A technologically powerful nation: The national treasure is actually myself.

Lin Yang was both shocked and puzzled.

He didn't understand why, even though Yu Qing had awakened him, he hadn't returned to reality and was still at the entrance of this small courtyard.

Yu Qing remained calm and said slowly, "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, please don't be anxious. We were affected by the power of the Ancient Ruins and were brought into the Ancient Ruins. It will take some time and certain conditions for us to leave the Ancient Ruins."

"Ancient Ruins? What is that?" Lin Yang calmed himself down a bit and asked Yu Qing.

Clearly, Yu Qing was aware of the situation.

Yu Qing explained directly: "How should I put it, the Ancient Ruins can be roughly understood as a dream world that is more real than the Illusionary Realm."

"It is a projected world constructed by an unknown force. Different people, and even the same person entering the projected world at different times, may enter different projected worlds. To get out of it, you need to complete the events in the projected world you are currently in."

"For example, now that you've become a junior disciple in the sect, you must play the role of a junior disciple well and do the things that come with this identity. In this way, you can stay safe. If you don't do it well, you may be trapped here forever, or worse, die in this world."

Lin Yang was somewhat confused and couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, how did you manage to stay conscious in here? And how did you manage to come find me? Furthermore, how did you escape?"

According to Yu Qing, once inside the ancient ruins, one should act according to their current identity. So how could Yu Qing wake him up at will and know that he was here?
Yu Qing smiled faintly: "The power of the ancient ruins can manifest at any time, but it is not irresistible. Some strange objects can resist the influence of the ancient ruins' power and remain conscious, and possess a certain degree of freedom under the influence of the ancient ruins' power."

"As for how to leave, just follow the steps. As long as you complete the tasks and requirements given to you by the other relevant characters in the Ancient Ruins, after a certain period of time, and provided you do not make any mistakes, you will be able to successfully break free from the influence of the Ancient Ruins' power."

Lin Yang frowned: "Is it really that simple? As long as we follow the steps and play our roles well, we can get out of trouble when the time comes?"

“That’s about right.” Yu Qing nodded. “But the premise is that you can’t make mistakes, and you can’t fail to complete the tasks from other characters, otherwise you will be unable to get out or even be punished to death. If you are punished to death here, you will really die in reality.”

As she spoke, Yu Qing's expression turned serious: "And this is often not so easy to do. It is actually very difficult to live a stable life without knowing more about someone's identity."

"..." Lin Yang fell silent for a moment.

There was too much information, and he didn't know what to consider first.

After a pause, Lin Yang asked, "Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, how did you know I was here?"

He had many questions, but this one intrigued him the most.

Since everyone encounters a different projected world after entering the ancient ruins, how did Yu Qing accurately find his own?

Yu Qing maintained a faint smile and said, "This can only be described as a coincidence. Although theoretically everyone will be in a different projection world after entering the Ancient Ruins, it is always a very small probability that it is possible to be in the same projection world."

"And we just happened to run into each other."

At this point, Yu Qing smiled and said, "I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that we were pulled into the same projection world. My current identity is the external affairs deacon disciple of this sect. I saw you a few days ago, but I didn't dare to recognize you at first. I only confirmed it after observing you."

Lin Yang was taken aback, then said, "I really have to thank you, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have died here. I was lucky to have met you, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, who came to my rescue."

He solemnly thanked Yu Qing.

Yu Qing waved her hand: "No need to be polite. If the two of us cooperate well, we can get out of here faster. So, in a way, helping you is also helping myself."

Even so, Lin Yang was still grateful: "I will remember this kindness no matter what."

Yu Qing gently shook her head: "Now is not the time to talk about these things. It seems that you, Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, do not know much about the Ancient Ruins?"

"Yes, I had never heard of it before," Lin Yang replied truthfully.

"No wonder. If I had known the dangers of the ancient ruins and had been more vigilant, I wouldn't have succumbed so easily," Yu Qing sighed softly.

Hearing Yu Qing's words, Lin Yang knew that he was very knowledgeable about this so-called ancient ruins, and immediately asked, "Then, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, what should we do next?"

"I don't have a good way to get away as soon as possible, because I'm not very familiar with the situation here. I can only play my current role well for now, and then I'll look into the situation and make a plan later."

As Yu Qing spoke, she asked another question:

"Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, do you have any missions to complete? If so, please do your best to finish them as soon as possible."

Lin Yang frowned slightly and said uncertainly:

"I don't know if it's a mission or not. With my current identity, apart from the senior brother who asked me to master a magic array when I first arrived, I haven't had any obvious mission instructions given to me so far. I've only been told to cultivate diligently and wait for my master to return. I wonder if waiting for my master to return counts as a mission?"

Yu Qing frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "I guess so? I'm not sure. Besides that, are there any other clues? Like expectations for you or something? Sometimes some tasks are rather subtle, hidden in some everyday words."

"Expectations?" Lin Yang seemed thoughtful, then suddenly said, "That senior brother said that in the future I would inherit Master's mantle and shoulder the responsibility of bringing glory to the sect. Does that count?"

"Ah?" Yu Qing exclaimed in surprise, "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, are you saying that the senior brother who has been teaching you cultivation these past few days has hinted that he wants you to inherit the sect's mantle?"

"Yes, that's pretty much it. He often says things like that I'm exceptionally talented, and that my master has high hopes for me, but I'm sometimes too stubborn, don't know how to use external help, and like to slack off, etc. He tells me to work harder. Anyway, it sounds like this junior brother might one day have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the entire sect."

Lin Yang recalled for a moment and then spoke seriously.

Yu Qing's expression turned somewhat grim. After a moment of silence, he said, "This sounds a bit difficult. If that senior brother really said that, then it's very likely that this is your role's mission. You can only escape the Ancient Ruins if you fulfill the important task of bringing glory to the sect."

"Such heavy responsibilities are often difficult to complete, or even impossible. I've observed this sect these past few days; it's not particularly strong, but it's certainly not weak either. It will likely be very difficult for it to continue to flourish..."

Lin Yang's heart sank slightly.

Leading a sect to rise to prominence is no easy task.

Seeing that he looked unwell, Yu Qing said, "But don't be too discouraged. I'll try my best to think of a way to get us out of here as soon as possible."

"Then... thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing." Lin Yang cupped his hands in thanks, and then asked, "And you, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing? What are the tasks for this steward disciple? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Yu Qing said, "Not yet, which is why I was able to find an opportunity to come to you. But there will definitely be one in the future. It seems that your status as junior brother in this sect is not low. I may need your help then. As an external affairs deacon disciple, I am basically just doing odd jobs."

"No problem," Lin Yang readily agreed.

"That's all for now, I have to go back quickly. We'll contact each other again when we have a chance." Yu Qing didn't dare to stay any longer, afraid that if she stayed out of her identity for too long, she would be affected by the power of the ancient ruins.

Watching Yu Qing's hurried departure, Lin Yang fell into deep thought.

This so-called ancient ruins is quite interesting.

Of course, it's also very strange.

"Should we play our current role well?"

Lin Yang decided to take the initiative to reach out to that young senior.

Soon, he found his senior brother in the spacious magic array room where he had been that day.

Seeing his sudden appearance, the young senior brother was somewhat surprised: "Junior brother, what brings you here? Is there something you need to see me about?"

Lin Yang nodded: "Senior brother, you said before that Master would be back soon, but so much time has passed and he still hasn't returned. I'm so bored cultivating all day. I wanted to ask Master if he has any other tasks to assign me."

He took the initiative.

He wanted to see if he could get clear instructions on the mission. After all, the task of bringing glory to the sect on his shoulders was too heavy.

Perhaps we can escape the ancient ruins by completing other, more clearly defined tasks.

The young senior brother laughed upon hearing this: "Junior brother, Master may have been delayed by some matters. If you really find cultivating all day boring, why not study some formations?"

"Although you have mastered the summoning array, you are not yet able to use its power freely."

"How about this? Starting today, in addition to your daily cultivation, you will come to the array room to study the spirit communication array until you can use its power freely. How about that?"

"If you can fully master the power of the spirit array within a thousand years, then I will allow you to leave the mountain once and travel to a mortal city."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yang thought to himself that this might be an opportunity to escape the ancient ruins, and immediately nodded in agreement:
"Alright, senior brother, it's a deal then. I'll master the power of the spirit communication array as soon as possible. Once I do, you mustn't go back on your word!"

"Haha, junior brother, I know you love excitement and fun. Don't worry, as long as you can do it, I will never go back on my word," the young senior brother said with a smile.

Therefore, Lin Yang directly set up a spirit communication array in the array room.

"Senior brother, I'll begin now!"

Lin Yang ignored the surprise on the young senior brother's face and immediately began to try to grasp the cold power generated after the spirit communication array was set up.

The chilling power was transmitted through the spirit array, swirling around Lin Yang and accumulating more and more over time.

At the same time, a chilling aura emanated from the spirit array, and a sinister power tried to invade Lin Yang's soul.

"It is the power of the spirits. This spirit communication array can gather the power of the spirits and communicate with the spirits of the dead. However, most of the time, the spirits are unconscious, only having the instinctive desire to invade and kill."

Lin Yang whispered.

Although he was in a daze these days, he had figured out some of the details of the spirit communication array.

This thing is a bit weird.

It can communicate with spirits.

The term "yin spirit" refers to the remnant soul left behind by the deceased.

The remnant soul has no consciousness and cannot be perceived normally. It can only be sensed and summoned through a medium such as a spirit communication array.

The spirits summoned by the spirit summoning array will also carry some of the spirit's power from its previous life.

These forces are incredibly cold and sinister, and very difficult to control.

Moreover, a single ghost doesn't possess much power, but its sheer number makes up for it.

Countless people die every moment in the world.

A spirit summoning array can summon a large number of spirits simultaneously over a wide area.

Power, accumulated little by little, becomes increasingly difficult to control.

Therefore, the magic master who sets up the spirit communication array must also be able to control these forces at will.

Otherwise, if the power of the vengeful spirits accumulates to a certain level and becomes uncontrollable, in addition to backfiring on the spellcaster, they will also indiscriminately kill.

It will attack every creature within the range of the spirit's power.

What Lin Yang needs to do now is to master the maximum power of this basic spirit summoning array to summon a single spirit.

That's right.

The spirit communication array he is currently setting up is a basic spirit communication array.

There are even higher-level spirit communication arrays above that.

The summoned spirits will also be more powerful.

According to the information he obtained from his senior brother, top-tier spirit summoning arrays can even summon the spirits of some ancient, dead powerful beings!

This is outrageous.

Although he had not yet figured out the cultivation system of the ancient ruins projection world in which this sect was located.

However, given his current status as a junior disciple, his cultivation level is probably one or two levels above the Dao realm.

The young senior brother has a cultivation level roughly equivalent to the Nirvana Realm.

This means that the ancient ruins projection world where this sect is located is not an ordinary place; it is at least equivalent to the Primordial Ancient Continent and is not a low-level cultivation world.

The spirit summoning array can actually summon the spirits of even more powerful beings to serve one's own purposes.

That's obviously an exaggeration.

But that's not the point.

Lin Yang's main concern was that this thing communicated with the spirits of the dead!

A wandering spirit is the same as a dead soul!

When a practitioner dies, their physical body and spiritual practice generally dissipate.

Lin Yang knew that some powerful beings could retain some of their obsessions even after death.

However, there are still many differences between obsession and the soul.

The spirit summoning array can summon the soul of the dead, albeit incompletely, which is still quite mysterious.

"Could it be that after death, there exists another place that specifically imprisons the power of the dead, preventing them from killing indiscriminately based on their instincts?"

Lin Yang found it hard not to think that way.

After all, if there were no such place, these remnant souls would only have the instinct to kill, and they would inevitably cause some trouble, right?

But he seemed to have never heard of such a thing before.

"Wait, this is a projection of the ancient ruins, not reality. How did I bring reality into this?"

Suddenly, Lin Yang slapped his forehead, realizing that he might have been overthinking things.

This is a projection of the ancient ruins, not reality. Some of the incredible things there seem quite normal. (End of Chapter)