Chapter 69

This ancient sect's ruins are truly vast. The group descended from the desert and entered the ruins. Under Lan Ling'er's lead, they walked downward and then horizontally through the ruins for about half an hour. The entire ruins were made of a uniform metallic structure, with the floor, walls, and ceiling all being a uniform silvery-white metal, and there was no end in sight. This alone was enough to demonstrate the vastness of the ruins.

A member of the Su family who was skilled in weapons inspected the metallic structures of the ruins. According to him, the metal had extremely high malleability and was incredibly hard. It had been exposed to the air in the desert for countless tens of thousands of years, yet it showed no signs of weathering or decay. This indicated that the metal's protective properties were also incredibly high. In simpler terms, the metal used to construct the ruins was far superior to any metal in the outside world. If this metal were used to make weapons, they would likely all be top-grade weapons, far better than the sword Su Shiyu currently used. Although it might not reach the level of divine weapons, it could certainly be considered famous swords and famous weapons.

Such metal was extremely rare in the outside world, but in these ruins, it extended for countless kilometers and existed in the billions of tons. Just this alone could give one an idea of the glory of the ancient sect era.

Logically, this was the time for the Su family members to start exploring the ruins, searching for valuable items or texts, especially the formula for the Golden Bone Pill. According to Lan Ling'er, this ruin was two levels higher than the one the Su family's ancestor had visited, and the value of the items inside was unimaginable.

However, the current situation was extremely urgent. Outside, there were thousands of quasi-internal force puppets surrounding them, and according to Lan Ling'er, there were also internal force puppets inside. Moreover, this was a third-level ancient sect ruin, and Lan Ling'er was certain that there would be internal qi puppets inside, which was a level of strength that was unimaginable. Encountering them would certainly result in total annihilation. Therefore, the group did not dare to wander around recklessly and simply followed Lan Ling'er forward. After about an hour, they reached a vast metal square, and at least a thousand people were lying or standing in the square. When they saw the group led by Lan Ling'er, hundreds of them drew their weapons or assumed attack stances.

Lan Ling'er immediately shouted loudly, "Everyone, don't attack! It's me, I brought them in!"

After Lan Ling'er's voice rang out, the people in the square saw her and immediately put away their weapons, easing the tension. However, they still remained on guard against Hao Qi and the others. Three elders ran out from the crowd, and the Su family members were wary because these three elders moved with incredible speed and precision. As they approached, internal force fluctuations could be felt, clearly indicating that they were all internal force practitioners. Just these three elders alone were equivalent to the five internal force practitioners of the Su family, making the strength levels equal.

The three elders approached and were about to greet Lan Ling'er, who was standing at the front, facing away from Hao Qi and the others. She made several gestures, and these three elders, being astute, immediately understood. One of them greeted her, "Miss Lan, it's been a long time since you last visited our tribe. Unfortunately, due to the sudden changes, we can't offer you our honey wine or welcome you properly."

Lan Ling'er returned the greeting and hurriedly asked, "Where is Uncle Sutuka? How is he? And how did this ruin suddenly erupt? Didn't you have any prior precautions?"

The three elders clenched their teeth in anger. One of them said, "It's all because of that merchant group! Miss Lan, you know that although our Sutuka tribe can provide most of what we need and has manufacturing equipment in the living area of the ruins, almost making it a natural treasure land, we still need some things transported from the outside world. We can also learn about the outside world through these merchant groups. There are seven familiar merchant groups, and on average, one group trades with us every two months. The problem arose when an unfamiliar merchant group accidentally broke through the sandstorm layer and arrived at our tribe. The chief, seeing their plight, granted them the right to trade with us, but warned them not to reveal our information. The chief even used internal qi to seal the heart pulse of the merchant group's leader, so there was no need to worry about betrayal. But the problem was here..."

"This merchant group actually had not one but two internal force practitioners in charge. After they returned, the other internal force practitioner learned about our situation from the merchant group. This didn't violate the agreement not to reveal our information, as he was also part of the merchant group. After learning about the existence of the Sutuka tribe, he searched through countless ancient books and finally confirmed that we were descendants of an ancient sect, likely guarding an ancient sect ruin. He then hid in the merchant group and, when the group entered the Sutuka tribe to trade, and we had no suspicions due to the chief's heart pulse seal, he found the entrance to the ruins and entered them..."

At this point, the three elders were in tears. The elder speaking continued, tears streaming down his face, "If that were all, it would have been fine. The defenses of the ruins are very strict. Even an internal qi practitioner would likely die inside. But who knew... fate intervened, and this person entered the ruins from the 'Sheng' position and exited from the 'Kai' position. More terrifyingly, whether he truly knew the layout of the ruins or it was just a coincidence, he triggered the core chip of the ruins, activating the highest defense system. Not only did internal traps and defense puppets appear, but also one extreme-level internal qi puppet, thirteen extreme-level internal force puppets, and over fourteen thousand quasi-internal force puppets, and..."

At this point, the elder was almost in tears, saying, "And the path the internal force practitioner took to leave was the 'Kai' position. We have been reinforcing and applying many illusions to this position for thousands of years, making it impossible for anyone who doesn't know the details to enter or exit from there. But this internal force practitioner coincidentally left from there, causing the entire restriction program to almost completely collapse. All puppets, except those in the living area, could freely enter and exit the ruins. After that, after that..."

The elder's words made it clear not only to Lan Ling'er but also to the Su family and Hao Qi and the others. Although they didn't fully understand terms like 'Sheng' position, 'Kai' position, and 'restriction program,' they understood that the puppets could now freely enter and exit the ruins. This likely led to the secret attacks on the Sutuka tribe and the desert city, and the thousands of puppet corpses they saw outside. With only a thousand people here, it was clear that the attack almost wiped out the Sutuka tribe, a near-genocidal disaster. No wonder the three elders were in such pain.

Lan Ling'er was also in tears. She wiped her eyes and asked urgently, "Grandpa Sutuka? He is an internal qi practitioner and has been one for over a hundred years. He must not... he must not have..."

One of the elders immediately said, "The chief is still alive, but... Miss Lan, please follow us, and who are these people?"

Lan Ling'er's heart relaxed. She pointed to the group behind her and said, "They are here to search for the ruins."

Upon hearing this, the three Sutuka tribe elders and the hundreds of Sutuka warriors behind them resumed their attack stances. But Lan Ling'er quickly said, "Everyone, don't worry. They are not tomb raiders or plundering martial groups. They are from a noble family and have obtained the Jade Muscle Pill from an ancient sect ruin in the past. They are here specifically to find the Golden Bone Pill. I see that they have brought a lot of wealth and are not unreasonable people."

This eased the tension. Although the Sutuka tribe still glared, they no longer seemed ready to attack. Many people seek ancient sect ruins, and many martial groups register with the goal of exploring historical truths and ancient ruins. This is not something to be hostile about. The Sutuka tribe guards this place mainly to deal with such people, but it's not always necessary to be enemies. If the other party pays a large sum of money or forms an alliance with the Sutuka tribe, the Sutuka tribe can even lead them to explore the ruins. Their true enemies are people like the infiltrating merchant group, who disregard the ruins' defenses and the potential for a major disaster, just to steal and run. Such people are the Sutuka tribe's mortal enemies. The Sutuka tribe has welcomed many such visitors over the millennia, and even now, some martial groups are allies of the Sutuka tribe. The current hostility is mostly due to anger.

Given the urgency of the situation, after discussing with Su Shiyu, Lan Ling'er decided to take Su Shiyu and Hao Qi to a room at the edge of the square, where the Sutuka tribe's chief, an internal qi practitioner named Sutuka, was located. This person was the key to breaking the current deadlock. As long as he was alive and could recover, the current predicament could be resolved. Otherwise, the thousand people of the Sutuka tribe, all the Su family members, and even Hao Qi and Zhang Heng might be trapped and die here.

The Sutuka tribe's chief was named Sutuka, a tradition among the descendants of the ancient sects, where each generation's chief is named after the tribe. This person was an internal qi practitioner, and not only the three Sutuka tribe elders but even Su Shiyu was careful, adjusting her appearance and sword. Even Hao Qi was somewhat cautious. The legend of internal qi practitioners had made him wary.