Having failed with his first move, Ancestor Lin Chi fell back on his old trick. His withered, corpse-like body swelled up once more as he ignited his bloodline, attempting to detonate his physical form.
Just as before, the self-detonation did not harm Gu Qingfeng in the slightest. After the explosion, Ancestor Lin Chi again attempted to seize Gu Qingfeng’s body by invading with his soul. Unfortunately, no sooner had he invaded than Gu Qingfeng’s Spiritual Flame incinerated him cleanly once more.
Last time, after Ancestor Lin Chi was reduced to ashes, the seal on the Magical Treasure Eye had mysteriously vanished.
This time, the same thing happened.
Everything seemed to be repeating itself.
Gu Qingfeng once again released his Divine Sense to probe the Magical Treasure Eye, but this time, too, he detected nothing.
Soon, he decided to enter the Magical Treasure Eye again.
Last time he had jumped in, it felt like falling into a chaotic current.
This time was no different.
Last time, jumping into the Magical Treasure Eye had brought him to an identical Desolate Ancient Ruins.
What drove Gu Qingfeng to despair was that this time, after jumping into the Magical Treasure Eye, he once again arrived at an identical Desolate Ancient Ruins.
This ruins, too, had no Source, no laws, and no discernible structure. The sky was like a massive whirlwind churning with the chaotic currents of the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, while below stretched an endless desert. In the distance, a mountain range resembling a skeletal dragon lay sprawled across the sands.
Gu Qingfeng shattered the mountain range with his absolute power, and an identical Giant Cauldron appeared once more.
He entered the Giant Cauldron.
The Magical Treasure Eye was again sealed by an identical seal.
Around the Magical Treasure Eye were piled the same bones, and beside it lay the same barely-alive Ancestor Lin Chi.
After killing Ancestor Lin Chi the first time, the seal had mysteriously vanished.
The second time was the same.
After killing Ancestor Lin Chi the third time, the seal mysteriously vanished again.
And so,
Gu Qingfeng jumped into the Magical Treasure Eye once more.
The result was that, for the fourth time, he arrived at the same Desolate Ancient Ruins.
The same mountain range, the same Giant Cauldron, the same Magical Treasure Eye, the same Ancestor Lin Chi, the same seal.
After killing Ancestor Lin Chi again, the seal once more mysteriously disappeared.
The fourth time was like this, and so were the fifth, sixth, seventh…
All identical.
Every time Gu Qingfeng jumped into the Magical Treasure Eye, he would return to this Desolate Ancient Ruins.
A sense of foreboding grew stronger and stronger within him.
This time, after arriving at the ruins, he did not head for the Giant Cauldron. Instead, he did the opposite. Looking up at the chaotic whirlwind vortex in the sky, he leaped up and charged into it.
Logically, exiting from here should have led to the Desolate Ancient Black Hole. After all, before arriving at this particular ruins, Gu Qingfeng had moved in and out of over a dozen Desolate Ancient Ruins, and each time he had exited into the Desolate Ancient Black Hole.
But this time, something unexpected happened.
It wasn’t that the outside wasn’t the Desolate Ancient Black Hole; rather, Gu Qingfeng simply could not break out of the chaotic whirlwind vortex. The vortex, unbeknownst to him, had been sealed!
A closer look revealed,
Good heavens!
The seal on the chaotic whirlwind vortex was identical to the seal on the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye!
What in the blazes is going on!
Gu Qingfeng returned to the Desolate Ancient Ruins, opened the mountain range again, and re-entered the Giant Cauldron. Spotting the barely-alive Ancestor Lin Chi beside the Magical Treasure Eye, he went up and delivered a kick, instantly reducing Ancestor Lin Chi to ashes. The withered body turned to dust, the smoke-like soul dissipated into nothingness, and immediately after, the seal once again mysteriously vanished.
He had lost count of how many times this had happened. Gu Qingfeng even began to suspect there was some connection between this Ancestor Lin Chi and the seal. Otherwise, why would the seal mysteriously disappear every time he killed Ancestor Lin Chi? It felt as if Ancestor Lin Chi was the Source sustaining the seal.
He didn’t understand. He didn’t know.
Gu Qingfeng jumped into the Magical Treasure Eye again.
As with the previous times, he returned to the same Desolate Ancient Ruins he had just left.
Again, he reversed course and attempted to charge out through the chaotic whirlwind vortex in the sky. Sure enough, the vortex was still sealed, and the seal remained identical to the one on the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye.
Although perplexed, Gu Qingfeng did not fly into a rage or panic. He just found the whole situation utterly bizarre.
Calming himself, he thought carefully. Gazing up at the chaotic whirlwind vortex in the sky, staring at the seal, he suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility.
Damn it all!
Could it be that there’s some connection between this Desolate Ancient Ruins and the Giant Cauldron? Or perhaps… are the seal on the chaotic whirlwind vortex in the sky and the seal on the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye actually the same seal?
With this thought,
Gu Qingfeng returned once more to the interior of the Giant Cauldron. Without even looking, he kicked Ancestor Lin Chi into oblivion again.
The seal on the Magical Treasure Eye vanished once more.
This time, Gu Qingfeng did not jump in. Instead, he left the Giant Cauldron and headed straight for the chaotic whirlwind vortex in the sky. To his delight, this time the seal on the vortex had also mysteriously vanished.
But after the initial delight,
Gu Qingfeng soon realized he was most likely trapped within this Desolate Ancient Ruins.
Because if the seal on the chaotic whirlwind vortex and the seal on the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye were indeed the same, then charging out through the vortex would not lead to the Desolate Ancient Black Hole, but rather to the Magical Treasure Eye of the Giant Cauldron.
Sure enough.
When Gu Qingfeng charged out of the chaotic whirlwind vortex, he truly returned to the great hall of the Giant Cauldron.
Without dwelling on it, after exiting, he charged back into the chaotic whirlwind vortex. This time, there was still no seal, but exiting the vortex again brought him back to the Magical Treasure Eye of the Giant Cauldron.
This time, Gu Qingfeng was more cautious. He deliberately left behind a jar of wine as a marker. Exiting through the chaotic whirlwind vortex and returning to the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye, the jar of wine was still there.
“Done for!
I’m truly stuck this time.”
After several consecutive experiments, Gu Qingfeng finally confirmed one thing: there was definitely some connection between the Giant Cauldron and this Desolate Ancient Ruins. It was even possible that the ruins *was* the Giant Cauldron.
That wasn’t the only thing he confirmed. He also confirmed another headache-inducing fact: he was trapped here, and it seemed he wouldn’t be getting out anytime soon.
Yet, no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t figure out the exact relationship between the Giant Cauldron and these ruins. Why did exiting through the outer chaotic whirlwind vortex lead him back inside the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye?
Even more mind-boggling was this: exiting through the chaotic whirlwind vortex led back to the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye, with no changes to either the ruins or the cauldron. But if he jumped into the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye and returned to these ruins again, it felt like traveling through time—everything would start anew.
To test this, he conducted a specific experiment. If he exited through the chaotic whirlwind vortex and returned to the Giant Cauldron, the fine wine he had left behind earlier remained.
But if he jumped into the Giant Cauldron’s Magical Treasure Eye and returned to these ruins again, the wine he had left behind was gone. Not only would Ancestor Lin Chi reappear, but the seal would also reappear.