This was a vast and boundless temple, but most had already collapsed, with broken walls and ruins everywhere, a scene of ruin.
Yet the scattered blue bricks, crumbling walls, and shattered red tiles still cannot hide its sacred and grand aura.
Even though it had declined, it was still a miracle, sacred and untouchable. Seeing it filled one with awe, but for some reason, a trace of bitterness welled up in Long Chen's heart.
A familiar scene appeared in Long Chen's mind: palaces stood everywhere, buildings grand, and countless figures shuttled back and forth among the temples, creating a lively scene.
Long Chen seemed to still hear chanting scriptures in his ears, the instructors' stern reprimands, and the disciples' private whispers ....
At that moment, Long Chen felt as if he had traveled through time and space, seeing its past. But soon, the images and sounds in his mind gradually faded, replaced by desolation and decay before him.
"Have I ever been here?" Long Chen looked at the dilapidated scene before him and couldn't help but mutter.
Long Chen was like a wanderer away from home; years later, when he returned home, life had changed, and the sorrow was beyond words.
Carefully stepping out of the forest, as Long Chen stepped into the temple's grounds, the temperature of the space suddenly rose rapidly. In that moment, Long Chen felt as if he were inside a pill furnace.
Long Chen was startled and immediately took a step back. As he did, the terrifying heat vanished in an instant.
It was as if there was an invisible barrier in space—one step forward was a furnace, one step back was a world of tranquility.
"Whoosh"
Long Chen stepped into the temple's territory once again. Waves of heat surged through, but he felt no discomfort from the waves; instead, he felt very comfortable.
Long Chen walked forward slowly. The temple was enormous, bigger than an entire province. Walking through endless rubble and broken bricks, he looked down from the void, looking so small.
Long Chen proceeded cautiously, walking for most of the day before finally reaching the outer edge of the temple. There, he saw the collapsed massive city wall.
Where Long Chen walked, there was no door; the massive city wall had mostly collapsed. Following a gap, Long Chen entered the city.
As he stepped over the city wall, Long Chen immediately felt the temperature of the entire world rise again, and the fire energy between heaven and earth became even more active.
"Refining pills here is twice as effective with half the effort." Long Chen felt the lively flame fluctuations and couldn't help but sigh.
The fire energy here was extremely active but not violent; refining pills here was the easiest place.
Unfortunately, Long Chen didn't have time to refine pills right now. He continued to proceed cautiously, passing through the city wall, and ahead lay a collapsed palace.
The palace roof lay askew on the ground, like a corpse, quietly sinking into the passage of time.
Long Chen glanced around, confirmed there was no movement around him, and sensed no danger, then slowly walked inside.
Inside the collapsed palace, broken blue bricks and stone pillars were scattered everywhere, but nothing else was visible.
"What's going on? Even if someone took a treasure, there should be traces left, right? Long Chen came in and immediately sensed something was off.
There was nothing inside, as if everything had been moved away before it collapsed.
Long Chen carefully examined the blue brick pillar, pinched it in his hand, and with a slight squeeze, it was crushed into powder.
"Divine power has long since vanished, and the runes have long disappeared, yet they can resist the erosion of time. What power protects them?"
Looking at the powder in his hand, Long Chen was somewhat incredulous. Although he didn't know the origin of this temple, its aura told him that its history was unimaginable.
Long Chen didn't rush inside, but instead looked around the edges, hoping to find out something from the slightest clues.
Unfortunately, most of the buildings here have collapsed, but it seems they were not destroyed by external force but rather collapsed naturally.
Whether inside or outside the building, Long Chen found nothing of value.
Long Chen also saw quite a few traces of rummaging. Clearly, someone had come here before to search, but it seemed they had found nothing either.
Long Chen didn't rush to explore the core area of the temple; he kept feeling that something was calling him nearby.
Long Chen searched through hundreds of collapsed buildings in succession. Suddenly, a thought struck him. He came to the front of a building and dug away broken bricks and tiles with his bare hands, digging deeper and deeper.
Long Chen was like a mole digging a hole, burrowing hundreds of miles underground. Suddenly, he couldn't dig any further, and beneath him appeared a thick rock wall.
The rock wall was incredibly hard, with mysterious symbols flowing on it. Long Chen took out an immortal divine weapon and stabbed it into the cliff. The wall was unharmed, but the weapon had cracked open.
"Senior, can I do you a favor!"
Long Chen said to the Qiankun Cauldron. This time, the cauldron did not refuse. It transformed into a figure about three feet tall and gently rammed the rock wall.
With a soft "bang,"
countless runes on the rock wall instantly dimmed, then cracks covered the cliff. Long Chen picked them with his hand, instantly turning them to powder.
The rock wall wasn't thick, only about one foot. Passing through it, Long Chen arrived at an underground chamber, which actually contained a secret chamber.
The secret chamber was small, only a few zhang in space. In the corner of the chamber sat a skeleton, and judging by the skeleton, it belonged to a woman.
The skeleton held a book in its hands; the person had already turned to skeleton, but the book remained intact.
"Could it be that she's calling me?"
Long Chen approached the skeleton, puzzled. The summoning intent had actually vanished here.
Long Chen slowly reached out, about to take the book from the woman's hand, but was stopped by the Qiankun Cauldron:
"That book can only be read in her hands. Once it leaves her hand, it instantly turns to nothingness."
Long Chen was startled, quickly stopped what he was doing, switched to flipping the page, and slowly opened the first page of the book.
As he flipped through the first page, a vast surge of vital energy surged forth. Long Chen's heart raced wildly—this was the aura of Saint King essence blood, and the woman was actually a Saint King expert.
When Long Chen saw the text above, his heart tightened instantly, because it was written in immortal script:
"I never expected that the Lord Brahma whom I respect and admire most would one day betray the Dan Emperor. My world will collapse... "
Is it about Great Brahma?" Could this be the Dan Emperor's inheritance? Long Chen's heart pounded wildly.
Long Chen had just finished reading the text on this page when it slowly faded, as if some force had erased it.
Long Chen hurriedly opened the second page, only to see that the blood-red text had not appeared again, but instead a blood-red scroll.
On the scroll, there was actually a flower depicted. When Long Chen saw the flower, he couldn't help but exclaim:
"Exquisite Blood Magnolia"