Chapter 70

Then, after an elder from Sutuka pushed open the door, everyone filed in one after another. What they saw made everyone gasp in shock. In front of them, a middle-aged, muscular man was floating in the air at a height of three to four meters, his body glowing. These glows, once they left his body, immediately transformed into swords, spears, large knives, staffs, axes, bows, and other weapon forms, then slowly dissipated into the air, looking very ethereal. However, perhaps only Lan Ling'er was unaware that when these swords, spears, large knives, staffs, axes, and bows took shape, all the Inner Qi Realm experts present felt a sense of heart palpitations, a sharp and piercing aura rushing towards them. This was no longer ethereal but a real and powerful aura. Several Inner Qi Realm experts felt as if they were facing an entire army, and an army composed of Inner Qi Realm experts at that. They had only been in the room for a few seconds, yet cold sweat had already broken out on their backs, and they dared not move an inch, fearing that any movement would trigger an attack from these weapons.

Only Lan Ling'er seemed to feel nothing. She took a few quick steps and approached the middle-aged, muscular man. Before she could speak, she noticed what appeared to be metal wires wriggling beneath the man's skin. She immediately covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

"Lan young lady, it's true. The tribal chief... while rescuing the tribe and driving away a large number of puppets, he was momentarily careless and was parasitized by an Inner Qi Realm puppet. Since then, the tribal chief has led us to this living area within the ruins to avoid the puppets. He has been suppressing the Inner Qi Realm puppet inside his body, but since both are in the Inner Qi Realm, they can only be in a stalemate. Unless we can enter the core area of the ruins and shut down the defense system, the tribal chief, being human, will not be able to hold out much longer, even if he is in the Inner Qi Realm. The prolonged battle inside his body is taking a toll on him."

An elder from the Sutuka tribe barely managed to walk to Lan Ling'er's side, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Therefore, I now represent the tribal chief and the Sutuka tribe in seeking your help, Lan young lady. We ask you, as a fellow guardian, to save our Sutuka tribe. Please return to Mobie as soon as possible, gather the Inner Qi Realm experts, and inform your grandfather, Lan Jingling, of the situation here. Please ask him to come and save our Sutuka tribe!"

As he spoke, the elder was almost on his knees, and the two other elders behind him were also bowing with tears, their expressions filled with sorrow.

Lan Ling'er immediately turned and supported the elder, her voice choked with tears, "I, I... my grandfather is dead. He passed away a year ago, and now the country is in chaos. I came here secretly to ask Grandfather Sutuka for help, but I have no other options!"

The three elders from the Sutuka tribe were shocked and terrified, and Lan Ling'er was crying like a teary-eyed person. They had no idea what to do and could only leave the room. Su Shiyun and Hao Qi, though full of questions, did not ask at this moment and followed them out. The Sutuka tribe then designated an area on the square for the Su family and Hao Qi, while Lan Ling'er, for some reason, continued to stay with Hao Qi and Zhang Heng, not moving to the Sutuka tribe's living area.

Clearly, Lan Ling'er did not want to discuss her origins. Even when Su Shiyun asked, she remained silent. After two attempts, Su Shiyun no longer pressed the issue and instead inquired about the current situation.

Lan Ling'er clearly knew a lot about the ruins. According to her, the entire defense system of the ruins is controlled by a crystal chip in the core area. This crystal chip has a high computational capacity and many pre-programmed functions. During the ruins' dormant period, the crystal chip is also dormant. However, once the ruins are activated, the crystal chip begins to control the entire defense system, especially when unregistered individuals enter or exit. Each entry or exit increases the defense alert level. When many unregistered individuals enter or exit at once, the crystal chip will assume that the ruins have been breached and will activate the final program, launching all destructive weapons within the ruins, both internally and to all recorded coordinates. This is the secret that ended the era of the ancient sects.

The current situation is simple: Sutuka's life is at stake. If the Inner Qi Realm expert is successfully parasitized, everyone present will surely die. However, if Sutuka successfully suppresses and destroys the Inner Qi Realm puppet, everyone can be saved, and the ruins can be closed again, returning to dormancy. The key lies in the life and death of the Inner Qi Realm expert, Sutuka.

According to Lan Ling'er and the three elders of the Sutuka tribe, the way to save Sutuka is simple: enter the core area of the ruins through the 'Death Position' and shut down a specific program. The ruins are divided into eight positions: Rest, Life, Injury, Block, Scenery, Death, Surprise, and Open. The current position is the Rest Position, while the Life Position is a hidden passage for the Sutuka tribe to enter and exit less important areas of the ruins. Each position triggers a specific program in the ruins, and the Death Position is a very important area, filled with danger. Entering it is almost a death sentence, but deep within it is a crucial program switch that can reset the core crystal chip, returning the defense system to its lowest alert level. At that point, almost all the puppets will return to dormancy, and Sutuka can fully suppress the Inner Qi Realm puppet inside him. With his help, everyone can go to the core area to shut down the crystal chip, allowing the ruins to return to dormancy.

Easier said than done. The Death Position is called such because it leads directly to the key area that can reset the ruins. According to the Sutuka tribe's elders, unless one is recorded in the ruins' database, entering will trigger the defense system, which is designed to repel even Inner Qi Realm experts.

In other words, even Sutuka himself has a very low chance of survival in the core of the Death Position. This is why the Sutuka elders asked for Lan Ling'er's help, as her grandfather was also an Inner Qi Realm expert and had a chance of breaking through the Death Position. However, it turned out that Lan Ling'er's grandfather had already passed away, leaving them in a dire situation.

The day passed quickly, with the three Sutuka elders continuously arguing but failing to come up with a concrete plan. The Su family was also in turmoil, completely unprepared for the secrets hidden in the ancient sect ruins, which involved the truth of history and the existence of puppet guards, making them almost despair. They also learned that the endless desert of death was caused by a destructive weapon attack, which shattered their worldview. The Su family was in constant debate, unsure whether to retreat or continue exploring the ruins. Even if they decided to retreat, they argued about how to avoid the thousands of quasi-Inner Qi Realm puppets, essentially leaving them in a deadlock with no clear solution.

Perhaps the only one who remained calm and composed was Hao Qi. Throughout the day, he explored the ruins' square, asking Lan Ling'er which areas were safe, and then, with the nervous and dejected Zhang Heng, began a grand adventure within the ruins. On the second day, he even brought Lan Ling'er along, seemingly unconcerned about being trapped there.

Lan Ling'er, since learning about Sutuka's parasitization and their being trapped, had been deeply troubled, and no one knew what she was thinking. When Hao Qi pulled her out to wander around, she did not refuse, leaving the main group to explore the ruins with Hao Qi and Zhang Heng.

As they walked, Lan Ling'er said to Hao Qi and Zhang Heng, "I was born into the royal family... not the royal family that the current noble families speak of, but a much higher royal family. Hao Qi, Zhang Heng, my family is also a guardian, but not of the ancient sect ruins. According to the books passed down in my family, we are descendants of the ancient Inner Qi technology civilization. In each of the seven seas, there is a family of descendants, and we oversee the relics and descendants of the ancient sect era. We are the guardians of each sea. However, after millions of years, we have long forgotten our duties, including my family, the Black family, the Clear family, the Red family, the Blue family, the Green family, and the White family. We have forgotten our missions and duties, either disappearing in the flow of history, becoming the royal family of a great empire, or becoming one of the Nine Martial Kings under the emperor. The last guardians, my family, have also faced a great upheaval..."

"My grandfather, the last Inner Qi Realm expert of the Blue family, who was about to become a True Qi Realm expert, passed away a year ago. After that, the Blue family was in turmoil. Some proposed that the Blue family should come out of seclusion, some suggested maintaining the status quo, and others proposed that the Blue family should control the ancient Inner Qi civilization's war weapon, Canglan, to restore the glory of the ancient Inner Qi civilization, with the Blue family leading the way..."

"I came here secretly to seek help from the Sutuka tribe. Without Grandfather Sutuka's help, the Blue family will surely fall into chaos, and once Canglan is activated, the entire Blue Sea, or even all seven seas, could be thrown into turmoil. But who knew that the Sutuka tribe would also face such a disaster, with Grandfather Sutuka on the brink of life and death..."

At this point, the three of them reached a fork in the road, and Lan Ling'er stopped. Behind her, Zhang Heng looked worried, while Hao Qi remained expressionless, neither stopping her nor comforting her, just silently watching her.

Lan Ling'er looked at Hao Qi and Zhang Heng, smiled, and said, "Thank you, Hao Qi and Zhang Heng, for protecting me along the way. The things I've told you are too heavy. Don't worry about me, just continue pursuing your dreams. Traveling through the seven seas, seeking the origins of all natural treasures, is truly wonderful..."

As she spoke, Lan Ling'er suddenly ran into a passage. As she ran in, red beams of light appeared, and many terrifying weapons emerged from the metal walls. However, when the red beams scanned Lan Ling'er, they emitted a blue light, and all the weapons retracted back into the walls.

"Don't follow me. I am a direct descendant of the ancient Inner Qi civilization, and I am recorded in the ruins' database. Tell the elders of the Sutuka tribe that I will definitely reach the core of the Death Position and save everyone!"

Lan Ling'er's voice echoed from the passage. Zhang Heng tried to rush in, but Hao Qi held him back. Zhang Heng turned and punched Hao Qi in the chest, shouting, "What are you doing! Hao Qi! She's just a child! I don't know what a guardian is, and I don't care how heavy the true history is! But Lan Ling'er is a good girl, and she shouldn't bear this alone! Yes, those guardian weapons won't attack her, but you heard the Sutuka elders, right? All the puppets have no such restriction! What are you doing? Why don't you rush in? Are you still Hao Qi? Are you still the Hao Qi from Bai Cao Kingdom? Are you afraid of death? I, I misjudged you!"

As he spoke, tears were streaming down Zhang Heng's face, but Hao Qi ignored him, dragging Zhang Heng back to the square. Zhang Heng kept shouting and struggling, but he couldn't break free from Hao Qi's grip and was dragged back to the square.

Once back on the square, Hao Qi threw Zhang Heng to the ground, stomped his feet hard, creating metal dents in the ground, and shouted, "Inner Qi Realm experts of the Sutuka tribe, come out and see me!"

A few seconds later, three figures ran over from the crowd, and even five figures from the Su family were running over.

Without waiting for them to get closer, Hao Qi shouted at the top of his lungs, "Tell me where the core of the crystal chip is, tell me the location, draw a map, right now, immediately! No need to wait for the reset program! I..."

"Will go directly to destroy the core crystal chip!"

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