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"Creak."

Amidst the harsh friction of the opening mechanism, the ancient stone doors sealed for over a thousand years slowly opened. They stood only two meters high and half a meter wide, discreetly embedded in a dark tunnel. It was hard to imagine that this door was the legendary entrance to the world’s number one Sect.

Wei was the first to float out, guiding the group ahead. She emitted a glowing green light all over, like a jade figurine, simultaneously providing illumination for everyone.

Underfoot was soft soil, with ferns nearly filling every crevice of the tunnel. From the depths, one could hear the sound of water dripping, and everything around seemed silent and ancient.

"Is this... the real world?" Elorie cautiously observed the surroundings, fearing to disturb the peace here.

"Those who don’t understand the mysteries of the Grotto Heaven would indeed think so," Wei said bluntly. "In reality, the world within the Grotto Heaven also truly exists, one is expanded naturally, the other artificially."

"Can you come out of the Sect?" Ji Lian was also somewhat curious.

"I can only operate within the great formation, but mere stone doors can’t block the attack of an Inner Demon." Wei always answered Ji Lian’s questions with a smile.

"I see, the actual range of the great formation is a bit larger than the Grotto Heaven." She pondered, "In other words... it hides the external formation base, concentrating all weaknesses in the core? Quite a bold design..."

Lin Qing did not understand any of this.

She tightly followed behind Wei, just wanting to quickly find that point of invasion.

"Crack." Suddenly a crisp sound came from under Elorie’s feet, as if stepping on something.

She looked down, her face changed drastically, and she couldn’t hold back her cry, "Ah!"

Then she fearfully covered her mouth.

Everyone looked over.

Under her feet was a broken piece of human bone.

But a closer look around revealed that there was more than just that one bone. There were skulls, ribs, femurs... overlapping each other, showing a rock-like luster under the fluorescence, with gaps filled by soil.

"This is..." Ji Lian couldn’t help but frown.

Because the more she looked, the more eerie it felt; not only the path they walked on, but even the walls on both sides were embedded with many bones, which had long turned to fossil-like forms over the years. Covered by dense plants, they hadn’t noticed before. Now it seemed they were walking not on a path, but a mountain built of bones!

No wonder the Angel let out a scream.

"Sorry, it wasn’t always like this here," Wei said regretfully. "There used to be a long staircase at the entrance, flanked by artisan-crafted stone pillars and water channels. Mountain streams flowed along the cliff behind the entrance, irrigating the fields and rivers in the valley... This used to be a holy place, a site of worship for countless people. For this reason, when the Inner Demon descended, countless people tried to escape into the Sect for refuge, but the resources of the Grotto Heaven were not infinite; it couldn’t accommodate so many people."

The group involuntarily fell silent.

No wonder the bones piled up into mountains here, even turning to stone.

People prayed to the Lotus Cloud Sect, but the Sect could not answer them.

Eventually, they all perished at the hands of the Inner Demon.

Ji Lian’s expression was even more solemn.

Though Wei did not say it, she knew it clearly... the person who ordered the mountain gate to be closed back then was surely herself.

That tunnel wasn’t very long.

In less than ten minutes, the group saw light.

That light shone in from the cracks in the rocks above, surprisingly scarlet as blood.

Wei raised a hand, and the rocks at the end burst open directly! A semi-enclosed tunnel revealed a wide opening.

A simple gesture, enough to prove her strength.

For the first time, Lin Qing and the others saw the sky outside the Lotus Cloud Sect—the clouds were red, like clots of coagulated blood, and the sunlight filtering through tinged it with this eerie blood color. Beneath their feet were riddled mountains and earth, countless deep fissures slashing the world into broken, fragmented pieces. Thick smoke and flames spewed from some crevices, emitting a pungent sulfur smell, as if the earth was still burning.

The green that represented life existed only within the tunnel; once exited, all that was left was desolation and deathly silence.

Faced with such a devastated world, the three of them couldn’t help but gasp.

"The apocalypse as I imagine it... looks just like this," Lin Qing murmured.

Yet Wei seemed relaxed, "At least you’re standing here, which is already a huge improvement compared to the past. Despite its current desolation, as long as the Inner Demon is gone, time will allow everything to revive."

"Has the Inner Demon completely disappeared?"

"No, it’s still in the sky, but it can no longer threaten the great formation of the Lotus Cloud Sect," Wei looked up, staring at the blood-red sky. "Though I’m not sure why this happened, it’s absolutely great news for those still living."

Lin Qing, Elorie, and Ji Lian exchanged glances.

Now they knew it had something to do with the ascension of the nano-living body.

"The Immortal Master plan of the Lotus Cloud Sect can be halted now," Ji Lian sighed.

"I think so too," Wei nodded. "People shouldn’t be confined within the Grotto Heaven forever."

"You want to let the Six Kingdoms’ people out?" Lin Qing asked in surprise.

"They can cultivate this world, just like how Hot Pepper Village cultivated the Wanshan Wilderness. However... cultivation outside must be strictly prohibited to prevent the Inner Demon from making a comeback."

But the people of this world could easily sense Spiritual Qi and embark on the path of cultivation. Would the suppression by the Lotus Cloud Sect become the spark for another conflict?

Lin Qing pondered inwardly.

Fortunately, even if conflict arises, it would be centuries from now.

She still had more important matters to resolve.

"Can you locate the position of the invasion point?" she asked Wei.

"Impossible," Wei immediately denied. "The boundaries of my consciousness are the same as the great formation’s coverage; since it’s not within the Lotus Cloud Sect, I’m powerless."

"Surely you can give a general direction," Lin Qing said, a bit anxious, "Where is the Wanshan Wilderness, east, west, south, or north?"

"That... I also cannot be certain. The world of the Grotto Heaven is not just simply reduced as you think. It belongs to a Sumeru sesame space, with only the entrance corresponding to the main world."

"Where are the boundaries of the great formation?"

"The radius is ten miles."

Lin Qing was stunned. Considering an invasion point might only be the size of a fist before unfolding, would she have to search every inch of land within a ten-mile radius, without ruling out the possibility of it being buried by collapsed mountain rocks?

A strong sense of urgency surged in her heart.

Then someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

A cool and gentle aura was transmitted through this hand, calming her unease.

"Don’t rush; impatience will only lead to chaos in such times." The person reaching over was Ji Lian. "I remember you also learned the Purifying Heart Technique? Operate the Heart Method to keep your mind clear, and you’ll achieve your goals. Think about it... If we must find an invasion point ourselves, what strategy would work best?"

She was right, Lin Qing quickly realized that anxiety and anger were of no help to the current situation.

"Thank you." She took a deep breath, trying to activate her Spiritual Qi, while forcing herself to recall all the knowledge about the invasion points.

She was once part of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism, with a mind filled with research data on mechanisms.

So many world lines, so many invasion points... How did the mechanism find it, and how did they seal it?

Did they share any common features? Was there a characteristic that could pinpoint it?

At that moment, a flash of insight struck her mind.

"Door." Lin Qing blurted out.