Chen Ye stood up, and through his aura, the scene of that time unfolded in his mind,
"Bai Susu arrived here first, intending to comprehend the Cultivation Technique, but was caught by that Demon Cultivator. The two fought fiercely here, and knowing himself to be outmatched, or unable to gain the upper hand after a prolonged battle, the Demon Cultivator struck devastatingly as he retreated, destroying this Tao Stele!"
Better be shattered jade than intact tile.
This is indeed the ruthless style of the Demon Path cultivators.
A look of understanding appeared on Zhiwei’s small face as she whispered, "What a pity, what kind of Cultivation Technique could it be that it led Foundation Establishment cultivators to compete over it."
Chen Ye sighed in frustration, damn it, if you can’t get it, you can’t get it, why destroy it!
What he needed now were some profound Dharma Methods.
The only high-end item he had was the Withering Glorious Arcane Sutra given by the Fourth Elder, yet this sutra was too difficult to cultivate, so much that even the Fourth Elder gave up.
His heart was knotted, and his Divine Sense restlessly swept through the shattered stele again and again.
Suddenly, his Divine Sense detected an extremely faint anomaly.
"Hmm?"
Chen Ye’s heart stirred, and he carefully targeted that anomaly with his Divine Sense, focusing it into a needle.
Bang!
A desolate thought rushed into his mind.
It was not a Cultivation Technique, but intermittent images.
In the images, a cultivator was being bound by countless rune chains, forcibly pressed into a fledgling stone stele!
His flesh and blood melted under the power of the runes, and all his pure cultivation and insights were forcibly extracted, turning into runes imprinted on the stone stele!
"Ah—! Songyang Sect is a renowned righteous sect, how could they commit such inhumane and demonic acts!"
The cultivator’s tragic screams exploded in Chen Ye’s mind!
Chen Ye was struck like a lightning bolt, and he withdrew his hand sharply, his face pale as he staggered back several steps.
"Master, what’s wrong?" Zhiwei quickly supported him when she saw him falter.
"The Demon Path... truly characteristic of the Demon Path..."
Chen Ye was horrified, suddenly realizing.
Previously, he was puzzled; if the Songyang Sect wanted to pass down their Cultivation Techniques, why set up so many stone steles? Using Jade Scrolls would be much simpler and convenient.
Now he understood.
The Songyang Sect actually used a secret technique to imprison cultivators within the stele, then etched their Cultivation Techniques onto the outside of the stele.
In this way, when disciples comprehended it, they could also gain the insights and experiences of those cultivators.
"But... the memories also showed cultivation being extracted, where did those cultivations go?"
Unable to figure it out, Chen Ye once again extended his Divine Sense, reaching straight into the core of the stone stele.
Now, he saw a skeleton sitting cross-legged.
The skeleton was covered in a dim golden hue, and despite being deceased for a millennium, it still exuded a mysterious aura.
This was a Golden Core cultivator!
It seems the surrounding steles must have each been refined with a cultivator.
But the steles in the periphery, whether the steles themselves or the cultivators within them, weren’t very strong, and thus were entirely eroded over time and by the restrictions.
Only the Tao Stele within the Guiyi Domain, sealed with a Golden Core True Man, retained its skeletal structure over thousands of years, just barely preserved till now!
Chen Ye withdrew his Divine Sense, sighed lightly, and informed Zhiwei of the inside story.
"Master, you mean..." Zhiwei, perceptive and intelligent, immediately grasped the meaning in Chen Ye’s words, a hint of disgust appearing on her porcelain-white face.
"Not just that."
Chen Ye took a deep breath and pointed at the base of the stone stele,
"Look at those array lines. The foundation of this Golden Core Tao Stele harbors an array core, its veins spreading outward to the myriad stele forest at the periphery and inward to the core of Guiyi Domain. It seems those restrictions are powered through this array. However... the array appears to converge at the center, channeling everything to the array’s center, and what would that array center be?"
Perhaps,
that’s why Bai Susu, the Xu Family Ancestor, and the Emotion Crossing Sect’s Demon Cultivator personally came.
"Speaking of which... Qing Jun, the dragon egg, was originally discovered by Mao Qingzhu in the cold pond at Dragon Sleep Mountain."
Chen Ye suddenly pondered.
Could this array be related to Qing Jun?
As his thoughts raced, the little white fox suddenly "chirped" anxiously, pointing its small paws in one direction, urging continuously.
It was about to return home!
Chen Ye temporarily suppressed his surging emotions, following the direction the little white fox indicated, which was the direction Bai Susu and the Demon Cultivator had left earlier.
He hesitated no longer; the immediate priority was to first find Bai Susu and investigate the situation.
With the little white fox as their local guide, the trio — one human, one disciple, one fox — set off once more.
After walking for about half a day’s time, the little white fox stopped in front of a relatively intact stone stele group, pointing its small paw at the tallest one among them.
This place differed from the previous stele forest, with many smaller stone steles serving as its satellites.
Chen Ye’s heart stirred, and as he moved closer to investigate, he found, unsurprisingly, that this was another Golden Core Tao Stele.
But like the previous one, its core Cultivation Technique legacy was destroyed, leaving only scarred remnants of battle.
"Hmm? It seems that many cultivators fought over this Tao Stele here."
Chen Ye scanned his surroundings, becoming clear in his mind.
The core figures of each major power must have entered the Grotto Heaven long before this group of adventurers.
Upon seeing this ancient heritage, they naturally fought fiercely for it.
"However, without the little white fox to lead them, they must have spent a lot of effort breaking through various restriction arrays to find the Tao Stele. But with the little white guiding us, we’ve saved a lot of trouble."
Chen Ye thought to himself, thus gaining a chance to catch up with everyone.
Chen Ye’s heart steadied, turning to look at the little white fox: "Xiaobai, do you know the layout within the Guiyi Domain?"