The valley floor was a ruin, trees scarred by smoke, the ground pitted as if fresh from a brutal battle.

Chen Feng stared, momentarily stunned by the sight of the Nine Nether Gorge, a place universally feared, wondering why, if even Dou Zuns lost their minds here, he had encountered nothing but mist on his journey so far.

There had to be a latent danger.

Chen Feng’s vigilance sharpened, and he proceeded cautiously through the canyon.

This valley was vast; the altered terrain suggested it was once a place lush with vegetation and winding streams, now inexplicably transformed.

Judging by the scorch marks on the trees and the depressions in the earth, the conspicuous destruction had occurred recently, no more than ten days prior at most.

Could the upheaval in the Nine Nether Gorge be connected to the familiar aura he sensed six days ago?

But what was that aura that felt so deeply familiar? He had sensed it in the mist as well, yet upon emerging, the feeling had abruptly appeared only to vanish as if it had never been there.

Within the valley, there was no force restricting his Dou Qi or his vortex, but Chen Feng feared that activating his vortex would create energy fluctuations that might invite unnecessary trouble, so he relied entirely on muscle power for his movement.

The further Chen Feng walked through the devastated valley, the more unsettled he became.

All around were pits, each ten meters deep, seemingly left behind by combatants. These craters were all the same size, their depth and precision suggesting they were the result of meticulously calculated strikes, each one a single blow. Their surfaces were smooth as mirrors, yet what shocked him more was that the surrounding area remained utterly untouched—not a single blade of grass near the crater edges was damaged!

Logically, striking a ten-meter-deep crater into the ground, especially through energy infusion, should cause destruction to everything nearby. It was like using explosives to create a precise small hole; no matter how carefully calculated, some collateral damage was inevitable.

Yet, these dense clusters of massive pits showed no surrounding damage whatsoever!

This indicated that the person striking exerted absolutely no superfluous energy dispersion; every attack was kept within precise control. What terrifying mastery over energy.

Chen Feng appraised the situation. Forgetting precision for a moment, even summoning the Great Serpent Fin would be insufficient to blast such enormous, deep pits!

Below the five-meter soil layer of the valley lay solid Galan Stone, a rock so hard it rivaled steel.

This stone was naturally a rare ore, and it was strange to find so much of it here, though Longtu Mountain was known as a rich source of minerals, so abundant Galan Stone underground wasn't entirely surprising.

With Chen Feng’s current strength as a Sixth-Tier Dou Shi, even using the Great Serpent Fin could penetrate these stones by at most one meter!

This demonstrated how monstrous the cultivation level of the person who created so many massive pits must be!

It also reflected the terrifying strength of whomever they were fighting!

Who exactly had fought here, causing this carnage? Why were they fighting in this place?

Chen Feng suppressed the rising horror in his heart, carefully navigating around the massive craters as he slowly moved forward.

After walking several hundred meters, he spotted a collapsed palace in the distance.

Only a few colossal pillars remained of the structure; everything else had been reduced to rubble and broken tiles. However, judging by the debris on the ground, the palace must have been immense, perhaps no smaller than the Forbidden City of his previous life, Chen Feng estimated.

Who could have constructed such a massive palace? And who resided here? Mysteries piled up in his mind, making the Nine Nether Gorge seem increasingly arcane.

This palace must also have been destroyed in the battle six days ago; the fresh marks on the broken walls suggested as much.

As Chen Feng was lost in thought, voices drifted from behind him.

Chen Feng snapped back to awareness, crouching instantly and silently slipping into a hollow within the ruins.

“This is…” Rodriguez’s voice echoed!

The newcomers were Rodriguez and Austin. Although they had entered the mist before Chen Feng, their pace was far inferior to his physical speed, causing them to lag significantly behind.

Having arrived here, they dared not carelessly emit their spiritual senses, thus failing to detect Chen Feng ahead of them.

“Could this palace be the Lin Palace where the Qilin resides?” Austin inquired.

Rodriguez nodded. “Indeed. This palace was constructed by the Dou Zun, Lochiat, a century ago!”

“You mean the Dou Zun who was trapped here for three years before finally escaping?” Austin asked.

Rodriguez confirmed. “Precisely! When he escaped, his mind was shattered. My ancestor, Philip, encountered him and used a Memory Stone to extract his recollections, learning that this was the Qilin’s dwelling place!”

Hiding in the ruins, Chen Feng listened and understood instantly. Austin’s knowledge of the Qilin Jade must have been passed on by Rodriguez, and Austin’s talk of treasure maps was merely a diversion. Furthermore, his plea for help in acquiring the Qilin Jade was likely just a pretext; his true motive for bringing Chen Feng along was probably just to ensure safe passage to this location!

Realizing this, a deep killing intent flared in Chen Feng’s eyes! He despised people whose sweet words masked an entirely different agenda!

Austin gazed intently at the ruins on the ground, appearing deep in thought.

Suddenly, Rodriguez gasped.

“Such… a powerful magical attack!”

Austin turned to look at Rodriguez, whose face was etched with horror, his eyes locked onto a specific spot amidst the ruins!

Following his gaze, Austin saw what seemed to be the center of the palace hall, where debris piled up in unusual disarray. After staring for a while without noticing anything different, Austin asked, “What powerful magical attack?”

Rodriguez pointed to an area in the ruins. “Look there. What is different?” Following his finger, Austin saw a pillar snapped cleanly in half. The break surface was smooth as a mirror, bathed in the quiet moonlight that cast a crystalline sheen from a distance.

Austin observed for a moment. “It looks like that pillar is made of ice!”

Rodriguez nodded. “That is an ice pillar formed from the Qilin’s condensed Dou Qi! It seems this Qilin possesses the Profound Ice attribute!”

Austin knew Rodriguez had more to say, so he remained silent. Indeed, Rodriguez continued, “The hardness of a Profound Ice Pillar condensed from Qilin Dou Qi surpasses steel by four or five times! Looking at the clean, smooth fracture of this pillar, it must have been severed by a Level Seven Magic Blade! A Level Seven Magic Blade capable of forming a physical strike to cleave such a hard and massive stone pillar means the caster possessed the strength of at least a Third-Tier Magus!”

A Magus was equivalent to a Dou Zun. Hearing ‘Third-Tier Magus,’ Austin’s face instantly twisted in alarm.

But Rodriguez seemed intent on delivering a fatal blow to his morale, continuing, “Moreover… this likely wasn’t even this person’s strongest attack. These Magic Blades were probably emitted casually!”

Casual issuance of a Level Seven Magic Blade—who was this person, and why were they challenging a Qilin?

PS: It seems we’re only ten thousand clicks away from hitting the weekly clicks chart. Comrades reading this, could you please finish this chapter, back out, and click again? Just one more click… Sigh, have I gone mad wanting to top the weekly charts?

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