Chapter 708: The Ruins

With Qing Yanjing by his side, Liu Xi's days had grown leisurely and peaceful. For someone of his cultivation, there was no longer any need to rush toward breakthroughs. His current concern lay in what came after — how to break through the bottleneck of the Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign realm when the time came. That was the path he pondered now.

In the midst of a vast primeval forest, ancient trees towered hundreds of meters high, their dense foliage weaving into a canopy that blocked out the sun. The air was thick with an ancient, untamed aura. Spiritual Beasts roamed freely among the ferns and moss, and their distant cries occasionally broke through the tranquil silence.

Liu Xi led Qing Yanjing along the narrow trails. She found herself filled with wonder — having spent most of her life cultivating within the Ancient Buddha Clan, she had seen forests before, but never one untouched by human influence. This wilderness, brimming with raw, primordial energy, felt wholly new to her.

Liu Xi, however, seemed indifferent. He had explored more relics and ruins than he could count, and this so-called "ancient land" of the Hundred Spirit Continent hardly intrigued him. But he had overheard in a nearby city that deep within this Northern Barrens Forest lay a strange place capable of suppressing Spiritual Energy. No matter how powerful one was, upon entering, all Spiritual Energy would vanish, leaving only the body to rely on.

When Qing Yanjing showed interest, Liu Xi naturally accompanied her. Yet to him, suppressing a few Divine Soul and Three Heaven Stage cultivators' strength hardly sounded impressive.

She glanced at him with a soft smile and gently wrapped her arm around his. "Thank you for coming with me, even to such a place. At least the scenery here is beautiful."

Enjoying the warmth of her embrace, Liu Xi secretly scared off a lurking pack of wild Spiritual Beasts with a casual sweep of his aura. Smiling, he said, "Didn't I promise to elope with you? Wherever you want to go, we go together. Look ahead — that's the so-called mysterious place. Who knows, there might be something we've never seen before."

"Mm." Qing Yanjing nodded softly. The destination didn't matter to her — only the person beside her did.

At this point, after all the closeness they'd shared, it was already impossible for her to convince herself to leave him.

With their speed, they soon reached the forbidden zone said to lie at the heart of the Northern Barrens Forest. Few ever dared to step foot here. Losing one's Spiritual Energy meant having to battle the ferocious beasts of this region with bare strength — something few cultivators would attempt.

Before them rose a series of towering peaks, their summits lost amid drifting clouds. Even Liu Xi had to admit — the atmosphere here was different, steeped in something ancient and vast. A strange fluctuation pulsed faintly through the air, unsettling yet inviting.

He arched a brow. "Now this is interesting. Let's go take a look."

Qing Yanjing nodded lightly. "All right."

Together, they stepped forward — and the moment their feet crossed the threshold, a wave of invisible force slammed toward them like a collapsing mountain. It was as if an ocean of pressure had surged forth, engulfing them completely.

Both felt it instantly. The immense Spiritual Energy within their bodies vanished in a single heartbeat.

Qing Yanjing's eyes widened. "My Spiritual Energy… it's gone!"

Liu Xi frowned deeply. "Mine too."

An eerie emptiness spread through him, stripping away every trace of his inner power. Even for someone who had seen countless ruins, this was beyond reason. For a mere "second-rate" relic on a secondary continent to suppress a Late Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereign's strength — utterly impossible.

"This place…" Liu Xi murmured, scanning the surroundings with wary eyes, "is far more extraordinary than it appears."

It was indeed the darkness beneath the lamp — a secret hidden in plain sight. None of the weaker cultivators who'd ventured here could sense this anomaly, and true Sovereigns had always dismissed the forest as trivial, never caring to look deeper.

Qing Yanjing, however, grew anxious. Without her Spiritual Energy, her strength dropped to barely a fraction of what it had been. Liu Xi, on the other hand, remained calm. His body had long since been tempered to monstrous resilience; even without power, he could face down an ordinary Heavenly Sovereign bare-handed.

'Perhaps,' he thought, 'this might even be the same place where Qing Yanjing was once rescued by Mu Feng in another timeline. A land that strips power… it fits perfectly.'

A faint smile curved his lips. 'Well, at least now, this silly, innocent girl doesn't have to face danger alone.'

He pulled Qing Yanjing into his arms and said softly, "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to you."

"Mm." Comfort washed over her instantly. Deprived of her strength, she was no different from an ordinary woman — and his presence alone felt like safety.

The deeper they ventured, the stronger Liu Xi's curiosity grew. Any place capable of suppressing even his level of power was no ordinary ruin. "Stay close to me. Let's take a look around — who knows, we might find something remarkable."

Without Spiritual Energy, they relied purely on their physical bodies, climbing over ridges and descending through narrow passes.

Hidden among the dense foliage, numerous Spiritual Beasts watched them with predatory hunger. Their crimson eyes glowed with savagery as they silently encircled the pair.

For Qing Yanjing, whose cultivation leaned toward Spiritual Arrays, such beasts could pose danger. But for Liu Xi, these creatures were nothing more than moving targets.

Whenever one lunged from the shadows, Liu Xi met it with raw strength — a single punch sending beasts crashing through trees. Even when they stumbled upon a small beast tide, he remained unfazed. Carrying Qing Yanjing in his arms, he charged straight through, his bare hands cutting a path through the horde.

By the time the last roar faded, the ground was soaked in blood, and the corpses of Spiritual Beasts were piled high like hills. The survivors fled in terror, unwilling to approach again.

Exuding a chilling, battle-hardened aura, Liu Xi led Qing Yanjing across the final mountain ridge. Along the way, her admiration for him only deepened — not a single drop of blood had touched her robes. He shielded her completely, as though the chaos of the world existed only behind him.

Thunderous rumbling reached their ears — the unmistakable sound of a massive waterfall. This was no gentle stream; the sheer force of it shook the mountains themselves.

As they broke through the final line of trees, their eyes widened. Before them stood a colossal cliff, and from its summit poured an endless torrent of water like a celestial river descending from the heavens. Mist filled the air, glimmering in the sunlight, while the roar of the falls reverberated across the valley.

"It's… so beautiful," Qing Yanjing whispered, stepping forward. Her eyes reflected the shimmering curtain of water, a dreamy light flickering within them.

But Liu Xi's focus was elsewhere. His sharp gaze locked onto a massive stone platform jutting out behind the waterfall — a structure that seemed out of place amid the natural splendor.

And beyond that cascading wall of water, he could faintly sense it — the true source of the mysterious, suppressive force.

(End of Chapter)

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