21: Chapter 14 Forbidden Zone Anomaly, Abyss Summoning

Chapter Fourteen: Forbidden Ground Anomaly, Call of the Abyss

A low roar came from deep within the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land, like an ancient giant beast Awakening in the abyss.

Lin Ye and the other six stood atop the Ninth Holy Mountain. The joy of just completing their Breakthrough in the wheel sea secret realm hadn't faded before being dampened by this sudden change. Everyone looked toward the sound and saw that above the core area of the Forbidden Ground—the abyss shrouded in Eternal Mist—the sky was undergoing a bizarre transformation.

The originally gray sky now seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand. Clouds swirled and converged toward the center, forming a massive vortex over ten kilometers in diameter. The center of the vortex was pitch black as ink, with faint bronze light leaking out, as if another space was forcibly squeezing into this world.

"What is that?" Chen Hao gripped his long spear, his voice heavy with solemnity.

Su Qingyue's beautiful eyes reflected the celestial anomaly. Ice-blue Spiritual Qi flowed around her body; she had clearly entered a state of high alert. "Such strong spatial fluctuations... something is coming out."

Lin Ye didn't speak; his gaze was fixed intently on the center of the vortex.

It's here.

The Bronze Ancient Palace, the sign of the hidden dungeon "Bronze Ancient Palace" opening.

In his past life, this dungeon was only discovered by players on the fifteenth day after the server opened. At that time, several teams above Rank 30 had already tried to clear it, but all failed at the Normal difficulty. The Hell difficulty wasn't cleared until three months after the server opened, by a full elite team of Rank 50.

But now, because they broke through the wheel sea secret realm on the seventh day of the server opening, they triggered some hidden condition, causing the Bronze Ancient Palace to open early.

"Everyone, rest where you are and recover your status," Lin Ye said in a deep voice. "There might be a battle coming next."

He took out the [archaic sacred fruit] he had collected earlier from his storage ring. He kept three for himself and distributed the rest to his teammates. "Consume the sacred fruit and recover your Spiritual Qi as quickly as possible. Zhao Xiaoyu, be ready to cast your healing Spells at any time."

The group didn't ask questions and immediately did as told. After these days together, they had developed a near-instinctive trust in Lin Ye's judgment.

Lin Ye also consumed a sacred fruit. Warm energy dissolved within his body, and the Spiritual Qi consumed during his wheel sea secret realm Breakthrough quickly recovered. All his attributes increased by 50 points again. His Rank stabilized at 15, but his actual combat power far exceeded the standard for this Rank.

The improvement brought by the wheel sea secret realm Perfection was comprehensive. The Sea of Misery expanded to nine zhang nine in diameter, with golden seawater surging, each drop containing majestic Chaos Divine Power. The life spring erupted like a pillar, and the Divine Power recovery speed was more than five times faster than before. More importantly, the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body began to show its initial power—his current Four-dimensional attributes (Strength, Agility, Physique, Spirit) had all surpassed 500 points, more than three times that of players of the same Rank.

As everyone was resting, the celestial anomaly grew more intense.

In the center of the vortex, within the pitch-black void, the phantom of a building slowly emerged.

It was an incomparably massive bronze hall; just the exposed roof covered half the sky. Nine bronze Dragons were coiled on the roof, their mouths wide open as if in a silent roar. The body of the hall was covered in dense ancient runes that emitted a faint green light in the darkness. Each flicker caused the surrounding space to tremble violently.

The entire Bronze Ancient Palace seemed to have flowed back from the end of the river of time, carrying the vicissitudes and weight of eternal ages.

[World Announcement: An anomaly has occurred deep within the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land. The ancient ruins 'Bronze Ancient Palace' have appeared early!]

[World Announcement: The Bronze Ancient Palace is a Rank 30 team dungeon, divided into three difficulties: Simple, Hard, and Hell. The first team to clear it will receive the server-wide First Kill reward!]

[World Announcement: The Bronze Ancient Palace will officially open in 1 hour. Eligible players, please go and explore!]

Three consecutive world announcements made the players throughout the entire covering the heavens era boil with excitement.

The world channel was instantly flooded:

[World Channel] Player "Zhan Tian Pavilion · Mad Blade": "A Rank 30 team dungeon? On the seventh day of the server opening? Is the game developer crazy!"

[World Channel] Player "Yaochi Fairy": "Our guild's highest Rank is only 22. How are we supposed to fight this?"

[World Channel] Player "Bai Xiaosheng": "Does anyone know the specific location of the Bronze Ancient Palace? Offering a heavy reward for coordinates!"

[World Channel] Player "Overlord Pavilion · Iron Blood": "Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land... Doesn't that place drain your health as soon as you enter? How are we supposed to explore?"

[World Channel] Player "Passerby B": "Didn't someone just get a server-wide announcement for breaking through the wheel sea secret realm? Could it be related to that?"

Lin Ye closed the world channel and looked at his teammates. "Did you hear that? Bronze Ancient Palace, Rank 30 team dungeon. But our current average Rank is only 15."

"Hell difficulty is definitely impossible," Chen Hao said rationally. "But what about Simple difficulty? Brother Lin, since you had us prepare, you must have a way, right?"

"I do, but the risk is high," Lin Ye didn't hide anything. "The Rank requirements for the three difficulties of the Bronze Ancient Palace aren't absolute. Theoretically, a Rank 20 team could attempt Simple difficulty, but it requires perfect coordination and some Luck. Although our Rank is low, our attributes aren't weak—especially since we just broke through the wheel sea secret realm, our strength has had a qualitative leap."

He paused and looked at everyone. "More importantly, I know some of the mechanisms and strategies for the Bronze Ancient Palace. If we play it right, we have a chance."

"Then let's do it!" Wang Iron Pillar was the first to respond. "Wealth is found in danger! A server-wide First Kill... if we get that, we'll be famous!"

Li Qingshan and Zhao Xiaoyu also nodded in agreement. Although Zhang Meng was a bit hesitant, seeing how determined everyone was, he also gripped his shield. "I'll listen to Brother Lin."

Su Qingyue didn't speak, just quietly looked at Lin Ye, the trust in her eyes speaking for itself.

"Good." Lin Ye took a deep breath. "Since everyone agrees, let's take a gamble. But before that, we need to do two things."

He pointed toward the depths of the Forbidden Ground: "First, get the 'key' to enter the palace. Second, increase our strength as much as possible before the palace officially opens."

"Key?" Chen Hao was confused. "The dungeon needs a key?"

"The Bronze Ancient Palace is a hidden dungeon, different from regular ones," Lin Ye explained. "Every time it opens, it only lasts for 72 hours. During that time, you need a 'Bronze Ancient Key' to enter. These keys will randomly scatter in the surrounding area when the palace appears. The number is limited, first come, first served."

As soon as he finished speaking, the phantom of the Bronze Ancient Palace in the sky suddenly erupted with an intense green light.

The green light fell like raindrops, turning into countless streaks of light flying toward various parts of the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land. One of those streaks was flying toward the Ninth Holy Mountain where they were located.

"It's coming!" Lin Ye's eyes narrowed. "Get ready to catch it!"

That streak of light was extremely fast, reaching the mountain peak in the blink of an eye. Only then did everyone see clearly that it was a palm-sized bronze token. The surface of the token was carved with ancient dragon patterns, and fine runes flowed around the edges.

Just as Lin Ye was about to move, Su Qingyue acted first.

She tapped her staff lightly, and an ice-blue light screen unfolded above everyone's heads. The bronze token hit the light screen, its speed dropping sharply, and finally fell lightly into Lin Ye's hand.

It felt slightly heavy and cold to the touch. The surface of the token still retained the residual warmth from traveling through space.

[Bronze Ancient Key (Special Item)]

Type: Dungeon Entry Token

Effect: The holder can lead a team of up to 10 people into the Bronze Ancient Palace (Simple Difficulty)

Uses: 1/1

Description: An entry token scattered when the Bronze Ancient Palace appears, containing the spatial coordinates of the palace. Collecting three tokens can synthesize a 'Hard Difficulty Key', and nine can synthesize a 'Hell Difficulty Key'.

Note: The Ancient Key has a 100% drop rate upon the holder's death.

"Only for Simple difficulty..." Chen Hao was a bit disappointed.

"It's enough." Lin Ye put away the Ancient Key. "With our current strength, attempting Hard or Hell would just be suicide. Simple difficulty is perfect for practice. If we do well, we might gain improvements within the dungeon, and then we can consider higher difficulties."

He looked at the others: "Next is the second thing—increasing our strength. We still have six sacred fruits left. Everyone take one more; it should be enough to raise us another 1-2 Ranks. Also, I discovered a hidden 'Spiritual Qi Spring' on the Ninth Holy Mountain. Cultivating there for an hour is equivalent to a day outside."

"Spiritual Qi Spring?" Su Qingyue's eyes lit up. "Where?"

Lin Ye pointed to an unremarkable stone forest on the mountainside: "Follow me."

The seven of them quickly descended the mountain and entered the stone forest. The arrangement of the stone pillars here seemed messy, but Lin Ye had been here in his past life and knew it secretly aligned with a certain Spirit-Gathering Formation. He led the group through the stone pillars, each step landing on a specific position.

Three minutes later, they arrived at the center of the stone forest.

There was a spring about three meters in diameter. The spring water was milky white, with dense Spiritual Qi mist swirling on the surface. In the center of the spring, a green lotus slowly rotated. With every rotation, it emitted a ripple of Spiritual Qi.

[Discovered Hidden Location: Ancient Desolate Spiritual Spring]

[Effect: Cultivate here to increase Experience gain speed by 500% and Spiritual Qi recovery speed by 300%]

[Duration: 1 hour (Countdown started)]

"Only one hour." Lin Ye made a prompt decision. "Everyone, enter the Cultivate state immediately! Use up the remaining sacred fruits!"

Everyone immediately sat around the spiritual spring, consumed the sacred fruits, and began to operate their Cultivation Techniques.

Lin Ye also sat down, but he didn't Cultivate immediately. Instead, he first checked his attribute panel:

[Name: Lin Ye]

[Rank: 15 (wheel sea secret realm · Perfection)]

[Vitality: 5800/5800]

[Divine Power: 5200/5200]

[Attack: 420-480 (+50 Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body bonus)]

[Defense: 380 (+50 Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body bonus)]

[Dao Arts: 25 (Affects Spell damage and control effects)]

[Divine Sense: 400 (Affects perception and control resistance)]

[Luck: ??? (Hidden attribute)]

[Physique: Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body (Awakening degree 5%)]

[Skills: Chaos Domain (Rudimentary), Basic Artifact Refining, Basic Formation Identification]

[Equipment: bronze lamp (Buddhist Artifact Fragment), bodhi seed (Special Accessory), archaic sacred fruit ×3]

Very good attributes, but still far from enough.

The final boss of the Bronze Ancient Palace's Simple difficulty is the Rank 25 "Bronze Stone General." Its health exceeds one hundred thousand, and its attack power can insta-kill any non-tank class at this stage. With their current attributes, even with a strategy, it would take extreme maneuvers to clear it.

"I must break through to the Dao Palace secret realm as soon as possible..." Lin Ye calculated in his heart. "But the Dao Palace Trial requires killing the Thunder Eagle King of Wind and Thunder Valley. That guy is a Rank 40 BOSS; going there now would be suicide."

He closed his eyes and began to operate the breathing method recorded in the Void Scripture Incomplete Manual.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

This was the Cultivation Technique he obtained from the stone box in the royal treasury; although it was only the first Incomplete Manual, it was, after all, one of the nine legendary ancient scriptures, and its grade was extremely high.

When the Cultivation Technique was in operation, he could feel the spatial fluctuations around him becoming clearer, and wisps of spatial power were absorbed into his body, slowly strengthening his Physical Body and Divine Sense.

More importantly, the Cultivation of the Void Scripture could increase "spatial affinity."

This hidden attribute would affect the release effect and comprehension probability of spatial-type skills, which was crucial for the future.

The one hour of Cultivation time passed very quickly.

When the countdown reached zero, the light of the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land's spiritual spring began to dim, and that green lotus slowly sank to the bottom of the water.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the spring water dropped rapidly, eventually turning into ordinary mountain spring water.

Everyone woke up one after another.

"I've reached Rank 17!" Chen Hao said excitedly, "And my God King Body seems to have had another Awakening, gaining a passive skill 'God King Pressure' that can slightly reduce the attributes of surrounding enemies."

Su Qingyue also opened her eyes, and ice-blue Spiritual Qi flashed across them: "Rank 18. The control ability of my Vast Cold Spirit Body has improved; now my ice-type Spells have a 10% chance to trigger a 'Freeze' effect."

Zhang Meng, Zhao Xiaoyu, Li Qingshan, and Wang Iron Pillar had also reached Rank 16-17, and their attributes had improved significantly.

Lin Ye himself had reached Rank 18, and the Awakening level of his Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body had increased from 5% to 5.3%.

Although it only increased by 0.3%, the resulting attribute boost was quite considerable—all attributes increased by another 20 points or so.

"It's about time." Lin Ye stood up and looked towards the depths of the Forbidden Ground.

The phantom of the Bronze Ancient Palace in the sky had mostly solidified, and the position of the palace gate was vaguely visible.

And throughout the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land, lights would flash from time to time—these were other players who had found the bronze key or were preparing to enter the Bronze Ancient Palace.

"Let's go." Lin Ye took the lead and walked towards the direction of the Bronze Ancient Palace.

The seven of them traveled quickly through the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land.

With their previous experience, they avoided most of the dangerous areas and reached the edge of the core of the Forbidden Ground in just half an hour.

Hundreds of players had already gathered here.

Everyone was looking up at the Bronze Ancient Palace floating above the abyss.

The Bronze Ancient Palace had now completely solidified; the gate was a hundred meters high, and two coiled bronze Dragons were carved on it.

Fist-sized red gems were embedded in the Dragon's eyes, emitting heart-palpitating energy fluctuations.

And in front of the palace gate, nine light gates were suspended.

Each light gate had a different color, from left to right they were white, blue, and purple, corresponding to the three difficulties of Simple, Difficult, and Hell.

There were the most people in front of the white light gate, about two hundred or so.

There were about fifty people in front of the blue light gate, all elite players with a Rank of 25 or higher.

In front of the purple light gate... there was no one.

"No one dares to touch the Hell difficulty, as expected," Chen Hao said in a low voice.

"It's not that they don't dare, it's that they can't enter," Lin Ye pointed to the stone tablet in front of the light gate, "Do you see those conditions?"

Everyone focused their attention and saw that a bronze stone tablet stood in front of each light gate, with the entry conditions engraved on it:

Simple difficulty: Rank ≥ 15, team size 3-10, requires 1 bronze key.

Difficult difficulty: Rank ≥ 25, team size 5-15, requires 3 bronze keys.

Hell difficulty: Rank ≥ 30, team size 7-20, requires 9 bronze keys.

"Nine keys..." Su Qingyue said softly, "The keys have just scattered, and everyone is fighting for them. It's rare to see anyone collect even three, let alone nine."

"And the Rank requirement is 30," Chen Hao added, "The highest Rank in the entire server is probably only 22 or 23 right now; no one meets the standard at all."

Lin Ye did not speak. He knew that it wouldn't be long before teams collected the keys, and their Ranks would slowly rise.

But right now, they indeed had a first-mover advantage.

"Let's go check the white light gate first." Lin Ye said, taking the lead towards the Simple difficulty area.

A long queue had already formed in front of the white light gate. Several large guild teams were organizing their members, attempting to monopolize the entry qualifications.

"Overlord Pavilion is clearing the area! Bystanders, stand back!" A warrior wearing heavy armor shouted, his ID above his head reading [Overlord Pavilion · Iron Wall].

"Zhan Tian Pavilion is here, why should we give way to you?" Another team did not show any weakness; the leader was an assassin holding dual swords, ID [Zhan Tian Pavilion · Shadow Blade].

The two groups of people were at daggers drawn, and the surrounding small teams and individual players retreated far away, not daring to get involved.

When the seven of them, led by Lin Ye, walked over, they immediately attracted attention.

"Yo, another team." Iron Wall glanced at them, and seeing their average Rank was only 17-18, he immediately sneered, "Where did this rookie team come from? Daring to come to raid a dungeon at this Rank? Go home and practice before coming back."

Shadow Blade didn't say anything, but he took a few extra looks at Lin Ye—he always felt that this young man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him.

Lin Ye ignored Iron Wall's mockery and walked straight towards the stone tablet in front of the light gate.

Next to the stone tablet, there was a slot whose shape perfectly matched the bronze key.

"Hey, kid, didn't you hear me?" Iron Wall, seeing himself being ignored, immediately became angry, "Overlord Pavilion is working, bystanders get lost!"

Lin Ye turned his head and looked at him calmly: "Does your family own this dungeon?"

"You!" Iron Wall's face sank, "Looking for death, right? Brothers, teach this kid some rules!"

Five Overlord Pavilion players immediately surrounded them; they were all warriors and mages above Rank 20, well-equipped, clearly not ordinary members.

Chen Hao and the others immediately entered combat state, and frost began to condense on Su Qingyue's staff.

The conflict was on the verge of breaking out.

Just at this moment, a gentle voice sounded: "Everyone, the dungeon is about to open, why waste time here?"

Everyone looked towards the source of the sound and saw a young man in a white robe walking over. He had a handsome face and a refined temperament, holding a scroll in his hand; he didn't look like a warrior, but rather like a scholar.

But no one dared to underestimate him—because the ID above his head was [Yaochi Holy Land · Yun Zhongzi], Rank 23, and he was a core member of Yaochi Holy Land, one of the top ten guilds in the China region.

"Yun Zhongzi?" Iron Wall frowned, "Is your Yaochi also going to interfere?"

"Not at all, not at all." Yun Zhongzi shook his head with a smile, "I just think that the time for the dungeon to open is limited; instead of fighting here, everyone should think about how to clear it. After all... the First Clear reward is the most important, isn't it?"

As he spoke, his gaze swept across Lin Ye, and a trace of deep meaning flashed in his eyes.

Lin Ye's heart stirred. He knew this person, Yun Zhongzi, from his previous life; he was the strategist of Yaochi Holy Land and later, after the game and reality merged, became one of the important commanders in the China region. This person had a sharp eye and was good at discovering talent.

Could it be that he saw something?

"Brother Yun is right." Shadow Blade put away his weapon first, "Zhan Tian Pavilion doesn't want to waste time here. Iron Wall, if your Overlord Pavilion wants to fight, I'll accompany you after we exit the dungeon. For now, move aside."

Iron Wall's expression changed, and finally, he snorted coldly and cleared the way. Although Overlord Pavilion was powerful, they were unwilling to offend both Zhan Tian Pavilion and Yaochi Holy Land at the same time.

The conflict temporarily subsided.

Lin Ye nodded to Yun Zhongzi, then walked to the stone tablet, took out the bronze key, and put it into the slot.

"Hum—"

The key fit perfectly into the slot, and the stone tablet lit up with white light. A message was transmitted into Lin Ye's mind:

[Bronze key detected, team size 7, entry conditions met]

[Simple difficulty 'Bronze Ancient Palace' will open in 60 seconds]

[Please confirm whether to enter?]

"Confirm." Lin Ye answered in his heart.

The white light gate suddenly expanded, enveloping the seven of them. The next second, the figures of the seven disappeared into the light gate.

"They went in!" A player exclaimed.

"Who is that? They don't seem to have a guild emblem?"

"Their Rank isn't high either, yet they actually have a bronze key..."

"Maybe they just got lucky and found it."

Yun Zhongzi watched the light gate slowly shrink, a look of contemplation flashing in his eyes.

"Brother Yun, is there a problem with that team?" A female mage beside him asked.

"Hmm." Yun Zhongzi nodded, "The person leading them... is not simple. Look at his eyes, they are too calm. Facing the provocation of Overlord Pavilion, facing the unknown dungeon they are about to enter, there is not a trace of panic. This is not faked, but true confidence."

He paused and added: "And I just scanned him with 'Heavenly Eye', and although most of the information was blocked by some kind of power, I still saw one thing—his Physique is 'Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body'."

"Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body?" The female mage was surprised, "Isn't that a Physique that only exists in legends? Could he be the one who Breakthrough the wheel sea secret realm mentioned in the server-wide announcement?"

"Very likely." Yun Zhongzi put away the scroll, "Notify the guild to focus on this player named 'Lin Ye'. If possible, try to recruit him. If you can't recruit him... at least don't become enemies."

"Yes!"

In front of the white light gate, other players also began to enter one after another.

But everyone knew that the first team had already gone in.

And at this moment, inside the Bronze Ancient Palace, the seven of them were standing in a dim corridor.

The walls on both sides of the corridor were cast from bronze, and the surface was covered with mottled rust. Every ten meters, a bronze lamp hung on the wall, and the flames inside the lamps burned quietly, emitting a ghostly green light.

The air was filled with a decaying aura, mixed with a faint smell of blood.

The front of the corridor was in darkness, and the end could not be seen clearly.

[System prompt: You have entered the team dungeon 'Bronze Ancient Palace (Simple difficulty)']

[Current progress: First Layer · Bronze Corridor]

[Clear condition: Defeat the Guardian Stone General (0/1)]

[Team resurrection count: 3 (If all are exhausted, the dungeon fails)]

[Dungeon timer: 02:59:58 (Remaining time)]

A three-hour time limit, three team resurrection opportunities.

"Stay alert." Lin Ye said in a deep voice, "The first layer is the Bronze Corridor, three hundred meters long in total. There will be three waves of mobs and three trap mechanisms on the way. Pay attention to the ground and walls; places with abnormal reflections might be traps."

He took out the bronze lamp from his storage ring—this Buddhist artifact obtained from the Great Thunder Sound Temple might have miraculous effects in such ancient ruins.

The bronze lamp felt warm in his hand, and a small golden flame automatically ignited on the wick. The flame was small, but it illuminated a ten-meter radius around them, suppressing those ghostly green lights.

"Follow me, watch my footsteps."

Lin Ye took the first step and walked into the depths of the Bronze Ancient Palace.

And behind them, the white light gate lit up again.

The second team was about to enter.