Hong Yuan responded loudly as she unloaded the heavy giant axe from her shoulder. She gripped the axe handle with a backhand hold and strode at the very front of the group, eager to finish this dim journey back.
She turned her head to look at her companions a few steps behind, her loud voice echoing in the passage: "When we get back, I'm definitely going to have a massive feast, and none of you better try to stop me."
"Alright, my treat when we get back."
Su Yuehe's gentle voice drifted down the passage. The tense muscles on her face finally relaxed slowly, revealing shallow dimples on her cheeks.
"As long as everyone makes it back safely, you can eat whatever you want."
The girl's gaze then fell on Chen Guan. Although the heavy worry in her eyes had mostly faded, a trace of lingering fear remained between her brows.
"Chen Guan, are you really feeling okay?"
Su Yuehe deliberately lowered her voice, her tone carrying a cautious probe.
The previous experience of her soul being submerged by endless sorrow was too real. She simply couldn't imagine how much pressure Chen Guan had endured facing the source alone.
"I'm fine."
Chen Guan met the girl's concerned gaze and gave a steady reply.
Chen Guan felt helpless inwardly. This was the third time; it seemed Su Yuehe was truly worried about him.
There was an inexplicable emotion welling up in his heart.
He knew that although the explanation he gave deliberately omitted many details, the overall narrative did not deviate from the truth.
It was just that the hidden version behind this matter, the truth about the Lord of Nothingness guiding the world to extinction, was simply too bizarre. In fact, Chen Guan also didn't dare to be certain that what Baal told him was absolutely correct.
However, even if Baal had fabricated some parts, it couldn't all be nonsense; there had to be some credibility to it.
But was what Baal knew definitely the truth?
When He was born, the Lord of Nothingness had already died with the real truth.
Under Hong Yuan's lead, the group began to retrace their steps along the passage they had come from.
The chaotic sounds of footsteps echoed back and forth in the empty stone corridor, diluting much of the solemn atmosphere around them.
Long Ao remained silent, walking on Chen Guan's right side. He didn't ask a single question, merely using this act of walking side by side to express his trust.
An Changqing stayed at the very back of the group to cover the rear. He constantly kept an eye out for any movement on the surrounding rock walls while communicating with the people ahead in a gentle tone.
"The results of this exploration have indeed exceeded our original expectations, but it also came with considerable risks."
"Yuehe, the data you need should have all been collected. We can slowly summarize and organize it once we get back."
"Mhm."
Su Yuehe nodded gently in response. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her portable terminal, looking down to confirm the data jumping on the screen.
"I have completely recorded the characteristics of that ancient civilization. This is absolutely a major discovery capable of changing our current understanding."
At this point, the girl couldn't help but look up at Chen Guan walking ahead, complex emotions surging in her clear eyes.
The prerequisite for obtaining this major discovery was Chen Guan, this unique key.
The long passage finally came to an end. When a glimmer of light that did not belong to the inside of the ruins shone through the gap ahead, everyone felt their spirits lift.
Hong Yuan was the first to rush out of the cave entrance. She spread her arms and tilted her head up, taking a deep breath of the crisp air carrying the scent of ice and snow.
"Ah! The air outside smells so much better!"
She shouted heartily, as if wanting to exhale all the pent-up gloom in her chest.
Then, she suddenly shivered, shrinking back behind Yin Chen and quietly rubbing against Yin Chen's shield.
She couldn't help it; it was too cold outside to let her show off blindly.
The others also successively walked out of the cave entrance, returning to the world of ice and snow outside.
The bright light caused momentary discomfort to their eyes, but the reassuring feeling of seeing the light of day again made everyone relax.
Yin Chen raised his hand to block the glaring light. He looked around, magnificently ignoring a certain shivering redhead.
Let her be. Anyway, he couldn't possibly really leave Hong Yuan to freeze to death in the snow.
Roughly determining the direction, Yin Chen said, "Let's go, while it's still early."
As they were leaving, Chen Guan's footsteps paused. He turned his head, his gaze passing over his companions and falling on that weather-beaten boundary monument.
He merely looked at it for a few moments, memorizing the blurry ancient carvings on it.
That voice was not entirely without influence on him.
Why was that voice so certain that he would return?
Gathering his thoughts, Chen Guan strode forward, never looking back again.
...
"It seems our pilot is quite reliable. The spaceship is parked right there safely."
Seeing the spaceship, the heavy stone in Yin Chen's heart dropped.
If they couldn't find the spaceship, he and Hong Yuan would both have to shiver in the snow. Being cold was a small matter, but losing face was a big deal.
On the snow not far away, the small spaceship was parked quietly, its hatch tightly closed, looking no different from when they had left.
As if sensing his gaze, a figure rushed over from the spaceship, stumbling and crawling, stepping unevenly in the thick snow, while shouting loudly.
"Oh my god! God, Buddha, Taishang Laojun, you guys finally came out!" The pilot responsible for flying the spaceship jogged over, his face full of undisguised anxiety.
"I thought... I thought something happened to you!"
An Changqing stepped forward to meet him and spoke gently, "Sorry to make you worry. Is the spaceship fixed?"
"It's fixed. It was a minor engine problem, I sorted it out in a day."
The pilot panted heavily, resting his hands on his knees. "But do you know how long you were in there?"
Hong Yuan answered nonchalantly, "Not long, right? Felt like just a few hours? Half a day at most."
"A few hours?" The pilot's voice changed pitch. He held up three fingers and waved them in front of everyone. "A full three days! Three days and three nights! My god, do you know how I spent these three days? I couldn't reach you on the comms, and I just waited here anxiously every day!"
He became more agitated as he spoke: "If I still couldn't contact you, I was going to follow the highest emergency protocol and contact the Great Wall!"
"Three days?" Hong Yuan's eyes suddenly widened. She looked at her companions beside her and found the same surprised expressions on their faces. Her confidence immediately returned. "How could that be? It felt like only a few hours had passed inside!"
"The time flow inside and outside the ruins is different." Su Yuehe quickly calmed down and made the most reasonable analysis. "This phenomenon is very common in some ancient ruins. It seems we really stumbled upon something huge this time."
Being out of contact for three days, her mother must be worried sick. Only then did Su Yuehe belatedly start worrying about how to explain it.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
