And thanks to the spirit qi gathering formation,every guard had broken through. Zach now had twelve peak stage spirit qi gathering realm guards and three low stage core condensation realm guards.
He estimated that the twelve peak stage guards stood a chance at undergoing a second breakthrough into the foundation establishment realm in three months time. That was enough time for him to explore the ruins. As for his cultivation,it had stagnated at the mid stage of core condensation realm,this was attributed to his larger than normal core and the fact that most of his time was spending experimenting and creating formations.
As for spirit tools,he had not only crafted the boats,but also low ranked leather armor for his men from the leather of foundation establishment realm beasts,which boosted their defence to that of a peak foundation establishment realm cultivator.
A week later,Zach and his men had arrived outside the ruins walls,or rather what was left of them. The combination of ruins and forest created a breathtaking scenery that had Zach's part engrossed in it for several minutes. Also the size of the ruins was something else, using the term massive to describe them would be an understatement.
Zach knew that all this was a facade,or rather a mirror of the ruins. The real ruins were within an independent plane that was anchored to the ruins before them. According to Mamba,a century after the fall of any territory,the heavens will would create a plane in the void,where a mirror or replica of the ruins would be located.
Entry to this mirror plane was via portals found within the real ruins. The treasurers and resources left in the ruins would be transferred into the mirror plane.
Unlike the real ruins,the mirror plane ruins had occupants. These were mostly creatures made from the will of the fallen residents. Some were wrathful and wanted nothing but to enact revenge, while some retained a semblance of sentient.
There were also nascent souls of those cultivators who were lucky to have had not been destroyed by the enemies. Such as Senior Jogun nascent soul,this was the soul possessing Mamba's body.
In these mirror planes,danger was always present as the heavens created traps to protect the treasurers of the fallen.
The only reason that Zach had decided to venture into the ruins,was because he learnt that the ruins were open type. Open type ruins had no restriction on entry or exit,unlike closed ruins where one had to wait for a certain time to access them,as well as complete some requirements within them as to be allowed to leave.
With this ruin being here for more than two thousand years,Zach was sure that there was a high chance for him to gather some mid rank herbs and plants at the outer regions of the ruins.
"We are going to set camp here..."
Zach said as had his men fall into the floating boat rink formation. They all activated the spirit qi gathering and channeling formations,as well as the camouflage and masking formations. The ring of boats turned into a canopy of trees in less than a minute.
"I will be heading into the mirror plane ruins,at this time,I expect you to cultivate until my return..."
"Yes sir..."
The fifteen guards answered in unison. There had enough spirit beast meat and vegetables to last them for a couple of years stocked up on seven of the boats.
As for fire,Zach had forged a dozen low ranked spirit stoves and a single low ranked spirit oven. There was no need for the guards to live the spirit boats as to cook their meals. And thanks to their cultivation,they could go for days without food or water.
"I expect the twelve of you to have broken through into the foundation establishment realm by the time am back..."
"We will not disappoint you sir..."
The twelve peak stage spirit qi gathering realm guards replied in unison.
"Guard Shere,you will be incharge when am gone..."
Guard Shere was the tailor's husband name.
"Yes sir!"
"Good..."
With nothing else to do,Zach left for the centre of the ruins where the portal to the mirror plane ruins was located.
It took him five days of constant running to arrive at the city's center, that's how big the former city was. As for the spirit beasts on his path,they were weary as Zach had his full core condensation realm cultivation aura on display. The only obstacles on his path were the ruins and the humongous trees.
Zach received a notification from the system the moment he jumped into the portal,that was a spiralling mass of purple gel.
"It has been long old friend..."
Zach said to the system as he had not received any notifications for several months now.
"Kadmus City,not a bad name..."
"Now that I recall it, Senior Jogun never told me of the city's name..."
A hundred metres from Zach were the walls of the Kadmus City. Every inch and every ruin was an exact replica of the outside ruins,the only difference were the ghostly creatures that walked among the ruins.
"I thought ghosts were not real..."
Zach gulped,not out of fear,but from the ghastly look of these creatures,and their numbers.
He could also sence that each of these creatures were at the peak stage of spirit qi gathering realm,and there were thousands of them in this region.
"Thousands of peak stage of spirit qi gathering realm ghost at the entrance..."
"I wonder how many there are in the outer region and how high is their cultivation base..."
"There is only one way to find out..."
Zach said as he went back to reading the system notifications.
The city fell after a siege by an alliance of twelve cities... >