Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

After an unknown amount of time, Xia Jin finally snapped out of her reverie, took a deep breath, and suppressed the strange scene that had just unfolded in her heart for the time being.

"Well, since it just opened, so many things have happened that I don't understand! But since we're already here, we should go in and see what's going on."

He looked at the Taoist temple in front of him, and without further hesitation, he stepped onto the white jade steps leading to the temple.

The steps are not long, only ninety-nine steps, and there is nothing unusual about them; they are just ordinary white jade steps.

As she stepped onto the path, Xia Jin glanced at her feet with curiosity before quickly arriving at the entrance of the Taoist temple.

"I'm getting more and more curious about what's inside!"

Xia Jin looked at the narrow gap between the two wooden doors in front of her and unconsciously swallowed.

After taking another deep breath, he gritted his teeth and pushed the door open to go inside.

A strong sense of age and decay washed over her, carrying the smell of years of accumulated dust. Xia Jin narrowed her eyes, composed herself, and...

But when he saw the scene inside the main hall, he was shocked.

In the center of the main hall directly in front of us stood a stone altar.

On the altar, several stone statues, each about a foot tall, were scattered haphazardly.

The stone statues seemed to have been eroded by the passage of time, and several of them were already dilapidated beyond recognition. Some were missing half of their bodies, some were broken in two at the waist, and some even had their heads missing, leaving only bare bases.

Xia Jin glanced at the broken stone statues, and finally her gaze fell on the three stone statues in the very center of the altar.

Although their surfaces are also covered with mottled marks, at least their overall outlines are still intact.

"The Three Pure Ones of Taoism... indeed, they are stone statues of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism."

He involuntarily gasped. Although the details of the stone statue had been worn away by time, its iconic posture and aura were still enough for him to recognize it at a glance.

There is absolutely no way to mistake them; these are definitely the Three Pure Ones of Taoism from a previous life's mythology.

Xia Jin directly released a wisp of divine sense to try to probe into the inside of the stone statue, but the divine sense sank like a stone into the sea, without stirring up any ripples.

The three stone statues had a tight and solid internal structure, without any trace of spiritual energy fluctuations, as if they were just three ordinary stones that had been roughly carved.

"Strange... Logically speaking, anything that can exist in a place like this couldn't possibly be ordinary. But this stone statue... no, could it be that even I, in my current state, cannot detect it!?"

Xia Jin frowned, withdrew her finger, and had a vague guess in her mind.

This wasn't impossible; he had personally tried it outside the Taoist temple just now, and this isolated island was extremely strange. His full-force palm strike was silently wiped out.

"If nothing seems amiss here, perhaps we can check out other places!"

Xia Jin walked around the altar reluctantly, and after finding that there was nothing else unusual, she turned around and walked towards a side hall on the left.

The door to the side hall on the left was also ajar. Xia Jin pushed the door open and entered, but what he saw made him slightly startled.

The hall was completely empty; it could be described as utterly desolate. There were no stone statues, not even a table, chair, or incense burner.

The walls were bare blue bricks, and the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, leaving a trail of clear footprints. The entire side hall was so desolate that it sent chills down one's spine, as if no one had ever set foot there since it was built.

"No way!?...This is way too clean."

Xia Jin shook her head and chuckled, preparing to turn around and leave to investigate elsewhere.

However, in the instant he turned around, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a few lines of writing faintly engraved on the wall behind him.

He immediately went back, raised his hand and swept away the dust on the wall, revealing lines of vigorous and powerful characters.

The world may be destroyed, but the flame will never die.

The torch is passed on, awaiting those who come after.

"The world is destroyed, but the flame will not die out... Who left these words? And what do they mean?"

Xia Jin's hands clenched involuntarily. He stared at the few lines of text, remaining silent for a long while, his mind racing with various possible speculations.

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he turned his gaze sharply to the window of the side hall, looking at the fourth iron chain extending into the endless darkness at the edge of the island.

"Could it be that the fourth iron chain on this isolated island also connects to a universe? Only that universe... has already been destroyed?"

The moment this thought crossed her mind, Xia Jin felt a chill run down her spine.

If this hypothesis is true, then will the universe I live in also face the same fate in the future?

He shook his head, turned around, and quickly walked out of the left side hall and headed towards the right side hall.

The door to the right side hall was closed. Xia Jin pushed the door open and went in, only to find that the layout inside was exactly the same as that of the left side hall, equally empty and desolate.

The only difference was that a low table had been added in the corner.

The low table was covered with a thick layer of dust, and a dozen or so slender incense sticks were neatly arranged in the dust. On the wall behind the table, a few lines of words were also engraved.

The handwriting was exactly the same as that on the wall of the left side hall, only the content was much shorter:

Those who are destined to receive this offering, please continue the pilgrimage.

Xia Jin stood there, staring at the few lines of text, her brows furrowed slightly, but she still grabbed the dozen or so incense sticks in her hand.

"To continue the family line!?"

Xia Jin held the dozen or so incense sticks, remained silent for a moment, and finally walked back to the central offering hall.

"Fine. Since we're here, let's give it a try."

He stuck all of the dozen or so incense sticks into the incense burner in front of him, and then gently waved his right hand.

More than a dozen incense sticks simultaneously lit up with an orange-red glow, and wisps of smoke rose up in response.

However, the dozen or so wisps of smoke that rose did not drift away as they normally would. Instead, they seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, slowly surging toward the stone statues on the altar.

Especially the three relatively intact Taoist statues of the Three Pure Ones, most of the wisps of smoke seemed to drift in their direction.

"Is this an attempt to actively devour the offerings of incense?"

Xia Jin narrowed her eyes slightly, staring intently at the stone statues.

He could sense that as the green smoke was swallowed up, something inside the three stone statues was being awakened.

In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The dozen or so incense sticks burned out completely, and the last wisp of smoke was completely swallowed up by the stone statue.

The hall of worship returned to silence.

Although the three stone statues appeared unchanged on the surface, Xia Jin felt that their faces seemed more vivid than before, as if they had gained more life.

"Will these three stone statues come to life later?"