Chapter 148: The World Behind the Stone Gate

Beneath the dim, flickering oil lamp, the pitch-black stone walls appeared exceptionally desolate. On the high platform, a one-armed general brandished a frost-gleaming tiger-head saber. His chest was a hollow void, and coupled with a pair of blood-red pupils, he exuded a tragic and fierce aura.

"Get me a bottle of water! I'm dying of thirst!"

Having fought fiercely for nearly two hours, his throat felt as though it were burning. Taking advantage of the general's frenzied state, Li Runze retreated and shouted toward the burly man. Without the slightest hesitation, the heavy-set man immediately picked a bottle of mineral water from a pile of snacks on the ground and tossed it over.

"Glug, glug..."

Li Runze finished the 596-milliliter bottle of water in just a few seconds and let out a long burp. "Refreshing!" Having regained his strength, he shouted to the others, "Hurry up and pack your things! As for that arrogant fellow up there, finishing him off will take no time at all!" With that, he turned and dashed back toward the general.

"Could he be just all talk?" Although the big man said this, he nimbly packed up the items scattered across the ground.

"Is your brain short-circuited by a fart? Even my teacher wouldn't dare guarantee he could take his ultimate technique, what do you think?" Zhu Tianyi said with a smile as he stood up and picked up on the heavy man's remark.

"What's that got to do with me? I only remember you owe me two hundred thousand!" The big man rolled his eyes at Zhu Tianyi. Hearing this, a string of dark lines crossed Zhu Tianyi's forehead. It seemed that trying to reason with the large man was truly unwise, especially when one still owed him money.

While the group bantered, Li Runze on the high platform was preparing to fight for his life.

"Look!" The smiling-faced man pointed at Li Runze on the stage and shouted to the others. His cry startled everyone slightly, but no one blamed him, for the high platform had reached a life-or-death moment.

The blade aura of the tiger-head saber enveloped the general entirely, making it impossible for Li Runze on the outside to strike him. Moreover, the general occasionally released beams of saber energy to attack Li Runze, forcing him to divert his attention to dodge. If things continued at this pace, the outcome for Li Runze would not be optimistic.

"Stop dawdling! End the fight quickly, we still have a long way to go!" Zhu Tianyi, standing below the high platform, was eager to try, but constrained by the circumstances, he had to stay below and couldn't go up, leaving him feeling somewhat stifled. This general was a formidable opponent who had defeated him five times in a row. Now that he was about to be killed by Li Runze, Zhu Tianyi had to admit he felt somewhat unsettled.

It seemed Zhu Tianyi's words took effect. Li Runze abruptly changed from his defensive posture in the midst of battle, his body suddenly leaping into the air. This move made everyone's eyes widen in sheer disbelief; someone was actually able to levitate in mid-air. Had they not witnessed it with their own eyes, they truly would not have believed it.

"You can go die now." Strangely, Li Runze's tone was calm when he said this, completely devoid of passion or grandeur. Then, his right hand extended flatly, and a milky-white point of light began to form in his palm. It grew larger and larger, expanding within just a few breaths into a milky-white sphere of light the size of a washbasin.

"Pop~~~"

With a soft sound, Li Runze's body seemed to be forcefully pushed by something, flying backward directly through the void and crashing straight down into the midst of the group. Meanwhile, the milky-white sphere of light drifted rapidly toward the general like lightning, striking him dead-center, followed by a resounding explosion!

Soon, dense swarms of tiny white specks appeared all over the high platform. Those tiny specks looked quite ordinary, but one glance at the general's state revealed they were anything but simple. The general's entire body was now covered in minuscule black dots. If one's eyesight was sharp enough, they would realize those black dots weren't dots at all, but tiny apertures burned into him by those white luminous specks.

There were simply too many of those white specks. The general's formidable body was soon riddled with tiny holes, and then his massive frame collapsed with a crash, turning into a pile of smoke and dust across the floor.

The entire process was extremely brief; the general didn't even have time to let out a low roar. From the moment Li Runze executed his technique until the general fell, less than two seconds had elapsed. Yet none of them were mediocre, and they naturally saw it clearly. Now, Song Nianqiang finally understood what Zhu Tianyi had meant. That technique was indeed monstrous; it seemed very few people could boast of being able to take it head-on.

"Are you alright?!" Until the general turned to ashes, the group only recovered from their shock, speaking with concern to Li Runze, who had collapsed into Lao Niu's arms.

"I'm fine, just a bit exhausted. For the next hour, I'll probably only have enough strength to protect myself." Li Runze's face was frighteningly pale as he managed to stand up and speak to the others.

"Shall we rest for a while? We have plenty of time anyway, right?" Zhu Tianyi looked toward Song Nianqiang, seemingly seeking his opinion. Song Nianqiang, in turn, shifted his gaze to Li Runze.

"Heh, no need. I don't want to hold everyone back." Accepting a bottle of water from the big man, Li Runze forced himself to take a sip before speaking slowly.

In truth, everyone understood in their hearts that they didn't have much time to squander. Leaving aside how much further they had to travel, the immediate predicament alone was thorny enough. According to Zhu Tianyi's initial thoughts, although this mission wasn't simple, it shouldn't have required many people, especially since they were all elites.

Yet now, Zhu Tianyi realized he was wrong. This tomb was fraught with peril; the slightest distraction would cost them their lives on the spot. They had originally come with three teams, but how long had they been walking, and already nearly half their personnel were lost? As for how to proceed down the road, to be honest, a faint notion of giving up had begun to stir in Zhu Tianyi's mind.

"Alright then. To be honest, we don't have much time to waste here. I trust the organization also imposed a time limit on you all. Let's pick up the pace!" Sighing, Song Nianqiang said rather helplessly.

His words struck a chord with everyone present. The time allotted to them from above was indeed limited, and they had already wasted a portion of it on the road, so they had to hurry. If they failed to complete this mission, their days ahead would undoubtedly be miserable.

As for Song Nianqiang, he was equally anxious. The county magistrate and other high-ranking officials were still waiting at his home. He believed that for every day those officials couldn't see them, they wouldn't be able to sleep a wink. Having an unknown existence constantly threatening their lives made restful sleep impossible.

"Lao Niu! Go open the door!" Zhu Tianyi took over supporting Li Runze from Lao Niu and shouted to the latter. Acknowledging the command, Lao Niu strode toward the stone door. This time, brute force wasn't needed to smash the stone door open; there was a turntable beside it, and as long as one's strength was sufficient, the door could be activated.

For Lao Niu, this task was effortless. He ran up to the mechanism and gripped it, but just as he was about to turn it, Song Nianqiang called out to stop him.

"Wait a moment! Let someone go up and protect Lao Niu. I'm worried there might be traps." The latter part of Song Nianqiang's sentence was directed at Zhu Tianyi.

After a brief moment of thought, Zhu Tianyi signaled the team member proficient in spiritual power to walk over to Lao Niu's side, raising a spiritual barrier in preparation. Meanwhile, Song Nianqiang and the others retreated to a relatively safe distance before letting Lao Niu proceed.

"Click, click, click..."

Amidst a series of clicking sounds, the stone door slowly opened. But just as it cracked halfway open, volley after volley of spears shot out from the gap, each one exceptionally sharp and carrying immense force. If Song Nianqiang and the others hadn't stepped away from directly in front of the doorway, this round of attacks would have turned them into hedgehogs.

The spiritual-power-specialized team member protecting Lao Niu also faced immense pressure. Dense waves of arrows suddenly rained down from above. Had his spiritual barrier not been formidable enough, the two of them would have been turned into hedgehogs as well.

This round of attacks lasted only about a minute before subsiding. Looking at the spears and arrows stuck upside down across the floor, the group couldn't help but admire Song Nianqiang's foresight. Had it not been for him, they would already be a pile of corpses.

"Let's go in and see what's inside!" Fraught with a hint of excitement and anticipation, Song Nianqiang took the lead and walked toward the opened stone door.