Divine Tang Era

Chapter 157 The Ruins of the Toad Palace

Chapter 158 The Ruins of the Toad Palace (Part 2)

What comes into view is a desolate ocean covered with pebbles and gravel.

Xu Dan used his foot to push aside the gravel, revealing dry, hard earth underneath.

Occasionally, wild grasses can be seen growing tenaciously here, but in this endless desolate land, they appear extremely bleak.

The wind and sand howled across the vast expanse of sky and earth, whipping up clouds of dust that swirled and danced like countless wandering ghosts. In this world, it seemed that apart from the sound of the wind, there was no other sound, and even time itself seemed to stand still.

Looking up, the sky appeared a pale grayish-blue.

In the distance, a massive mountain stood alone. At its highest point, a bright moon hung high, silently radiating its light, as if it had always been this way since time immemorial.

Between this mountain peak and the people, in the very center of this land, stands a majestic city—the Immortal City of the Wasteland.

Xu Dan only glanced at it before being overwhelmed by its ancient and grand aura.

"Stop daydreaming, hurry up and find the treasure. Look at that moon up there, come back quickly when it's almost a crescent, or you'll be trapped here," Kuang Kui instructed.

"Understood," Xu Dan replied.

After saying that, Kuang Kui ignored him and went off with Er Chen, Lou Xuan, Cai Wenjing and the others to search for the treasure.

Xu Dan looked around and saw a desolate landscape. He wanted to find treasure but didn't know where to start, so he headed towards the City of Immortality.

As he approached the Immortal City of Heavenly Desolation, he finally understood what ruins were. What had appeared as a majestic and towering city from afar now looked like a scene of utter desolation. The bricks and stones on the city walls were severely aged, with many gaps revealing the mottled rammed earth layers beneath.

Xu Dan walked over, picked up a brick, squeezed it, and it crumbled into powder.

They clapped their hands and walked towards the city gate.

Inside the city gate, the original massive gate had long since vanished, leaving only four enormous pits on the top, bottom, left, and right. Stepping into the city, one could see that the wide streets were mostly buried by sandstorms, with only a few exposed stone slabs offering a faint outline of the road.

Some treasure hunters were clearing mud and sand from the road.

But don't think they're helping with cleaning out of kindness; they're actually prying up paving stones to take back with them. I don't know what they'll do with them.

Most of the houses along the road have collapsed and decayed, leaving only ruins. Some houses still have faded paintings on their walls, but they are too blurred to be discernible.

Further ahead was a large, empty square, mostly covered by mud and sand.

In the center of the square, there is a huge stone pier. Logically, there should be a statue on it, but unfortunately, it has disappeared.

Xu Dan wandered around the city, but everywhere he looked there were people searching for treasures and digging for things, so he couldn't even join in the fun. Feeling that he wouldn't find anything inside, he headed outside.

The environment outside the city was like the Gobi Desert, desolate and barren everywhere.

Xu Dan glanced around and felt that finding treasure here would be very difficult, so he headed towards the distant mountain peak.

Many people shared his idea, so he encountered some people along the way. Some were unwilling to give up and took out treasure-hunting talismans to try to find treasure in the Gobi Desert; others brought treasure-hunting rats or other treasure-hunting tools to search, but unfortunately, none of them worked.

Reaching the foot of the mountain peak with the moon overhead, Xu Dan thought it was a bit too high and didn't really want to climb.

Besides, there are so many people going up there, even if there were treasures, they would have been dug up long ago, so how could he possibly get a chance?

So he wandered around at the foot of the mountain. As he wandered, he suddenly saw many round stone eggs rolled down below a vertical mound. They were of all sizes, some as small as quail eggs and some as large as an adult's arm. These stone eggs looked no different from ordinary stones, and were even a bit rough. But Xu Dan noticed a hint of jade color in one of the cracked stone eggs.

He crouched down, picked up a stone egg at random, and activated his double pupils.

Penetrating the stone egg's outer shell, one could see a crystal-clear agate inside.

Xu Dan was overjoyed and picked up a few more stone eggs to examine them. He discovered that almost every stone egg contained agate, and some of the agate even contained strange insects and plant seeds.

To be honest, jade is not a rare find in Beiting Road.

Because within the Beiting Road, jade is everywhere, whether on mountains, underground, in lakes, streams, or in the Gobi Desert.

Only a country bumpkin like Xu Dan, who has never seen the world, would find this strange.

Xu Dan glanced at them, then a brilliant idea struck him, and he collected all the stone eggs. Although these things seemed useless for the time being, they might become the foundation for his shop. At the very least, he could use them to build a house inside the Hidden Profound Cauldron; it wouldn't be a waste of effort.

Besides the stone eggs that rolled on the ground, there are also some stone eggs embedded in the soil on the vertical mound cross-section.

Xu Dan didn't touch these. Firstly, he had already collected enough, and secondly, he didn't want to dig. After all, there were too many people around, and digging might attract a lot of attention, which would cause trouble.

Since coming in, I've been running around everywhere without stopping.

Xu Dan didn't know what time it was, but he felt thirsty and a little hungry, so he jumped onto a large rock, sat down to rest, and ate something.

Suddenly, a cool sensation came from under my buttocks.

Xu Dan shifted his position, looked down, and discovered several tiny, indistinct, yet extremely profound characters engraved on the stone egg. He couldn't help but reach out and touch them. In an instant, a vast amount of information rushed into his mind.

The sheer volume of information left Xu Dan somewhat confused.

After an unknown amount of time, Xu Dan regained consciousness and discovered that a cultivation technique called "Nine Revolutions of the Primordial Embryo" had appeared in his mind. Its contents were profound and unfathomable, giving people an extremely mysterious feeling.

Xu Dan was startled and immediately realized that this cultivation technique was extraordinary.

Looking around and seeing that no one was around, he quickly put the stone egg into the Hidden Mystery Cauldron.

"It seems the Toad Palace ruins are no ordinary place. Even after so many years and in such a dilapidated state, they still contain precious cultivation techniques. Truly impressive," Xu Dan exclaimed. Realizing he had already lingered there long enough, he quickly left to avoid being discovered.

Not long after I left, someone came here.

After searching for a while and finding nothing, the man left.

Having obtained the treasure, Xu Dan no longer wanted to continue the treasure hunt and planned to go back.

As I approached the City of Immortality, I suddenly heard a commotion coming from the city gate. Intrigued, I went to investigate.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that someone had unearthed a broken stone tablet at the city gate, with some ancient characters inscribed on it.

Xu Dan's heart stirred, and he squeezed into the crowd, quietly activating his double pupils to look at the stone tablet.

Suddenly, a powerful aura emanated from the depths of the city. Looking into the distance, a figure could be seen flying swiftly, arriving in the blink of an eye. It seemed this place had become a hotbed of conflict. Xu Dan, having already obtained the treasure, didn't want to join the fray any longer, so he left the ruins and returned to Kunlun Immortal Mountain.

Once outside, he didn't rush back to the giant warship, but slowly walked down, letting the Hidden Mystic Cauldron continuously absorb the spiritual energy of Kunlun Immortal Mountain.

Especially when we reached the misty mountainside, we lingered there for a while. Occasionally, we would dig up some pretty flowers and plants to plant inside the Hidden Mystery Cauldron, enriching the environment of the space.

Back on the ship, Xu Dan found a quiet corner to sit down. A short while later, Kuang Kui and the others also returned.

"So that's why I couldn't find you. You've been back for a while now?" Kuang Kui said.

"What do you want from me?" Xu Dan asked.

"I was afraid you'd forgotten the time and gotten locked up inside. Also, I just saw people fighting over a treasure at the city gate, and it almost resulted in a death. I was worried something had happened to you, so I specifically looked for you. Luckily, you're alright."

Kuang Kui explained, then asked, "Did you find the treasure?"

"Yes, I found a few eggs," Xu Dan replied.

When Kuang Kui and the others saw the stone egg he took out, they burst into laughter, though it was unclear what they were laughing at.

Xu Dan ignored them, put away the stone egg, and leaned against the side of the boat to rest with his eyes closed.