83: Chapter 83 Obtaining the Core!

"A statue?"

Lu Cheng repeated Commander Ji Yunlan's words, looking up at the headless statue in the center of the square, his brows furrowed.

"What is that thing?"

Commander Ji Yunlan's gaze never left the statue, her voice kept very low, as if afraid of disturbing something.

"It is something built by the life forms of this space using their own flesh, blood, and faith."

She paused, her expression becoming increasingly grave.

"It allowed them to be protected during the disaster."

The patterns on the surface of the headless statue were still glowing, streams of white light flowing slowly along the stone body, casting a cold hue over the surrounding broken stone pillars.

Lu Cheng felt his scalp tingle as he listened, unable to help but glance at the statue again.

Officer Zhao Yue stood in front, his combat blade still held ready, and asked in a deep voice: "Are you sure?"

"There are fragmented records in ancient texts," Commander Ji Yunlan said. "Statues usually do not appear alone; they are inherently part of some large-scale ritual or defense system."

Her gaze swept across the square, then returned to the pedestal at the base of the statue.

"The core should be in this area."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone tensed up.

Commander Ji Yunlan immediately ordered: "Spread out and search, in groups of three. Do not leave each other's sight. Do not touch anything indiscriminately, and report any abnormalities immediately."

"Yes!"

The team quickly dispersed.

Lu Cheng, the short-haired female scout, and a soldier of the Source Gathering Realm were assigned to the area to the left of the statue.

Officer Zhao Yue took a few people to search the right side, while Commander Ji Yunlan personally inspected the pedestal directly in front of the statue.

There were many broken stone tiles on the square, with black-gray dust packed into the gaps.

In the peripheral areas, some metal components were scattered and half-buried underground, with strange shapes—some with gears, some with rings, and several black stone slabs carved with twisted symbols.

Lu Cheng squatted down and shone his tactical flashlight on the ground.

There were many carvings on the surface of the stone tiles.

Some looked like characters, others like circuits.

The short-haired female scout also squatted down, reaching out to brush away a layer of dust, revealing a clearer pattern underneath.

"Are these array patterns?"

The soldier next to her said in a low voice: "They look a bit like a containment structure."

Lu Cheng stared at the patterns for two seconds and suddenly realized that these lines were not chaotic.

They were all converging toward the base of the statue.

Moreover, many corners of the stone tiles were carved with the same eye pattern.

A single eye, standing vertically.

The pupil was slender, with flame patterns along the edges.

Lu Cheng looked up toward other directions of the square and found that several stone tiles had similar patterns, though some were complete while others were damaged.

"Commander Ji," the short-haired female scout called out, looking up. "There are uniform patterns on the ground; it looks like they are pointing toward the statue's pedestal."

Commander Ji Yunlan walked over quickly, took a few looks, and her expression darkened further.

"Continue searching. See if there is an activation mechanism."

Everyone continued searching.

Soon, new abnormalities began to emerge one after another.

On Officer Zhao Yue's side, a rotatable disc was discovered at the base of a broken stone pillar. The disc had nine grooves, embedded with blackened crystal fragments.

On the other side, a soldier dug up a section of chain at the edge of the square; the end of the chain was buried deep underground, its surface covered with dense symbols.

Lu Cheng felt a cold piece of metal beneath a collapsed stone tile to the back-left of the statue.

He pulled it out and took a look; the object was the size of a palm, with half an eye carved on the front and a string of strange characters on the back.

The short-haired female scout leaned over to look and whispered: "A key?"

"Possibly." Lu Cheng turned the metal piece over and over twice. "But where does it go?"

Several reports soon rang out across the square.

"Commander Ji, there is a groove here!"

"I have one here too, but the shape doesn't match!"

"There is a hollow layer under the ground; there might be a mechanism inside!"

Commander Ji Yunlan stood in front of the statue, quickly organizing the information.

"Nine grooves, eye patterns, chains, the statue..."

She seemed to be piecing together a scattered puzzle.

Lu Cheng was also pacing nearby. There was one thing he couldn't understand... Since this place had been desolate for so long, why was the key still left here?

Just then, Lu Cheng's Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck twitched slightly.

His footsteps paused, and he immediately turned his head.

"This way."

The short-haired female scout and the soldier followed simultaneously.

Lu Cheng walked forward, following that sensation, bypassing a broken pillar, crossing an area of cracked stone tiles, and finally stopping five or six meters behind the statue.

A corner of the ground here had collapsed, revealing a section of a downward-sloping black stone platform.

The stone platform was covered in dust.

Lu Cheng scraped it with his foot, and as the dust dispersed, a complete pattern was revealed underneath.

Nine eyes arranged in a circle.

In the center was a vertical crack.

The shape of the crack was exactly the same as the metal piece in his hand.

"Found it!"

Lu Cheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately called out to Commander Ji Yunlan.

Commander Ji Yunlan and Officer Zhao Yue arrived almost simultaneously.

Upon seeing the stone platform, Commander Ji Yunlan's breathing deepened.

"Don't touch it," Officer Zhao Yue barked in a low voice. "First, confirm if there are any traps."

The bespectacled young man also hurried over, placing a probe on the edge of the stone platform to detect anything.

A few seconds later, sweat broke out on his forehead.

"There is an energy flow... it's very weak."

Lu Cheng looked down at the metal piece in his hand, then at the crack.

"It should be this," he said.

Commander Ji Yunlan looked at him. "Are you sure?"

Lu Cheng grinned, his smile a bit dry.

"Let's try it... there's no other way now..."

Commander Ji Yunlan did not hesitate further, nodding. "Insert it, everyone retreat and prepare for contingencies."

Everyone immediately backed away.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath, squatted down, aligned the metal piece with the crack, and slowly pressed it in.

Click.

A very faint clicking sound rang out.

The next second.

The entire black stone platform suddenly lit up!

The nine eyes simultaneously glowed with a crimson light, and the light spread wildly along the array patterns on the ground, instantly covering the entire square!

Boom!

The statue shook violently.

Everyone's expression changed, and they all raised their Source Power.

Just as Lu Cheng stepped back, he heard a faint sound of liquid flowing above his head.

He looked up abruptly.

A wisp of blood was slowly seeping out from the broken neck of the statue.

The blood was very thin at first, dripping down along the broken edge and onto the chest of the statue.

But after just two seconds, the blood increased.

It gushed out in streams.

The color was bright crimson, and the temperature was terrifyingly high. When it dripped onto the ground, the surface of the stone tiles emitted a hissing sound, and white smoke rose up.

"Fall back!" Commander Ji Yunlan shouted sharply.

Lu Cheng could already feel the heat.

That was certainly not ordinary blood.

The substance was like molten metal, flowing down the statue faster and faster, and soon it began to boil like lava!

Gurgle... Gurgle...

Crimson blood plasma churned at the base of the statue, and great waves of heat swept across the surroundings.

The temperature in the square climbed crazily.

Several soldiers instantly broke into a sweat, and the surface of their combat uniforms began to heat up.

Further away, the entire Abandoned City began to shake as well.

Rumble!

Tall buildings swayed, streets trembled, the distant broken tracks emitted harsh metallic friction sounds, and the gray mist was shaken into a churn.

Lu Cheng's feet went numb. Just as he steadied himself, an even greater anomaly erupted in the center of the square.

The ground in front of the statue cracked open piece by piece.

Nine thick black shadows slowly rose from underground.

One, two, three...

A full nine pillars!

Each one was nearly ten meters tall, pitch black, and carved with a giant eye on the pillar body.

The eyes were closed, with flame patterns wrapped around their edges.

More bizarrely, each pillar was wrapped in heavy chains, pulled taut and embedded deep into the ground, with dark red runes floating on their surfaces.

In the center of the square, firelight flashed wildly, and heat waves rolled over.

Commander Ji Yunlan stared at the nine pillars, and her expression suddenly changed.

"Nine-Eye Flame Locking Pillars..."

She muttered, her breathing quickening slightly.

Officer Zhao Yue immediately turned his head. "Do you know what this is?"

Commander Ji Yunlan stared at the eyes on the pillars, a scroll of fragmented ancient texts she had once read flashing rapidly through her mind, along with the towering flames, kneeling sacrifices, and falling cities from the stone wall murals earlier.

Her voice tightened.

"I have seen this in ancient texts."

"Combined with the previous murals..."

She looked up abruptly, gazing at the headless statue and the nine locking pillars, a trace of uncontrollable shock finally appearing in her eyes.

"This is... the place where the Flame Demon is sealed!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of everyone around changed.

Flame Demon?

Just hearing the name, they knew it wasn't anything good.

Officer Zhao Yue said in a deep voice: "What level is the Flame Demon?"

"The ancient records are incomplete," Commander Ji Yunlan said, her speaking speed extremely fast.

"But it is at least a disaster creature of the War King level or above, perhaps even higher!"

She immediately turned to look at everyone, her voice rising directly.

"We need to hurry!"

"If we drag this out, the entire ruins will turn into a sea of fire!"

Lu Cheng hurriedly activated Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck again.

The next second, that feeling of "Fortune" appeared again.

Only this time, it was much weaker than before.

And it was fading rapidly.

Lu Cheng's heart sank.

The signal was weakening.

This meant the window of opportunity was closing.

He closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the interference caused by the surrounding heat waves and vibrations, and followed that tiny omen of fortune to grasp the direction.

The statue's pedestal... half-bad, half-good.

The center of the nine pillars...

Lu Cheng opened his eyes abruptly, his gaze locked tightly onto the churning blood plasma at the base of the statue.

"The core is underneath!"

He pointed, his voice quick.

"Under the statue's pedestal, at the center of the nine pillars!"

Officer Zhao Yue frowned. "It's all that ghostly stuff down there; how do we get down?"

Lu Cheng also felt a headache.

But the direction given by Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck was becoming increasingly faint.

If they dawdled any longer, it would really be gone.

He stared at the churning blood plasma, his mind racing, and suddenly noticed that the chains on the nine pillars were flashing on and off, their rhythm perfectly synchronized with the ground array patterns.

Each time the chains lit up, the surface of the blood plasma would briefly sink for an instant.

The time was very short.

It flashed by in a blink.

Lu Cheng's eyes lit up.

"There's an opening!"

He said quickly: "Every time the chains light up, the blood below sinks for half a second; the core entrance is revealed at that moment!"

Commander Ji Yunlan reacted extremely quickly, immediately shouting: "Officer Zhao Yue, hold the line! Everyone else, prepare to cover Lu Cheng!"

"Understood!"

Officer Zhao Yue stepped out, his Hua Hai Realm Source Power erupting with a roar, his blade aura sweeping out, forcefully carving an opening through the heat waves rolling in from the front.

Lu Cheng didn't waste words, pushing the Wandering Step to its limit instantly, and dashed toward the statue.

Hum!

The first chain lit up.

The blood plasma sank.

Lu Cheng pushed off with his feet, skimming across the first gap.

Hum! Hum!

The second and third chains lit up in succession.

His figure flashed repeatedly, passing through the middle of two gushing crimson blood streams with extreme danger.

Heat waves hit his face, and his skin was searing.

A holy radiance flashed on the surface of the Dragon Scale Holy Armor, forcefully bearing most of the scorching heat for him.

"Up ahead!" the short-haired female scout shouted.

Lu Cheng looked up and saw that directly beneath the statue's pedestal, a circular groove was indeed revealed in the flickering light.

In the center of the groove was embedded a crystal core the size of a fist.

The object was translucent, half crimson and half gray-white inside, its surface covered with fine cracks, and it was pulsing wildly.

The ruins core!

Lu Cheng's gaze turned fierce; he pounced directly and pressed his hand onto the crystal core.

It was scalding to the touch.

It was like grabbing a piece of red-hot iron.

Lu Cheng almost bit his teeth to pieces, his internal energy running crazily, forcefully dragging the crystal core out of the groove!

Snap!

As the core detached, the vibrations of the entire square instantly intensified!

The nine locking pillars emitted a harsh buzzing sound simultaneously, and the blood plasma gushing from the statue's neck surged violently, as if it were about to go completely out of control.

Commander Ji Yunlan's expression changed abruptly. "Come back!"

Lu Cheng turned and ran.

But just then!

Outside.

At the Northern Ruins, chaos also occurred.

...

On the outskirts of the Northern Ruins, the originally silent ice-blue stone gate suddenly shook violently.

Large patches of frost spread wildly on the surface of the gate, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and thick white frost instantly condensed on the ground.

The soldiers stationed outside had just looked up when they saw large amounts of cold mist pouring out from the gaps in the stone gate.

The mist was extremely fast, drowning the front positions in the blink of an eye.

"Alert!"

"Fall back!"

"Prepare the Source Energy cannons!"

Before the command could even finish, a huge phantom image appeared above the stone gate.

Snowy mountains, ice plains, snowstorms.

The scene inside the entire Northern Ruins was actually projected directly to the outside world.

And inside the Southern Ruins.

Lu Cheng had just rushed out two steps when the air in front of him suddenly distorted.

Immediately afterward, the gray mist in the sky was torn apart by an extremely cold aura.

Everyone stiffened at the same time.

Because they saw another scene.

A world of ice and snow.

A vast white ice plain spread out, cold winds howled with snowstorms, and in the distance stood a huge ice gate, with cold mist churning behind it, overlapping forcefully with the hot square where they were.

Officer Zhao Yue's pupils constricted. "This wouldn't be the scene of the Northern Ruins, would it?!"

Commander Ji Yunlan also realized it instantly, her expression becoming extremely ugly.

Heat and cold collided directly.

On one side, the statue bled, lava boiled, and heat waves rolled.

On the other side, the ice plain descended, cold waves swept through, and snowstorms pressed down.

Boom!!!

A loud noise exploded in the center of the entire square, white steam shot into the sky, shockwaves raised by the collision of cold and heat swept wildly in all directions, large areas of the ground shattered, the nine locking pillars trembled in unison, and the chains rattled taut.

Holding the ruins core, Lu Cheng was shaken by the impact, stumbling and nearly flying out on the spot.