“Final two hours? This No.9 Ancient Civilization Ruin seems to have a time limit for access,” Luo Feng mused inwardly, maintaining silence as he and the other seven War God elites entered the silvery-gray elevator.
The elder in red pressed the elevator button.
Beep!
The elevator doors shut, and the silvery-gray elevator began descending. “Hiss~~~” The passage entrance quickly sealed shut, and the wilderness in the depths of the Amazon jungle returned to its tranquil state. Even so, none of the many beasts wandering the jungle dared to approach this place.
…
Clang! The elevator doors opened.
Before them appeared a black corridor forged from alloy, illuminated by fluorescent lights.
“Everyone, welcome to the human base at the No.9 Ancient Civilization Ruin,” the elder in red spoke fluently in Mandarin, then switched seamlessly to English. “We’re all pressed for time, so I won’t waste words. Follow me!”
The elder led the way, with Luo Feng and the other seven following closely.
Down the black corridor, they passed through no fewer than nine checkpoints before finally arriving at a vast hall spanning hundreds of square meters. Within the hall gathered nearly a hundred humans from all over Earth, most stationed at computer terminals.
“Welcome, eight War Gods!”
“May the War Gods survive and return!”
“Gogogo! Champagne awaits you upon your return!”
The underground base personnel were overly excited, but the eight War Gods remained silent. The red-robed elder smiled and said, “Pay no heed to these guys. They’ve been underground too long and get overly excited when they see outsiders. Alright—eight of you, ready?”
He repeated the question in both Mandarin and English.
The eight said nothing, merely staring at him.
“Good. Open the entrance passage!” the elder commanded.
Ka ka ka ka~~~~
The curved alloy wall at the front of the hall cracked open, revealing a circular tunnel.
“What!”
“Heavens!”
The previously silent eight War Gods stared in shock at the circular tunnel, eyes wide with disbelief. Luo Feng too was astonished. At first, the tunnel was clearly made of alloy for the first couple of meters, but beyond that it became a strange dark brown, as if formed from entangled roots.
At the tunnel’s end was a mirror constantly emitting light—or perhaps it was a mirror.
“Follow this passage straight ahead, step into the glowing mirror. It isn’t a mirror—it’s the entrance to the No.9 Ancient Civilization Ruin!”
“Once you enter, there’s no turning back.”
“Eight War Gods, I wish you luck in returning alive!” The elder in red looked at Luo Feng and the others, as did the personnel in the vast hall.
Their fate beyond this point was uncertain!
The eight War Gods remained briefly silent.
“Gentlemen.” Luo Feng strode toward the tunnel. “I’ll go first.”
“Let’s go!”
“Go!”
Luo Feng led the way, followed by the other War Gods one by one.
“Ka ka ka~~” The alloy walls behind them sealed shut, leaving no possibility of retreat.
Inside the strange tunnel formed by dark brown roots, a strange scent wafted through the air. Luo Feng sniffed. “Hmm, is this smell coming from these roots? It smells very similar to the Black God Suit.” The Black God Suit emitted a faint but persistent odor when approached closely.
“A glowing mirror? The entrance to the ruins?” Luo Feng gazed ahead at the circular mirror emitting rays of light.
“Good luck, Brother Luo Feng!” Tuobaya Rock shouted beside him.
“Same to you!”
Luo Feng laughed and without hesitation stepped forward, entering the glowing circular mirror. The mirror rippled like water, easily swallowing him whole.
“I’ll go next.”
A black man muttered in his native tongue, clenched his teeth, and stepped into the glowing mirror.
One by one… all eight entered.
…
This was a black hall, with a hemispherical ceiling. The entire black hall spanned hundreds of square meters. Dreamlike rays of light shone from the ceiling, making the entire space seem surreal.
“This is the No.9 Ancient Civilization Ruin?”
Luo Feng stood within the hall, glancing around, his expression shifting slightly. “Where are the others?”
…
At that very moment, the other seven War Gods, including Tuobaya Rock, also appeared in separate black halls, each identical in structure.
“Truly worthy of being an ancient civilization ruin.”
“I took one step in, felt a blur, and ended up in this hall, separated from the others!” Tuobaya Rock curiously surveyed his surroundings. In truth, they had all known beforehand that each War God would face different challenges and varying levels of difficulty within.
Suddenly—
A dreamlike beam of colorful light enveloped Tuobaya Rock.
A string of complex sounds echoed through the hall—”XXXXXX.”
“Good thing I have the translation software.” Tuobaya Rock looked down at the communication watch on his wrist. Only two seconds later, the watch emitted a translated voice—”Please enter the Type A passage.” The watch screen also displayed the ancient language text matching the pronunciation.
The black hall began to tremble gently. About half a minute later, a black passage appeared, marked with intricate script.
“Strange, same text. This must be the Type A passage. Anyway, this is the only one available!” Tuobaya Rock strode directly into the passage. As soon as he entered, the passage in the black hall instantly blurred and vanished.
…
At the same time, seven of the eight War Gods had already entered deeper into the Ancient Civilization Ruin through their respective passages.
…
In the black hall, Luo Feng was enveloped by the dreamlike colorful light.
“What’s going on? This colorful light has covered me for so long—over 60 seconds—and nothing has happened?” Luo Feng was puzzled. He looked up at the dreamlike light, unaware that the other seven War Gods had already entered their respective ancient passages shortly after being enveloped.
Only Luo Feng!
“XX, XX, XX…” A rhythmic, piercing sound suddenly echoed throughout the black hall.
“Translation software.” Luo Feng quickly looked down at his communication watch, which was already activated. The watch emitted a sound—”Warning! Warning! Warning!”
“Warning?” Luo Feng was taken aback.
Luo Feng had no idea that Earth’s humans had never encountered such a situation with the No.9 Ancient Civilization Ruin.
The dreamlike colorful light surrounding Luo Feng suddenly vanished. At the same time, from the hemispherical ceiling of the black hall, dozens of crystal-like ropes, as thick as fingers, shot down rapidly—over a hundred in total, like lightning, their speed even surpassing the long vines of the Fog Island.
“Not good.” Luo Feng tried to dodge.
Unfortunately, the crystal ropes moved at an unimaginable speed. Before Luo Feng could resist, they instantly wrapped around him. One by one, the crystal ropes bound Luo Feng like a “zongzi” (sticky rice dumpling).
“What’s going on?”
“How come I’ve never heard of anyone being bound up upon entering the base?” Luo Feng immediately activated the Dark Cloud Shuttle in his backpack. Six blades shot out like lightning, slashing at the crystal ropes.
The blades of the Dark Cloud Shuttle, which could cut through steel like tofu, left not a single mark on the crystal ropes.
“Break free!” Luo Feng struggled.
“Pop! Pop! Pop!”…
Continuously controlling the flying blades to cut.
Unfortunately, against those crystal ropes, his efforts were like a child’s struggle—utterly useless. Luo Feng gradually realized… his current strength was utterly powerless against this Ancient Civilization Ruin! After all, how could he possibly contend with a ruin capable of bestowing the Black God Suit?
“The Ancient Civilization Ruin indeed brims with the unknown. Never expected to encounter such a situation upon arrival. However, these crystal ropes merely bind me—they probably don’t intend to kill me.” Luo Feng pondered.
At this moment—
Each crystal rope binding Luo Feng emitted streams of light flowing through them, rapidly transmitting upward to the ceiling of the black hall! It was as if data were being transmitted through a computer. This process lasted approximately 30 seconds, and then abruptly—
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
All the crystal ropes swiftly retracted and vanished into the ceiling.
“XXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXX…” A long sentence echoed through the entire black hall.
Luo Feng immediately looked down at his communication watch.
The watch displayed complex text while simultaneously emitting a voice in Mandarin—
“Congratulations. Your brain domain breadth is 21, exceeding 18. You qualify to enter the ‘Elite Passage’ of this trial base. Since this is the first activation of the Elite Passage in 5,000 years, please wait for 15 minutes.”
Luo Feng stood in the black hall, his mind in turmoil.
Didn’t the royal guard mention that the entire No.9 Ancient Civilization Ruin only had Type A and Type B passages? Where did this ‘Elite Passage’ come from?
And it hadn’t been opened for 5,000 years?
What’s more, something called ‘brain domain breadth’?
“What is brain domain breadth?” Luo Feng wondered. “My brain domain breadth is 21, exceeding 18? Sounds like brain domain breadth 18 is some kind of passing threshold. According to the Ancient Civilization Ruin, among all the War Gods who’ve entered, apparently no one has ever qualified for the Elite Passage.”
Was this a good or bad thing?
On the positive side, the ‘Elite Passage’ suggested something different from the common Type A and Type B passages, possibly offering unexpected gains.
On the negative side, once entering the Elite Passage, all prior experience would be useless!
Never opened in 5,000 years—no one knew what awaited within the ‘Elite Passage’.
“Fifteen minutes feels so long.”
“My communication watch has no signal at all. Seems like inside this ruin, communication with the outside is impossible.” Luo Feng glanced at his watch, unsurprised. If communication were possible between inside and outside, organizations like the Limit Martial Arts Gym and Thunder Martial Arts Gym would likely have far more knowledge about the Ancient Civilization Ruin.
Time ticked by…
Luo Feng waited silently.
“XXXXXXX…” A string of words echoed through the black hall, and the hall walls began to tremble slowly.
Luo Feng looked down at his communication watch, which translated the message—”Please enter the Elite Passage.”
He looked up!
A deep, bottomless black passage had appeared on the wall of the black hall. Beside the passage were complex inscriptions, very similar to a section of text displayed on the watch.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage