Soon, after flying for over three thousand li, the group arrived in a forest. Leona spread out her perception to search the area, finally locating an otherworld ruin.
This kind of ruin was likely left behind from the otherworld's ancient times and held high exploration value. Unimaginable treasures might lie within!
Of course, there was also danger!
Arriving at the ruin, Leona led everyone down to land, then said, “Let's start here. Explore the outer perimeter first, and record any discoveries you make.”
“If you encounter danger, call for help immediately, and I will get to you as fast as possible,” Leona said. She then flew straight up into the sky to keep watch.
Everyone nodded and began walking toward the ruin.
Zhang Ye stepped onto a boulder and looked down over the entire ruin.
The ruin was massive, stretching across nearly two-thirds of the horizon and extending for at least a thousand kilometers. Within it, many structures resembling Mayan pyramids could be seen, grand and magnificent. The further away the pyramids were, the larger they became; the most distant one soared straight into the heavens, easily reaching thousands of meters in height!
Everyone gasped in awe.
Lina said, “It's so huge... Brother Ye, where do we start our exploration?”
Zhang Ye thought for a moment and said, “Let's start from the outer perimeter, just as the mentor said.”
“This ruin is very large, and there's a high chance that high-level magical beasts reside here, so it's safer for us to stick together.”
After all, there were far too many movie plots where characters split up only to be picked off one by one.
“Heh, coward.” However, as soon as Zhang Ye finished speaking, Katelansi snorted coldly and walked straight in another direction, clearly intending to explore on her own.
Zhang Ye was helpless.
Ever since their last battle, this ice-cold beauty seemed to have a massive grievance against him. On the few occasions he had run into her and greeted her, she had only responded with cold glares.
Zhang Ye didn't even know how he had offended her.
“You're not scared, are you?” Shana also crossed her arms, looking at Zhang Ye with an “I've seen right through you” gaze.
Zhang Ye laughed in spite of himself and said, “In an unfamiliar environment, there are many unknown dangers. Sticking together is just safer.”
“What you say makes some sense, so this princess will reluctantly deign to walk with you!” Shana huffed.
“What do you mean 'reluctantly'? If you don't want to join, then don't. No one is forcing you,” Lina said in dissatisfaction.
She strongly disliked Shana's condescending attitude toward Zhang Ye.
She was clearly just a flat-chested shorty who wasn't even as strong as Zhang Ye, so where did she get all that confidence?
Hearing this, Shana's face instantly went cold.
“You better apologize to this princess!” Shana snorted coldly. “Otherwise, you guys can just stick together by yourselves!”
“I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize to you!” Lina showed no fear whatsoever.
“Hmph!” A flash of annoyance crossed Shana's eyes. She turned around and walked in another direction, casting a glance back at Zhang Ye before she did, as if expecting him to ask her to stay.
But she was quickly disappointed, as Zhang Ye showed absolutely no intention of stopping her.
This only made Shana angrier the more she thought about it.
What a big idiot!
Go ahead and stick together with your group of little idiots. Once this princess finds a grand treasure, I won't share a single bit with you!
Hmph!
With that, she left.
Seeing this, Gajeel also quietly walked toward another area.
His thoughts were simple—stay away from Zhang Ye, the further the better!
Staring in the direction Gajeel was leaving, Zhang Ye took advantage of the others being distracted to quietly release a few black Dark Demon Bugs.
Tei Tei was his contracted beast, so her offspring naturally were as well, and they could be stored inside her contract space.
For this trip, he had brought Tei Tei, Bolabo, and Labella along.
There was also Gujiu, who was currently perched on Zhang Ye's head—since Zhang Ye had fed it until it was completely stuffed before they set off, it was currently in a digestion state.
“Little ones, follow him. Be careful and don't get spotted,” Zhang Ye instructed through contract telepathy.
“Squeak~” The little ones immediately nodded and slipped silently into the forest.
“You're not going to stop them?” Nan asked, looking at the departing Shana and Katelansi.
Zhang Ye shook his head slightly. “No need.”
This was their choice. If he stepped in to stop them, it might only make them more rebellious.
Besides, he still had to deal with Gajeel, so the further away they were, the better.
In any case, with Leona and the other mentor watching over them, nothing too serious should happen.
“Alright, let's get started too. We'll begin with that small pyramid,” Zhang Ye said, pointing at a pyramid that was at least a hundred meters tall.
The group immediately headed over together.
Stepping inside the pyramid, a dusty, musty scent washed over them.
“How long has this place been here?” Lina couldn't help but ask, looking at the heavily weathered walls covered in climbing vegetation.
“At least several thousand years,” Zhang Ye said slowly.
Just then, a hissing sound came from a corner of the wall. Everyone immediately became alert and looked toward the source of the noise.
It was a small snake only two meters long.
The little snake was emerald green, blending perfectly into the shadows and vegetation of the corner. Because it was so weak, no one had paid much attention to it.
But now that the group was less than two meters away, it felt uneasy and fearful. It reared up on its own initiative and hissed threateningly.
But no one was frightened.
Because this little snake was only Tier Three.
“And here I thought it was something dangerous,” Renomon chuckled. He walked over, intending to stomp it to death, but Zhang Ye reached out to stop him.
“There's no need.” With that, he patted Renomon on the shoulder and continued deeper into the ruins.
Their current goal wasn't to hunt magical beasts. Besides, a Tier Three snake wouldn't yield any benefits anyway, and they were the intruders here. There was no reason or need to kill it.
Renomon withdrew his foot, glanced at the little snake, and then caught up with Zhang Ye. The group walked away.
Sensing that the threat had vanished, the little snake stopped its posturing. Its round eyes watched the direction the group had gone.
It suddenly felt a strange sensation.
A feeling of closeness.
However, it quickly forgot this feeling and went back to lying in ambush.
Its targets were the rock rats that occasionally scurried past to forage. That would be its food for the next few days.
As they went deeper, the light grew increasingly dim, so Zhang Ye condensed light magic to illuminate their surroundings.
He noticed that on the inner walls of the pyramid, there were some textual symbols and murals, though they had already become blurry under the washing of the long river of time.
Zhang Ye leaned in closer to examine them carefully.
Guided by the system's 【Translation】, he managed to read some information from the symbols that were still relatively legible.
“Demon Realm... anger... disaster... the gods descended upon...” The words were fragmented, leaving Zhang Ye unable to fully comprehend them.
“Brother Ye, can you read it?” Lina asked.
Zhang Ye shook his head slightly. “It's too blurry. I can only understand a few individual words, but I don't know what they're trying to express.”
“Let's keep going deeper,” Zhang Ye continued. “Everyone, watch your step.”
“I'm sensing some mana fluctuations, so there should be active magic circles inside this ruin. They might be traps.”
“Also, ruins like this are ideal shelters for many magical beasts. Don't let your guard down.”
“Right!”
Everyone nodded and continued heading inside.
After walking along a winding path for over a hundred meters, their vision suddenly opened up.
It seemed they had entered the heart of the pyramid.
There was a massive space inside, with an open ceiling that allowed sunlight to stream in.
In the center of the space was a square, man-made pool, and in the middle of the pool stood a statue.
When they saw that statue, everyone suddenly felt an inexplicable sensation.
A very familiar feeling...
...
...
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