As Tang San and the others approached the massive treasure hall, they noticed severe weathering and damage on its walls, floors, and stone pillars, exposing countless enormous metal components. Some gear-like mechanisms were even slowly rotating.
Tang San frowned. These mechanical structures somewhat resembled the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons—interlocking mechanisms converting mechanical energy into kinetic energy.
"This seems like a Metal Sect. Could this entire treasure hall be made of metal?"
"Incredible. Even if our Clear Sky Sect pooled all its resources, we probably couldn't achieve this."
"There's a hole over there," Tang Hu pointed to a massive opening on the right, nearly a hundred meters tall.
After examining the enormous cavern, Tang San remarked, "This doesn't look like collapse from weathering. It seems to have existed from the beginning."
"From the beginning?" Tang Long suddenly understood. "This sect was breached!"
Tang San nodded. "Unlike divine inheritances like Slaughter City or Sea God Island, this appears to be an ancient sect that was destroyed. The lifeless state of this pocket dimension's land was likely caused by devastating power."
Wars between sects weren't unusual, but this mechanism-based sect couldn't have been weak. Yet even such a sect was ultimately annihilated, its main gate forcibly shattered by terrifying power.
How strong must the attackers have been? This undoubtedly exceeded Tang San's imagination—perhaps even reaching God-level.
"It was burned."
Tang Hu led the way into the metallic treasure hall. Upon closer inspection, he realized this ancient sect's ruins had been scorched by horrific flames. This wasn't merely about extermination—it was complete obliteration, erasing all traces to the point of leaving no ashes behind.
"What kind of deep-seated hatred could drive this?"
The Clear Sky Sect members took out illumination Soul Guidance Devices to light up the surrounding darkness.
Tailong observed the pitch-black walls and melted-then-cooled metal fragments scattered everywhere. "No wonder the Sacred Dragon Sect found nothing despite discovering this place long ago. Everything here was burned to slag."
"Not entirely. The Sacred Dragon Sect did obtain something." At this moment, Tang San retrieved the Spirit Bone Display Box from his Storage Ring Soul Guidance Device, which was emitting a faint glow.
When Tang San entered the metallic hall, the box in his storage ring had suddenly lit up as if responding to some guidance.
Exchanging glances with Tang Hu and Tang Long, Tang San nodded. The group followed the Soul Guidance Device's guidance toward the hall's deepest reaches.
The treasure hall had been completely incinerated, so after nearly thirty minutes of rapid progress, the group gradually slowed their pace.
"The Soul Guidance Device's glow is intensifying. We're here," Tang Long whispered upon entering a particular area.
With a resonant hum, the Soul Guidance Device box in Tang San's hands erupted with dazzling light. The sound of turning gears followed, and in the next instant, a silver beam shone down upon them from above.
Tang San and the others stared at the sudden appearance of the silver light, their eyes flashing with surprise. The silver light resembled a pyramid, revealing a certain room.
With a snap, Tang San caught the falling box and said, "It seems the Sacred Dragon Sect found this box elsewhere. Probably when the sect was about to be destroyed, someone tried to take it away but ultimately failed."
"Regardless, let's go in and take a look first. Tailong, you stay here on standby. The rest of you, scout the other areas. I'll go in with Tang Long and Tang Hu."
"Understood, Third Young Master."
Seeing this, Tang Long took the lead, Tang San positioned himself in the middle, and Tang Hu brought up the rear as they jumped into the underground passage.
The opened entrance to the hole was thirty meters deep, but for Tang San and the others, this height was no issue at all.
The moment they stepped inside, the trio's vision blurred instantly. The darkness vanished, replaced by a bright light that illuminated the entire underground space like daylight.
After landing, Tang San and the others looked up and saw that the ceiling was fitted with a special type of Illumination Soul Guidance Device. Although some had been destroyed and could no longer emit light, the remaining ones were enough to light up the entire space.
"There are Soul Guidance Devices everywhere here, but isn't this place abandoned? Where is the Soul Power coming from?" Tang Hu surveyed the surrounding space, which had been ravaged by destruction and fire. The area resembled a massive Soul Guidance Device—despite being devoid of people, it still maintained partial operation.
"Not sure. Maybe it relies on energy released by certain special metals that's converted into Soul Power to sustain itself. Soul Guidance Devices are nearly lost to time now, so we don't know the specifics. Perhaps this Soul Guidance Device sect was wiped out precisely because of their Soul Guidance Devices," Tang Long said.
"Up ahead."
Upon entering, Tang San's gaze locked firmly on the direction straight ahead. At the very front stood a massive metal platform, resembling an enormous machine, complete with something akin to a screen.
After a moment of contemplation, Tang San and the others tapped their toes against the ground and soared toward the colossal Soul Guidance Device control platform. As they approached the ancient machinery up close, an overwhelming sense of antiquity washed over them, prompting the group to steady their emotions.
The Soul Guidance Device control platform was covered in buttons, but it was clear the machine had suffered damage. The buttons no longer responded, and the device couldn't be powered on.
After a careful examination, Tang San said, "This should be a control console."
Tang San had some knowledge of Soul Guidance Device archaeology. Some ultra-large Soul Guidance Devices weren't operated by just one or two switches but had an entire control console to manipulate the massive device for various purposes.
"Hey, Third Cousin, over here. There are some ancient texts here—probably the ancient script materials Tuo Jia mentioned." Tang Hu discovered a metal plaque on the back of the enormous control console, inscribed with ancient characters.
"This must be the ancient script materials the Sacred Dragon Sect found."
"Soul Bone... Refining... Art. The ancient text at the top of this metal plaque means 'Soul Bone Refining Art,'" Tang San said.
!!?
"Cousin San, you can read ancient script?!" Tang Long and Tang Hu looked astonished. After all, the Sacred Dragon Sect, as large a sect as it was, had spent who knew how much time just to translate the first five characters of these texts. That alone had made the sect realize the importance of this box.
Tang San merely nodded without further explanation, as these ancient characters were from the era of the Tang Sect, which he happened to be familiar with.
As he recalled some of the script from the Lotus Soul Guidance Device and cross-referenced the translation, Tang San muttered to himself, "The formula: place three stalks of Bone Spirit Grass, one hundred grams of Sky Crystal Stone, and... ten thousand Soul Masters into the Refining Device...?!?!"
"Ten thousand Soul Masters?!!"
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