CHAPTER 90: CHAPTER 90: RELICS_1

Shen Mo was momentarily taken aback, but quickly understood. "Could it be that we’ve encountered the ruins of a cave mansion?"

The Mountain River Realm is not only home to an array of spiritual medicines and fine treasures, thanks to its abundant Spiritual Qi. Moreover, Shen Mo had heard from Guo Zhao that it also houses numerous ancient cave mansion ruins. However, due to the relentless exploration and searching by new disciples over the years, the vast majority of these ruins in the Realm had already been discovered, and the treasures within had already been claimed by others. So, today, significant remains within the Mountain River Realm have become quite rare, and most people can only hope to find some spiritual medicine there. There have been several instances of disciples entering the Realm without finding even a single ruin.

But the very fact that these ruins could survive means that there must be powerful Prohibitions protecting them and preventing disciples from exploring inside. Ruins protected by such powerful Prohibitions must contain valuable treasures within!

BOOM!

Shen Mo gazed at the towering mountain before him and suddenly unleashed a beam of sword light. The sword Qi resembled a long rainbow stirring up waves, eventually landing on the mountain wall and causing thunderous rumblings. The creepers covering the mountain wall were all shattered by this Sword Light, revealing what looked like an entrance.

"I’ll bring the Spirit Storage Rat and take a look inside." After pondering for a moment, Shen Mo told Cao Ren to stay behind. "You wait here."

The ruins of powerful beings not only hold opportunities but also various dangers. Some powerful beings, before their death, would leave many precautions in their ruins to prevent insignificant individuals from stealing the treasures. Some with the intention of passing down their inheritance may arrange dangerous tests to assess whether the person exploring their cave mansion is worthy. In short, exploring these ruins is always a dangerous affair. Therefore, Shen Mo had his concerns.

Although Cao Ren was quite capable, he paled in comparison to Shen Mo. Shen Mo himself felt anxious about exploring the ruins. If he had to constantly look after Cao Ren as well, it would certainly be more troublesome.

"Alright, I’ll wait for you guys outside." Cao Ren didn’t harbor any resentment about being considered a burden. He had gradually become accustomed to Shen Mo’s dominance, completely forgetting about his absurd fantasy of taking care of Shen Mo once inside the Inner Door. Being contented as a freeloader isn’t that bad, after all.

"If anyone intrudes from outside, I will notify you through the Sound Transmission Talisman."

"Sure."

Upon finishing his words, Shen Mo turned around with the Spirit Storage Rat and stepped into the entrance of the cave mansion.

The entrance was narrow, and the damp mountain air made the atmosphere quite gloomy. But as Shen Mo traveled down the passage to the inner area, he was awe-struck by the grandeur before him. At the end of the passage was a stone corridor. Below the stone corridor was a massive ruin, spanning at least a hundred acres.

The ruin was convoluted and labyrinth-like, with interconnected corridors and passages. These winding passages led to numerous enormous rooms and grand halls. On closer inspection, there were around sixteen cubbyholes, four side halls, and one prominent main hall. The view was breathtaking, filled with grandeur.

"With so many places, I wonder how many treasures are hidden here!" Shen Mo, both astonished and breathless, could not suppress his excitement. The remains of the powerful... must hide great opportunities!

This was his first time exploring such ruins. His heart was filled with anticipation of great fortune, tinged with a bit of anxiety about the unknown.

TAP! TAP!

He cautiously used the Thunderclap Rapid Step, moving carefully along the corner of the stone corridor. He dared not carelessly march forward, fearing traps and hidden mechanisms. Fortunately, although he was anxious, nothing unusual had occurred on the way.

Eventually, after a long journey, he arrived at a cubbyhole on the right side.

"This....." When Shen Mo, filled with boundless speculation, reached the vicinity of the cubbyhole, he was dumbfounded by the sight inside.

Looking at the arrangement of the room, everything was tossed about, in complete disarray. Some Jade Vases that clearly once held Elixirs had already been opened by someone. On the golden jade bookshelf, all the cultivation method and jade slips that were placed there had seemingly flown away, leaving only some white, oil paper that had housed the jade slips behind.

"There’s....nothing left?" Shen Mo hurriedly rushed in, thoroughly searching around. There wasn’t a single valuable thing left; it had all been completely cleared out!

His figure swiftly flashed out, and he rushed toward the side hall in the north. Here, too, it was a complete mess, with no valuable treasures left behind. In the hall, there were also many traces of past battles. But these traces were clearly many years old; the discarded robes were covered in dust.

It was clear that these ruins....had already been explored! Anything of worth had been completely taken away. Shen Mo’s mood was like being on a roller coaster, experiencing great ups and downs in an instant. No wonder there were only green plants covering the entrance and no Prohibitions! Earlier when he saw the ruins, he was so overjoyed that he completely overlooked these details. Thinking about it now, he could only bitterly smile and mock himself for being too naive.

"Didn’t you say there was treasure? Clearly this place has been thoroughly searched!" The disappointed Shen Mo hurriedly communicated with the Spirit Storage Rat through Divine Sense.

"There is indeed treasure." The Spirit Storage Rat stood on his shoulder, sniffing carefully before saying, "But all the obvious places have been cleared out. However, there should still be things in the depths of these ruins that have not been discovered."

Was there still something there? Hearing this, hope was once again kindled in Shen Mo’s heart.

"Where’s the location? Let me have a look."

"In the east."

The Spirit Storage Rat gave an exact direction, and Shen Mo immediately rushed toward the corridor in that direction. This time, he wasn’t careful about any potential traps. These ruins had already been explored, so any traps that were to be triggered must have been triggered long ago.

Following the corridor, Shen Mo went straight ahead, passing three cubbyholes and a side hall. Eventually, he stopped in the middle of a long corridor.

"The aura of the treasure is strongest here; the thing should be here." The Spirit Storage Rat jumped down from his shoulder, looked around, and finally confirmed.

"Here? Where’s the thing?" Shen Mo was slightly stunned.

This long corridor had no furnishings at all. Not even a statue; it was empty. If there were treasures, where could they be hidden?

"Inside the wall." The Spirit Storage Rat explored carefully for a while and finally confirmed.

"In the wall?" Shen Mo furrowed his brows and extended his palm to touch the inner black wall of the corridor. The wall was hard and cool, with no unusual sensation. He tried to summon the Dragon Sparrow Sword and swung it. No trace was left behind; he didn’t know what material the wall was made from.

"Let me go inside and take a look." Seeing that Shen Mo’s attempts were fruitless, the Spirit Storage Rat said this and directly sprinted toward the wall.

"Huh..." Seeing this, Shen Mo thought the Spirit Storage Rat was going to bash its head in. Just as he was about to stop it, he saw the rat’s body pass directly through the wall.

What is this..... Seeing this, Shen Mo also tried it out and hurriedly rushed up. But he bumped his head solidly against the wall, one side of his face stinging in pain.

It must be a Prohibition.... There must be some kind of Prohibition set up on this wall; there must be something inside!