Chapter 266. Han Yi Ancient Sect

The crimson phoenix shot towards the direction which led to the island of the Han Yi Ancient Sect ruins.

It moved with extreme speed, akin to a crimson phantom of light.

Soon, it arrived at the location.

None of the beginner Rank 4 chaotic beasts were here.

The plan worked, the group thought.

Aiden was not surprised. After all, using his enhanced senses, he already knew that the plan had worked.

The group moved past where the countless beginner Rank 4 chaotic beasts were previously lurking and headed inwards into the territory ahead.

Everyone was quiet, wearing their battlesuits, weapons in hand. Vigilant glints flashed through their eyes.

Although they were wearing legendary Rank 3 invisibility bracelets and were not noticeable by Rank 3 chaotic beasts gallivanting in and out of the ocean and lurking beneath the surface, they still had to be careful.

The greatest advantage the group had, though, was Aiden’s scouting abilities.

Because of Aiden’s enhanced senses, he could see where threats ahead and behind were, and take appropriate routes to avoid them.

Their travel was very convenient.

However, the fog in the environment kept increasing.

Aiden’s enhanced sight picked up on a large island ahead.

Eventually, they neared it.

Everyone saw it from afar.

It was so large that they could not even see how large it was or where it stretched. But everyone deduced it was as large as the landmass of an empire.

Aiden’s enhanced vision could not even see past a quarter of the island. But he saw a few structures with it. Several ancient-looking buildings stretched across the island endlessly. There were pagoda-looking structures, castles, and pavilions of varying magnitudes.

There were a couple of gardens, waterfalls, rivers, mountains, forests, and lakes.

All these were not even up to a quarter of the island.

From the little portion he could zoom in on, the island was completely devoid of human life.

However, there were extremely terrifying chaotic beasts roaming various regions.

Eventually, the group arrived at the gates of the sect.

There was a golden inscription, Han Yi Ancient Sect, on the gates. It exuded a very ancient and tyrannical aura.

The group leaped off the crimson phoenix-looking construct.

The phoenix-looking construct turned into blobs of blood and shot towards Aiden’s crimson hammer, melding with it and reinforcing it.

"I wonder how old these ruins are. Even archeological discoveries have not found out anything about this Han Yi Ancient Sect. They must date back thousands of years," Chromium said.

Everyone nodded. The group quietly stepped through the gates of the sect.

Several statues of domineering-looking men and women lined the pavements. What was shocking was that none of them had been destroyed.

The group moved past several pavilions. All of them were in perfect shape.

Also, they didn’t find any corpses along the way.

"Usually, when one visits ruins like this, the buildings should have probably turned into rubble. Also, there should at least be some skeletons of dead warriors, chaotic beasts, and all that here as a sign that maybe, some sort of battle happened here in the past to cause the destruction of such places. But this place looks well kept and clear as day," Angela said as the group observed their surroundings.

"What the hell happened here? Aiden, are you picking up anything from scouting?" Sanderson asked.

The group would choose the next direction they would head towards after Aiden scouted the environs.

Aiden was quiet.

He had squinted his eyes.

"It’s just like everyone is saying. I am able to only scan about a quarter of this island, or this ancient sect," Aiden said. "The situation here is the same as the quarter I’ve been able to scout. No skeletons of warriors and chaotic beasts. No destroyed or worn-out buildings. No broken statues. The only thing that signifies this place is old is the architecture style and the moss-covered ground. If the situation is the same in the other parts I’m unable to scout because of my scouting limitations, there is only one possibility we can draw further conclusions from..."

"Somehow, the sect members disappeared from the sect. And that disappearance was not as a result of war within the sect, with another sect or power, or an invasion into the sect by chaotic beasts. The place looks too well kept to have been destroyed by such situations," Aiden added.

"Could it be that they disappeared as a result of some sort of expedition into a pocket world and never returned?" Genjis said.

"That’s a possibility. If they all left the sect and ventured into a pocket world, then it’s possible they entered the pocket world and didn’t return but died there. That explains the current situation," Marilyn said.

Everyone also felt the same way.

"Exactly," Aiden added. "If that’s the case, then it’s either the pocket world they entered required extreme urgency. I’m actually seeing several bowls in several rooms arranged on tables like meals were served. It’s as if people were suddenly interrupted in their meals urgently and they never returned to finish the meals. There are also arrangements in several rooms hinting at a similar thing, as if people suddenly left something they were doing to do something urgently without returning to finish it up.

Also, has anyone noticed that the materials that could have been used to build this sect are abnormal? Even if the sect members disappeared into a pocket world, leaving the sect behind, thousands of years should have been enough for everything here to be destroyed by the ravages of time. But everything here is still fresh. Whatever era this sect came from was definitely not as technologically advanced as ours, but they must have had some serious methods of preserving architecture."

Everyone nodded among themselves as discussions broke out.

What Aiden was saying was true. What sort of era did this sect have to originate from?

"We can only confirm our theory after venturing deeper into the sect, and of course, that is secondary. Our primary aim is to find cultivation manuals, so we have to explore the place anyway. Also, from what I picked up from my scan, there are dangerous chaotic beasts roaming the region, so we should all be prepared for several battles as we explore the sect. As for finding cultivation scriptures, I haven’t found any in the first quarter of the sect I have explored, so we can only head deeper," Aiden said.

Everyone nodded. The group of 13 walked deeper.