Yang Ze only felt a sense of weightlessness before everything turned dark. And when he reopened his eyes again, he was stunned to find himself standing in a large empty place. The entire place was surrounded by walls. The entire place was filled with a musty air, and the only source of light was a few stones that were placed on the walls at a regular interval, illuminating the area.
"This place is...?" Looking around, Yang Ze touched the walls, but other than feeling smooth and cold, he didn't feel anything else.
"We are inside the ruins." Cang Yue spoke in a soft voice. "Just a few meters ahead, we will be at the entrance of the ruins."
"Aren't you afraid that someone might discover this place?" Yang Ze hadn't seen another soul guarding the place. What if someone accidentally discovers this place? Won't it create unnecessary chaos?
"No." Unexpectedly, Cang Yue gave him a direct answer.
"This place was discovered by our sect a long time ago. Without the internal energy of a few top members of the sect, it is impossible to enter this place, even if you try to dig your way in."
"I see." Yang Ze nodded in understanding. How could a behemoth like the Duality sect not think about this problem? It seems they have already taken care of it.
"By the way, what even is this place?" Till now, Yang Ze had only had a superficial understanding of the so-called ruins. He only knew that these were the remains of once powerful forces.
Other than that... he knew absolutely nothing. And just when he was expecting the same answer but in more detail, Cang Yue's next words surprised him.
"I don't know." With a shrug, Cang Yue let out a heavy sigh. "No one knows what these places are or how they came into existence."
"We only have a superficial understanding of these places. We call them the remains of powerful sects, just for convenience."
"No one knows if they truly are the remains of the powerful forces. What we do know is that every ruin is different with its own set of rules."
"There are ruins that are composed of large forests. Some ruins are underwater, and there are even ruins that float in the sky."
"As for the ruins we are currently in... They are ruins of trials."
"Every person can only enter here three times in their life to take part in trials. They would receive rewards for every level they pass."
"As for how everything here works... no one knows. This place has been under our sect for more than two hundred years, and yet everything here works the same as it did centuries ago."
The more Yang Ze listened to heaaaaaaawr, the more amazed he got. Weren't these ruins the same as the so-called secret realms from the novels in his past life?
"How many times have you participated in these trials?"
"Three times." Cang Yue answered in a flat tone.
"Umm..." Yang Ze nodded in response before he suddenly thought about their previous conversation as his eyes went wide.
"Wait a second. You don't want me to take part in the trials, right?"
"Heh! Guess." Cang Yue just smiled in response.
"Didn't you say you were going to keep me safe? How the hell are you going to do that if you can't even enter the damn place?" The more Yang Ze thought about it, the more anxious he got. He didn't know what was in those so-called trials. But whatever it was, he didn't want to take part in it.
"Hey! No need to panic. The trials are very safe. You won't die there. The trials would end the moment you get injured. No one has ever died there."
Cang Yue's words ease his panic, but it didn't eliminate it completely. Entering such an unfamiliar place without any preparation was the last thing he wanted to do.
"You never said anything about trials. Our deal was exploring the ruins and nothing else." Yang Ze was still unwilling to enter the place, so he tried reasoning with her again.
"Then I will just take you back to the Sect." Cang Yue replied leisurely. She wasn't afraid of him running away or causing trouble.
"...." Looking at her smug face, Yang Ze wanted to beat her up. But thinking about how she was stronger than both Lin Yue and Xiao Ruolan combined, he could only swallow his grievance.
"Fine." Since he couldn't escape, he might as well explore it. For a moment, he even wanted to slap the previous him for having a conversation with this woman. Had he known that his conversation would land him here, he would have stayed quiet.
Alas, there is no medicine for regret.
With a sigh, he quietly followed behind her as the two of them walked across the long, narrow corridor.
In less than five minutes, they were already at their destination.
In front of them was a massive gate of blue light that was almost five meters in height and three meters in width. It gave off a soft glow as if it were a mere curtain of water, yet one couldn't see anything beyond it.
"Holy..." This was the first time Yang Ze saw something so magical in this world besides his system panel. For a moment, he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
"Is this something cultivators can do?" He couldn't help but ask Cang Yue. Other than the realm names, he didn't have much understanding. But the woman in front of him was different. As the saintess of such a large sect, her knowledge was much greater than his.
But to his surprise, Cang Yue just shook her head, "I don't know."
Yang Ze wanted to ask further, but from her expression, it was clear that she didn't want to talk too much about it. Just when he was wondering about his next course of action, Cang Yue grabbed him by the neck, picked him up and threw him inside.
"AAAAAHHH..." Yang Ze didn't even have time to scream when everything around him blurred before he found himself sitting on an empty ground.
"This is?" Looking around in a daze, Yang Ze only saw that he was inside a small space. Other than the rocky and barren land underneath him, there wasn't anything else.
And just when he was wondering what was going on, he heard an old voice in his mind.
{Pass the trials to get rewards. The more levels you pass, the greater the rewards.}
{This is your first chance out of three. Prepare yourself.}
"Eh!? That's it?" Yang Ze, who was expecting more, was stunned after the voice finished.
"What about the introduction? What about the rules? What about the history of this place?" He couldn't help but shout again, hoping to get an answer. But no matter how long he waited, there was no answer.
On the contrary, the moment Yang Ze entered the trials, a small row of text appeared above the Entrance gate.
{18-year-old male. Ordinary Talent. Evaluation: Poor}
"Interesting." Upon seeing the text, a glint flashed past Cang Yue's eyes. Due to Yang Ze constantly wearing a mask, she always mistook him for a man in his thirties. Coupled with his height, she had a sense of disdain towards him.
It was only now that she understood that this was merely a young boy.
Thinking about Lin Wan and his relationship with the other two women, she couldn't help but tap. The only pity was that his talent was ordinary and his evaluation was poor.
This place of trial was also used as talent testing grounds for their sect. She didn't know how it all worked, but this place could measure someone's talent as well as their future potential. She herself has an outstanding talent and an extraordinary evaluation.
"A pity." Shaking her head, she leaned on the wall beside her before closing her eyes. It was impossible to know what was going on inside, so she could only wait for his arrival.
---------
On the other side, Yang Ze was looking at a wooden puppet that suddenly appeared before him.
"What the?" Narrowing his eyes, he took a few steps back when he was stunned by the small translucent screen appearing in front of him.
[Body Refinement Wooden Puppet]
[Talent: Bronze Skin(Green), Rune Tracing(Blue), Sturdy Core(Blue)]
"Huh!?" For a moment, Yang Ze even forgot to blink. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was just seeing things.
"This works too?" He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Within a moment, all kinds of emotions overwhelmed him. Till now, he always thought that his sign-in cheat only worked on humans, or perhaps he never thought in any other direction.
But now... it seems that he had severely underestimated his own cheat.
Not only humans, but it could also get talents from non-living things.
"Then, this means, I can get those demonic beasts' talents too?" The moment this thought came to his mind, his heart almost jumped out in excitement.
Till now, he had only read about the demonic beasts that rampaged throughout the world. Every single one of them was much more powerful than humans in the same realm. It is said that they rule a continent even bigger than the one where he is right now.
In a sense, the demonic beasts are the true rulers of this world.
If he could get their talents too...
"Huff... Huff..." It took a lot of effort for Yang Ze to control his excitement.
Looking at the puppet in front of him, he thought for a moment but decided not to use his daily sign-in attempt on its talents. This was merely the first round. He would definitely come across something much more powerful later. And even if he didn't, there is still Cang Yue outside.
With these thoughts in mind, he patted his cheeks and was thinking what to do next when he saw the puppet suddenly rushing towards him.
"What the?" Seeing the Puppet moving closer, Yang Ze hurriedly took a defensive position with his hands in front of him and his feet firmly planted on the ground.
BANG
The sound of wood hitting flesh echoed in the room as the puppet's punch landed on Yang Ze's arms.
"That's it?" Yang Ze was expecting a heavy impact, but he barely felt anything. Forget about getting injured; he didn't even take a step back.
Taking a deep breath, he suddenly reached out towards the puppet's head before grabbing it and then twisting it with all his might.
*Cracckkk...
With a loud noise, he tore off the head of the puppet.
"Eh! That was easy." Looking at the wooden circular head in his hand, Yang Ze tilted his head. But before he could do anything, the wooden puppet head in his hand, along with its body, suddenly disappeared before the familiar old sound echoed in his ears.
{First stage successful}
Yang Ze didn't know how it happened, and he didn't have time to think about it. The moment the old voice finished speaking, a small dog-sized animal appeared in front of him.
It looked like a dog, except it had four eyes, two on both sides. As for its tail... it was more like a scorpion's tail. As for its mouth... There were five tongues coming out of it, each layered with razor-sharp teeth.
"What... what the hell is that?" Yang Ze had never seen something as grotesque as this. Looking at the beast, he felt goosebumps all over his body.
Without any hesitation, he looked at the beast in front of him.
[Gore-Maw Hound]
[Realm: Peak Of Pulse Opening]
[Talent: Dual-Sight Predation(Green), Poisonous Stinger(Blue), Blood-Scent Tracker(Green)]
"Gulp." Looking at the panel, Yang Ze felt his scalp tingle. Now he was seriously beginning to doubt everything Cang Yue said about people not dying here.
"I GIVE UP." Without any hesitation, he shouted at the top of his lungs. He came with Cang Yue not to take part in this stupid trial, but to get out of that damned place. But now... now he was already regretting his decision.
"I SAID I QUIT."
"I ACCEPT DEFEAT."
Yang Ze kept on shouting at the top of his lungs, but didn't receive any reply.
The only reply he received was the growl of the beast whose tail was imbued with internal energy and was giving off a white glow.
"This... little doggy." Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Yang Ze put on his best smile. In his past life, he never had problems with any animals.
But the moment he finished speaking, the beast in front of him blurred before appearing directly in front of him.
Yang Ze didn't even have time to react as he saw the white, layered tail reaching for his head.
Looking at the tail that was about to hit his forehead, Yang Ze barely managed to tilt his head.
*Swissh
With the sound of air tearing, the tail narrowly missed his head and brushed past his hair.
"....."
"....."
Feeling the suffocating air, the foul smell of the beast and the strands of hair, Yang Ze first looked at the beast, then at himself, before opening his mouth and letting out the loudest scream of his life.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."