Who said I practiced the exercises incorrectly?

Amid thick fog, Ning Yan and four others slowly stepped into the ruins.

The condition of several people was not very good. Not only did they look tired, but their clothes were torn and some of them still had wounds from the battle.

Since there was no map of the interior of the ruins, they could only rely on fragments of information in past books and various exploration techniques to explore the way ahead.

Even if you are careful enough, you are bound to run into broken formations, traps, or dead bodies.

After several joint efforts to fight the enemy and escaping death, they finally arrived here.

Fortunately, no one in the team was left behind, not even anyone was seriously injured.

The one whose situation seems to be more serious is probably He Qianyan.

The oldest Si Jin had a face full of ashen color at the moment. The ashen color was not just a description but the actual color. It was because he was sprayed with venom before. Although the venom was barely eliminated afterwards, the residual color on his face was difficult to eliminate in a short period of time, so his face turned ashen.

But for everyone, a simple livid face was already something to be thankful for.

Such luck may be hard to sustain.

Especially now that they were getting closer and closer to the core of the Polaris Palace.

The danger will only become more severe in the future.

After walking across a piece of wasteland and preparing to take a short rest, Ning Yan suddenly asked in surprise:
"What's going on in front? Why does it look like there's a big hole?"

Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes away.

After walking a few steps, I saw the wide cave.

The cave was dark and silent, as if a huge bloody mouth had opened in the earth, eager to devour the flesh and blood of the outside world. Just looking at it made people feel cold in their hearts.

"This cave looks like it was caused by human fighting."

Ji Dinghuang glanced at the remaining traces of battle around him and said in confusion:

"How come someone else came in before us?"

"There is definitely someone there. It is hard to tell who he is right now, but there is no doubt that this cave was left by our ancestors. To put it simply, it was built by the Shinra Wanxiang Sect."

He Qianyan's face was solemn, like a bronze relief.

Qi Ruyue frowned and said in a deep voice:
"I have already used magic to explore downwards, but I was unable to reach the bottom after a distance of 20 feet. Although this is affected by the surrounding fog, there is no doubt that this cave is definitely much deeper than we imagined."

"exactly."

Duan Haishan, who had just thrown a few stones, didn't hear any echo for a long time, so he immediately said:
"If nothing unexpected happens, this place is not only deep, but there may be other formations or barriers set up, so there is no echo when the stone is thrown down."

Having said this, he paused for a moment, his eyes fixed as he said:
“The key point is that we have never seen any description of this cave in the classics.

According to its location, if there were no unnecessary changes, in real history, it should be located under the main hall of the Yueyao Palace, and should be an underground facility built by humans.

If it is not even described in those books, then it is very likely that its existence is only known to a very small number of high-ranking members of the Shenluo Wanxiang Sect, and perhaps there are unknown secrets in it. "

After hearing this, everyone present fell silent, and their eyes looking at the cave became more serious.

They could naturally understand what Duan Haishan meant.

As everyone knows, the Shenluo Wanxiang Sect was completely destroyed due to a strange disaster.

Over the years, countless people have come here to explore, on the one hand to obtain the various remaining resources inside, and on the other hand to explore the reasons for the destruction of the Shenluo Wanxiang Sect.

And now, according to the information they have obtained, the destruction of the Shenluo Wanxiang Sect must be closely related to the so-called remains of the immortal tomb.

As for what the remains of the immortal tomb are, in what state they exist, and where they are kept... no one knows.

According to the warning of Law Enforcement Elder Lian Huiyi, the change most likely occurred in the Polaris Palace, which means that the remains of the Immortal Tomb are most likely to exist there.

But it is not ruled out that the thing actually exists underground, which in turn affects all the palaces and even facilities on the ground.

This can explain why the Shenluo Wanxiang Sect was destroyed so completely, including why some third-level powerful men from other sects on the periphery at the time were unable to escape.

Although they understood it, they found it difficult to make up their mind whether to go down and investigate.

The reason is simple. If the remains of the immortal tomb are really underground, then people are more concerned about its dangerousness than its preciousness.

Back then, it destroyed a top sect and turned dozens of third-level warriors into ghosts. Even though hundreds of years have passed, its remaining power is probably still more than enough to kill a few second-level warriors.

Given their current strength, it would not be an exaggeration to say that they would be seeking death if they attempted to go down and investigate.

"Forget it, let's just keep going inside."

Duan Haishan took a deep breath, turned his head and said to everyone:
"The situation deep in the cave is unclear. If you venture in rashly, you may encounter unknown dangers. If you are on the ground, you may have a chance to escape, but it is much more difficult to escape when you are trapped underground. It is better to investigate the situation at the Polaris Palace first.

If the Polaris Palace isn't as dangerous as imagined, we can make plans then.

If the dangers of the Pole Star Palace are beyond imagination, there is no need to think about this cave."

Ji Dinghuang and others nodded in agreement with this prudent suggestion.

Ning Yan also had no objection.

The main thing was that he saw traces of a star beast falling into a cave.

Not to mention other dangers, if he encounters that star beast again, he doesn't have a second beast species to detonate and control the other party.

After making up their minds, everyone took a short rest near the cave and then continued walking inside.

Before leaving, Duan Haishan glanced at the black burn marks left on the stone slab, and a barely perceptible glimmer appeared in his eyes.

The road ahead, away from the important location of Yueyao Palace, seemed a lot safer. At least there were no remnants of the formation that would block people from time to time.

Including some dead bodies encountered before, and even disaster beasts, none of them have been seen here.

But the more this happens, the more nervous everyone becomes.

Because they never know when a big guy might suddenly show up, and they may not be able to deal with it as easily as outside, and they may even pay the price with their lives.

Halfway through the journey, the fog around us became thicker and thicker, mixed with a biting cold, forcing people to circulate their internal strength at all times to prevent their bodies from freezing. It can be seen that the environment here has become harsh to a certain extent, even the silk strength and even the transformation strength will be affected.

In addition to the changes in the environment, what surprised everyone even more was that they did not move upwards step by step as they had initially expected, but instead the terrain was extending downwards.

According to records in classics, the Polaris Palace is located at the highest point of the Shenluo Wanxiang Sect. Theoretically, this should be the way up the mountain, but now it has turned into a way down the mountain.

There is no doubt that the entire slope where the Polaris Palace once stood must have collapsed.

It felt like a huge explosion had occurred inside the Polaris Palace, directly destroying the entire palace, including the entire mountain.

Although this is more in line with the speculation about the current scene, since we had just seen the cave, there is obviously another answer.

So as they are walking down now, it is very likely that they are not heading to the Polaris Palace in the core area, but to the real location of the immortal tomb relics.

This made everyone very hesitant.

But soon they decided to continue walking down.

This was mainly because they did not encounter any dangerous disasters along the way. Apart from the thick fog all around that carried a deep chill, no formations or corpses appeared.

Considering that the Polaris Palace was most likely blown up, all those formations and warriors would most likely disappear completely.

But it is not ruled out that there are still some lucky ones whose bodies are intact, such as the law enforcement elder Lian Huiyi. Moreover, there may be real survivors among them - the sect leader who was rewarded by the sword master, Shao Xinghan.

But the Polaris Hall had been blown up. If the other party was still alive, he was most likely buried underground.

Everyone went down cautiously and fearfully, constantly testing the brink of death.

As the distance decreased, the surrounding fog did not become as cold as it was at the beginning. It seemed to have reached a balance point.

But it is this balance point that still makes everyone feel very uncomfortable.

Except for Ning Yan, whose strength can change its attributes at will, and Duan Haishan, who had entered the stage of transformation of strength early on, Ji Ding and Huang were constantly consuming their strength just to resist the coldness around them.

This means that the distance they can advance is very limited.

Putting aside the few pills left in the bag, he had to return the same way when his strength was half consumed.

Otherwise, you might freeze to death in these ruins.

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but speed up, and soon even the light from the sky outside became a small ball above their heads.

It's like falling into a bottomless well and continuing to sink deeper.

The further down you go, the narrower the surroundings become, like an inverted cone.

It seems that we are gradually reaching its core.

The end of all secrets.

Although they were in a dangerous place, everyone's mood was still uncontrollably rising and becoming excited.

And soon...

"No! We're not going the right way!"

Duan Haishan suddenly stopped and his expression became extremely solemn.

Ning Yan and the others turned around, all with bewildered expressions.

He took a deep breath and continued:

"From a distance of about fifty feet, we have already stepped into the cycle."

"Loop? You mean we're going in circles?"

Ji Dinghuang looked horrified.

Duan Haishan glanced at the thick fog around him, frowned, and nodded.

For a moment, there was a slight commotion on the field.

But soon, the commotion died down.

After observing for four weeks, Ning Yan asked tentatively:

"How about we retreat thirty feet and try it first?"

Qi Ruyue nodded and said:
"I also think it's better to take this conservative approach."

Everyone had no more objections and immediately retreated.

To be cautious, everyone formed a circle and retreated back to back, while observing the situation around them to ensure that they could capture any unusual movement in the immediate future.

However, until they retreated thirty feet away, the expected enemy did not appear around.

But this did not make them feel relaxed.

"Something's wrong... We seem to be getting closer to the bottom!"

Ning Yan used the "Clear Eye Technique" and looked down, feeling quite unbelievable.

The thick fog rolling up from the bottom is like a rolling ocean, and as it surges, it will leave corresponding traces on the surrounding rocks.

And now, they were obviously closer to a certain "water level", and it looked like they were actively moving downwards.

Ji Dinghuang felt a chill down his spine:
"Could it be that when we retreated just now...were we deliberately moving downwards?!"

"It is possible that there are external formations or treasures that interfere with our cognition."

He Qianyan looked around, his face full of vigilance:
"But we didn't even notice the slightest movement. Whether it's the formation or the treasure, the level is too high."

"I have a different opinion."

Qi Ruyue put away the bright light in her eyes and said slowly:
"If such a formation or treasure really existed, it would not allow us to find any clues before we reach its destination. It would not be like this now, where we discovered something was wrong halfway through the journey."

"There is no doubt that even if there really is such a formation or treasure, it must be damaged and incomplete, and it is difficult to fully exert its power, so we can find a way to escape from this formation through those defects."

"What Lao Qi said makes sense, but what I am more worried about now is that it is not an ordinary formation or treasure."

Duan Haishan said with a worried look on his face.

Everyone immediately understood what he meant.

It’s not an ordinary formation or treasure.

What could that be?

Of course it is the treasure left in the immortal tomb!
It's just that they don't want to admit this result.

Because if you face those formations, there is still some possibility of breaking them.

If they were to encounter the remains of the immortal tomb, they might be trapped here to death.

"Anyway, let's try it out first."

Ji Dinghuang made the final decision.

The crowd did not delay any longer and immediately explored forward carefully.

Since going backwards means going downwards, going forwards may also mean going upwards.

During this period, they all kept their eyes wide open, trying their best to run and explore the relevant spells, and kept an eye on the changes in the surrounding environment.

However, what was unexpected was that it was not until they walked out thirty feet that they suddenly reacted and actually walked down again.

It feels like my thoughts and cognition are always a beat slow and can’t keep up with reality.

Then they tried to go in other directions, including climbing directly up the mountain wall.

But wherever they go, they end up down.

The same is true when climbing on a mountain wall.

So, they came to a conclusion:
"...No matter which direction we move, our cognition will be disturbed from the beginning and we will be locked into moving downward. So whether we move forward or upward, it actually only exists in our imagination. In the real world, we are always moving downward, approaching that core area."

"So how can we break the impasse?" (End of this chapter)