The ruins might be utilizing some kind of pocket dimension or independent space.
They had been inside for nearly a day, yet the sky showed no sign of change.
Looking up, the air was still a hazy gray.
The fragments of buildings hidden behind the grayness continued to float in mid-air, indistinct and unchanging.
After walking for about an hour, the group arrived before a structure.
To be honest, this building was somewhat peculiar.
Not because it was more luxurious or eye-catching than other buildings.
Quite the opposite.
It was too ordinary!
It could even be described as rudimentary.
On this continent, regardless of whether it was a major sect or a minor one, the architectural style was always grand.
Even the roofs of privy chambers were elaborately carved and painted…
After all, ordinary gold and silver meant nothing to cultivators, and they didn't mind spending money to hire artisans for such work.
But the building before them seemed exceptionally out of place!
Not only was it unusually just one story high, but its materials were also the most common earth and stone!
It was like a vintage bicycle among a fleet of luxury cars…
Brighter than a firefly in the dark…
As the saying goes, where there's an anomaly, there's likely a cause.
This structure, like an unauthorized construction, immediately drew everyone's attention!
Ye Fan glanced at the entrance, confirmed there were no formations or anything of that sort, and then stepped inside.
Yun Hua Zhenren and the others followed suit.
The Sect Master of the Boundless Sect hesitated and ultimately chose to stay outside.
If he rushed in now, he would surely be obliterated…
To save his life, he could only endure…
The scene inside did not disappoint Ye Fan and his companions.
Apart from some broken furniture, there was nothing else…
The furniture was made of ordinary wood, and over the years, it had severely eroded and decayed.
The cobwebs covering it were almost half a foot thick…
It could be said to be completely exposed, without exaggeration.
Except for…
The table in the very center of the debris.
The table itself was no different from the other furniture, but a faint energy fluctuation emanated from within it.
In terms of grade, it was even weaker than a Tier 1 material.
Yun Hua Zhenren and the others naturally had no interest in items of such a low grade.
However, Ye Fan, with a keen interest, approached the table and brushed away the cobwebs.
Beneath the webs lay an irregularly shaped stone, about the size of his palm.
The stone was entirely black, its surface dry and rough, with irregular protrusions and cracks. It exuded absolutely no aura of importance.
At first glance, it looked no different from any ordinary stone by the roadside.
Oh, wait.
It looked even uglier and more repulsive than an ordinary stone…
But Ye Fan knew this thing was definitely not ordinary!
Because he was surprised to find that he had no idea what it was!
His previous 99 lifetimes had allowed Ye Fan to accumulate vast knowledge.
While he couldn't claim to recognize everything from every world, he could recognize ninety-nine percent of it.
The remaining one percent might be a specialty of a particular world, but after some research, Ye Fan could deduce its function based on its performance.
In that regard, it could be said that there was nothing in this world that Ye Fan didn't recognize as a material.
Yet, this ugly stone in his hand, he truly couldn't understand at all…
Judging solely by the energy fluctuations, it was impossible to discern any issues.
This was because some high-grade materials naturally had very weak energy fluctuations, while others were masked by something external.
For instance, in his first life, he had encountered a Rank 15 Demonic Heart Stone.
At that time, the Demonic Heart Stone was encased in a layer of Spirit Devouring Demonic Iron, causing the Rank 15 Demonic Heart Stone to only reveal energy fluctuations of a Rank 3 material.
If he hadn't harbored doubts, he might have missed it entirely…
However, the stone in his palm didn't seem to fall into either of those categories.
Ye Fan's intuition told him that this stone was a single entity, with no other substances mixed within it.
The most crucial and bizarre aspect was that the stone's energy fluctuations carried no attribute whatsoever!
One must know that whether it was medicinal herbs for alchemy or metals for artifact forging, these materials inherently possessed fixed attributes.
Take the Flame Stone, for example.
It was formed in extremely hot environments and was rich in fire attributes.
As for Flame Stones also containing some other weak attributes, that was another matter: material compositeness.
Every material inherently contained more than one attribute.
For instance, fire-attribute materials usually accompanied some metal attributes or lightning attributes, and so on.
Professionals like Alchemists or Artifact Forgers created wondrous weapons or elixirs by reasonably utilizing and transforming these inherent attributes of materials.
The core essence lay in the scientific and reasonable transformation of the material's own properties.
Professions like Alchemists played more of a distributor role in this process.
It couldn't be said that there were absolutely no single-attribute materials.
It could only be said that they were extremely, extremely rare!
The more singular the attribute, the purer the nature!
Items made from such materials were not only more powerful but also often possessed unexpected magical effects!
However, the conditions for the formation of single-attribute materials were too harsh, so harsh that most people believed such things existed only in theory…
Even a freak like Ye Fan, who had transmigrated a hundred times, had encountered single-attribute materials only a handful of times.
But even the rarest single-attribute materials were still within Ye Fan's scope of understanding.
This ugly stone in his hand, he truly couldn't figure it out…
The so-called energy fluctuation was actually the manifestation of the material's inherent attributes in the form of spiritual energy.
For example, fire-attribute materials would have hot energy fluctuations, and ice-attribute materials would have cold energy fluctuations.
And so on.
But this ugly stone had no attribute…
This was the first time Ye Fan had encountered such a situation.
His proud knowledge reserve, at this moment, seemed utterly useless…
Thinking this, Ye Fan released a trace of his spiritual power and probed into the stone.
In truth, he didn't know if this would be effective, but he decided to give it a try.
His spiritual power entered the stone without any hindrance.
Upon seeing the scene inside, Ye Fan was immediately stunned.
This was…
At the same time, footsteps could be heard from outside the door.
Yun Hua Zhenren glanced at the dazed Ye Fan and quickly walked towards the entrance.
"Li Zhengfeng!"
Upon recognizing the person, Yun Hua Zhenren's heart skipped a beat!
Judging by the other party's demeanor, he was clearly not here with good intentions.
Most importantly, Li Zhengfeng was a whole minor realm above him…
There was no contest!
"Yun Hua Zhenren," Li Zhengfeng narrowed his eyes. "What a coincidence."
As he spoke, Li Zhengfeng's gaze was fixed on Ye Fan inside the room.
More precisely, he was looking at the stone in Ye Fan's hand.
"I won't waste words," Li Zhengfeng pointed at Ye Fan inside the room. "Hand over that thing, or you know the consequences!"
Yun Hua Zhenren clenched his fists tightly…
Although he didn't know what use that broken stone had, Li Zhengfeng seemed determined to get it.
If he compromised now, the relationship he had just established with Ye Fan would be completely ruined.
Moreover, he would likely face retaliation from Ye Fan afterward.
After all, betrayal was something no one could tolerate…
Just as Yun Hua Zhenren was hesitating, the Sect Master of the Boundless Sect walked towards Li Zhengfeng.
"Senior Li," the Sect Master of the Boundless Sect cupped his hands. "I have some information that I believe Senior will find very interesting."
"Oh?" Li Zhengfeng raised an eyebrow. "Tell me about it."
"That brat has fast-healing pills on him," the Sect Master of the Boundless Sect pointed at Ye Fan inside the room. "Yun Hua Zhenren and I had similar injuries earlier, but he recovered in just a few breaths."
"Trying to use me as a weapon to kill someone?" Li Zhengfeng flashed over and grabbed the Sect Master of the Boundless Sect by the neck. "You have quite the nerve!"
"Senior is joking," the Sect Master of the Boundless Sect said through gritted teeth. "Even if I had the courage of a celestial being, I wouldn't dare deceive Senior…"
"Bang!"
Li Zhengfeng threw him to the ground and then looked back at Yun Hua Zhenren.
"I'll give you three breaths to get out of the way, or don't blame me for being impolite!"