AZI Volume 3 Chapter 47

"Ai, how long is this tunnel going to go on for?"

Having walked in a straight for well over an hour now, Yu Ji can't help but sigh.

The only bit of relief to be felt by the entire group is that the feel of the wind has gotten stronger, which translates to them being closer to an open area.

"Xiao Chen Chen, how far did your group get—in mapping out the desert?"

"Reporting to ancestor, not very far. Personally, I don't think it even matters at this point…"

"…Found any buildings?"

"None, not even a cactus…"

Hearing this, Long Hua frowns, and asks—

"In your group's experience is this ruin normal?"

Thinking for a bit, Chen Lan answers—

"Not at all."

"I don't know if I should be relieved, or worried with that answer…"

Agreeing with Yu Ji's remark, Long Hua's frown deepens, as he asks—

"What's considered unusual about this ruin—according to your group's past experience?"

"Just about everything. Excavation procedures—under normal circumstances would be to map the entire place out, and if we find the inner area before that, we'd let scouts head in first to see the situation. From there, we would make plans, and organize a specialized group. Normally, death counts only begin to rise at an exponential rate upon reaching the inner area, or the core area. However, in this situation, it's as if the entire ruin was designed right from the get-go to eliminate as many people as possible."

Taking this information in, Long Hua goes on to ask—

"…Is it guaranteed that there would be Immortal tech, or other such treasures to be found at the end of a ruin?"

Realizing what Long Hua might be implying, Chen Lan asks—

"…Ancestor means to say, this ruin is never meant to be excavated, but is instead used to seal something away?"

"Has there been a precedent?"

Shaking his head, Chen Lan, with a tone of uncertainty, answers—

"…Not that I would know of. The people who go beyond the core area are the executives and their chosen few."

"Has that surnamed Shao ever been past those core areas?"

"That's-"

"We're out, Long-shao."

Simultaneously, everyone faces forward, and upon seeing an open area up ahead, they immediately begin to run towards it.

Emerging out of the tunnel, Long Hua sees a round area surrounded by a ring of flowing waters. And on the opposite side of where they are is another tunnel.

"Is this…?"

"An arena of some kind?"

Hanging above the ceiling of this arena is a cluster of crystals. The white radiance that emanates from these crystals serves to keep the arena brightly lit.

"Oh? Seems like we're not the first ones here."

On the opposite tunnel, four figures emerge.

Aside from the two that he doesn't recognize, the other two are Shao Tianming and Li Zi Xiang.

"Hm? That guy in the fishing lines…?"

"Chen… Lan?"

Seeing Chen Lan, whose face is beyond recognition, both Shao Tianming and Li Zi Xiang are somewhat speechless. If it wasn't for the clothes that Chen Lan is wearing, they definitely wouldn't be able to recognize him.

"Boss! Big sis Zi Xiang!"

Being able to meet up with his allies, Chen Lan's eyes moistened with tears.

Turning towards Long Hua, Shao Tianming says—

"Enemies meet on a narrow road, as they say."

"Is that so?"

Taking out a kitchen knife, Long Hua presses it to Chen Lan's neck.

"Surnamed Long, you dar-?"

Before Li Zi Xiang can ask, Long Hua cuts her off by pressing the knife closer to Chen Lan's neck—causing fresh blood to flow.

"I do dare."

Answering as such, Long Hua takes off his sunglasses, while Shao Tianming says—

"Surnamed Long, give it up. You're completely outnumbered."

"You only have one additional person; I wouldn't be too certain of the outcome if we fought."

"…"

Silently, Shao Tianming summons out his Relic—which takes on the form of a halberd with two crescent blades attached to its spearhead. The entirety of the weapon seems to be seven feet in length.

Similarly, Li Zi Xiang does the same. Her Relic is a black chain whip with thorn like spikes on each link.

Taking one step forward, Yu Ji draws out her bow and quiver, whereas knives attached to threads fall out of Tian Cheng's sleeves.

Reading the mood, the other two Sinners on Shao Tianming's side draw out their Relics as well. One of them is a sword and the other is a blade.

"…"

Likely to be the first one to die, Chen Lan can't help but sweat as he says—

"Umm… Everyone, we can talk things out peacefully, can't we?"

Just as Shao Tianming and the others bend their legs in preparation to charge—

*Kakaka!* the sound of something cracking comes from the ceiling of the arena.

Momentarily, shards of crystal rain down from above, and in response to this, both sides chose to leap backwards.

"Uh?"

Raising her head, Yu Ji sees the crystal shards that have landed expanding in volume, and within the blink of an eye, it takes on a humanoid form.

"A crystal golem?"

Recognizing this humanoid to be a golem, Shao Tianming frowns.

As more crystal golems appear, their number quickly reaches twenty, with more to come.