# Chapter 10: The Hall of Bones and Broken Hope
"What is going on… does the will of heaven really want me to die? Just yesterday I almost got killed by Wang, and now today I meet a damn ghost with bad intentions toward me. What's all this?"
Even with all these thoughts running wild in his mind, Riven didn't dare slow down. He kept running as fast as his legs could carry him. Remembering how Mr. Xiao had almost teleported earlier, his heart pounded harder and he urged his legs forward.
"Faster… faster, faster!" he screamed in his mind, his body turning into a blur as he bolted through the tunnels.
A few breaths later, he stumbled into another chamber filled with more tunnels. Without thinking, he darted into the one on the left.
Riven had been running for what felt like an eternity—over an hour—and still there was no sign of Mr. Xiao. He had crossed chamber after chamber, all filled with branching tunnels, always picking a random one.
But now his body was at its limit. His lungs burned, his chest heaved, and his legs trembled. His entire body screamed to collapse. A mortal like him, even one with enhanced physical attributes, was never meant to run this long at such speed. Sweat drenched him, and he was panting like a dying beast.
Finally, he stumbled into a hall unlike the others.
It was wide and old, furnished with chairs of different sizes and designs. On one end stood a stage with an ancient-looking chair, so fragile it seemed like it would crumble at a touch. On the wall above, a lion's head glinted faintly in the dim light.
The hall looked like it once belonged to some kind of cult, but everything about it screamed ancient and forgotten.
Riven's eyes flicked toward the lion head, but only for a moment. What really drew him was the old chair. A strange, familiar feeling tugged at him—as if the chair was calling out to him.
But he had bigger problems.
As he approached, he noticed a heavy trapdoor hidden behind the chair. Without hesitation, he pulled it open, gritting his teeth and pouring every ounce of strength left in his body into the effort. It barely opened enough for him to slip inside before slamming shut behind him.
A blinding white light swallowed him. Riven squinted, then shut his eyes until they adjusted.
When he opened them, he found himself in a glowing passageway, lit on both sides by strange lights. At the end, about twenty meters away, stood an altar.
His heart sank. The design was almost identical to the altar where the Rank 7 Dragon Earth Fruit had been.
Exhausted as he was, Riven forced himself forward. Twenty meters wasn't much, but in his condition it felt endless. When he finally reached the altar, he realized it wasn't truly an altar at all, but a platform with a massive pit in the center.
And from the pit came a stench so foul it made his stomach churn.
Curiosity gnawed at him despite the smell. He leaned over the edge.
What he saw made his scalp go numb.
The pit was filled with corpses. A mountain of them—piled high, rotting, broken. Skeletons of men, women, even children. Some were fresh, others ancient and brittle.
Riven's mind raced. So this… this is where all the slaves went?
For years, one question had haunted the Argus Clan's slaves: where did everyone keep disappearing to? In five years alone, the clan had bought over a hundred thousand slaves. Aside from Old Cook, none of the ones Riven came with were still around.
Now he knew why.
His hands trembled as he muttered, "So this is it… this is what Mr. Xiao meant when he called them trash…"
As he turned to leave, something caught his eye.
In the sea of white bones, a skeleton glowed faintly gold.
"A golden skeleton?" Riven whispered. "Is it human? Or… some beast?"
He moved around for a better look—and his breath caught. There wasn't just one golden skeleton. There were dozens, some fully gold, others with veins and patches of gold running through their bones.
His thoughts whirled. Ordinary cultivators' bones are white. I've seen it myself. So what are these things?
But there was no time. The stench made his vision blur, his skin pale, his stomach twist. He had to leave.
Back at the trapdoor, despair set in. The door was over three meters high. In peak condition, maybe he could've made it. Now? It was almost impossible.
He jumped again and again, his body screaming, his breath ragged. Each time he managed to touch the door, but its weight dragged it shut before he could pull himself through.
Frustration clawed at him. His instincts screamed louder and louder—leave this place now, or die.
With one final desperate leap, he forced the heavy door open and clung to its edge, dragging his battered body up and out. He collapsed onto the jade floor of the cult hall, gasping, sweat dripping down his face.
"The last time I was this exhausted was… when I tried to escape the Argus Clan. I swore I'd never feel that again. And yet… this is even worse."
*Clap… clap… clap…*
The sound echoed through the hall.
Riven froze. His blood ran cold.
Then came the laughter—low, eerie, and familiar.
"Mr. Xiao…" Riven whispered, his voice trembling.
Sure enough, the transparent figure sat calmly on the old chair, his back facing Riven. Slowly, Mr. Xiao stood and approached, squatting before him with a sinister grin.
"Kid," he said, voice like ice. "If you think you can escape me, you should reconsider. This whole mining site is covered with my spiritual sense. Every move you made… was under my eyes." He pointed to his transparent gaze, his smile widening.
"You are a walking treasure, filled with temptation. If I devour your soul and refine your body, I will gain your divine soul and mythical body. With that… the sky itself won't limit me."
Riven clenched his fists, but inside he had already accepted his fate. There was nothing he could do. His only regret was failing to avenge his parents… and failing to protect the countless slaves sacrificed by this monster and the Argus Clan.
Still, the will to survive burned in him.
"Why are you so sure I have a divine soul and a mythical body?" Riven asked weakly. "There's nothing special about me."
Mr. Xiao chuckled darkly.
"If I don't take you, someone else will. Maybe they're already watching, just afraid of your background. But now? It's too late. You'll never leave this place alive."
Before Riven could reply, Mr. Xiao's hands blurred through a series of seals. Instantly, Riven's body froze. A heavy drowsiness crashed over him, dragging him toward sleep.
He fought back, thinking of his parents, of the slaves who depended on him, of vengeance. But Mr. Xiao's cold snort reverberated through his very soul, shattering his resistance.
Darkness swallowed him.
With a grin, Mr. Xiao turned into a stream of light and dove into Riven's head.