Chapter 754: A Huge Profit! Mysterious Enemy

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Regardless, today was a lucky day.

The Water Moon Saintess shook her head to clear away distracting thoughts, then entered a state of excitement.

According to the employment contract signed with Shoujie, she would receive additional contribution points based on the difficulty of the tasks she completed daily. If she gained wealth during exploration missions with the team, she would also receive a small additional reward.

Having been poor for so long, the Water Moon Saintess was naturally full of enthusiasm.

"Unknown ruins like this often hide dangers," the Water Moon Saintess, bold due to her skill, suggested to Shoujie, "Why don't I go in first to scout ahead? You can just count it as my first credit."

"No need," Wang Shoujie shook his head. "This method of using your face to scout is too foolish—no, dangerous. Everyone, set up a containment formation first~~"

Under Wang Shoujie's command, the Crimson Hell Demon Emperor, Cai Youdao, Yun Tiange, and the Water Moon Saintess, the four True Immortal powerhouses, surrounded the exit of the ruins. The others provided support, while several small Cloud Sea Whale Arks prepared to activate the large Wrath of Heavenly Punishment.

"Ningxi, it's up to you next," Wang Shoujie instructed. "Take your time, it doesn't matter. We have plenty of time."

"Yes, Ancestor Grandfather."

Wang Ningxi took out a semi-enclosed helmet and put it on.

The helmet was dark silver, with a complex structure, including what looked like radar devices, headphones, and a visual scope.

This item was precisely the Multi-functional Divine Sense Scanning Enhancement invented by Wang Ningxi.

At the same time, he pulled out a metal box, which contained many incomprehensible designs. When the lid of the box was opened and extended outwards, it became a Crystal Stone Screen.

"What, what is this?" The Water Moon Saintess looked at the helmet, then at the box, her heart full of curiosity.

"This is Ningxi's unique technique. We just need to watch," Wang Shoujie explained casually, then waited beside them.

Cai Youdao was also encountering this for the first time and curiously moved closer to Wang Ningxi to watch him operate.

As they spoke, Wang Ningxi had already skillfully completed the connection between the box and the helmet, and then took out a basin-sized puppet spider, glowing with a metallic luster, and connected it to the helmet and the box as well.

A flash of light on the Crystal Stone Screen immediately showed the surrounding scene.

As Wang Ningxi manipulated the puppet spider to move and change direction, the image on the Crystal Stone Screen continuously changed, which was very magical.

The Demon Emperor and Jiang Yuling and others were fine; after all, they were used to the Wang Clan occasionally coming up with new gadgets. But Cai Youdao and the Water Moon Saintess found it incredibly wondrous.

It wasn't that they hadn't seen treasure items for spying, but such items were extremely rare and involved the power of laws, so their ranks were never low.

However, this set of items was clearly not something of a particularly high rank. The puppet spider emitted a very weak aura, and even the materials used to refine its outer shell and components were just ordinary Profound Iron. How could it be used to spy on the outside world?

And just as Cai Youdao and the Water Moon Saintess were full of curiosity, Wang Ningxi had already asked Yun Tiange to help lower the puppet spider into the ruin's passage.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

A series of interference sounds rang out.

The image on the Crystal Stone Screen immediately became blurry, with large patches of "snow" filling the entire screen.

Seeing this, Wang Ningxi calmly made some adjustments, strengthening the signal. A moment later, the image on the Crystal Stone Screen gradually became clear.

As the puppet spider, named "Exploration Spider," moved continuously inside the ruins, the situation within the ruins was displayed before everyone through the Crystal Stone Screen.

It must have been silent here for too long, too long.

As far as the eye could see, there were broken buildings everywhere. Thick layers of dust, accumulated over countless years, covered the entire expanse of ruins, leaving everything far from its original appearance.

However, through the overall style of the architectural remnants and some specific details, it could still be determined that it was distinctly different from the beautiful, poetic, noble, and ethereal styles of the Shenwu World and the Sacred Domain. It was even somewhat out of place with the rugged, magnificent, heavy, and ornate style of the Demon Clan's Demon God Palace.

The buildings had domed roofs, arches, and various simple geometric structures, uniformly white in color, appearing monotonous and uninteresting.

The Exploration Spider moved slowly. It took several days and countless locations before Wang Ningxi's eyes lit up, as he discovered a Void Ferocious Crocodile lying prone in the center of the architectural ruins.

Its massive body sprawled across the huge plaza, like a raised small mountain.

The surrounding broken walls had clearly been moved and arranged to form a simple nest, and it was curled up inside, eyes tightly closed, its chest and abdomen gently rising and falling, seemingly resting.

The light inside the ruins was poor, but the horrific wounds on its body were still visible. The wounds were too numerous and too deep; even with the Void Ferocious Crocodile's powerful self-healing ability, crimson blood still seeped out of them after all these days, looking utterly miserable.

However, just as Wang Ningxi was about to let the Exploration Spider approach a little more quietly, the Crystal Stone Screen suddenly darkened, and a huge tail abruptly descended from above, slamming down fiercely.

"Thud!"

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

The image abruptly cut off.

Clearly, the Exploration Spider had been discovered by the cunning ferocious crocodile and swatted to death by its tail.

Although the Exploration Spider was small and precise, compared to the enormous Void Ferocious Crocodile, it wasn't even considered a fly.

"You little thing, it's quite interesting. It's very clever for gathering intelligence," the Water Moon Saintess exchanged with Wang Ningxi with great interest. "It's just too fragile. I feel like I could blow it apart with a single breath."

"It's just a little thing for scouting. If Saintess likes it, I'll send you a set to play with later," Wang Ningxi took off his helmet and turned to Wang Shoujie, saying, "Ancestor Grandfather, my preliminary assessment is that this ruin is very, very ancient. Most of the creatures inside have probably turned to ash."

"Hmm, it seems there's no other danger besides the Void Ferocious Crocodile. But just to be safe," Wang Shoujie instructed again, "Water Moon, conjure a projection and take a few more Exploration Spiders inside to scout."

"Finally, it's my turn to appear."

The Water Moon Saintess agreed readily, full of fighting spirit.

Opening up new ruins often meant immense wealth. Even picking up a random Immortal Artifact could sell for dozens of Immortal Spirit Stones. If she could find a Saint Artifact or something similar, she would make a fortune.

Moreover, she was obsessed with games like opening blind boxes. The thought of endless possibilities made her blood boil.

In an instant.

She conjured a projection identical to her true body, with her consciousness attached to it. Then she asked Wang Ningxi for a few small spiders and plunged into the spatial vortex passage.

Using a projection to scout was a common method for True Immortal Realm powerhouses. After all, a projection was different from the true body. Even if it died, while the true self's Divine Soul would pay a significant price, it was always better than using the true self directly to scout.

However, a projection itself had no consciousness. When a True Immortal controlled a projection, the true self was almost in an unconscious state and very vulnerable, which would be troublesome if attacked.

Therefore, when projecting, the true self either needed to be in a Secret Chamber or required the protection of teammates.

Not long after, the results came out.

The Water Moon Saintess's projection went in and wandered around, finding no other dangers, but it did alarm the Void Giant Crocodile.

Unwilling to lose this projection, the Water Moon Saintess had to desperately flee outwards and call for help.

At this point, Wang Shoujie finally asked the Crimson Hell Demon Emperor and Cai Youdao to enter the spatial vortex passage to assist the Water Moon Saintess.

As for the others, they continued to guard the entrance of the cave to prevent any accidents and to protect the Water Moon Saintess's true self.

After the Crimson Hell Demon Emperor and Cai Youdao entangled the Void Ferocious Crocodile, the Water Moon Saintess dispelled her projection state, her consciousness returning to her true body. Without waiting for Wang Shoujie's command, she grabbed her Cold Moon Wheel and howled as she charged into the ruins.

The Void Ferocious Crocodile was trapped inside the ruins, like a turtle in a jar, with its retreat sealed off, making escape difficult. Yet, even so, it took the three True Immortal-level powerhouses half a day to exhaust the Void Giant Crocodile to death.

This fighting style was also for the sake of caution. Everyone knew that a wounded, desperate ferocious beast was the most terrifying. Experienced hunters would never directly confront a ferocious beast when it was fighting for its life. If they could slowly wear it down to death, why risk their lives?

After disposing of the Void Giant Crocodile, Wang Anye and Wang Ningxi then entered the ruins to explore and collect spoils of war.

As for Wang Shoujie, he continued to guard the outer spatial passage with Yun Tiange and others to prevent any additional unforeseen circumstances.

The first thing to be dealt with was the Void Ferocious Crocodile's corpse.

Such a massive void ferocious beast, just the excised crocodile meat alone weighed a million pounds. And the meat of this fourteenth-tier ferocious beast, being extremely difficult to hunt and rare in quantity, was actually more expensive than six-grade Spirit Rice.

Currently, in the Sacred Domain, the price of quality six-grade Spirit Rice generally hovered around two thousand Immortal Crystals per pound. This fourteenth-tier meat could fetch about three thousand Immortal Crystals per pound.

Therefore, just this crocodile meat alone would be worth thirty Immortal Spirit Stones.

The remaining bones, leather, sharp claws, and so on were all excellent materials that could be used to refine Dao Weapons or as auxiliary materials for Immortal Artifacts, and could fetch another ten to twenty Immortal Spirit Stones.

Even the blood could be used for alchemy, though it needed to be refined into essence blood first. While its value was far less than that of bones, sharp claws, and other materials, it could still be worth a few Top-grade Spirit Stones.

The overall profit was astonishing.

However, going out to hunt void ferocious beasts was an extremely dangerous affair; even a True Immortal could perish. Even a Saint Venerable, if they dared to venture deep into the void to explore, would not be without danger. One wrong move and the hunter could become the hunted!

Unless they were truly short on money, or by chance had an opportunity and confidence, few family Ancestors would willingly go hunting in dangerous areas. Because once an accident occurred, the entire family would suffer.

And if this Void Ferocious Crocodile hadn't suddenly migrated near the trade routes, constantly harassing them and trying to rob Spirit Rice, even figuring out the routes and learning to ambush at squat, Wang Shoujie wouldn't have bothered to fight a thirteen or fourteen-tier ferocious beast for fun.

With that effort, it would be better to open up more land and cultivate more fields. The wealth accumulated over time from that would far exceed hunting, and it would be safer.

In addition, Wang Anye also discovered a nest of Void Ferocious Crocodile eggs in a hidden spot within the ruins. He planned to take them back to the breeding base to try hatching them. If they were lucky, they might become a part of the Wang Clan's industry chain.

However, from this nest of eggs, it could also be seen that this Void Ferocious Crocodile did not migrate to the vicinity without reason; it was for breeding its offspring and preparing food for them. Unfortunately, it clashed with the interests of the Sacred Domain Development General Directorate and was tragically slaughtered.

Subsequently.

A series of explorations and plundering of this mysterious ruin began.

One month later.

On the Void Cloud Ark, the various True Immortal powerhouses and Wang Shoujie gathered, their expressions carrying an indescribable solemnity.

Based on their exploration during this period, they had basically confirmed that this was a very, very ancient ruin, so ancient that they couldn't find any corresponding clues by scouring their memories. If they weren't mistaken, the history of this ruin should date back to before the cataclysmic war of the Domain of Annihilation.

Before them lay two ancient Ancient Immortal Scriptures, over ten Treasure Codices, and some spoils of war such as Immortal Artifacts and Dao Weapons.

Logically speaking, such a harvest was already quite good.

But at this moment, everyone's eyes held an indescribable anger, and even some fear.

"Alas~" Cai Youdao sighed deeply. "My hometown is a bit far from the Domain of Annihilation, so I don't know much about it. But I do vaguely know some things. The Domain of Annihilation is extremely vast and related to a world-ending war in ancient times. I never expected that this was the battlefield remnant of our Human Clan ancestors and invaders."

Although Cai Youdao was "honored" as a Saint Venerable, the lifespan of a Saint Venerable was only about thirty to forty thousand years. Looking at the vast and long history of the Human Clan, it was merely an inconspicuous fragment of a minor era, so he naturally couldn't be omniscient.

And this ruin, which Wang Shoujie and others accidentally discovered, seemed to have unearthed a fragment of a long history, but this fragment was truly horrifying.

It turned out that the vast Domain of Annihilation, in ancient times, was an extremely vast and powerful Human Clan civilization, even stronger than the current Sacred Domain, until this civilization encountered an invasion.

"Those demons are called the Jinggu Clan. They are very skilled in refining artifacts and manufacturing various powerful weapons."

Under Wang Shoujie's questioning, the weapon spirit of one of the Ancient Immortal Scriptures floated before them, sobbing as it recounted the events of that year: "They are devils. They captured my master, Fairy Yuhua..."

As the weapon spirit cried, everyone seemed to see the scenes it had experienced back then and learned the origin of this ruin.

This ruin was named "Jinggu 807 Bloodline Research Institute," specializing in researching the Human Clan's Bloodline power through various methods. They even captured and dissected True Immortals, imprisoned Divine Souls, wanting to research the Bloodline structure of Human Clan powerhouses of all ranks. Their methods were simply appalling in their cruelty.

This Immortal Scripture had once helplessly watched its master die without dignity in repeated cruel experiments, and even after death, her body was used for various experiments.

Even it itself had been repeatedly researched.

Even now, recalling those events, the Immortal Scripture's weapon spirit still trembled all over, filled with lingering fear, clearly having suffered profound psychological trauma.

"Yuling, you take Attendant Cai and Water Moon Cultivator out to patrol," Wang Shoujie pondered.

"Patrol?" The Water Moon Saintess shook her head. "I haven't finished hearing this history... Besides, what's there to patrol in this endless void..."

But before she could finish, Cai Youdao grabbed her arm and dragged her out: "Shoujie Young Master, we're going to patrol now."

With that, he flashed out of sight.

In the void several thousand miles away, the Water Moon Saintess angrily said, "Cai Youdao, if you want to patrol, patrol yourself. Why are you dragging me?"

"Are you stupid? The Young Master just used an excuse to send us away. They must have some core secrets that aren't convenient for us to hear," Cai Youdao rolled his eyes at her. "You're a mere Cultivator. Are you going to meddle in the master's core secrets?"

Cai Youdao had been around for so many years; he wasn't that clueless.

"Uh... Shoujie doesn't trust me, then." The Water Moon Saintess was stunned for a moment, mumbling unhappily, "Bah, what kind of person am I, the Water Moon Saintess? Can't I keep such small secrets?"

"Which master family would share all their secrets with a Cultivator? We just need to do our part," Cai Youdao said irritably. "If you're not convinced, Water Moon, you can marry Young Master Shoujie. Wouldn't that make you an insider?"

"Bah!" The Water Moon Saintess spat, disgusted. "That guy is already old news with a bunch of children and grandchildren. I'm still a virgin. Am I supposed to marry him and become a concubine?"

"Besides, I'm the Saintess of Water Moon Holy Land. I have a huge inheritance to take over in the future."

Cai Youdao, however, chuckled twice: "Your Water Moon Holy Land's assets probably don't even register in Young Master Shoujie's eyes. With Young Master's Bloodline, his future achievements are immeasurable."

"..." The Water Moon Saintess was also speechless. "I still don't understand what kind of freaks this Wang Shoujie family are."

"Anyway, I've decided to curry favor with the Young Master," Cai Youdao's eyes lit up. "Perhaps one day, the Young Master can help me take revenge and reclaim the Seven Glows Grotto-Heaven. If so, I can die in peace."

"Water Moon, considering you're an old customer of mine, I suggest you also curry favor with the Young Master. Get on board early, and you'll definitely benefit in the future."

"Bah, you shameless old man."

...

Regardless of how Cai Youdao and the Water Moon Saintess bickered outside, inside the Void Cloud Ark, the remaining Wang Clan members continued to discuss the Jinggu Clan.

"Research Institute 807 Bloodline..." Wang Shoujie's expression was extremely grave. "It sounds like a very ordinary name, but it starts with a numerical sequence, so there are probably more than one such institute..."

"Great Grandfather, could Blood Sovereign's research back then be related to this Jinggu Clan?" Wang Anye also asked.

"There's a high possibility," Wang Shoujie nodded. "Emperor Holy used to sneak back and forth between the Sacred Domain and the Shenwu World. He must be familiar with this Domain of Annihilation, and it's quite normal for him to have unearthed some ruins here. The Virtual Pod and other equipment we used before haven't been found in the Sacred Domain as similar artificial creations. But the style of that thing is somewhat similar to the Jinggu Clan's."

"Not similar..." Wang Ningxi said, "I'm sure they are from the same origin. In the ruins, I also found many interesting devices that are from the same origin as the Virtual Pod, Heavenly Recording Disk, and various other things in the Shenwu World. The technology used is clearly from the same system."

"It seems that the Holy Emperor's seemingly advanced items were not products of the Sacred Domain, but were unearthed from this Domain of Annihilation. No wonder I hadn't found similar things in the Sacred Domain before; I even found it strange~" Wang Shoujie nodded in agreement. "If that's the case, then the Holy Emperor must have known about the Jinggu Clan and the Human Clan between them."

Seriously speaking, the Shenwu World had more strange things than just these. It felt like a hodgepodge of many interwoven systems. He highly suspected that, besides the Jinggu Clan, the Holy Emperor had also unearthed relics from other civilizations, but there was currently no evidence to prove it.

Wang Anye sighed and shook his head, his tone full of regret: "Our entanglement with the Demon Clan hasn't ended yet, and now another Jinggu Clan has appeared... How many powerful races are there in this endless void?"

"It's nothing more than the strong preying on the weak," Wang Ningxi said, seeing the bigger picture. "As long as we become strong enough, we can repel all invading enemies. Ancestor Grandfather, I suggest establishing a research sub-base in this institute's ruins. We can thoroughly study the remaining technology, written language, and other information of the Jinggu Clan to fill in the gaps in our technology tree, and it will be smoother when we research Virtual Pods in the future."

"If possible, we also need to formulate a Domain of Annihilation reconnaissance and scavenging plan~~ The Domain of Annihilation is too vast. His Majesty the Holy Emperor couldn't have excavated all the ruins. We need to explore further, uncover more secrets of the Domain of Annihilation as much as possible, strengthen ourselves, and gradually understand the enemy."

"Understood," Wang Shoujie nodded solemnly. "Preparing beforehand is our Wang Clan's family motto. This plan will be your responsibility."

"Thank you for your trust, Ancestor Grandfather," Wang Ningxi was excited.

The thought of endless secrets to explore filled him with drive.

"I finally understand now why Baosheng is always under so much pressure," Wang Anye thought of another matter. "Although he hasn't remembered his past life's memories, in such an environment with wolves ahead and tigers behind, he must find every possible way to make the Human Clan grow and strengthen. This instinctive sense of crisis, and the habits and urgency it created, have continued into this life..."

"Some time ago, he subtly said that I was too idle and unmotivated, and I even had Fugui beat him up," Wang Anye said with a hint of embarrassment. "After I return this time, I'll apologize to him."

"Baosheng is right, you are a bit idle," Wang Shoujie glared at him. "Are you just going to sit there in the Shenwu Ruins and not move? If there's really nothing else to do, it's good to have a few more children at home."

"How about this: from now on, during the Energy Tide eruption cycles inside the Shenwu Ruins, since there's no way to scavenge anyway, come here to assist Ningxi in developing the Domain of Annihilation. Maybe with some luck, you can pick up some Sacred Diagrams, Saint Artifacts, or similar items to take back."

"Huh?"

Wang Anye's face turned beet red.

He should have known better than to bring up Baosheng just now.

However, he dared not disobey his great-grandfather's command, so he honestly accepted the order: "Yes, great-grandfather."

Wang Shoujie felt a bit smug seeing his expression.

Even I, a family Ancestor, was provoked by Baosheng into starting a business. How could I let Anye and the others be idle?

And Wang Anye was also secretly pondering. Fugui handling the matters of the Outer Domain Demon Clan didn't seem to require much effort, at least the situation was stable for now, and he didn't need to constantly monitor it...

Alright, after returning this time, he would criticize Fugui. He absolutely couldn't let him live such an idle life.

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! You support is really important! SlaySaga]

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Chapter 755: Immortal Clan's Surrender! Hua Rui's Canglong Legion