245: Okay, we've found our way back.

Wei Ziqing paid no further attention to the monster behind him, which was roaring wildly in agony.

He didn't even spare it another glance, merely flicking his wrist to shake off a few drops of blood from the bone sword, then turned his back on the dangerous entity and walked toward the more ancient Stone Door behind the Ice Cave, which the monster had originally been guarding.

His pace was neither hurried nor slow, as if strolling in his own courtyard, completely exposing his defenseless back.

This disregard thoroughly enraged the monster. Even though its vision hadn't fully recovered, it could sense the target that had wounded it so grievously was "arrogantly" moving away.

A piercing, almost tearing infant-like shriek, mixed with extreme pain and fury, erupted. It charged recklessly once more, its thick limbs scraping the ground, sending ice shards flying, its massive body hurtling toward Wei Ziqing's back with a foul wind!

Wei Ziqing still didn't look back. Reaching the Stone Door, he gently pressed his left hand against the cold door panel, while his right hand casually yet steadily raised the dark bone sword, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground behind him.

The monster drew closer, closer! The foul, hot wind almost blasted against the back of his neck, the evil gust from its swinging claws already stirring the white skirt at his waist—

At that very moment!

The charging monster's massive body suddenly stiffened, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, all movement instantly freezing!

The accumulated Neuroparalytic Toxin in its body, accelerated by the vigorous movement boosting blood circulation, finally breached a critical point and erupted completely!

"Boom!!!"

Losing all muscle control, the monster, driven by its forward momentum, collapsed heavily like a mountain of flesh less than a meter behind Wei Ziqing, shaking the ground and splashing water everywhere.

It stared futilely, emitting vague gurgling sounds, unable to move even a single claw.

Only then did Wei Ziqing, who had been standing motionless before the door, finally make his next move.

His left hand remained pressed against the door, but his sword-wielding right wrist suddenly twisted. His arm drove his body in a half-spin like an elegant dancer, the dark bone sword tracing a full, deadly arc of cold light from below upward, sweeping past the monster's thick neck.

Where the sword light passed, there was only a faint, almost leather-cutting "shhh" sound.

Wei Ziqing spun, swung the sword—his movements seamless.

As his body turned back to face the Stone Door, a dull thud of something heavy rolling echoed from behind—the twisted, inhumanly large head had already separated from the torso, rolled a few times in the Pool of blood, and finally lay still.

"Creak—"

He pushed open the Stone Door and stepped inside.

Behind him lay the monster's headless corpse and the rapidly spreading heavy stench of blood. Ahead, a suddenly open, starkly different scene from all the previous gloomy tomb Passages unfolded.

This was the true Core Burial Chamber.

The chamber was extremely vast, with a huge, faintly glowing Pool at its center, occupying most of the space.

The water was clear but bottomless, its surface calm and unrippled. And directly above the Pool, a massive Stone Coffin hung suspended!

Several thick, ancient, jade-like Vines hung from the high dome of the chamber, tightly winding around and binding the Stone Coffin, holding it steadily above the water's surface.

These Vines weren't lifeless; they were vibrant, with lush green leaves, and even bore clusters of delicate, softly glowing pale blue fluorescent flowers near the tips closest to the water, their faint fragrance reflecting in the Pool below.

What was truly dazzling was the scene on the chamber walls and around the Pool.

The tomb walls weren't ordinary rock but were inlaid with countless glittering crystals! Most eye-catching were the many Opals displaying iridescent play-of-color, which, as if alive, refracted external light into shifting rainbow hues, breathtakingly beautiful.

These gemstones were arranged in a starry halo pattern, all their light and colors seemingly focused and flowing invisibly toward the suspended coffin at the Pool's center, making it appear as if set in a dreamy starry sea, noble and mysterious.

On the dry areas below the Opals and crystals by the Pool, rows of stone boxes were neatly stacked.

Many boxes were already open or damaged, revealing piles of "treasures" inside—numerous carefully polished Amethyst, Citrine, Smoky Quartz, and other crystal-made discs, shell-like objects, or ornaments, gleaming under the gemstone light, clearly regarded as supreme currency or treasures in this ancient civilization.

Beneath the clear Pool water, it wasn't empty but grew various delicate, strange aquatic plants, swaying gently with the water's movement, echoing the Vines and flowers above the coffin, forming a bizarre tapestry interwoven with life and stillness, luxury and antiquity.

"It seems... this is the real master," he murmured to himself, his gaze finally settling on the suspended Stone Coffin surrounded by exotic flowers, rare treasures, and starlight.

Standing in the gorgeously dreamlike yet exitless burial chamber, Wei Ziqing steadied himself, not rashly touching the central suspended coffin or the surrounding treasures.

Instead, he first retreated to the Passage he had come through, where the Eternal Lamps were lit.

From the lamps embedded in the wall, he carefully took down one that burned most steadily and had the sturdiest structure.

Holding this Stone Lamp as a substitute for a candle, he returned to the main chamber entrance, looked left and right, found a corner he deemed to be the southeast direction, and placed the Stone Lamp firmly there.

The dim yellow flame seemed insignificant under the lavish gemstone light, but Wei Ziqing felt a bit more at ease in his heart.

"Hmm, this counts as lighting a candle. The Old Ancestor's rules... the gesture is made."

After completing this symbolic action, he truly began to examine this beautiful prison.

"There must be an exit," he said, walking along the edge of the large Pool, his sharp eyes scanning every inch of the gem-inlaid walls, every cluster of underwater plants.

"The builders of this place must have left themselves a way out, right? Were the craftsmen who transported the coffin and treasures all willing to stay here as burial companions?"

He first suspected the exit was underwater. Taking a deep breath, he leaped again into the clear but icy Pool water. The Hero Shadow armor provided good breath-holding ability and underwater mobility. He dove to the bottom, carefully feeling around. The Pool floor was paved with smooth stone slabs, tightly sealed, with no signs of Passages or hidden doors, only some aquatic plant roots and a rugged crystal base reflecting the gemstone light from above.

"Not the water route," he surfaced, shaking his head, somewhat disappointed.

"Could it really be that aside from the damned place I fell from, there's no way up?" He climbed ashore, looking around, frowning. "Those who conducted the burial, the builders... did they really wait here to die? I don't believe it!"

His gaze fell on the lush Vines and Ferns stubbornly growing from the crevices in the stone walls at the chamber's edges. Plants need air, water, and sometimes indicate gaps or ventilation points.

"Perhaps..." A thought struck him, and he drew the bone sword from his waist again.

This time, not for combat. He swung the sharp bone sword, methodically clearing the plants clinging to the walls. Where the sword light passed, Vines and leaves fell away, revealing the ancient stone walls beneath. He cleared meticulously, not missing any area covered in greenery, while tapping with his hand and lightly knocking with the sword hilt, listening for sounds to find possible cavities or anomalies.

Perseverance paid off.

When clearing a corner near the Pool where the Vines were especially dense, his sword blade passed over an area that seemed no different from the other stone walls, but the sound produced was subtly abnormal—not a completely solid thud, nor an empty echo, more like a thinner, possibly somewhat brittle layer behind it.

Wei Ziqing stopped, leaning in for a closer look. After removing moss and surface moisture, faint, radial cracks indeed became visible on that stone wall, as if caused by internal stress or age erosion, slightly different in texture from the seamless surrounding stone.

He extended a finger, pressing firmly along the edge of the cracks.

"Rustle..."

Some very fine stone dust actually crumbled off.

Wei Ziqing felt certain. He sheathed the bone sword with a "clang" at his waist. Stepping back half a step, he adjusted his breathing, concentrated power in his right fist, the armor-clad knuckles shimmering faintly.

"Ha!"

He punched hard at the crack-covered stone wall!

"Crash—!"

Surprisingly easy! That stone wall seemed long hollowed out by time, maintaining only a brittle surface shell, which shattered and collapsed inward under his punch, revealing a dark hole!

Amidst the dust, Wei Ziqing waved away the smoke and peered inside. The hole wasn't large, only allowing one person to crawl through, but it wasn't a dead end—it was a narrow, upward-extending Passage with clear artificial chiseling marks, rough-walled but climbable.

"Just as I thought!" Wei Ziqing's eyes lit up, heaving a long sigh of relief. "The path for bringing in the corpse is one-way, but the escape route left for themselves is hidden here. Those craftsmen probably disappeared silently through here."

He hesitated no longer. Confirming that the Stone Lamp placed in the "southeast corner" was still burning quietly, he took one last look at the lavish suspended coffin and glittering treasure trove, then turned and without hesitation crawled into the escape Passage, beginning to climb upward.