The seal had broken on its own.

Everyone walked to the front of the seal, gazing solemnly at this giant tree. From the surface, this tree appeared to have no problems at all. Even with the seal broken, they couldn’t immediately see anything unusual. Gu Baiying said, “Follow behind me.” He then lifted his Embroidered Bone Spear and slowly approached the tree.

The precious tree stood quietly in place, as if it had been this way for thousands of years.

He walked to the tree’s side, and only when he got close did he discover something was wrong. When their group had first arrived here, they saw the giant tree’s branches hung full of spirit artifacts, originally thinking these were cultivators’ spirit artifacts that had fallen onto this tree for some reason. But looking now, these spirit artifacts weren’t hung up there—they were growing from the tips of the branches.

A tree bearing spirit artifacts as fruit—was this possible?

He paused for a moment, and his Embroidered Bone Spear flashed with silver light. From the branch closest to him, a long sword fell.

“This is…” Everyone gathered around.

This was an ornate long sword with gems embedded in its scabbard and worn marks on the hilt. Gu Baiying drew the long sword, and there were even scratches on the blade’s tip—this was a sword that had been used by someone.

If spirit artifacts were compared to fruit, and these spirit artifacts grew from the branches as the tree’s fruit, shouldn’t the fruit be brand new? Why did this sword still have traces of being used by someone?

Looking at the other spirit artifacts growing on the tree, they all bore old marks.

“What exactly is this?” Mu Cengxiao frowned. “Could it be this isn’t the sacred tree? Did we find the wrong place?”

“No, this must be the sacred tree,” Mendong spoke solemnly. “At least the sacred tree is somewhere nearby. I can sense its location.” His gaze shifted. “Look!”

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that at the base of the giant tree’s roots, there was a huge crack, wide enough for one person to pass through. That pitch-black crack was like a gaping maw opened in the snowy plains, waiting quietly for someone to pass by and then swallow them whole.

Meng Ying walked to the crack’s edge and peered inside. “I wonder what’s down there?”

Zanxing volunteered to step forward. “Let me try!”

She pulled out a Sound-Seeking Talisman from her robes. The talisman was only palm-sized, with a singing little figure drawn on it. Zanxing threw this talisman into the crack, and the little figure on it opened its mouth and sang “The spring breeze blows warm, brother takes me to herd sheep” while swaying and flying downward.

Though the song was somewhat off-key, it was crisp and clear. Even after being thrown into the crack for a long time, it could still reach everyone’s ears.

Gu Baiying fell silent for a moment, looking at Zanxing with an indescribable expression. “What kind of talismans are you drawing?”

When others drew talismans, most drew ones that enhanced Yuanli or could resist attacks. Zanxing’s drawings were… not very proper.

“This is my first time knowing talismans could be drawn like this,” Mendong said, as if a new world had opened up to him. “I’ll ask Third Martial Uncle to teach me when I get back.”

As they spoke, the little figure’s voice began to gradually weaken, not as loud as before. After a while longer, the voice completely disappeared.

“There’s something down there, and the space is very large,” Zanxing said. “And this crack sounds very deep. Master Uncle, should we go down?”

She gazed at the deep crack, and for some reason, her heart felt somewhat uneasy.

“Of course, we should go down.” Mendong pointed below. “There must be something inside. Maybe not just the sacred tree’s fruit—I sense there’s abundant spiritual energy inside. There might be other opportunities as well. If we can find some new spiritual herbs and fruits for Fourth Martial Uncle to refine into pills, it would greatly help our sect disciples’ cultivation.”

With things said to this extent, not going down wasn’t an option. Meng Ying lowered her eyes. “Then let’s go in together and see what’s inside.”

Once the decision was made, there was no point in hesitating further. Gu Baiying took out an Illumination Talisman and stuck it on the tip of his Embroidered Bone Spear. Instantly, it was like having an extra lantern, illuminating the snowy ground before them.

Mendong paused. “Master Uncle, you have illumination talismans? Then why did you make me collect firewood last night?”

Gu Baiying ignored him and instructed the others, “Be careful and follow behind me.”

The crack was illuminated by the Illumination Talisman.

Everyone followed behind Gu Baiying, gradually exploring downward. As soon as she set foot inside, Zanxing noticed something slightly wrong. She had originally thought this place would be like the mountain cave at Wudong Mountain in the Li’er Kingdom’s secret realm—a black abyss with no visible bottom. But upon entering this underground crack, she discovered it was like walking into a cavern, with solid earth beneath her feet.

At first, the crack was very narrow, and the group had to squeeze through sideways. After walking a few steps, the space inside gradually opened up. Like a straight, narrow-necked, round-bellied bottle, after walking through the long corridor, they reached the spacious “belly.”

Zanxing held Mimi and reached out to touch the cavern walls. The soil here was moist, with some plant roots seeping through, and the giant tree’s roots continued downward, seemingly without end.

She wondered silently where they would end up if they kept walking down.

Since no one knew if there were dangerous, fierce beasts underground, Gu Baiying didn’t walk fast, paying attention to the surrounding movements. Everyone was very quiet, except for Mendong, whose expression grew more and more excited as they walked. He said in a low voice, “The spiritual energy inside is getting more and more abundant. Master Uncle, I’m certain there must be large quantities of spiritual herbs and fruits inside.”

“I don’t feel anything. Junior Brother, are you sensing wrong?” Tian Fangfang doubted. Just as he finished saying this, he felt something trip him underfoot. Looking down, it was a Soul-Chasing Claw.

Tian Fangfang stopped and bent down to pick up the Soul-Chasing Claw from the ground, muttering to himself, “Could this be the treasure land’s opportunity? But this Soul-Chasing Claw seems to be just a low-level spirit artifact. Isn’t this opportunity a bit too small?”

“This probably isn’t an opportunity,” Mu Cengxiao said, coming over to look at the Soul-Chasing Claw. “It looks like some cultivator’s dropped spirit artifact.”

“It’s not just this one,” Meng Ying said, looking ahead. “There are many more here.”

Indeed, from some point onward, spirit artifacts began scattering on the ground—Black Tortoise Staffs, Phoenix-Head Axes, Golden Melon Hammers… As everyone walked further down, the scattered spirit artifacts became more and more numerous. At first, there were just a few scattered here and there, then they gradually became dense, and finally, the ground was covered with them, leaving almost no place to step.

Among these spirit artifacts were low-level ones, mid-level ones, and even high-level spirit artifacts. Tian Fangfang initially picked up several to put in his Qiankun Bag, planning to take them back and sell them at Huajin Tower for spirit stones. But eventually, when spirit artifacts covered the entire cavern floor, his heart grew anxious, and he didn’t dare put any more inside.

“Master Uncle, what’s going on here? Why are there so many spirit artifacts here?” Tian Fangfang asked.