Chapter 1510 - 1490: A Skeleton

Yang Xiao and Xing Zhe walked up close to the skeleton, jumped onto the bank, and examined it carefully.

"Judging from the look of it, this skeleton must have been dead for at least ten years."

"So there were people who came here to explore before us."

"There are a Ghost Snake and a Six-winged Centipede in the tunnels up ahead. For this guy to get past those two Super Demon Beasts and make it here, he must have been quite something."

"Isn't there a rumor that trainees used to go missing a lot in Cultivation Field 101? I figure they were just like us now, discovered this secret passage, entered the Underground River Tunnel, got lured deeper and deeper by the Evolution Energy in the tunnel, kept exploring step by step, and eventually got eaten by the Demon Beasts inside.

Back in that cave with the Ghost Snake and Six-winged Centipede, there were plenty of skeletons. Those two beasts must have eaten a lot of people."

"So how did this person die?"

"Look at the skeleton—three ribs on the chest are broken, and the skull is shattered. He should have died from an attack. Could it be he was ambushed by a Demon Beast right here?"

Yang Xiao and Xing Zhe's hearts tightened again. After all, they had just run into the Ghost Snake and Six-winged Centipede in the previous cavern and were no match for either. If they encountered an Emperor Level Peak Demon Beast here, there would only be one outcome for them—waiting for death.

The two stood on the bank of the Underground River and swept their gaze around. This tunnel was about ten meters wide, five to six meters high, and its end couldn't be seen in a single glance. Though not as spacious as the Six-winged Centipede's tunnel, it still allowed for basic movement.

Yang Xiao silently circulated his Evolution Technique. His whole body shuddered as a surge of violent Evolution Energy poured into him.

"Xing Zhe, did you feel that? The Evolution Energy here is much stronger than before, it's several times higher."

"I've already noticed it. The Evolution Energy here is indeed very powerful. But, did you notice one thing?"

"What thing?"

"We haven't run into any Flying Golden Fish along this stretch of the Underground River."

When Xing Zhe said that, Yang Xiao realized it too.

"Right, we kept encountering Flying Golden Fish in the earlier tunnels, but why have they suddenly vanished here? The Evolution Energy is stronger here, so there should be more Flying Golden Fish, not less."

Yang Xiao and Xing Zhe went back to the Underground River and observed carefully. They indeed found no trace of Flying Golden Fish in the river.

After talking it over, they decided to rest here for now. After all, they had been walking in the Underground River Water for a whole day and were exhausted.

The two found a relatively wide, flat spot in the Underground River Tunnel, sat down to rest, and ate some Flying Golden Fish meat to fill their stomachs.

Those meat chunks were Flying Golden Fish that Yang Xiao and Xing Zhe usually roasted into dried fish with their Fire Element Cultivation Technique and stored in their Space Rings as emergency rations.

The cave was pitch black, with no concept of time.

It was their first time here, and they weren't familiar with the surroundings, so they didn't dare let their guard down.

"Xing Zhe, you sleep first and rest. I'll stand watch. When you wake up, I'll sleep."

Xing Zhe didn't stand on ceremony. He replied "Okay," and lay straight down on the ground to sleep.

After sitting for a while, Yang Xiao felt bored, so he got up and walked back over to that skeleton.

Yang Xiao crouched down, turned on his flashlight, and examined the skeleton on the ground carefully. On the skeleton's left middle finger was a Space Ring. Yang Xiao picked it up, glanced at it, and saw some ancient Runes on it.

Normally, a Space Ring is bound to a person's Divine Sense, like a fingerprint lock. Other than the owner, no one else can open it.

If someone tries to force it open, the Space Ring will trigger its self-destruct protocol.

So, whether on Witch Star or Dwarf Star, nobody bothers picking up Space Rings from a corpse.

Because even if you pick up someone else's Space Ring, you still can't open it.

Yang Xiao felt this Space Ring had an ancient, simple feel to it. Out of curiosity, he picked it up for a closer look, then stirred his Divine Sense slightly, trying to touch the ring's specific unlocking mechanism.

Yang Xiao suddenly froze in shock. He realized his Divine Sense had actually entered the Space Ring directly.

"What the hell, what's going on? Did this guy not set a personal password on his Space Ring? Or did he turn on the no-password option?"

A Space Ring can either be set with a personal Divine Sense password or be configured with a no-password setting.

However, in normal cases, ninety-nine and a half out of a hundred people will set a personal Divine Sense password.

Yang Xiao was overjoyed and hurriedly used his Divine Sense to extract everything from inside the Space Ring.

Most of it was daily necessities—clothes, some common Elixir Medicine. The Space Ring did have vacuum preservation, but after decades, many items had already deteriorated. For example, several sets of clothes were rotting and would tear with a slight pull.

A few bottles of Elixir Medicine were probably expired and couldn't be taken anymore.

Some dry rations and seasonings were also unusable.

There were a few bowls and several pairs of chopsticks inside.

What really caught Yang Xiao's eye were a dozen or so pieces of Jade Dishware.

On Witch Star and Dwarf Star, Jade Dishware is a specially crafted universal recording medium. It can store audio-visual material as well as text from books and can preserve them for hundreds, even thousands of years without losing them.

Yang Xiao picked up one Jade Dishware and injected Evolution Energy into it.

"Buzz!"

With a soft sound, the Jade Dishware discharged a current that flowed through Yang Xiao's palm into his arm, then directly into his mind.

Yang Xiao focused inward, and in his mind appeared a Cultivation Secret Book.

All Things Return to Origin!

"The name sounds pretty good. Wonder how the actual Cultivation Technique is."

Yang Xiao wasn't in the mood to carefully study this All Things Return to Origin Cultivation Technique. He just glanced at the name briefly, then moved on to examine the second piece of Jade Dishware.

After he injected Evolution Energy, another streak of light flowed into his mind.

Three Pure Ones Transforming the Void!

Another Secret Technique Manual.

The next several Jade Dishware were all Secret Technique Manuals.

Right now, Yang Xiao wasn't interested in ordinary Secret Technique Manuals. Plus, in this environment, he had no mind to study them, so he continued checking the remaining Jade Dishware.

Yang Xiao picked up one of them and injected Evolution Energy.

"Buzz!"

A virtual human figure suddenly appeared in mid-air. Yang Xiao jumped in fright, quickly stopped injecting Evolution Energy, ran over to Xing Zhe, and pushed the sleeping Xing Zhe.

"Xing Zhe, get up, get up, something's happening, something's happening."

Xing Zhe woke up to Yang Xiao's shouting, staring at him in confusion.

"What's going on?"

Yang Xiao didn't waste words. He directly injected Genetic Evolution Energy into the Jade Dishware.

With a "buzz," a virtual human figure appeared in front of them.

"What the hell?"

Xing Zhe jumped as well, staring at the virtual figure before them.

In the projection, the virtual figure's clothes were tattered, his appearance miserable, body covered in blood.

Yang Xiao was startled and said,

"Look, when he recorded this video message, wasn't it right here in this tunnel?"