This passage seemed endless; no matter how much Xiao Li and the others advanced, they couldn't find an exit.
Although the flames in the passage posed no threat to them,
if they couldn't get out, they would eventually be trapped and die here.
"The Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Netherworld Nether Python Clan only entered a little earlier than us, but we haven't even seen a shadow of them along the way."
"Are they really that fast?"
Xiao Yan was a bit puzzled.
Their speed wasn't slow either, so they shouldn't have been left far behind, right?
"It's not that they're fast; it's that they've already found the exit," Xiao Li said.
"Found the exit? That fast? We didn't see it."
Xiao Yan and the others immediately looked around, but couldn't see any exit.
"The exit isn't ahead, nor is it above, left, or right; it's below."
"Below?"
"Follow me."
Xiao Li, relying on his powerful soul strength, successfully found a hidden exit beneath the passage and managed to leave the passage.
After finding the exit, the group advanced for a few minutes and finally arrived at a plaza.
At this moment, there were already two groups of people in the plaza—the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Netherworld Nether Python Clan.
However, their attention was all focused on a stone door at the end of the plaza.
In front of the stone door stood more than a dozen puppets.
Each puppet had reached the strength of a high-level Dou Zong.
If these puppets were placed outside, they would surely attract countless people vying for them.
Unfortunately, those who came here now were the strongest among the strong.
Neither the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan nor the Nine Netherworld Nether Python Clan cared for these Dou Zong-level puppets.
Not to mention Xiao Li; he also didn't care for them.
There was no need for scheming; the powerhouses of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Netherworld Nether Python Clan easily annihilated all these puppets with a casual move.
As the puppets were eliminated, the stone door slowly opened.
Behind it was a magnificent palace, exuding an imposing and grand aura that made one want to worship it.
And at the other end of the main hall were passages leading in all directions.
Each passage led to a different place.
The Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Netherworld Nether Python Clan were both extremely wary of Xiao Li and his group.
However, when facing these unknown passages, both sides were also wary of each other.
Although Xiao Li was their common enemy,
the relationship between the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Netherworld Nether Python Clan was not good either.
So they still had to be vigilant towards each other.
Finally, they chose a passage to advance, leaving Xiao Li and his group behind.
"Second Brother, which one do we choose?" Xiao Yan looked at the remaining passages.
From their appearance alone, these passages showed no difference.
"Just pick one; we're just casually exploring anyway. Just take whatever good stuff we find."
Xiao Li was very casual.
They had no specific goal—or rather, their goal was all the good things in the entire ruins.
"Advance!"
Xiao Li and his group casually chose a passage and entered.
This passage was not like the previous one, which had traps.
This was just an ordinary passage, with various rooms of different sizes along the way, containing all sorts of boxes.
Inside the boxes were treasures.
Such as pills, Dou Skills, cultivation techniques, and so on.
Those who could reach here had all passed the first two trials.
So these treasures could be understood as rewards left by the owner of the ruins after passing the first two trials.
Since they were rewards, Xiao Li naturally wouldn't be polite and had Xiao Yan and Mu Qingluan take everything from the boxes.
Their purpose in coming here was to sweep up everything.
Regardless of whether it was good or bad, nothing would be left behind.
The items in this passage were quickly collected.
Finally, at the end of the passage was a heavy stone door.
Xiao Li placed his palm on it and felt a slight resistance.
But in the end, he easily pushed the stone door open with a palm, and immediately, a rich medicinal fragrance wafted out.
Behind the stone door was a dense forest.
Beneath the forest, various medicinal herbs grew densely, and the rich medicinal fragrance emanated from these herbs.
"So many medicinal herbs?!"
Xiao Yan and the others were stunned.
These medicinal herbs were all very ancient, at least hundreds of years old.
Moreover, their quality was excellent because there were no magical beasts to disturb them, allowing these herbs to grow freely.
"It seems the owner of this ruin was also an Alchemist during his lifetime," Xiao Li said with emotion.
"So many medicinal herbs, we can't waste them, Second Brother. Let's pick them all and take them back," Xiao Yan said.
Precious medicinal herbs are rare and hard to come by.
Leaving them here would simply be a waste of heavenly resources.
"But with so many medicinal herbs, it would take us a lot of time to pick them all," Mu Qingluan said.
Picking medicinal herbs also requires a certain amount of pharmaceutical knowledge, otherwise, one might accidentally damage them.
But besides Xiao Li and Xiao Yan, no one else was an Alchemist.
It would take too much time for just two people to pick so many medicinal herbs.
"That's not difficult at all."
Xiao Li waved his hand, and the surrounding space quickly distorted.
All the medicinal herbs in the entire forest were collected by Xiao Li into the Growth Realm!
In the Growth Realm, these medicinal herbs could continue to grow.
Seeing his methods, Xiao Yan and the others were greatly impressed.
Indeed, the methods of a Dou Sheng powerhouse were truly extraordinary.
"Let's go, see what else there is."
Xiao Li continued to advance.
Apart from medicinal herbs, there was nothing else in this forest.
Until they reached the depths of the ancient forest, a huge golden barrier appeared before them.
"This is... the beast spirit shroud?!" Mu Qingluan's expression changed slightly.
"This is a barrier that some extremely powerful magical beasts, who were strong in life, would condense at the brink of death to protect their corpses from external intrusion."
"Judging from its color, this is the highest-grade beast spirit shroud, likely condensed by a magical beast that reached the peak of an eighth-tier or even a ninth-tier."
"The beast spirit shroud?"
Xiao Li placed his palm on the barrier and indeed felt a powerful repulsive force.
"To open the beast spirit shroud, one must either be stronger than the magical beast was in life, or possess the same bloodline as the magical beast inside."
"Besides these, there is no third way to open it."
"If I try to open it with brute force... with my current strength, it's possible the entire space of the ruins could collapse."
"As for the same bloodline... I do sense the bloodline aura of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan and the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan on this barrier."
Although Xiao Li was not a member of these two races,
he had obtained the bloodlines of these two races from Zi Yan and Feng Qing'er, respectively.
In other words, Xiao Li possessed both of these bloodlines within him!
"Then let's see if the bloodlines in my body can open it."
He bit his finger and dabbed a drop of his essence blood onto the beast spirit shroud.
The next moment, a golden crack slowly tore open...