Lin Feng descended the vertical shaft, boots scraping against the rough walls to slow his fall.
Two hundred meters down.
He landed heavily on a mound of rubble—the collapsed section sealing the serpent's original tunnel.
The cramped space barely held him.
Above, seven figures clung like spiders to the shaft walls—fingers sunk deep into solid rock. Effortless.
Lin Feng looked up, feigning helplessness.
"The serpent's tunnel should be just below us… but blocked. Digging through this will take time."
The violet-robed elder frowned. A curt gesture to the triplets.
"You three."
"Yes, Elder!"
The brothers dropped down, landing beside Lin Feng. The shaft floor became impossibly tight.
Lin Feng pressed himself flat against the wall.
The triplets exchanged a glance. Identical hand-seals flashed. Palms pressed to the rubble.
"Rrrrumble…"
Stone yielded like wet clay.
The walls flowed backward. Ceiling pushed upward.
Seconds later—a domed chamber, seven meters wide, replaced the cramped shaft bottom.
The elder and others descended. The white Phenomenon light pulsed thick as liquid amber, illuminating every detail.
The elder scanned the newly formed space, eyes sharp—seeing beyond stone.
After a tense pause, he pointed sharply to the right wall.
"There. Tunnel downward. Eighty meters. Angled."
He senses the intact serpent passage. Lin Feng suppressed a surge of envy.
Golden Core mid-stage… Divine Sense is everything.
Stone flowed like water before the triplets' power. A smooth tunnel formed, angling steeply down.
The group moved forward, entering the cold, serpent-carved passage.
The elder's brow furrowed deeper with each step. His Divine Sense stretched… stretched… finding only endless tunnel.
He turned abruptly—a viper's speed—staring back into the newly formed tunnel.
"Father?" The Golden Core early-stage middle-aged man stiffened, Divine Sense flaring. "What is it?"
Silence. Only the pulsing light.
The elder's eyes narrowed, searching the shadows. A flicker of doubt.
"…Nothing. A phantom ripple. Proceed."
He turned back to Lin Feng, voice like flint.
"Lead."
"Of course, Esteemed Senior…"
Lin Feng's jaw tightened imperceptibly. He turned, stepping once more into the lead.
Liar.
The elder's Divine Sense mapped the tunnel now. No guide was needed.
I'm cannon fodder. Pure and simple.
The elder didn't fully trust Lin Feng's tale. And against a guardian beast potentially stealthier than his senses…
A human shield buys reaction time.
Lin Feng's pulse hammered against his ribs. He knew the serpent's truth.
Tier-4.
Capable of masking its presence even from this elder.
Death could erupt from any shadow.
He walked, one hand drifting casually to his chest. Fingers brushed the small, warm shape beneath his robes.
Xiaoqiu… be my eyes now…
His only hope: Xiaoqiu's uncanny danger sense.
They moved deeper. Time stretched.
The Phenomenon light bathed them, thick with spiritual energy. Lin Feng breathed it in—deep, hungry gulps.
The two Qi-Restoring Pills dissolved fully within him. Rivers of true essence surged through meridians, replenished by the ambient power.
Full strength.
A sliver of defiance hardened within him.
Plans flickered, desperate and violent.
Trigger the White Tiger Soulflame Talisman—point-blank. Kill the elder instantly? Possible.
Then the Crimson Soul Sword… the Strange Flame… disrupt the others. Escape in the chaos.
Too many variables. Too much risk. Wait…
His mind warred.
Fear the serpent's ambush…
…Yet crave its chaos.
If the beast attacked first, and he dodged… the ensuing battle might mask his flight.
Twenty minutes passed.
Only their footsteps echoed. No serpent. No ambush.
"The spiritual energy… it thickens!"
The middle-aged man's voice cut the silence, laced with awe and tension.
Lin Feng felt it too—a palpable shift.
The air grew heavy, damp. Visible wisps of condensed spiritual mist curled around their ankles, clung to the tunnel walls.
Like walking through a luminous fog.
"The treasure nears!" The middle-aged man hissed. "Extreme caution!"
The group instinctively slowed. The distance between Lin Feng and the others widened.
Cowards. Lin Feng's nails dug into his palms.
He ignored them. Sweat slicked his grip on the Crimson Soul Sword's hilt, hidden within his sleeve.
His focus narrowed solely to the small life nestled against his chest.
Through the gap in his robe, Xiaoqiu's eyes—wide, luminous discs—scanned the darkness ahead. Ears rigid as blades, trembling with concentration.
Another bend. Another hundred meters.
Lin Feng stopped dead.
His breath caught.
The serpent tunnel ended.
Ahead—a vast, cavernous space opened abruptly.
The tunnel mouth flared outward like a colossal funnel—starting narrow where he stood, widening dramatically over a hundred meters until it spanned sixty meters across. The ceiling vaulted thirty meters high.
But it was the chamber's heart that seized Lin Feng's gaze.
His eyes locked onto the object dominating the center of the immense cavern floor.
Shock ripped through him.
His lips parted soundlessly.
"That is…"