"We've arrived. We have finally reached the Ancient Sect ruins."
Reaching the end of the cavern and passing through layers of stone walls to enter another massive vault, Sevrin slowly looked ahead, following Peon's hollow voice.
There, barely 500 meters away, lay a sprawling, deathly silent cluster of ancient buildings, tilted and fused with countless stalactites into a single entity.
No, perhaps calling it an ancient ruin would be more appropriate.
At first glance, Sevrin could see no intact structures within the ruins: whether they were soaring pavilions or grand palaces, all had collapsed into piles of desolate rubble.
"It has been reduced to such a state: can there still be any treasures left?" Sevrin asked, feeling a hint of disappointment.
"There are, Lord, there are," Peon replied. "Over the past few decades, I have searched these ruins many times. I know exactly where the treasures are located. I will take you there."
With that, his figure flickered as he flew toward the ruins.
Seeing that Peon had already entered, Sevrin naturally couldn't stay behind and flew after him at a steady pace.
Upon officially stepping into the ruins, he suddenly felt as if he had breached a world forgotten by time.
broken trails, crumbled stone walls, warped eaves, smashed window lattices: every brick and tile spoke of the ravages of the ages.
The earthquake over a thousand years ago had ruthlessly dragged this martial sect into the subterranean darkness, crushing countless people while turning every building into shattered tiles and fallen walls, lying across the tilted, broken ground like corpses.
As Sevrin looked around now, everything was blanketed in a thick layer of dust and fine gravel.
Aside from these, there was nothing else.
However, following Peon as he turned left and right, hurtling past numerous collapsed structures, a dazzling golden hue suddenly appeared before Sevrin's eyes.
"Gold?!"
Sevrin stared blankly ahead at the collapsed building where Peon hovered.
There, a massive hoard of gold lay piled high.
It was a mountain of gold, taller than a man, comprised of stacked gold ingots: adjacent to the mountain were over a dozen gold statues, each uniquely crafted.
The foundation supporting the mountain and statues was a golden base layered with gold bricks the size of dinner plates, gold grains as large as fingernails, and gold chains of varying sizes.
Though Sevrin did not care overmuch for money, the sight of such an abundant amount of gold suddenly appearing before him inevitably made his heart race.
As the saying goes: small wealth solves worries, great wealth changes destiny, and vast wealth reaches the heavens.
If possible, who wouldn't want a bit more coin in their pocket?
"It just so happens I've been spending heavily lately, and I was nearly at my wit's end."
Sevrin walked over slowly, stroking the mountain of gold and laughing heartily. "With this much gold, I can spend as freely as I wish for a very long time."
Then, he asked in confusion: "But, it's just a martial sect: how could they possess so much gold?"
"Lord," Peon spoke.
"The records on the stone monuments left by this sect say they unearthed a certain treasure, and this gold was obtained from that hoard."
"Is that so," Sevrin smirked. "Their luck was a bit too good. Could it be that because their luck was so heaven-defying, the Heavens brought down a calamity to bury them?"
"Your words make sense, Lord," Peon agreed. "It must be so."
Suddenly, Sevrin added: "Peon, I suspect this mountain of gold was piled up bit by bit by you over the past few decades."
"Yes, Lord," Peon admitted.
"This was formed piece by piece after I scavenged all the gold from the entire ruins. Now, it all belongs to you."
When he said this, there was no trace of reluctance, as if he were merely giving away a pile of useless stones.
"I am but a lonely soul and a wild ghost with no home to return to."
Peon picked up a gold ingot, looked at it, and casually tossed it back. "No matter how much gold there is, it is meaningless to me."
"Good."
Sevrin did not waste time with polite refusals. He nodded and raised his hand: a Naeaie character glowed in his palm as he swept all the gold before him clean.
Brao and the other three guarding the grotto would naturally stack these gold pieces neatly.
"Lord, there are other things."
Seeing Sevrin take all the gold using a mysterious method he didn't understand, Peon didn't ask a single question, only speaking again: "Please follow me."
With that, he took the lead, transforming into a wisp of black smoke and flying into the labyrinth of crevices within the distant ruins.
Sevrin followed closely, similarly transforming into black smoke as he spiraled inward.
Before long, Peon led him to another location hidden deep within the ruins.
There, dozens of mystical artifacts of various shapes and appearances were piled.
Although most of these artifacts were cracked or broken, there were still a few quality items radiating faint magical energy vibrations, which Sevrin naturally collected.
In the time that followed, Peon led Sevrin to several more locations, allowing him to acquire numerous weapons, armors, and two ancient secret manuals.
The first manual was titled "Jade Pill Scripture", detailing methods for refining various medicinal pills.
However, due to the erosion of time, more than half of the scripture was damaged. Currently, only five pill formulas, named Mansion-Opening, Spirit-Calming, Energy-Exhausting, Crane-Longevity, and Rebirth, remained with complete records.
But even with just these five formulas, the value remained incredibly high.
For example, the Crane-Longevity Pill was a medicine that could extend a person's life.
According to its records, a person could take three of these pills in their lifetime: the first extended life by fifty-six years, the second had half the potency and extended life by twenty-eight years, and the third again had half the potency, extending life by fourteen years.
Taking all three pills could provide a total life extension of ninety-eight years, nearly a century.
Furthermore, the Crane-Longevity Pill was effective for anyone: even a Valiarior level martial artist nearing two hundred years of age could take this pill upon their deathbed and still gain ninety-eight years of life, returning to their prime.
If such a medicine were to appear on Earth, there's no telling how many billions it would sell for.
As for the second manual, it was titled "True Art of Demon-Shifting".
It recorded numerous methods for using ordinary fierce beasts as materials to nourish, train, and mutate them into so-called demon beasts.
Regrettably, this book had also become fragmented after enduring a thousand years.
Now, it only contained the cultivation methods for six types of demon beasts: the Six-Eyed Crystal-Winged Moth, the Black-Clamor Tapir, the Illusion-Scaled Demon Hound, the Soul-Mimic Ape, the Iron-Scaled Fungus Bull, and the Five-Tailed Blue-Winged Snow Fox.
Yet even with only six types remaining, the abilities of each demon beast left Sevrin in great awe.
According to the "True Art of Demon-Shifting", so-called demon beasts are a type of creature entirely different from ordinary beasts.
Since they are wild beasts, they naturally do not possess higher intelligence or relatively abundant emotions: they remain wild, untamable, cruel, and bloodthirsty.
Therefore, during the process of nurturing and training demons, one must never harbor a heart of compassion: one must be ruthless and cruel to the end, ensuring the demon develops fear toward its master and subsequently submits.
For example, the Black-Clamor Tapir recorded in the "True Art of Demon-Shifting".
Although its appearance looks clumsy, slow, and seemingly honest, its temperament is extremely vicious and sinister, loving most to use its nightmare ability to plunge an entire village into bloody nightmares and subsequent mutual slaughter, even leading to tragedies where everyone eats each other.
Because of this, for a demon beast like the Black-Clamor Tapir, one must subject it to continuous beating and abuse during its growth, making it feel absolute terror toward its master, which in turn leads to absolute obedience.
Otherwise, once the Black-Clamor Tapir gains control of its abilities, even out of mere playfulness, it will certainly cast its master into a terrifying nightmare and toy with them to the extreme, right up until death.
It is not just the Black-Clamor Tapir: basically, the other types of demon beasts recorded in the "True Art of Demon-Shifting", except for the Iron-Scaled Fungus Bull whose nature is relatively mild and non-confrontational, all share this same character.
For instance, it records a type of Illusion-Scaled Demon Hound that enjoys taking advantage of the night to turn invisible and sneak into various villages and towns to secretly gnaw on the heads of human children.
Oftentimes, when the children's parents realize something is wrong, they can only watch as their child's head disappears piece by piece into thin air, while clear sounds of slurping and chewing continue to drift through the surrounding air.
Such a scene can be described as profoundly terrifying.
"Demon... beasts..."
Sevrin pondered for a moment, then immediately asked Peon, "Peon, have you ever heard of such things as demon beasts?"
"No, I have never seen nor heard of them."
Peon shook his head and added, "Lord, not only is Nina Town devoid of them, but the entire Mount Qing range has never heard of such things as demons. bandits and outlaws, however, are a dime a dozen."
"I see." Sevrin curled his lips. "Perhaps they exist in certain regions of the Graew territory: otherwise, why would such books appear?"
"It is, possible," Peon echoed. "After all, the entire Mount Qing region isn't even as large as a single province in Graew. Perhaps demons do exist in some of those provinces."
After their conversation, the two ghosts once again transformed into two wisps of black smoke and vanished, flying toward the final location.
That place was the site of the ancient sect's memorial tablet Peon had been talking about.
A short while later,
"Lord." Peon pointed to a cracked stone stele lying face-up on the ground. "This is the tablet I mentioned. From its records, it seems this stele was left by survivors after the earthquake."
"Mhm." Sevrin nodded, strolling over to examine it meticulously.
Just as Peon had said, on this seven-foot-tall stone tablet, the history and details of the sect were recorded in depth.
Based on this information, Sevrin learned that the sect was named the Kariku Pavilion, an ancient sect with a thousand-year heritage. They were renowned for their expertise in breeding demon beasts and had also made great strides in the fields of alchemy and physical tempering.
The reason they had relocated the entire sect from the heart of the Grxin territory to the remote Mount Qing region, was that in the 173rd year of the Sixth Black Emperor's reign, sect members had unexpectedly unearthed a world-shaking treasure deep within the northern Grxin grasslands.
This was exactly the gold Sevrin had encountered and collected earlier.
"The Black Emperor... what a bizarre title."
After seeing this, Sevrin whispered to himself, "Given the naming style, could that so-called Grxin Dynasty... have been a demonic realm?"
After muttering to himself, he continued reading.
Afterward, he discovered the records on the ancient monument revealed that the gold... was not actually the true protagonist of the treasure.
The key factor that had compelled the Kariku Pavilion to relocate their entire sect was, apparently, a legendary... Dragon Egg.
"A Dragon Egg?" Sevrin couldn't help but ask Peon. "Peon, you're older than me and have more experience: have you ever heard of such a thing as a dragon existing in this world?"
"Uh," Peon's skeletal face couldn't help but twitch.
I'm older than you?
That sentence nearly made Peon lose his composure. It felt both right and wrong at the same time.
But in the end, he answered honestly:
"Lord, though I have lingered in this world for over seventy years, I have never seen nor heard of a True Dragon manifesting anywhere."
"Fair enough." Sevrin shrugged. "It seems this is likely another specialty of the Grxin era."
After a brief exchange, he continued reading the ancient monument.
According to the recorded content, after the Kariku Pavilion obtained that Dragon Egg over a thousand years ago, a massive ambition was born.
Namely: to dominate the world and carve out their own territory.
To put it bluntly, the high-level leadership of the Kariku Pavilion had gambled the entire sect's future on this Dragon Egg.
They pinned their hopes on nurturing and taming a King of Demon Beasts that could trample over all living beings, helping them seize the world.
Therefore, after several secret meetings, the entire sect left Grxin and migrated to the remote Mount Qing region.
They intended to hide away in this desolate mountain land, staying low until the Dragon Egg matured and became powerful enough, before returning to Grxin for a triumphant "Return of the King."
Regrettably, their luck could not keep pace with their ambition.
Not long after arriving at Mount Qing and completing the construction of their sect headquarters.
BOOM!
The earthquake struck.
In the end, all the efforts and aspirations of the Kariku Pavilion came to naught.
Regarding this, Sevrin's evaluation was:
"Bad luck is bad luck, don't blame society. Just go in peace."
The content following those parts was somewhat unremarkable.
It was basically reminiscing about the sect's distant ancestors, recalling its past glory, lamenting its tragic state, and then cursing the blind heavens and the unfairness of the world.
At the very end, there were absurd hopes that whoever saw this monument would re-establish the Kariku Pavilion and other such nonsense.
Indeed, in Sevrin's eyes, it was absolute nonsense. Looking at a godforsaken place like this, what normal person could possibly reach it? Let alone humans, even ordinary ghosts couldn't get in.
Furthermore, Sevrin already carried the burden of restoring the Naeaie Mansion, how could he possibly have the time to help the Kariku Pavilion with any sect revival?
"I've finished reading. In summary, they were just a very unlucky sect, glorious for a thousand years, only to be buried by an earthquake."
Sevrin slowly raised his head and concluded, "However, all things rise and fall, this is the fundamental law of heaven and earth. Therefore, the destruction of the Kariku Pavilion is quite normal."
"Lord is right," Peon echoed.
With that, the two ghosts transformed into black smoke, preparing to leave.
But at that moment, Sevrin's calm mind trembled invisibly.
"Eh? It's that mysterious force of foresight reminding me... to pay attention to the interior of that stone stele."
Sevrin stopped and turned back toward the stele.
"Could there be... something hidden inside?"
As he muttered to himself, the massive stone stele under his hollow gaze was suddenly and tightly covered by thousands of fragmented fingers that sprouted abruptly from the crevices in the ground.
BANG!
With a muffled sound, the stele was crushed into powder by those fingers.
Within the pile of stone dust, an animal-hide book was clearly visible.
WHOOSH!
An icy gust of yin wind swept by, and the animal-hide book appeared in Sevrin's palm.
Immediately, he scanned it and discovered that on the cover of the book, it clearly read... "Destiny-Reversing Profound Art".
Without hesitation, Sevrin flipped open the manual, which sounded incredibly powerful just from its name.
He soon realized that the opening content was a personal narration by someone named Fiery Spark.
"Fiery Spark..."
Sevrin looked up and murmured to himself, "I remember that name appeared on the stone monument. He was... the founding ancestor of the Kariku Pavilion, an ancient figure who existed before the Grxin Dynasty."
Then, he lowered his head to read once more.
Perhaps because the era of this Kariku Pavilion founding ancestor was so remote, even though it was just a single autobiography, the wording and sentence structure were extremely obscure and archaic, making it quite a struggle for Sevrin to read.
In short, if Fiery Spark's autobiography were translated into modern terms, its content was:
"... My name is Fiery Spark, originally a native of the True Lands. Having been hunted by enemies, I was forced to abandon my homeland, crossing the vast and boundless ocean to arrive at this territory of Martial Lands..."
"... Unlike True Lands, where the human race had long since unified and brought the world under one rule, this place is fractured by competing warlords with constant warfare, furthermore, masters are numerous and sects rise like forests, making it exceedingly dangerous..."
"... Yet, Martial Lands suffers from absolutely no havoc caused by demon beasts, it is inconceivable, a true stroke of fortune for the people of this land..."
"... Marvelous, truly marvelous. This so-called Mainstream Martial Arts of this land is entirely different from the Demon-natured Martial Arts of my True Lands, I must study it thoroughly..."
"... I have gathered over a hundred refugees and founded a sect, naming it Kariku Pavilion..."
"... The great ocean is fraught with dangers, I am old and frail, powerless to return to my homeland. How tragic..."
"... If a descendant learns this Demon-natured Martial Arts and receives my favor, I hope you will travel to the land of True Lands. Within the territory of the Kariku Dynasty, use pen and paper to write the name 'Fiery Spark' and then burn it..."
"... Since my soul and physical body are buried in Martial Lands, let my name at least return to my ancestral soil..."
"... Having read my letter, I hope you will do this. My gratitude is boundless..."
"... The lonely expatriate, Fiery Spark, salutes you..."
"..."
"So that's how it is!"
Sevrin slowly lowered the book and sighed in realization. "This founding ancestor of the Kariku Pavilion, who lived over two thousand years ago, came from beyond the Martial Lands, a native of what he called the True Lands.
And the unified dynasty of the True Lands was actually named the Kariku Dynasty. Therefore, the name Kariku Pavilion was in fact chosen by Ancestor Fiery Spark in memory of his homeland.
Furthermore, judging by his narration, that True Lands, wherever it may be located, is likely infested with numerous demon beasts, otherwise, Fiery Spark wouldn't have been so profoundly shocked that the Martial Lands were devoid of them.
Hmm... what can I say? Having a home but being unable to return, this Fiery Spark was quite a pitiful soul."
Suddenly, an unexplainable wave of sentiment surged within Sevrin's heart.
He didn't know exactly what he was lamenting.
He just felt that a person's long life could be summarized in just a few brief paragraphs, it was truly... somewhat tragic.
And if a descendant read that summary of one's life, it would be even more tragic.
Sevrin did not want that for himself.
"How strange. I'm no philosopher, why am I thinking about this so much?"
After muttering to himself and shaking his head, Sevrin picked up the book again, eagerly flipping through the pages.
To be honest, after reading Ancestor Fiery Spark's autobiography, Sevrin's interest in the so-called Demon-natured Martial Arts of the True Lands, this "Destiny-Reversing Profound Art", had reached its peak.
Therefore, he needed to devour its content and understand it thoroughly.
"Destiny-Reversing Profound Art... tsk tsk, what a cool name. Let me see if you can live up to such a sinister title."
With that muttered thought, Sevrin's mind became completely immersed in the animal-hide book, and he read for a solid half-hour.
Peon stood obediently to the side, remaining just as silent for that half-hour.
After his careful reading, Sevrin successfully mastered this Demon-natured Martial Arts, causing the name "Destiny-Reversing Profound Art" to appear in his personal interface's skill slot.
Simultaneously, he gained a thorough understanding of the essence of this technique and the entire Demon-natured Martial Arts system.
Unlike Mainstream Martial Arts, where effort leads to progress, Demon-natured Martial Arts could never be initiated through personal effort or so-called talent alone.
It required... external aid.
And that "external aid" was demon blood.
For example, this "Destiny-Reversing" technique only had three layers. However, to truly master it, a practitioner needed to submerge their entire body in a blood-pool formed from 50 kg of demon blood from the Northern Venomous Whale, which resided deep in the northern oceans of the True Lands, and combine it with various secret potions. Only then could they cultivate, and they had to remain in the pool until the technique reached completion.
If one left the pool before the technique was complete, they would instantly dissolve into bloody pus and merge into the pool, leaving not even a skeleton behind.
Furthermore, before entering the pool, the practitioner had to thoroughly cleanse their body. Throughout the entire cultivation process inside the pool, they could not consume food or water, nor could they urinate or defecate. Otherwise, once the blood-pool was contaminated, its quality would deteriorate and its vitality would vanish, leading to the failure of the cultivation and the death of the practitioner within the pool.
Such an incredibly bizarre method of cultivation made even a bold man like Sevrin grimace and remark:
"No wonder it has the word 'Demon' in it. The martial arts of True Lands... are truly sinister enough."
Despite the bizarre nature of the "Destiny-Reversing Profound Art"'s cultivation method, its effects upon completion were truly heaven-defying.
According to the records, once this art reached completion, the practitioner could live permanently in oceans or lakes and would possess a physique far exceeding that of an ordinary person, along with a powerful self-healing ability.
With this self-healing power, even if the practitioner's limbs were severed or their chest and abdomen pierced, as long as the head and brain remained intact, they could recover at extreme speed by drinking or soaking in water, even just touching or being splashed by water would suffice.
As long as there was water, be it river water, well water, seawater, boiled water, or even bloody water, the master of this art could rapidly heal any type of physical injury.
Yes, it was just that absurd.
So absurd that even after reading the entire technique, Sevrin still didn't understand how it was possible.
Thus, he could only attribute it to the effects of that damn Northern Venomous Whale's blood.
"By the way, I don't have any Northern Venomous Whale blood, nor do I have those corresponding secret potions."
Coming to his senses, Sevrin pondered anxiously, "So... can I even master this technique?"
With a mix of doubt and curiosity, he activated the System's functions.