Liumi got excited, ready to run towards the place. By their side, she didn’t need to think too much; she just tried to help while having fun with everything. The two carefully crawled towards the light. But even after two days, they couldn’t see the source of the light.
By the third day, the light had dimmed, but they had already determined its direction, so there was no problem.
They stealthily passed many sentries: beasts, demons, humanoid races, unknown races, hybrids... It was very strange to see so many varieties. Once, they almost bumped into one of them, which quickly led them to find a hole to hide in.
They wouldn’t have trouble dealing with a group of just ten of these creatures, but if they were exposed, they would quickly be pursued by others around, which would be fatal.
From the moment they saw that ray of light, they traveled for an entire week before sighting a distant mountain.
The mountain was huge and dark as pitch. Its circumference was incalculable, but it wasn’t steep. It was like a massive pile of earth. However, it was so large that it was shocking.
When they saw this mountain, the two bodies they were using trembled, and they felt a suffocating sensation. It was as if an energy in the mountain was trying to crush them. As they reached the foot of the mountain, they felt like they were about to cough up blood.
Liumi was amazed and surprised, though it seemed rather gentle to her. "This mountain is too sinister. It’s emitting such an evil sensation, but I’ve seen Master emit something much worse... how strange. They seem to be in different realms."
Alm and Bruno fell silent. It was the karma and resentment of billions who must have died in that place, while they... well, they killed a number that couldn’t be counted. At that exact moment, the mountain trembled, and a majestic aura suddenly surged.
Liumi and Bruno quickly took out two hollow stones and hid inside them. The stones were Alm’s idea. When they encountered certain situations, the stones could blend with the surroundings. Their edges had been ground to perfection. No one would suspect the stones were anything more than ordinary. In normal situations, that was futile, but since no one had cultivation and IQ to sense them, a disguise for the eyes was super effective.
In an extremely mundane part of the rocks, there were two small holes. They could both see the outside through them.
Bruno saw a set of golden armor slowly ascending the mountain. A ray of light illuminated it, and a huge projection shot off in the distance. That direction was the entrance.
"That’s another very good item," Liumi looked at the armor, admiring it. She was a blacksmith and could discern very well.
As the armor ascended slowly, she noticed a single thin chain holding it. Clearly, this ancestral armor was bait to lure more people and then kill them.
Although they couldn’t see the chain clearly, the fact that it could contain a powerful item with an immortal soul showed how terrifying it was. If the chain wasn’t strong enough, the soul could escape on its own.
"Let’s get closer," Bruno said, and the two emerged from the stones. Based on their previous experience, that beam of light would continue for about two days. Going now into the shadow of the light would be safer.
Now that they had reached this point, this region was no longer defended by hidden sentries. However, they were still cautious. When they reached the top of the mountain and saw the situation, everyone took a deep breath.
On top of the mountain, there were numerous holes. Some were large and others small, seemingly placed randomly. As for the golden armor, it was floating over one of the holes, and the chain holding it was coming out of the hole.
They chose one of the holes to enter the mountain. There was a tunnel leading to the center, and the two approached cautiously. They found that the mountain seemed hollow. As they ventured further in, at the center was a huge square pit as deep as an abyss.
It was hundreds of kilometers wide, larger than the mountain and descending into the underground; it was so deep that all they could see was darkness. They couldn’t see clearly with their eyes, and Alm and Bruno dared not use their souls.
"Let’s descend," Bruno said, peering into the darkness below. They began to descend the wall like lizards. After several kilometers, a notch appeared in the wall.
This notch was two meters tall. Upon seeing it, Liumi almost let out a startled scream. That was because there was a female elven figure standing inside the notch.
"She... she’s already dead," murmured Liumi, surprised. Upon careful examination, they saw she was very young, appearing to have the life force of a cultivator under a hundred years old. But within her, Alm and Bruno felt something shocking.
’She’s a heroine. And not just any, she’s a Heroic Founder, coming from the Queen’s universe,’ Alm said dryly in their minds.
This woman was exceptionally calm, appearing to be in a meditative state. She wasn’t moving, and her body was constantly absorbing spiritual energy as if she were cultivating. But obviously, there was no spiritual energy to cultivate; she must have been absorbing something else.
"Her soul has already dissipated. All that’s left is a shell," Liumi affirmed, sensing instantly with her soul cultivation.
Alm and Bruno nodded curiously. This was new to them. If a person’s soul had dissipated, then it meant the body was dead. But her corpse was still acting and not emitting the death Yin, which went completely against what they knew.
Bruno carefully nudged the corpse, and it shifted aside. Seeing what was behind it made them even more curious. There was a black chain stabbing through the corpse’s spine.
The chain was extremely strange, but most shockingly, this chain seemed alive, as if it were made of flesh. It was like the chain was growing on the corpse’s back. It connected to the stone wall behind it, and they could clearly feel some energy from the corpse being slowly drained.
They continued descending.
As they proceeded, they saw more and more notches in the walls with corpses. The atmosphere was tense and bloody; these bodies were mostly heroes. Many were Heroic Heirs from universes, but Alm and Bruno also saw common cultivators and even another Heroic Founder from the Queen’s universe. It seemed they had stumbled upon one of the reasons why heroes disappeared at a certain point and never returned.
At that exact moment, the sound of the wind changed. The duo immediately recognized something flying through the air above.
Luckily, the place was so deep that they couldn’t be seen. Alm and Bruno acted quickly, using their souls to find empty spots. "Come here, let’s disguise ourselves as corpses," they said in Liumi’s mind, who nodded.
They stood in the notches, assuming the same posture as the other corpses. They even adjusted the fluctuations of their aura to appear as lifeless as the corpses.
They had barely prepared when more than ten winged demons approached flying. They held a person in their hands. It was a cultivator and clearly a disciple of a powerful sect from the underworld.
Bruno closed his eyes and remained still, and Liumi did the same. Solemnly, they acted dead. Until Liumi suddenly realized they were approaching her; that was because there was an empty spot next to her for the cultivator.
The demons came almost beside her, and Liumi could smell blood coming from them. One of them threw the cultivator into another notch. The cultivator let out a grunt of pain. In fact, he wasn’t dead yet.
A demon grabbed the chain coming out of the wall. Its tip flickered with a cold, sharp light. The chain pierced through the cultivator’s back, causing him to let out a miserable scream that echoed throughout the pit.
The cultivator’s screams lasted only a few breaths before his body stiffened. His cries ceased, and his twisted, pained expression calmed.
Alm gently used his soul to feel. He sensed the chain absorbing the cultivator’s soul. Once his soul was torn from him, he entered an extremely strange state. It was as if he had become a puppet, yet his body did not die.
A strange energy also emanated from the chain, causing runes to suddenly cover the cultivator. Then he entered a state similar to the other corpses. After observing for a few minutes, seeing the cultivator was completely still, the demons flew away.
They waited silently for two hours; nothing else emerged. Alm and Bruno felt no more danger. They pulled Liumi who opened her eyes with an excited gleam.
"How eerie and interesting," she exclaimed.
The two carefully began descending again. After three hours, they finally saw the bottom of the pit. At the bottom of this vast place, there was an altar suspended in the air by thirteen enormous chains connected to it. These chains were each two meters thick, and wild energy flowed through them toward the altar. They resembled four black dragons linked to the altar.
Among the chains, small objects floated, absorbing some of the energy, but the bulk seemed to flow toward the center. Alm and Bruno focused on the center of it all, and just thinking about approaching gave them a sense of mortal danger. But this danger seemed concentrated only at the center.
’It’s probably linked to the corpses and the entire formation; let’s take a look,’ Bruno suggested, stepping carefully on one of the chains. The chain did not react at all.
Curiously waving, Liumi climbed up and felt like she was stepping into a powerful current. She could sense boundless energy flowing toward the altar.
As they advanced, Alm concluded after analysis, ’This flow of energy is definitely an unknown power linked to celestial laws. Souls are just appetizers. It seems the corpses on the walls truly exist only to feed this altar; heroes or Empyreans must be able to gather this power using the Queen’s dominion rune.’
They didn’t know what power this was, nor its purpose. But it was certainly something above divine realms. ’It’s possible this is the method to create immortal cultivators...’ Bruno pondered, but it was too early to confirm or deny anything.
It took them six hours to reach one of the spots between the chains closest to the center. There they saw a massive coffin. As they approached, Bruno noticed it was sealed and couldn’t see what was inside.
"Shall we open it?" Liumi asked, already at his side and ready to open it.
Bruno nodded, equally excited. They could only rely on their physical strength to move it, and the coffin lid seemed heavier than a mountain. The two had to exert tremendous force to slowly push it aside.
When they finally opened a one-meter-wide gap, they looked inside and saw a dense mist of spiritual energy obscuring their view. Alm and Bruno were excited and quickly put the contents into their inventory.
Unfortunately, it ended quickly, but it was a valuable gift they needed. Then they focused on fully opening the coffin, revealing its obvious contents.
There was a person lying in the coffin, covered in golden runes, whose gender or race was not clear. They appeared to be simply sleeping, arms crossed over their chest and holding something cylindrical not very large under their hands.
"This seems to be something good," Alm and Bruno said in unison, their eyes shining as they clearly recognized a mineral radiating a strong connection to natural laws. It seemed to nourish the body of the person in the coffin. They couldn’t identify the mineral, even with the Forge God’s Dao, but it was evident it could be transformed into something powerful.
"I’m going to lift its arms; swap that object for something similar," Bruno whispered to Liumi, extending his hand cautiously.
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As he raised his arms slightly, Liumi nervously approached, sweating as she carefully removed the object. It was a peculiar magenta-colored mineral, polished and cylindrical, measuring about four inches. It was surprisingly dense and heavy, requiring effort to remove.
Liumi turned to the spatial ring that belonged to the succubus, containing many of her personal items. "What should I use?"
"Anything with a similar shape will do," Bruno replied, focused on the figure before them.
"How about this... hairpin?" Liumi suggested, sounding serious.
Bruno nodded without looking directly, intent on not disturbing the figure. Liumi took out a red cylindrical object with two rounded and curved ends, the smaller one protruding from the center. She felt something odd as she held it, sensing a slight mechanical buzz inside, but decided to ignore it.
After she placed it, Bruno carefully repositioned the figure’s arms in the coffin. There was no immediate reaction, but moments later, Bruno looked at the substitute with a strange expression on his face.
"That hairpin of yours... you really don’t know what it is, do you?" He spoke, looking at Liumi.
"Hm? Isn’t it a hairpin?" She innocently replied. "I felt something vibrating a bit when I picked it up... what was it?"
"...something the succubus used for solo fun," Bruno explained somewhat awkwardly, looking at her, and Liumi still didn’t fully understand. "Look closely... the two ends fit perfectly..."
"Oh?! So there was something like that... interesting, hehehe," Liumi finally realized, smiling with a mix of embarrassment and amusement.
Bruno chuckled mischievously, he would love to be present to see the figure’s face when they woke up and saw the entertainment device they were holding; it would be even better if someone else woke them up. Then, he refocused on that peculiar mineral.
It was extremely heavy, and as he held it, he felt the natural laws around him flowing into it. Quickly, Alm and Bruno became excited, sensing that it truly contained an affinity with all five natural elements. It was an excellent treasure for Corin, but that would be for the future. The immediate uses were promising. Alm and Bruno confirmed something within the mineral that made them grin villainously.