"This isn't Nethergloom Ravine."
Noah Fu glanced around nervously; both White Bat Demons were visibly uneasy. It was their first time leaving Nethergloom Ravine, and though they wanted to hang upside down, they felt too embarrassed.
Quinn Shepherd looked up at the ruined hall and its eaves. "You two can hang under the eaves and rest tonight—just don’t disturb anyone else. Tomorrow I’ll take you back to Nethergloom Ravine, and once we’re there, I’ll give you the antidote."
The two White Bat Demons relaxed, silently fluttered up, and hung beneath the eaves, arms crossed over their chests.
Noah Fu cracked open one eye and whispered, "That kid tricked us. We were never actually poisoned."
Ethan Fu was startled. "Not poisoned? No way. It hurt like hell when the poison flared up!"
Noah Fu rolled his eye. "He probably cured it the first time he gave us the antidote; the rest was just to scare us. Otherwise, after two months, we’d have died from the poison by now."
Ethan Fu fumed, "That brat tricked us into risking our lives for him! Let’s roast him nine-tenths done and eat him!"
"Forget it, just let it go."
Noah Fu said, "Even if we didn’t team up with him, Ben Coates and his men would’ve hunted us down. Working together actually saved our skins—can’t say we lost out. Besides, thanks to him, we learned our Bat-God ancestors are still alive. That means our White Bat clan isn’t extinct. Once we’re back, we’ll wake up the old ancestors and have them make a baby girl."
Ethan Fu perked up. "Make two girls! No, no, a whole litter of girls, so I can have one on each arm... Wait, bro, we’re like a hundred generations removed from the ancestors. Even if they have two daughters, they’d basically be our great-great-great-grandmas. That seniority..."
The two White Bat Demons fell into a gloomy silence, unable to sleep.
Amid the ruins, Quinn leaned against the Dragon-Qilin to rest. The place was ringed by more than ten god-statues, their light illuminating the ruins. He still didn’t know where in the Great Ruins they were; he’d have to wait for sunrise, fly up high, and check the terrain to confirm their location.
Ben Coates glanced at Quinn, then sat down. The surviving Grand Witches, Witch Kings, and a handful of Wild Di warriors formed a loose circle around him.
Quinn looked around. There were plenty of strange beasts in the ruins, some so massive and powerful they dwarfed even the Dragon-Qilin at full size.
“Hmm, those people look interesting...”
His pupils narrowed as his gaze landed on the travelers scattered around the ruins. They were split into three groups. One group was three hulking monks, faces thick with muscle but eyes gentle, though their bodies radiated heavy demon-qi.
“Monster monks from Little Thunderclap Temple!”
Quinn sensed the demon-qi on them and understood. Little Thunderclap Temple was a holy land too, but for the monster clans. Their leader was called Little Tathagata, a junior brother to the old Tathagata; his skills were supreme, matching the original Tathagata.
Little Thunderclap Temple was also known as Little Western Heaven, even farther west than Mount Sumeru’s Great Thunderclap Temple, located at the farthest edge of the Great Ruins.
"You can see monster monks from Little Thunderclap Temple here—are we in the western part of the Great Ruins?"
Quinn felt uneasy; it was his first time traveling so far. The Great Ruins were vast, and this place was probably even farther west than Loulan Golden Palace.
The second group consisted of only two people—a man and a woman, both quite young, looking like a couple. They didn’t seem dangerous.
They were dressed in exotic attire; the man had a white cloth wrapped around his head with black hair showing, while the woman wore gold and silver jewelry, her hair tied with a black scarf and a little red flower at the end.
Her hands were pale, and her sleeves were short, exposing most of her forearms. Her wrists were adorned with a dozen bracelets of gold, silver, and jade, all of varying thickness.
They guarded a Jewel Incense Carriage, which looked very strange.
Quinn had seen some Jewel Incense Carriages before—most were square, some had dome-shaped round tops or octagonal tops. The dome shape represented heaven and earth, while the octagonal top symbolized the eight directions—both status symbols.
But this carriage was round on both top and bottom, and the decorations hanging around it had a distinctly exotic feel.
The third group was over a hundred divine-ability cultivators, also dressed in exotic clothing, with blue eyes. Quinn couldn’t tell what country they were from.
These cultivators looked murderous, frequently glancing at the young couple and their carriage.
'Cult Master, something feels off.'
The Dragon-Qilin secretly opened one eye and whispered to Quinn, "That woman has way too many spirit weapons, and those cultivators are all very strong!"
Quinn raised an eyebrow. The Dragon-Qilin's eyesight was indeed sharp; all those gold, silver, and jade ornaments the woman wore were actually spirit weapons.
Just now, Quinn had used his Azure Heaven Eye to scan them; every spirit weapon emitted a dazzling aura, clearly very powerful.
With so many spirit weapons on her, her strength must be formidable.
On the other side, Ben Coates also noticed these people and quietly instructed two Grand Witches. One of them immediately went to the young couple, greeted them, asked a few questions, and returned to report: "They say they’re from True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands. They asked if we could help them."
True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands?
Ben Coates said, "If they’re qi-refiners from True Heaven Palace, it has nothing to do with us. No need to worry about them. As for their request, we won’t help."
Another Grand Witch also returned to report, "Those cultivators are from True Heaven Palace and hope we’ll stay out of it."
All from True Heaven Palace?
Ben Coates was surprised and laughed, "It’s probably an internal feud—no need to get involved. Those three monster monks are from Little Thunderclap Temple; we have old grudges with them, so be on guard."
Loulan Golden Palace often captures humans and monsters for cultivation practice, and has had many clashes with Little Thunderclap Temple. They’ve even captured quite a few monster monks from Little Thunderclap Temple to use their souls in training.
The three monks also recognized Ben Coates and his followers, exchanged glances, but didn’t act.
Ben Coates quietly ordered, "Meeting Little Thunderclap Temple and Westerners here means we’re on the western edge of the Great Ruins—probably close to Little Thunderclap Temple itself. These three monks can’t be allowed to stay. At sunrise, get rid of them immediately!"
Everyone quietly agreed.
As for Cult Master Quinn...
He glanced at Quinn, who was rummaging through a Glutton Dragon Pouch. Sensing Ben’s gaze, Quinn looked up and flashed a bright, sunny smile—a real big kid.
The Glutton Dragon Pouch Quinn was holding belonged to Ben; Quinn kept taking out items, examining and playing with each one.
"What a huge hammer!"