Chapter 599 - 412: Golden Core Reaching Level 5

On the other side, Fang Qingyuan and Qiqi arrived at this place together and saw the stone steles Qiqi had mentioned.

These were three dilapidated and ancient stone carvings. After long exposure to the elements, the writing on them had long since blurred. The great power of nature, the erosion of time—not even the methods of a Cultivator could keep them unchanged forever.

The three stone steles were each about one zhang square and made of an unknown material. There weren’t many characters carved on them to begin with, and after nature’s erosion, even fewer were still legible.

But the appearance of the steles meant this was no longer the naturally formed place Fang Qingyuan had imagined. The emergence of this terrain now seemed to show stronger signs of human intervention.

But this place had been a forbidden zone for humans long ago. How could there be traces of human existence here?

Fang Qingyuan stepped forward and gently caressed the three stone steles. He wanted to examine their material. To be able to withstand a Cultivator’s methods, bear an unknown inscription, and even leverage the surrounding terrain with its own power, the material of these steles couldn’t be ordinary.

Guided by the principle of never letting anything go to waste, Fang Qingyuan felt that leaving the steles in the Land of Black Soil would be a shame. He might as well collect them in his Immortal Mansion to study later.

With this thought in mind, Fang Qingyuan stepped forward to carefully examine the three steles. As he gently caressed them with his fingers, an ancient aura surged up to his fingertips.

It was a distinct sensation. The moment he touched them, a few blurry images flashed before Fang Qingyuan’s eyes.

A group of Cultivators, wearing conical hats and completely cloaked, were gathered together, fighting desperately against an Ink-Colored Flood Dragon.

One of them held a long, silver-white chain. The other end of the chain was wrapped around the neck of a bizarre creature. This being did not resemble a normal living thing at all; instead, it bore some characteristics of a Corpse Ghost.

This scene flashed by. In the next one, the Ink Flood Dragon was nowhere to be seen, and of the team of over twenty people, only five remained. The Cultivator holding the long chain was among them.

Each of these five people was pouring their Magical Power into a stone stele in front of them. As they channeled their power, the scattered wisps of black aura in this Land Realm gradually gathered and fell into the Array.

Seeing this scene, Fang Qingyuan finally understood. There had originally been five such steles, but now only three remained. The other two were missing.

When this scene ended, the final image showed the few people leaving. One of them looked back at the concealed area, took out a Spirit Beast Bag from his robes, and tipped it downwards. A small Spirit Beast fell out.

Seeing the Spirit Beast’s appearance, Fang Qingyuan’s eyes narrowed. The creature looked like a mole with a long, thin snout—it was clearly a juvenile Wind Breath Returning Soil Beast.

After taking out the beast, the Cultivator stroked its head, spoke a few words of instruction, and then tossed the small creature toward this location.

The three steles had shown him these three scenes; each stele had recorded a single image. After all three scenes had finished playing out in his mind, Fang Qingyuan could clearly feel that the ancient aura on the steles had inexplicably dissipated by a great deal.

Taking in this information, Fang Qingyuan’s gaze went distant. He connected what he had just seen with the information he’d gathered earlier and formed an initial theory.

’An unknown number of years ago, the Ink Flood Dragon roamed to this place and was besieged by that group of people. I don’t know if they succeeded in killing it, but I do know that the traces left behind by the Ink Flood Dragon at the battle site later evolved into the present-day Land of Black Soil. This Sealing Array must have been used back then to seal the remnants of the Ink Flood Dragon. The dragon’s true combat power was likely at the Divinity Transformation Realm, but I don’t know where it ranked within that realm. But judging by the fact that its remnants required such cautious treatment, the Ink Flood Dragon must have been a formidable figure even among those in the Divinity Transformation Realm.’

"What’s wrong?"

Qiqi, who was standing to the side, couldn’t help but ask when she saw Fang Qingyuan fall into deep thought after touching the steles.

Fang Qingyuan snapped out of it and said softly,

"I just saw some lingering images from history. It was quite interesting, but unfortunately, it all happened far too long ago."

After saying this, Fang Qingyuan focused his Divine Sense on the stele before him and connected with his Immortal Mansion. With a sensation that wasn’t particularly heavy, the stele abruptly vanished, taken into the Immortal Mansion.

After one stele was taken into the Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan observed quietly for a moment. When he saw that there were no repercussions, he did the same with the other two, collecting them as well.

’It makes sense. So many years have passed. The original Sealing Array is now completely ruined. With two of the five steles that served as its core already gone, it lost its effectiveness long ago. All that’s left now are the memory-images carved into the steles, left for later generations to see.’

"Let’s go. There’s nothing else to see here. We should get back to business."

Fang Qingyuan called out to Qiqi, and they continued toward the spatial fissure. Once they arrived, Fang Qingyuan began staring blankly at the crack.

’Qiqi can’t find out that I’m collecting the black soil and moving it to the Immortal Mansion. I need to find a way to send her away for a bit.’

Thinking of this, Fang Qingyuan said,

"Qiqi, I need to ask you for a favor."

Qiqi tilted her head, looking at Fang Qingyuan in confusion as she waited for him to continue.