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"Holy crap, that's weird!"

Ma Donghe slapped his forehead, muttering in confusion:
"Where's Buddha? Where's the temple? I was just about to take out my New Year's money to donate to incense money, how did it all disappear in the blink of an eye?"

Hou Peng, hands on his knees, gasped for breath, glancing around with lingering fear.

"Was that... a hallucination?"

At this moment, the gray eagle's screams also stopped.

He scrambled backward, his eyes wide with terror, and screamed hysterically:

"We can't go any further! I just sensed it; that wasn't Buddha at all, it was a giant mouth!"

"If we take one more step forward, we'll all be eaten!"

Fang Cheng completely ignored Gray Eagle's ravings.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, gathering the boiling, scalding blood and qi that coursed through his body.

He then pulled his feet out of the mud pit and took another dozen steps forward.

Then, it stopped.

Fang Cheng raised his hand, palm facing forward.

What my fingertips touched was no longer the damp, cold mist.

Less than half a meter away from him, a golden barrier, shaped like water ripples, was spreading out in tiny waves as he touched it.

chi chi-

A faint, unusual sound, like the crackling of roasting meat, suddenly rang out.

A strong burning sensation came from my fingertips, and the pain spread along the nerve endings, piercing deep into my mind.

That seemingly sacred golden halo actually contains extremely destructive high-dimensional radiation energy.

Even with his powerful physique, which was strong enough to withstand heavy machine gun fire, Fang Cheng was now finding it difficult to completely defend himself.

The stratum corneum of the epidermis quickly turned black, emitting a wisp of pungent white smoke.

If it were an ordinary person, the finger would probably turn into a pool of blood in an instant if touched.

This also confirms the horrific deaths of Lynx and Bald Rat, whose bodies melted away.

Fang Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't rush to withdraw his hand.

The next second, a pure golden flame emerged directly from under the skin of his palm.

The domineering and scorching true fire of the sun burst forth from his fingertips, colliding with the foreign corrosive energy that was trying to invade his body.

Two completely different forces clashed and devoured each other on a half-inch square of skin, producing a dull hissing sound.

In the end, the golden flame prevailed, forcefully burning through the attached radiation energy.

Immediately afterwards, the necrotic black skin at the fingertip wound peeled off in a rustling motion, and bright red granulation tissue intertwined and adhered together.

In just a few seconds, the corroded skin and flesh regenerated and healed, restoring its original smoothness.

Not even the slightest scar was left.

After probing the details of the golden light barrier, Fang Cheng slowly withdrew his right hand.

He raised his head, his gaze slightly narrowed, and stared ahead.

Through this distorted, water-like halo, one can vaguely see the bottomless, dark space behind the barrier.

"Is this the entrance to another world?"

Fang Cheng muttered to himself.

Tap, tap.

A series of footsteps came from behind.

Ma Donghe and Hou Peng also mustered up their courage and came over.

"Acheng, what exactly is this thing? It looks kind of creepy."

Ma Dong-hyuk peered curiously at the glowing barrier and asked a question.

"This should be the entrance to the ancient civilization ruins."

Fang Cheng turned around, clapped his hands, and said in a deep voice:
"I plan to go in and check out the situation."

"That's a good feeling!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Donghe patted his chest with his large, fan-like hand and replied nonchalantly:

"Now that we've found the place, let's go in together and see what kind of gold and silver mountains are hidden inside!"

Hou Peng also gripped the dagger in his hand and nodded in agreement, clearly unwilling to miss this tremendous opportunity.

Fang Cheng looked at the two eager individuals, shook his head, and poured cold water on their enthusiasm:
“This barrier can even corrode my physical body. If you don’t have a suitable way to enter, with your current physical condition, forcing your way in will only lead to your death.”

Before Ma Dong-hyuk could retort, he raised his chin, gesturing for the two to look around:

"Look for yourselves, where did the lynx and the bald rat go?"

Upon hearing this, the smiles on Ma Donghe and Hou Peng's faces froze instantly.

They had been in a daze and in shock, and had completely ignored the changes in the number of people around them.

At this moment, reminded by Fang Chengyi, the two quickly turned their heads and looked around.

Sure enough, the two assassins were nowhere to be seen.

Gray Eagle, who was slumped not far away, also shuddered when he heard Fang Cheng's words.

He scrambled to his feet, cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted at the top of his lungs into the thick fog:

"Lynx! Bald rat!"

The grayish-white mist rolled slowly like the tide.

There was complete silence all around; apart from the sound of the wind, there was no response.

"Stop shouting."

Fang Cheng, observing Gray Eagle's futile efforts, said calmly:
"They were just misled by the illusion and walked into this golden light. Their skin and bones were completely melted into blood and evaporated."

The moment those words were spoken, the air seemed to freeze.

The excitement on Ma Donghe and Hou Peng's faces vanished instantly.

A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on their foreheads and streamed down their cheeks.

If Fang Cheng hadn't shattered the illusion with his roar, the two of them would have ended up like the two assassins, their bodies never to be found.

"Fuck him!"

Ma Donghe gasped, took two large steps back with lingering fear, and cursed loudly:
"This bald monk in Buddhist robes is too vicious; he eats people without spitting out the bones!"

Hou Peng's face turned pale. He took a deep breath and solemnly bowed to Fang Cheng.
"Brother Fang, I will never forget your life-saving grace."

Fang Cheng ignored the formalities and walked past the two men directly to Gray Eagle.

Now that we've located the exact location, what's the method to enter the ruins?

"How to enter the ruins? I...I don't know."

Gray Eagle's gaze was somewhat fixed, and he shook his head blankly.

He seemed not to have fully recovered from the shock of his companion's disappearance in the Buddha's light.

"is it?"

Fang Cheng lowered his eyelids slightly, his tone revealing a chilling coldness:

"If you can't even provide this, what's the point of keeping you around?"

As he spoke, he interlaced his fingers and clenched his fists tightly.

A series of popping sounds, like popping beans, immediately followed, the threat being self-evident.

Gray Eagle's knees buckled, his face contorted in despair, and he waved his hands repeatedly.

"Brother Cheng, I really don't know how to get in! But don't worry, I'll contact my contact right now, he'll definitely find a way to get us in!"

Fang Cheng raised his chin, signaling him to make a move.

Gray Eagle felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and immediately pulled the pack bag behind him to the front and unzipped it.

He frantically rummaged around for a bit and pulled out a heavy black communicator from a bottom pocket.

He then pulled out the antenna and quickly pressed a series of encrypted channel buttons with his thumb, ready to contact someone. However, not even a faint signal appeared on the screen.

The communicator's speaker only emitted a harsh, static-like buzzing sound.

Gray Hawk was sweating profusely with anxiety. He slapped the instrument casing twice and tried switching to several backup channels, still unwilling to give up.

Aside from the noise, no response was received.

"Alright, stop wasting your time."

Fang Cheng interrupted his futile efforts, his gaze sweeping over the dilapidated machine:
"The spatial barrier here is weak, and the leakage of high-dimensional energy has caused severe magnetic field interference in the vicinity. Ordinary radio waves cannot penetrate this barrier at all, and your signal has been completely blocked."

Gray Eagle slumped down, his face ashen, as if all his energy had been drained away.

Without contacting the mastermind, we cannot obtain the method to enter the ruins.

They risked their lives and went to great lengths to find this place, only to be blocked by an invisible wall and left staring blankly at it.

This feeling is like finally finding a treasure mountain piled high with gold and silver after going through countless hardships.

But they discovered they didn't have the key to open the door and could only sigh in frustration.

Fang Cheng turned his head and once again cast his gaze upon the golden barrier that rippled like water.

The thick fog churned outside the barrier, yet it could not cross the line even a fraction of a step.

That halo, imbued with terrifying corrosive power, was like an insurmountable wall of sighs, separating the present world from that unknown ancient world.

"Since we don't have the key to open the door..."

Fang Cheng's eyes were bright, and there were faint flames flickering in his pupils.

His hands, hanging by his sides, slowly clenched, and his knuckles cracked again.

He quickly considered all the possibilities in his mind.

Then, he raised his head and made a bold decision.

Perhaps I can try out the new ability I just acquired and test its effectiveness in actual combat.

Fang Cheng took a deep breath of the cold air, which was mixed with the smell of blood.

Immediately afterwards, his dantian suddenly trembled.

The raging blood and qi surged forth like a floodgate opening, rushing through the eight extraordinary meridians.

hum-

Blinding golden flames erupted from beneath his skin, flowing and spreading like boiling magma.

In an instant, the golden light expanded outwards, forming a huge spherical light shield with a diameter of six meters centered on him.

Primordial Realm, open!

The extreme heat instantly dispelled the surrounding chill.

The air inside the light shield distorted violently under the high temperature, and the mud underfoot was quickly dried with a "sizzling" sound, cracking into countless fine lines.

Ma Donghe, Hou Peng, and the others were forced to retreat by the heatwave, and could only cover their faces with their arms, staring in horror at the man who seemed to have transformed into the sun.

Fang Cheng didn't turn around, but strode forward, heading straight towards the semi-transparent golden halo barrier.

hiss hiss hiss—

The moment the two completely different energies came into contact, they erupted with dense sparks and large plumes of white smoke.

The high-dimensional radiation energy, with its terrifying corrosive power, was like a group of piranhas that had smelled meat, frantically tearing at and squeezing the golden halo.

The surface of the Primordial True Domain surged violently, rippling out in concentric circles of turbulent waves.

Fang Cheng's eyes remained calm, as if they were just a gentle breeze blowing in his face.

His leg muscles tightened like steel cables, his military boots crushed the dried mud beneath his feet, and he forced his way through the gap in the barrier, enduring the crushing pressure that seemed to want to crush him.

The moment they passed through the barrier, the sound of the wind behind them and the exclamations of Ma Donghe and the others seemed to be cut off by a knife.

The surroundings instantly fell into absolute silence.

The overwhelming resistance and the golden barrier also vanished abruptly.

Fang Cheng leaned forward slightly, then shifted his weight downward to steady himself.

The light emanating from the Primordial True Domain barely illuminated the surrounding scenery.

This place is like a deep, dark passage.

All around was a churning black mist.

What I was standing on was some kind of cold, hard black rock.

The golden flames flickered in Fang Cheng's pupils.

He maintained a steady pace, taking firm steps, and walked deeper into the passage.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a faint, eerie green glow gradually appeared in the darkness ahead.

Fang Cheng slowed his pace, clenched his right fist, and slowly approached.

With the help of the light, he could see the scene ahead.

It was a dilapidated Buddhist pagoda that was over ten meters high.

The tower is covered with signs of weathering and peeling, as if it has stood here for countless years.

That eerie green fluorescence was emitted from a type of moss growing in the cracks of the rocks.

On the ground directly in front of the stupa, several mutilated skeletons lay scattered haphazardly.

The bones were weathered and grayish-brown, and in some places they had even grown into the black rocks, indicating that the person had been dead there for a long time.

Fang Cheng's gaze passed over the skeletons and landed on a broken half of a stele at the base of the pagoda.

The stone tablet is engraved with several lines of ancient and simple characters.

Although the text structure was somewhat strange and messy, Fang Cheng could understand its meaning at a glance.

"The other shore is treacherous, with no chance of survival."

"If you wish to proceed, you must kowtow three times before the tower to demonstrate your sincerity in seeking the Way, only then will the passage be opened."

After scanning the inscription, Fang Cheng lowered his eyelids slightly and lingered on the skeletons for two seconds.

Judging from their appearance, these unfortunate souls who died here were probably explorers who wanted to enter the ruins before they died.

As for the tower and the monument, they might be a barrier left behind by some powerful being, or perhaps some ancient, morbidly humorous ritual.

Make him kowtow to a skeleton that has been dead for who knows how many years, or to some unseen clay sculpture?

Fang Cheng's lips twitched slightly. Instead of bending his knees, he simply raised his right leg.

His feet, clad in heavy military boots, hovered in mid-air before he stomped down slightly on the ground directly in front of the broken monument.

boom!
A muffled thud echoed through the deathly silent passage.

Fang Cheng remained calm and lifted his leg again.

boom!boom!
Three kicks in a row, each one heavier than the last.

A violent force poured out from the soles of the boots, causing the hard black stone ground to tremble slightly, leaving three footprints.

"I won't kowtow, but I'll stomp on you three times, just to give you a sound."

Fang Cheng retracted his right leg and stood still.

He gazed silently at the pagoda ahead, waiting for the change to happen.

A few seconds passed.

The surroundings remained deathly silent. The eerie green moss on the stupa showed no increase in light, and there was no sign of any passage opening.

"It seems that tricks and opportunism won't fool the dead man who left this trap."

Fang Cheng shook his head.

Then, the five fingers of his right hand slowly opened, and golden flames began to gather in his palm.

Since the other party doesn't agree, let's try smashing this dilapidated tower and the stone tablet to pieces and forcibly clear a path.

Just as he was about to make his move.

The space directly above the stupa suddenly began to distort violently.

Accompanied by the howling of the wind, a slowly rotating red vortex tore through the darkness and hovered in mid-air. (End of Chapter)