Above all spirits

Chapter 392 The Dissonance Underneath Success

"The ruins of the fishmen?"

Is it a mermaid?

"Similar to Atlantis?"

Yunyin followed Gu Yunyou's movements while asking a question.

In Yunyin's memory, mermaids are often associated with the world of fairy tales.

"Yeah, more or less. I've never seen one either. Maybe they're people with the upper body of a fish and the lower body."

Yunyin tried to think about what Gu Yun said for a moment, and then immediately scoffed.

"What the hell is this?"

"Hahaha."

"Don't try to fool me, there's no such thing as a fishman."

"How bizarre."

Gu Yun shrugged, offering no further explanation. In isekai (another world) fantasy anime, these fish-men do exist, and their racial system is quite complete, including fish-man scouts and fish-man kings.

However, Gu Yun did not believe that this kind of lower-level species in his understanding could compete with the dragon race.

As the two walked forward.

The outline of the ruins is becoming clearer.

The first thing that catches the eye is the structure of huge stone pillars of varying heights and widths, with intricate patterns carved on their surfaces. Although the unique beauty has been damaged by the numerous pits and craters, there is still a profound sense of power between the ravines, as if countless years have been unable to erase it.

"Even the ruins are so magnificent; how glorious and beautiful they must have been in the past."

Yunyin's voice carried a hint of regret.

"The strong prey on the weak; that's just how the world is."

Gu Yun gave a brief reply.

The two slowly approached the ruins.

With each step they took closer, the ruins grew larger, until near the entrance, simply looking up at the walls felt like looking at a mountain.

Presumably because it was built underwater, it was much easier to construct than on land in terms of size, which resulted in the magnificent appearance of the fishman ruins. Even the entrance gate is like a gate to the heavens, standing tens of meters high, completely different from the norm in the human world.

Unfortunately, that glory is gone; now they are dilapidated and riddled with cracks.

Based on observations from the time of arrival, the merfolk's ruins resembled a bird's nest.

It is convex on the outside and concave on the inside, low in the front and high in the back, with an empty space in the middle.

Of course, the surrounding area was still filled with the same columnar buildings that we had seen earlier, broken, collapsed, and tilted everywhere. According to this architectural style, it was actually possible to enter the interior directly from above, since there were no protective measures at the time.

But since the gate was already open, Gu Yun didn't bother to do anything more.

The two entered without hindrance. Behind the gate was what should have been a plaza, where the decorations and reliefs that had once been embedded were now broken and blurred.

Gu Yun went straight to a broken statue in the center of the square. The fish tail and the human upper body of the stone sculpture were also missing. The original majestic posture was now just a distorted outline.

Gu Yun reached out and touched the stone carving.

Chen Yuan told him that there was a special stone inside the stone sculpture. When the stone sculpture was heated at high temperature, the stone would expand in response to the heat, which would then trigger the internal mechanism, causing the stone statue to collapse and create a passage. The end of this passage was where the Star Gathering Pearl was located.

Because the stone carving was a purely physical mechanism without any array patterns or other forces interfering, the dragons did not sense anything unusual about it. At the same time, the conditions for triggering the mechanism were also quite unusual, involving burning in water. Normally, it would be impossible to detect. Therefore, the dragons who came here simply destroyed it and then paid no more attention to it. It is precisely for this reason that the Star Gathering Pearl has not been taken away to this day.

After a long absence, Gu Yun switched to the form of the Blazing God Clan. The next moment, he released Blazing Divine Fire onto the entire stone sculpture. Even underwater, the Blazing Divine Fire did not lose its brilliance, and the outline of the entire stone sculpture began to glow red.

"Kakaka!"

The internal mechanisms began to make intermittent noises.

This caused the square to begin to tremble slightly.

As Chen Yuan had predicted, the stone sculpture began to collapse until a passage appeared.

"Gu, how did you know there were traps here?"

Yunyin watched this scene quietly and asked curiously, but Gu Yun showed no signs of trying to figure it out, clearly indicating that he already knew.

Gu Yun doesn't seem to have been here before, so how does she know so much about this place?

"Would you believe me if I said I was just guessing?"

Yunyin gritted her teeth and angrily pinched Gu Yun's arm.

"If you don't want to say it, forget it."

"I don't want to know."

"I'm going down anyway."

Gu Yun did not refuse and took Yun Yin's hand.

"Come on, relax, I'll take you."

"I'll tell you everything when I get back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yun jumped down with Yun Yin in his arms.

There was no sound of anything landing, but the crisp sound of footsteps echoed through the air.

There were no traps or mechanisms along the way, and it seemed that at this point, the fish-men believed that setting up more obstacles would be pointless.

In their understanding, those who could come here were probably the core figures of the clan.

There was no light source inside the stone passage, but the hazy golden glow at the end was enough to make out the layout of the surroundings.

Gu Yun wasn't interested in the racial totems or stories of the races carved on the stone wall, but he did notice a few subtle sword marks on the wall.

In an instant, the view became clear and open.

At this moment, Gu Yun and Yun Yin had arrived at an underground stone chamber.

In one corner of the stone chamber stands a tall altar.

Some fragments with a dim golden light remained on the edge of the altar. Although they had lost their original color, Gu Yun could still feel the extraordinary aura they once possessed.

The value of the original object to which these fragments belonged should be no less than that of the fist-sized golden sphere that is currently floating above the altar.

As expected, this should be the Star Gathering Pearl that Chen Yuan mentioned.

With Chen Yuan's intelligence, everything went smoothly. Next, all that was needed was to break the array eye placed in the triangle of the altar to remove the array protecting the altar and shielding perception, and obtain the Star Gathering Pearl.

But Gu Yun felt that something was wrong.

Sword marks on the stone wall.

Fragments of extraordinary objects scattered around.

And it's too conspicuous, as if it's specifically telling you that if you break this key point, you'll immediately get what you want.

In fact, in his previous life, Chen Yuan did obtain the Star Gathering Pearl without any negative consequences.

"what happened?"

Seeing that Gu Yun had stopped and looked around unusually, instead of acting as if she had foreseen it, Yun Yin thought something had happened and asked worriedly.

Gu Yun shook his head.

"Something feels off. Wait here for me, I'm going to the altar."

"Okay... Hey? Gu, aren't you going to break the formation first?"

"No, this formation doesn't give me any sense of danger. My intuition tells me not to touch it."