208: Chapter 208 The Divine Treasure Returns to the Void

After the seventh round was finished, Li Xin sat in the chair for a long time. He just sat there, the back of his head resting against the chair back, his eyes half-open, staring at the ceiling. The afterimages in his mind were still flashing, occasionally brightening, then extinguishing, like charcoal nearing the end of its burn, finally flickering bit by bit until they were completely gone.

Downstairs, Ravi was sweeping the floor; the bamboo broom scraped across the stone floor with a rustling sound. The faucet was on, the water rushing with a splashing sound, then turned off after a while. These sounds were real and tangible, squeezing the noise in his head out bit by bit.

Li Xin looked down at his hands. His fingertips were still white from gripping the edge of the table for too long.

He relaxed his fingers and watched the blood slowly return, the color changing from white to pink and then back to normal. There was a red mark on his palm, pressed in by the sharp edge of the table; it must have been pressed for a very long time to leave such a mark.

He flipped his hand over; his palm was damp and covered in sweat. He rubbed it against his trousers a couple of times, and it dried a little.

He stood up and walked a couple of circles. His legs were a bit weak, his knees stiff. When he walked to the window, his calf cramped. He held onto the windowsill for a few seconds, waiting for the cramp to pass.

The curtains were still drawn. He opened a crack and looked outside; the sunlight was glaring white, shining on the leaves of the crooked tree in the yard, the reflection stinging his eyes. There were a few broken branches on the ground, blown down by the wind last night.

He let the curtain fall and turned to go to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face, which made him shiver. He looked at himself in the mirror; his eye sockets were sunken, his cheekbones looked grayish, and the skin on his lips was dry, with a small piece peeling up. He tore it off with his finger, breaking the skin, and the tip of his tongue tasted a faint metallic tang.

He rinsed his mouth, sat on the toilet lid for a while, and then came out.

He walked to the top of the stairs and paused. Liu Mo's voice drifted up from downstairs, kept low as he spoke on the phone. He couldn't hear the content, but the tone didn't seem urgent.

Ravi was chopping something in the kitchen; the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board was rhythmic, steady, and unhurried.

He went downstairs. When he reached the living room doorway, Liu Mo had already hung up the phone and looked up at him.

"Boss, you're awake?"

"Hmm."

"That wind last night was quite strong. A large branch broke off the old tree at the entrance of the alley, and the security guard cleared it away this morning. A billboard on the next street fell down and even smashed a car."

Li Xin sat down on the sofa. When he leaned back, he could feel the muscles in his back were still stiff, like a solid wooden board pressed against the back of the chair. "What's the situation at the temple?"

Liu Mo paused.

"It's even livelier; the Dharma assembly hasn't stopped. Today, even the parking lot outside is full. A-Qiang said he saw several people kneeling and crying, and he doesn't know what they are crying about."

"Crying about what?" Li Xin repeated, not dwelling on it. "Any other developments?"

"Yes, this morning they transported two carts of incense ash out of the temple, saying they had been burning incense all night, and the incense burners were almost full. Also..."

Liu Mo paused.

"The leader of the European treasure-hunting team was released through diplomatic negotiations by his own country, and he headed straight for the airport early this morning."

"He didn't say anything?"

"He kept his mouth shut from beginning to end, avoided answering any questions from the reporters surrounding him, and left directly..."

Li Xin nodded. This reaction was within expectations; after being detained for several days, the most normal choice upon release was to leave immediately, the sooner the better.

Ravi brought out a bowl of porridge and placed it on the coffee table. The porridge was plain white congee, with a small dish of pickled vegetables and a small piece of pancake on the side. "Mr. Li, this is the porridge you wanted."

"Okay, thank you." He picked up the bowl; the porridge wasn't hot, just warm, and he took a sip. The rice had been cooked until it dissolved; a faint fragrance of rice filled his mouth as it went down his throat, and his stomach slowly began to warm up. He drank it spoonful by spoonful and didn't put it down until he had finished more than half the bowl.

Ravi stood by, hesitated for a moment, then spoke up.

"Mr. Li, there's a new rumor from the temple. The things in the underground secret chamber are moving. Some people heard stones grinding against each other, as if something underground was turning over."

"Hmm? What's the situation?"

Ravi swallowed, his voice lowered to a whisper: "Everyone at the temple says that the underground secret chamber is guarded by the Snake God to protect the treasure. Now that an outside treasure-hunting team has plotted to steal the treasure, they have angered the Snake God, causing it to churn underground, which is why there are those sounds of stones being dragged and rubbed."

Li Xin picked up the bowl and drank the last mouthful of porridge, then placed the bowl back on the table. "That's good. With the deity's protection, the treasure in the secret chamber will remain safe and sound."

Ravi nodded and took the bowl to the kitchen.

Li Xin sat for a while, then stood up to go upstairs. His knees were still a bit weak, so he held onto the stair railing as he walked up. He entered the study, closed the door, and sat down in the chair. The wind started to pick up outside again, not strong, but the coconut tree leaves were swaying gently, making a slight rustling sound.

He closed his eyes, letting his breathing slowly deepen. The System interface was lit up in his mind; the cooldown countdown was still running, the numbers dropping bit by bit.

He sat there, not moving again.

When it was almost dark, Liu Mo came up and knocked on the door. "Boss, dinner is ready."

"Coming."

He stood up, moved his shoulders a bit, and went downstairs. For dinner, Ravi had made fish curry, rice, and a bowl of soup. He sat down and ate slowly; after a few bites, he put down his chopsticks.

"Ravi, I want to go to the temple tomorrow to take a look."

Upon hearing this, Ravi turned back. "The temple? There are so many people there these days that you can hardly walk; I'm afraid it won't be very convenient for you to go."

"I won't go inside, just walk around outside; that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Ravi thought for a moment. "Alright then. Tomorrow morning I'll show you a route, circling around from the back street where there are fewer people."

"Okay."

After dinner, he sat in the yard for a while. The sky was already dark, and the streetlights were on, casting a dim yellow light onto the stone floor, stretching out a long, slanted shadow.

The temple in the distance was lit up, orange-red and very conspicuous against the night sky. The sound of chanting drifted over faintly, muffled, as if many people were speaking in unison from very far away.

He sat for a while, then got up, went back inside, went upstairs, and entered the study.

He sat in the chair, leaned back against the backrest, and turned off the lights. The room darkened, with only a small patch of light from the streetlamp outside filtering through the gap in the curtains and landing on the desktop.

It was past 1 a.m.

[Cooldown countdown: 00:14:23.]

He sat in the darkness, waiting.

[Cooldown finished. The eighth round Extraction window has opened. Current Divine Domain suppression intensity assessment: approximately 44% increase compared to the first round. Predicted speed: 16 tons/hour. Expected mental oppression: ultra-heavy. Starting from this round, structural backlash from the Divine Domain will begin to stack. External meteorological disturbance level increased. It is recommended that the host maintain a low-activity sitting state throughout.]

"Start."

The moment the progress bar began to move, he felt as if the air in the entire room had been compressed toward the center. It wasn't the wind; it was that feeling of a sudden change in air pressure, a stuffiness in his ears, like when an airplane is descending.

The hallucinations appeared almost simultaneously. The seated statue of Vishnu cut into his field of vision from the left, its golden outline carrying the dull luster of old bronze ware; the lines of the robes hanging down were clearer than before, and every fold could be seen distinctly.

The serpentine shadow on the right coiled upward, the pair of dark areas on its head contracting slightly, as if it were watching him. He didn't look at them. He looked at the patch of light on the desktop.

The wind began to blow, and the window frame rattled with a creaking sound, not loud but continuous. Water mist formed on the glass, making it blurry. Something in the yard was blown over with a clatter, though it was impossible to tell what it was.

[Progress: 12%.]

He adjusted his breathing. When he inhaled, he could feel his chest cavity expand, and when he exhaled, that layer of oppression would loosen slightly, then return.

Auditory hallucinations began to stack half an hour later. The sound of chanting emerged from his mind, many people reciting in unison, the rhythm uniform, not a single word out of place. The hissing sound of a snake's tongue sounded right against his ear, sometimes near, sometimes far. The sound of chains dragging on the ground came from behind him, one step at a time, very slowly. He kept looking at that patch of light.

[Progress: 29%.]

The wind grew stronger, blowing the curtains until they bulged, and the papers on the table flipped a few pages. He didn't pay attention to it and continued to look at that patch of light. The light was changing, the warm yellow fading bit by bit into grayish-white, its edges blurring, but he was still looking.

His temples began to throb. One beat after another, the rhythm half a beat slower than his heartbeat, which was a bit annoying. He didn't rub them; he just sat there. His back was sweating, his T-shirt sticking to his skin, feeling a bit cold.

[Progress: 47%.]

The hallucinations became very dense. Beside the seated statue of Vishnu, two rows of attendants appeared, heads bowed, hands hanging down, their postures uniform. The serpentine shadow expanded, extending from the right all the way to the ceiling, its head hanging down, the pair of dark areas positioned in the upper left corner of his field of vision, as if looking at him. He looked at that ray of light.

[Progress: 63%.]

The oppression in his chest began to intensify. Inhaling required more effort than before, and the airflow he inhaled felt colder in his throat than usual. He could feel his heartbeat, which was a bit faster than normal, but he wasn't panicked; it was just fast.

A muffled sound came from outside, rising from the ground, and the window vibrated along with it. Then came the shouts of the crowd in the distance, but they were too far away to hear what they were shouting.

[Progress: 81%.]

The hallucinations reached their clearest moment at this time. Vishnu's expression was clear and distinct. His eyes were lowered, the curve of his mouth was flat, neither smiling nor angry. The snake's head hung less than two meters above his head; light flowed within that pair of dark areas, very slowly, as if something were looking outside. He only looked at that patch of light.

The light had turned almost white, like a grayish-white wall. He continued to look at that position, not trying to distinguish what color or shape it was. He just looked.

[Progress: 94%.]

The wind outside grew stronger again at this moment, the sound of the entire area pressing in. Coconut leaves, tin sheds, broken tiles, something in the distance being lifted and dropped—all the sounds mixed together, turning into a blurred roar. He sat there, his breathing still steady.

[Progress: 99%.]

Those sounds stopped at the same time. The tail end of the wind faded away, the curtains fell back into place, and the water mist on the glass disappeared. The silence came too quickly; his ears buzzed for a while, then went quiet too.

[Eighth round Extraction complete. This round credited 300 tons. Room B cumulative loss 2400 tons. Remaining estimated 450 tons. Cumulative Gold: 9802.7057 tons.]

[Cooldown started. Countdown: 11:59:59.]

He stood up and walked to the window, pulled the curtain open a crack, and looked out at the scorching sun outside. There were quite a few people standing at the alley entrance in the distance, gathered in twos and threes, not knowing what they were discussing.

He watched for a while, then turned to go to the bathroom to wash his face and went downstairs. Ravi was sweeping the yard; seeing him come down, he stopped his broom. "Mr. Li, the road in front of the temple has been blocked off. They are going to hold a large-scale purification Dharma assembly there that will last for a day."

"Are the previous believers still there?"

"They are all there; they didn't leave all night, all sitting on the ground at the temple entrance. Some leaned against the wall to sleep for a while, then woke up and continued chanting."

Li Xin didn't reply, sat at the dining table, poured a glass of water, and drank it slowly. After finishing, he put down the glass and went straight upstairs.

He stayed in the study for the entire day. He didn't sleep, but leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a while. He could hear the sounds outside: intermittent chanting, occasional bell tolls, and voices from afar where people were busy doing who knows what.

Those sounds came in through the walls and distance, muffled, as if floating up from the bottom of the water.

At 1:30 AM, the System popped up a notification.

"Cooldown ended. The ninth round of Extraction window is open. Current Divine Domain suppression intensity assessment: approximately 46% higher than the first round. Predicted speed: 15 tons/hour. Expected mental pressure: ultra-severe. After this round, the remaining amount will drop to 150 tons, at which point the Foundation of the Divine Domain will develop irreversible voids. It is recommended that the host prepare mentally for the final completion stage."

He did not pause. "Start."

The progress bar started to move. This time, he felt that pressure bearing down from all directions simultaneously.

His head, chest, back, and limbs—it felt as if his entire body had been buried in something with a density far greater than air.

Hallucinations occupied his entire field of vision within the first minute. The golden seated statue of Vishnu almost overlapped with the real walls; the outlines and the boundaries of the wall blurred together, making it impossible to distinguish which part was hallucination and which was reality.

The serpentine shadow coiled directly above him, its head hanging in the center of his vision, with those dark areas facing him directly.

The sound of chanting rose from every layer of his mind simultaneously; the sounds of chains, snake hisses, and buzzing layered into a single plane, pressing against his eardrums until they went numb.

He sat there, looking at that patch of light. The light was still there, having turned from warm yellow to grayish-white, its edges completely blurred, but he kept his eyes on that spot.

[Progress: 18%.]

The sweat on his back had soaked through his clothes; he could feel it trickling down his spine, cold and chilling. His temples were throbbing, with a greater intensity than the last round, causing the edges of his vision to quiver slightly. He did not close his eyes, nor did he turn his head.

The wind outside began to blow, and the airflow pouring in through the window cracks carried a sharp whistling sound. The curtains billowed and fell, and a few pages of the notebook on the table were blown over, but he didn't pay it any mind.

[Progress: 37%.]

The pressure on his chest became very heavy. Inhaling was more strenuous than before, and the exhaled airflow carried a hint of heat. He could hear his own heartbeat, steady and rhythmic, the sound deep, like listening to someone drumming through a quilt.

The hallucinations began to layer in more elements. The two rows of attendants around the seated statue of Vishnu shifted positions; some took a few steps forward, and the angle of their bowed heads changed. The head of the serpentine shadow sank a little lower, and those dark areas moved closer to him.

He did not look at them.

[Progress: 55%.]

The sounds outside grew louder—the wind, voices, and the sound of unknown objects colliding, all mixed together. A muffled thud came from the distance, rising from deep underground, and the window glass trembled in response.

His hand was still resting on the edge of the table; he could feel the wood grain against the lines of his palm—cold, hard, and solid. He focused his attention on this tactile sensation, keeping it there continuously and without distraction.

[Progress: 73%.]

At this point, the hallucinations became extremely clear. The patterns embroidered with gold thread on the edges of Vishnu's robes were visible, with every curve flowing slowly. The outlines of the serpentine shadow's scales began to emerge, layer upon layer, each with fine, intricate textures.

The chanting became very real, as if someone were reciting it right by his ear. The tone was neither high nor low, the rhythm neither fast nor slow, continuously and ceaselessly filling his entire auditory space.

He looked at that ray of light.

[Progress: 91%.]

The wind reached its peak at this stage, and his entire table was vibrating slightly. Ripples formed in circles on the water in the teacup, and the notebook on the table was flipped onto the floor. The window frame made a creaking sound as if it were about to give way.

But he remained seated.

[Progress: 97%.]

The hallucinations suddenly froze. The outline of Vishnu stopped, the serpentine shadow stopped, and all sounds vanished in the same instant as if they had been cut off.

Then, a force surged from directly in front of him; his entire chair slid backward a few centimeters, and his back struck the chair's backrest.

He didn't move, looking at that patch of light.

[The ninth round of Extraction is complete. This round recorded 300 tons. Cumulative loss in Room B is 2,700 tons. Remaining estimated at 150 tons. Cumulative Gold: 10,102.7057 tons.]

[Cooldown initiated. Countdown: 11:59:59.]

He slumped in the chair, looking down at himself. His hand was still resting on the table edge, and the spots where his nails pressed against the surface had turned pale. He slowly loosened his fingers, waiting for the blood to flow back.

Only one last round remained. 150 tons.

Time flew by, and the final Extraction was about to begin.

[Cooldown countdown: 00:34:11.]

He waited in the darkness, waiting for that line of text to change to "Cooldown ended," waiting for the four words to follow that line: "Start?"

[Cooldown ended. The tenth round of Extraction window is open. Current Divine Domain suppression intensity assessment: approximately 48% higher than the first round. Predicted speed: 14 tons/hour. Expected mental pressure: ultra-severe. Target for this round: exactly empty the remaining 150 tons. After completion, Room B will be completely zeroed out.]

"Start."

The moment the progress bar started to move, he felt the entire space go quiet. The feeling of being pressed down from the previous rounds did not appear; instead, it was replaced by a strange emptiness, as if a layer of the room's thickness had been pulled away. Sitting there, he constantly felt like something was missing, though he couldn't say what.

The hallucinations did not appear immediately. Neither did the chanting. He sat there, hand resting on the table edge, waiting for several seconds, but there was nothing.

Then he felt it—not coming from the outside, but from within, as if something deep in his consciousness began to churn, expand, and attempt to burst itself open.

The feeling was not pain, but more like an intangible mass slowly expanding within his cranial cavity, pushing all other thoughts aside, leaving only itself.

He closed his eyes.

After his field of vision went black, the texture of that churning became clearer. It felt like heat was pushing outward from inside his cranial cavity, rhythmic and pulsing. Every time it pushed, his temple throbbed.

The progress bar was still moving. He did not open his eyes.

[Progress: 8%.]

The outside was abnormally quiet. No wind, no birds chirping, even the low-frequency hum of the air conditioner had stopped. The entire room was so quiet it felt like the air had been drained out, leaving only his own breathing.

[Progress: 17%.]

The churning deep in his consciousness began to take shape. Even with his eyes closed, he could see things.

Not specific images, but some blurry, rapidly flowing dark masses, constantly deforming, merging, and dispersing in the dark depths of his vision. He watched those things flow.

[Progress: 29%.]

There was a warm flow in his nose. He raised his hand to wipe it, and there was blood on the back of his hand. Not much, just a bit, smeared on the back of his hand, dark red. He glanced down at it, didn't pay it any mind, and continued sitting with his eyes closed.

[Progress: 41%.]

His chest began to feel stifled, and expanding his lungs while inhaling was more strenuous than before. It wasn't pressure, but rather, in that feeling of "emptiness," the air itself had become thinner.

He slowed his breathing: inhale, pause, then exhale. The rhythm naturally slowed down.

[Progress: 53%.]

The thing expanding from within reached its first peak. He could feel his scalp tingling, starting from the back of his head, moving upward like an electric current, covering his entire crown. Then, that tingling sensation slowly dissipated.

[Progress: 64%.]

The window frame outside began to rattle. A slight, rhythmic vibration, like aftershocks from something hitting the ground in the distance. The wind also picked up, pouring in from outside the courtyard, scraping along the ground.

He did not open his eyes.

[Progress: 76%.]

The hallucinations appeared. They didn't cut in from the edges of his vision like before; they emerged directly from the depths of his consciousness, as if they had been there all along.

The seated statue of Vishnu, the serpentine shadow, the two rows of attendants, and the ancient patterns on the ground all simultaneously filled his entire conscious space.

He felt himself surrounded by these hallucinations. But he did not open his eyes to look.

[Progress: 87%.]

Those hallucinations began to shrink. They gathered from the edges toward the center, as if someone were pulling a large cloth from all sides toward the middle. The golden seated statue shrank, the serpentine shadow shortened, and the outlines of the attendants became blurred.

They shrank to a single point in the center, and then that point also disappeared.

[Progress: 94%.]

He felt that "emptiness" also shrinking, exiting his cranial cavity, moving down along his spine, and finally sinking deep into his body, vanishing.

[Progress: 98%.]

He opened his eyes.

The patch of light on the table was still there, grayish-white, under the streetlamp light leaking through the gap in the curtains. He looked at that patch of light.

[Progress: 99%.]

[The tenth round of Extraction is complete. This round recorded 9 tons of gold and 141 tons of other artifacts. Room B is now completely cleared. Target: 2,850 tons of Divine Treasure. Final total inventory: 2,850 tons. Clearing ratio: 100%.]

[Cumulative Gold: 10,111.7057 tons.]

[Detection: The SSS+ Dual Divine Domain has lost its guardian carrier. The structural Foundation is disintegrating. The energy barrier is collapsing completely. It is expected to dissipate entirely within 30 seconds.]

He could feel the thing that had been pressing down on his consciousness suddenly loosen. It first became lighter, then thinner, and finally, like smoke blown away by the wind, it disappeared piece by piece. Those golden, heavy textures that had been pressing down for days faded away inch by inch over these thirty seconds.

[Divine Domain barrier has completely collapsed. Dissipation complete. External suppression lifted. Extraction rate has returned to full capacity: 50 tons/hour.]

[Padmanabhaswamy Temple Room B millennium-old Divine Treasure—Extraction perfect. Completely emptied. No traces. No marks. No detection.]

The wind outside stopped.

It didn't stop gradually; it vanished all of a sudden. The curtains fell back into place, the water vapor on the glass began to dissipate, and the window frame stopped rattling. The entire courtyard went quiet, and the chanting that had been present in the distance also cut off, as if someone had flipped a switch.

He stood up and walked to the window, pulling the curtains completely open. The sky outside was cloudless, and the temple appeared normal, though it seemed to have lost some of its spiritual essence.

He stood at the window for a while, feeling something moving on his back. It wasn't a hallucination; it was a real, tangible sensation.

It felt as if something was crawling up his spine—very light, very slow—but he could clearly feel that chill starting from his tailbone, moving up vertebra by vertebra.

He reached back to touch it, but there was nothing on his back. Yet, that chill continued to move, pausing at the back of his head, then dissipated and vanished.

He lowered his hand and stood at the window, lost in thought.