Chapter 22: The Ruins Opened
By the next day, following Ying Tong’s orders, many members of the Ying family had arrived on the Eastern Continent.
Seeing this, Ye Ying asked, “Are you sure we shouldn’t inform Ying Xuechen and Ying Xuan?”
“Forget about Ying Xuan, but Ying Xuechen is the young master of the Ying family. Letting Ying Ming lead the team like this might damage his authority,” he remarked.
Standing on the flying boat, Ying Tong said calmly, “If his authority relies on such trivial matters to be maintained, then he shouldn’t be the young master. He should abdicate sooner rather than later.”
A dignified young master of the Ying family shouldn’t need small matters like this to establish his authority.
“However, you’re right. We should notify them both, just to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings later,” he added, referencing the saying about family members not recognizing each other when chaos strikes.
The news about the disturbances in the Jinghong Secret Realm quickly spread, attracting a lot of attention.
Originally, only some small sects and wandering cultivators would have come to the Jinghong Secret Realm, but now a large crowd had gathered.
The first to arrive, of course, were those led by Ying Ming, along with Zhou Yunxing and his loyal followers.
Upon seeing Ying Tong, Zhou Yunxing apologized with a guilty expression, “I’m terribly sorry, Venerable Yunhuang, this matter was my oversight.”
Ying Tong shook his head. “This was spread unintentionally by someone from the Pei family. It has nothing to do with you.”
It had happened when a junior member of the Pei family overheard his elders discussing the strange occurrences in the Jinghong Secret Realm. While drinking with friends, he bragged and let the news slip.
Though the speaker had no ill intent, the listeners took the news to heart.
Sure enough, when the secret realm stirred yesterday, those who had caught wind of the news moved into action immediately.
Still, even if they hadn’t heard about it yet, when the true ancient ruins hidden within the secret realm opened, it would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar among all the major powers.
Those people would be like sharks drawn to the scent of blood, all converging on the site.
A new secret realm or ruin appearing would undoubtedly bring with it many rare and valuable treasures, along with numerous ancient herbs. If one were lucky, they might even stumble upon an extraordinary inheritance.
After the Ying family and the Great Zhou Dynasty’s forces arrived, other factions followed closely behind.
When these people first saw Ying Tong aboard the flying boat, they were surprised by her presence. However, after sensing the impending emergence of the ancient ruins, they breathed a sigh of relief.
There were restrictions on entering the ruins. Since this was the first time the ruins were opening, they could only accommodate individuals at or below the Golden Core cultivation level. Exceeding this limit could potentially cause the realm to collapse entirely.
This greatly limited the number of people who could enter the ruins. Initially, some were dissatisfied, given how rare such an opportunity was, only to find that there were restrictions on cultivation levels.
But when people saw Ying Tong, they suddenly realized that these restrictions might not be so bad after all.
Previously, in any secret realm or ruin that Ying Tong participated in, the most valuable items—whether inheritance, rare treasures, or herbs—would inevitably end up in her hands.
Even if others tried their best to beat her to the prize, the items would somehow always find their way back to her. It was absurd.
“It seems these people are quite pleased that you won’t be able to enter the ruins,” Ye Ying remarked.
Hearing this, Ying Tong shot him a glare. “Fools, all of them.”
Although she couldn’t enter with her true body, she had a clone.
Who said it had to be the true body entering anyway?
In fact, when she entered the Jinghong Secret Realm, it was through her clone.
“This time, the Jinghong Secret Realm won’t be able to hold up. It’s a pity about the Golden Spirit Fruit though.”
Had she known earlier, she would have been ruthless enough to uproot it back then.
At this moment, Ying Xuechen approached and respectfully greeted, “Junior greets Venerable Yunhuang.”
Ying Tong nodded and asked, “How has Ying Xuan been lately?”
“Many things have happened recently, so Brother Xuan hasn’t had much time to think about other matters. His condition has improved quite a bit, but whenever he’s idle, he still occasionally spaces out,” Ying Xuechen explained truthfully, recounting the events of the past few days.
Overall, Ying Xuan had been acting relatively normal, though much of that was due to Ying Xuechen’s constant efforts to counsel him. Otherwise, with Ying Xuan’s usual temperament, he would surely have gotten stuck in a mental dead-end.
However, outward appearances of normalcy didn’t necessarily mean everything was fine. Ying Xuechen’s biggest concern now was that Ying Xuan might be bottling everything up inside, which could lead to him breaking down completely.
Whenever he thought of this, Ying Xuechen felt an intense desire to kill Zhangsun Ya.
“Venerable, now that the Jinghong Secret Realm is having issues, what should we do about the Golden Spirit Fruit Tree?” Ying Xuechen asked.
“When the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten out. Even without the Golden Spirit Fruit Tree, I have a second plan that can help Ying Xuan overcome his current predicament,” Ying Tong replied calmly.
At this point, Ye Ying communicated with Ying Tong telepathically: “You’re not thinking of using that method, are you?”
“What’s the problem? I went through it myself back then,” Ying Tong responded.
The second method Ying Tong referred to involved placing Ying Xuan into a controlled environment where he would relive the experience of the broken engagement over and over until he could face it calmly.
Of course, this method carried significant risks. If Ying Xuan’s mental resilience wasn’t strong enough, he could die suddenly or become trapped in the illusion forever.
Just then, the ground and the surrounding space began to tremble violently. A black entrance suddenly appeared.
Those who had previously entered the Jinghong Secret Realm immediately recognized it—the black entrance was the portal to the secret realm.
Some instinctively stepped forward, but their companions quickly pulled them back.
“Can’t you see how many powerful figures are here? If they aren’t moving, there’s no way us small-time wandering cultivators should act. Unless, of course, we have a death wish,” someone muttered as they resisted the urge to step forward.
After a long moment, Ying Tong and the others remained still, waiting silently.
Half an hour later, the black entrance that had appeared earlier began to crack open. As the fissures grew wider, dazzling divine light shot into the sky, instantly illuminating the surroundings.
Immediately afterward, the ground and the surrounding space began to tremble violently.
Next, a towering gate, radiating multicolored rays of light, appeared before the crowd. It stood over a hundred meters tall and dozens of meters wide.
Through this majestic gate, they could vaguely glimpse the world it connected to. Rolling mountains and towering ancient trees stretched into the distance, resembling an earthly paradise.
Most importantly, the spiritual energy from the ruins was spilling out through the radiant gate, diffusing into the surrounding area.
The richness of the spiritual energy was a crucial indicator of the value of a secret realm.
If the spiritual energy wasn’t dense, it would suggest the secret realm was relatively young or had been formed too recently.
On the contrary, if the spiritual energy was incredibly abundant, it indicated that the secret realm or ruins had a long and ancient history, making it more likely for rare treasures to be found within.
