Douluo: Wuhun Seven Killing Sword, Sword Opens the Gate of Heaven

Chapter 286: There may not be treasures in the ruins, but there must be legends
Following the faint light of the torch, we soon saw a huge rock that looked like a gate blocking our way.

"Is this the place?" Ning Tianchen asked.

Tian Qihua walked forward, confirmed the situation of the boulder, nodded and said: "Yes, this is the location of Ruins No. 18."

"How do we get in?" Ning Tianchen asked again.

Tian Qihua said: "There is a vessel next to it. If a soul master under 30 years old and whose soul power exceeds that of a soul king drops blood into it, the gate will automatically open. And only soul masters who have dropped blood can enter. If their strength and age exceed this range, they will be blocked by an invisible barrier."

Tian Guozhen said: "Don't rush in, there are some things that we need to discuss in advance."

It was mainly said to Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong.

"There are unknown dangers in the ruins. When our sect opened the No. 7 ancient ruins, there was a 100,000-year-old soul beast in the ruins, which caused our sect to suffer heavy losses."

"In the ruins, if you find any clues related to soul beasts, collect samples first and then exit the ruins immediately."

"You can only enter after you have deduced the exact strength of the soul beast; otherwise you must retreat. This is the iron rule of the sect. Of course, this is also for everyone's safety."

Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong nodded in agreement.

As a team, of course we must put the interests of the team first.

"As for the treasure inside, we can discuss how to take it. In this icy place, any greed will kill everyone."

Ning Rongrong said dissatisfiedly: "We in the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect have everything we need, how can we be greedy!"

"It's the best."

After explaining the precautions, the next step is to enter.

Tian Guozhen took off his gloves and prepared to cut his palm and inject the blood into the vessel.

"Wait." Ning Tianchen stopped him, "Don't cut your palm. In the ice and snow, the body's metabolism is very slow, and the wound on the palm is difficult to heal. Moreover, the palm is the least insulated part. Once the cold air enters the body, it is very likely that the entire palm will be completely frozen."

As he spoke, he lifted up the tiger skin and coat on his body and cut a small wound on his arm.

The flowing blood was frozen instantly. Ning Tianchen used a knife to pick up the frozen blood into a container. Then, the huge stone door slowly moved, and a passage appeared in front of everyone.

Air was pumped in and candles were lit on both sides of the passage.

After doing all this, Ning Tianchen immediately put on his clothes. The others followed his instructions and did the same.

Then, they entered the passage together.

The passage was extremely long and narrow, but Ning Tianchen did not drop the torch in his hand.

"There is a light here, why are you still keeping the torch?" Tian Guocheng asked in confusion.

Tian Guozhen and Tian Chao thought that what he did made sense, but they didn't know the principle behind it.

"Damn it, you are so primitive. The oil lamps here don't necessarily need to come into contact with air to burn, but torches definitely need air. If the torches go out, we must retreat as soon as possible, otherwise we might suffocate."

Carbon dioxide is denser than air and will concentrate at the bottom of the cave.

When they came down, the cave went all the way down, and they were at the very bottom of the cave, so it was easy for a large amount of carbon dioxide to accumulate.

Ning Rongrong didn't know what carbon dioxide was, but she knew the reason why Ning Tianchen did this.

She smiled and said, "You should learn more knowledge. Knowledge can help you avoid unnecessary casualties."

Tian Guozhen and the other two scratched their heads in embarrassment.

Indeed, the teaching of this knowledge within the Snow Mountain Sect was particularly lacking. Even the collection of books within the sect was pitifully small.

Soon, everyone reached a corner of the passage, turned into it, and saw a secret room.

At first glance, there was nothing else in the secret room except a fragile cushion placed in the middle.

After entering and searching carefully, no trace of treasure was found.

Ning Tianchen noticed the murals in the secret room and examined them carefully.

"Damn, this place is empty. Could someone have come here earlier?" Tian Guozhen cursed.

Ning Tianchen continued to look at the mural without looking back. "If there really is a treasure, then if the treasure is piled up in one place for a long time, it will only take a hundred years for traces of the treasure to appear on the ground. Even if it is moved away, the traces will still be clearly visible for tens of thousands of years."

"So, there was no treasure here from the beginning. Even if we were not the first to come here, the result would be the same."

According to his idea, everyone searched in the secret room for a while and indeed did not find any trace of the other party's treasure.

Tian Guozhen analyzed in a deep voice: "It doesn't make sense to use such a good soul guide to guard the ruins without any treasure."

Ning Tianchen pointed at the wall and said, "Treasures can be gold, silver, treasures from heaven and earth, or the murals and writings here."

"Mural?" Everyone came over.

The secret room has murals on three walls, a total of eight paintings, with ancient texts on both sides of the murals.

From the style of the text, Ning Tianchen could determine that this building had an estimated history of 40,000 to 60,000 years.

The Qibao Liuli Sect has teaching courses on ancient characters. Learning ancient characters is not just for the purpose of learning about past culture; more importantly, one can use the ancient characters to recognize some ancient relics and thus gain opportunities.

Tian Guozhen and others also recognized these characters.

“There may not be treasures in the ruins, but there are definitely legends. Future friends, please listen to my story.”

"Haha, there really is no treasure." Tian Chao smiled bitterly.

He didn't think this statement was false, because there was no corpse in the secret room, and the person who left this statement had no scruples.

You know, some powerful soul masters will place their life treasures in a prominent position in the place where they pass away, in the hope that future generations will only take the money and not destroy his body.

“I don’t know what the texts of later generations will develop into, but the murals can let my friends in later generations understand the stories of my life experiences.”

After Ning Tianchen finished reading the text, his eyes immediately turned to the first mural.

It records the place where this person was born, which is a small fishing village backed by the sea.

The person in the second mural is dressed in very ancient clothes, but it can be seen that this person should be a ranger or explorer. In front of him (the person in the mural) there are rolling waves, and an octopus-like soul beast appears in the waves, trying to attack him.

"What is this? How could there be such a soul beast in the river? Could it be extinct?" Tian Guocheng asked doubtfully.

Ning Tianchen interpreted, "This is the ocean. I guess this person is trying to express that there are violent waves on the quiet sea. To him, this seems to be a pursuit of surprise and excitement."

The third mural is also of the sea, but it is a deep sea. A huge whale is opening its bloody mouth and swallowing everything in the ocean.

Ning Tianchen knew who the soul beast in the mural was. It must be the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

The God of the Sea achieved his deity status more than 30,000 years ago, and the antiquity of these relics far exceeds 30,000 years.

In other words, the owner of the mural had come into contact with the Deep Sea Demon Whale King before the Sea God.

The eyes of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King were blinded by the sea god, so it is completely reasonable for him to have two eyes in the mural.

The next few murals are all of the desperate places that this explorer has visited.

After seeing the sixth picture, Ning Tianchen concluded, "It is obvious that from the second picture onwards, this person's strength has reached at least Super Douluo, and he is also a leader among Super Douluo. It is not even ruled out that he has reached the ninety-ninth level of strength."

You know, unless you are a powerful Extreme Douluo, it is impossible to escape from the mouth of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

Tian Guozhen said: "With such strength, he is still exploring the continent. There is only one possibility. His life is about to end. He needs to explore the unknown to seek further progress or a way to prolong his life."

Ning Rongrong disagreed with his point of view. "Theoretically, a Limit Douluo has a lifespan of a thousand years, which is the limit for a soul master. Even if he is unwilling, he can only wait for death to come. After all, no one can reach the level of 100."

Tian Guozhen and others couldn't figure it out either.

Northerners are straightforward by nature and have no idea what other people are thinking.

As for the matter of becoming a god at level 100, Ning Tianchen did not speak directly. Gods have always been the biggest secret on the continent and should not be spoken out casually.

"Keep looking. Perhaps you can find out the purpose of this man's expedition from the murals."

After saying that, Ning Tianchen focused his eyes on the seventh mural. This time, the protagonist in the mural was no longer a young man, but an octogenarian with gray hair and a hunched back. The cave in the mural should refer to this place.

"At this point, he should have reached the end of his life at his age." Ning Rongrong said, "But why isn't his body here?"

Ning Tianchen pointed to the wall behind him, "There is an eighth mural, let's see it first. This mural represents his state of mind at the time. That is, he was ready to die here, but for some reason, he did not die here and left behind the eighth mural."

All the puzzles can only be solved after reading the eighth mural.

Turning around, Ning Tianchen held up the torch and looked at the eighth mural carefully.

The eighth mural contains a lot of information, or rather, it can be divided into three murals.

After the splitting, in the first mural, when his (the person in the mural) life was about to come to an end, some special symbols appeared in his mind.

"What kind of symbol is this? It seems to have no meaning." Tian Guozhen complained.

Ning Tianchen did not feel unfamiliar.

The mural states this, proving that the protagonist also did not know where the voice came from, and that the words spoken by the voice were extremely confidential, so he could not record them at will.

The source of this voice could only be a god if it could conceal the perception of an Extreme Douluo. Moreover, the voice in his mind was most likely related to a god.

Turn your attention to the second mural after it was split.

The door of the secret room was opened, and a graceful female figure walked towards the light.

Ning Tianchen said: "I think it should represent moving towards the light and towards rebirth."

Tian Guozhen's expression was solemn.

Noticing his expression, Ning Tianchen asked back: "Do you have any unique insights?"

"The silhouette of this figure is the Snow Girl, the most terrifying existence in the Far North." Tian Guozhen said in a deep voice: "The Snow Girl's strength is unfathomable. Anyone who challenges her will never survive under her hands."

"The last time, during the Soul Master Competition, I failed to leave in time and met the Snow Girl halfway. Although I only saw her from a distance, my body was unable to move at all."

"Elder Tian Qing and I hid nearby for more than half a year before we escaped from the Arctic Icefield."

The legend of the Snow Girl is no stranger to those who have been in the Far North for many years.

The reason why it could spread so widely is, after all, the strength and beauty of this snow girl, which are deeply imprinted in the hearts of everyone who has seen her.

"Ice and Snow Girl, Snow Emperor." Ning Tianchen made a judgment in his mind.

There are three kings in the Far North, and the strength of this Snow Girl is extremely high even in the ranking of ferocious beasts ten thousand years later.

But what is the meaning of the appearance of the Snow Girl in this mural?
With doubts, Ning Tianchen looked at the last part of the mural.

There are no figures in the mural, only a secret room buried in the snow and a map of the route to that place.

"There are new relics. According to the order of discovery, this should be the 29th ancient relic." Tian Guozhen was eager to try, and seemed to want to go to this ancient relic and learn about this person's life.

Ning Tianchen agreed, "The ruins pointed to by the mural should record the final life of this person. It is even possible that his remains and treasures are hidden in them."

More importantly, he wanted to find out what kind of divine inheritance this person had received.

The Far North is dominated by ice, so it is very likely that it is the Ice God, but the possibility of other gods cannot be ruled out.

In short, until you see it with your own eyes, everything is just speculation.

Tian Guozhen did not rush to draw a conclusion. He made a rubbing of the route map in the mural, and Ning Tianchen also made a rubbing.

Tian Guocheng suggested: "Is it possible that the treasure was hidden in the wall of the secret room by this person? Maybe he knew he was going to die, and didn't want his body or treasure to be taken away by others, so he used the mural to mislead us?"

Tian Chao thought about it and agreed with his guess.

Ning Rongrong also felt that it was very likely, but Tian Guozhen was hesitant.

Ning Tianchen said firmly: "Absolutely impossible."

Because he had inherited the throne of God, this person could only have died during his training and would not have had time to leave behind any murals.

And the fact that he left behind another relic proves that he had most likely completed the divine test and ascended to the divine realm.

However, Ning Tianchen would not say too much about the gods, nor would he speculate casually. Instead, he explained, "Because most people who come to explore ancient ruins don't want to return empty-handed."

"In fact, if I hadn't told you just now, you wouldn't care about the murals here. Most explorers would definitely break down all the walls and floors here if they see that there is no treasure here. So, there is no point in him doing this."

Tian Chao said: "Since we are here now, let's try to smash it. If nothing works, we can leave."

Ning Tianchen stopped them and said, "Have you forgotten the first sentence?"

There may not be treasures in the ruins, but there must be legends.

They already knew the legends here. Breaking down the wall might not necessarily reveal treasure.

"Since this senior has clearly stated that there is no treasure here, any unnecessary action may lead to our death. The soul guide at the entrance is so powerful, I don't rule out the possibility that there is a self-destruct mechanism inside. The triggering condition is likely to be damaging anything here."

"Besides, we are not without gain. Perhaps all the treasures are hidden in the next ancient ruins."

Everyone nodded thoughtfully.

……

After evacuating ancient ruins No. 18, Tian Qihua anxiously asked everyone about their exploration progress.

After learning about the situation, he strongly agreed with Ning Tianchen's cautious approach.

If you are not sure whether there are traps around, the best choice is to do nothing.

"Third Elder, are we going to ancient ruins No. 29?" Tian Guozhen asked.

Tian Qihua smiled and said, "Of course I have to go. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of this senior's kindness?"

We can't set off directly now. We must first check the map that Tian Guozhen copied and determine the route.

The Arctic ice field is so vast that it seems to have no end. Once you get lost in it, you will die.

After a long while, he pointed at the map and sighed, "Guo Zhen, look here, isn't the terrain similar to the farthest distance in the route map that our sect is currently exploring?"

Tian Guozhen nodded.

The topographic map in the mural has no scale, and they don't know exactly how far away it is.

According to the current situation, the route represented by this topographic map has far exceeded the limit of the Snow Mountain Sect's current explored location.

If they follow this map, it will take them at least half a year.

Ning Tianchen said in a deep voice: "This ancient relic is tens of thousands of years old. After tens of thousands of years of vicissitudes, who can guarantee that the landforms in the topographic map will not change!"

"If we follow this path, we will most likely get lost."

They can go as far as the limit of the location they have explored so far, but should they go further?
It doesn't mean you won't get lost if you just keep walking and drawing maps.

You know, if you can't tell the direction and don't have a reference, it's impossible for you to walk in a straight line. If you really do that, you'll just be going around in circles until you starve to death on the ice.

To leave or not to leave, this has become a difficult problem facing everyone.

If they don't want to get lost, they must not go there. But if they don't go there, the treasures in the ruins will always arouse their curiosity.

After a long silence, Ning Tianchen said, "I think we can go there. But when we pass the limit of the explored location, we must slow down our pace and draw a detailed topographic map. Even if we cannot find the ruins due to changes in the terrain, at least we can get a more in-depth route map."

Tian Qihua smiled bitterly and said, "Your idea is good, but human nature is greedy. The closer we get to the ruins, the faster we will unconsciously speed up our pace, and we may even gradually forget how to draw the map. In the end, even if I get the treasure in the ruins, I won't be able to get out of the Arctic Icefield."

"Guo Zhen and the other three, as well as the two of you, are all pillars of your respective sects. I cannot take you on such an adventure. Now that the exploration of the 18th ancient ruins has been completed, our mission is also accomplished. Why not return to the sect?"

Returning to the Snow Mountain Sect at this time and making long-term plans is definitely the best option.

However, if the ruins were really the inheritance place of the gods, the fewer people who entered, the better. If the Snow Mountain Sect used all its strength to enter, it would be hard to tell who would win the divine test.

(End of this chapter)