It seemed that someone had opened the ancient god’s treasure, causing the surroundings to change dramatically. From the outermost Gobi desert to the inner jungle, although the greenery was vibrant, the dangers were even more overwhelming.

Besides the Yan family, there were countless others who had heard about the ancient god’s treasure and came to seek their fortune. This murky water had already exceeded their capabilities. Jiang Baiyu just wanted to retreat. The opportunity was great, but one needed to have their life intact to seize it. Who knew how many powerful experts had come for the ancient god’s treasure? While others traveled in groups, he and Lou Yuzhu were just two people.

Yan Zhou, this two-faced guy, was only temporarily tagging along and couldn’t be trusted.

Jing Yanhang and Xie Yan, his two junior brothers, had fallen into someone else’s hands. At the very least, he needed to gather some information to know who had captured them and where they were, so he could ask the dean for help later.

Moreover, it wasn’t as simple as just wanting to retreat; they didn’t know how to open the ancient god’s treasure, nor did they know how to leave the ancient god’s realm.

Jiang Baiyu, not holding much hope, asked Yan Zhou, “Do you know how to get out of here?”

As expected, Yan Zhou’s expression froze for a moment, then turned to one of confusion. “This is the ancient god’s treasure; aren’t you even a little tempted?”

Jiang Baiyu rolled his eyes. “Is this about being tempted or not? Can you beat the other competitors? So many people are trying to win, but only one can succeed. We haven’t even entered the final circle, and we might already be done for.”

“There are so many people from your Yan family who have been captured, and we only have three. What does that count for? It’s better to retreat honestly and save our lives.”

Yan Zhou’s expression darkened, his hands clenched into fists, teeth gritted, his eyes filled with anger and resentment, extremely unwilling. After a long pause, he took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know.”

His voice was low, and his tone serious. “There is very little information about the ancient god’s treasure. Being able to confirm its approximate location is already quite rare, let alone information on how to leave the ancient god’s realm after entering. If someone really knows, that person must have entered the ancient god’s realm and returned safely to bring the news out.”

Jiang Baiyu hadn’t held much hope to begin with, so he wasn’t surprised by this answer.

He glanced at Lou Yuzhu’s expression; after such a long journey, it was clear they were pushing themselves.

The spiritual energy in the Gobi was chaotic, accompanied by a suppressive spiritual pressure. They had to use a defensive barrier to isolate themselves from the external spiritual energy interference. If it invaded their bodies, it would cause spiritual chaos, making it difficult just to walk in the Gobi.

Flying with a sword was unwise, as it consumed too much spiritual power.

Flying around the oasis near the pool was fine, but once they left the oasis, it was like entering a storm zone; they couldn’t fly far and it was exhausting.

“Let’s go; we need to find a place to rest for a while.”

Lou Yuzhu let out a slight sigh of relief. He indeed felt fatigued, his stamina nearing its limit. However, with Jing Yanhang and Xie Yan’s situation unclear, he felt bad about slowing them down.

Both of them had temporarily gone blind due to the light beams and couldn’t walk too far. Jiang Baiyu found a protruding rock with a space underneath that could block the wind and rain, making it a suitable temporary resting place.

After settling Lou Yuzhu and Yan Zhou, Jiang Baiyu sat down, also relieved. If they encountered enemies at this time, it would really be troublesome.

Fearing to attract attention, he didn’t dare to start a fire. Jiang Baiyu subconsciously tried to divine for Jing Yanhang and Xie Yan, only to find that it was like a stone sinking into the sea, yielding no results.

His expression grew serious, his brows furrowing tightly. He continued to divine several times, and the results were the same.

In this realm of ancient godly power, even the secrets of heaven were obscured, making it impossible to divine.

This also indirectly verified the might of the ancient gods; before their fall, they must have been incredibly powerful deities. Even such a great power could have its soul extinguished, leaving only a remnant hiding deep within the forbidden wasteland, where those who caught wind of the news would desecrate their burial place.

The remaining power of the ancient gods had already dissipated to the point where it could no longer conceal itself.

Without any divination as a hint, it meant an increase in unknown risks. Jiang Baiyu looked up at the sky and sighed deeply.

Lou Yuzhu was meditating. Although the spiritual energy in the ancient god’s realm was also quite rich, forming a kind of pressure that made him uncomfortable, it was much better than the wasteland. With Jiang Baiyu guarding him, he felt at ease, wanting to recover quickly and seize every moment to meditate. Yan Zhou also wanted to, sitting cross-legged but only daring to lightly enter a meditative state, always paying attention to the movements outside.

Jiang Baiyu knew Yan Zhou could hear him and threw out a question, “Why did your Yan family capture people?”

Yan Zhou: “…”

Jiang Baiyu: “Don’t want to answer, or are you afraid to answer?”

He continued, “You don’t even know what happened at the Yan family’s base, which means there’s no way to contact them privately. How can you be sure my companions were captured by your people? Unless you were there when they were captured, or there was a compelling reason to capture them.”

Yan Zhou couldn’t help but cough lightly. His injuries could only be said to be temporarily non-lethal; the Golden Crow had flown through his body. If it weren’t for the armor blocking it and his strong physical constitution, he wouldn’t be sitting here now.

“Cough, cough, cough… Does it even matter to say this now? Your companions have already fallen into someone else’s hands, and our Yan family members are also gone. Our situation is the same now.”

Jiang Baiyu’s voice turned cold. “I want to know the reason they captured my junior brothers. Jing and Xie are just two students; their strength is considered outstanding among their peers, but in the eyes of the seniors, they are just inexperienced. In such a dangerous situation, what’s the point of bringing along a burden?”

“Are you afraid to say it because you’re worried I’ll turn against you?”

Yan Zhou fell silent, as if suddenly rendered mute.

“Let me guess, since it’s the ancient god’s treasure, the burdens you brought along must be related to the ancient god.”

“Legend has it that in ancient times, when people worshipped deities, to showcase the highest level of ceremony, they would use humans as sacrifices to offer to the gods for favorable weather. You recklessly intruded into the burial place of the fallen ancient god to seek fortune, which would surely anger the remaining will of the ancient god. Although it’s terrifying, it’s already a soul extinguished, leaving only a bit of consciousness. As long as you find a way to appease it, there might still be a chance to retreat safely.”

“To worship the god, using the highest ceremonial rites once used to sacrifice to the deities to express submission to the remaining will of the ancient god, to appease the ancient god.”

“Am I right?”

“They took my two junior brothers and conveniently captured a batch of Yan family members to gather the number of sacrifices. To ensure the entire process goes smoothly, they would always carry sacrifices in case they angered the ancient god’s will at any moment, to hold a sacrificial ceremony.”

“What you previously called a deal was either secretly letting two go or adding two more sacrifices, depending on our performance, right?”

Yan Zhou: “…”

He was tense all over, ready to spring into action.

Jiang Baiyu: “I advise you not to act impulsively.”

This reaction meant he had hit the nail on the head.

Unable to divine the life and death of his two junior brothers or their situation, he could only find out the reason behind their capture to make a judgment.

With no grievances in the past and no enmity in the present, it meant there was profit to be gained.

But what could two students offer to these forces? Thinking about why they entered the forbidden wasteland, it was to pursue the ancient god’s treasure.

The keywords were ancient god and treasure, and they needed to be thought of separately.

This was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that the two junior brothers might still be able to survive.

The bad news was that if luck was not on their side, they might not survive.

Who knew which one of them would be sacrificed first? If the captors had a grudge against the Yan family, they might be able to survive a bit longer.

Jiang Baiyu asked, “Do you know who attacked your camp?”

Yan Zhou struggled to say, “The other side was very clean; I couldn’t tell.”

Jiang Baiyu’s gaze was sharp as he stared at him, filled with warning.

Yan Zhou: “I swear, I really didn’t lie to you!”

Jiang Baiyu remained noncommittal but didn’t say anything further. Keeping Yan Zhou as a captive was naturally beneficial; handing him over to the Ascending Immortal Academy, a living person was much more useful than a dead one.

The pool was within the forbidden wasteland, and even the chaotic spiritual energy caused by the ancient god couldn’t do anything, forming an oasis.

It was either related to the ancient god or involved in the reason for the ancient god’s fall.

For example, the one who killed the ancient god left behind.

Now that they were here, it wouldn’t do to return empty-handed, but he hadn’t expected to be suddenly and inexplicably caught up in the dispute over the ancient god’s treasure.

Having entered, others wouldn’t care whether it was an accident; it was all an excuse.

The scenery of this ancient god’s realm was beautiful, but the hidden killing intent beneath it was surging.

Jiang Baiyu also took a moment to rest. Although he had defeated Yan Zhou and captured him, his own consumption was not low. To prepare for any unexpected events that might happen at any time, he needed to conserve his energy.

The light in the ancient god’s realm maintained the same brightness, with no sun, moon, or stars changing, making it difficult to judge the passage of time.

As Jiang Baiyu closed his eyes to rest, he suddenly felt a jolt, a shiver running from his tailbone up to the crown of his head, causing him to spring up like a fish.

This commotion startled Lou Yuzhu and Yan Zhou.

Before Lou Yuzhu could ask, Jiang Baiyu grabbed him, “We need to go!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn’t hesitate to use his star transformation skill, rushing forward like his butt was on fire. Yan Zhou was a beat slow and got pulled along by the star chain.

The three had barely left when a thick fog engulfed the place they had just rested, leaving behind a scene like a peeling oil painting, returning to nothingness.

A sense of crisis enveloped Jiang Baiyu’s heart like a bone-deep chill, and he ran desperately.

The sounds of birds and insects vanished, and the entire world faded. Those who were frantically fleeing for their lives would turn to ashes if caught. The ancient god’s wrath was extraordinary, capable of crushing all intruders in one breath.

Even cultivators were as fragile as floating duckweed in the face of such destructive power.

When the collapse unexpectedly stopped, Jiang Baiyu’s heart was racing, almost leaping out of his chest, still in shock.

This was the closest he had ever been to death, far more terrifying than the Chen family’s giant ship lying in wait to suppress demons.

Lou Yuzhu and Yan Zhou suddenly fell, and a figure appeared, looking particularly villainous.

But Jiang Baiyu didn’t care at all; he was filled with the joy of having survived a disaster, his mind buzzing.

Upon seeing the figure, he decisively said, “Don’t speak, kiss me!”