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Fang Cheng smelled the lingering heat and blood in the air, his eyes flickering slightly.

This is not some unknown underground treasure vault at all; it is clearly the same world in the ancient locust village where he had previously faced off against Jiang Chen.

The exaggerated craters and spiderweb-like cracks on the ground were all the marks of destruction caused by him using "infinite combos" to pin the old monster to the ground, punching him relentlessly until he created the damage.

As for the charred remains of buildings and the pervasive ashes, they were the lingering effects of the sun's true fire scorching Jiang Chen's soul.

Jiang Chen's body was instantly blown apart, and his soul was burned by the flames.

The entire inner world could not withstand this overwhelming destructive force, and coupled with the loss of its controller's power, it collapsed and dissipated on the spot, turning into a sky full of black mist that vanished into the night sky.

Fang Cheng had thought that space had been completely annihilated with Jiang Chen's defeat and death.

Unexpectedly, such ruins remain.

Moreover, it is quietly connected to the bottom of the well through that red stone door.

"Crack!"

Cheng Jiashu lifted his foot and crushed a piece of charcoal that had rolled to the side of his leather shoe.

The crisp cracking sound was exceptionally clear amidst the silent ruins.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze, turned to look at Cheng Jiashu, and stated his guess, then said:
What do you think?

Cheng Jiashu glanced around thoughtfully and then spoke:
"In my opinion, when the inner world collapsed, although the main structure had already disintegrated, the spatial framework built on the Yin Gathering Array did not completely perish."

He crouched down, brushed aside a few pebbles with his fingers, and examined the ground structure:

"This is like the house collapsing, but the foundation is still buried in the soil. The stone door at the bottom of the well was probably arranged by Jiang Chen in advance, leaving a back door for this remaining space."

Fang Cheng surveyed the horrific scene of destruction around him and nodded slightly.

"So, the inner world of Guhuai Village didn't completely disappear, but rather shrank underground to recuperate and await restoration?"

That's roughly the idea.

Cheng Jiashu dusted off his hands, stood up, and said calmly:
"The spatial structure depends on the earth's veins for its existence. As long as the earth's veins continue, it will not completely dissipate in a short period of time."

"Just like the secret realms of aristocratic families, even if they are on the verge of collapse, as long as the structure is not completely destroyed, there is still hope of saving them."

"After our Cheng family's secret realm was destroyed, it was very likely that Jiang Chen took over and rebuilt an incomplete inner world."

He gazed with a complex expression at the ancestral hall in the distance, which had been almost completely razed to the ground, and then said:
"To be honest, I've always found it strange that those village guardians who are under mind control perform some kind of sacrificial rituals. They look eerie, but it's all just a charade."

"They are simply using human blood sacrifice to send blood and qi into the underground to awaken Jiang Chen, who is sleeping in the inner world. Once this old monster has eaten and drunk his fill and woke up, he will open the inner world himself and then pull in the village guardians who summoned him and the prepared sacrifices."

“After the whole ceremony, he made all the decisions, inside and out. No one who entered or left this place, including Manager Wu, knew the underlying principles. Only in this way could the secrets be kept better.”

Fang Cheng nodded slightly, agreeing with Cheng Jiashu's deduction.

As they talked, they observed their surroundings and walked deeper into the ruins.

The broken bricks and tiles underfoot made a series of crisp sounds.

The ancestral hall that still stands peacefully in reality is now completely unrecognizable in the other world.

The roof of the main hall is missing, and only two of the four load-bearing wooden pillars remain.

One of the pillars broke in the middle and fell diagonally onto the collapsed altar, crushing a statue that had been enshrined there.

The head of the statue had rolled into a corner, with mottled vermilion lacquer remaining at the corner of its mouth, its expression blank, and it was looking up at the sky.

The side hall is now reduced to two ruined walls, covered with charred marks that have penetrated deep into the brickwork.

Several parts were even pierced by the force of the punch, leaving round holes the size of a face.

Fang Cheng walked around a collapsed stone pier, and his toes touched a hard object.

He glanced down, then bent down, brushed aside the broken bricks covering the item, and picked it up.

It is a bronze incense burner with a design of two dragons playing with a pearl cast on the body. The three legs at the bottom are intact, the bronze color is deep, and the patina is very thick. It is obviously an old piece.

"Come and look at this."

Cheng Jiashu found a wooden box at the base of the dilapidated wall diagonally opposite.

The surface of the box was already rotten and cracked, and it would fall apart with the slightest touch.

The contents inside were completely undamaged; a dozen gold bars were neatly stacked together, gleaming alluringly in the dim light.

Several other objects were scattered around the gold bars.

A palm-sized bluish-white jade amulet, with a warm and lustrous texture and exquisite carving. Two lines of small seal script are engraved on the bottom.

A set of enamel-painted bowls with floral and bird designs, the bowl walls are as thin as eggshells, and the designs are lifelike.

In addition, there are several gold seals the size of copper coins, with simple and ancient inscriptions and steady carving techniques.

"My ancestor has collected quite a few good things over the years!"

Cheng Jiashu sighed, casually picked up the jade talisman, examined it twice, and a slight smile appeared on his lips:
"I wonder what he's planning by hiding these things in the inner world?"

After putting the jade talisman back, Cheng Jiashu stood up and clapped his hands.

"But these things are useless to me; they're just a bunch of old relics."

Seeing this, Fang Cheng immediately bent down and gathered the gold bars and the other items together, his movements swift and efficient.

The Illuminati was newly established and had a large number of people to support, with expenses in many areas.

The hole for spending money is simply bottomless.

Although he is now considered to have a substantial fortune, the cash flow on his books is simply not enough to fill the gap.

These items in front of me can be exchanged for whatever amount of money they can be exchanged for.

Cheng Jiashu watched as Fang Cheng unceremoniously stuffed gold bars into his pocket, his lips twitched, but he remained silent.

He then stepped forward to help, picking out the gold bars and antiques scattered in the ruins one by one and piling them up on a relatively flat open space in front of the main hall, intending to take them with him when he went out later.

Just as Fang Cheng found another dusty wooden box behind the broken wall, Cheng Jiashu's voice came from behind him:
"Fang Cheng, come and look at this!"

His tone carried an barely suppressed excitement.

Fang Cheng immediately put down the wooden box, turned around and walked over.

Cheng Jiashu stood in the northwest corner of the main hall, holding a glow stick in his hand, his gaze fixed on a dark ruin in front of him, his body motionless.

Fang Cheng followed his gaze and initially saw only a heavy shadow, with broken bricks and dust piled up at the base of the wall, looking messy and ordinary.

But when he looked closely, he noticed something was wrong.

In the depths of the shadows in the corner, a wisp of dark red light floated.

It's only about as thin as a fingernail, yet it has an unusual texture.

It was like an eye in the darkness, slowly blinking, driven by some unseen force.

If you don't look for it deliberately, this glimmer of light will almost be completely swallowed up by the darkness; it's so easy to miss.

"What is this?" Fang Cheng took two steps closer and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Cheng Jiashu took a deep breath, his voice unconsciously lowering slightly:
"It's a spatial rift."

After speaking, he paused, then turned to look at Fang Cheng:
"Do you still remember the earth-shattering explosion at the Xishan archaeological site at the end of last year?"

Fang Cheng glanced at him and nodded.

Of course he remembered it; he knew far more about the secrets hidden behind that incident than anyone else.

Seeing this, Cheng Jiashu didn't beat around the bush and said directly:
"Outsiders thought it was just an accidental engineering incident, but in reality, the real cause of the explosion was that the entrance to an ancient civilization's ruins suddenly opened, and the energy released triggered a chain reaction of collapses at the site. The military immediately blocked the news, and the whole thing became a secret."

Fang Cheng calmly took over the conversation:

“I’ve heard about this. The military also took the opportunity to control the entrance to that ancient site.”

Seeing that Fang Cheng already knew, Cheng Jiashu skipped the unnecessary explanation.

He simply gazed at the slowly writhing dark red crevice and said slowly:
"More than two thousand years ago, or even more than ten thousand years ago, an entrance to another world appeared in Xishan."

"The monks of Gufeng Temple call that world the Western Paradise, which is not entirely unfounded. Throughout history, people have successfully entered that other world and obtained various opportunities and rare treasures."

"Now, more than two thousand years have passed. No matter what the world on the other side has become, the fact that it was given the name 'Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss' by the ancients is enough to imagine what kind of treasures it contains."

Fang Cheng stared at the slit of light, remaining silent for a moment without saying a word.

A scene of yellow sand covering the land and monsters roaming the area flashed through his mind.

That night at the Xishan examination hall, I unexpectedly stepped into the legendary otherworld.

It's likely that this spatial rift corresponds to the same place.

If the speculation is true, then the "paradise" mentioned by the ancients has become a wasteland two thousand years later.

Cheng Jiashu, unaware of Fang Cheng's unusual behavior, continued:

"What the military discovered at the archaeological site is just one of many possible entrances to Xishan."

"Because the Western Mountains stretch across the eastern part of the Xia Kingdom, the terrain's veins resemble a reclining dragon. Leaving aside feng shui considerations, from a spatial perspective, it's the most unstable area. Therefore, looking at the entire mountain range, there's definitely more than one such fissure."

Fang Cheng's eyes lit up as he looked at the dark red slit of light and asked directly:
"You mean, this could very well be one of the entrances?"

"Yes."

Cheng Jiashu nodded firmly.

Fang Cheng examined the thin, almost invisible crack and frowned.
"But there's only one gap in this thing, how could a person possibly get through?"

An absurd image flashed through his mind.

Could it be that you know a transformation technique, shrinking into an insect and flying inside?

Cheng Jiashu bent down, peered closely at the slit of light, and explained:
"When Jiang Chen opened the inner world, he almost drained the Yin energy accumulated in the earth's veins in this area. The size and stability of the spatial rift directly depend on the energy supply in the surrounding area. When the Yin energy was exhausted, the entrance naturally shrank to this extent."

Fang Cheng then pressed further:

"Can it be reopened now?"

Cheng Jiashu shook his head, stood up, and patted the dust off his knees:

"The Yin energy is currently severely insufficient. If we rashly intervene, it will only cause this crevice to collapse completely. Only when the earth veins gather energy again can we try to widen the entrance."

How long will it take?

Cheng Jiashu shrugged and spread his hands:
“I am not Jiang Chen who set up the formation and opened up the inner world. I don’t know how deep the foundation he laid back then was.”

"Logically speaking, it would take at least half a month for the earth's veins to naturally recover their spiritual energy. We still need to observe carefully and take it one step at a time."

"Half a month..."

Fang Cheng repeated himself, then crossed his arms and pondered:
"So, you're planning to stay in Guhuai Village to observe the situation?"

"What other options are there?"

Cheng Jiashu straightened his collar and said in a casual tone:

"It's hard for you to take time off work, so I'm just taking a break here to escape the summer heat."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng solemnly reminded him:

"The entrance cannot be opened for the time being, so we must completely conceal any traces here. Even if someone comes to search, we must not let them find anything amiss."

That's what I'm thinking too.

Cheng Jiashu stuck a glow stick into a crack in the broken bricks at his feet, his tone slightly excited:
"The value of a spatial passage entrance that can connect to another world is self-evident. It is not just a few antiques or a few boxes of gold bars; it is a strategic resource at the national level, involving interests that cannot be fully estimated."

"If the special search team, the military, and those organizations that are secretly watching the movements in Xishan find out that there is a secret entrance in Guhuai Village, then we will probably not be able to live in peace."

"so……"

Cheng Jiashu paused briefly, then met Fang Cheng's gaze:
"We must keep this secret just like Jiang Chen did, and not let even the slightest word of it leak out."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and looked at the dark red slit:

"Jiang Chen and all the village guards have gone to the underworld tonight. Manager Wu also died because of the curse. According to what he said before he died, the shielding measures set up around the village are still basically in operation, and the outside world cannot detect it."

"We're the only four people who know there's something unusual about Guhuai Village."

“You, me, Xu Hao, and that Qian Dongming.”

The two of them were silent for a second.

"Qian Dongming is the key person."

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly, and he spoke first.

“I’ve been investigating his background these past few days.”

Cheng Jiashu nodded, took a document out of his backpack, and handed it to Fang Cheng:

"The land in Guhuai Village is registered under the name of a pharmaceutical company, and the approval process is for an agricultural development project. The actual controller of that company is none other than Chairman Qian."

Fang Cheng glanced at the documents and handed them back to him:
"As long as we can control Qian Dongming, the land in Guhuai Village will be secure, and things will be much easier from here on out."

That's exactly what I mean.

Cheng Jiashu put the documents back into his backpack and nodded slightly.

“He’s terrified right now, still in shock, and his mentality is at its most vulnerable. This is the perfect time to strike. Leave the rest to me.”

The two reached a consensus and decided not to delay any longer.

Fang Cheng walked back to the open space and stuffed the gathered antiques and gold bars into Cheng Jiashu's large backpack.

It was packed full and heavy when you lifted it.

The two then left the ruined inner world, returned to the portal of light, and stepped out. (End of Chapter)