Prehistoric: The female saint Shiji, brilliant and talented

The sword energy continued its momentum, sweeping past the illusory image formed by the old man's mark.

"Do not--!!!"

The old man's mark only had time to let out a mournful cry filled with resentment and despair before the phantom melted away instantly, like ice and snow exposed to sunlight. Along with the divine soul bead at its core, it was shredded into the finest particles by the sword energy and completely annihilated between heaven and earth.

The phantom of the spirit of the Four Swords of Zhuxian glanced at Shiji indifferently, said nothing, and then slowly disappeared into the void along with the ancient sword.

Silence returned to the mountaintop.

Only the raging aftershocks of energy and the devastation left behind testify to the breathtaking battle that had just taken place.

Shi Ji struggled to sit up, let out a long sigh, and began to circulate her internal magic to repair her injuries.

That was extremely close. If the spirits of the Four Swords of Zhuxian hadn't sensed the deadly threat at the critical moment and protected their master, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The old monster's tenacity and ruthlessness far exceeded his expectations.

After calming her breathing and stabilizing her injuries, Shi Ji walked to the place where the old man's energy avatar had last dissipated.

There, a simple and antique-style storage ring lay quietly on the ground.

Shi Ji picked it up and probed it with her divine sense.

The ring's interior space was enormous, filled with mountains of rare and precious materials, elixirs, and cultivation manuals, all radiating a dazzling array of colors. The sheer number and variety of these treasures were simply breathtaking.

Even though Shi Ji was a man of great experience, she couldn't help but be a little surprised by the old monster's vast wealth.

These resources are enough to support the expenses of a medium-sized sect for hundreds of years.

However, Shi Ji wasn't very interested in these things. What he was most concerned about at the moment was finding suitable materials to help repair the damaged parts of the Xuanyuan starship.

In the previous battle with the cultivators from the Underworld, the Xuanyuan starship was severely damaged, with cracks appearing in many core components. If it is not repaired in time, it may not be able to support long-distance interstellar travel in the future.

But he also knew that the cost of repairing the Xuanyuan starship was far too great.

This starship was originally a supreme treasure from ancient times. Its core structure is completely different from ordinary magical artifacts, and ordinary materials simply cannot match it.

The most crucial material for repairing it is the dragon vein that was born from the legendary Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin—a supreme material containing the power of the primordial chaos, which can not only repair the core damage of the starship but also greatly improve its performance.

But where in Shiji could one find such a heaven-defying, supreme-grade material as the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin? Not to mention possessing it, he had only seen related records in ancient books, and had never even seen its actual appearance.

Therefore, repairing the starship cannot be rushed; we can only slowly search for clues and cannot force it.

Shi Ji sighed softly and put everything in her storage ring into her own time space.

This time-space was a treasure he obtained by chance in his early years. The internal time flow was different from the outside world, and it could perfectly preserve the spiritual energy and characteristics of items, making it perfect for storing these precious materials.

After packing his things, he turned and left the secret room, intending to plunder other areas.

After all, this underground palace looks ancient, and it might hide even more treasures or clues related to the Samsara Immortal Sect.

Shi Ji returned along the same path, originally planning to continue exploring the next secret room. However, when she reached the entrance of the passage, she found that the passage, which was originally unobstructed, could not be opened smoothly. The entrance seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, and no matter how she pushed, it did not budge.

"Could it be that someone has set up some kind of restriction here?"

Shi Ji frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

He reached out, gathering a wisp of spiritual energy at his fingertips, and gently touched the stone wall at the entrance of the passage. Sure enough, he felt a faint yet resilient fluctuation of runes—clearly, someone had secretly sealed off the passage while he was in the secret chamber.

To verify her guess, Shi Ji tentatively summoned a mid-grade immortal artifact-level short blade, infused it with spiritual power, and threw it towards the stone wall.

Just as the short blade was about to touch the stone wall, dense black runes suddenly appeared on the surface of the stone wall. These runes wriggled rapidly like living things, instantly forming a rune net that firmly wrapped the short blade.

In just a moment, the incredibly hard short blade was swallowed up by the rune net, leaving not even a trace of metal.

Upon seeing this, Shi Ji frowned again.

It seems that this secret passage was indeed deliberately sealed off, and the person who set up the restriction was no less powerful, at least a powerful expert at the Emperor level.

He was secretly on guard, wondering if it was the remnants of the underworld or other people coveting the treasures of the underground palace causing trouble in the dark.

"Never mind that, let's collect all the materials in this secret passage first. As for the passage being blocked, we'll figure out a solution later."

Shi Ji muttered to herself, suppressing her doubts, and turned to carefully search the other items in the secret passage.

The stone walls on both sides of the secret passage are inlaid with all sorts of strange minerals.

These ores come in various shapes and sizes. Some are crystal clear and emit a faint glow; some have rough surfaces covered with black lines; and some have strange colors and exhibit a rare iridescent luster.

Some of them are extremely rare materials, such as the Xuan Turtle Shell Stone, which can be used to refine defensive magic weapons. Others are very ordinary ores with nothing special about them. There are even some ores that Shi Ji cannot name and has never seen any related records in any ancient books.

However, all things considered, the total value of these ores is less than a fraction of the value of the precious materials in the storage ring.

Shi Ji was too lazy to waste time sorting the ores. She simply put a few particularly peculiar-looking ores into her storage bag and then turned her attention to a pile of jade slips in the corner of the secret room.

Most of these jade slips have turned yellow and are covered with dust, indicating that they have been stored for an extremely long time.

Shi Ji quickly scanned the jade slips, hoping to find information related to the Samsara Immortal Sect, or records of cultivation techniques and formation insights—to him, this intangible knowledge was often more precious than tangible materials.

Just as he was flipping through the thirty-seventh jade slip, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the innermost corner of the secret chamber out of the corner of his eye.

"Huh, what's that?"

Shi Ji's pupils contracted slightly. In the corner, there were hundreds of palm-sized metal pieces piled up. Each piece was surrounded by a faint golden luster, and even though it was covered with some dust, it could not hide its extraordinary aura.

Seeing this, Shi Ji had an idea and quickly walked towards the metal pieces.

He crouched down, carefully picked up a piece of metal, and examined it closely in his hand. The metal piece was about the size of his palm, with a deep dark gold color. It felt cool to the touch, yet it faintly emitted a warm energy fluctuation.

What's even more peculiar is that the surface of the metal sheet is engraved with dense ancient runes. These runes are obscure and difficult to understand, as if they contain the profound principles of the universe, which ordinary cultivators simply cannot decipher.

A deep light gleamed in Shi Ji's eyes as he circulated his spiritual energy, channeling a wisp of mental power into the metal plate.

As his mental energy deepened, the ancient runes seemed to be activated, slowly circulating and combining in his mind.

A moment later, Shi Ji's eyes suddenly lit up—these seemingly scattered runes, when combined in a specific order, could actually form a mysterious three-dimensional pattern!

What exactly does that picture depict?

Shi Ji murmured to herself, her heart filled with curiosity.

He could vaguely sense that the pattern contained an extremely important secret, which might be closely related to the Samsara Immortal Sect that he had been searching for.

Thinking of this, Shi Ji's heart began to pound. He increasingly felt that this pattern might contain key clues about the ruins of the Samsara Immortal Sect, or even its core inheritance. If he could decipher it, it might allow his cultivation or cognition to achieve a qualitative leap.

To avoid missing any details, Shi Ji took out a blank jade slip and used her spiritual power to completely imprint the image in her mind.

Then, he selected a piece of metal from the pile of metal pieces with the clearest runes and the strongest energy fluctuations, and carefully put it into his storage bag.

After some research, Shi Ji also discovered the special function of the metal piece—as long as it is activated by injecting spiritual power using a specific method, the dormant spirit inside the metal piece can be summoned to attack the enemy.

He tried to activate a small fragment, and instantly a golden humanoid figure flew out from the fragment, holding a long sword, and slashed towards the distant stone wall.

A loud "boom" was heard

With a loud thud, a crack several feet deep was cleaved through the hard stone wall, demonstrating an incredibly powerful force.

"This thing is really good!"

A joyful smile appeared on Shi Ji's face as she secretly made her plans.

The Evil Saint is his friend, who has been helping him fight against the forces of the Underworld. Giving these two metal pieces to the Evil Saint would not only enhance his combat power but also express his gratitude, killing two birds with one stone.

Just as Shi Ji had put away the metal piece and was about to look for another way out of the secret passage, a female voice with a hint of joy suddenly came from the entrance of the passage: "Young Master!"
What are you doing here?

Shi Ji looked up and saw a young girl dressed in a light green maid's outfit running quickly towards her.

The girl was quite beautiful, with willow-leaf eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, fair skin like jade, and shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, making her look pure and lovely.

Upon seeing her, Shi Ji was slightly surprised—this female cultivator was the maid he had rescued in the city lord's mansion before.

He remembered that the maid's father had been arrested for violating the rules of the city lord's mansion, and he happened to be passing by at the time and rescued him.

But the maid's gaze towards him was full of wariness and distance, even carrying a hint of barely perceptible resentment. Shi Ji guessed that perhaps the maid was worried that he would demand payment after saving someone, or that she disliked him as an "outsider."

There is resentment in one's heart.

So he didn't talk to the other person much at the time, and left directly after rescuing the person.

But who would have thought that this maid would actually follow us here?

Shi Ji sized up the girl and found that she was about sixteen years old, with a slender figure and a more composed aura than before, clearly indicating that she had been working hard to cultivate during this time.

"Why are you here?"

Shi Ji asked in a calm tone, but a sense of vigilance had crept into her mind—this underground palace was extremely well hidden, and ordinary people would never be able to find it. It was no coincidence that this maid was able to appear here.

The maidservant walked quickly to Shi Ji, her face filled with excitement, and said hastily, "I heard that you were exploring the underground palace here, so I came here specifically to find you."

I was worried that I had come to the wrong place, but I didn't expect to actually meet you, young master!
"Thank you so much for saving my father's life, young master! If it weren't for you, he would probably be dead by now!"

As she spoke, the maid knelt down and respectfully kowtowed three times to Shi Ji, her movements precise and her eyes full of gratitude.

Seeing this, Shi Ji quickly reached out to help her up, saying, "Please get up, young lady!"
It was nothing at all; there's no need for such formalities.

The maid stood up, her eyes flickering slightly. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she bowed to Shi Ji and said, "This servant is a maid from the City Lord's Mansion, and my name is Qing He."

My father was able to return safely thanks to your help, young master. But recently he was kidnapped by a group of mysterious people. They left a message saying that only your intervention would allow my father to be released.

"This servant has no other choice but to venture here and beg you, young master, to save my father!"

Shi Ji raised an eyebrow, her vigilance growing even stronger.

He carefully observed Qinghe's expression and found that although her tone was urgent, there was not much worry in her eyes. Instead, there was a hint of deliberate flattery. Clearly, this maid had come to him not only to save her father, but perhaps for other purposes as well.

Shi Ji was unwilling to get involved in these unclear disputes, and even less willing to be used by others, so she did not speak. She simply nodded slightly to Qing He and then turned and walked into the depths of the secret passage, intending to find another exit.

Watching Shi Ji's resolute departure, Qing He's gratitude vanished instantly, replaced by a cold resentment.

She clenched her fists tightly, gritted her teeth, and whispered, "You brat, you just wait!"

"If you refuse to help me today, one day I will make you die by my hand, and you will pay the price for your indifference today!"

Shi Ji was naturally unaware of Qing He's inner thoughts. At this moment, he was concentrating on exploring the environment of the secret passage, hoping to find another way out.

Fortunately, the secret passage was not a dead end. He groped along the stone wall for about half an hour and finally found a hidden door in an inconspicuous corner.

Pushing open the hidden door, one finds a narrow passageway outside. After walking along the passageway for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Shi Ji finally emerges from the secret passage.

But when he went outside, he found himself in a huge underground palace.

This underground palace covers a vast area, its ceiling inlaid with countless luminous pearls, illuminating the entire space as if it were daytime. The floor is paved with neat bluestone slabs, and surrounding it stand exquisitely carved stone pillars, covered with patterns of dragons and phoenixes symbolizing good fortune and battles between immortals and demons, exuding an ancient and solemn atmosphere. (End of Chapter)