Traveling through the heavens from swallowing

Chapter 468: The passage leading to the center. I won’t pretend anymore. I will kill people in front of Yuanshi Tianzun!
"How did you find it?"

Wu De was completely confused. What the hell did you find?

So I searched in there for more than ten hours and found nothing, but you reached the destination directly in just a few hours?
Liu Mang sighed in his heart. It was not that Wu De's knowledge and technical level were inferior to the other two professors. It was really affected by Liu Mang's luck. Even if Wu De could have found the entrance, he couldn't find it after following Liu Mang all the way.

"It was me who led the investigation into the fog," Liu Mang muttered to himself, feeling quite embarrassed.

The graduate student was so excited: "It was luck. When we reached the lower level of the Tianwei area, Professor Wang accidentally fell and the ground collapsed, revealing a new passage. The two professors made a brief deduction and determined that this was the entrance to the central area!"

"It turns out that the entrance is not on the wall on the same floor, but underground!" Wu De suddenly realized.

Previously, he used the science of mechanisms and the Eight Diagrams to deduce the mechanism to open the entrance to the central area, but found nothing. As a result, he didn't use any mechanism at all, but just dug an underground passage in the Tianwei area!

Professor Wang knew that with a weight of nearly 200 kilograms, it would not be surprising if the tunnel cover, which had been corroded by time, was directly collapsed.

Wu De cursed inwardly: "Damn it, this is the Chosen One, this is even possible!"

There is no need to explore the central area immediately. Wait until Group 2 completes their original mission and completes the outer map.

The map drawn by Liu Mang is indeed close to complete, but there are still some additions and corrections.

For example, the tunnels in the central area are a group of things that have not been discovered, and it makes sense to repeat the exploration.

A few more hours passed, and Group 2 came out covered in dust.

The underground palace had not been cleaned for a long time and was very dusty. The four people who came out were all unkempt.

The most outstanding one is Professor Wang, the chosen one. He looks like someone who has just dug coal, black and shiny. He would stand out among the crowd in Africa.

Wu De immediately stepped forward to support Professor Wang. He was a great contributor. Without him, there was no telling when the central area would have discovered the incident.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. The tents have been prepared and the public shower facilities have been built. Everyone, go take a shower first, then eat and rest. Professor Wang, you fell in there, remember to see the medical staff later, and you need treatment as soon as possible if you are injured."

The four of them were also extremely tired. They replied to Wu De weakly for a few words, then went to take a shower, eat, and sleep.

Anyone would feel tired after exploring in the dark and cold underground palace for more than 10 hours in a row. This is much more tiring than running 5 kilometers.

Wu De got the second set of supplemented maps and found that there were only about four modifications and one addition.

He looked at Liu Mang with approval. This was an incredible level. In the past, even if one repeated the exploration ten times, it would still be difficult to get such a detailed map. Every time an exploration took place, the map would basically undergo a major change and a large number of new additions, and sometimes there would be discussions and wrangling.

This time, Liu Mang's first edition of the map was not only extremely complete, but also had very few errors and omissions, and there were no problems with the structure. This was really amazing. In any case, Wu De would never be able to achieve this level.

Now that the map has been completed to this extent, the exploration of the periphery can be continued in the later stages, and the initial exploration can stop here.

With this map, lighting facilities can be arranged in the underground palace.

After arranging the lighting facilities, we will start taking pictures for record, leaving complete image data of the entire underground palace.

These data will be submitted to the higher authorities, who will decide whether to proceed with development and excavation based on the research.

However, based on Wu De's non-existent experience, he guessed that this underground palace must be excavated and developed.

Because the underground palace has indeed fallen into disrepair over the years, the fact that there are no problems now does not mean that there will be no problems in the future.

The most direct impact is that the entrance to the underground palace collapsed and the previous drainage facilities completely failed. Once there is another heavy rain, rainwater will definitely flow back into the underground palace, and the cultural relics will be severely damaged when the water accumulates.

Everything was going on in an orderly manner. An underground palace from the pre-Qin period contained a large number of cultural relics with inestimable value. The whole country was alarmed.

There are only a few Pre-Qin relics in the whole country that are so old and yet so well preserved. You can imagine the importance that the superiors attach to them.

As the leader of the investigation team, Wu De basically got whatever was asked for. Various facilities were gradually completed under the lifting of helicopters, and the construction speed was very fast.

On the third day in the underground palace, a relatively complete camp had been established. The underground palace was also fully equipped with lighting facilities and electricity. Now there was no need to use a flashlight when entering the underground palace.

The security of the camp has been taken over by the garrison. For the safety of the underground palace, the state directly dispatched a battalion, all of whom are armed with live ammunition. There are even two armed helicopters on standby nearby.

The platform outside the entrance to the underground palace is undoubtedly not large enough to accommodate a battalion's camp. Fortunately, not everyone is here. Most people are scattered around the underground palace to set up checkpoints and sentries, etc., to control the entry and exit of people and monitor the movements of the underground palace.

On the morning of the third day, after Wu De held a meeting to report the work progress to his superiors, he set a time to explore the central area.

"At 2:00 pm, we will begin exploring the central area. This time, Professor Wang and I will lead the team. Li Hong and Zhang Liang will follow us. We will be divided into two groups. We will make safety contacts every half an hour. If neither of our groups responds, we will immediately conduct a blockade and search and rescue according to the plan. Check the clock now."

In order to ensure that timing is not affected by special environments, everyone deliberately wore pure mechanical watches. This type of watch does not contain any electronic devices and is driven by pure mechanical energy. Although the time error is relatively large, the reliability is still relatively high and it can operate normally in basically any environment.

Wu De did not have experience in leading such unknown explorations, but he knew that safety came first, so he had already prepared an emergency plan.

This not only ensures your own safety, but also the safety of those outside.

The dangers of exploring ruins do not only come from possible collapses and mechanisms, there are also some unknown mysterious risks that need to be prevented.

Thirty years ago, the excavation of an ancient underground tomb from the Warring States Period in City X caused the deaths of nearly 30 people. This is a horrific lesson that is deeply engraved in the minds of every archaeologist.

Anyone who works in this industry or understands this industry knows that this world is not simple. The mysterious power is hidden behind the secular world but is not completely cut off from it.

Once these forces are accidentally triggered, it is impossible to predict the consequences.

Even Liu Mang's palms were sweating when he stepped into the passage leading to the central area, but fortunately there was wind in the passage, so there was no risk of poisoning or suffocation.

He could confirm that all the mysteries in the 16 outer areas had disappeared. After all, the entrances had collapsed, and theoretically they could no longer maintain their structural integrity. This was not a sign of being maintained by a mysterious force.

But the central area is different. It is not within the Bagua directions. It is an independent system. The collapse of the periphery will not affect it, and perhaps there will be some residual force.

This power does not need to be very strong, even if it is only at the Life Spring level, it is enough to kill all of them.

What's even more terrifying is that the power retained here is not the type that directly triggers attacks, but a latent curse or something like that, which may even cause large-scale casualties, just like the ancient tombs of the Warring States Period.

However, fortune and honor are achieved through risk. Since Liu Mang wants to make it within these three years, he has to take some risks.

If you want to obtain the method of cultivation in peace and stability, it is necessary that your ancestors were once wealthy.

Liu Mang's ancestors were not rich, so he could only become rich first to help his descendants, but if he wanted to become rich first, he had to take risks.

Compared to Liu Mang's nervousness, Wu De and his companions were not so nervous.

The probability of encountering a mysterious force is really too small. The archaeological community has been conducting research for so many years, and only a limited number of problems have been encountered. The only serious accident was the one thirty years ago, so they are not actually nervous.

Liu Mang sighed in his heart: "Those who are ignorant are fearless. The pre-Qin period was a time when the cultivators had not yet left and retreated from the world. We need to be careful with all the relics before the Qin Dynasty."

"If you knew that a random cultivator at the Life Spring Realm, or a big zongzi at a similar level, would be enough to wipe out our camp outside, I wonder if you would still be so relaxed."

Even though the Life Spring Realm is only the second stage of the Wheel Sea Secret Realm, it is already a god in the eyes of ordinary people. If it is put in some garbage TV dramas, it is far superior to many immortals, gods, and Dou Di.

At this point, you can already use mysterious magical powers. Ordinary thermal weapons cannot threaten the existence of this level at all, and missiles cannot even lock on to it.

If you meet someone who knows how to use vicious means, no matter how many times you kill, you will never be able to die.

Fortunately, Liu Mang also evolved during his four years of college life.

He still had no cultivation and could not mobilize any extraordinary energy, but with his previous life experience and scientific training, his physical fitness had gradually surpassed that of ordinary people.

The Earth of Shrouding the Sky is just the Dharma Ending Age, not a spiritual world where cultivation is completely impossible. The upper limit of the human body is naturally very high, and even if they don't practice, there are people who can really practice to the point of being strong enough to lift a tripod.

Although Liu Mang didn't have a ton of strength at this time, he still had about 700 to 800 kilograms of strength.

With his unparalleled martial arts and combat experience, it is still possible for him to kill a cultivator at the Life Spring Realm unexpectedly.

To this end, he specially researched high-grade alloys and made himself a short knife which he tied to his leg. This thing might be just ordinary in the cultivation world, but it was definitely sturdy and durable and could cut through iron like mud. It was enough to break the defense of the Mingquan monks.

In fact, Liu Mang felt very sorry because there was a problem with the system, which resulted in the 96 times of genes that should have been there not being transformed by the system and having no effect in this world at all.

Otherwise, would he need weapons to deal with a mere Life Spring monk? He could be beaten into a pulp with just one punch!
"Let's go. Be careful and don't touch things. If you get poisoned, you may not be able to be saved." Wu De emphasized.

The four of them walked along the passage for a long time, the sound of their footsteps on the ground kept echoing, and the four of them walked out with the momentum of four hundred people.

Wu De laughed and said, "Damn, the ancient people were quite good at pretending. If he ran a few steps in the passage, wouldn't he scare the shit out of people?"

This passage is not a straight line, but rather it spirals underneath the underground palace like a spiral staircase going down until it enters the central area.

The route, which was not very long to begin with, was greatly extended by this method, and because of the twists and turns, you couldn't see far into the passage.

In this situation, if you run, the footsteps will echo more and more frequently and densely, and it will sound as if hundreds of big men will rush out from the front and back at any time, surround the intruders who enter the underground palace without permission and beat them up.

This design is really amazing, and it has some psychological applications in it.

Wu De and his companions knew the situation and were inevitably frightened by the echoing footsteps. They stopped from time to time and waited for the echoing footsteps to fade away.

"Hello, hello, group one, group two, can you hear me?"

Suddenly, the intercoms on Liu Mang and Zhang Liang rang.

Half an hour had passed when the campsite sent the first safety inquiry.

"Received, received. We are safe now. We are still in the passage and have not yet reached the central area."

Liu Mang and Zhang Liang responded briefly and then hung up the intercom.

Although it is an intercom, it is not a wireless intercom, but a wired type with adjustable modes.

The camp placed a repeater in the Tianwei area of ​​the underground palace to establish a wired connection with the investigation team's walkie-talkie. Even if wireless communication fails in special environments, wired communication can be used to maintain contact.

The reason why two graduate students are needed to come in together is to hold the line. No one expects the graduate students to really research anything.

You have to lay out the lines as you walk, and you need some physical strength to do this job. But graduate students actually have pretty good physical strength, after all, they do a lot of dirty and tiring work.

At least Brother Zhang Liang has outstanding physical strength. His muscles are not very strong, but they are beautiful. He can still chat and laugh while carrying a coil weighing hundreds of pounds.

Of course, no matter how outstanding he is, he is no match for Liu Mang. He swung the hundred-pound coil in his hands like a plastic bag, not taking the weight seriously at all. Zhang Liang was stunned.

"Junior Brother Li Hong, I think our Archaeology Department can produce a world boxing champion. What do you think?" Zhang Liang and Liu Mang followed the two professors and whispered to each other to relieve boredom.

Liu Mang glanced at him and nodded, "Brother Zhang does have the potential to be a boxing champion. I am optimistic about you."

Zhang Liang waved his hands repeatedly: "Hey, hey, hey, why is it me? I think you are the real boxing champion. A hundred pounds of stuff is like air in your hands. It's hard not to kill a bull with one punch, right? I think you don't even need to train, you can knock down Tyson on the stage!"

"That's wrong." Liu Mang immediately shook his head. Zhang Liang was wrong. "Killing a cow is nothing. I can kill an elephant with one punch. Brother, don't underestimate me!"

Zhang Liang was speechless. You are the best at bragging and shamelessness.

Two graduate students were chatting in the back, and two professors were chatting in the front.

Professor Wang: "Professor Wu, you don't look well?"

Wu De: "It's okay, your face looks the same."

The two men shone the flashlight from the chin upwards, and the light hitting their faces made them look like ghosts. How could they have a good face? Good fellow, even at their age, they still pretend to be ghosts to scare people. The professors are also very childish.

Another ten minutes passed, and the passage that had spiraled several times finally came to an end.

"How long is the passage?" Wu De asked.

Liu Mang looked at the coil in his hand, and it was exactly 3818 meters.

"3818 meters, we start from the sky position, the radius of the underground palace is about 64 meters, 3818 meters is about 9.5 laps, we are at the bottom position."

Wu De quickly calculated the direction, then calculated the depth at that time based on the slope, and marked the location of the end of the channel on the map.

"Exactly 64 meters below the underground palace? Haha, the ancients were quite particular and had to make up a special number."

Although Wu De was joking, everyone could hear the seriousness in his tone.

The nearly 4000-meter underground tunnel goes 64 meters underground and is still being excavated in the mountain. This project would be very difficult even in modern times, not to mention the pre-Qin era when there were no advanced engineering machines.

Although there have long been speculations that this place is related to mysterious powers, it was only slightly possible before.

Now the situation has changed. What was a slight possibility has become a great possibility, and the danger is no longer comparable.

Professor Wang hesitated: "Professor Wu, why don't we retreat first? This place is too... uh, mysterious. We can't control it."

Matters of cultivation should be left to those who practice cultivation to resolve. They don't know that there are cultivators in this world, but as long as they have a normal brain, they can guess that the country's top leaders have extraordinary powers. The fact that the problem of the Warring States ancient tomb thirty years ago was solved is ironclad evidence.

For safety reasons, it is best that their work ends here.

But is Professor Wu willing to do that?
He has waited for so many years for such an opportunity. If supernatural powers intervene, the results of this underground palace will have nothing to do with him. How can he make further progress then?
"Let's go back!" Wu De decided immediately.

He was willing to do so. His life was more important than anything else. Although his life was not rich now, it was enough. There was no need to risk his life for a chance to go further.

Only when you are alive can you enjoy life.

However, they wanted to leave, but someone didn't want them to leave.

"Teacher, Professor Wu, I think we still need to explore this central area first." Zhang Liang's low voice came from behind.

Professor Wang turned to look at his student, frowning: "Zhang Liang, don't be greedy, safety first, we can't control it here."

Wu De also advised: "Zhang Liang, don't be in a hurry. You are still young and have plenty of opportunities. Don't risk your life."

Zhang Liang raised his head and smiled sarcastically: "Professors, it is precisely because safety comes first that we need to go in and explore first."

The two professors were stunned, and Wu De asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Liang took a step back and hid his body in the corner. Then, he reached into his clothes and fumbled around for a while, and took out a pitch-black object.

The two professors pointed their flashlights at Zhang Liang, wanting to see clearly what he took out.

After seeing it clearly, the two professors broke out in cold sweats.

Surprisingly, it’s a gun!
Zhang Liang calmly loaded his pistol and pointed it at Liu Mang.

Liu Mang: ???
Damn it, I haven’t said anything yet, why are you pointing at me?
The two professors took two steps back unconsciously, and then they realized that the gun was not pointed at them.

But this does not mean safety. Zhang Liang actually has a gun and brought it in here. It is obviously not for self-defense. Moreover, Zhang Liang’s identity must be problematic. Their lives are in the hands of the other party!
Professor Wang was a little excited: "Zhang Liang! What are you doing? Where did the gun come from? Who are you?"

"Shh!" Zhang Liang shushed twice, pointed the muzzle of the gun slightly at Professor Wang, and signaled him to be quiet. "Teacher, don't ask so many questions. We have been together for more than two years. As long as you listen to me, I will let you go."

Professor Wang shut up immediately, but his face looked terrible.

He found it unbelievable that the graduate student he had been supervising for more than two years turned out to be such a person.

Cold sweat broke out on Wu De's face, but he still moved his feet slightly to stand in front of Liu Mang.

There was a fluctuation in Liu Mang's eyes. This Wu De is quite a teacher.

"Professor Wu, please don't move. Expose Junior Brother Li completely. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to give up on you and kill you all."

Wu De's actions did not escape Zhang Liang's eyes, and he immediately threatened him in a cold voice.

Wu De refused to move, so Liu Mang pushed him away with a little force, exposing himself to the gun.

Zhang Liang chuckled and said, "That's right. Junior Brother Li is a superman who can kill an elephant with one punch. I won't feel at ease unless he is under the gun."

Liu Mang was speechless. Damn, it turned out that the danger was caused by bragging.

He didn't care about the threat of the pistol and said calmly, "Brother Zhang Liang, are you a spy from a foreign force? A cultural relic thief? Or, are you a spokesperson for some mysterious force?"

Zhang Liang smiled and said, "Guess?"

Liu Mang shook his head and spread his hands: "Brother, if you don't want to talk, forget it. You should first tell us what you want us to do. It's impossible that you are keeping us here just to show off."

Zhang Liang's face froze slightly, then quickly recovered.

boom!
A gunshot echoed in the corridor, and sparks burst out at Liu Mang's feet, startling Professor Wu and Professor Wang.

"Do you think my gun is fake? How dare you talk to me like that?" Zhang Liang said coldly, the smile on his face was replaced by indifference, and the gun was pointed at Liu Mang's head.

Liu Mang raised his hands and saluted in a French military salute: "Okay, okay, real guns, real guns, I'm scared, I'm scared, brother, don't be impulsive!"

"Humph!" Zhang Liang ignored Liu Mang who was still making trouble even when he was about to die, and said to Wu De:

"Professor Wu, I'm very curious about what's in the central area. Could you lead the way inside and take the students to see the scenery inside?"

Professor Wu smiled bitterly, his legs a little weak: "Do I have any choice?"

Yes, it was clear that they wanted them to go in and help explore the way and serve as cannon fodder. This was the only purpose of keeping them here.

"Professor Wu is a wise man, so let's get started." Zhang Liang put on his fake smile again.

Professor Wu took a deep breath and retreated to the gate at the end of the passage facing Zhang Liang. There was a stone door here. Pushing it open would lead to the mysterious central area.

Although it is called the central area, in fact its area already includes the entire underground palace.

If the door does not open to another passage, then it will be a large space with a radius of nearly 64 meters and a height of about 72 meters. The entire underground palace above is just a ring on the upper part of the step axis.

To be honest, Wu De actually wanted to go in and take a look, but he had to give up for safety reasons.

But now that someone is pointing a gun at them, the primary danger has shifted from the underground palace to Zhang Liang's gun. In comparison, the danger in the underground palace is actually smaller.

Then there is nothing to hesitate about. If you go in, you may survive, but if you don’t go in, you will definitely die. We are all people who have received higher education and can see the situation clearly.

Wu De held the stone door with one hand and pushed, but it didn't move at all.

His face twitched and he tried again with his hands, but still nothing moved.

He tried his best and his face turned red, but he still couldn't shake the stone door at all.

Zhang Liang was speechless: "Teacher, go help Professor Wu."

Professor Wang stepped forward to help with a grim look on his face.

However, even when Professor Wang, who weighed nearly 200 pounds, joined the battlefield, he still could not push open the stone door.

"Junior Brother Li, use all your strength to kill an elephant and open this damn door." Zhang Liang urged Liu Mang again.

Liu Mang walked to the door, looked it up and down, pushed the two professors away, and clasped the gap between the two stone doors with both hands. He neither pushed inwards nor pulled outwards, but instead pushed them to both sides.

Rumble!
With a rustling sound, a burst of stone powder fell, the door sank into the walls on both sides, and the door opened.

Wu De and Professor Wang: "Fuck! It's a sliding door!"

Zhang Liang was also speechless: "It seems that the academic level of the two professors needs to be improved."

"Since it was Junior Brother Li who opened the door, Junior Brother Li should go ahead. It is a good opportunity to show respect to the teacher and find out the danger first."

Liu Mang: “.”

He didn't say much and just walked in.

The moment the door opened, he was relieved. The same smell of decay permeated the air, which was a sign of residual power guarding it.

Behind the door is an arched passage of about 16 meters. After walking through this passage, you will come directly to a huge hall.

The first thing that catches your eye is a huge statue with a divine light covering its head, its left hand raised in the air and its right hand held in the air, looking sacred and majestic, dividing yin and yang. It is the statue of Jade Pure Yuanshi Tianzun.

The entire hall space is divided into two sections. The upper half has a smaller radius of 24 meters and a height of 8 meters; the lower half has a larger radius of 48 meters, which is the sum of the thirty-six celestial beings and twelve earthly branches, and is 64 meters high.

The statue of Yuanshi Tianzun is 72 meters high, with its feet on a platform and a canopy on its head, symbolizing its standing tall and upright.

Wu De, Professor Wang and Zhang Liang were all stunned by this majestic statue and were stunned for a moment.

But just at this moment of hesitation, Zhang Liang flew backwards like a cannonball and hit the wall. The pistol fell to the ground with a clattering sound, which woke up the dazed Wu De and Professor Wang.

"You are actually just an ordinary person. How dare you point a gun at me?" Liu Mang stomped on the pistol and smashed it to pieces, then crossed his arms and sneered.

Zhang Liang was nailed to the wall by the dagger, with blood flowing from his mouth.

He wanted to speak, but the enormous force contained in Liu Mang's knife had already shattered his lungs. His heart and lungs were shattered, and he had no condition to make any sound.

Especially the Dantian area three inches below the navel. Because Liu Mang was worried that Zhang Liang was a cultivator with certain cultivation skills, this area that contained the sea of ​​suffering received special attention. Not only did the flying knife go directly to this place, he even coated the knife with poison.

It turned out that he was worrying too much. Zhang Liang was just an ordinary person who threatened others with a pistol, not a monk.

In summary, Liu Mang made a misjudgment and the damage overflowed.

If Zhang Liang could survive this attack, he wouldn't have to threaten people with the gun, so he couldn't even hold out for 20 seconds and died unwillingly.

I thought Liu Mang was bragging when he said he could kill an elephant, but it turned out that he was wrong. A flying knife could be thrown with the same power as a cannonball, so it was normal to kill an elephant with one punch.

"Li, Li Hong?" Wu De shouted tremblingly, and Professor Wang shrank behind Wu De like an ostrich.

Liu Mang pulled out the dagger, and there was a little blood on his face.

Facing Wu De's call, he showed a smile that he thought was brilliant: "I'm here, teacher."

The two professors suddenly became even more frightened.

(End of this chapter)