Just what kind of background did its owner have, to possess something that had never appeared in the Heaven Origin Realm in the book Longevity Love?

Or perhaps it had appeared before.

Xiao Shou recalled that in the original story, Xiao Ran, the Water Qilin, Jian Li, and various sect experts had discovered the true headquarters of the Nine Abyssal Gate.

They found that it was actually a massive floating city suspended above the Endless Sea.

During the great battle that followed, the gate’s master was defeated by the combined forces of the experts.

His subordinates were mostly killed or injured.

In the end, he detonated the floating Nine Abyss City, causing a large number of Deity Transformation experts in the Heaven Origin Realm to fall, marking another catastrophe after the Nine Heavens Nine Stellar Array.

Several of Xiao Ran’s admirers also perished there.

In the end, only the Water Qilin and Jian Li ascended with her to the Spirit Realm.

Later events, including their encounter with Zhong Kui and the progression from irreconcilable hostility to reluctant forgiveness, all took place in the Spirit Realm.

So the floating city of the Nine Abyssal Gate came from here?

Or perhaps the so-called floating city was originally this ancient cultivator’s cave residence.

That would explain why, even after the cave residence was destroyed, the Nine Abyssal Gate could still use the Fate Devouring Array and various strange methods.

Thinking of this, Xiao Shou found it unbelievable.

For a moment, his mind went blank and he instinctively continued looking around.

Under the light of the Blazing Sun Stone, reflections appeared on the crystalline walls surrounding the Celestial Nail.

They displayed all kinds of scenes.

A treasure vault glittering with precious light.

A vast medicinal garden filled with rare flowers and herbs.

A nine-story tower with no one inside.

Various formations with different landscapes.

Numerous empty stone chambers.

Among nearly a hundred such chambers, in one of them, five children were huddled together.

In the room next to where the children were imprisoned, a middle aged man lay on the ground.

His face was deathly pale and his body emaciated, completely motionless like a corpse.

Only the faint rise and fall of his chest after long intervals proved that he was still alive.

In the room beside him, a woman who looked somewhat aged and appearing to be in her forties or fifties sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, resting.

Next to her, two young men who looked to be in their twenties and bore a strong resemblance to each other sat facing one another.

On the ground between them was a crudely drawn Go board with rough game pieces made from stones and dried grass scattered across it.

Despite their situation, the two who were clearly related actually had the leisure to play a game.

Beside them, an elderly man with white hair and beard leaned against the wall, his complexion waxy yellow.

Next to him was a 17 or 18 year old girl with delicate features who resembled him somewhat.

Her eyes were slightly red as she looked at him with worry.

In the next room, there was a man and a woman, both of them appearing to be in their twenties.

The woman was dressed like a married lady, while the man wore a spotless white scholar’s robe.

They leaned against each other and speaking softly, seemingly a married couple.

Next to them were six people, four men and two women, all dressed in similar clothing and appearing to be in their twenties.

Their robes were damaged in many places and their faces and bodies bore numerous wounds and bloodstains.

They looked to be in a very miserable state and likely belonged to the same sect.

Aside from these, there were all kinds of other scenes.

Even the outside of Endless Grief Mountain could be seen.

Because of this, Xiao Shou noticed that it was already broad daylight outside with the sun high in the sky, nearing noon.

Above the end of the spirit vein he had dug, there appeared to be something like a modern surveillance room, from which both the exterior and interior of the ancient cultivator cave residence could be observed clearly.

Could this be the core of the ancient cultivator cave residence?

If so, then generally, large mobile cave residences, flying ships, or immortal palaces would all have a core control object.

Once bound, one could understand the entire situation of the residence through that core.

If he wanted to fully understand this place, he would first need to find that core object.

Xiao Shou swept his divine sense across the vast stone chamber, but found nothing.

Aside from the Blazing Sun Stone, the Celestial Nail, and the surveillance projections, there was nothing else.

There was also nothing in the projections that resembled a core object.

Xiao Shou left with no choice but to abandon the shortcut of finding the core directly and carefully observed the images instead.

As for the exterior scenes that he had already examined, he ignored them.

Focusing on the interior of the cave residence, he finally understood the general situation.

There were 99 surveillance views for the outer area and 99 for the interior.

However, for some unknown reason, only three of the outer views were still functional and showing images.

The rest appeared as cracked, pitch-black crystal surfaces and completely unusable.

Among the 99 internal views, quite a few were also damaged, but compared to the outside, the situation was much better.

More than half were still intact.

Through these, Xiao Shou was roughly able to determine the overall layout of the ancient cultivator cave residence.

However, if he wanted to understand the details, his gaze hesitated as it fell on the palm imprint at the center of the big dipper constellation on the Celestial Nail.

From the moment he arrived, his divine sense had detected a faint fluctuation there, similar to spiritual awareness.

After thinking it over, he took a deep breath and placed his hand over the palm imprint.