Chapter 661: An Arm
Chapter 661: An Arm
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
A dark world lay behind the stone door. Luo Qiqi stepped forward and hurled a few Night Illumination Pearls down to light up the interior.
The further the duo walked down the stairs, the louder the flow of the stream above them sounded.
Even though they were beneath a stream, it didn't feel humid at all. On the contrary, it felt extremely dry. On top of that, the air seemed to be getting fresher and richer in spiritual energy.
"The spiritual energy is drawn in from the stream above. Most probably, a unique Spirit Gathering Formation was inscribed on top," Luo Qiqi uttered with a hushed voice as she studied the surroundings.
"Un." Zhang Xuan nodded.
By building a huge Spirit Gathering Formation in the river, they would be able to draw in spiritual energy from the surface discreetly.
With this influx of spiritual energy, this underground chamber would become an excellent location to cultivate in.
Jiya!
However, a moment after they walked in, they heard the sound of something crashing down above them. Looking upward, they realized that the opening from the entrance where they came from had disappeared.
"This is bad…"
Their faces darkened, and they hurriedly rushed back to the entrance. However, some kind of mechanism had already sealed the entrance tightly.
"This is a Dragon Severing Lock which only 6-star celestial designers can forge!" Luo Qiqi's face paled.
A grave expression surfaced on Zhang Xuan.
"Un. It seems like the other party meant it when he said that we would only get a single chance at choosing the passageway. Once the Dragon Severing Lock is in place, even a 6-star celestial designer would be troubled to overcome it. No one amongst us would be able to get in or out!"
They didn't take the voice on the stone bridge seriously, thinking that it was just a figure of speech. Who knew that he would actually be serious about it!
He had encountered the Dragon Severing Lock back at the soul oracle tomb as well. Once this artifact was in place, unless one possessed the might rivaling a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan cultivator, one would never be able to overcome it. On top of that, for some reason, the Dragon Severing Lock installed here seemed to be much stronger than the one in the soul oracle tomb, making it even more impossible for them to bypass it.
In other words, they were both trapped in this underground chamber.
Luo Qiqi turned to look at Zhang Xuan anxiously.
"Teacher, what should we do now?"
Even though she was a feared genius among her fellow peers, before Zhang shi, she felt as ignorant as a child. For some reason, she found herself developing a dependency on the other party, and it felt as though the ideas that came out from the other party's mind would always be the best.
If not for this deep trust in the other party, she wouldn't have chosen to follow Zhang shi despite feeling that Yu Fei-er's words were more logical.
Frowning, Zhang Xuan replied, "Since we can only pick one passageway, it means that the other passageway where Xing Yuan and the others are at must be locked as well. Let's just advance for now. Perhaps there might be another exit here…"
"Un!"
Luo Qiqi nodded in agreement.
Thus, the duo continued downward. Soon, they arrived at an average-sized room. Under the illumination of the Night Illumination Pearls, they could see that there was a stone table and two stone chairs in here—a very simple layout.
There were no windows or doors here. They had come to the end of the path.
"So small?"
Luo Qiqi frowned.
The hall they were in previously spanned over a few hundred square meters, so they thought that the underground chamber below here should at least be larger. Who knew that it would only be around twenty square meters, not to mention, empty? Rather than an underground chamber, it felt like a cage instead.
"We're at the end? Could it be that… I've really picked the wrong passageway?"
Zhang Xuan's complexion also turned rather awful.
He didn't pick this road on a whim… but judging from the narrow room and the lack of any further passage for them to walk down on, could his instincts have truly failed him?
Were they doomed to die here?
Looking around, Zhang Xuan suppressed his anxiety and said, "Regardless of whether I am mistaken or not, judging from how deep the underground chamber is, and the effort put into installing the Dragon Severing Lock, it's not logical for the passageway to end with this small room. There must be some kind of trick to this room!"
Dragon Severing Lock was an extremely valuable artifact, even for a 6-star celestial designer. Putting aside the technology required to install it, just the resilient material that made it difficult for even a normal Saint to break it was incomparably expensive in itself.
It truly didn't make sense to use such a valuable object to seal a passageway just to have such a small room at the very end of it.
"I'll try looking around."
Luo Qiqi nodded. She walked to the stone table and touched it, but she instantly withdrew her fingers with a shocked expression. "There's no dust at all!"
Astonished, Zhang Xuan rushed up and touched the table as well. His face immediately turned grim.
The stone table and stone chairs had been here for innumerable years, and yet, there wasn't the slightest dust to be found on them. It was as if someone had dusted them regularly…
"Could it be that… someone actually lives here?"
Luo Qiqi narrowed her eyes.
It was one thing for a voice to be recorded on a Mechanical Recorder, but if someone was alive… that would change the essence of things!
First and foremost, they would be in even graver danger than before.
This was a power that could even kidnap the 6-star pinnacle Blacksmith Wu Yangzi alive… Their true strength was unimaginable.
If someone were to be alive, given the current cultivation realms of the duo, it would be hard for them to escape with their lives!
"I took the formation flags outside one by one, and based on my observations, it should have been at least two thousand years since anyone has touched them… To remain in this underground chamber for two thousand years? No one has that long of a lifespan!" Zhang Xuan said with a grim expression.
Even after reaching Transcendent Mortal realm, and one's physical constitution improves by leaps and bounds, one's lifespan would still be limited to a maximum of around three hundred years. It was impossible to go beyond them!
In fact, even upon reaching Saint realm, where one's level of existence evolved once more, a thousand years would still be the limit. It was completely unheard of for any Saints to live for more than two thousand years.
Even Empyrean Kong shi also couldn't withstand the test of time, and eventually vanished in the annals of history.
Given that the formation flags hadn't been touched for two thousand years, it would mean that no one had come out and entered the underground chamber in this period of time. To still be living after such a long period of time… how could that be possible?
Even soul oracles had a limit to their lifespan as well. Back then, if not for the protection from the Nine Hearts Lotus, under the corrosion of the Five Soul Declines, it would have been impossible for Mo Hunsheng to live so long.
"But… if there are no living beings here, why is there no dust in here?"
Luo Qiqi also understood the logic behind this. However, it was extremely clear that this table had been cleaned on a frequent basis.
One must know that they were in an underground chamber which was filled with rocks and dust. It was perfectly normal for dust to accumulate on furniture… If no one was living here, how could the cleanliness of the furniture be explained?
Zhang Xuan interrupted her thoughts.
"That… I'm not too sure either. Let's not think about it now. The urgent matter at hand is to find if there any mechanism that can get us out of here. Otherwise, it will just be a matter of time before we run out of food and water!"
The urgent matter at hand wasn't whether there was anyone here or not—even if there was, given the size of this underground passageway, there was nowhere they could hide anyway.
The thing they had to do now was to find an escape route. The longer they remained here, the more likely it was that something bad would happen to them.
He didn't want to die here just for a mere mission.
"Un!"
Luo Qiqi nodded as she started placing her hands on the walls to feel them.
Zhang Xuan also placed his fingers against the wall while shouting 'flaws' in his mind.
Hu!
A book immediately appeared in the Library of Heaven's Path. Zhang Xuan swiftly opened it up.
"Virescental Stone, a strong mineral found in the ground, created by the collision of earth veins…"
Taking a look, Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless.
The Library of Heaven's Path only analyzed whatever it came into contact with. As what Zhang Xuan touched was the wall and not a mechanism, the Library of Heaven's Path only reflected the properties of the rock.
He slowly slid his fingers along the wall.
He was certain that there was some mechanism along the wall, but due to the other party's ingenious camouflaging of the mechanism with the surrounding Virescental Stone, he was unable to see it at the moment.
Kacha!
While Zhang Xuan was moving along the wall, he suddenly heard the crisp click of a gear. Following which, Luo Qiqi excitedly called out.
"I found the mechanism!"
Turning around, he saw the portion of the wall where Luo Qiqi's hand was pressing against sinking several inches in, as though she was pressing on some kind of button.
Geji! Geji!
The mechanism released deep creaking sound, and an average-sized stone door slowly appeared in front of Luo Qiqi.
"Teacher, look…"
Exclaiming in excitement, she fetched a Night Illumination Pearl with her other hand to throw it in so as to see what was inside when 'hu!', an arm suddenly stretched out and grabbed her up by her neck.
That arm was incomparably thick, similar to the thigh of a human. The muscles, tendons, and junctions looked swollen. The skin was a dark shade of gray, unseemly of the tone a human should have.
"Damn it!"
Everything happened so quickly that Zhang Xuan didn't even have time to react. He narrowed his eyes and hurriedly rushed forward by executing his Heaven's Path Movement Art.
In his path of motion, he whipped out his Glacier Rain Sword and slashed down on that arm.
Before the sharp gleam of the sword, the palm released Luo Qiqi and flicked its finger toward the sword instead.
Ding!
As the black fingernails came into contact with the tip of the sword, a mighty force suddenly came gushing toward Zhang Xuan as though he was struck by a meteorite. With a stifled feeling in his chest, he was sent flying in an instant.
Peng!
His back crashed heavily against the wall, forming a human-shaped depression in it. A sweet sensation welled up in his throat, and fresh blood seeped from the edge of his mouth.
With his recent breakthrough, his fighting prowess had improved tremendously. In terms of strength, he could even rival a Transcendent Mortal 7-dan Perfect Harmonization realm intermediate stage cultivator. Yet, he couldn't even withstand a single finger flick from the other party!
'The opponent must be at least Transcendent Mortal 8-dan… or even higher!'
Zhang Xuan's face turned livid, and his grip on his sword tightened to the point that the edges of his fingers were turning white.
Back then, he instantaneously realized the danger of the situation and executed the Heaven's Path Sword Art with all the might he could harness. Yet, he was still sent flying with a single flick.
The huge disparity between him and his opponent left despair creeping up on him.
Hu!
While Zhang Xuan was sent flying, the massive palm came grabbing at Luo Qiqi once more.
"Damn it!"
At that moment, Luo Qiqi also recovered from the shock from the sudden attack.
No matter what, she was one of the top geniuses of the Master Teacher Academy, a Transcendent Mortal 6-dan pinnacle expert. It was only due to her carelessness that the other party managed to grab her neck so easily. Having recovered her senses, she immediately bellowed loudly and stabbed her sword forward.
Her swordsmanship was forceful and elegant. Just from her movements itself, it could be seen that her understanding and mastery of swordsmanship wasn't beneath Zhang Xuan by too much!
She had reached the Sword Heart realm as well!
Hu la!
Seeing Luo Qiqi retaliate, the giant palm swiftly changed the trajectory of its motion and slapped her sword instead.
Ding!
Luo Qiqi's sword immediately flew out of her hands and stabbed deep into the ceiling of the room. The immense force from the motion left the sword impaled into the ceiling, shaking non-stop.
"Run!"
Knowing that it would be impossible for them to stand against that huge hand with their cultivation, Zhang Xuan immediately executed the Heaven's Path Movement Art and appeared before Luo Qiqi. Covering her with his zhenqi, he picked her up and immediately retreated to the corner.