At the hotel room, Han Feng sat in meditation to calm his breath.
Having sent the two girls off, it was much quieter around him.
But this was also good, as he had no more worries.
Han Feng had never liked to involve the people around him in his own dangers, unless he really had no other choice.
It wasn't until noon that news came from the Wenren family. Wenren Xuan had sent someone to deliver fifty Heaven Origin Flowers, as well as various protective equipment.
It was said that his ancestors had them specially made to cope with the environment of the Purple Shattered Ruins.
This complete set was of considerable value.
Han Feng accepted the gifts.
He thought to himself that he would have to properly return the favor in the future.
Of course, all of this would have to wait until after he came out of the Purple Shattered Ruins.
The purpose of the Wenren family sending these gifts was undoubtedly for this.
Thinking of this, Han Feng did not waste any more time and immediately went into seclusion to cultivate.
After a whole day and night, Yao Tianhuo knocked on the door, and only then did Han Feng stop his Dou Qi.
"Han Feng, it's time to go."
The empire's transport army was already ready and would set off this morning.
Han Feng checked that nothing was left in the room, then walked out the door.
Yao Tianhuo and Xiao Tianbao were standing outside. Wenren Xuan had also arrived.
"Brother Han."
Han Feng nodded.
"Let's go."
The group left the hotel, boarded a military carriage, and arrived at the military airship docking point.
Wenren Jing was already waiting there, giving instructions to the Wenren family's guard army.
Xiao Tianbao looked at the three of them and said, "This old man will see you off here. I wish you victory and success."
As the ancestor of the Xiao family, he had just risen. If something were to happen at this time, it would be a devastating blow to the Xiao family.
So Xiao Tianbao did not participate in the battle of the Purple Shattered Ruins.
Han Feng and the others bid farewell to the Xiao family and boarded the airship.
The airship they were riding on was of a very high grade, a seventh-grade spirit artifact-level strategic weapon.
It was specially prepared for the members who needed to enter the Purple Shattered Ruins.
A maid wearing a feather-patterned mask was already waiting on the deck. Seeing Han Feng and the others come up, she led them to a large room.
Yao Tianhuo casually knocked on the wall, and a layer of Dou Qi barrier slowly rose.
"Yo, this stuff is quite advanced."
The protection level of this airship had already reached the Dou Ancestor level, and it could be considered a high-grade item among seventh-grade spirit artifacts.
Seeing Yao Tianhuo's curiosity, Wenren Xuan began to introduce the functions of the various parts of the airship to him in a serious manner.
As Yao Tianhuo listened, his eyes lit up.
"This thing is really not bad."
"If the old sir likes it, you can consider buying one from the empire in the future."
The Nanli Empress had appeared at the door at some point, followed by two maids wearing golden feather-patterned masks. Their bearing was sharp, as if they were battle-hardened veterans, and every step they took perfectly protected the Empress's blind spots.
"Haha, there's no need for that. It would be a waste for an old man like me to sit on such a large airship alone."
Seeing the Empress arrive, Yao Tianhuo gave a dry laugh and returned to Han Feng's side.
Facing this unfathomable monarch, Yao Tianhuo did not dare to be careless. It was best to just follow behind Han Feng obediently.
The Empress glanced at Han Feng, thinking to herself that this person was indeed able to gather people's hearts.
Wenren Xuan, whom she valued, and a mysterious Dou Venerate were both following behind him.
She hoped that he was truly extraordinary and could play an important role in the Purple Shattered Ruins.
Others arrived one after another.
The room was soon filled.
The Empress took out a scroll and placed it in a mechanism box.
On the huge jade stone behind her, the contents of the scroll were reflected.
"This time, entering the Purple Shattered Ruins, everyone needs to pay attention to a few points."
The Empress began to explain the situation in the Purple Shattered Ruins, as well as the route of this expedition.
Their ancestors had blazed a trail through the thorns, opening up a path for future generations, so they could quickly take root and have a safe place to rest.
Everyone listened attentively to the intelligence spoken by the Empress. No one dared to be careless in such a life-and-death matter.
In this expedition, Dou King experts were the main force. They would wear level-three protective armor and be responsible for opening up the path.
Dou Emperor experts would carry out specialized strikes, eliminating sixth-tier evil beasts.
As for Dou Ancestor experts, they were an indispensable high-end combat force. Their main combat targets were those leader-level evil beasts.
Because the combat power of the evil beasts was extremely fierce, and the accompanying evil energy had a corrupting power, a single sixth-tier evil beast often required two Dou Emperors to fight together, and some even required three Dou Emperors to defeat.
The same was true for leader-level evil beasts, requiring two to three Dou Ancestors to kill.
Of course, the weakness of the evil beasts was that they were extremely irritable and lacked rationality.
Human cultivators could use this point to carry out strategies to kill them.
The Empress used the jade stone projection to show some scenes of their predecessors besieging and killing evil beasts. For those who were about to enter the Purple Shattered Ruins, this was a textbook-level demonstration.
"In addition to the above points, there is one more thing I want to emphasize. If you encounter an evil fire on the battlefield that can amplify the power of evil beasts, you can retreat immediately and report to a Dou Ancestor expert to deal with it."
Evil fire was a strange power in the Purple Shattered Ruins. Whenever it appeared, it could enhance the power of nearby evil beasts.
Even a fifth-tier evil beast, after being strengthened by the evil fire, could possibly kill a Dou Emperor expert.
This was an unreasonable method, so the Empress did not require them to defend to the death.
Han Feng's expression became a bit more solemn when he saw this scene.
The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.
He hadn't expected that after being contaminated, it could still exert such an effect.
Half an hour later, the Empress had completed her strategic deployment. Apart from a few trump cards that had not yet been decided, she had assigned teams to everyone else.
The individual trump cards referred to cultivators who had reached the five-star Dou Ancestor level or higher, and cultivators whose soul power had reached the late-stage Mortal Realm or higher.
Wenren Xuan's cultivation was at the six-star Dou Ancestor level, and his soul power had reached the late-stage Mortal Realm. He was a super trump card who met the conditions in both dimensions.
Han Feng's cultivation was at the five-star Dou Ancestor level, but his soul power had reached the Spirit Realm. He also belonged to the super trump card category.
As for a Dou Venerate expert like Yao Tianhuo, needless to say, he was an extremely precious combat resource.
After the crowd dispersed, the Empress met with Han Feng and the others separately.
"Han Feng, since you have boarded the airship, it means you have made your choice. I want to know, what is your real reason for entering the Purple Shattered Ruins? Can you tell me the truth?"
The Empress got straight to the point.
Han Feng said frankly, "I am entering the Purple Shattered Ruins to find a Heavenly Flame that was lost in it."
"A Heavenly Flame?"
The Empress was surprised.
"I didn't even know that there was a Heavenly Flame hidden in the Purple Shattered Ruins..."
Suddenly, the Empress's pupils contracted.
Evil fire...
Could it be that the evil fire that enhanced the energy of the evil beasts was a Heavenly Flame?
"Your Majesty, I think the evil fire you just mentioned is very likely the Heavenly Flame I am looking for," Han Feng said.
The Empress was silent for a long time, then said, "That's quite a coincidence. My deployment for you is to deal with this evil fire."
"Wenren Xuan, your Wenren family should have some intelligence related to the evil fire, right?"
This was the news that the old ancestor Wenren had previously reported to the Sikong Imperial Family.
The imperial family had a copy, so the Wenren family naturally had one as well.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have already memorized all that intelligence."
"Mm."
The Empress nodded.
"In that case, then I will entrust you with the task of finding out the source of this evil fire. Han Feng, what you want me to help you purify should be this evil fire, right?"
"Indeed."
"Then bring it back."
"I will."
Han Feng nodded.
The Empress looked at Yao Tianhuo again.
"This old sir, I will have to trouble you as well."
Yao Tianhuo smiled. "Your Majesty, you don't have to be so polite. Han Feng's business is my business."
The Empress nodded.
The reason she had wanted Han Feng to deal with that tricky evil fire from the beginning was because Yao Tianhuo was following behind Han Feng. Coupled with Wenren Xuan, if the three of them formed a team, even if they couldn't complete the mission, they would have a high chance of retreating unharmed.
She just hadn't expected that Han Feng's target was also this evil fire, no, it should be a Heavenly Flame.
In this case, there was no need to worry about their motivation.
After bidding farewell to the Empress, Han Feng and the others began to discuss the matter of the evil fire.
Wenren Xuan spread out a map and circled a feasible route.
"Brother Han, Elder Yao, this is the route I've come up with. First, we cross the Black Heaven Ridge, cross the Purple Sun Lake, reach the Myriad Bone Cave, find the cave chamber where the evil fire is hidden, and then follow the clues down."
Han Feng looked at the route on the map. Because the explored area was limited, most of the area was blank.
He nodded.
"Let's do as you say."
In his previous life, the one who had found the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was Wenren Xuan, so he would listen to him in this life as well.
When they got close to the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, Han Feng would use his own Heavenly Flame to sense it, and he would be able to quickly determine its location.
The airship traveled all the way, passing through a military-use spatial passage, and soon arrived at the southern border.
At this time, Jade Pass City was like an iron fortress, garrisoned by troops both inside and out. Most of the residents in the city had been moved to another city to ensure their safety.
"No wonder the Golden Lion Tribe couldn't report the news. This place has been completely sealed off."
Han Feng looked at the spectacular scene below, his heart a little heavy.
These soldiers did not have powerful cultivation to rely on, so they could only use their flesh and blood to open up a path.
Once the evil beasts in the Purple Shattered Ruins rushed out, they could only use their flesh and blood to block the evil beasts' advance.
The real key to victory in this war still lay with those high-end combatants.
The airship did not stop, but continued until it was near the Purple Shattered Ruins, before slowly descending.
Seeing that it was the empire's airship, the strictly guarding army below watched it descend. If there was any unusual movement, they would immediately respond.
Fortunately, nothing went wrong. The Empress's personal guard led Han Feng and the others through the barracks and arrived at the entrance of the Purple Shattered Ruins.
A huge black-purple abyss lay upon this continent, like a terrifying wound, symbolizing the calamity that the Dou Qi Continent had once encountered.
"Is this the Purple Shattered Ruins?" Yao Tianhuo said with emotion.
As expected of a human forbidden area. Just standing nearby, one could feel a foreboding aura interfering with one's body.
Fortunately, they were all cultivators who had strengthened their bodies after breaking through to Dou Ancestor, so their resistance was very high.
Cultivators below the Dou Ancestor level needed to be careful in the face of this aura.
Dou Kings and Dou Emperors were still fine. They could slightly block the interaction between the energy of heaven and earth and themselves. But those at the Dou Spirit level and below could not stop it. If they stayed here for a long time, it might even cause a mutation in the Dou Qi crystal in their bodies.
The Empress walked out of the camp at this time.
"Gentlemen, I'm counting on you."
The three of them said no more, quickly put on their protective armor, and also put on isolation formation talismans, then jumped into the Purple Shattered Ruins.
The Empress watched the three of them disappear, remained silent for a long time, then turned around.
———
"This is the Purple Shattered Ruins?"
Yao Tianhuo spoke first, his face showing surprise.
Han Feng and Wenren Xuan were also stunned, looking at the flocculent purple mist floating in the sky, moving with the wind, taking on different shapes.
"It's quite beautiful, just like the ancestor said."
Wenren Xuan collected himself and said.
When they first came, if not for the raging evil beasts inside, probably no one would have thought that this place was a dangerous "human forbidden area."
One could only say that the more beautiful the appearance, the more dangerous what was hidden inside.
"Try to breathe as little as possible. The mist in this place is poisonous," Wenren Xuan said.
The three of them quickly moved forward. Since they didn't know what might be hidden ahead, all three of them were relatively vigilant.
After passing through the purple mist, the three of them looked back and found that the path they had come from had been covered.
"This purple mist can erase all auras. It's useless to make marks. Let's keep going."
It was also Wenren Xuan's first time here, but as the young patriarch of a major Nanli family, he behaved very calmly.
Han Feng sensed that the Heavenly Flame aura he had left along the way was gradually disappearing, and the imprint of his Heaven Origin Finger could not be sensed either. In the end, it was the spatial coordinate of the Void God Stele that was still bright.
The three of them came to a forest and carefully hid their auras.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a black-striped evil tiger rushed out from the forest, its eyes crimson, and saliva drooling from the corner of its mouth.
After seeing Han Feng and the others, the black tiger didn't even think and quickly pounced at them.
Yao Tianhuo gently pointed, and the black tiger was crushed by spatial power. A pitch-black monster core flew into Yao Tianhuo's hand.
"Good heavens, even the monster core is contaminated with that strange aura."
"Han Feng, do you want this thing?"
Han Feng took the contaminated monster core. A Heavenly Flame ignited in his palm. The black qi in the monster core evaporated wisp by wisp, but the energy within also decreased.
It seemed it was not feasible.
If he just burned it with a Heavenly Flame, the monster core would also be burned away.
The monster cores of evil beasts could not be used by humans.
"This thing can be given to Her Majesty after we go out. Her Majesty has a way to purify it," Wenren Xuan reminded.
The legacy flame?
Han Feng became more and more curious about the flame in the Empress's hands.
From the looks of it, that Vermilion Bird companion fire was in no way inferior to a Heavenly Flame.
The three of them continued deeper and entered the Black Heaven Ridge marked on the map.
At this time, the sky in the Purple Shattered Ruins had already dimmed. A blood-red round moon rose, and the moonlight it emitted revealed a strange aura.
It was said that the Purple Shattered Ruins had its own laws. When this red moon rose, it represented the arrival of the evil beasts' carnival.
Sure enough, not long after, Han Feng and the others sensed the vibrating sound of trampling coming from another direction.
The evil beasts were rioting!
Han Feng and the other two immediately held their breath and carefully hid behind the mountain rocks.
Their mission now was to find the evil fire, not to intercept the evil beasts.
Exposing themselves now would not be worth the loss.
Yao Tianhuo circulated his spatial power to further conceal the auras of the three.
After waiting for a while, there were still troops of evil beasts passing by below the mountain, but the mountain was almost empty.
They were all too excited and had all charged towards the entrance.
One could imagine what a cruel slaughter the soldiers guarding the entrance of the Purple Shattered Ruins would face next.
"Let's go. We have to hurry."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the darkness ahead.