The disciples flew through the air, and after a short while, a palace spanning a hundred zhang appeared before their eyes.
Li Guanqi marveled in awe, "Was this built just for the trial secret realm?"
Once everyone had gathered, Tu Kui pulled out a pitch-black jade token and tossed it into the air.
A warped curtain of light immediately unfurled before them.
Tu Kui said in a deep voice, "A total of fifty Foundation Establishment disciples are entering the trial secret realm this time. I hope every one of you returns safely. Remember, no killing of fellow sect members!
"Your every move will be recorded by the sect's identity jade slips.
"If anyone harbors wicked intentions—humph! Do not blame the sect rules for being merciless!
"Now, go in at once!!"
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!*
Li Guanqi and his companions exchanged glances, drew a deep breath together, and leaped into the light screen.
A bout of dizziness washed over his mind. When Li Guanqi opened his eyes again, he found himself amidst dilapidated ruins.
The instant his feet touched the ground, Li Guanqi drew his longsword and scanned his surroundings.
Ye Feng and the others were nowhere to be seen. It seemed a randomized teleportation array had scattered all the disciples who entered the secret realm.
*Buzz!!*
He released his divine sense…
Yet Li Guanqi immediately furrowed his brow, discovering that his divine sense was suppressed to a radius of merely ten zhang.
The further he tried to extend it, the more terrifying the resistance became.
Opening his mind's eye, Li Guanqi finally inspected his surroundings in detail.
He stood in a ruined city, on an unrecognizable street.
The sky over the entire secret realm was an overcast gray, accompanied by a dreadful silence.
Beneath his feet were dark cyan stone slabs inscribed with mysterious, extraordinarily delicate patterns.
Tall pavilions lined both sides of the street, but the structures had long grown decayed and brittle under the erosion of time.
The air carried the slightly pungent scent of rotting wood.
Li Guanqi pulled out his sect jade slip, only to find that it was suffering from some kind of interference and could not be used at all.
He could not even contact his fellow disciples, much less locate anyone else.
The stillness in the air felt suffocating, yet Li Guanqi had long grown accustomed to such silence.
That sense of solitude, as if he were the only person left in the entire world, was something he had quietly endured for many years.
Gripping his sword in his right hand, Li Guanqi walked slowly down the deserted street.
Only his own footsteps echoed continuously along the empty way.
Instead of heading straight toward the city center, Li Guanqi made his way over to a tall pavilion.
Looking up at the exquisite carvings adorning the five-story structure, Li Guanqi could picture just how prosperous this place must have been in the past.
He reached out and gently touched the faded, yellowed main door, only for it to collapse with a resounding crash.
Stepping into the pavilion, he realized its layout was quite similar to a modern restaurant.
Yet every object inside was exquisitely crafted; even a simple jade plate bore gilded inlays.
The wine pot on the table was a striking, vibrant emerald green throughout.
Yet the moment he reached out and touched it lightly, the table and the jade wares atop it instantly disintegrated into a heap of ash.
Floating up to the second and third floors, he found the furnishings just as refined, growing even more elaborate on the upper levels.
Only when he ascended to the fourth floor did a sudden red gleam flash across the eyes of the stone lions flanking the winding staircase!
The carved wooden lotuses that appeared to be mere handrail decorations suddenly blossomed!
*Swish, swish, swish!!*
Countless concealed weapon petals shot toward him in a torrential burst!
*Clang, clang, clang, clang!!!*
*Clang, clang!!*
Hovering in midair, Li Guanqi swung his sword in a flurry so dense not even wind could slip through, deflecting every incoming projectile!
Most of the hidden weapons crumbled to dust while still airborne; barely twenty to thirty percent actually reached him!
Just as he thought it was over, a series of sharp clicks echoed in his ears.
From the vaulted ceiling, more than thirty lamp cores suddenly plummeted from a massive wooden chandelier that had seemed purely decorative!
Brilliant light flared from the lamp cores, instantly followed by dozens of plunging icicles!
Li Guanqi stepped through the air, lightning crackling underfoot as his figure flashed onto the fourth-floor corridor.
Only then did he manage to narrowly evade the strike.
Frowning deeply, Li Guanqi muttered under his breath, "What on earth was that just now?"
Triggering two hidden traps in quick succession set Li Guanqi thoroughly on guard.
He had chosen to enter this building entirely at random, without any deliberate planning.
That ruled out an ambush by another person, meaning these mechanisms had been here all along.
Li Guanqi slowly approached the handrail and looked down at the blossomed wooden lotus.
Beneath the surface of the carved lotus petals, he caught sight of an extraordinarily intricate mechanical structure.
The projectiles fired earlier were petal-shaped blades concealed beneath the wooden carvings, launched through the complex movement of those interlocking gears.
Li Guanqi was secretly astonished. Who knew how many years these secret realm ruins had existed?
Judging by the decay of the pavilion, it had been at least a thousand years, perhaps even three thousand!
Yet despite that, the mechanisms here could still function, and could even trigger a swift chain reaction!
*Clatter!*
At the very top of the pavilion, a battered and ruined plaque fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Had Li Guanqi stepped outside the pavilion at that moment, he would have seen three large characters inscribed upon the plaque:
*Huamo Tower!*
*Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!*
The earth convulsed, and the colossal ruins spanning a hundred li began to slowly sink!
Furthermore, the ground around the perimeter cracked open, revealing over a hundred enormous slabs that encased the entire ruins into a massive octagonal box.
Innumerable buildings throughout the ruins began collapsing and sinking!
The tremors lasted for an entire stick of incense before finally coming to a halt as the entire complex sank completely underground.
The entire space plunged into pitch darkness. But then…
*Pop! Pop, pop!!*
Strange candles flickered to life one after another across the buildings along the streets, instantly bathing the desolate, ruined thoroughfare in bright light.
Yet this eerie sight sent a chill straight down Li Guanqi's spine!
Looking at the shattered plaque on the ground, Li Guanqi was reminded of the mechanism clan his grandfather had once mentioned!
"Could this be a ruin of the Mohist lineage?!"
At the thought of the Mohists, Li Guanqi could not help but recall the admiration in his grandfather Su Xuan's voice whenever he spoke of that lineage.
He remembered very clearly a remark Su Xuan had once made:
"A true Mohist grandmaster can rely on Mohist mechanism arts to slay a Void Refinement cultivator head-on!"
At the thought, Li Guanqi swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Gritting his teeth, he dared not set foot upon any stone slab on the ground again, flying through the air as he sped toward the center of the city!
Chapter 88