254: Chapter 254 Exploring the Divine Ruins 2

[Question One: Do you know what you are searching for?]

Tang Long thought for a moment and replied: [Divine Ruins.]

[Answer accepted.]

[Question Two: Do you know who these Divine Ruins belong to?]

[Crystal Concubine.]

[Answer accepted.]

[Question Three: If the price of entering the Divine Ruins is your life, are you prepared?]

Tang Long's face twitched; he could only continue to answer.

[I am ready.]

[Answer accepted.]

[Please remember, only by relying on your own two feet can you approach the gift of the Crystal Concubine!]

The diamond-shaped space shattered with a bang, and the cold seawater enveloped him once more, making Tang Long shudder involuntarily.

In the next moment, a tentacle suddenly wrapped around his waist, pulling him toward the giant creature.

As he drew closer to the giant creature, the sense of pressure grew stronger, making Tang Long feel somewhat suffocated.

Moreover... although his eyesight wasn't great right now, he felt... like he was being pulled into this big guy's mouth?

The next instant, two giant eyes like powerful searchlights suddenly lit up, illuminating the countless sharp fangs within the bloody maw.

Tang Long couldn't help but feel a chill all over, his hair standing on end, as a Camp Teleportation Talisman appeared in his hand at the same time.

However, after hesitating repeatedly, he still didn't use it.

Retreating now would mean failing to obtain any useful information.

Logically speaking, since he held the Key to the Gods Ruins and had answered the three questions, there was no reason for this big guy to kill him directly.

Besides, given its size and abilities, it wouldn't need to eat him to kill him, right? His bit of meat wouldn't even be enough to get stuck in its teeth.

Even if he died, he had to die knowing why!

He steeled his heart, gritted his teeth, and watched helplessly as the tentacle sent him into that abyss-like maw.

Countless sharp fangs flashed past him. After the tentacle sent him a certain distance into the giant mouth, the ground beneath him suddenly vanished, and he landed on a damp, soft area.

He really didn't die!

But when he suddenly looked back, he could vaguely see the giant mouth with its countless sharp fangs closing rapidly.

In the darkness, Tang Long let out a long breath of turbid air.

So, the true location of these Divine Ruins was inside this giant beast's belly.

It was quite reasonable.

Checking his inventory and confirming that the Town Portal Scroll was still usable, he composed himself and turned to continue walking inward.

This giant beast probably didn't exceed a thousand meters, but the internal space was beyond imagination. Tang Long moved forward quickly, but it wasn't until he had traveled about ten miles that the environment began to change.

The ground was no longer that damp, soft structure, but gradually turned into hexagonal ice crystal surfaces about two meters in diameter, looking like a honeycomb.

Furthermore, the temperature here was clearly different; even his exhaled breath would quickly condense into shimmering little snow crystals upon entering.

And about a hundred meters away, an altar-like object was vaguely shimmering with light.

Tang Long sensed danger and didn't rashly continue forward. Instead, he summoned an Armored Giant Ape again, sending it ahead to scout the way.

As expected, just a few steps onto the ice crystal surface, the giant ape's body was suddenly frozen into a large diamond-shaped ice crystal, and its health was instantly depleted.

A few seconds later, the ice crystal exploded, turning into a cloud of ice dust.

Tang Long was greatly surprised.

The giant ape's situation was somewhat similar to his previous encounter.

However, the giant ape seemed more like it was frozen inside the ice, whereas his previous space had been empty.

It seemed the power of the ancient god Crystal Concubine was not just simple ice-type power, but also involved spatial abilities.

This was something that even the descendants of the Crystal Concubine still living in the world—the Crystal Race—didn't seem to have inherited.

Interesting.

Tang Long continued to direct another giant ape into the ice crystal domain. After a few meters, the same situation occurred again.

The third one was even worse; although it followed the same path, it was frozen to death the moment it stepped onto the first ice crystal.

Tang Long continued to summon giant apes to try, testing acceleration, jumping, invulnerability, and a whole series of usable methods more than once.

It wasn't until ten minutes later, when a giant ape reached thirty meters away before being frozen into ice again, that a slight smile appeared on his face.

Now he was certain that this ice crystal domain was actually a massive trap.

Designed for killing.

Because in this entire ice crystal domain, every time an ice crystal was stepped on, all the traps would change positions once.

Completely random, without any pattern.

Just as the prompt said, any shortcut would result in stepping on a trap upon landing.

However, as luck would have it, Tang Long's newly awakened Illuminating Fire Eye, which was neither fully functional nor completely blind, finally discovered some clues.

He noticed that the reflection on the ice crystals where traps were located was distinctly different from those without traps.

The trapped spots were like water, where light would refract and slightly attenuate, while the safe spots were like mirrors.

Only by walking honestly one block at a time would a path appear between adjacent ice crystals.

It was by relying on this pattern that Tang Long was able to guide the giant ape thirty meters out.

Now, he could move forward himself.

Just five minutes later, he arrived below the ice crystal altar. After testing it again with a giant ape, he finally climbed the steps.

When he reached the top of the altar, the entire structure lit up.

In the middle of the altar, a piece of ice stone protruded, with a glowing ice crystal greatsword floating above it.

A line of text appeared on the ice stone, and Tang Long quickly deciphered the content.

[Brave explorer, you have passed the trial of the Crystal Concubine and may receive her gift.]

[You will have three chances to choose one from among the Crystal Concubine's Divine Artifacts.]

[The treasure before you now is the divine sword the Crystal Concubine once used—the crystal sword. Do you accept this treasure? Yes/No]

Tang Long narrowed his eyes and didn't choose immediately.

Not for any other reason, but simply because it felt too easy.

If the so-called trial was only this difficult, he didn't quite believe this treasure would fall to him.

After observing carefully for a few more seconds, he noticed that the luster of this crystal sword was actually somewhat similar to those previous traps.

With a light chuckle, he decisively chose to refuse.

The crystal sword quickly sank into the altar, and another ice stone protruded, this time with an ice crystal shield floating above it.

[Brave explorer, congratulations on making a wise choice!]

[The second Divine Artifact is indeed more powerful and precious than the first. It is the Crystal God Shield, which even the gods could not break, and was thus called the Absolute Defense by the Sun God.]

[Do you accept this treasure? Yes/No]

Tang Long chuckled. This time, without even thinking, he directly chose "No."

What kind of bullsh*t are you talking?

If there really were such a thing as "Absolute Defense" in the world, the Crystal Concubine wouldn't have died so long ago.

Sure enough, this treasure sank back into the altar, and another item rose up.

This time, the treasure was a set of extremely magnificent ice crystal battle armor. Although a single plate was missing from the armor, it did not diminish its beauty and sanctity in the slightest.

Unlike the previous two items, it constantly emitted extremely powerful psionic energy fluctuations.

Tang Long had reason to believe that any Spirit Map he had ever seen was far inferior to this single piece of armor.

Moreover, even his eyes could see the System's golden text label on the armor: {Crystal Armor: Divine Blood Blessing}!

[True wisdom and persistence deserve the best reward.]

[Your Excellency, the explorer, you are the true master these Divine Ruins have been waiting for over countless years.]

[This is the divine battle armor blessed by the Crystal Concubine's own divine blood. Put it on, and no one below the Liberation Realm can withstand a single blow from you. Even the gods cannot easily harm you.]

[Do you accept this treasure? Yes/No]

This time, Tang Long was truly tempted.

He had reason to believe that this thing was probably even more powerful than the mask of calamity he was wearing.

Only a fool wouldn't want it.

However, that doubt of his had never been resolved.

All of this was just too simple.

As the Sun God's mistress and one of the powerful ancient gods, would she really set up such a childish "trial" and then just give away all her battle armor and weapons?

Is there such a cheap deal in the world?

He himself was a Great Master at painting and feeding "pies" to others, and he knew deeply that the easier a deal seemed, the more likely it was a trap.

So, after a brief hesitation, he still chose "No."

The entire ice domain shook violently, countless surrounding ice crystals shattered, and streaks of light continuously converged toward the armor.

A few seconds later, an incredibly beautiful and holy female figure actually condensed within the armor.

The previous crystal sword and Crystal God Shield both appeared in her hands!

And that sword, like a phantom, instantly pressed against Tang Long's shoulder.

[You brat, you really are hard to please!]

[Since you don't know what's good for you, don't blame this goddess.]

[I will give you one last chance: choose any one of the three Divine Artifacts, or I will kill you immediately.]

[Do you agree? Yes/No]

Yes, this indeed seemed like a divine manifestation, just like the Mad God that day.

Tang Long's heart was pounding, yet he remained incredibly calm.

It clicked; everything finally clicked now.

Those three previous choices were likely all traps. As long as he chose any of them, he would probably fall into a huge pit.

But before coming in, the last question from the giant beast Haibage was the real key.

If the price of entering the Divine Ruins is your life, are you prepared?

The question outside was the answer right before his eyes.

Tang Long directly chose "No." The manifestation of the Crystal Concubine swung the sword without hesitation, piercing the crystal sword straight into his chest.

Intense pain and divine light instantly submerged him.