Bamboo Mound

After Ning Chang disappeared, the little hedgehog regained its balance from being suddenly thrown out, and immediately crawled out of the burrow, searching for Ning Chang's figure everywhere.

However, the dense fog prevented it from spotting Ning Chang, even though he was just standing on the hilltop!

Realizing Ning Chang had left, it whimpered a few times in disappointment, but then a determined look flashed in its eyes as it made up its mind.

On the other side, when Ning Chang climbed to the top of a hill again, he finally saw a different terrain structure in the distance, with faint outlines of small buildings.

Having set his goal, he took out three more spirit stones and began to move forward with all his might.

He didn't believe the little hedgehog was capable of training itself to find him.

After all, although he didn't encounter any, there must be other ferocious beasts in this secret realm, and any Spirit Fusion Realm cultivator could easily end that hedgehog's life.

Moreover, even if it could truly cultivate to become an invincible being within this Cloud and Mist Secret Realm, how to get out would still be a problem.

Unless it can find the location where the three sects will open the secret realm again in the future, it will only be able to drift in and out of this secret realm for the rest of its life.

He didn't name the little hedgehog for this reason.

Not giving a name means it's just an experience that will be forgotten soon; giving a name, even if the experience is the same, will only create more entanglements.

Moreover, hedgehogs have short lifespans. Even if it advances through several levels in cultivation, its lifespan will only increase by a few years. It might even forget about him within a year or two.

.......

More than two hours later, Ning Chang stood in front of this sect, a look of surprise on his face.

"There are sects here?"

Around this low hill, there is a cluster of buildings scattered about.

It is somewhat similar to the Qingyun Sect in general, but the interior is indeed deserted and overgrown with vegetation.

"This shows that this place was once a world..."

Why then did this place become a secret realm?

And after leaving behind all traces of their existence, they all vanished.

"Did something happen back then? Or is it simply that I haven't found a place where people from this world gather yet?"

He had already traveled quite a distance and found many habitable places, but he hadn't seen any animals or ferocious beasts...

"Sigh! Could it be the food?"

He suddenly realized the key point, but then fell silent.

Although he has heterochromia and can ignore the fog that fills the world, he cannot deny the existence of that fog.

He suspected that the scarcity of life in this world was related to the fog, but considering the dangerous beasts his master had warned him about before entering, he had many doubts.

The existence of fog and ferocious beasts is clearly unrelated to the three sects.

After thinking for a while, looking at the sect buildings in front of him, he decided not to waste any more time here, since it had nothing to do with him anyway.

So he breathed a sigh of relief and looked up ahead.

At the main gate of this sect stands a memorial archway with three complex characters carved on it, the meaning of which is unclear. The archway is decorated with carvings of plants and trees.

After passing through the archway, there is a square, less than half the size of the Qingyun Sect. The stone floor is full of cracks, and low weeds grow in it.

Further ahead was another platform, with a small mound in the center, but the entire platform was covered with toothed, creeping plants, somewhat similar to vines.

Only after tearing the plant off did they discover that it was a large triangular stone cauldron!

Inside the vessel was half a cauldron of soil, and this patch of plants grew from inside the cauldron.

Seeing this, Ning Chang felt somewhat strange.

Of all the tripods he knew, at the very least they were square or round; this was the first time he had ever seen a tripod with three sides!

The difference in materials between the tripod and the stone platform is obvious. Each side has a tripod handle, and the three tripod legs are distributed at the three corners.

It itself contains no spiritual energy, so it must be an ordinary object used in the rituals of this declining sect.

The edges of the three sides of the ding are also engraved with plant patterns, while the inside of the sides is engraved with several different scenes.

Ning Chang walked around the cauldron and found that the carvings on the three sides were interconnected, as if they were recording a certain step.

After observing it more closely, I couldn't help but widen my eyes, feeling extremely uneasy.

The first illustration depicts a small figure holding a round object with a sharp point, swallowing it, and then sitting cross-legged on the ground.

In the second depiction, strands of spiritual energy, represented by lines, are absorbed into the little figure's body and gather into the seed within the figure. Subsequently, grass stems begin to sprout from the little figure's body.

The third depiction shows various kinds of plants growing on the little figures and fighting, including branches, vines, and coverings.

After some guessing, Ning Changcai uncertainly came to his own conclusion.

"Does it achieve symbiosis by actively parasitizing plants within the body? And gain power in this way?"

"But... according to the description, they can absorb spiritual energy, so why do they need to rely on these plants?"

Moreover, how can they ensure that these plants will enable them to cultivate to a higher level, or rather, how can they guarantee the strength of the plants themselves?

After much deliberation, he decided to explore the entire sect before drawing any conclusions, in order to resolve his doubts.

Looking up at the few isolated buildings on the mountain, he decided to start his search from the bottom floor.

The first area is the disciples' dormitory area on the right after entering the sect.

However, now it is a collection of small mounds covered with plants, with only occasional glimpses of rotten wood showing through.

The plants that grow on the houses attach their roots to the walls, damaging the structure of the houses, and then replace them with themselves to maintain the overall shape of the houses.

These houses are also in a row, and they are basically the same size and structure. The small gaps between each pair of houses are filled with plants.

Arriving at the first house, he peeled back a layer of plants covering the door, causing the wooden door to fall down as well. He quickly stepped back to avoid the collapsing door.

Thanks to the layer of vegetation on its surface, the rotting wooden door did not shatter into pieces.

Ning Chang tore off a few leaves to use as stepping stones and bent down to enter the thatched hut.

Instantly, a pungent, damp smell mixed with the odor of rotten wood hit me!

Ning Chang reacted immediately, stepping back out of the room and taking a few deep breaths.

"Ha... I should have thought of that. How could such a stuffy place not smell?"

"It's also my fault. It's been a long time since I've been to a place like this that's neglected and poorly ventilated."

After some adjustments, Ning Chang formed his spiritual energy into a tube, shaped one end into a mask and attached it to his face, placed the other end of the tube outside, and then went back inside.

Stepping on the plant roots scattered on the ground, Ning Chang finally saw the structure of the house.

There was a bed and a bedside table in the left corner as you entered, and a large cabinet against the wall on the right. A set of table and chairs was placed two steps in front of the cabinet. Apart from that, there was a layer of roots covering all the objects.

The table and bed were empty. After using spiritual power to pull open the large wardrobe and bedside table, there was nothing else except two pieces of cloth clothing piled up in the large wardrobe.