Not long after most of the guides had left the ruins, the stone gates at the periphery of the ruins began to loosen.
Everyone had finished their rest and was preparing to enter the ruins.
“Master Wuhai, shall we enter with your temple?” Qinglianzi extended an invitation.
“Certainly.” Wuhai nodded, leading the monks to shield the students in the middle of the group.
“Speaking of which, how has Old Crow been lately?”
(The Four Heavenly Talents of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Martial Arts are the abbot of Shaolin Temple, the Celestial Master of Qingcheng Mountain, the patriarch of the Kong family, and a military marshal. These four are old friends and have a hierarchy among them: Buddhism – old bald donkey; Taoism – old crow; Confucianism – old stubborn; Martial Arts – old brute.)
“My master has found a sliver of opportunity to reach the ninth rank and is in seclusion,” Qinglianzi replied.
“Hmph! He managed to get a head start,” Wuhai grumbled indignantly after being bested.
“Master, where does that come from?” Qinglianzi smiled. “After this ruin opens, I’m afraid you’ll directly obtain a shortcut to advancement, won’t you?”
Wuhai glanced at Qinglianzi with a strange expression and asked, “Daoist Qinglianzi, have you never been to the Dunhuang Ruins before?”
“Uh… that’s right…” Qinglianzi thought to himself that since he was not a disciple of Buddhism, he naturally didn’t pay much attention to the Dunhuang Ruins.
“Then let me explain,” Wuhai said as he observed the opening stone gates. “Firstly, the main body of the Dunhuang Ruins is not a single independent space like other ordinary ruins. Instead, it is like a beehive of countless independent spaces. Since we found a stone tablet with the inscription ‘Mogao Ling’ in the Gobi Desert here, the main body of the Dunhuang Ruins is called the Mogao Caves.”
“The Mogao Caves have countless caves, each containing Buddhist truths and scriptural legends. However, they are also fraught with danger, as it is both a land of Buddhas and a place where demons are trapped.”
“After four explorations, we have gradually figured out the situation of the Mogao Caves: there are a total of seven hundred and thirty stone caves, thirteen complete volumes of ancient Buddhist scriptures, and twenty-seven incomplete volumes. It was previously rumored that the government had specially searched for Buddhist treasures once, and it was said that they even found a ninth-rank spirit treasure.”
“However, we monks are not here for scriptures or treasures.” Master Wuhai’s expression became very serious as he said this.
“Boom—” The stone gates finally burst open, revealing a desolate path of sand and earth.
“Dong—dong—dong—”
A deafening bell sound emanated from within.
“The Buddhist bell has rung, we can enter!” The Imperial Capital University and Myriad Sword Sect then took the lead, and the rest of the crowd followed.
In the Longjing University team, Qinglianzi saw that Wuhai had no intention of continuing to speak for the moment, so he did not press further. Tang Jingjing, still unable to recover from her grief, was supported by He Lanxin as they advanced.
As the large group entered the ruins, the surge of spiritual energy around them became increasingly intense.
…
“As expected of one of the Four Great Ruins, the density of spiritual energy alone is incomparable to the outside world,” Cao Beijie exclaimed.
“Everyone be careful, this path is the Path of Suffering, simulating the ascetic practices of Shakyamuni Buddha. The further you go, the more difficulties you will encounter. When you are close to the Mogao Caves, you may even lose your lives. Those with impure hearts, weak wills, or who are driven by greed can withdraw first. It is not a bad thing to absorb spiritual energy in the outer areas to break through,” Wuhai said from a position near the front of the crowd, using his Buddhist Lion’s Roar to remind everyone.
…
He Lanxin, Zhang Hanshan, and Tang Jingjing walked forward, already experiencing what Master Wuhai had called “difficulties.”
When they had traversed one-fifth of the sandy path, a sky-filling sandstorm suddenly blew up. Fierce winds, carrying dust and grit, struck everyone. At this point, some individuals with abundant spiritual power or those who could not bear it any longer began to activate shields and other protective measures to resist the wind and sand.
Among He Lanxin and the other two, He Lanxin and Zhang Hanshan already possessed high defense, and coupled with their passive protective skills, this sandstorm was nothing to them. Master Wuhai also activated a wall shimmering with golden light and Sanskrit, protecting a portion of the people behind him from the wind and sand, so Tang Jingjing and others with low defense did not need to activate their skills.
However, in the second fifth of the path, the group began to suffer casualties.
In this section, a pair of blood-red thorny rings appeared on everyone’s ankles, continuously piercing their skin.
The scarlet blood stained the yellowish path, and it also began to permeate everyone’s thoughts like withdrawal and resistance.
This was because many people discovered that no matter how high their defense was, the thorny ankle rings could always pierce their skin, allowing blood to flow like a trickling stream.
Before long, some students with poor stamina began to collapse, some even falling into a state of shock. However, because this forced loss of stamina was not something that could be easily healed (as even the wounds could not be found), only a few accompanying teachers were sent to escort the students back to the starting point of the path.
The crowd suddenly decreased by one-fifth.
He Lanxin and the others thought this was the peak, but they did not expect it to be just the beginning.
As they reached the third and fourth sections, there was another severe loss of personnel.
In the third section, countless flying insects swarmed towards everyone, biting and stinging them. Even though each insect carried only a small amount of venom, the cumulative effect of many bites would lead to poisoning. Despite everyone actively helping each other to fend off the insects, by the end, nearly a quarter of the people were forced to withdraw from the advancing team due to bites and poisoning, and many teachers were also affected.
In the fourth section, the storm began to mix with various seductive, enchanting, terrifying, and scolding words, all of which were attacks targeting the inner demons.
“You should listen to me and marry well! What are weapons and martial arts for a young lady! Tomboy! Girly tomboy!…”
“Why are you working so hard… Of the five siblings in the main Zhang family, your birth order doesn’t entitle you to power, does it? Are you as outstanding as the eldest? Are you as meticulous as the second sister? Do you have the high position and authority of the third brother? Do you have the strength of the fourth sister? Just be a good-for-nothing! Look, you can’t even protect your own siblings…”
“What kind of Tang family member are you? Leave the Tang family as soon as possible, at least it will save me the trouble of seeing you… Tang Jingjing, do you really think you have a chance? I would marry Mo Fei before I married you!…”
Under the torment of their inner demons, some people either clutched their heads in agony and wailed on the spot; or were lured away from the group to insect nests; or suddenly attacked those around them… This time, not only teachers, but even some monks and Taoists were affected.
In short, only about one-sixth of the people remained by the end.