Chapter 15: The Trial of the Ruins (I)
When he returned to the sect, it was already a moment of time, and Han Nuo hurriedly entered the mountain gate, but met his master, Elder Liu, at Guanyuntai.
"Disciple to meet Master." Han Nuo arched his hand to look at Elder Liu on the tree, and under the illumination of the moonlight, Elder Liu was as beautiful as a fairy in the sky. He lay on the tree with his head propped up with one hand, letting his robe hang down on the flower branches, and as soon as the breeze passed, the green silk fluttered between the swaying shadows of the flowers, which actually made Han Nuo's heart flutter a little. Han Nuo silently read in his heart: 'I am straight...... I'm straight...... I'm straight......'
Seeing Han Nuo's strange expression, Elder Liu couldn't help but smile, and with a wave of his hand, a magic weapon floated down in front of Han Nuo. Han Nuo fixed his eyes on it, it was something like armor.
"This thing is a magic weapon that I researched based on the kind of 'exoskeleton' you said, and there are still a few days before I go to the ancient battlefield site, you can get used to it, maybe it will have a miraculous effect at that time." Elder Liu said lightly.
"Thank you for the treasure!" Han Nuo happily put away the magic weapon and thanked Elder Liu.
"In addition, there is a rune treasure here, maybe you can use it once, you can bring it with you." Elder Liu was a little more out of thin air, and a talisman immediately appeared in front of Han Nuo.
"I wonder what the difference between this rune treasure and an ordinary rune is there?" Han Nuo took the talisman in front of him in his hand and looked at it carefully, it was slightly different from ordinary talismans, it looked more advanced, but Han Nuo couldn't tell what was advanced about it.
"Ordinary talismans, sealed are all spells mastered by the talisman. And the rune treasure is sealed as part of the magic weapon of the talisman maker. Although its power can only reach one-twelfth of the magic weapon, it is also very powerful compared to the talisman. Elder Liu explained, and then drifted away.
Han Nuo was stunned in place, the magic weapon was at least something that only monks above the Jindan stage could have, and using it as a raw material to make a rune treasure, could it be that even the foundation building monks could kill it? He immediately took out a wooden box and put the talisman treasure away. Then he looked around vigilantly, and then drove back to his residence with a flying magic weapon.
For the next few days, Han Nuo stayed at his residence, not for anything else, but to get used to the exoskeleton armor that Master had given him. Influenced by Han Nuo's aesthetics, Elder Liu made this suit of armor very slim, with a feeling of tight-fitting leather clothing. But Han Nuo, who wore this magic weapon, his physical functions had indeed become stronger, and the consumption of both physical strength and spiritual power was much smaller than before. This enhances the endurance of his body in disguise, and most importantly, this suit also has a pair of cool fist and claw weapons.
On the night before the trial, the sect had gathered all the thirteen disciples who had received the summoning order on the refining platform, and none of these people had entered at the same time as Han Nuo.
An elder in a green robe gave a lecture on matters related to the trial, including the location of the ruins of the ancient battlefield, the safety precautions to be paid attention to, and the materials to be obtained when entering the ruins. Most of its content was similar to what Elder Zhao had told Han Nuo before, except that some of the materials that needed to be obtained were actually on the map in the raw material warehouse but were extremely rare.
After that, it was this elder named Yang Xu who led everyone to the place of trial in the starry night. Elder Yang's magic weapon was a pair of mandarin ducks, a weapon that looked like two crescents put together. This magic weapon can become very huge, and it is effortless to carry Han Nuo and several people in the air. Although it looks sharp, it doesn't seem to be too dangerous to stand on it.
And Elder Jindan's flight speed was really not comparable to that of a Qi Refiner. If the speed of the Qi Refiner is that of a helicopter, then the speed of the Jindan Monk is that of a jet. Anyway, when we arrived at our destination, it was still dark. As soon as they arrived at the place, Elder Yang ordered everyone to disperse and find a place to recuperate.
Han Nuo naturally followed the words of the elder and found a big stone to sit up. He sat until dawn. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that there were hundreds of people around.
Seeing this, he was a little uneasy, because he knew that less than ten of these people could get Tsukidan. As a result, the elimination rate is frighteningly high. Thinking about the pyramid structure of immortal cultivators, the immortal path is really full of killing.
However, compared to the people around him, the scenery in front of him made Han Nuo not calm. Because the so-called ancient battlefield ruins are so terrifying.
Han Nuo's location was a bare mountain to the south of the ancient battlefield, and when they looked down from the mountain, they found that this was a basin terrain. In the center of the basin is a plain with a radius of tens of miles, and a thin river runs through the plain from west to east. Topographically, this is clearly a natural territory.
The river formed a small lake in the middle of the plain, and flowed until the easternmost part was blocked by the endless mountain ranges, and then meandered south along the foothills, and finally flowed out through the valley beneath the bald mountains where Hanno and the others were. For some reason, Han Nuo faintly felt that this river was the upper reaches of the Haoxian River.
Of course, if the ruins of this ancient battlefield were just a bare plain, there would be nothing to be afraid of. But this plain was densely packed with countless bones of various sizes, and between these bones, many plants and trees grew, and the larger ones were even higher than those tall trees. And the whole plain was shrouded in a layer of pale red mist, revealing some solemn aura.
Han Nuo couldn't imagine that anything would exist in such an environment, but some demon beasts that resembled snakes and scorpions must exist, after all, these bones alone could support countless living beings.
Just when Han Nuo was attracted by the sight, Elder Yang, who led the team, spoke, "All the disciples of the Tianyun Sect, set off immediately to find the materials needed by the sect, and the disciples who do not return empty-handed within five days will receive a Zhuji Dan!" After Elder Yang finished speaking, he didn't look at the disciples he had brought, but instead glanced at the people from other sects.
The elders of the other sects also gave orders at the same time, only to see that the rays of light fell into those plants and trees like flying stones into the water, and disappeared in an instant. Han Nuo wanted to wait and see, but his instinct told him that he should go down as soon as possible, so he drove the flying magic weapon to rush down as well.
Just as Han Nuo was about to hit the ground, some bat-like creatures suddenly rose from the grass and trees on the ground and pounced on him. Han Nuo was shocked in his heart, and his hands closed out of instinct, and his four fingers condensed into dozens of sword shadows in front of him.
This is the 'Instant Ten Thousand Swords Technique' that he has comprehended and cultivated so far, although it is not very powerful, but it is better to shoot quickly. Those bat-like creatures instantly turned into a burst of blood mist and fell to the ground under his Ten Thousand Sword Technique. Only then did Han Nuo understand why, when viewed from above, this plain was covered with a layer of reddish mist.
As soon as he fell to the ground, Han Nuo took out the exoskeleton armor that his master had given him from the storage bag and replaced it. Wearing a white cloud robe to move in such a scene is undoubtedly a live target. He changed his equipment and began to cast a spell called 'Nine Illusions of Wood Concealment', which can attach a layer of aura to the caster's body that can change color with the terrain. In Hanno's opinion, this is the effect of wearing a camouflage uniform.
Before it could be properly concealed, suddenly a burst of shouts came from the sky, and Han Nuo looked up to find that those who came down later were being chased by some strange bird creatures, and several Qi Refiners had died on the spot. And those birds were startled by the first to enter. It's no wonder that everyone will rush to set off, and the insects that are backward will be eaten by birds.
Han Nuo didn't care about those Daoists, and his experience in surviving in the Immortal Cultivation Realm was summed up in one sentence, "Dead Daoists don't die in the Poor Dao." He surveyed his surroundings, and the first thing he noticed was the creatures attacking him. The creature has bat-like wings, but its body is like a rabbit, especially its independent hind hooves, but its ears are rat ears.
Han Nuo initially thought that this must be the form of the bat before it evolved, but suddenly remembered that he seemed to have seen it from some book, and finally remembered that its name was Yuniao. And the book that records this animal is the Book of Mountains and Seas obtained in the blacksmith shop when he first entered this world.
Han Nuo was overjoyed in his heart, he had a strategy to check it, and he didn't have to mess around in this dangerous place. So he immediately turned on his divine sense to explore the surroundings, and found that in addition to three unknown Taoist friends and some small animals that seemed to have no offensive power, there was also a place like a cave around him.
Han Nuo immediately performed another technique in the Spirit Concealment Technique, called 'Wind Concealment Thousand Walks', and it didn't take him a moment to reach the place where the cave was. However, to Han Nuo's surprise, the cave he found was not a real cave, but the skull of an elephant's skeleton. The skeleton was half submerged in the earth, leaving only a hole in one eye outside.
Han Nuo stood outside this hole, and it was really hard to imagine how huge this elephant was when he was alive. He scanned the inside of the hole with his senses, and found nothing out of the ordinary, so he went inside. After getting in, Han Nuo found the book that had been forgotten for a long time and read it.
Two hours later, Hanno had memorized all the information in the book, including the creatures' physical characteristics and threat levels. Originally, with the thickness of this book, he could read it quickly, but he didn't recognize many words in the book, and the description was very obscure, so he spent a lot of time.
As he came out of the 'cave', he touched the huge skeleton and suddenly a bold idea came to him. He measured the size of the skeleton, and the elephant's head seemed to fit just enough to fit a storage bag. And it just so happened that he had two storage bags, so he freed one of them, and with a little finger, put the elephant's head in the bag.
As soon as he had done this, he heard what seemed to be a faint meow of a cat around him. He used his divine sense to probe, but found nothing, so he quietly followed the cry, only to find a group of creatures that looked like hyenas and had red thorns on their bodies surrounding the corpses of the two cultivators. Judging by the costumes, the two seem to be from the same door.
Han Nuo stared at those strange creatures and didn't dare to move, searching for useful information in his mind, and finally confirmed that this creature was Meng Huai. Han Nuo's heart sank, and he quietly left in the opposite direction, his heart was now full of questions.
The first question is, why are the birds and beasts in this ancient battlefield so ferocious? Take this Meng Huai as an example, living in groups and being able to avoid the detection of divine sense, a group of Meng Huai can actually besiege and kill two Qi Refiners.
The second question is what kind of person is the author who wrote the Classic of Mountains and Seas? Seeing so many monsters, birds and beasts, they can still get out of the whole body, could it be a certain ancestor level figure?
With these doubts in mind, he began to dive due east. Although Elder Yang told them that the closer they were to the lake in the center, the fewer demon beasts there were. But Han Nuo didn't plan to go there, because he had planned to find a safe place to spend three days outside.
After traveling for about five or six miles, Han Nuo did not encounter any danger. It wasn't until we were about to reach the river I had seen earlier in the mountains that there was a sound of fighting somewhere. Han Nuo hurriedly performed his exercises and sneaked over, only to find five people in the same costume fighting a group of vulture-looking creatures.
Four of the people were outside, and one was in the middle. The four people outside each drove a magic weapon to resist the attack of the demon beast, while the man in the middle held a talisman and recited a spell. I saw a layer of cyan light on the surface of the talisman, and as the cyan light turned full, a cyan sword emerged from the cyan light. As soon as he heard a 'rise', the green sword flashed in the air, and a group of demon beasts were penetrated by the blue light, and they fell down in an instant.
Seeing this, Han Nuo immediately understood that the talisman in the other party's hand must be some kind of talisman treasure. He hid his breath more and more, and did not dare to move forward. But fortunately, those people didn't look around, but directly put away the corpses of those demon beasts and headed north.
By the time we arrived at the river, it was already evening. Han Nuo was surprised to find that the water in this river was not as viscous as the Maoxian River, and judging from the plants along the river, it seemed to be very different from the Maoxian River.
In order to test his idea, he caught some small animals nearby and threw them far into the river, but the small animals actually struggled a few times and swam back to the shore. In this way, it is obvious that this river is not as poisonous as the Haoxian River. This made Han Nuo a little disappointed, after all, he originally wanted to take advantage of the poison of the Immortal River to hide.
However, Han Nuo soon had another idea, there is a water-attribute exercise in the Spirit Concealment Technique, called "Water Hidden Hundred Streams", using this method can not only make the body as transparent as water, but also have a very fast speed to sneak in the water, and even have no need to worry about breathing.
But he was a little reluctant to use this spell because he didn't know the nature of water, and he was afraid that he would accidentally drown in the water. But fortunately, he had the opportunity to try, and after trying the effect of the spell in the shallow water, he immediately put his mind at ease, it turned out that this water was actually breathing underwater.
A moment later, he swam several miles down the river with this exercise. He saw two very strange fish in the river, one with ten bodies and only one head, called the Horo fish, and the other with a body but ten wings, called the Hawk Fish. His first thought when he saw these strange creatures was how they tasted, and then whether they were aggressive or not, after all, the book didn't describe it in too much detail.
Gradually, Han Nuo found that his divine sense could no longer perceive the nearby animals. He went ashore in a place with many trees, and found himself in the easternmost part of the basin. Swim two kilometres further to the bend of the river, and then follow the river west to the lake in the center of the basin.
Han Nuo was about to camp here to rest, but he saw a wisp of fire appear not far ahead, so he immediately switched to Fengyin Qianxing and dived in that direction. When I got closer, it was actually a young female corrector driving a round fan-shaped magic weapon to fight some demon beasts in the air.
Han Nuo looked at it and found that those fire-breathing demon beasts were very similar to the birds that looked like vultures he had just seen. The woman fought a few demon birds alone to see if she could resist them. Han Nuo was hesitating, only to hear the woman shout, "I don't know which sect of Taoist friends is here, please help one or two." ”
Han Nuo was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but he still made a move. With a wave of his hands and fingers, dozens of sword rays shot out, hitting those demon birds very accurately. Han Nuo actually knew that these demon birds were a kind of creature called Luo Luo Bird, whose voice was like a magpie, shaped like a vulture, and could spit flames, and it was a fierce bird that liked to eat human flesh. However, fortunately, his defense is not high, so his Ten Thousand Sword Technique is very effective against it.
The woman saw that Han Nuo was dressed in a peculiar costume, his moves were gorgeous, and his shots were neat, and in an instant, she killed the flock of birds that she had been resisting for a long time, and she had some vigilance. She looked at Han Nuo blankly, as if she was a little hesitant. Seeing this, Han Nuo didn't intend to ask her for thanks, and turned around to leave.
"Senior brother, can you tell me the honorable surname, what sect and what faction, and it will be rewarded in the next day!" The woman was overjoyed when she saw that Han Nuo was not close to her.
Han Nuo saw that the woman said a bunch of polite words, although he didn't have any thoughts in his heart, he still asked, "This place is far away from the central lake, what is the junior sister doing here?" ”
"Isn't my brother the same as me?" The woman asked in surprise.
"You're here to hide too?" Han Nuo didn't expect that there would be people who thought the same way as himself.
"It's natural, one of my brothers broke through this site a few years ago, and he told me that the inner ring is bloodier than the outer ring. The outer circle only needs to deal with some birds and beasts that are about the same level as the qi refiner, but once they enter the inner circle, they are brothers and sisters, and they are against each other. Many people died at the hands of the same sect, otherwise how would it be distributed just a few Tsukidan? The woman explained.
Han Nuo agreed with the woman's explanation, "But there is no way to collect the resources that the sect needs by hiding here." ”
"It's okay, just from this outer circle into the inner circle, it will break off one or two percent, and then fight in the inner circle for a while, and then break off three or four percent, and then through the outer circle when returning, it will be one or two percent less. In this way, as long as you live, even if you don't get anything, you may be able to get Tsukidan. That's how the elder brother of my clan got it. The woman explained again, in fact, she didn't tell Han Nuo that she had used her family connections to gather some materials, as long as she spent these few days safely, she would go back and hand it in at that time.
"Senior sister's words are reasonable, then I won't be accompanied by the next, and the inner circle will want to go up and down." After Han Nuo said goodbye to the woman, he cast the Nine Illusions of Mu Yin and disappeared in place. When the woman saw him disappear, she was immediately shocked, but after being on guard for a moment, she saw that he was really gone, so she was relieved to find a relatively safe place to hide.
Han Nuo secretly observed the woman's movements, and when he saw her go away, he came out of the shadows. It's a pity that this is not addition and subtraction, the idea of solving the problem is wrong, those who can kill from the outer circle into the inner circle, and survive in the inner circle, nine times out of ten will not be attrition through the outer circle. He thought so, mentally making some adjustments to his plan. Because he felt that this trial was different from what he had imagined, and I am afraid that it was not as simple as he thought at first.