I changed the world.

These two guards resembled the one-armed guard from before, both possessing animal heads and human bodies, and muscular builds. One of them was also missing an arm, wielding a curved sword with one hand. The other, however, had both hands intact, holding two broadswords.

The two guards moved extremely fast, attacking from both sides, and in the blink of an eye they had rushed in front of Zhang Jing.

Zhang Jing was holding two weapons at this moment. With a flick of his right hand, the longsword flew out of his hand, emitting a terrifying whistling sound in the air, and instantly appeared in front of the guard on the left. Zhang Jing himself quickly pounced towards the one-armed guard on the right.

Just as Zhang Jing threw out his longsword, another bracelet landed in his hand, transforming into another longsword. As Zhang Jing lunged at the guard on his right, he once again assumed a dual-wielding stance…

On the left, the guard had to stop in the face of the fierce attack that came hurtling towards him. He crossed his two swords into a cross to parry the blow. A loud clang of metal clashing rang out, and Zhang Jing's longsword was deflected.

Surprisingly, after being deflected, the longsword was not knocked to the side, but instead spun in the air in an arc, heading straight for the head of the other guard on the right!

Meanwhile, the guardian on the right was parrying Zhang Jing's fierce and relentless attacks with his twin swords!

In that split second, Zhang Jing used his twin swords to lock the weapon on the guard's arm, followed by the sound of a sharp weapon piercing through...

"puff!"

The longsword plunged straight into the guard's temple and emerged from the other side, while the centrifugal force generated by its rotation then spun half of its head away...

Another guardian has turned to stone and fallen to the ground...

The next moment, Zhang Jing, who had already drawn his sword and dodged to the side, flicked his hand again, and the cyan longsword in his hand flew out again, slashing towards the left guard who had almost pounced on him. He then reached out and grabbed the hilt of the longsword that flew back into his hand, holding it in his other hand, and returned to the form of dual-wielding weapons.

Just as the last guardian parried the whirling sword, Zhang Jing readjusted his attack stance and charged forward.

Next, the two sides appeared and disappeared in the courtyard like a revolving lantern, constantly flashing and leaping, with the clanging sounds of weapons clashing echoing from time to time. A fierce whistling sound came from the sky, clearly indicating that some kind of sharp weapon was swirling and flying at a speed that could not be seen by the naked eye.

If an ordinary person were here at this moment, they would find that they couldn't even accurately capture the figures of the two sides engaged in battle.

After learning "The Way of the Locust Insect," Zhang Jing's movements became increasingly unpredictable. He could always avoid certain attacks that were originally sure to hit within a small space, giving people a strange sense of displacement, as if even light could be deflected on him. This also made him more and more adapted to this kind of close combat.

The battle quickly came to an end. The last guard, unable to dodge the whirling sword from behind, had his left wrist severed by Zhang Jing. Now, with only an arm left, the guard, clumsy and helpless, was quickly beheaded by Zhang Jing with a single sword stroke.

Letting out a long breath, Zhang Jing twisted the cyan longsword he was holding in his right hand into a bracelet and fastened it back to his wrist. Then, he reached out and caught the other longsword that had circled twice in the air before flying back. Holding both weapons, he stood there and slowly adjusted his breathing.

This is real combat. When both sides are wielding weapons and fighting in close combat, the kind of battle that lasts for dozens of rounds only exists in plays. It is normal for life and death to be decided in a few breaths.

Therefore, in Zhang Jing's previous life, there was a saying that if one's kung fu was even slightly higher, it would be infinitely higher.

The brief battle, though only a few dozen seconds long, had taken a considerable toll due to the full force of the attack. This demonstrated the power of Zhang Jing's "Fish-Dragon Transformation" technique. After a short rest, he was fully recovered and continued deeper into the courtyard.

The deeper he ventured into the courtyard, the more numerous the broken statues and ruins appeared along the way. Fortunately, he encountered no further obstacles until he reached the towering central building. It seemed that the three guardians he had encountered earlier were the last remaining protectors of this place.

Standing in front of the castle tower-like building, Zhang Jing realized that the building had obviously been attacked, with many sections of the exterior walls damaged and even rubble collapsed.

The building appears to have six or seven stories, but there's a huge crack in the middle of the outer wall, clearly caused by some powerful external force. The top two stories have completely collapsed. Even the area around the building is littered with debris.

Chapter 190 Exploration

In front of the building is a lake that is not very large, roughly the size of a football field. Around the lake are some stone structures resembling covered bridges, but most of them are now covered with vegetation.

"Crash..."

Suddenly, a splash came from the lake.

Zhang Jing immediately looked towards the lake. The pale blue lake appeared exceptionally tranquil in the dim light. He slowly walked over to the lakeside, where the clear surface reflected his image perfectly, like a mirror.

"Wow!"

Amidst the rushing sound of water, a gigantic tentacle suddenly emerged from the bottom of the water and coiled towards Zhang Jing with lightning speed.

However, Zhang Jing had been on high alert the whole way, and he ducked to avoid the swift attack. Just as he dodged, two more tentacles swept in from the left and right.

The next moment, Zhang Jing disappeared from his original spot and reappeared a few moments later in an open space more than 20 meters away.

Fortunately, the monster in the water was clearly unable or unwilling to leave the water. After Zhang Jing left the shore, it stopped attacking, and the lake returned to its calm and tranquil state.

Zhang Jing wasn't particularly curious about the monster in the lake, as it wasn't his purpose for coming. Of course, if it were willing to climb up and let him see it, he would be happy to. But that was obviously impossible, so for now, it would be best if everyone could coexist peacefully.

So he turned and walked towards the tall building...

The metal door on the first floor had collapsed due to some kind of violent destruction. Zhang Jing observed that the door was a double door, and it seemed to have been twisted by some huge force. The entire door panel was dented and crashed into the room, leaving it in a mess.

Zhang Jing carefully walked through the open doorway. The ground was covered with rubble and the remains of various furniture, as well as a thick layer of white dust, so much so that Zhang Jing would leave faint footprints as he walked in.

The room was dimly lit. Zhang Jing took out a ball-shaped object from his backpack, spun it around, and threw it toward the center of the room.

The sphere landed without bouncing and stood firmly in place. Then, six long legs extended from its body to support it. It then emitted a bright but not dazzling light, instantly increasing the brightness of the surrounding environment by more than one level.

These illuminating spiders were also supplies Zhang Jing purchased before coming here. With his previous experience entering the "Filthy Forest," Zhang Jing was also trying to continuously improve his outdoor equipment. For indoor areas requiring instantaneous omnidirectional illumination, these illuminating spiders were more effective than flashlights. Of course, they also had their own disadvantages, namely that they were more expensive and their illumination effect on a specific point was not as good as that of a flashlight.

However, for Zhang Jing, the mechanical spider that could accompany him allowed him to free up his hands for necessary precautions, and that was enough. As for the brightness of the light, he wasn't particularly picky at this moment.

Zhang Jing activated the True Fire Refining Eye Technique and looked around. He found himself in a large hall with crystal objects embedded in the walls. Apart from some broken furniture, he didn't discover anything else.

There seemed to have been paintings or something similar hanging on the surrounding walls, but they had all decayed and disappeared without a trace.

Zhang Jing continued walking forward, while the illuminating spider quickly crawled over. The AI ​​program predicted his direction of movement and swiftly reached the front of him.

Long corridors stretched out on either side of the hall, leading to different places. Zhang Jing began to explore along the left corridor, and after walking a dozen steps, he found a room.

The door was still metal, half-open. Zhang Jing reached out and pushed the door, but it didn't budge, clearly rusted shut.

Zhang Jing raised his hand and looked at the gloves he was wearing. There was some green moss on his palm and a layer of gray rust powder, marks left by time.

A hint of caution appeared on Zhang Jing's face. He reached out and pressed down on the door panel, slowly increasing the force. Finally, with a scraping sound, the entire door slowly began to move.

Zhang Jing stopped once the door was halfway open; it was big enough for him to enter.

The illuminating spider crawled in first, and after waiting for five seconds, Zhang Jing carefully slipped inside.

Thick dust covered the walls and the floor. The walls were also inlaid with crystals, but they were all cracked. Zhang Jing guessed that these crystals might have been used for lighting, but they were clearly no longer functional.

This appeared to be a pharmacy or materials room. Zhang Jing found several wooden cabinets on one side of the room, somewhat similar to the medicine cabinets used by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in his memory. They had many small drawers, categorized by type. However, due to the passage of time, the cabinets before Zhang Jing were now dilapidated; most of the drawers had various problems—some couldn't be opened, others were cracked.

Zhang Jing tried opening a few of the drawers to check, and found that the items stored inside were already rotten.

Looking at the hundreds of drawers densely packed together, Zhang Jing considered organizing them all. Perhaps he could find a few usable materials? Although he didn't know what they were for yet, that didn't stop him from collecting them—just in case they came in handy someday…

After all, some types of mineral materials are quite durable and can be stored for a long time. If you find any here, they might still be under warranty...

However, after rationally considering his main purpose for coming here, Zhang Jing decided not to touch these items for the time being. He took out his phone and took a few photos of the cabinet, and then began to search other places.

About five minutes later, Zhang Jing found three jade tablets in a drawer of a still intact wooden cabinet. They were probably Dharma treasures. After confirming with his pupil technique, he was able to determine that one of them was still usable. So he sealed it in a special bag and put it in his backpack. This kind of bag has a thick and lightweight special protective layer to protect the items inside from bumps and knocks.

Apart from that, Zhang Jing found nothing else of value in the room. So he left the room and went to check the other rooms.

He found numerous glasswares and various utensils of unknown name and purpose in the other rooms, but unfortunately, almost all of them were damaged. In addition, he found a torn skeleton in a corner room. It was clearly human, and the skeleton was as smooth as jade, which reminded him of the bones he had collected in Lishan Cave.

At this point, he was certain that this space must have been attacked by some external force to become like this.

In addition, he found two other jade tablets in a room at the end of the right corridor, which should also be Dharma treasures, so he put them away as well.

Right across from the room where he found the two Dharma treasures, he discovered the stairs leading upstairs. The main structure of the building was made of a treated building material that resembled both stone and jade, yet was as solid as iron. The stairs in front of him were also made of the same material, so even after a long period of time, they showed no signs of decay.

Zhang Jing ascended the stairs to the second floor. There should have been a door on the second floor, but it had been violently broken open and collapsed to the side. As soon as Zhang Jing reached the second floor, he discovered a huge circular pool. The pool was carved with complex runes, and it may have been used to store some kind of liquid before, but it was now completely dry. However, in Zhang Jing's True Fire Refining Eyes vision, he could still see a very faint energy aura, like a thin layer of light mist, lingering at the bottom of the pool.

Surrounding the pool were several rooms arranged in a ring, so Zhang Jing continued his investigation. He discovered that some rooms were engraved with complex runes, and there were permanent magic arrays set up on the ground, though most of them were now destroyed, and a few seemed to be intact, their purpose completely unknown.

After searching the second floor without finding anything, Zhang Jing continued upstairs. On the third floor, in a huge room, he discovered a massive altar-like structure. The room had an arched dome and was enormous, occupying almost half of the floor. The altar was carved with intricate runes, and above it floated a huge, diamond-like crystal, more than a meter tall, its surface cut into countless facets at complex angles. Zhang Jing couldn't discern its material at all, but he guessed that such a large crystal couldn't be made of natural materials.

What's amazing is that, even when Zhang Jing used his secret technique to observe the altar and the crystal floating above it, he couldn't see any trace of energy. So, how exactly did this crystal float there?

Zhang Jing couldn't help but think of the grotto-heaven hub in Lishan Grotto-heaven, but due to his limited knowledge, he still couldn't understand its specific uses and principles.

Then, Zhang Jing's luck turned. Near this room, he found another room, which appeared to be a small library. The furnishings were quite similar to the scripture hall that Zhang Jing had found in Lishan Cave, only much smaller.

Fortunately, the Buddhist scriptures stored here are in much better condition than the original scripture hall.

When he first discovered the Sutra Repository, its multiple floors had already been damaged. At the same time, a fight had broken out inside the Sutra Repository, and the combined effect of these two events resulted in extensive damage to the Buddhist scriptures stored within.

Chapter 191 The Library

This library, though incomparable in size to the Sutra Repository of Lishan Cave Heaven—merely a room of a hundred square meters—was largely undamaged. All the Buddhist scriptures were neatly arranged on heavy shelves. Zhang Jing estimated there were dozens of enormous shelves, containing thousands of scriptures. Several shelves had decayed and collapsed due to age, causing some scriptures to fall to the ground. However, compared to the situation in Lishan Cave Heaven, this place was much better.

Under the observation of the secret technique of True Fire Refining the Eyes, Zhang Jing saw countless rays of light, estimated to be no less than a hundred. However, the exact number remaining required careful verification.

Feeling a surge of excitement, Zhang Jing thought to himself, "Just these Dharma treasures alone make this trip absolutely worthwhile."

However, precisely because there are so many Buddhist treasures here, they are difficult to take away. Zhang Jing thought that he might need to come back again later to clean and move these treasures.

After calming himself down, Zhang Jing took out his phone and carefully took photos of the library before leaving the room and heading towards the fourth floor.

The fourth floor was severely damaged. Due to the breach in the outer wall, many rooms here had collapsed. Zhang Jing found two skeletons lying dead here, but he didn't find much else.

The fifth floor was also severely damaged. In some of the rooms there, Zhang Jing discovered the remains of many strange creatures, some of which were stored in a manner resembling specimens. There were also numerous glass-like containers, which likely once held various specimens or materials, but due to the passage of time, they had mostly decayed.

Other rooms contained numerous compartments separated by glass-like crystals engraved with runes. Zhang Jing tested them and found that these compartments were quite sturdy. Some compartments contained strange skeletons, seemingly indicating that the inhabitants had been imprisoned there.

In addition, Zhang Jing also found many strangely shaped bones and mummies in some special jar-like containers, which seemed to be stored as specimens. Each one of them did not look like a known creature on Earth.

Zhang Jing did not touch the bones and remains. Regardless of their previous use, he did not intend to deal with them for the time being. After all, he did not know much about them and was unsure whether there would be any adverse effects or whether improper handling would cause secondary damage to certain materials.

However, upon exploring to this point, Zhang Jing did feel that this building resembled a laboratory. Although the equipment and methods used were completely different from those in Zhang Jing's world—in fact, they were from a completely different civilization—some clues could still be gleaned from the storage of certain materials and the layout of the laboratory.

Further up, the sixth floor had become a ruin, with some plants even growing in it. Only a small corner of the seventh floor remained, and even the stairs had disappeared. As for whether there were any higher floors, perhaps there were, but it was obviously impossible to be sure now.

On the crumbling wall of the sixth-floor building, Zhang Jing discovered half a human skeleton scattered among the ruins. The skeleton had a faint golden hue and remained intact despite being exposed to the elements for so long.

Zhang Jing had only found two skeletons of this color when he was cleaning up Lishan Cave. He didn't know what level of cultivator they were. When Zhang Jing got closer to examine them, he found that only the head, right chest and right arm remained of the skeleton, while the rest of the body had completely disappeared.

Zhang Jing squatted down to observe for a while, then stood up again. He searched through the remaining wreckage on the sixth and seventh floors and found several items that had a halo under the True Fire Refining Eyes' vision. He couldn't distinguish them, but since they were all small, he put them away.

Aside from that, he found nothing else. From beginning to end, he seemed to have never discovered the real target he had come here for.