208: Chapter 208 Behind the Gray Stone Gate, the Dark Calamity Continues!

He struck his palm, imbued with Hongmeng Immortal Light, against the stone wall.

Large swathes of dust peeled away from the stone wall.

The Empress's Dao Patterns lit up, forming a silvery-white portal.

As the portal opened, an aura of antiquity rushed toward them.

Behind the gate was a stone staircase leading downward.

The staircase was very wide, with murals carved across the walls on both sides.

Chu Wanqing's imperial zither sounded first, the melody acting like a thread, probing all the way down the stone steps.

She spoke quickly.

"The first thirty zhang ahead are safe."

"Do not step on the forty-ninth step."

"There is a remnant soul behind the third mural on the left."

Lin Yi nodded.

"Follow me."

Wang Hong and several Elders remained outside to guard the formation.

Xu Chen had originally wanted to stay behind, but Lin Yi grabbed him and hauled him back.

"You are coming with us."

Xu Chen grinned.

"Big Brother, it's rare that I actually want to show off."

Lin Yi looked at him.

"You are needed more down below to take a beating."

Xu Chen's face turned black on the spot.

"That sounds all too real."

"But I don't like hearing it."

The group continued down the stone steps.

Just as they stepped onto the forty-ninth step, Lin Yi raised his hand to stop Xu Chen.

Xu Chen's foot hovered in mid-air, and his whole body froze.

"That was close."

"If my foot had landed, what would have happened?"

Chu Wanqing plucked a string on her zither.

A row of thin black needles immediately shot out from the stone wall beside them, embedding themselves right in front of Xu Chen's foot.

Each needle was emitting black mist.

Xu Chen silently retracted his foot.

"Understood."

"Thank you, Big Sister Wanqing, for saving my pathetic life."

The imperial zither chimed once more.

Chu Wanqing stifled a laugh.

"Hee hee."

Shen Qingyue looked at the murals on both sides, her expression gradually becoming grave.

The first mural depicted experts from the Shen Family standing before the stone gate, holding Formation Flags.

The second depicted experts from the Heaven and Earth Gate forming seals to assist.

The third showed the True Dragon Lineage descending from the sky and coiling around the perimeter.

The three parties had indeed stood before the same stone gate at that time.

There was no slaughter or betrayal in the paintings.

There was only a gate-guarding ritual so solemn it was almost suffocating.

Su Yuxi reached out and touched the edge of the mural.

As silvery-white Dao light fell from her fingertips, a few lines of ancient characters emerged on the mural.

"Behind the stone gate, the Dark Calamity never ends."

"Those who enter will face ten deaths with no return."

"Those who guard the gate must not open it privately."

Xu Chen looked puzzled.

"This is written clearly enough."

"Why would anyone insist on opening the gate?"

Shen Qingyue said coldly:

"Greed."

"Thinking that others can't do it, but they can."

Xu Chen slapped his thigh.

"Isn't that just the classic 'I can do it if I try'?"

Lin Yi's Primordial Immortal Pupil stared deeper into the mural.

The images in front were just the old alliance.

The carvings behind them were covered by a layer of eerie black ash.

He waved his hand, and Hongmeng Chaos Qi swept across.

The black ash dispersed.

A new mural appeared.

The Shen Family experts were still standing at the very front.

Within the Heaven and Earth Gate's ranks, some already had eyes filled with black veins.

The dragon shadows of the True Dragon Lineage had opened their sharp claws to the side of the stone gate.

Their target was not the Dark Calamity behind the gate.

They were eyeing the stone gate itself.

Su Yuxi's voice grew colder.

"That was where the chaos began back then."

"The aura from behind the gate leaked out, and a group of people from the Heaven and Earth Gate were the first to be corrupted."

"The True Dragon Lineage took advantage of the chaos to seize the gate."

"The Shen Family was attacked from both sides."

Shen Qingyue stood before the mural, her palms becoming increasingly cold.

Lin Yi stood beside her.

"There is no need to force yourself."

"We are all here."

Shen Qingyue nodded.

"Mm."

The group continued downward.

At the end of the stone steps was a vast underground palace.

In the center of the underground palace, that hundred-zhang grey stone gate stood there.

It was taller and colder than in the mural.

Dao Patterns crisscrossed the gate.

Half was silvery-white, half was cyan-white, with broken Tai Su patterns sandwiched in between.

There was one last giant mural in front of the stone gate.

On the mural, the figures of the Shen Family, the Heaven and Earth Gate, and the True Dragon Lineage all stood before the gate.

But the position at the very bottom was obscured by a black stain.

Lin Yi raised his eyes, his Primordial Immortal Pupil glowing brightly, and the stain was peeled away layer by layer.

Two ancient characters emerged from the bottom of the mural.

The strokes were twisted.

The writing looked like it was stained with blood.

"Calamity Heaven!"

The instant these two characters appeared, all the torchlight in the underground palace flickered simultaneously.

From deep within the stone gate, a low vibration echoed.

"Boom!"

Chu Wanqing hugged the imperial zither tightly, the smile on her pretty face fading.

"It has heard us again."

Su Yuxi looked at those two characters, silvery-white Dao light swirling in the depths of her eyes.

"It has always been here."

Lin Yi gripped the god-slaying sword, the blade hanging diagonally.

"Then let it wait."

"The gate, it is our turn to open it!"

As the group approached the stone gate, the two twisted ancient characters on the giant mural suddenly began to seep black light.

"Calamity Heaven!"

The hairs on the back of Xu Chen's neck stood on end.

He hugged the ancient desolate hall tightly, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Big Brother!"

"This thing doesn't sound auspicious just by its name!"

Chu Wanqing had originally been keeping a straight face, but she almost broke character because of his comment.

However, a light tremor from the imperial zither pulled her back to reality.

The echo from the strings was chaotic.

It wasn't just simple noise.

It was the Dao Patterns deep within the entire underground palace, all of them trembling slightly.

Shen Qingyue stood before the mural, her palm pressed against the cold stone surface.

The Primordial Chaos Qi within her body probed along the stone patterns, but when it touched the edges of the two ancient characters, it was violently repelled.

Her wrist went numb, and she took half a step back.

Lin Yi raised his hand to steady her.

"Don't force it!"

Shen Qingyue nodded.

"These characters were not carved on later."

"It's as if they grew out from inside the mural!"

Xu Chen felt his scalp tingle as he listened.

"Characters that grew out?"

"Good heavens, does this rock evolve on its own?"

Hongmeng Immortal Light swirled in Lin Yi's eyes.

His upgraded Primordial Immortal Pupil swept across the mural, and layers of the black ash of time were peeled away.

The previously blurry image began to become clear, and some more detailed parts were revealed before everyone's eyes.

In the first layer of the image, the Shen Family experts stood directly in front of the stone gate, with Formation Flags spread out and runes connecting into a single piece.

Each Shen Family gate guard was clad in blood-stained battle armor, standing in strict formation, without a hint of retreat.

Behind them were the Cultivators of the Heaven and Earth Gate.

Those people held jade bottles, Formation Plates, and ancient needles, responsible for replenishing the vitality and Tai Su Dao Patterns on both sides of the stone gate.

The True Dragon Lineage was on the outer perimeter.

Dragon shadows coiled in the sky, their sharp claws pressed against the ground, as if ready to pounce on something at any moment.

The three parties had indeed fought side by side.

But the hierarchy was clear.

The Shen Family guarded the gate.

The Heaven and Earth Gate assisted with the formation.

The True Dragon Lineage was merely a collaborator that joined later.

Shen Qingyue stared at the painting, her voice so soft it was chilling.

"So, the right to guard the gate at the beginning did not include the True Dragon Lineage at all."

Su Yuxi stood before the stone gate, silvery-white Dao light surrounding her body.

After fusing with the Dao Fruit of her past life, she possessed a sense of majesty that made people afraid to look directly at her.

But when she looked at Lin Yi, that layer of majesty faded significantly.

"The True Dragon Lineage was let in later."

"They brought intelligence about the world behind the gate, and they also brought greed."

Xu Chen frowned.

"This is very classic."

"Teammates say they're here to help, but they end up eyeing the key to your front door."

Chu Wanqing hugged the imperial zither, her fingertips plucking lightly, and the melody landed on the mural.

"Hum!"

The second layer of the hidden image was shaken out.

In the painting, the grey stone gate cracked open a sliver, and black mist drilled out from the gap.

The first person to be touched by the black mist was a Heaven and Earth Gate Cultivator.

That person's eyes were filled with black veins, the Formation Plate in his hand dropped, and he turned and stabbed the ancient needle into his companion's chest.