"So these are the uncharted islands." Lin Mu said looking at the hundreds of islands that were spread around in a wide area.
Their sizes were also quite varied, ranging from as small as just hundreds meters all the way to ten kilometers. "I guess it's more appropriate to call it an uncharted Archipelago." Qiao De said, looking at the islands himself.
The islands had hills, mountains, cliffs and beaches. Some were full of plant life, while some were just barren and rocky. But all of them seemed to have one thing in common… They all had shrines on them!
"That's a lot of shrines." Crown Princess Shang said, looking at the stone shrines that all had the same design.
Ziran who saw them though, furrowed his brows.
"Wait… these aren't just any normal shrines." Ziran said before flying up.
~shua~
"We'll go take a look too." Crown Prince Feng Shun said and followed behind the man.
The others did the same and flew to the nearest island that was about four hundred meters wide. It was mostly flat and had little in terms of vegetation. Half of its mass was rocky with the shrine located at the very center of it. And on top of the shrine was a stone arch that was about ten meters wide.
~shua~
Ziran landed in front of it, and observed the shrine which was about twenty meters tall.
It only had two floors, and was built in a stacked manner. It was entirely made from rock which had been joined together by carving the perfect sized sockets in them. The weathering on them showed that they were certainly very old, but that still didn't manage to disperse the detailed carvings that were present on them.
They were filled with strange characters that were hard for most people to understand.
And yet, Ziran and Lin Mu recognized them instantly.
"Shamanic Script of the Demonic tribes." Lin Mu and Ziran said in unison.
"We're in the right place at least." Daoist Chu said. "Though perhaps not the right shrine?" he added looking at the many other structures.
"Indeed, this isn't the right one." Qiao De replied. "The compass points to another island." He had checked before disembarking the ship. is the owner.
This was merely the closest island they had stopped to check, and not the main one they needed to go. "What do the carvings say?" Crown Prince Feng Shun asked.
"The carvings are all talking about those that died and those that will die." Ziran said. "These aren't just normal shrines… These are Burial shrines." He revealed.
"Burial shrines?" The group furrowed their brows, feeling a bit confused.
"Aren't they built in graveyards, though?" Lin Mu asked, finding no graves around them.
Even if they had been built a long time ago, there should have been some traces of it. Especially considering that the shrines were still intact. He didn't think that the people who built this place would let the graves be defiled by the natural elements that easily.
"Yes." Ziran replied. "Which is what's concerning me." He said, walking up to the shrine and placing his hand on it.
~Shua~
His immortal sense entered the shrine and tried to see if there was anything hidden inside. ~WHOOSH~
And sure enough, as soon as Ziran sensed something, his Immortal sense was pushed back.
"Ugh… this is unusual." Ziran stated. "The shrines all have an array, but it is a bit too obscure for me to recognize. It also pushes my Immortal sense back." He revealed. "Daoist Mu Lin, would you…" Crown Prince Feng Shun was just about to ask Lin Mu when he moved on his own.
"Let me check." Lin Mu said, placing his hand on the shrine and letting his immortal sense enter it.
~Humm~
Unlike Ziran, Lin Mu faced no resistance and quickly discovered the runes that were inside the shrine. The runes were all assembled into a large array that was contained entirely within the Shrine. It was dormant, and anyone that tried to probe it would face a resistance.
Thankfully enough, it did not have any offense formations within it and could not harm others.
Lin Mu though, found it a bit familiar and a familiar energy also exuded from it.
'This… Spatial Fluctuations… This isn't just a normal array.' Lin Mu realized before opening his eyes. "A Teleportation Array." He revealed it to the others.
"The Shrine has a teleportation array inside it?" Crown Prince Feng Shun questioned.
This was a bit surprising to them, as they should have been able to tell this too. After all, they were experts and talented individuals who had seen their fair share of teleportation arrays. To their senses, finding these in the hidden form shouldn't be hard either.
~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~
They tried to check it themselves, but found themselves getting repelled as well. "The force of repulsion is quite strong." Crown Prince Feng Shun said.
"Stronger than it should be for an array like this." Lady Kang added. "Which means the repulsion isn't from the formation array itself… but a by-product of its function." She said, narrowing her eyes.
"The repulsion is from the Spatial Fluctuations themselves." Lin Mu explained. "They are contained within the shrine thus aren't felt directly by us. The shrine is also made of a rock that seems to dampen our senses and make it harder to recognize it all." He added.
"I see…" Crown Prince Feng Shun nodded.
"But that still doesn't explain why there's a Burial Shrine here." Daoist Chu spoke.
"I sense no dead here." Monk Hushu chimed in. "This place is clean. There have never been any graves here." He said after using his own Buddhist techniques to sense.
"Which is what bothers me… These are Burial Shrines that Demonic tribes build to worship the dead. But since there are no graves here they do not have a reason to be made." Ziran stated. "Unless…"
"The graves are somewhere else… The Teleportation array… It is meant to take us to the graves, isn't it?" Crown Prince Feng Shun guessed.