73: Chapter 73 The Terrible Key

As the thought arose, Shen Xiao's hand had already reached out.

There was no time for hesitation.

The sound of the ice wall shattering behind him was like Death knocking at the door, each strike closer and heavier than the last.

He could even feel the fluctuations of Lin Yun's golden spiritual energy, wrapped in the Luck of the Child of Destiny, scorching his back like the blazing sun, making his spine go numb from the heat.

The moment his fingertips touched the edge of the indentation, a bone-chilling coldness spread from his fingertips throughout his entire body.

But beneath the cold, there was something else.

It was an extremely subtle vibration, almost in sync with the silver frame in his Sea of Consciousness, like two tuning forks of similar frequency that would resonate once brought close together.

The silver halo flowing around the edge of the indentation seemed to sense something; it suddenly accelerated, emitting a low humming sound, as if a mechanism that had been dormant for ten thousand years had been gently triggered.

Shen Xiao's pupils contracted slightly.

He had bet correctly.

The "key" required by this indentation was indeed derived from the same source as the Gravekeeper terminal's energy.

But he did not have a proper key; he only had a "mark" forcibly branded onto him, carrying monitoring functions.

It was equivalent to using a picked lock to open another.

Whether it would work or not depended entirely on Luck.

Shen Xiao took a deep breath, suppressing the tumultuous pain in his Meridians, and sank his consciousness into his Dantian.

On the surface of the crack-riddled Dark Gold Core, a faint silver frame clung like a festering sore, emitting the exact same cold aura as the Gravekeeper terminal above.

Every circulation of spiritual energy had to pass the "audit" of this frame; it was like dancing in shackles, restricted at every turn and difficult at every step.

But at this moment, it was precisely the power of this frame that Shen Xiao needed.

He carefully urged the Dark Gold Core, not to circulate spiritual energy, but to probe his consciousness toward that silver frame.

The spectral code on the surface of the frame jumped wildly, like prey being spied upon, struggling instinctively. But Shen Xiao did not retreat; he followed the gaps in the jumping code, like dancing on the tip of a blade, peeling off a tiny thread of silver energy bit by bit.

The thread was as thin as a hair, yet terrifyingly heavy, like liquid mercury or solidified light.

Shen Xiao gritted his teeth, forcibly peeling that thread of silver energy from the Dark Gold Core, sending it all the way up along his Meridians, straight to his fingertips.

His Meridians felt as if they were being pierced by red-hot iron wires; every muscle along the way spasmed, and every breath tugged at the excruciating pain in his internal organs.

Veins bulged on his forehead, and his gums bled, a fishy, sweet taste filling his mouth.

Yet his hand remained as steady as if it were welded to the ice wall.

The moment that thread of silver energy touched the center of the indentation, blinding silver light exploded like a supernova!

The entire ice wall shook violently. The teleportation array patterns on the surface seemed to be injected with new blood; all the dim runes lit up simultaneously, emitting a sharp, teeth-gritting hum.

A terrifying suction force came from the indentation, like countless invisible hands frantically tearing at the energy at Shen Xiao's fingertips, trying to uproot that silver thread!

"Ugh!"

Shen Xiao groaned, and the ice beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb.

He felt his Sea of Consciousness being drained frantically. The silver frame trembled violently, fine cracks appearing on its surface visible to the naked eye, like an overworked circuit board on the verge of burning out.

But at the same time, the string of jumping energy spectral code in the System log was partially recorded and parsed by the fluctuations of the portal during this process.

Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes, looking through the blinding silver light into the depths of the indentation.

A vague outline was slowly taking shape.

A temporary "lock core," resembling a key blank and woven from silver and dark gold light threads, was struggling to coalesce amidst the collision and Fusion of the two energies.

But it was too slow.

At the end of the corridor behind him, the golden light had closed in to within a hundred zhang. Lin Yun's shout, filled with monstrous rage, was like a tangible attack, shaking the entire corridor:

"Shen Xiao! Thief who steals Luck! You cannot escape!"

"Guided by the Heavenly Dao, this place shall be your burial ground!"

Shen Xiao did not turn back.

He simply stared fixedly at the "lock core" taking shape, feeling the silver frame of the System "monitoring" being consumed and shattering at a speed visible to the naked eye, while simultaneously feeling the aura of death drawing ever closer behind him.

Ten breaths.

At most ten breaths, and Lin Yun would be upon him.

And the "lock core" would need at least five more breaths to form.

That five-breath gap was the distance between life and death.

Just then.

"You are insane."

Xia Lengbai's voice came from behind, hoarse and cold, yet carrying a kind of desperate ferocity.

Shen Xiao glanced sideways to see her standing beside him. The dark green and black toxins on her right wrist were writhing frantically under the stimulation of the silver light, like awakened venomous snakes, but she was forcing them down with sheer willpower, keeping them below her fingertips.

The Tomb Guardian Seal on her forehead shone brightly. The ice-blue radiance complemented the silver light pouring from Shen Xiao's fingertips, illuminating her pale face, making her look like a female ghost who had just stepped out of an ice coffin.

"The Tomb Guardian Seal says the beacon is conflicting, and the energy is unstable," Xia Lengbai said quickly, her voice like a blade quenched in ice. "Your energy is too manic; the portal cannot withstand it."

"So?" Shen Xiao did not waste words.

"So…"

Xia Lengbai suddenly raised her hand and pressed it against her forehead. "I will stabilize it."

The moment her words fell, the Tomb Guardian Seal on her forehead erupted with blinding silver light!

A massive amount of Ice Soul Profound Light gushed from her Dantian like a bursting flood, traveling up along her Meridians and pouring into the Tomb Guardian Seal on her forehead.

The Tomb Guardian Seal, like an ignited engine, whirred frantically, converting those icy profound lights into purer, more condensed silver energy, then coating the endlessly trembling portal along Xia Lengbai's arm.

Two energies, different in nature yet sharing the same source, met, collided, and fused at the indentation.

Shen Xiao's energy was manic and chaotic, carrying the violent aura unique to the Dark Gold Core, like a beast trapped in a cage struggling frantically.

Xia Lengbai's energy was cold and stable, carrying the sense of order inherited by the Tomb Guardian Seal over ten thousand years, like a glacial river flowing slowly.

The two energies were like water and fire, yet also like Yin and Yang, entangling, suppressing, and fusing with each other, weaving an airtight energy network around the "lock core" forming in the center of the indentation.

The portal's rotation began to accelerate.

Those intricate and complex teleportation array patterns lit up one by one like activated gears, emitting a low and steady hum.

The spatial fluctuations shifted from chaotic to orderly, from violent to calm, like the surface of the sea after a storm, gradually returning to tranquility.

Shen Xiao felt the silver frame of the System "monitoring" being consumed violently, the cracks on its surface spreading like a spiderweb, but that string of jumping energy spectral code was also being completely recorded and parsed by the portal's fluctuations during this process.

He narrowed his eyes, observing the code through internal vision.

What was originally just a string of chaotic, patternless garble was now, under the portal's parsing, gradually revealing a hidden structure.

It was like a file encrypted by someone, now being decoded word by word by another program.

Shen Xiao's heart stirred.

He had no time to examine it closely, but the structure of that code gave him an inexplicably familiar feeling.

It was like the underlying logic of some "protocol."

It was like the unlocking key for some "permission."

It was like… some higher-level rule that he could not yet understand.

But he had no time to think about these things.

Because at the end of the corridor behind him, the golden light was close at hand!

"The lock core has formed!"

Xia Lengbai's voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Three breaths, no, two breaths!"

Shen Xiao gritted his teeth and pushed out all the remaining energy within the Dark Gold Core, along with that shattered "monitoring" silver frame!

In that instant, he felt his Dantian being hollowed out, a tearing pain surged through his Meridians, his vision went black, and his ears rang incessantly.

But at the same time, the "lock core" interwoven with silver and dark gold in the center of the indentation.

It formed with a boom!

The entire portal erupted with blinding silver-white light the moment the lock core formed, and all the array patterns on its surface lit up simultaneously, spinning rapidly like an ignited fuse.

A terrifying suction force erupted from the center of the portal, like an invisible giant hand pulling everything in the surroundings toward the center.

Ice shards, airflow, light, and even sound were swallowed by that suction force.

Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai both felt their bodies lighten, and they flew uncontrollably toward the center of the portal!

Just at this critical moment.

"Don't even think about it!"

Lin Yun's angry shout rang out like thunder, and golden light surged from the end of the corridor!

Wrapped in brilliant golden light and vast Luck, he shattered the last remaining ice wall and appeared at the end of the corridor!

His gaze was like lightning, instantly locking onto the two people maintaining the portal, especially the eye-catching Tomb Guardian Seal on Xia Lengbai's forehead.

He raised his hand, without wasting words, without hesitation.

A golden light spear, condensed with the power of vast Luck, had already formed. The spear body burned with golden flames, and the tip condensed with the power of Karma unique to the Child of Destiny, shooting straight at the core of the portal!

That light spear carried the might to destroy the heavens and earth; wherever it passed, the ice wall crumbled inch by inch, and even space was torn open with fine black cracks!

Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai both felt an impending catastrophe.

The trajectory of the light spear was aimed exactly at the "lock core" that had just formed in the core of the portal!

If it hit, the lock core would shatter, the portal would collapse, and the two of them would be torn to shreds by the spatial turbulence, leaving nothing behind!

In the nick of time, Shen Xiao roared, desperately pushing out the last trace of Dark Gold Spiritual Energy in his Dantian!

Xia Lengbai also spat out a mist of blood mixed with ice crystals, pushing the radiance of the Tomb Guardian Seal to its limit!

The two forces collided with a boom at the lock core.

"The lock core" exploded with blinding light!

The portal suddenly caved inward and expanded, generating a terrifying suction force ten times stronger than before!

The golden light spear pierced into the range of the suction, its trajectory deflected.

It grazed Shen Xiao's left shoulder and pierced through the ice wall behind him!

The moment the ice wall was pierced by the light spear, a massive hole with a diameter of three zhang exploded open, and golden flames gushed out from the hole, turning everything behind it into ash!

But Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai had already been violently pulled into the portal by that terrifying suction!

In Shen Xiao's final moments of consciousness, what he saw was Lin Yun's twisted, angry face and his outstretched hand, trying to grab something.

Then, the world spun.

The moment their figures disappeared, the portal, unable to withstand the opposing forces from inside and out, emitted a sound of shattering under the strain.

Its surface was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, its light dimmed rapidly, and its rotation slowed more and more, eventually leaving only a distorted ring of light that barely maintained its form and was extremely unstable.

Lin Yun rushed forward, reaching out to grab it.

The moment his fingertips touched the edge of the ring of light, a force of spatial cutting erupted from the ripples, causing his fingers to go numb from the recoil, and a bloody gash deep enough to see bone was cut into his palm!

He abruptly retracted his hand, looking with a gloomy face at the teetering ring of light, and then at the chaotic traces of intertwined dark gold and silver energy remaining in the corridor.

Those energy traces were imprinted on the ice wall like some ancient runes, emitting strange fluctuations that faintly repelled the power of the Child of Destiny within him.

"Shen Xiao…"

Lin Yun spat out these two words through gritted teeth, killing intent surging in his eyes.

The elite squad behind him arrived one after another, all looking disheveled and bearing varying degrees of injuries—the deflected golden light spear just now, while it hadn't hit Shen Xiao, had triggered a chain reaction in the corridor, shaking the entire corridor until it was riddled with holes.

"Your Highness, this portal…"

A subordinate looked at the teetering ring of light, his expression grave.

Lin Yun did not speak, only staring at the spatial fragments constantly peeling off the edge of the ring of light, and the figures of Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai faintly flashing within the fragments.

The figures were blurred and distorted, as if viewed through a layer of frosted glass, but Lin Yun could still recognize them.

Shen Xiao was falling.

Xia Lengbai was also falling.

Their figures entangled, separated, and entangled again in the spatial turbulence, like two fallen leaves swept into a whirlpool, helpless, their lives hanging by a thread.

But Lin Yun could not see where they were falling to.

The ring of light became smaller and smaller, dimmer and dimmer, and finally shattered completely before his eyes, turning into countless tiny spatial fragments that dissipated into the air.

The corridor was left in dead silence.

And the wound on his palm was still dripping blood.

"Search," Lin Yun said coldly, his voice sounding as if it came from an ice cellar. "Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but find them."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the terrified subordinates behind him, the corners of his mouth curling into a cruel arc:

"Alive, I want to see them."

"Dead, I want to see their corpses."