopped, he paused and decided to follow the doctor's advice.
Zhong Cai said, "I'm not entirely sure what's going on inside the cave, but we can't go in yet. Also, Senior Gao, you should stay outside the cave. Otherwise, if something happens outside while we're all inside, we'll all be trapped and unable to escape."
Gao Sheng opened his mouth, naturally wanting to refuse.
To reiterate, he is the strongest and saved his son, so he should be the one to go on the adventure.
Zhong Cai shook his head and said, "Shao Gan and I will take the puppets. Senior Gao, you just need to guard the cave entrance."
Gao Sheng still frowned, torn between his inner turmoil.
Zhong Cai sighed and said, "Senior Gao, have you noticed that this relic should belong to the evil forces in ancient times?"
Gao Sheng was stunned for a moment.
If it's because of poisonous miasma and alien energy... could it also belong to some forces that are skilled in poison making, but not necessarily evil ones?
Zhong Cai remained resolute and said with certainty, "After studying this for the past few days, I can basically confirm that the earlier generations, or even earlier 'ancestors' of these savage beasts, actually underwent changes through the cruel methods of the evil path. Generation after generation, they may have combined with poisonous miasma, abnormal energy, and other factors, resulting in special mutations that allowed them to survive."
"Some plants have also undergone treatments, including many environmental changes, all of which bear the mark of unusual methods..."
"If they were righteous cultivators, these ruins wouldn't have changed into this state."
Gao Sheng's pupils contracted sharply, and after thinking it over, he agreed with Zhong Cai's conjecture.
He thought that there might be other evil methods in this cave, and he also thought that he didn't know much about this. If he went in, he might not only fail to unleash the power of Nirvana, but might also become a threat to the two of them... The unpredictability of evil paths is hard to describe. Anything can happen, and even if he were to achieve Nirvana, he might not be able to stop it.
On the contrary, Zhong and Wu, being a Daoist couple, would find it difficult to harm each other even if they were bewitched by evil methods.
They went in together, bringing along puppets that were mindless and unaffected by such evil methods. This would provide greater assistance and reduce the likelihood of things going wrong.
In a flash, Gao Sheng finally understood.
He exhaled and said solemnly, "In that case, I'll leave the matter of my son to you two."
Zhong Cai waved her hand and said casually with a smile, "No need to be so polite. Senior Gao, you've worked hard these past few days running around with us."
Wu Shaogan smiled slightly at Gao Sheng and nodded in agreement with Zhong Cai.
Gao Sheng quickly added a few more polite words.
After that, the group said no more. Gao Sheng stood guard in front of the cave, while Wu Shaogan carried Zhong Cai on his back and walked steadily into the cave.
The three puppets are positioned with one at the very front leading the way and the other two following behind.
The group of "people" quickly disappeared into the cave.
Gao Sheng stood solemnly, feeling his entire body on high alert.
·
After entering the cave, Zhong and Wu began to communicate telepathically.
"Old Wu, if I'm not mistaken, those two abnormal energies might be... of Yin and Yang attributes."
Wu Shaogan was taken aback.
[Yin-Yang attribute?]
Although I haven't observed it closely, if it's related to the Yin-Yang attributes, I should be able to sense it without much observation.
Zhong Cai nodded, resting her chin on Wu Shaogan's shoulder.
Therefore, it is a mutation.
Wu Shao chuckled dryly, a flash of inspiration crossing his mind. Many thoughts suddenly came to mind, and then another guess appeared.
Are the other two similar but different energies also derived from variations of Yin and Yang attributes?
Zhong Cai nodded again.
I suspect there might be something in this cave that also possesses yin and yang attributes. It's this yin and yang energy that's being released, then mutated due to the environment here, and then dissipated.
Because there isn't just one factor influencing mutation, the energy generated by mutation is naturally the same...
[When I checked before, I found that although the two similar color blocks were almost indistinguishable, the extremely subtle differences could have a huge impact on how an alchemist treats patients.]
Therefore, I think we need to come in and investigate the root cause ourselves, figure out exactly what it is, before we can make further judgments. We also need to find the factors affecting the mutation and match them with the mutated energy derived from them.
If all goes well, various changes will create resources within the cave, which will need to be collected and identified one by one...
Wu Shaogan listened quietly.
Finally, Zhong Cai made a decision.
[Old Wu, you've worked hard!]
Wu Shaogan raised an eyebrow.
Zhong Cai chuckled.
I'll handle the judgment; Lao Wu will do the work.
There was a hint of helplessness in Wu Shaogan's telepathic message.
Of course I will do as A-Cai tells me to.
[When has it not been like this?]
The cave was pitch black, but the two cultivators had night vision.
But if Zhong Cai carefully observes Wu Shaogan's expression, she will find that he shows no sign of helplessness.
Wu Shaogan simply smiled broadly, appearing to be in a very good mood.
·
As the two ventured deeper into the cave, they began to hear rustling sounds.
It sounded like many tiny insects were moving, coming from the direction of the mountain wall.
It's very tiring for the ears.
It felt like it was drilling directly into my brain, making me a little dizzy.
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