As Nan Xi, Shi Shan, and others successively withdrew from the competition for inheritance, slowly retreating to the edge of the mountain peak, the place returned to peace.
A round pearl, about the size of a fist, floated quietly in mid-air, emitting a soft glow.
Ji Yuan slowly walked over, stood before the pearl, and gazed at the patterns that appeared on it. After only a few glances, a sense of enlightenment arose in his heart.
Beside him, Li Buwei and Zhou Lianying were also in the same state, having never expected to actually stand here, just one step away from grasping the inheritance of this cave dwelling.
The former knew better than anyone how difficult it was to reach this point, and had even prepared himself mentally, thinking that he had gained a lot on the mountain peak and would not return empty-handed.
However, they had not expected that they would actually repel the pair of array cultivators, Lü Xian, kill the demonic cultivator Hong Lie from the Blood Fiend Hall, and suppress the fire monkey that cultivated both body and dharma.
The young Taoist beside them had, by virtue of this, forced Nan Xi and Shi Shan to choose between mutual destruction and withdrawing from the competition.
Ji Yuan was also filled with emotion, but even at this moment, he had not let down his guard entirely. He scanned the surroundings with caution, guarding against them suddenly violating their oath and seizing the inheritance.
Taking a deep breath, he then extended his palm and slowly grasped the floating pearl.
In an instant, a voice sounded in his mind, and with just a few words, his face showed a look of contemplation, and a connection was established with the pearl in his hand.
Glancing at the two beside him, he moved his mind, and the glow of the pearl in his hand immediately brightened. A mysterious aura enveloped the three of them.
The next moment, the three saw their vision blur. After three or two breaths, it gradually returned to normal.
Ji Yuan immediately scanned his surroundings. After confirming there was no danger, he finally let out a sigh of relief and dispersed the spiritual energy he had gathered in his body.
At this moment, they found themselves transported to a cave. A soft light floated above, illuminating the place and providing a continuous stream of pure spiritual energy.
This spiritual energy alone was comparable to the spiritual grounds of prestigious sects, and it was the kind rarely opened, reserved only for direct disciples or ancestors for secluded cultivation.
Meditating and breathing here for one day was equivalent to more than ten days of arduous cultivation, and the effect would naturally be even greater if elixirs were consumed.
"This… should be the true cave dwelling of the owner!"
Li Buwei glanced around and then murmured to himself.
The place was only about thirty to forty feet long and wide, and about twenty to thirty feet high. It resembled a karst cave, with stalactites on the ceiling emitting a faint rosy glow.
Before them stood two or three bamboo houses, surrounded by lush green bamboo and other vegetation, appearing tranquil and elegant, with a unique charm.
If their guess was correct, this was the true cave dwelling, the place where the original owner practiced daily.
After examining the surroundings, Ji Yuan and the others slowly approached the three bamboo houses and their gaze fell upon a jade slip on a stone table.
As if sensing them, the jade slip suddenly emitted a layer of light, and soon, a stream of light flew out from it, condensing into a figure beside the stone table.
Seeing this, the three immediately became vigilant, their spiritual energy secretly circulating, ready to unleash their spiritual artifacts and treasures at any moment.
"Finally, someone… has passed the trial…"
The middle-aged man, formed from the stream of light, slowly spoke and asked, "How much time has passed?"
The three looked at each other. Finally, Ji Yuan replied thoughtfully, "About several thousand years have passed."
This dojo was originally left by an elder who was just one step away from becoming an immortal ten thousand years ago. It was discovered by a cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core stage several thousand years ago.
From the time this great cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core stage attempted to blood sacrifice all the cultivators in the dojo to further advance and break through his own bottleneck to reach the realm of a Great Master, about four to five thousand years have passed.
In other words, the middle-aged man before them was someone who experienced all of this thousands of years ago.
"Thousands of years?"
The middle-aged man's expression was somewhat dazed.
To him, it was but an instant, yet in reality, it had spanned a long period of time.
Let alone thousands of years, even eight hundred years would be enough to exhaust the lifespan of a Great Master, causing them to perish.
Even with countless rare treasures to extend their lifespan, a Great Master with immense spiritual power could at most extend their life to fifteen hundred years.
To break this limit, there was only the path of becoming an immortal, thus achieving true longevity and no longer worrying about lifespan.
Not to mention that during the cultivation process, accidents would always occur, leading to the depletion of one's lifespan and foundation. Even with spirit materials that extended life, they would not actually increase it by much.
For example, the founding emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty followed the path of martial arts and his realm was comparable to a Great Master with immense spiritual power.
Unfortunately, because the emperor was constantly fighting during the founding of the dynasty, injuries were commonplace. Several times, he had injured his fundamental foundation. Even with the power of a nation to find spiritual materials, he could only live for a little over eight hundred years.
Even without countless spirit materials, this emperor might have only lived for five to six hundred years at most.
"Since you have passed the trial, you may receive all my inheritance."
After a long while, the middle-aged man finally processed the information that several thousand years had passed in the world.
As someone who had once dominated an area and cultivated to the Golden Core stage, he naturally recognized the relationship between the three before him.
However, the middle-aged man said nothing. As long as the inheritance was not broken, he had fulfilled his last obsession. As for who obtained the inheritance, it was no longer so important.
"May I ask, senior, can you tell us what happened thousands of years ago?"
Ji Yuan suddenly bowed respectfully and then asked in a deep voice about the events of that year.
Upon hearing this, Li Buwei and Zhou Lianying were both stunned. The former seemed to realize something and frowned at him.
Even the middle-aged man before them could not help but be slightly taken aback. He had not expected that the young Taoist before him seemed to know something about what had happened that year.
"Very well, since there is still some time, I will tell you about those events."
He pondered for a moment and then could not help but sigh.
Seeing this, the three could not help but feel a sense of doubt. What exactly had happened here that could make a great cultivator, who could very likely have reached the Golden Core stage, sigh subconsciously?
"I am now merely a wisp of divine consciousness. All I know is what happened before I was sealed into the jade slip."
Under the gaze of the three, the middle-aged man slowly began to speak.
In those days, a Daoist named Chi Xin obtained a fragment of a cultivation method from a meteorite from beyond the heavens. With the secret techniques recorded in this method, he refined the meteorite into an extremely powerful spiritual treasure.
This treasure contained thirty-six layers of innate restrictions. Once activated, it could even kill a Great Master. However, even Daoist Chi Xin had only comprehended and refined twelve of them.
Even so, it made this person unrivaled in his domain. Although he was merely a rogue cultivator, he was enough to be treated as an honored guest by powerful sects.
Later, Daoist Chi Xin discovered the cave dwelling left by an elder thousands of years ago and established a dojo there, gathering hundreds and thousands of cultivators.
Although most of them were rogue cultivators and wild cultivators, there were also many cultivators from various sects.
Given the circumstances at the time, if it had developed for a few more centuries, this dojo might have evolved into a spiritual realm, or even a blessed land of the grotto-heaven if everyone had worked together.
Who would have thought that Daoist Chi Xin, who was trapped at the peak of the Golden Core stage and unable to break through due to the incomplete cultivation method, would have secretly developed inner demons and begun to study the blood sacrifice techniques of heretical paths?
Spending twenty to thirty years, he had, without anyone noticing, secretly set up a series of grand formations, intending to blood sacrifice all the cultivators in the dojo!
When the sealing formation was activated, the numerous cultivators fought for survival, desperately rushing towards the 'Little Xuanhuang Palace' at the center of the dojo.
However, Daoist Chi Xin was not alone. Besides his six direct disciples and over twenty registered disciples, he had also cultivated two forces, openly and covertly.
One was the Xuanhuang Guards who maintained order in the dojo, but when the blood sacrifice began, more than half of them defected, fearing that they themselves would be sacrificed.
The other was the Nine Nether Death Warriors, secretly cultivated by Daoist Chi Xin. Each of them had a cultivation base in the late Spirit Circulation stage, and the strongest ten of them possessed cultivation bases in the mid to late Dao Enlightenment stage.
Most importantly, these Nine Nether Death Warriors had been brainwashed and only served Daoist Chi Xin. With a single command, they could willingly sacrifice themselves.
With the obstruction of some Xuanhuang Guards and a large number of Nine Nether Death Warriors, the cultivators found it difficult to gather sufficient strength, and most of them died in resentment within their own cave dwellings.
"Three of Daoist Chi Xin's six direct disciples cultivated to the Golden Core stage. Although they were only at the early stage, they were still a force to be reckoned with."
The middle-aged man sighed, "Before the main body left, he sealed my divine consciousness in the jade slip, so that this lineage of inheritance would not be severed."
If anyone broke through the mountain protection formation and forcibly entered this place, this divine consciousness would burn itself out and unleash its final means to annihilate all intruders.
The inheritance would also be sent out into the outside world at the same time. As for who would obtain it, it would no longer matter.
"That is to say, senior does not know the outcome of what happened back then?"
Ji Yuan asked with some regret.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man smiled, "Although I don't know the specific details, Daoist Chi Xin ultimately failed. Otherwise, this dojo would have already been transformed into a spiritual realm by him."
The so-called spiritual realm was similar to a demonic realm, a territory formed by the convergence of numerous cultivators from various factions.
By integrating their own laws into a celestial body and then having five or more Great Masters of the Golden Core stage set up a formation to refine an area of a thousand or ten thousand li, a spiritual realm could be achieved.
Within the spiritual realm, the Great Master who imprinted their laws could gain several tenths of their power. Cultivation within this realm far surpassed that outside, and one could constantly feel the profound laws of the Great Master.
It is said that any sect with a Great Master guarding it has its mountain gate located in a spiritual realm that has been developed for over a thousand years.
The most important aspect of a sect's foundation is how many Great Masters it has produced and how many Great Master laws are imprinted in its mountain gate's spiritual realm.
The more Great Master laws are imprinted, the more solid the spiritual realm becomes. It is not only difficult for external forces to break, but the spiritual energy within is also more abundant, bringing unexpected benefits to cultivation.
To put it this way, an ordinary cultivator in a renowned sect, without sufficient opportunities and resources, would find it extremely difficult to cultivate to the peak of the first realm.
However, within the sect's spiritual realm, they would at least smoothly reach the second realm. As long as they were diligent and dared to fight and earn enough resources, reaching the peak of the second realm in this life would be certain.
This is why sects can prosper for a long time.
"Since you were able to find this place, it means that this place has not been evolved into a spiritual realm."
Therefore, it is only natural that Daoist Chi Xin ultimately failed and did not succeed in his blood sacrifice, failing to break through the bottleneck that had trapped him for over a hundred years.
Ji Yuan nodded. It was indeed true. If Daoist Chi Xin had succeeded back then, this dojo would not have been buried beneath the earth, undiscovered for thousands of years.
However, even though Daoist Chi Xin failed, it was likely that all the cultivators here had perished, and no one from either side had left this place alive.
Otherwise, after thousands of years, how could they, the later comers, have entered this place to seek opportunities?
"Alright, my time is up. I hope you can bring this lineage of inheritance back into the world…"
The middle-aged man smiled slightly, his expression appearing very carefree.
As his words fell, his body, which was no different from a living person, began to slowly fade, finally dissipating into a brilliant light in the heavens and earth.
A generation of Golden Core Great Masters, who once roamed the world and possessed the ability to move mountains and break rivers, thus vanished without a trace, finally disappearing completely.
"I'm starting to wonder what kind of inheritance is contained within here?"
After a brief silence, Li Buwei suddenly laughed.
However, his smile seemed somewhat forced, as if he were merely pretending to be cheerful.