55: Immune pollution, the disguise of leeks

The moment they stepped into the light gate, a strong, disorienting sensation of temporal and spatial distortion swept through the Divine Souls of all entrants.

Even Lin Tian felt a subtle, almost imperceptible flicker of disorientation.

The next second, the feeling of solid ground beneath their feet returned, and the scene before their eyes suddenly opened up.

There were no eerie, dark tomb passages as imagined, nor were there resplendent, magnificent halls.

What greeted their eyes was an endless, vast expanse of giant ruined stone forests, filled with an ancient, primordial aura.

The sky was an eternal, oppressive dull yellow, like a dying star emitting its last light. The air was filled with a faint, ancient scent, like a mixture of rust and dust. Towering hundreds of meters high, weathered giant stone totem poles stood like silent giants across this vast land, narrating a glorious yet tragic history long forgotten.

“Is this… the interior of the War Emperor's Mausoleum?”

“Such… such a massive space! This is practically an independent Small World!”

Thousands of top Prodigies from all over the world, after the initial shock, had their eyes ignite with a blazing fire named “greed”!

However, before they could even begin to explore this treasure trove full of endless Opportunities—

Buzz—! Buzz—! Buzz—!

The entire ruined stone forest, as if an ancient war machine had been activated, began to tremble violently!

One after another, B-Class “Imperial Tomb Guardian Puppet” that had been dormant for tens of thousands of years, crafted entirely from unknown black divine metal, standing ten meters tall, and wielding giant axes and war shields, suddenly had their hollow eye sockets light up with crimson glows, filled with an aura of slaughter and destruction!

“—Intruders, die!”

A cold, emotionless mechanical synthetic voice echoed through the heavens and earth!

Tens of thousands of Guardian Puppets awakened from the ruins, like a black tide, launching the most merciless and destructive charge towards the Prodigies who had just entered this place!

The battle, in the very first second of entering the instance,… exploded!

“Damn it! These Puppets have such strong defense! My A-Class combat skill only leaves a white mark on them!”

“Be careful! Their attack patterns contain ancient military formations! Don’t get split up and surrounded!”

Instantly, screams, shouts, and the clashing of weapons rose and fell in succession!

Those ordinary Prodigies who were formidable enough to be kings and revered by countless people in the outside world, when facing this endless, fearless army of Puppets, instantly fell into a bitter struggle, and even suffered casualties!

And those true elite Prodigies, standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid, could barely protect themselves, but they also seemed a bit flustered.

Only a handful of teams, on this chaotic battlefield, appeared… out of place.

Adam of the “Holy Mountain” spread his twelve Holy Light wings, like a god descended to the mortal world. Every Holy Light he cast instantly purified dozens of Puppets into nothingness!

Bai Feng of the “War God Academy” still wore a gentle smile on his face. His transplanted “arm of god” seemed to have a life of its own; each swing could stir the Laws of heaven and earth, crushing swathes of Puppets into dust!

And among them, the most relaxed and effortless, and undoubtedly the most eye-catching, was Lin Tian’s Long family team!

“Ice Age!”

Dragon Snow Phoenix, the seventh heir, let out a clear shout, fully unleashing her S-Class [Frost Phoenix] ability! An absolute zero cold air, capable of freezing the Soul, swept out from her! Within a radius of a thousand meters, all charging Guardian Puppets were instantly frozen into lifelike ice sculptures!

“Blade Storm!”

Long Ao, the number three heir, followed closely, pushing his S-Class [Indestructible Sword Bone] to the extreme! Tens of thousands of incomparably sharp Sword Qi burst forth from his body, forming a blade storm capable of shredding everything! Those Puppets that had just been frozen into ice sculptures, under the sweep of this storm, were instantly… shredded into a sky full of ice shards like fragile porcelain!

The two, one controlling and one killing, cooperated perfectly, like the most efficient killing machine, clearing their area into an absolute vacuum zone!

And Lin Tian himself hadn't even lifted a finger.

He simply walked calmly, hands behind his back, strolling leisurely across this battlefield full of slaughter and death, like a monarch inspecting his own backyard.

Under his powerful and terrifying aura, capable of distorting space, any Guardian Puppet daring to approach within a hundred meters of him would instantly be… crushed into powder by an invisible force!

This overwhelming, effortlessly crushing power gap was clearly displayed, through the “Heavenly Eye” cameras of the global live broadcast, to billions of viewers worldwide, making it obvious.

Amidst this chaotic battlefield, Lin Tian’s deep eyes, however, like the highest precision radar, were curiously locked onto an inconspicuous young man who was “struggling” in battle.

The young man, dressed simply, with an aura only at the A-Rank Martial Ancestor level, was holding an ordinary alloy battle saber, “struggling” to fight three Guardian Puppets. He was constantly in peril, almost struck by the Puppets’ giant axes several times, appearing in a sorry state.

However, all of this, in Lin Tian’s eyes, which could discern the Origin of everything, seemed so… comical.

“He’s… quite a good actor.”

He saw through the opponent’s “ordinary” exterior to the pure and incomparably domineering Internal Energy of the Human Emperor Suppressing World Art, filled with imperial power.

—It was none other than the Son of Destiny, Ye Fan!

Lin Tian looked at his “strenuous performance” and a sarcastic curve appeared at the corner of his mouth, making a “farmer-like” declaration in his heart.

“Let this keen-nosed ‘treasure-hunting rat’ scout the way for me first.”

“Once you find the truly good stuff, once you find the so-called ‘main tomb chamber’…”

“I’ll… harvest both the person and the treasure at once!”

…After paying the heavy price of nearly a thousand ordinary Prodigies falling, the first wave of Puppet attacks was finally quelled.

The surviving Prodigies dared not linger for a moment, and continued to explore deeper into the ruins.

As everyone delved deeper, the strange “meme contamination” in the air, filled with ominousness and chaos, also began to grow denser.

Soon, some Prodigies began to show abnormalities!

“Ah! Don’t come over! You’re all monsters!” A noble Genius from Europe suddenly had bloodshot eyes, acting like a madman, and without warning, plunged the knight’s sword in his hand into his closest companion!

“Hahahaha! I am God! I am the only God in this world!” Another Prodigy from an Indian mythological organization fell into some exaggerated fantasy, beginning to furiously and indiscriminately attack all living beings he could see around him!

Infighting, mad ravings, falling into hallucinations… “meme contamination,” this invisible, terrifying crisis that directly affected the mind, was a hundred times more frightening than the tangible Puppet army before!

Even the top Geniuses like Long Qingtian, Bai Feng, and Adam were now frowning deeply, their expressions solemn, forced to dedicate a significant portion of their mental energy to fully resist the pervasive mental erosion, their combat power greatly diminished.

Only Lin Tian.

He still maintained that leisurely, unhurried, and calm demeanor.

His Divine Soul defense, built by the SSS-Class mythical genes [Pangu Body] and [Heart of God], a veritable “absolute barrier,” caused the “meme contamination” that could drive even Martial Emperor Rank powerhouses insane, to instantly… purify and melt away like ice meeting scorching sun the moment it approached his body!

“What others lack, I possess”!

This unique immunity to all environmental debuffs completely… distinguished him from all other competitors present!

It reinforced his unique “destined by heaven” specialness!

…After an unknown period, the surviving teams finally arrived before a colossal gate, a thousand meters high, cast entirely from bronze, and engraved with countless ancient divine and demonic reliefs.

This seemed to be the true entrance to the War Emperor's Mausoleum’s core area…

However, before the gate, a terrifying Peak A-rank mutated beast, a “Deep Abyss Demonic Ape,” standing a hundred meters tall, covered in pitch-black demonic scales, and exuding an aura so violent it could distort space, possessing the genes of an ancient demonic ape, was sleeping there like the most loyal guardian.

The arrival of the crowd instantly awakened this… BOSS that had been dormant for tens of thousands of years!

“Roar—!!!”

It suddenly opened its enormous eyes, like two blood-red suns, and let out a terrifying roar that could shatter mountains and rivers!

It ignored all the other Prodigies present.

Its blood-red pupils, filled with endless brutality and destructive desire, firmly locked onto the… white figure, thousands of meters away, whose aura was the most restrained, yet made it feel the most fatal threat!

【External Viewpoint】

Inside the global monitoring room of the “Holy Mountain” organization.

Kyle’s father, the immensely powerful Director, clearly saw this scene through the “Heavenly Eye” System.

A cruel, gloating smile finally appeared on his grim face.

He sneered at Adam, the true ace, standing beside him, his body enveloped in Holy Light, his face obscured, and delivered the final “poisoned blessing” judgment.

“Look.”

“Your opponent is about to be torn to shreds by that beast that has been hungry for tens of thousands of years.”