22: Chapter 15 At the gates of the ancient palace, people from all directions converge.

The silence of the bronze corridor was broken as a second team stepped into this space sealed by time.

Leading them was Iron Wall from the Overlord Pavilion, accompanied by nine guild elites, all Level 20 or above, well-equipped, and with a perfectly balanced class composition. Two shield warriors, three damage dealers, two healers, one crowd control, one assassin scout, plus himself as the commander—a standard ten-man dungeon-clearing configuration.

"Everyone, stay sharp," Iron Wall whispered, holding his heavy shield in front of him. "That team of noobs entered just now; they might have triggered some traps. Assassin, go ahead and scout. Everyone else, maintain formation."

The assassin with the ID [Overlord Pavilion · Shadow Raid] acknowledged and vanished into the shadows, moving forward silently. He was a Level 22 Shadow Assassin, and his talent skill [Shadow Affinity] made him feel right at home in the darkness.

However, after only thirty seconds, a muffled groan came from ahead.

"Shadow Raid?!" Iron Wall's expression changed.

In the team channel, Shadow Raid's voice sounded pained: "Captain... there's a trap... I stepped on it..."

"What kind of trap? Describe the situation!"

"The floor... the bronze floor suddenly flipped, and there's a deep pit underneath with... with bronze spikes at the bottom..." Shadow Raid's voice grew weaker. "I lost half my health and also got the 'Bleeding' and 'Poisoned' statuses... losing 80 points per second..."

"Healers, get ready!" Iron Wall immediately ordered. "Everyone, stop advancing! Shield warriors, activate defensive skills and move forward slowly!"

The two shield warriors immediately activated [Iron Wall], and a pale yellow light barrier enveloped the team. Everyone moved forward cautiously and finally saw Shadow Raid a hundred meters ahead.

He was sitting against the wall, his thigh pierced by a bronze spike. The blood flowing from the wound was black, clearly indicating that the toxin had already spread deep. His health was down to one-third and was still steadily decreasing.

The two healers in the team immediately cast their Spells, and holy light fell upon Shadow Raid, finally stabilizing his health bar.

"This trap..." Iron Wall crouched down and looked at the floor trap that had already returned to its original state, his expression grim. "There's no visible abnormality at all. Shadow Raid has 250 points in Perception, yet he didn't notice it?"

"Captain, there seem to be footprints ahead." A sharp-eyed mage pointed at the ground.

Iron Wall focused his gaze, and sure enough, under the dim light, there was a faint trail of footprints on the bronze floor. The footprints were fresh, clearly left just recently.

"It's that team from before!" Iron Wall gritted his teeth. "They actually managed to avoid the traps... do they know the locations of the traps?"

"That's impossible, right?" a healer questioned. "This is a newly opened dungeon. How could anyone know the walkthrough in advance?"

Iron Wall couldn't figure it out either. But looking at that trail of footprints heading straight forward—yes, straight, without any signs of detouring or pausing—it was as if the person walking this path knew exactly where was safe and where was dangerous.

"Follow them!" Iron Wall made a decision. "Step exactly where their footprints are! Assassin, stop scouting and return to the team for healing."

Shadow Raid was helped up by the two healers and nodded with a pale face.

The Overlord Pavilion team began to advance along the footprints. This time, they indeed did not trigger any more traps. The deadly flipping floorboards, the poisoned arrows, and the suddenly dropping portcullises were all perfectly avoided.

"This team... is not simple," Iron Wall thought, alarm bells ringing in his head.

Meanwhile, Lin Ye's group of seven had already reached the end of the bronze corridor.

Along the way, they avoided all traps and cleared three waves of mobs—twelve Bronze Mechanical Beasts. Each was a Level 18 elite monster with 5,000 health and decent attack power, but they were slow and were perfectly countered by Lin Ye's Chaos Domain and Su Qingyue's ice-type control.

Finally, they arrived at the plaza at the end of the corridor.

The plaza was circular, about fifty meters in diameter. In the center was a three-meter-high bronze altar, with a fist-sized azure crystal floating above it. Liquid flowed inside the crystal, emitting dense Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Around the plaza stood nine bronze statues. They were warriors clad in battle armor, holding halberds, arranged in a circle to guard the altar at the center.

"Is that the gatekeeper BOSS of the first layer?" Chen Hao looked at the statues.

"No, those are just mobs," Lin Ye shook his head. "The real BOSS is behind that door past the altar. We need to activate the altar first and obtain the 'Bronze Core' to open that door."

He pointed to the azure crystal on the altar: "That is the Bronze Core. Once activated, it will trigger the awakening of the nine statues. We must defeat all the statues within three minutes to get the core. Otherwise, the statues will resurrect infinitely."

"Three minutes... nine statues..." Zhang Meng calculated. "Even if each statue only has 10,000 health, nine would be 90,000. For the seven of us, each person needs to output nearly 13,000 damage, and we have to account for movement and dodging... it's difficult."

"It's not hard," Lin Ye smiled. "Because these statues have a mechanism—they share life."

"Shared life?" Su Qingyue's eyes lit up. "Meaning, we only need to deplete the health of one statue, and the other eight will lose the same amount?"

"Exactly," Lin Ye nodded. "But there's a condition: we must continuously attack the same statue within ten seconds, or the shared link will reset. So we need to focus our fire and kill one quickly."

He quickly laid out the tactics: "Once the fight starts, I'll use Chaos Domain to weaken them. Qingyue, use ice Spells to control the one on the far left. Chen Hao, Qingshan, and Iron Pillar, go all out on that one. Zhang Meng, pull the aggro of the other eight and lead them in circles. Xiaoyu, focus on healing Zhang Meng, and use group heals if necessary."

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.

"Good, then I'm activating the altar." Lin Ye stepped onto the altar and reached out to touch the azure crystal.

The crystal felt ice-cold, and the liquid inside suddenly began to flow faster.

[System Prompt: Bronze Core activated!]

[Countdown: 03:00]

[Nine Bronze Guards are about to awaken!]

*Buzz—*

The nine bronze statues vibrated simultaneously, the copper rust on their surfaces falling away to reveal brand-new bronze bodies inside. Red light lit up in their eye sockets, and they raised their halberds, stepping toward the altar.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Heavy footsteps echoed through the plaza.

"Commence battle!" Lin Ye shouted, and his Chaos Domain instantly expanded.

The gray Domain covered a thirty-meter radius. The moment the nine Bronze Guards stepped into the Domain, gray patterns appeared on their bodies, and their movements visibly slowed by a fraction.

Su Qingyue pointed her staff: "Frost Chains!"

Three ice-blue chains coiled around the guard on the far left, pinning it firmly in place. The guard struggled violently, but the ice chains were extremely tough and could not be broken in a short time.

"Damage!" Chen Hao thrust his spear, the tip glowing with an azure dragon shadow, "Azure Dragon Army Breaker!"

-688!

A respectable damage number popped up. Li Qingshan's arrows and Wang Iron Pillar's war blade also landed simultaneously, dealing two more instances of around 500 damage.

In three seconds, that guard's health dropped by one-fifth.

But the other eight guards had already charged over. Zhang Meng roared and slammed his heavy shield into the ground: "Taunt!"

Pale gold ripples spread out, and the aggro of the eight guards was instantly pulled away, all turning toward Zhang Meng. They raised their halberds and thrust them forward at once.

Zhang Meng's pupils constricted, and he immediately activated his survival skill [Unmovable as a Mountain].

*Clang clang clang clang—!*

Eight halberds struck the shield, producing a deafening roar. Zhang Meng was knocked back three steps, fine cracks appeared on the surface of his shield, and his health bar instantly dropped by 40%.

"Heal!" Zhao Xiaoyu's Spell landed just in time, enveloping Zhang Meng in emerald light.

+588! +588! +588!

Three consecutive heals pulled Zhang Meng's health back into the safe range.

"Keep up the damage!" Lin Ye joined the fray himself. He didn't use the bronze lamp but instead condensed Chaos Power in his palm, forming a gray short blade. The blade pierced the chest of the controlled guard, and Chaos Power began to corrode it wildly.

-1022! Weak Point Attack!

The guard's health dropped another large chunk.

When the ten seconds were up, that guard's health was down to 30%. The other eight guards' health also dropped to 30% simultaneously—the shared life mechanism had taken effect!

"Great!" Chen Hao's spirits rose. "Just a little more!"

However, at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

From the plaza entrance came the sound of disorganized footsteps.

The Overlord Pavilion team had finally arrived.

Iron Wall led his nine people into the plaza, just in time to see Lin Ye's group of seven besieging the Bronze Guards. He was stunned for a moment, but then greed flashed in his eyes—that azure crystal floating on the altar was clearly no ordinary item.

"They're fighting a BOSS!" Iron Wall immediately judged. "Prepare to steal it!"

"Captain, that's the Bronze Core, not a BOSS," Shadow Raid reminded weakly. "I saw the dungeon description; we need to get the core in the first layer to enter the second."

"Then we have even more reason to steal it!" Iron Wall sneered. "Why should a team of randoms get the first clear? Brothers, get ready to move!"

The Overlord Pavilion team immediately spread out their formation. Two shield warriors stood at the front, the mages and archers began chanting skills, the healers prepared to heal, and the assassin entered stealth.

Lin Ye's group of seven naturally noticed them as well.

"Brother Lin, the Overlord Pavilion people want to steal it!" Chen Hao said anxiously.

"Don't get distracted, keep up the damage!" Lin Ye's voice was calm. "Zhang Meng, keep pulling the aggro. Qingyue, prepare that skill. Everyone else, go all out, we must finish this in ten seconds!"

"Understood!"

Everyone ignored the Overlord Pavilion and focused all their fire on the controlled guard.

On the Overlord Pavilion's side, seeing Lin Ye and the others actually ignoring them, Iron Wall was instantly enraged: "Attack! Kill the healer first!"

Fireballs from two mages and arrows from three archers flew out simultaneously, aimed straight at Zhao Xiaoyu.

However, just as the attacks were about to hit, Su Qingyue's staff suddenly lit up with a blinding ice-blue light.

"Guanghan · Ice Crystal Barrier!"

With her as the center, a hemispherical ice crystal shield suddenly expanded, enveloping all seven members of Lin Ye's team. The fireballs and arrows crashed into the shield, only causing ripples and failing to deal any damage.

"What?!" Iron Wall's face changed. "Is this... an area-of-effect invincibility skill?!"

Inside the Ice Crystal Barrier, the attacks from Lin Ye's group became even more frenzied.

By the fifth second, the guard's health dropped to 15%.

By the eighth second, it was at 5%.

At the tenth second—

"Die!" Chen Hao's spear pierced the guard's eye socket, and an azure dragon shadow burst through its body.

-1888! Critical Hit!

The guard's body stiffened, and the red light in its eye sockets went out. Immediately following, the other eight guards also stopped moving, their bodies beginning to crumble and turning into countless Bronze Fragments scattered on the ground.

[System Prompt: Successfully defeated Bronze Guard ×9!]

[Obtained Experience Points: 15,000 × 9 (Shared Kill)]

[Obtained Items: Bronze Fragment ×27, Low-Grade Spirit Stone ×9]

Nine golden lights of leveling up shone simultaneously.

Lin Ye reached Level 19, and everyone else also leveled up by one. Most importantly, the azure crystal on the altar shone brilliantly and slowly floated toward Lin Ye.

[Obtained: Bronze Core (Quest Item)]

Lin Ye reached out and caught the crystal. It felt warm to the touch, and the liquid inside flowed even faster.

"Let's go, open the door." He didn't even spare a glance at the Overlord Pavilion as he led his teammates toward the Giant Bronze Door behind the altar.

Iron Wall's face was livid. He hadn't expected the other side to have an area-of-effect invincibility skill, let alone that they could finish off nine shared-life guards in ten seconds. This kind of damage efficiency far exceeded even their Overlord Pavilion's elite group.

"Captain, do we chase?" a mage asked.

"Chase!" Iron Wall gritted his teeth. "They just finished the guards, their skills are on cooldown, and their status isn't great. Now is the chance!"

The ten members of the Overlord Pavilion immediately rushed toward the Giant Bronze Door.

However, after only a few steps, the ground suddenly began to vibrate.

*Click—clack—*

Dozens of small holes suddenly opened on the walls around the plaza. From these holes, a dense barrage of bronze arrows shot out, covering the entire plaza.

"Defend!" Iron Wall roared.

The two shield warriors immediately raised their shields, but there were too many arrows, and they came with an armor-piercing effect. The shields only blocked the ones from the front, while arrows from the sides pierced through the cloth armor of the mages and archers.

-388! -422! -355!

Screams rang out as the three squishy classes were instantly left with low health.

"Heal!" Iron Wall himself was hit by two arrows, losing one-third of his health.

The two healers scrambled to chant, but the arrow rain was too dense. Just as they raised their staves, they were interrupted by subsequent arrows.

"Withdraw from the plaza!" Iron Wall made an immediate decision, leading his team in a pathetic retreat toward the entrance.

By the time they retreated from the plaza's range, two of the squishy members of the ten-man team were dead, and the others were all half-dead.

Meanwhile, Lin Ye's group of seven was already standing before the Giant Bronze Door.

Lin Ye pressed the Bronze Core into a groove on the door.

*Buzz—*

The giant door vibrated and slowly opened inward. Behind the door was a staircase leading upward, with light shining from the end of the stairs.

"The second layer..." Lin Ye took a deep breath, "the Time Secret Chamber."

He looked back at the pathetic members of the Overlord Pavilion at the plaza entrance, his eyes devoid of emotion.

"Let's go."

The seven of them stepped through the giant door, their figures disappearing up the stairs.

The giant door slowly closed, completely shutting the Overlord Pavilion out.

Iron Wall looked at the tightly closed giant door and punched the wall: "Damn it! What exactly is the mechanism of this dungeon? Why can they avoid all the traps, but we trigger them the moment we move?"

No one could answer him.

Outside the Bronze Ancient Palace, in front of the white light gate, more and more teams were gathering.

Zhan Tian Pavilion, Yaochi Holy Land, Yanhuang Alliance... the elite groups of various major guilds were arriving one after another. In front of the blue and purple light gates, people were finally beginning to attempt entry.

Yunzhongzi led a ten-man team from the Yaochi Holy Land, using three Ancient Keys to synthesize a Hard difficulty key, and stepped into the blue light gate.

Shadow Blade also led the Zhan Tian Pavilion's team into the Easy difficulty.

The entire Bronze Ancient Palace was a gathering of all directions, a fierce struggle between dragons and tigers.

But what no one knew was that the first team to enter the ancient palace was already far ahead.

Deep within the ancient palace, in the Time Secret Chamber of the second layer, Lin Ye was facing three choices.

The Heavenly Secret Strategy, the myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo, and the Seven Star Demon-Slaying Sword.

Three treasures, choose one.

He chose the cauldron embryo.

Chaos-colored light swallowed him as the refining of his Natal Artifact officially began.

And even deeper within the ancient palace, those eyes that had slept for eternity slowly opened a sliver.

He sensed it—the aura of Chaos.