Chapter 281: The Appearance of the Stone Pearl and the Golden-Haired Woman!
"So easy?" one of the elders said incredulously.
The white-haired elder sensed the skeleton's condition and explained, "It seems the remaining Dou Sheng power within it is almost exhausted."
Xiao Ze's Illusory Sea Domain enveloped the skeleton, allowing him to clearly feel its current state. The Dou Sheng power sustaining the skeleton was nearly depleted, and even the skeleton's body was falling apart.
"Whew, we've finally eliminated this threat. Let's leave these ancient ruins as soon as possible."
Xun Er looked at Xiao Ze with a questioning expression. "Alright, but we should completely eradicate it first."
Xiao Ze nodded, clenched his right hand, and a massive energy crushed the crumbling skeleton into dust.
"Where should we go now?" Xiao Ze asked Xun Er after dealing with the skeleton.
Xun Er looked around; this area was new to them. However, she didn't seem worried. She closed her eyes and sensed the traces she had left earlier.
After a while, Xun Er slightly frowned, making Xiao Ze, who had been watching her the whole time, have a bad feeling. Xun Er opened her eyes, a golden flame flickering in her gaze as she said bitterly, "The marks I left have disappeared..."
Thinking about this, Xun Er quickly turned to the two elders. "Elders, please check the marks you left."
Seeing that they couldn't sense Xun Er's flame marks, the two elders also frowned and quickly started sensing their own marks. Shortly after, the two elders opened their eyes with worried expressions. Under the expectant gazes of the others, they shook their heads.
"Our marks have also lost their signal."
"This is a problem. According to what you said, these ancient ruins are already covered by dark energy. The marks you left may have been corroded and destroyed by the specters," Xiao Ze reflected, knowing that conventional methods wouldn't be useful to get out.
"Don't worry too much, Xiao Ze. If there is no other option, I can ask for help from my family's elders," Xun Er reassured him while taking out a golden jade, surrounded by spatial energy. She only needed to break it to open a spatial rift.
Xiao Ze looked at the golden jade and then shook his head. "It's not necessary for now. This jade is extremely valuable; save it for a crucial moment."
Xun Er obediently put the golden jade back into her spatial ring. "Since we can't get out, we'll have to find another solution within these ancient ruins..."
Xiao Ze murmured, his gaze involuntarily falling on the dust of the skeleton he had crushed. So far, the skeleton was the most peculiar thing he had found in these ancient ruins.
"This skeleton was at the top of the tower. Since it was corrupted in ancient times, why did it voluntarily return to the top of the tower and lock itself up?"
Xiao Ze thought to himself as he approached the skeleton's dust. The others followed upon seeing his movement.
"Xiao Ze, have you found something?" The Great Elder looked at the skeleton dust, seeing nothing unusual.
"This skeleton is the most peculiar thing we've found in these ancient ruins. We might try examining it; perhaps we can find a clue."
Xiao Ze asked the witness of the event, "Great Elder, do you remember when this skeleton was resurrected?"
The Great Elder frowned. "I noticed something strange when you had already collected some items. Perhaps you could take those items out and see if you still feel something."
At the Great Elder's words, Xiao Ze could only nod. It was worth a try. But when he opened his spatial ring, the spherical stone that had hit his head in the main hall emitted a fluctuation.
Immediately, this caught Xiao Ze's attention. Due to the Tian Yao Huang clan's perception, Xiao Ze now had more protections in his spatial ring. At least ordinary connections couldn't detect the clan's puppets inside Xiao Ze's ring, unless they were blood relatives. But Zhu Yang lived in such a remote era that it was impossible for there to be living blood relatives.
Xiao Ze took out the spherical stone, and suddenly, it left his hand, radiating a bright, sacred golden light. The sudden situation put everyone on alert, and Xiao Ze immediately covered the stone with his Illusory Sea Domain.
The stone stopped over the skeleton dust, slowly rotating. Under its light, the skeleton dust began to disappear. Only small points of light remained, which rose and fell onto the stone, cleaning its surface to reveal a golden glass pearl.
Xiao Ze squinted, because in his field of vision a name appeared, indicating that the pearl was alive!
The pearl's transformation didn't stop. Its brightness grew more intense, and everyone stepped back a few steps. In the dazzling light, a human figure began to appear.
"Thank you for freeing me."
From the light emerged a voice, and as it faded, a beautiful figure appeared before them. Golden hair fell softly to her hips, pure golden eyes, and she wore a simple white dress.
"Who are you?" Xiao Ze frowned, feeling uneasy about the woman who had suddenly appeared. According to his perception, she seemed like an ordinary person without any power!
"I... could be said to be the daughter of the Nether Sea..."
The golden-haired woman spoke frankly, her words leaving everyone stunned.
"Don't mess with me!" Xiao Ze recovered from his astonishment and shouted.
"Sigh, I'm not joking. I was truly born in the Nether Sea, and it's true that the Nether Sea gave birth to me."
The golden-haired woman sighed softly. "I was originally a sacred liquid of the Nether, born from the long years in the Nether Sea. But due to various circumstances, I ended up sealing myself."
"Sacred Liquid of the Nether?" Xiao Ze murmured, trying to recall, but had no impression of such a thing.
"I've never heard of it."
The others looked at each other, all with puzzled expressions.
"The Dou Qi continent is vast. It's normal that you haven't heard of the Sacred Liquid of the Nether, because it was an ancient Dou Sheng who gave us that name."
The golden-haired woman smiled. "The owner of these ancient ruins, where you are trapped, is the same Dou Sheng who named me. Your current situation is related to me."
Hearing this, everyone looked at the woman in astonishment. According to their perception, she seemed like an ordinary person. How could she have trapped so many powerful warriors in this place?
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