Gu Qingfeng was contemplating the mysteries of the Artifact Eye's seal when suddenly, a voice reached him.
“Youn...g man... thank... you.”
The voice was extremely weak and hoarse, dragging out the syllables as if it had taken every ounce of strength just to utter those words.
Gu Qingfeng withdrew his Divine Sense and looked towards the mysterious elder beside him.
The elder remained seated cross-legged, head drooping, with dry, straw-like hair hanging loosely. His Physical Body was shriveled and devoid of vitality, resembling a mummy, appearing no different than before. The Spirit Gathering Array Gu Qingfeng had set up was functioning normally; only the Primordial Essence serving as the array's eye had lost its luster.
Clearly, the array had taken effect.
Primordial Essence was a precious treasure formed by heaven and earth over endless eons, containing pure Spiritual Energy essence, a rare item for restoring vitality. Back in the day, Gu Qingfeng had won a large sum through gambling in the Dual-Polar Celestial Domain and specifically purchased a lot of Primordial Essence, originally intending to use it to restore his own vitality.
Alas, his Physical Body was corrupted and chaotic; Primordial Essence had no effect on him whatsoever. Even now, with his meridians and acupoints unblocked, his body clear and free of impurities, it still had no effect.
Gu Qingfeng was long accustomed to this. Ever since tempering his body with the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame back then, his Physical Body had embarked on a bizarre and extreme path. The more powerful his body became, the less effective so-called resources were. Now that his body had become like this, even guzzling the legendary wines "Heaven Has the Dao" and "Hell Is Fickle"—said to be potent enough to make one drunk enough to lie down between heaven and earth—was like drinking plain water to him, let alone something like Primordial Essence.
However, under the nurturing warmth of the Primordial Essence, the mysterious elder, though still extremely weak, had at least regained consciousness.
“It was nothing more than a trivial effort,” Gu Qingfeng said.
The elder was now on his last breath and could only rely on the array's gradual, step-by-step nurturing. As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng took out another piece of Primordial Essence and placed it within the array, continuing to nurture the elder with it.
“Youn...g man... what... era is the Present Age?”
Gu Qingfeng replied, “The Present Age is ten thousand years old.”
“What is the Mandate of the Present Age?”
“The Mandate of the Star Monarchs.”
“Star Monarchs...” the mysterious elder murmured weakly. “Present Age Star Monarchs, Ancient Era Thrones, Remote Ancient Era Imperial Seals... It seems this old man has truly been trapped here for far, far too many years...”
“Did you come here from the Remote Ancient Era?”
“Yes... I did.”
“In that case, you have indeed been here for a very, very long time.”
Honestly, Gu Qingfeng didn't know exactly how many years had passed since the Remote Ancient Era, only that it was an immensely long time.
While it was said that cultivation knew no years, and one could enter seclusion for millions of years, that only applied to seclusion.
During seclusion, one would constantly be nurtured by Spiritual Energy, fully immersed in visualization and contemplation.
But within these Ancient Ruins, everywhere was desolate, without a trace of Spiritual Energy. Here, forget seclusion; merely surviving for millions of years was already remarkable. One must understand that in a place devoid of Spiritual Energy, every day spent consumed one's own Cultivation Level. A year or two, a decade or a century, even a millennium—one might persevere. But for ten thousand years, or even a hundred thousand years or longer, no matter how high one's cultivation, there would inevitably come a day when it was completely exhausted.
This mysterious elder had stubbornly persisted within these Ancient Ruins from the Remote Ancient Era all the way to the present. The time involved was far more than a hundred thousand years; it was likely over a million years. From this alone, one could tell this elder's Cultivation Level was profound and unfathomable, at the very least a giant Ancestral Patriarch.
“May... I ask... how did you, little brother, come to be here?”
The weak voice of the mysterious elder came again. Gu Qingfeng didn't tell the truth, instead lying, “These ancient Ruins have just manifested into the world, so I came in to take a look, to see if I could find any treasures.”
“What did you say?”
Upon hearing this, the mysterious elder suddenly raised his head. Good heavens, it was a face beyond description—like skin stretched over a skull, with skin as dry and wrinkled as tree bark. His eyes had long sunken in, devoid of eyeballs, leaving only two hollow sockets. His nose and mouth were also mere skin over bone.
It was clear the elder was shocked. Beyond shock, there was more surprise, as if a mummy had suddenly come back to life. He stared fixedly at Gu Qingfeng. “These Ruins... have truly... manifested?”
Gu Qingfeng nodded in response. “That's right.”
“Good! Good! Good! Excellent...” The mysterious elder uttered three 'goods' in succession, then slowly lowered his head again.
“Does the elder know from which era these Ruins originate?”
The elder fell silent for a moment before responding faintly, “I do not... know... I do not know.”
“Then why have you stayed here for so many years?”
Another long silence followed. After a considerable while, the elder finally spoke. “This old man's Dao title is Lin Chi. I am the Supreme Elder of Dan Ding Valley.”
Hearing that the elder was actually a Supreme Elder of Dan Ding Valley, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but chuckle softly. “So it's an Ancestral Patriarch of Dan Ding Valley. My apologies for the disrespect.”
“During the Remote Ancient Era, these Ruins manifested in the Great Wilderness. Many people rushed in to adventure and seek treasures. This old man and other elders from Dan Ding Valley were no exception. Unfortunately, not long after we entered... these Ruins inexplicably fell from the Great Wilderness Heaven and Earth into the Endless Sea Beyond the Outer Heaven...”
The second piece of Primordial Essence was depleted. Gu Qingfeng hurriedly took out a third piece and continued the nurturing. He didn't speak, merely listening quietly.
The Dan Ding Valley Ancestral Patriarch who called himself Lin Chi, due to his extreme weakness, was currently unable to absorb Spiritual Energy or take any medicinal supplements. He could only slowly accept the nurturing warmth of the Primordial Essence. He continued, “Everyone was trapped here, unable to leave. At first, everything was still manageable. But as the time spent trapped here grew longer and longer, some people began to change... Especially those demonic cultivators. In order to survive, they began killing and plundering... seizing all resources...”
“The elders of our Dan Ding Valley joined forces and fought those demonic cultivators to the death, but in the end, some died, some were injured... Only this old man was fortunate enough to survive...”
“So that's how it was.” Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, lost in thought about something.
“This old man's Cultivation Level was exhausted. I relied on collected magical treasures to barely hold on. I originally intended... to open the seal of the Artifact Eye and rely on its origin power to sustain myself, but the seal was too profound.”
Ancestral Patriarch Lin Chi's voice grew increasingly hoarse and faint as he continued, “This old man spent a very, very long time finally comprehending it. Sadly... by the time I had comprehended it, my Cultivation Level was already completely depleted, and my consciousness had grown hazy...”
“Oh?” Gu Qingfeng exclaimed in surprise. “The elder has comprehended the mysteries of this seal?”
“Yes... I have...” After uttering these two words, Ancestral Patriarch Lin Chi seemed to stop breathing.
“Elder!”
Gu Qingfeng called out several times, but Ancestral Patriarch Lin Chi showed no reaction. He walked over, squatted down, and called out again a few more times. Ancestral Patriarch Lin Chi still showed no reaction. Just as Gu Qingfeng was about to conduct a detailed examination, Ancestral Patriarch Lin Chi—who seemed to have breathed his last—suddenly acted like a corpse springing back to life. He abruptly raised his head. Within the two hollow, eyeless sockets, a torrent of killing intent surged forth. As he raised his hand, his five fingers formed into a claw aimed straight for the crown of Gu Qingfeng's head.