The information contained within the four words "Yao Zun Ruins" was simply too overwhelming.
The so-called "Yao" in the System did not refer to monsters becoming spirits, but rather to certain Demonic Beast races.
In the world of immortal cultivation, when Demonic Beasts or monsters become spirits, they are generally called the Yao Race, while practitioners call themselves humans.
However, this set of rules was not popular on the Fighting Qi Continent, so the System did not adopt terms like "Yao Race."
On the Fighting Qi Continent, the status of Demonic Beast races was actually quite high, unlike certain legendary Yao in the country of Hanxia.
In many ancient myths and legends of Hanxia, groups of Yao would Cultivate diligently, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon for hundreds or even thousands of years, only to... become mounts for the gods.
If the end point of cultivation is to be ridden by someone, it is somewhat pitiful.
In fact, on the Fighting Qi Continent, the strength of the Demonic Beast side was obvious to all.
Races like the Void Ancient Dragon and the Heavenly Demon Phoenix even had Dou Saint-level existences among them; in the System's words, they were Great Yao above level 90.
In ancient times, Human Race practitioners were actually inferior to the Yao Race and were not as prosperous as they are now.
That era was still one where various ancient races controlled heaven and earth.
It was only later that humans became Emperors and led the Human Race to rise, and with the passage of time, the current situation emerged.
Even now, although no new Dou Di has been born on the Fighting Qi Continent for many years, with several Dou Saints existing, the Human Race can still stand on equal footing with the Yao Race.
—Any race needs pioneers.
And now, the hidden task Xiao Xue had accidentally triggered was the ruins left by a Great Yao of at least "level 80!"
Although she didn't know what species... no, what race they were, anyone who could Cultivate to the Dou Zun Realm could never be ordinary stock.
As expected of me, the [Opportunity Pi], I can encounter ruins even by just wandering into any random mountain!
The circle is truly beyond words.
While checking the location of the ruins in the System, Xiao Xue called out to Xiao Yi Xian, "Xian'er, where is that valley you mentioned?"
"Let's go there to rest for a few days. In a few days, your master needs to head out. You should Cultivate well first and strive for an early Breakthrough to Dou Practitioner."
"Once you reach Dou Practitioner, I'll go get an Earth-rank Cultivation Method for you to practice."
Xiao Xue did not head to the ruins immediately, as she had her own considerations.
The ruins of a Dou Zun powerhouse were likely not something one could just barge into; even with the System, she couldn't guarantee she would escape unscathed.
Therefore, the ever-cautious Xiao Xue planned to make some preparations first, and Xiao Yi Xian, who hadn't even reached Dou Practitioner, certainly couldn't be brought along.
Xiao Yi Xian didn't say much. She took out a short bamboo flute and blew gently, and a strange sound wave quickly emanated from the flute, echoing across the high mountains.
A few minutes later, a large Blue Hawk, blue all over, landed in front of the two of them.
Xiao Yi Xian stepped forward and hugged the Blue Hawk's neck, then turned to explain to Xiao Xue, "This is Xiao Lan, a Rank 1 Blue Hawk."
The Blue Hawk intimately rubbed against Xiao Yi Xian's hand, but when it looked at Xiao Xue... it shrunk its neck back.
Xiao Xue scrutinized Xiao Yi Xian's little blue bird with burning eyes.
—It looks delicious.
However, Xiao Xue naturally wouldn't have any designs on this Blue Hawk.
Firstly, this Blue Hawk was Xiao Yi Xian's partner, and Xiao Yi Xian was her disciple; by extension, this Blue Hawk was her partner too, so she naturally wouldn't do such a thing.
Secondly, they still needed to ride this Blue Hawk back to the valley Xiao Yi Xian had mentioned.
Although she could carry people while flying on a sword, for now, this little blue bird's flight speed was still quite a bit faster than her sword-kinesis flight.
Mainly, this blue bird had more... endurance than her.
It couldn't be helped; even with her three-star Dou Master cultivation, forcing herself into the sky on a sword wouldn't last long.
—I'm spent before I even reach the top.
So, for any reason, she couldn't touch this little blue bird.
However, Xiao Xue was indeed a bit envious—not the kind that wants to eat it, but the kind that wants to raise one.
Isn't this little blue bird a "mount"?
In Xiao Xue's heart, a mount was a symbol of status!
Just as people compare cars in real life, mounts are the cars of the immortal cultivation and Xuanhuan worlds.
However, flying Demonic Beasts were extremely difficult to domesticate; Xiao Yi Xian had only gained this little blue bird's friendship through a stroke of Opportunity.
Furthermore, once one's strength reached a certain level, they could step through the air themselves, so "mounts" weren't all that popular on the Fighting Qi Continent.
However, as a person from the Blue Star, Xiao Xue couldn't avoid convention.
If conditions permitted, she would definitely get a high-rank Demonic Beast to play with as a mount.
Xiao Xue remembered that in the original work, there was a proud daughter of heaven from the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan named Feng Qing'er, who seemed to be the only young woman in battle through the heavens who hadn't fallen victim to Xiao Yan.
Oh, that's not right either; she seemed to have focused too much on her Upgrade, resulting in unstable Fighting Qi, and was slapped away by the then Nine-Star Dou Zun Xiao Yan when she was a Three-turn Dou Zun.
I'm angry, shaking, and cold. When will girls be able to stand up for themselves?
Girls help girls. Why not just become my mount?
A Dou Zun-level mount would just barely befit her status.
The Blue Hawk carried Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Xue to a Little Medicine Valley.
The Little Medicine Valley was deep within the basin where Wan Yao Pharmacy gathered herbs, hidden within thick fog; it was truly hard to notice if one wasn't paying attention, and many rare medicinal herbs grew in the valley.
"How is it, Master? This place of mine isn't bad, right?" Xiao Yi Xian jumped off the Blue Hawk's back and asked with a charming smile.
"It is indeed not bad," Xiao Xue nodded. "For the time being, you should focus on your Breakthrough to Dou Practitioner here."
After a few days of preparation, Xiao Xue went alone to the coordinate where the ruins were located.
These so-called ruins were a small cave on a cliff.
Xiao Xue hovered in the air with her feet on her sword, carefully scrutinizing the cave.
This cave was clearly man-made, chiseled out by a practitioner; this was why many people could always find caves to stay in while training outside.
Predecessors open the cave, successors enter the Dao.
Anyway, people who Cultivate love entering caves, opening one at the drop of a hat, since the difficulty level isn't high anyway.
However, this cave had obvious signs of concealment; if one didn't look from a horizontal angle but looked down from the cliff, it would likely be difficult to find any clues.
With a thought, Xiao Xue summoned her Fighting Qi Gauze and then slowly flew toward the cave.
Her caution was indeed correct; before even entering the cave, Xiao Xue discovered—
A Rock Snake.
A Rank 1 Rock Snake.
After discovering it was only a Rank 1 Rock Snake, Xiao Xue helplessly palmed her forehead, enveloped it with the "Power of Water," and tossed it aside.
Heaven has the virtue of loving life, so Xiao Xue did not kill wantonly.
As for whether this Rock Snake could survive falling from such a height, that was none of her business.
Karma +1 +1 +1... The further she walked into the cave, the more Xiao Xue felt something was not right.
This place... why did it look so much like the cave Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian discovered in the original work?
It couldn't be such a coincidence, right?
With a bit of hope, Xiao Xue opened the stone door deep in the cave.
When she saw the layout inside the stone door, her heart sank halfway.
This place was exactly the same as the "ruins" described in the original work!
And the things inside, except for the remnant map of the Purification Lotus Demon Flame, everything else combined was probably not even as valuable as a single Di-rank Dou Technique!
Xiao Xue opened two boxes in a row, and seeing the contents, she couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Holy crap!"
I came to the right place!
The "Seven-Colored Poison Manual" and "Eagle's Wings!"
This is the exact ruins that Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan were kicked out of halfway through opening in the original work!
However, how could ruins left by a Dou Zun be so shabby?
Xiao Xue calmed down and thought carefully about whether there was anything she had missed.
The coordinate given by the System was correct, which meant this place still had something strange about it!
Back then, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian hadn't even finished opening the three blind boxes before being kicked out, so it was normal that they hadn't discovered the abnormality here!
Xiao Xue searched back and forth and finally discovered a strange place—
A flower bed!
In the furthest corner, a small flower bed had been piled up with soil, and many rare medicinal herbs were planted in it.
The herbs in battle through the heavens aren't like the plant-mother next door; they can't survive being planted in a cave without sunlight!
In other words, there was a problem... under this flower bed!
———
Below the secret chamber, there was actually a small stone room, and inside the stone room was a very simple coffin.
However, the material of this coffin seemed very special and had not been damaged with the passage of time.
At this moment, the coffin lid was not tightly closed, but had a gap left.
From the gap, a fluffy tail tip was exposed, swaying easily and comfortably.
[A Bit of Small Talk]
During the free period, there's a bit more nonsense, please bear with me.
Yesterday I received a few comments that made me feel quite uncomfortable after reading them. I'll briefly summarize the other party's meaning here.
"A GL novel with an original female character instead of a man transmigrating into a woman is just as disgusting as Xiao Ling transmigrating here to be gay with Xiao Yan. It would be a waste not to curse them, blah blah blah."
There was also a part that was relatively more moderate: "Isn't this a female frequency novel? Why post it in the male frequency?" "Posting it in the male frequency is wasting my time," and so on.
I'll give a unified reply here: if you don't like the content of this article, please click the top left corner to leave; don't display your inexplicable sense of superiority here.
Everyone has their own preferences; don't dirty other people's eyes just for your own convenience.
I won't treat such impolite people with politeness either. Please be advised.
May we never meet again.