Let's go back in time a bit.
After Cecile spoke with Yasenia through the communication device, she focused on the ruins in front of her. They were circular with an open ceiling, similar to an altar. Of the six circular pillars, one of them was toppled down. There were also geometrical lines on the floor, creating some kind of pattern. Even so, Cecile couldn't understand them because her knowledge of formation was very sallow.
Nonetheless, Cecile wasn't worried. After killing the five demons and showing off her strength, no one dared to bother her, so she had plenty of time to look around. Every time someone crossed gazes with her, they would flinch and look the other way, whether they were beasts, humans, beast humans, or even demons.
Cecile ignored them and moved toward the ruins with steady steps, looking for the entrance. A ruin in the middle of a desert with this kind of shape was bound to be filled with treasures. Either that or it was a mortal trap that would bury most people who dared to enter them.
However, after looking around for ten minutes, she didn't find an entrance anywhere. 'It is not only me. Everyone here is still looking for something. I've been keeping an eye on the number of cultivators, and it hasn't changed since the beginning besides those that left or arrived.'
Cecile decided to fly up and scout from the sky. Maybe she could see something different from high up in the air. Her big silver wings spread and flapped, shooting her up into the air. Cecile stopped at her limit altitude of 150 meters, or else the heat would cook her.
After looking from above, Cecile's immutable expression changed a little. To her surprise, the whole circular ruins appeared to make a pattern on the ground. It was extremely clear even to someone as ignorant as herself. The six pillars were the cornerstones of it.
However, that column on the right side had fallen down, unlike its counterpart on the left. Cecile thought about it and concluded. 'Maybe something will happen if I reposition it. However, it is quite big and heavy. Hmm...'
Cecile looked at it for one more minute and decided to try. She swooped down and landed beside that column. Her movements weren't flashy, but many people had their eyes on her, be it to admire her ethereal beauty, keep her in check, or follow her whenever she did something special.
Cecile walked to the top part of that pillar and grabbed the column by the edge. Her wings began flapping as her tails absorbed the energy around her, increasing her body strength. People saw Cecile's action and were speechless. That column was at least 40m long with a radius of 3 meters. That meant that it was six meters in height right now, fallen over.
However, Cecile's flapping made them shut up because the air her big silver wings moved was creating visual air shockwaves. Each flap was loud and sonorous as the strength she was currently exerting exploded the air her wings were pushing.
Cecile felt that the column was extremely heavy. Even when she used her whole body strength, it didn't even flinch. However, Cecile was a woman that took the bull by its horns to beat him up. Therefore, instead of asking other cultivators to help her, she gritted her teeth and enhanced herself with her buffs.
*BOOM!*
Her aura swelled and made the surrounding temperature drop sharply. Silver crystals condensed in the air because of her aura alone. Then, after crouching, she straightened her legs and put all her muscles behind that action.
People's mouths opened wide as sand began falling from the column, and she really started lifting it. Cecile's brute strength was lifting the enormous column!
'It's very heavy!'
When Cecile lifted it to waist height, which still was very little in comparison with the huge structure, she made a quick movement and crouched under it, changing her form. Now Cecile was under the heavy column, supporting it above her head with her hands while crouched.
You could take an egg and choose a random person looking at Cecile. The egg would be able to enter the chosen persons mouth for sure! Cecile felt like the column would crush her, but her eyes remained stubborn.
"Haap!"
With a low shout, her legs began straightening as her big silver wings continued flapping. Someone in the surroundings suddenly realized what Cecile's intention was. "Don't tell me that she wants to straighten that thing."
"I think you are correct." Someone stuttered.
"Impossible! That thing isn't something juniors like us can lift alone!" A man screamed.
Cecile's wings speed up as if trying to prove wrong that last man. The gales from her wings were too much, and the cultivators around had to take steps back. Then, the stupid scene of Cecile's feet leaving the ground greeted them as she lifted the enormous pillar above her head.
Cecile's wings were glowing silver as the aura around her became thicker. Each flap sent a small wave of silver dust flying, and those that touched it got frostbite. It was extremely cold!
Cecile felt all her back muscles straining as the weight was truly too much. There was some muscle tear that sent painful electric currents to her brain, but the natural regeneration of her body quickly mended her wounds.
Then, with a small shout to motivate herself, she managed to place the column vertically again. The pillar didn't wobble as it became unnaturally straight after Cecile pushed it, as if there wasn't enough momentum to make it fall toward the other side. It was the same phenomenon that happened when something clicked into place and wouldn't move anymore.
Cecile landed on top of the column, breathing roughly. Her back hurt from trying so hard. 'Not even a spar against Yasenia is this tiring. That was heavier than I thought. I hope it was worth it.'
But Cecile didn't have a lot of relaxing time because the whole ruins began to tremble as if an earthquake was starting.
Cecile forced her tired wings to fly up and avoid any uncontrollable mishaps from happening. She just hovered above the ruins as she observed the next events.
The ruins lit up! The formation lines glowed from the top of the columns downward. It was as if a dense golden liquid was filling them.
This liquid didn't spill and followed the formation lines perfectly, reaching the bottom of the forty-meter tall pillars. Shortly after, the golden liquid reached the middle of the ruins, and the whole place was filled with light. A pillar of light shot to the sky, blinding everyone.
Cecile reacted fast and flapped to the side, trying to avoid the pillar, but she was unable to. Thankfully, it didn't do anything, as it was just a signal announcing that the ruins had activated.
Right after the pillar of light, on the right of the ruins, a ramp opened, showing a passage downward. All the sand that was above it and even some cultivators directly fell into it because they were standing in that area. Nonetheless, the entrance wasn't a vertical hole but a step ramp.
Cecile saw it and didn't wait. She swept down and directly flew through the entrance at high speed. Unlike the cautious nature of most of Yasenia's lovers, Cecile was direct in everything she did. From time to time, especially if they were to involve Yasenia in one way or another, she pondered and thought about her actions deeply. But if that wasn't the case, she was mostly a straightforward woman.
The rest of the cultivators saw Cecile entering and followed right after. No matter if they were scared of her or not, they wouldn't let Cecile get all the treasures.
The passage was seven meters tall and five meters wide, just enough for Cecile to be able to fly with her five meters of wingspan. After training, her control was superb, and she could even fly in places with less width than her wingspan.
Her speed was extremely fast as she left a silver trail behind her. She continued flying forward, and after twenty minutes, she reached a big room. The floor was made of brownstone, and the walls were yellow and smooth.
On each wall in front of Cecile, there was a big door. Each door was five meters tall, reaching half the height of the room she was in.
The three doors were identical at first sight. Cecile flapped toward them and looked at them. Even though it was a fast glance that didn't take more than thirty seconds for each gate, Cecile's eyesight was extremely sharp. However, she didn't see anything different.
Therefore, Cecile looked around for something while flapping her wings mid-air. This room was even taller than the passage, so she had more than enough space to maneuver.
After looking around, she spotted a stone stele and a spring, respectively, on the room's far right and left corners. She flashed toward the stele first but saw a foreign language on it that she couldn't understand.
Cecile frowned and looked toward the spring on the left corner. After she flew to the shore, she looked at it curiously. 'What effect does this have, and why is it here? A senior made this secret realm, so they wouldn't randomly place things around, right?'
Cecile didn't want to drink a random thing without knowing its effects, so she was in quite a hurdle.
By this time, other cultivators began arriving. They looked around and saw Cecile in front of the spring.
Cecile looked at them, and then an idea flashed through her mind. She crouched down and made the motion of scooping water and lifting it toward her mouth. She covered her hands with an air bubble not to touch the water. Then, she walked slowly toward the stele. 'Become my test subjects, random people.'
The people observed Cecile for a moment, and after seeing her in front of the stele, they went toward the spring and drank the water. Cecile smirked coldly and looked at them, 'Thank you for being so cooperative.'
Then they went toward the stele, and Cecile saw their eyes smoothly moving across the lines of unknown text. After confirming her guess, she ran fast toward the water under the stunned eyes of those people and drank a mouthful of that spring.
When she returned, she could read the stele. She felt the disgruntled gazes from the people beside her, but she just sent a cold look toward them. They couldn't win in a staring contest with the Phoenix, so they lowered their heads indignantly and continued reading.
What right do they have to blame her when they are weaker?
Cecile snorted and read what was written on the rock surface. "Those that are worthy will walk forward no matter the difficulties. Those that want to be heroes will always take the right path. Those that go left will have to choose again."