My little sect, which disappeared a thousand years ago, has become a sacred site!

Gu Changyuan wandered in the forest for a long time.

The little wolf cub in his arms had completely relaxed. It was no longer trembling, but curled up in a ball, its furry head resting on his arm, fast asleep.

Spiritual plants, spiritual minerals... he collected quite a lot along the way.

Although there weren't any particularly eye-catching treasures, the sheer quantity of them made up for it, and even small amounts added up to a considerable sum.

As he walked, he suddenly stopped.

A blank area appeared not far ahead.

It's not that the area was truly empty, but rather that it blocked his divine sense from exploring it.

Gu Changyuan raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.

coming.

He flashed and appeared directly in the center of that area.

The moment he landed, he felt a faint fluctuation beneath his feet—the aura of an array.

This should be one of the hidden spots in this Immortal Emperor's Secret Realm.

Gu Changyuan understood.

These hidden opportunities usually have specific triggering conditions.

Perhaps it involves pressing a mechanism somewhere, collecting specific tokens, or fulfilling certain conditions related to cultivation level or physique.

Gu Changyuan was too lazy to look for those mechanisms.

His mind stirred slightly, and the space around him began to shift.

Layer upon layer of invisible spatial formations descended, constantly colliding and merging with the ancient formations below, rapidly deducing the core nodes of the formations and searching for a way to break them.

For Gu Changyuan, mastering the art of formations was as easy as taking candy from a baby. Before long, he accurately found the core flaw in the formation.

With a flick of his fingertip, the complex ancient formation instantly cracked, and then slowly dissipated into the air like shattered glass.

The moment the formation disappeared, Gu Changyuan felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly go empty.

The once solid ground seemed to have been pulled away from below, and the person lost all support and fell downwards.

If a normal cultivator encountered this situation, they would probably panic and lose their composure because their feet suddenly lost their footing.

Gu Changyuan had anticipated this, and with a turn in the air, he landed steadily on the ground below.

Looking up, the "hole" above was slowly closing.

The soil and turf slid off the edges, but were quickly filled in by some force, restoring the original state.

Gu Changyuan withdrew his gaze and looked around.

This is a passageway.

The passageway was narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Gu Changyuan did not rush forward.

He raised his right hand, flicked his fingertips, and a flame ignited in his palm.

The flame was small, only the size of a fist, but it emitted a soft yet bright light, illuminating the entire passageway.

Although he could see clearly in the dark, he still preferred the light.

The firelight flickered, casting a long shadow on the stone wall behind him, swaying gently with his steps.

Gu Changyuan walked forward along the passage.

The little wolf cub in her arms was awakened by the firelight. It opened its eyes groggily, looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, and then looked at Gu Changyuan's face, which was covered by a mask.

It seemed to sense something, its ears perked up slightly, and a hint of alertness flashed in its eyes, but it quickly relaxed and rested its head back on Changyuan's arm.

After Gu Changyuan walked for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the stone walls on both sides gradually became smooth, transforming from naturally formed rough rock walls into smooth stone surfaces that had been artificially polished.

Carving marks began to appear on the stone wall—initially just simple lines, which gradually became more complex and eventually formed complete patterns.

Beasts, birds, mountains, rivers, stars, sun, moon...

The carvings, appearing and disappearing in the firelight, seemed to be telling an ancient story.

Then, the passage suddenly opened up.

Gu Changyuan walked out of the narrow passage and entered an underground space.

At the center of the space, two enormous stone statues stand side by side.

The stone statue is over three zhang tall, with a human form and an animal head, the head being a dragon's head and a tiger's head respectively.

The dragon-headed stone statue has wide-open, angry eyes, flowing whiskers, and prominent horns; the tiger-headed stone statue has a gaping maw with exposed fangs and piercing eyes.

The two stone statues hold long halberds, the tips of which point to the ground, their postures majestic, as if they are guarding something important.

Their bodies were covered with dense array patterns, which shimmered faintly in the firelight and exuded a chilling aura.

The moment Gu Changyuan stepped into the space, the firelight shone on the stone statue.

At the same time, red light shone in the eyes of the two stone statues.

It's not a reflection, not an illusion—it's real red light emanating from within.

Like two pairs of eyes that have been asleep for thousands of years, suddenly opening at this moment.

"Boom!"

A slight rumbling sound came from inside the stone statue, deep and powerful, like the heartbeat of an ancient beast awakening.

Gu Changyuan watched as the two stone statues began to move slowly—their arms were raised, their halberds held horizontally, and their steps left deep cracks in the bluestone ground with each step.

The previously calm atmosphere suddenly surged.

Mid-stage Void Refinement, Late-stage Void Refinement, Peak Void Refinement...

Initial stage of fusion.

Gu Changyuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

This Immortal Emperor's Secret Realm is only open to cultivators at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

But here, there are actually two stone statues in the early stages of the Fusion Realm guarding the place.

Is it in this river?

A normal Nascent Soul stage cultivator would be utterly crushed by two Void Refinement stage stone statues. Forget fighting, even escaping would be difficult.

Unless Gu Changyuan's divine sense silently swept across the entire space.

Soon, he discovered some anomalies in various corners of the space.

Behind the stone wall on the left is a hidden compartment; the inside of the pillar on the right is hollow; and among the crystals of the dome are several stones of slightly different colors.

Those places all hold something.

Gu Changyuan glanced at the two moving stone statues again and noticed that the array patterns on their bodies were not complete.

There are several obvious breaks and gaps, as if waiting for something to fill them.

He immediately understood.

The true purpose of this place is not to allow intruders to fight the statues head-on.

Instead, the goal is for intruders to find hidden items within the limited space and use them to fill the gaps in the stone statue patterns, thus breaking the predicament.

Perhaps those items are hidden in a secret compartment, or perhaps you need to trigger some mechanism to obtain them.

In short, the designer's intention was to make intruders use their brains, not their fists.

That's a good idea; you won't need to think about it next time.

Gu Changyuan was too lazy to think, but a thought popped into his head.

Two invisible sword energies flew out from his fingertips.

The two stone statues had barely raised their halberds and hadn't even taken a second step when the sword energy accurately struck their core array pattern—right in the center of their chests.

"boom--!"

Two loud explosions occurred almost simultaneously.

The entire underground space trembled, smoke and dust filled the air, and debris flew everywhere. The shockwave from the collision instantly swept through the entire space.

Gu Changyuan stood still, motionless.

An invisible barrier enveloped him, keeping out all the smoke and rubble, and not a single speck of dust could touch his clothes.