189: Chapter 189 Climbing the Sky-Piercing Path, Facing Death to Live

Ling Ye dragged his scarred, nearly exhausted body to the edge of the Old Lift Shaft.

Below lay a bottomless, dark abyss surging with chaotic currents, while above was a shaft wall equally dark but with vaguely visible broken metal structures, along with the familiar outline of the mid-level maintenance platform recessed into the rock wall.

The maintenance ladder was just below the platform, emitting a heart-stopping "creak" amidst the tremors, but the overall structure seemed not yet completely collapsed.

There was no time to check! Ling Ye grabbed the cold, slippery, violently trembling ladder rungs and began to climb upward!

This climb was more than a hundred times more difficult and dangerous than when he had come down!

The entire shaft was like a giant tuning fork, resonating and shaking wildly under the continuous seismic waves and the terrifying impact coming from the B7 direction!

The maintenance ladder, like a rope in a raging storm, swung and twisted violently, liable to break off from the rock wall at any moment!

The cold metal rungs vibrated so intensely that his hands went numb, and he could barely hold on.

Rusty metal fragments, concrete blocks, and even small rocks crumbling from the shaft walls rained down from above; he had to climb while dodging this "shrapnel," adding new wounds to his body with every moment.

The Ancient Ring mark on his left hand and the xuanyuan ring on his right hand continued to emit a faint light, barely protecting his mind and resisting the increasingly intense aftermath of the "abyssal eye," which was filled with madness and destructive intent, surging up from below.

However, the two rings themselves had become dim due to this high-intensity usage and the previous forced detonation of energy, and their connection to his spirit had also become weak and unstable.

He could only rely on his most primal will to survive and his steadfast adherence to the "Star Visualization" to maintain a clear consciousness, mechanically repeating the climbing motions.

Every rung felt like climbing a mountain of blades; every exertion tugged at the pain throughout his entire body.

His lungs were like an old bellows, and every breath brought the scent of blood and a burning pain.

His arms were already numb, moving upward only by instinct.

Below, the sounds of collapse coming from the direction of B7 and the roar of that terrifying fleshy tumor had not ceased; instead, they seemed to be getting closer, as if the monster were traveling through the strata, chasing in this direction!

The vibrations of the shaft became even more violent as a result!

Cannot stop! Cannot turn back!

Ling Ye roared in his heart, squeezing out the last ounce of strength from his marrow, climbing upward desperately!

Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters...

The outline of the mid-level maintenance platform became clearer, but he also saw new cracks appearing on its edge, with some guardrails already gone.

Fifty meters, sixty meters...

Just when he was only about ten meters away from the platform and could already see the vague outline of that ventilation duct entrance on the platform—

"Boom!!!"

An unprecedented, terrifying explosion that seemed to rip open the entire crust came from the direction of the B7 core!

Immediately following, an indescribable, destructive energy tide—mixed with extreme heat, cold erosion, pure physical impact, and chaotic mental storms—swept violently like a tsunami from B7 as the center, towards all directions, including this shaft!

"Oh no!" A shrill alarm bell rang in Ling Ye's heart!

He didn't even have time to react before he was struck hard in the back by the residual power of that visible energy shockwave, which was a mix of dark blue and incandescent white!

"Pfft—!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision went black, and his hands, grabbing the ladder rungs, could no longer support him. He was thrown like a kite with a broken string by the violent shockwave, slamming against the slippery rock wall opposite!

"Bang!"

Excruciating pain surged through his entire body; his bones felt as if they were breaking inch by inch.

The moment he hit the rock wall, relying on his last instinct, he reached out with his still-movable right hand and grabbed a protruding, rusty metal bracket on the rock wall for dear life!

His body swung violently in the air, like a withered leaf in a gale.

Below, the energy tide swept through, instantly annihilating and vaporizing everything below the middle section of the shaft—twisted ladder rungs, scattered rubble, and even the air!

A huge, constantly expanding void was spreading upward!

The metal bracket he was holding let out an overwhelmed groan and began to bend and break off!

Meanwhile, the mid-level maintenance platform above was also shaking violently under the explosive impact, its edges beginning to collapse and fall in large chunks!

No way forward, facing the abyss of despair behind!

Life and death, in but an instant!

Ling Ye looked up at the swaying, crumbling platform above, and at that ventilation duct entrance.

The distance was no more than seven or eight meters, yet it felt like a chasm!

He lowered his head, glanced at the dim xuanyuan ring on his right hand, and felt the equally weak Ancient Ring mark deep in his Soul.

No strength left... Really... Is this the limit?

No!

In his mind, flashed the calm, scrutinizing gaze of Su Qing, the terrified and confused face of Wang Hao, the hollow eyes of Sun Li, the expectations in the suicide note of Senior Researcher Chen Qinghe, and the back of the Ring-Bearer in the ancient mural turning into specks of light...

And... that Star Gate, that exiled world, those innocent people who might still be shrouded by the Purification Net...

"I... still cannot... die here!!!"

A roar from the deepest part of his Soul, mixed with unwillingness, anger, guardianship, and endless obsession, exploded in his consciousness!

As if responding to this final cry, the dim xuanyuan ring on his right hand and the faint Ancient Ring mark deep in his Soul suddenly lit up at this moment with a final, incandescent light, like a flash of brilliance before death!

It was not the resonance from before, nor was it a forced detonation. It was a deeper, more primal kind of burning, as if it had touched some kind of Legacy imprint!

"The will... of the Gatekeeper... the spark... shall not be extinguished..."

A vague fragment of thought, seemingly from eons ago, flashed across Ling Ye's crumbling consciousness along with the light.

The next moment, he felt a weak but incredibly pure power, carrying the essence of "Order" and "Balance," flow out from the xuanyuan ring and instantly infuse his entire body!

At the same time, the Ancient Ring mark also injected its last bit of the "guarding" and "Star Gate" imprint power without reservation!

The two forces did not clash or resist each other; instead, under the forced integration of Ling Ye's unyielding will, they transformed into a pure, upward "ascension" force that seemed to want to break free from all shackles!

"Rise—!!!"

Ling Ye roared hoarsely, using the last bit of support from his right arm gripping the metal bracket, channeling all his strength—along with the "ascension" power gained from the "dual rings" burning their last Origin—into his legs, kicking hard against the slippery rock wall!

"Bang!"

The rock wall shattered! His body, like a cannonball fired from a chamber, or an arrow fish swimming against the current, soared toward the swaying mid-level maintenance platform above, toward that ventilation duct entrance!

Beneath his feet, that piece of metal bracket completely snapped and fell, plunging into the void of destruction below. Fragments of the collapsing maintenance platform brushed past him.

"Thump!"

He fell heavily onto the last relatively intact metal grid at the edge of the maintenance platform! The immense impact made him spit out another small mouthful of blood; his vision went black in waves, and he nearly passed out.

But he had succeeded! He had grabbed the edge of the platform! He had made it up!

There was no time to celebrate, not even time to catch his breath. The platform beneath him was shaking violently, and its edges were constantly collapsing. The ventilation duct entrance was just three meters ahead, but the rock wall at the entrance edge was also cracking.

Must get in immediately!

Using his last bit of strength, he crawled toward the ventilation duct, using both hands and feet. Behind him, large chunks of the platform fell into the constantly expanding void of destruction below.

He lunged toward the ventilation duct, not even having time to remove the grate (which had long since fallen off in the tremors), and shoved his upper body directly inside, then kicked and scrambled with his hands and feet, like a dying insect, inching himself deep into the duct.

Just at the moment his entire body had completely entered the ventilation duct—

"Rumble!!!"

The last piece of the platform beneath him, along with a large area of the surrounding rock wall, completely collapsed and fell!

The rock wall at the entrance of the ventilation duct shattered, and the duct itself emitted a terrifying twisting sound, but luckily it did not break immediately.

Ling Ye curled up deep in the duct, his back against the cold, trembling wall, vomiting blood in large mouthfuls. Every inch of his muscles was spasming, his vision was completely occupied by darkness and stars, and his consciousness was like a candle in the wind, flickering and about to go out.

The light of the xuanyuan ring and the Ancient Ring mark had completely extinguished, as if they had exhausted their last bit of power, falling into the deepest silence. Only the cold touch of the ring itself and the vague connection to the mark deep in his Soul proved they still existed.

He had survived.

From the runaway of the B7 core, from the engulfing of the terrifying fleshy tumor, from the sweeping of the destructive energy tide, from the collapsing shaft and platform... miraculously, he had survived.

But the price was that he was completely drained, severely injured and near death, and the power of the two rings was temporarily dormant.

He needed rest, he needed treatment, he needed time.

However, it was still not safe here. The ventilation duct was continuously shaking, and he did not know when it would completely collapse. Moreover, it was still not far enough from B7.

He must continue moving to find a place that was truly relatively safe and stable, to treat his wounds and recover even a shred of strength.

Relying on his last bit of consciousness, he began to crawl, inch by inch, with difficulty, through the darkness along the ventilation duct, in the direction he remembered that led away from the shaft, away from B7, and possibly to a higher level.

Every inch he moved was accompanied by tearing pain and dizziness.

But he could not stop.

Stopping meant death.

Darkness, pain, cold, deathly silence.

Only his own heavy breathing, like a broken bellows, and the faint, gradually receding, dull echoes of collapse from outside the duct remained.

He did not know how long he had crawled; perhaps only a few dozen meters, but it felt like a lifetime.

Finally, ahead, he saw a faint, natural light, different from the darkness inside the duct—it was shining through the gap in a ventilation grate!

Was it the ground? Or some other area that had not been severely affected?

He used his last bit of strength to crawl to that ventilation outlet and looked out through the gap.

Outside, it seemed to be a relatively intact basement, similar to a Warehouse, piled with abandoned machinery and debris. Light shone in from broken windows or gaps high above, and dust danced in the beams of light. Although the air was murky, it lacked the sickly sweet, decaying smell of the "abyssal eye," and there were no violent tremors.

Temporarily... safe?

Ling Ye's heart relaxed, and the last breath he had been forcing himself to hold suddenly dissipated.

His vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

His body collapsed softly inside the cold ventilation duct.

Only his faint breathing and the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest proved the tenacity of life.

And on his right finger, the pitch-black xuanyuan ring, in the deepest silence, flickered extremely faintly, like the final heartbeat.

Then, it returned to complete stillness.