Cultivation is just so scientific!-Chapter 1663 - 878: Departure

Great Cultivator Shen Ze sat on the stone mat, not needing to receive the information transmitted from it, as this information had long been passed down in his sect.

He skillfully focused his mind on the stone mat, using a Secret Technique to guide his senses to perceive the Heavenly Mechanism Garden.

"What’s going on?" In his perception, there was no sign of any Heavenly Mechanism Treasure.

He was somewhat incredulous. Although in history, the Divine Palace had sometimes nurtured very few Heavenly Mechanism Treasures, and there was even an instance where only one was born.

But never had there been a case where not a single Heavenly Mechanism Treasure was nurtured. The abundance of resources outside indicated there was no malfunction in the operation of the Divine Palace, so how could the Heavenly Mechanism Garden, after centuries of recuperation, still fail to produce a Heavenly Mechanism Treasure?

In the normal environment of the Cultivation World, it might take millions of years to nurture a Heavenly Mechanism Treasure, but the Heavenly Mechanism Garden is a special space, tested through time.

Great Cultivator Shen Ze withdrew his mind, stood up from the stone mat, and walked around it a few times, carefully inspecting it but found nothing amiss.

In fact, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary; he was simply comparing the condition of the stone mat to the records from his sect.

Finally, he sat on the stone mat once more, unwilling to give up, and once again invested his mind into the stone mat, starting to guide the Secret Technique anew.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of fresh blood spewed from his mouth.

This was due to the disorder of his mind under the impact of rage and anxiety, causing internal injuries.

Master Ji Chuan and Great Cultivator Liao Yi anxiously awaited, noticing that Great Cultivator Shen Ze had been inside for longer than usual.

This made them start to speculate, if not for knowing that each Great Cultivator in the Heavenly Mechanism Garden had only one chance to collect a Heavenly Mechanism Treasure, they would have suspected Great Cultivator Shen Ze of trying to take the whole treasure for himself.

Just as they were pondering this, they saw Great Cultivator Shen Ze walk out.

But at this moment, Great Cultivator Shen Ze seemed like all his vitality and spirit had drained away, his already somewhat tattered robe now stained with a good amount of blood.

"Shen, what happened?" Master Ji Chuan asked in astonishment.

He remembered that the Heavenly Mechanism Garden was not supposed to be dangerous, so how did Great Cultivator Shen Ze become like this after being inside for such a short time?

"No need to argue, the Heavenly Mechanism Garden has not nurtured any Heavenly Mechanism Treasure this time!" Great Cultivator Shen Ze replied bitterly.

"Impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

The two Great Cultivators at this point stopped arguing, speaking in unison.

They also knew that Great Cultivator Shen Ze’s likelihood of lying was extremely low.

And if a Heavenly Mechanism Treasure were obtained from the Heavenly Mechanism Garden, it would have an aura that couldn’t be concealed, at least not immediately.

Great Cultivator Shen Ze lacked the aura of a Heavenly Mechanism Treasure on his person, indicating he returned empty-handed.

The two Great Cultivators had no more disputes, taking out their own jade tokens, opening the doors to enter the Heavenly Mechanism Garden.

Great Cultivator Shen Ze sat on the ground, his mental state severely impacted; this time, both his sect and he himself had paid a significant price to enter the Divine Palace.

But the harvest was just Great Cultivator-level resources, most of which had to be handed over to the sect as repayment for helping him secure access to the Divine Palace’s resources.

"No, someone must have beaten me to it!" he suddenly exclaimed.

The Heavenly Mechanism Garden couldn’t be empty; surely a Great Cultivator had obtained the Heavenly Mechanism Treasure before him, seizing the opportunity meant for him.

It’s highly probable the Heavenly Mechanism Garden nurtured only one Heavenly Mechanism Treasure, which was taken by the Great Cultivator who entered earlier, preventing him from detecting the treasure’s existence.

And the major suspect of this earlier entry was the mysterious Li Shiming.

This time, before entry, they had already fought with the three Great Cultivators of the Demonic Path, and they won the opportunity to enter the Heavenly Mechanism Garden, while the three Great Cultivators of the Demonic Path chose the Divine Beast Garden.

It’s not that the Heavenly Mechanism Garden was necessarily more important than the Divine Beast Garden; the Heavenly Mechanism Garden is fundamental for establishing a Grotto Heaven, but contracting a compatible Divine Beast could ensure more stable growth of the Grotto Heaven.

There are quite a few Half-step Great Powers, but truly growing to maturity is rare, and having a compatible Divine Beast could increase the chance of successfully advancing to Great Power.

But for Peak Great Cultivators, without a Heavenly Mechanism Treasure, there is no foundation for the first step, rendering everything else meaningless.

The three Great Cultivators of the Demonic Path went in the other direction, and even though they were initially ahead, later disturbed by the Golden Winged Dapeng, trying to change course would still have encountered the Golden Winged Dapeng.

The only uncertainty was Li Shiming, who proceeded three ’two-hours’ ahead of them.

"Li Shiming, I will not rest until we are at odds!" Great Cultivator Shen Ze muttered quietly after discerning the cause and effect.

Seizing opportunities is a great enmity in the Cultivation World, especially one that affects the advancement of a Great Cultivator to Great Power, making it a mortal enemy.

Master Ji Chuan and Great Cultivator Liao Yi arrived in front of the stone mat while arguing, initially wanting to sit on it first, but upon actually arriving, they hesitated.

They feared the shattering of hope; the Great Cultivator who sits on the stone mat first is the one whose hope shatters first.