Li Rui led the way with an anxious look on his face. Tian You and the others still had their doubts, but seeing how grave Li Rui’s group looked, they didn’t say much. They simply followed him onward.

After walking for a while, about half an hour later, they arrived before a cluster of buildings. Tian You looked up and saw ancient cypresses planted all around, with dense green bamboo rising in countless segments. The whole place felt like a cool, secluded world. The buildings within formed a layered, imposing sprawl, standing in sharp contrast to the bleak streets they had passed earlier.

There were more pedestrians here as well. Most were finely dressed young masters, along with cultivators whose Qi Energy spilled visibly from their bodies. When those young masters and female Qi Cultivators saw Hua Zhaoxue and Tian You, greed flashed openly in their eyes. But in the next instant, as if they had remembered something terrifying, they hurriedly pulled back their gazes and left in a rush.

Before Tian You’s group could wonder further, Li Rui had already led them into a courtyard that looked ancient and simple, yet still carried an undeniable presence.

The moment they entered, Li Rui quickened his pace and led everyone toward the inner court. As he walked, he called inside,

“Big Sis! Big Sis! We’re here!”

Following the sound, Tian You looked ahead and saw an elegant woman in a blue palace dress, draped in snow-white gauze. She was pacing back and forth in the courtyard, her expression full of worry.

The moment she heard Li Rui’s voice, her steps halted, and the anxiety on her face eased at once.

“You brat. Ever since we parted last time, you vanished without a trace. Who knows where you ran off to fool around? Do you have any idea how worried your sister was!?”

After being scolded by his sister like that, Li Rui instantly wilted. He lowered his head and mumbled apologies.

Only then did the woman in palace attire begin looking over the people behind him. She nodded to them one by one, then her gaze stopped on Tian You’s group.

“And these few are...?”

“Hehe! Sister Yilin! This cool-looking little big brother is Tian You, that one built like He Zhengbiao is Nie Wangqing, and this pretty big sister is Hua Zhaoxue. She’s a Dance Weaver!” Bai Ziting introduced them proudly.

“Dance Weaver?” After hearing Bai Ziting’s introduction, Li Yilin looked at Hua Zhaoxue with disbelief in her eyes.

Hua Zhaoxue responded with a light, courteous bow. Her posture was graceful and elegant.

“Right, Sis, what exactly happened in Barbarian City? Why does the atmosphere here feel so strange?” Just as Li Yilin was still reeling from the shock of Hua Zhaoxue’s identity, Li Rui, who had been hanging his head to the side, suddenly spoke up.

“...”

Li Yilin fell silent. After a moment, she finally said slowly, “The day before yesterday, a mighty figure of at least the seventh tier Mystic Weaver arrived in Barbarian City. The drop in temperature and this whole atmosphere in the city were both caused by that person. That’s also what I wanted to tell you. I’m afraid that mighty figure came for the Buried Sands Ruins as well.”

“Se-seventh tier??”

Li Yilin’s words made everyone except Tian You turn grim. A seventh-tier expert might not compare to an Eighth-Tier Prayer Cultivator, but it was still terrifyingly close to the peak humanity could reach. If someone like that entered the ruins ahead of them, then they truly wouldn’t have the slightest will to compete.

“Even if that expert is at least seventh tier, one thing is certain for now. She still hasn’t entered the ruins themselves. Before the master of the Buried Sands Ruins died, she set up an Illusory Wave Domain around it. Aside from using a Phantom-Breaking Pearl, anyone trying to force their way in would need cultivation equal to the ruin’s master’s—that is, the eighth tier. And among the two nations, Sacred Dance and Qi War, only the Empress Sovereign and the Sovereigness have reached the eighth tier. As rulers of their nations, they shouldn’t leave their imperial capitals so rashly!”

“Sister Yilin, are you trying to tell us that the Phantom-Breaking Pearl is in your hands?” Li Yuanqian, who had been quietly listening, suddenly asked.

Li Yilin nodded with a heavy expression. Then she drew out a luminous pearl from her sleeve, about the size of a baby’s fist. Its radiance shimmered brightly, instantly drawing everyone’s eyes.

“This is the Phantom-Breaking Pearl. Without it to disperse the Illusory Waves around the ruins, even a seventh-tier expert couldn’t force their way in. But even so, I still don’t really recommend that you go this time...”

At that point, Li Yilin’s expression visibly dimmed. For the sake of these ruins, she had paid far too much—placing informants, concealing news, spending a fortune to acquire the Phantom-Breaking Pearl, and more. But now that things had come to this, she couldn’t gamble with her younger brother’s safety.

It wasn’t just Li Yilin. Disappointment also appeared one after another on Li Rui and the others’ faces. They had crossed vast national borders to come here. After all their choices and sacrifices, the final result was still nothing.

“Everyone... can you hear me out...”

After a long internal struggle, Li Rui still couldn’t accept it. An eighth-tier ruin—what it contained was beyond imagination. It could be an unrivaled divine weapon, or perhaps a heaven-defying cultivation art. But what Li Rui truly wanted to find... was that sliver of possibility.

If even a woman punished by the Heavenly Dao could break through to the eighth tier and stand at the summit, then... could there be some method inside the ruins that would let a man obtain Qi Energy?

Clinging to that hope, Li Rui said in a low voice, “That seventh-tier expert arrived several days ago. If she still hasn’t entered the ruins, could she have already left? And even if she hasn’t, if we go at midnight, is there a chance we might just happen to avoid running into her?”

Li Yilin thought it over for a moment, but still felt Li Rui’s suggestion was too risky. Just as she was about to speak and stop him, she met his eyes.

That was a kind of longing... the most sincere kind of longing...

A longing for power—

and also resentment toward the heavens for never granting men the same favor.

Li Yilin fell silent.

Without realizing it, the words of refusal on her lips turned into consent.

And not just her. The two women beside Li Rui noticed it as well. After exchanging a glance with He Zhengbiao, they silently nodded too, agreeing to Li Rui’s proposal.

Seeing that, deep gratitude appeared on Li Rui’s face. Then he turned sincerely to Hua Zhaoxue and said, “Miss Zhaoxue, this ruin expedition is different from what we discussed before. If you don’t want to come with us, we absolutely won’t force you. Even if you choose not to go, my sister will still arrange a place for you.”

“This...” After hearing that, Hua Zhaoxue and Nie Wangqing both turned to look at Tian You at the same time. Ever since they had noticed something strange about their memories, Tian You had unknowingly become their anchor.

Tian You noticed their gazes. He said nothing. He only revealed a calm smile.

But compared to before, that smile now carried a trace more confidence.