"What do we do now? Where is this place?" Lin Chun asked, looking around with a bewildered expression.
"I think we're inside that turtle's stomach..." I replied.
It seemed this turtle had been asleep for a very long time. If we hadn't set a fire on its back, it probably wouldn't have woken up.
Because it hadn't eaten for a long time, the turtle's stomach was remarkably empty.
"But if we've been swallowed by the turtle, how do we find what we're looking for?" Lin Chun asked.
I shook my head. Honestly, I had no idea either. We could only try to leave this place first.
We both wanted to climb back up through the esophagus. However, everything around was sticky. The only way to force our way up would be to forcefully cut through the turtle's esophagus.
But if we did that, the turtle would be in unbearable pain, and might even lose its life. It would then sink to the bottom of the sea.
Whether we could get out at that point would be unknown.
"Since we're already inside, why don't we look around here..." I said.
This turtle had no idea how long it had been asleep. It was possible it had been dormant for an incredibly long time.
In other words, everything inside this turtle's belly was from a long time ago. Aside from us, Lin Chun, and the tree, soil, and stones from earlier, everything else was ancient.
We walked back and forth in its stomach for a long time.
Other than remnants of food, there was nothing else left.
"There doesn't seem to be anything here..." Lin Chun said.
I casually picked up a skeleton. As I pulled it out, it maintained its shape. It looked like some kind of animal, but it only had two legs.
Its body was exceptionally large, and the most peculiar thing was its skull, which was almost half the size of its body.
After being on this deserted island for so long, I had never seen such an animal.
It seemed like something that had gone extinct long ago.
"Why don't we search its innards...?" I suggested. The fact that this skeleton could remain intact for so long indicated that whatever this creature was, it must have been very powerful when it was alive.
If we could find something useful, it might be of great help to us in the future.
Even if these things might not be useful in that era, times have completely changed now.
Lin Chun nodded.
We both searched through the turtle's stomach, sifting out some of the skeletal remains.
We had expected some surprising discoveries, but found nothing but bones.
We sat on the ground, with no appetite.
"Let's get out of here first..." Lin Chun said.
I nodded. Just as I was about to stand up, I casually glanced around and my gaze suddenly fell on a spot above us.
There, I saw a dark spot.
Logically, finding anything unusual in a turtle's stomach wouldn't be surprising. This thing might have been accidentally pierced.
But when I looked closer, I froze.
Because I clearly saw that at the location of this dark spot, there seemed to be a formation.
The surrounding area was inscribed with strange characters, like spells, though I didn't know what they were.
It was a pity that Elder Yu couldn't be contacted now. Otherwise, we could have taken this opportunity to ask him.
"Brother Lu..." Lin Chun also saw it. "Can we open this?"
Although it was just a dark spot, it was only a dark spot relative to the vast space. For the two of us, this spot was large enough for us to pass through side by side.
No sooner said than done. We piled up the scattered bones to barely support the two of us.
Then, I climbed up and reached out to touch the dark spot.
The dark spot still had some mucus, but when I touched it, it felt cool.
"This must be the spot!" I said in a deep voice. "Find a way to open it!"
Lin Chun nodded. We both tried with all our might, but found we couldn't push it open at all.
"Is there some kind of mechanism here that needs to be triggered to open it?" Lin Chun asked, frowning.
"It shouldn't be like this..." I sat down and thought carefully.
According to Elder Yu, this place was likely left for others to cultivate.
If that was the case, then perhaps only cultivators could open it.
But what was the difference between cultivators and ordinary people?
It was impossible to force it open or even destroy this passage with mere strength.
"Shepherd's Power..." My eyes suddenly lit up. The difference between cultivators and ordinary people lay in the Shepherd's Power within their bodies.
"Come, Lin Chun, let's channel our Shepherd's Power into it!" I said.
Lin Chun paused for a moment, then quickly nodded.
Our Shepherd's Power began to surge into it madly!