Dragon Gate Swordsman

Because he was lightly equipped, Chongxiao traveled much faster than Yumen and reached the bottom of the giant sand dune in just over an hour.

Looking up, the ancient ruins were clearly visible, but apart from the unpleasant cries of a few circling scavenger feathered beasts from time to time, there was no other noteworthy movement.

Chongxiao did not hesitate. He chose a relatively flat route and drove the sand motorcycle forward until he came to a dilapidated gate.

This relic is very large and may have once been a town. There are all kinds of facilities built with unknown materials, and their appearances are also different... Of course, after thousands or even tens of thousands of years of erosion, the remaining parts have been severely damaged, and some have even become crystallized.

Chongxiao was a little curious as to why the Yumen border guards did not notice such obvious relics.

In fact, he was overthinking... Most of the facilities and items in the ruins had completely decayed. Not to mention taking them back for research, they would turn into something like sand if touched.

In this case, the only thing explorers and archaeologists can do is to take as many photos as possible and study the ancient civilization represented by the ruins through their structure, layout and some patterns. As for the physical objects that break at the slightest touch... there is no need for detailed research.

The only thing we can do about the artifacts in such ruins is to stay away from them as much as possible and wait for the emergence of technology that can protect them before dealing with them.

However, the cultists certainly do not have the knowledge and patience of archaeologists...

Following the "fresh" tire tracks on the sand, Chongxiao arrived at the square in the center of the ruins.

This description is actually very inaccurate, because the so-called square is already riddled with holes, and the countless quicksand pits and caves indicate that there is a huge space underneath, which must be the place of sacrifice of the Yangshen Sect.

Because Chongxiao could feel that there was some kind of "barrier" below, which even psychic perception could not penetrate.

This is really... the worst situation.

He did not rush down. This huge "hollow terrain" was extremely unstable. No one knew whether changing the force at a certain location would lead to a large-scale landslide. If the Yangshen Sect was indeed tinkering with something down there, then there must be a safe passage.

Moreover, this passage was not difficult to find, because Ling and others' two cars were parked nearby, and a scout was left behind to guard.

"Come out, stop hiding."

After stopping the dune buggy, Chongxiao waved his hand somewhat irritably.

Then, a figure stood up behind the broken wall a few meters away... The desert camouflage on his entire body made him blend perfectly into the environment here, but it was meaningless in front of Chongxiao.

"Your Excellency is..."

"Chongxiao, the captain of the Imperial Guards and the military officer of your Zhenbei Camp."

It seemed that this scout had never seen him before. Chongxiao did not get angry and directly took out his military ID card. "How long have Military Advisor Wu and the others been gone?"

"136 minutes."

There was no hesitation and the results were accurate, which showed that the scout was performing his duties with full concentration.

But what Chongxiao said next made him stunned...

"Let's go back to Yumen and ride my motorcycle."

"…I still have reconnaissance duties to perform, sir."

"This is no longer a task you can interfere with, leave immediately."

If before it was just a strange sensation of psychic energy, then the mysterious existence underground in this area has confirmed Chongxiao's guess.

You know, even Ze, who fought against Ling last night and was not at all inferior, did not completely "block" his psychic perception like this... This means that the thing lurking under the ruins is at least at the same level as Ze, and it is even possible...

"May I ask if you have General Zuo's order?"

Looking at the expressionless scout, Chongxiao sighed secretly, "General Zuo doesn't know the situation here... How about this, you try to stay away from here, and remember that if anything happens, you must first consider returning to Yumen as quickly as possible to report."

"Yes."

After all, he was not the direct superior of the Yumen scouts, nor was he the leader of the team. It was already a great honor for the other party to be able to do this.

Otherwise, he could have simply refused by saying "I have orders from Military Advisor Wu" and there would have been absolutely nothing to fault with it.

The entrance guarded by the scouts was a ruin with only broken walls left, and inside it was a hole blocked by a huge trapdoor and its rotating device... Of course, at this moment, this trapdoor had been opened by the Reiwa scouts.

After entering the cave and walking down the wooden steps, Chongxiao soon arrived at a huge underground space.

What is even more shocking is that this underground space does not seem to be formed naturally, but is a giant building buried by gravel and rocks... Looking up, you can vaguely see a structure similar to an artificial dome, but it has suffered a lot of damage, which is the quicksand pits and caves that can be seen in the square.

The ruins of the buildings under the dome were in a mess. The sand and gravel accumulated over the years had already crushed most of the structures, and the very few facilities that were not buried could no longer be seen in their original appearance.

With the current technological level of the Terran countries, it should be feasible to create a similar structure, but it definitely won't be done underground in the Great Desert... Both the supply of supplies and energy are huge problems, not to mention the rampant evil beasts.

The Linghe scouts left many tiny glowing crystals on the ground. This is one of the by-products of Originium processing and is often used by explorers to mark routes, which makes it easier for Chongxiao to track them.

However, Chongxiao soon discovered the scene he least wanted to see.

A...fresh corpse.

Similar to Yang Yunxing, this corpse was also parasitized by the biological spores. A large amount of deformed tissue grew from the torn crack in the back, almost completely covering the upper body, turning it into a half-human, half-insect creature.

The smell of decay that permeated the surroundings covered up the bloody smell of the corpse. The cause of death was bombardment by magic, and the entire head area had disappeared.

Judging from the remaining clothing, he should be one of Yumen's scouts.

Something happened...

Chongxiao closed his eyes and carefully sensed the movements around him, but found nothing.

Either Ling and the other scouts were far away in the depths, or they were already...

Chongxiao suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look directly below the dome.

When he was following the glowing crystal all the way down, he had noticed that there was a huge cave there, which was also the source of the smell of decay. If there was really something here, it was obviously underneath.

It seems that we have to take action!

Chongxiao pulled out the rebel behind him, and without caring how many times his trampling would cause the cave to collapse, he jumped high and arrived above the cave after several consecutive jumps.

Then he adjusted his movements and jumped directly down!

The surging and decaying air whistled in my ears and my whole body was in a state of rapid falling, but my eyes were always fixed on the movement below.

Soon, a hint of joy appeared in his eyes...

A familiar force mixed with the smell of decay was fighting something, and the increasingly clear flashes of light also indicated that Ling was right below.

Are we almost at the bottom?

Chongxiao suddenly released his spiritual energy, allowing his body to move horizontally to the side, and then stabbed Rebellion fiercely.

The powerful gravitational potential caused Rebel to continue falling with sparks and lightning, but his speed dropped significantly... Relying on this buffering force, Chongxiao took a close look at the scene below, then pulled out Rebel and rushed down!

There was a "crack" sound, just like a rock breaking, the rebellious sword cut into something fiercely, and then cut out from the bottom!

It’s a perfect example of a divine soldier descending from the sky.

"Chongxiao!? You..."

Not far away, Ling, who was holding up a magic wand and struggling to hold on, shouted in surprise.

“It’s hard to find this.”

Chongxiao quickly ran to her side, and only then did he have time to observe the situation around him.

Ling's condition did not look good. It was the first time that Chongxiao saw obvious weakness on her otherwise beautiful and calm face. In addition, perhaps because she had tried her best, her eyes had turned into beast pupils that were close to those of her true self.

Several scouts had completely disappeared, and only some bloodstains were visible on Ling's military advisor robe. The two were in a huge... pool, but the thing under their feet was more like some kind of sticky substance than liquid, and it was emitting an unbearable smell of corruption.

Above the pool is the cave where Chongxiao jumped down. From below, its completely vertical structure and neat edges are definitely not formed naturally, so the only possibility is...

This place is a prison that locks up something terrible.

"Ling, are you fighting Yogg-Saron?"

"What? You know this thing is..."

"No, no, no, I don't know."

Chongxiao quickly ended his boring joke.

No wonder he said that. The huge object extending from the pool was some kind of restraint covered with a dense shell... or tentacle, with a large number of spikes on it. If it was hit by it, it would probably break into several pieces.

Xian Jing, holding a giant sword in his mouth, was also fighting against these strange things. However, the giant sword that should have been invincible could not cut into the shells of the tentacles at all. Instead, Xian Jing was pierced one by one, or was defeated by the shock wave formed by the decaying aura...

Obviously, Ling was completely at a disadvantage at this time.

"How did you find yourself here, Chongxiao?"

"I don't think we have time to discuss this!"

In the dark environment, only Ling's staff Wen Meng can bring light, but it also reflects the terrifying power of those shell tentacles.

Chongxiao, who had just cut off one of them with a sneak attack, found out how difficult this thing was in a real head-on confrontation... Its erratic movement trajectory, lightning-fast speed and unbelievable hardness made it almost flawless.

The corrupt energy it releases from time to time requires one to be fully alert to deal with it. One must either dodge it or disperse it. The only outcome of passive defense is GG.

However, what really frightened Chongxiao was that these shell tentacles were definitely not the enemy's real body.

Wait, the main body! ?

"If this continues, you will be exhausted sooner or later. I have an idea, Ling."

"What's the idea?"

"Let your strings entangle those ghosts and make them move out of the way."

There are almost no obvious objects in this huge underground space, so there is only one place where the enemy can hide, and that is inside the pool.

Ling did not hesitate. She was determined to find out the truth. Even though her teammates were parasitized by latent biological spores and turned into half-human, half-insect monsters, she rushed down without hesitation. Only then did she see with her own eyes the horrifying existence hidden deep underground.

What we need to do most now is to evacuate as soon as possible and notify Yumen of the situation.

However, the decayed atmosphere that permeated the surroundings severely restricted her ability to exert her strength, and these strange things restrained Xian Jing.

If Chongxiao hadn't arrived in time, he might have died here...

Soon, as Ling waved his hand and Wen Meng issued an order, the Xian Jings roared, raised the giant swords in their mouths, and began to charge.

The most brutal battlefield confrontation on the Terra continent was no more than this... Groups of dragons and monsters collided fiercely, then swung their weapons desperately, or simply started biting, completely ignoring the tentacles sweeping in from other directions.

At the same time, crystal blue flames began to surge from Chongxiao's entire body, allowing him to enter a greatly enhanced state. Vast spiritual energy quickly gathered in his hands until he suddenly leaped high into the air...

In an instant, a psychic lightning with terrifying power streaked across the air and accurately hit the center of the pool, causing a massive explosion.

Taking advantage of the impact of the explosion, Chongxiao decisively turned around and rushed towards Ling, grabbing her waist before she could react.

"Hold tight!"

How strong the effect of spiritual energy enhancement is can be seen from Chongxiao's actions at this time.

He stomped hard on the ground again, and then his whole body flew into the air under the huge reaction force, and actually returned directly to the vertical wall of the cave. He kept stabbing and using his hands and feet, and actually "flew" directly at a vertical angle.

This also made Ling, who wanted to struggle, hug Chongxiao helplessly... At the critical moment, she couldn't cause trouble to Chongxiao because of such a small matter.

But at this moment, a horrible roar suddenly came from below the two of them!

It was not any kind of ferocious beast they knew, but it was more terrifying than all the beasts combined.

In the unique environment of the vertical cave, the explosive explosion of decayed energy and the majestic sound waves brought about turbulent airflow, forming a kinetic effect like a cannonball, which in turn helped Chongxiao to continue moving upward. Ling, who buried his head in his chest, took the opportunity to cast a spell and set up a layer of protection under the two of them.

Just like that, in a very short time, the two people who were hugging each other tightly flew directly out of the cave, and even broke through the huge dome and came to the ruins on the ground.

Then he fell down hard.

Fortunately, the ground of the sand dunes was relatively soft, otherwise Chongxiao would have suffered a lot... As for Ling, he was naturally well protected, and it would have been a shame if the fragments of the giant beast were to be damaged.

"Chongxiao! Chongxiao, you..."

"Ahem! I'm fine."

The person lying on his back with his arms and legs spread out forced a smile at Ling who was sitting up in his arms, "But if you keep pressing me down..."

"What time is it to be poor?"

Ling glared at Chongxiao angrily, but ignored the awkward posture of himself sitting astride him.

It was not until a few seconds later that she quickly jumped up and reached out to pull Chongxiao up.

At this moment, the dome, which had been damaged again by the previous impact, could no longer hold on and collapsed with a loud crash...

However, soon, the collapsed parts were "pushed up".

Realizing something was wrong, Chongxiao and Ling immediately rushed towards the bottom of the sand dunes outside the ruins, and only turned back to look when the violent shaking stopped.

They saw an object of astonishing size breaking through the sand, almost blowing half of the ruins into the air. The yellow sand and dust that were raised formed a cloud thousands of meters high, covering the sky and the sun.

And within this cloud, a terrifying figure that was nearly twice as tall as Yumen City let out a roar that was enough to shake the entire desert.

For some reason, Chongxiao actually understood this sound...

We are back.