But at the same time, a stronger thought surged into her mind: so many people were trapped here before, did it mean that once they entered, they couldn't get out?
So she quickly flashed back to the entrance and reached out her hand, finding nothing unusual. She boldly stepped forward and, to her surprise, walked out smoothly. This puzzled her greatly. Xue Nu, with a look of astonishment, returned to the cave.
Mo Qi felt a warm current flowing through his body. Simultaneously, a series of incantations and imprints related to the Heavenly Eye Divine Ability flooded his mind, gradually merging into his soul as if they were innate. He now understood the activation method and all the effects of this divine ability.
Firstly, it allowed him to perceive the minute, seeing things that ordinary people could not, and also to see through objects, which made him slightly excited. Secondly, it enabled him to emit divine light to fend off enemies. Lastly, it could harness the power of magical artifacts, such as hiding a flying sword here and imbuing it with spiritual energy over time to enhance its lethality.
At this moment, Xue Nu examined several skeletons without finding anything unusual or any divine ability inheritances.
She thought that Mo Qi had obtained his fortune by touching the magical artifact of that skeleton. Should she then search for the skeleton that held a magical artifact?
So she continued to search forward. Her efforts were rewarded, and she indeed found a skeleton holding a small bell. She gently reached out to grab the bell, but the skeleton turned to ashes. Some flew into the air, and some scattered on the ground.
Xue Nu was startled, and with a clang, the small bell fell to the ground. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the small bell.
Meanwhile, after Mo Qi had acquired the complete divine ability, the skeleton also turned to ashes and scattered on the ground.
Mo Qi did not know who this Old Ancestor Qing Xuan was, but regardless, he had the grace of passing down knowledge to him. Mo Qi then bowed respectfully three times to the pile of ashes.
The pagoda-shaped magical artifact fell to the ground with the disintegration of the skeleton. Mo Qi carefully picked up the small pagoda and examined it closely.
The small pagoda had four layers, with a room on each layer. The room on the bottom layer was the largest, and the rooms became progressively smaller as they went up.
The rooms on the bottom three layers had doors that could be opened and closed. Each door had a character on it, sequentially: Human, Soul, Beast. It was clear that the bottom layer was for capturing people, the layer above for souls, and the one above that for beasts. The topmost layer was sealed and had five triangular sloped surfaces, each with a different color: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. This indicated that when it was activated, it could emit five-colored light.
Mo Qi put the small pagoda into his storage bag. He first tried to form a hand seal, and according to the memory that flooded his mind during the inheritance, he channeled spiritual energy to activate the divine ability and touched his glabella. As expected, he felt a tearing sensation on the skin of his glabella, but without any pain, as if a new eyelid had opened. Dazzling light streamed in, and he couldn't help but close his eyes again. When he opened them once more, he saw a vast expanse of darkness. The entire cave dwelling was densely packed with black shadows, all with human-like outlines, some with residual grotesque faces, sending shivers down his spine.
He had a sudden thought: since this Heavenly Eye Divine Ability could be used to refine magical artifacts, could it also be used to refine pills?
Wine becomes more mellow with age. If pills were placed at the glabella and infused with the divine ability over years, could their efficacy be greatly enhanced?
With this thought, he placed a breakthrough pill. Initially, he felt intense pain, but after a moment, the pill seemed to merge with his skin, and he felt nothing.
This breakthrough pill could help him overcome any bottleneck, but it was a gradual, step-by-step breakthrough.
However, what he wanted to see was a heaven-defying breakthrough.
He retracted his divine ability, and his forehead returned to its smooth state, as if it had never been split open.
Xue Nu, seeing that an eye had appeared on his forehead and that he could control it at will, couldn't help but cast a gaze of envy.
Mo Qi continued to walk forward. After only a few steps, he saw a skeleton whose shape differed slightly from the others. Its forehead protruded, much like a gorilla's. He moved a little closer. As he approached, a black mist spewed out from the skeleton's glabella, flowing directly into Mo Qi's glabella.
A melodious voice resounded: "I am True Man Jingyuan of the Ao Ling Sect in the Hong Meng South Sea. Trapped in this place, I have tried all sorts of methods but have been unable to escape. With nothing else to do, I have sealed my learned divine ability, 'Soul Suppressing Technique,' with my divine sense. I hope that whoever obtains it will use it wisely and cautiously."
Xue Nu was stunned. This was deliberate harm! She had also looked at that skeleton earlier and stood before it for a long time; why hadn't it passed down its inheritance to her?
Through the memory that flooded his brain, Mo Qi understood all the effects of this divine ability. Firstly, the Soul Suppressing Technique could suppress his own soul. When encountering techniques that attacked the soul, it was like having an impenetrable golden bell and iron shirt against swords and blades, making it impossible for the opponent to break through. Secondly, the Soul Suppressing Technique could use the eyes or other mediums to control the opponent's soul. Mo Qi immediately thought of the Soul Shocking Pearl. If it were used as a medium for casting, the effect was terrifying to contemplate.
Xue Nu felt that she simply hadn't stared long enough and thus kept her gaze fixed on a single skeleton, unblinking.
After Mo Qi finished receiving the inheritance of the Soul Suppressing Technique, he no longer walked forward. He suddenly realized a problem: the residual consciousness of the two people he had encountered indicated that all the skeletons here were trapped to death. He immediately became vigilant and returned to the entrance, trying it as Xue Nu had. Naturally, he encountered no barrier or obstruction, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and re-enter the cave.
However, at this moment, a sliver of caution lingered in his heart. He felt that a great secret was still hidden within, otherwise, why would these skeletons have entered before becoming skeletons? What had attracted them?
With this thought, Mo Qi lost all interest in looking at the skeletons and walked directly towards the end of the cave dwelling. As he passed Xue Nu, he couldn't resist taunting her: "It's useless. You have no fate."
Xue Nu, who was intently staring at the skeleton and felt her eyes blurring, her consciousness almost fading, believing she was about to receive the inheritance, immediately deflated upon hearing his words and glared fiercely at Mo Qi's retreating back: "What's so great about it? You just got a few inheritances!"
At the end of the cave dwelling was a platform, several zhang square. After climbing more than ten steps, they reached the platform. In the center of the platform was an object the size of a millstone, crystal clear, warm and smooth as jade, emitting a soft light in all directions, with flowing iridescence on its surface. The two finally understood why the entire stone cave appeared so bright.
"What is this thing?" they both stood before the sphere and bent down. Xue Nu asked, deeply captivated by its warmth and color.
"I don't know, but it should be priceless and hold great appeal for the cultivation world," Mo Qi said calmly.
Xue Nu suddenly reached out, wanting to touch the sphere. Mo Qi immediately said in a deep voice, "Stop." Xue Nu instinctively withdrew her delicate hand and looked at Mo Qi with a hint of resentment: "What's wrong?"
Mo Qi shook his head: "I don't know, but I have a feeling that this thing cannot be moved. This is likely the culprit that turned these skeletons into skeletons. Think about it, such a large target, placed here so brazenly, with no one guarding it, yet it remains intact."
Xue Nu looked at Mo Qi and asked, "Then what exactly is this thing?"
Mo Qi pondered for a moment, then his gaze turned to the skeletons: "Let's go look at the skeletons again. Perhaps we can find some useful clues."
Xue Nu agreed, after all, Mo Qi had already obtained two inheritances, while she had gained nothing.
So, they each went their separate ways, making eye contact with each skeleton one by one.
Finally, their efforts were rewarded. Xue Nu also received an inheritance, a summoning technique from the Ice and Snow Divine Abilities, which could summon ancient divine beasts from the world of ice and snow. Mo Qi also received an inheritance of the Flame Divine Ability, which was what he had always wanted, as with this divine ability, he could complete the secret method of refining pills using his own body as a furnace.
In addition, he obtained a spear-shaped magical artifact from a skeleton. Even before activating it, he could feel the abundant spiritual energy within the spear, giving the impression that it was ready to erupt at any moment.
After completing their search, Mo Qi went to Xue Nu's side again to continue checking them one by one. Unexpectedly, next to the skeleton that had inherited to Xue Nu, he also received the same inheritance, the summoning technique from the Ice and Snow Divine Abilities. According to the residual consciousness information left by the two, they were senior and junior siblings who were both trapped here. They felt it was a pity for their life's cultivation to vanish with them, so they decided to seal it in their residual consciousness, hoping to pass it on to a destined person someday, making their trip worthwhile.
Seeing Mo Qi receive inheritances from both sides, Xue Nu was unwilling to be outdone and went to Mo Qi's side to try her luck, but it was all in vain.
Although both of them had received inheritances, they had gained no information about the round object or the reason why these people were trapped here.
Mo Qi suddenly remembered the Heavenly Eye Divine Ability he had just acquired and decided to try it. Under Xue Nu's gaze, he walked onto the platform again, touched his glabella, and a vertical slit opened on his glabella, emitting a faint red light that shone on the round object. The object became completely transparent, allowing him to see through it entirely, with nothing amiss. He was somewhat disappointed and was about to retract his divine ability when a black shadow flickered within the sphere, appearing and disappearing, barely noticeable if one didn't look closely. At first, he thought he had seen through the sphere and the shadow was on the wall. Upon closer inspection, he realized the shadow was moving within the space of the sphere.
Looking even more closely, he saw that the shadow was long, with horns, scales, and a tail. It was actually a dragon.
"Could this be the legendary Dragon Pearl?" A thought flashed through his mind, and Mo Qi blurted it out.
Suddenly, a deep, muffled voice sounded, "Yes, this is the Dragon Pearl, the Dragon Pearl of the Ancestral Dragon." It was as if it had crossed the tracks of time, endured the ancient changes of the seas and continents, experienced the baptism of endless winds and frosts, and the trials of countless worldly hardships, finally piercing through the void, leaving only desolation and loneliness.
Following the voice, the faint figure within the Dragon Pearl vanished. And on the cave ceiling directly above the Dragon Pearl, a colossal dragon was coiled, with white scales and white whiskers, all white, covering almost half the cave ceiling.
Mo Qi and Xue Nu looked up at the giant dragon, their faces filled with shock. Xue Nu was merely shocked by the dragon's appearance, as she had not sensed any dragon aura before, and it had been in this cave all along. If it had attacked her at some point earlier, she would likely have vanished into nothingness by now. Mo Qi, however, felt the Dragon Pearl was incredibly magical. The dragon inside had shrunk to the size of a goldfish, yet in reality, it was such a colossal being.
Mo Qi had already fought a dragon beneath the Black Water Abyss. At that time, the dragon was much smaller than the one before him and emitted much less power, yet Mo Qi was still no match for it. The one before him was clearly much more formidable.
Mo Qi knew he couldn't fight it head-on and decided to avoid conflict as much as possible: "We merely trespassed here and had no intention of stealing the Dragon Pearl. Rest assured, we won't even touch it."
The white dragon fixed its eye, the size of a bronze bell, on Mo Qi. However, Mo Qi couldn't tell if it was concentrating or glaring. He only heard it say coldly in a voice like rolling thunder: "You are very fortunate and very wise. This Dragon Pearl was left by the Ancestral Dragon. When the Ancestral Dragon transformed into the continent, it left a curse: the Dragon Pearl cannot leave this cave. If anyone who steals it steps outside, they will immediately turn into a pile of white bones, and the Dragon Pearl will then fly back on its own."
Mo Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking how fortunate he was to be so quick-witted, otherwise, his life would have ended here.
"I believe this Dragon Pearl must be a treasure that guards this continent. If it leaves, this entire continent will forever be devoid of spiritual light. Rest assured, I understand this. For the peace of all beings and to prevent widespread chaos and suffering, I will not covet the Dragon Pearl," Mo Qi said, his sense of justice overflowing.
"You are absolutely right. If the Dragon Pearl leaves the cave, the entire continent will collapse and sink into the Hong Meng South Sea. The people on it will naturally..."
Mo Qi felt it was the right moment to flatter, and immediately said, "So, senior has been guarding the Dragon Pearl here all along. Guarding the Dragon Pearl is guarding all beings. Senior's noble character, selflessness, and dedication, sacrificing personal interests for the greater good, silently contributing and working tirelessly, truly earns my utmost admiration."