"You too?" Yang Kai was shocked. "You were also captured by a Sacred Spirit?"
"The Sacred Spirit that captured me is called Zhu Yan, and its strength is extraordinary. What Sacred Spirit captured you?"
Yang Kai mumbled, "Heavenly Moon Demon Spider…"
Through their brief exchange, Yang Kai learned that after Xu Zhen had been separated from him last time, he had been transported to an unknown location. On his way back, he had encountered Zhu Yan and been captured.
Yang Kai asked in confusion, "What exactly do these Sacred Spirits want? That Heavenly Moon Demon Spider previously only said she'd need me to do her a favor when the time came, and when I pressed further, she refused to say more. And what was that about a Vessel you mentioned earlier?"
"Alas!" Xu Zhen sighed heavily. "That is precisely why I contacted you. The Grand Ancient Ruins Realm is ancient, and Sacred Spirits born and raised here have emerged one after another over the ages. But these Spirits were born here, raised here, and confined here! Within this realm, no matter how formidable their strength, they can never unleash it in full!"
Yang Kai nodded upon hearing this. The laws of heaven and earth in the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm truly were peculiar. He had originally thought that the Grand Ancient Ruins Mist suppressed the Small World within an Open Heaven realm cultivator's body, preventing them from wielding their full power. But now it seemed that was not the case—even the Sacred Spirits themselves had their strength suppressed, let alone mere low-grade or mid-grade Open Heaven cultivators.
Before, when Zhu Jiuyin and the Kun Shark had clashed fiercely, they had been far from displaying the power truly befitting Sacred Spirits. On the Sacred Spirit Rankings, both the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider and the Kun Shark held positions comparable to the Mie Meng, yet how terrifying was the Mie Meng's might? The strength Zhu Jiuyin and the Kun Shark had displayed did not amount to a ten-thousandth of that, giving the impression that their rankings were unwarranted.
This must be the suppression imposed by the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm's laws of heaven and earth—not simply the effect of the mist.
Xu Zhen's divine sense rippled through the communication bead, conveying his message: "These Sacred Spirits are essentially living inside a colossal cage. Brother Yang, if you were in their shoes, what would you do?"
A chill ran through Yang Kai's heart. After careful consideration, he replied solemnly, "I would naturally want to break out of that cage!" A powerful being would never resign itself to such a predicament and would seek any means to change it. And the most direct method would be to leave the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm.
"Precisely! The Sacred Spirits think the same way—they want to break free of this cage, cast off the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm's suppression, and restore their full might! But they are creatures of this world, so breaking free is easier said than done."
"Does this have to do with the Vessels you mentioned earlier?" Yang Kai asked.
"Exactly!" Xu Zhen replied. "The Sacred Spirits cannot leave the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm on their own. They have to find someone to carry them out, and that person is the Vessel they seek!"
"Find someone to carry them out!" A thought struck Yang Kai. "So the Sacred Spirits here can be taken out?"
If that were true, then his Six Harmonies Spirit Bag would be an incredible treasure. When the time came to leave, he could simply store Zhu Jiuyin inside the bag.
"They can be taken out, but only one at a time! And it requires a special opportunity." Xu Zhen seemed to know what Yang Kai was thinking. "I know Brother Yang has a treasure that can hold living creatures, but that thing is useless for this purpose. Even if you put a Sacred Spirit inside it, without the right opportunity, the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm will intercept the Spirit when you leave. The reason the Sacred Spirits are searching for Vessels is precisely to seize that one chance to break free from the Realm's bonds."
"What opportunity is it?" Yang Kai asked urgently.
"I'm not entirely certain. I only found some records in my ancestors' texts. Back in the day, an ancestor from the Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven also became trapped in the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm and competed for supremacy against the trendsetters of that era. He left behind some information about this place."
"Did he succeed?"
"He failed." Xu Zhen sighed. "The glory of that era belonged to a senior from the Xuanyuan Cave Heaven, who carried a Sacred Spirit out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Realm. That Sacred Spirit then became his Guardian and protected him for a thousand years before departing from the Xuanyuan Cave Heaven."
"Guardian!" Yang Kai was speechless.
"Bodyguard, enforcer, protector—something along those lines." Xu Zhen chuckled. "We do all the hard work and risk our lives for these Sacred Spirits, so naturally we ought to negotiate some benefits from them. That senior from the Xuanyuan Cave Heaven was remarkable—he struck a deal with the Sacred Spirit for a thousand years of guardianship, and the Spirit had no choice but to agree. Brother Yang, I plan to have a good talk with my Zhu Yan here. Tsk tsk, imagine stepping out with a Sacred Spirit at your side—how impressive would that be!"
Yang Kai stared at him blankly. A condition like that could actually be proposed? One wrong move in angering them, and he wouldn't even know the meaning of the word "death."
"Thank you for sharing this, Brother Xu. This information is very important to me." Yang Kai sent his grateful reply. He had been wondering what exactly Zhu Jiuyin wanted his help with and why she insisted he grow stronger. Now, after hearing Xu Zhen's explanation, he finally understood.
It seemed the Kun Shark's relentless pursuit had not been solely because he had stolen the Ice Soul Cold Moon Pearl—there was also the matter of the Vessel. Otherwise, the Kun Shark would not have made no mention whatsoever of the Pearl's whereabouts before departing.
"That's nothing, really. Even if I hadn't told you, you would have found out eventually. But both you and I are Vessels, so sooner or later we'll have to face each other. For the sake of my Divine Cauldron Heaven's interests, Brother Yang, I won't be holding back when that time comes."
"As it should be!"
"And there are the others—Ning Daoran and the rest. I doubt any of them will escape. Those Sacred Spirits have sharp eyes. They've been quiet all these years because they were likely observing us—the ones who fell into this realm—to select suitable Vessels. Now that Zhu Yan and the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider have already made their moves, the other Sacred Spirits won't sit still for long. I'd wager Ning Daoran and the rest will all be captured by Sacred Spirits—it's just a matter of time. When that happens, a confrontation between us is inevitable… I'd better stop here. Zhu Yan is coming back. We'll talk more when there's a chance!"
With that, Xu Zhen severed the connection.