He leaped into the air, soaring upward before plummeting down with immense force.
When his feet slammed onto the mountain, a thunderous boom erupted. The entire mountain range trembled violently, its rocks and earth instantly disintegrating into dust.
The mountain range vanished.
In its place, a massive cauldron lay sprawled across the desert.
Just as Gu Qingfeng had suspected, this was never a mountain but a Magical Treasure.
The Giant Cauldron was as large as a mountain, its color a dull gray-green. It was an eight-legged cauldron, each leg coiling around its body like a lifelike, vivid dragon.
Standing atop the Giant Cauldron, Gu Qingfeng felt as insignificant as an ant. He extended his Divine Sense to probe it and discovered that although the cauldron had lost its luster and its structure was in disarray, it still possessed a faint 'vitality'.
Having 'vitality' meant the treasure's Source still remained.
All living beings between heaven and earth possess a Source.
Immortals, demons, Humans, sages, monsters, ghosts, and fiends—including cave dwellings, secret realms, and worlds—any existence with spiritual nature has a Source. Magical Treasures were no exception.
For a Human, the Source is the soul. Lose the soul, and life is gone, leaving only an empty shell destined to turn to dust.
If a world loses its Source, it loses its laws. Its structure collapses, and the world itself disintegrates.
The same holds true for Magical Treasures.
Losing its Source is like a person losing their soul.
Fortunately,
although this Giant Cauldron was 'gravely wounded' and on the brink of destruction, its Source was still intact.
With this thought,
Gu Qingfeng continued to probe with his Divine Sense, searching for the treasure's Source. Before long, he located it. In a flash, he entered within.
The interior of the Giant Cauldron was a world of its own, resembling a cavern dwelling with many great halls and secret chambers. But more numerous were the Corpses and Bones.
They were everywhere.
These remains likely belonged to those who had intruded later. Most had met unnatural deaths. Gu Qingfeng pondered whether these people, after breaking in, had turned on each other, fighting over some treasure.
Such occurrences were common, especially within ancient Ruins—nothing out of the ordinary.
Humans die for wealth, birds for food. A rare treasure could often change one's destiny, allowing an instant ascent to the heavens. Many would risk their lives for such a chance.
Moreover, this was a Ruin from the Desolate Ancient Era.
As for what kind of terrifying Calamity had occurred in the Desolate Ancient Era, perhaps no one knew. But one thing was clear to many: countless Great Dao powerhouses had perished during that era, including numerous Great Dao predecessors and even Great Dao progenitors.
What did that signify?
It signified that the Desolate Ancient Era also buried countless Great Dao Magical Treasures.
Most of the Great Dao Magical Treasures inherited by the various overlords of the Great Desolate, including the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, were lost during the Desolate Ancient Era. Legendary divine weapons capable of destroying heaven and earth—such as the Donghuang Bell, the Xuanyuan Sword, the Pangu Axe, the Demon-Refining Pot, the Haotian Pagoda, the Shennong Cauldron, the Kongtong Seal, the Kunlun Mirror, the Nüwa Stone, and others—all vanished during that era.
Some had said that if one could enter a Ruin from the Desolate Ancient Era, even finding just a single stone would count as a rare treasure.
Previously, Gu Qingfeng had always believed such legends about the Desolate Ancient Era were exaggerated.
Only after entering the Primordial Black Hole and these Desolate Ancient Ruins did he realize the legends were not exaggerated. He had entered over a dozen Desolate Ancient Ruins, one after another. Without exception, they were all endless deserts. Even the space itself lacked a Source. All Corpses and Bones turned to dust at the slightest touch.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know whether it was the Calamity of the Desolate Ancient Era or the endless passage of time that had destroyed everything. Regardless, anything that survived from the Desolate Ancient Era, even if it truly was just a stone, could absolutely be called a rare treasure.
Thus, earlier, he had pocketed that broken stone stele inscribed with the characters 'Ren Zong'.
Now, discovering such a Giant Cauldron within these Desolate Ancient Ruins—one that still possessed 'vitality'—Gu Qingfeng didn't yet know if this object was a Great Dao Magical Treasure. Even if it wasn't, he reckoned it must at least be a sect-protecting treasure.
However,
what slightly puzzled Gu Qingfeng was this: if these deceased had truly killed each other over some treasure, why was this Giant Cauldron still here?
Could it be that they all fought to the death until none remained?
That didn't seem right either.
Because Gu Qingfeng noticed that both outside and inside the Giant Cauldron, there were only Corpses and Bones, not a single other Magical Treasure. Since the bones hadn't decayed, the treasures shouldn't have either. They were probably taken by the final Survivor.
That final Survivor, who even seized the treasures of his fellow cultivators, wouldn't likely leave behind a Giant Cauldron that still had vitality.
Gu Qingfeng reasoned there were only three possibilities.
Either the final Survivor was unable to remove the Giant Cauldron from these Desolate Ancient Ruins.
Or the final Survivor took the other treasures and left alone.
Or the final Survivor died here.
If that Survivor neither left nor died, then he must still be here, inside this very Giant Cauldron.
With this thought, Gu Qingfeng didn't hesitate. He quickened his pace, heading straight for the treasure's Source.
When he arrived at a great hall, the sight before him gave him a start.
Corpses and Bones were everywhere.
Piled one upon another, they nearly filled the entire hall.
In the very center of the hall was a well. Its mouth shimmered with multicolored light, as if sealed by some formation.
Gu Qingfeng recognized at a glance that the treasure's Source was hidden within this well. This well was none other than the treasure's eye.
He didn't approach immediately. Instead, he halted at the entrance, his brow slightly furrowed as he stared at a figure beside the treasure's eye.
It looked more like a desiccated corpse than a person. The figure was emaciated, sitting cross-legged. Its tattered robes hung loosely, and its head was bowed, with white hair scattered like withered grass.
This person was alive.
But barely.
Their life force was nearly exhausted, hanging by a thread, as if only one breath remained.
Beside this person lay not only piles of Corpses and Bones but also heaps of various Magical Treasures and cultivation resources.
The bones were dead. The various Magical Treasures and resources were also dead. The spiritual energy of the resources had been completely drained, and the Sources of the treasures had been sucked dry.
Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng understood. This person was likely the final Survivor of that mutual slaughter. They hadn't left—not because they didn't want to, but probably because they couldn't. If they could have left, they wouldn't have stayed here waiting for death.
It was truly a wait for death.
Draining their cultivation bit by bit until their life force was utterly spent.
To survive, they had not only absorbed all the spiritual energy from the resources but had also drained the spiritual energy from every Magical Treasure. Everything that could be absorbed, and even things that shouldn't have been, were completely dried up. Glancing at the mountain of Corpses and Bones, Gu Qingfeng even suspected that these people hadn't been killed by this Survivor but had their vital essences completely sucked dry.
If that were truly the case, then this person must have been trapped here for an exceedingly long, unimaginable stretch of time.