The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

Consciousness slowly rose from a chaotic darkness, the hollow echo of water droplets falling to the ground filling the ears, and... a chilling, deathly atmosphere that was extremely unsettling and seemed to freeze the soul.

Han Mu suddenly opened his eyes, his body tensing instinctively. A sharp pain shot through his limbs, causing him to groan. Han Mu found himself lying on a damp, cold rocky ground covered with bluish-black moss. The surrounding light was dim, with only strange moss and minerals on the distant rock walls emitting a pale green or eerie blue glow providing illumination.

Han Mu struggled to sit up and quickly checked himself. The Star Shuttle was nowhere to be seen, probably completely destroyed in the impact. His clothes were torn in many places and stained with blood and dust. Upon internal inspection, his injuries were more serious than expected. The aftereffects of the forced breakthrough and continuous fierce battles had not been alleviated much during his unconsciousness, and his strength had still recovered to less than 30%.

Han Mu immediately brought up the system panel to check.

Name: Han Mu

[True Realm: Taiyi Jade Immortal (Early Stage, Severely Injured, Realm Needs Stabilization)]

[Surface Realm: Mid-True Immortal (Automatic Adjustment)]

[Time Rule: 75% of the Beginner Level]

[Status: Severely injured, strength recovered to approximately 30%, soul in turmoil. The repair speed of the "Coffin of Origin" is slowed down by the "Netherworld Death Qi" of this place. The "Coffin of Origin Mark" is active, providing some resistance to the Netherworld Death Qi.]

[Celestial Aura: -6000 points]

[Warning: You have entered the unknown spacetime node "Netherworld Abyss - Silent Corridor (Outer Periphery)". High concentrations of Netherworld death energy, residual fluctuations of ghostly spirits, and faint but ancient man-made energy reactions have been detected. Warning: "Soul-devouring Yin Winds" exist in the environment, capable of eroding life force and soul; continuous energy expenditure is required to resist them. Multiple weak life signals (suspected teammates) have been detected, scattered within a radius of 100 miles; their status is unknown.]

Fortunately, his teammates seemed to be in the same area, but they were scattered and their condition was unknown. Han Mu breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then cautiously observed his surroundings.

This was a wide but winding underground passage, showing no signs of human excavation, appearing more like a natural formation. The air was icy cold, filled with a faint gray mist, which was the "Soul-Devouring Yin Wind" mentioned by the system, silently attempting to erode Han Mu's protective immortal light. It was barely blocked by the faint gray-white light emitted by the "Source Coffin Mark," but it was still slowly draining Han Mu's power.

He needed to find a relatively safe place first to recover from his injuries and then contact and rejoin his teammates. Han Mu forced himself to stand up and checked his bearings. The "faint but ancient man-made structure energy reaction" mentioned by the system was relatively conspicuous about ten miles to his left.

Han Mu concealed his aura, enduring the pain, and cautiously crept in that direction. The passage was eerily silent, save for the sound of Han Mu's own footsteps and the faint dripping of water in the distance. Occasionally, remnants of weathered murals could be seen on the rock walls, depicting grotesque ghosts and indistinct sacrificial scenes, their style ancient and eerie.

After traveling about seven or eight miles, the passage ahead branched off. At the end of one of the branches, the outline of a broken stone gate could be vaguely seen, and a more intense but also more stable energy fluctuation emanated from the crack in the gate.

"That's it." Just as Han Mu was about to approach, a rustling sound came from another dark side road, accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of bones grinding together.

Han Mu immediately stopped and disappeared into the shadow of a protruding rock. From the dark fork in the path emerged three "things"—three tall humanoid skeletons with dark gold bones, eerie green flames flickering in their eye sockets, and rusty bone knives that still exuded a chilling aura. Their aura was roughly equivalent to a late-stage True Immortal, but in this deathly, gloomy environment, they seemed to have received some kind of enhancement.

"Soul-devouring Bone Generals... low-level guards commonly found in the Netherworld Abyss..." Han Mu's mind flashed through the scattered records about the Netherworld Abyss in the "Time Amber." These skeletons weren't particularly strong, but the problem was that they appeared in groups, and the commotion from their battles might attract something even more troublesome.

A swift victory is necessary. Han Mu's eyes turned cold, and just as the three bone generals were about to turn towards his hiding place, he suddenly sprang up! He did not use any energy-consuming immortal techniques, but instead concentrated his remaining strength into his two fingers, using them as a sword to unleash a sharp sword aura containing a trace of time-delaying effect.

call out!call out!call out!

Three streaks of grayish-white sword energy flashed almost simultaneously, precisely striking the eerie green flames within the skulls of the three skeletal generals. The flames extinguished instantly, the three skeletal generals froze for a moment, then crumbled into a pile of withered bones. The battle ended silently.

Han Mu quickly collected the three remaining "Soulfire Crystals" containing pure Yin energy (they might be of some use), then flashed to the broken stone door. The restrictions on the stone door had long since failed, and with a gentle push, the stone door opened inward with a harsh scraping sound.

Behind the door was a small stone chamber, seemingly the entrance hall of some ancient building. In the center of the chamber stood a half-ruined statue, vaguely recognizable as some kind of armored warrior, but its face was blurred. At the other end of the chamber, a staircase led downwards into the depths. The ancient, man-made energy fluctuations emanated from beneath the staircase.

Although there was also a ghostly aura inside the stone chamber, it was much weaker than in the outer passage, and there was no "soul-devouring wind." On the base of the statue, there were also a few blurry ancient characters: "Guardian of the Netherworld."

"It's safe for now." Han Mu relaxed slightly and immediately set up a simple concealment and early warning array in the corner of the stone chamber. He needed to hurry up and recover before going to find Liu Ruyan and Han Li.

However, just as Han Mu swallowed the pill and prepared to circulate his energy to regulate his breathing, the floor of the stone chamber suddenly trembled slightly. Immediately afterward, two points of scarlet light slowly emanated from the empty eye sockets of the half-destroyed statue! A pressure far stronger than that of the previous Bone General, filled with intense killing intent and resentment, emanated from the statue!

The statue has come to life?! Or perhaps something has been hidden inside the statue all along?

Meanwhile, from the distant passage outside the stone chamber, the sounds of fighting and Luo Feng's familiar, furious roar could be faintly heard: "You damn skeletons! Are you never going to stop?! I'll fight you to the death!"

From another direction came a sharp sword cry, seemingly Bai Ling in battle.

The teammates are in trouble! And judging from the noise, there are quite a few enemies!

Han Mu stared intently at the eerie statue that was slowly "awakening" before him, radiating the aura of a peak Golden Immortal. Hearing the urgent cries of his teammates outside, his expression turned grave. He had to eliminate the immediate threat before he could go to their aid.

"Those who trespass...on the guardian of the underground palace...die..." The statue emitted a hoarse, intermittent, deathly spiritual wave as it slowly raised the remains of the stone giant sword in its hand.