211: Chapter 211 The door opened.

Stepping onto this brand new "Root Path," everyone felt a fundamental difference.

The "maze" above, though filled with hidden dangers, had broad and flat roots, as if it were a "highway" deliberately built to lure prey.

But the path beneath their feet was the exact opposite. It was narrow, rugged, and covered in hard, bone-spur-like protrusions; in many places, they even had to turn sideways to barely squeeze through.

It was more like an abandoned, primitive "sheep-gut trail."

Yet, it was precisely this primitiveness and desolation that gave everyone a strange sense of security.

This indicated that this place was not the core area of the trap.

"Everyone, watch your step. The roots here have very low vitality, but they are also more fragile."

Lin Tianyi shone his flashlight forward, the beam dancing across the uneven "road surface."

"Stay close, and whatever you do, don't fall behind."

The team moved forward slowly at a more cautious pace.

Zhang Qilin remained the irreplaceable point man; his feet were like the most precise calipers, always finding the most stable footing.

While his eyes remained vigilant of what lay ahead, they also constantly scanned the rock walls for any possible traces of human activity.

Although hope was slim, he did not give up on finding the real clues that the Alpha team might have left behind.

Song Yiqing had regained some ability to move after a brief rest and the stimulation of adrenaline.

He refused the Fatty's assistance, leaning on a leg bone of some unknown creature he had picked up from the ground, limping along in the middle of the group.

His brain remained the most important "radar" for the entire team, constantly analyzing the subtlest energy fluctuations in the surrounding environment.

"The 'Qi' here… is very strange." Song Yiqing suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse.

"What do you mean?" Wang Xianzhi asked, tilting her head.

"It's very thin, but… extremely 'ancient'."

Song Yiqing frowned, struggling to find the right words.

"It's like… a pool of stagnant water that hasn't flowed in a long time. It looks calm on the surface, but at the bottom, there is something very… very heavy settling."

His words made everyone's heart sink.

"Ancient" and "heavy" were never good words in this damned forbidden zone.

Just then, Zhang Qilin, who was walking at the very front, stopped again.

He did not turn back, but slowly raised his hand, pointing to a cliff about a hundred meters ahead.

There was no path left there.

This Root Path came to an abrupt end here.

Ahead lay a massive, vertically smooth rock wall, like a mirror, and beneath it, an unfathomable darkness that seemed to devour all light and sound.

"A dead end?"

The Fatty felt his knees go weak and nearly collapsed to the ground.

"No way… we went through all that trouble to come down here, only for it to be a dead end?"

Despair, like an invisible tide, engulfed them all once again.

"No… that's not right."

Song Yiqing leaned on his bone staff and walked with difficulty to the edge of the cliff. He didn't look at the smooth rock wall, but instead lowered his head to look down.

Lin Tianyi immediately shone his flashlight beam down.

They saw that about thirty meters below the root they were standing on, there was a massive, platform-like fungus.

The fungus was pitch black, with a smooth surface and a diameter of a hundred meters, appearing like an isolated island that had emerged out of thin air in the abyss.

Most peculiarly, in the very center of this "black island," a structure stood silently.

A… stone gate.

It was a torii-style stone gate, over ten meters high, built from massive, unknown blue-black stones.

The style was simple and majestic, full of the charm of ancient Chinese architecture, completely out of place with the bizarre alien jungle surrounding it.

Directly above the stone gate were three huge, blurred seal characters carved into it.

"What… what is that?"

Lin Tianyi stared at the scene in the flashlight beam in shock, feeling his worldview being repeatedly crushed.

"South… Heaven… Gate?"

Song Yiqing squinted, identifying the three ancient seal characters, and read them out one by one.

South Heaven Gate?!

These two words exploded in everyone's mind like a thunderclap from the nine heavens!

In Chinese mythology, the South Heaven Gate is the main entrance to the Heavenly Court, the boundary between the mortal world and the immortal realm!

How could it appear here?! Appear in the abyss of this unfathomable underground world?!

"Hallucination! This must be a fucking hallucination!" The Fatty rubbed his eyes vigorously, but the stone gate still stood clearly in the darkness.

"It's not a hallucination."

Zhang Qilin's voice carried a hint of waves for the first time.

His gaze was locked firmly onto that stone gate.

"I can feel it… there is something behind the gate."

[In the Livestream]

The moment Lin Tianyi's flashlight illuminated the stone gate, the entire livestream completely exploded!

If the previous spiders and plants brought fear and excitement to the audience, the appearance of this "South Heaven Gate" now brought a massive shock that subverted cognition and touched the origin of mythology!

[South Heaven Gate?! Did I hear that right?! Did God Song say South Heaven Gate?!]

[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy-crap! Crazy! This world is completely crazy! There's a South Heaven Gate underground?! Does that mean the Heavenly Court is behind the gate?!]

[My god! Mythology is actually real?! Could the celestial gods we've worshipped since ancient times actually be underground dwellers?!]

[Stop fucking guessing! This is too weird! The South Heaven Gate in mythology is the entrance to the immortal realm; the South Heaven Gate underground… could it be the entrance to the underworld?!]

[Don't scare people, upstairs! But now that you mention it… my fucking hair is standing on end!]

A verified user named [Kyushu Ancient History Research Institute - Professor Li] posted a golden, bolded bullet comment:

[Everyone! Please stay calm! Judging from the architectural style, the form of this stone gate is very close to sacrificial buildings from the pre-Qin period! But its scale and material far exceed any known archaeological discoveries! The term 'South Heaven Gate,' in pre-Qin ancient texts, does not specifically refer to the heavenly realm, but also refers to some extremely important sacrificial sites for communicating with heaven and earth! This… this might be the key to unlocking the mystery of ancient civilization! They… they have discovered a living ancient ruin!]

...

Back to the livestream screen.

"Are we… going over there?" Wang Shan asked softly, looking at the stone gate that exuded an ominous aura.

"We have no choice."

Song Yiqing took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart.

"That is the gathering point and end point of all the 'Qi' in this area.

Regardless of whether it's life or death behind the gate, the answer is there."

A new problem arose.

A thirty-meter vertical drop, without any ropes—how to go down?

This time, before anyone could speak, Zhang Qilin had already walked to the edge of the cliff.

He glanced at the massive black fungal platform below, and then at the remaining half of the cloth rope wrapped around his waist.

He shook his head, untied the rope, and threw it aside.

Then, he made a move that caused everyone's heart to stop, including the hundreds of millions of viewers in the livestream.

He took two steps back, then suddenly ran forward, and at the edge of the root, leaped with all his might!

His whole body, like an eagle spreading its wings, leaped into the endless dark abyss with a resolute posture!

"Qilin!!!"

"Xiaoge!!!"

The Fatty and Lin Tianyi let out heart-wrenching roars!

However, during the descent, Zhang Qilin's figure did not fall straight down as everyone imagined.

The black gold ancient blade in his hand traced precise arcs in the air, each time striking perfectly against the vertical, mirror-smooth rock wall!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Each strike burst into a dazzling spark, and the massive reaction force not only slowed his descent but also allowed him to make tiny, dragonfly-skimming-the-water-like changes in direction in mid-air!

Was he… "flying with a sword"?!

No, he was using a technique and strength that surpassed the limits of human imagination, turning this desperate cliff into his own personal staircase!

Finally, under everyone's gaze, his figure traced a graceful arc in the air, and his feet landed lightly and steadily on that massive black fungal platform, without making a single unnecessary sound.

He slowly stood up straight and looked up, his pitch-black eyes shining startlingly bright in the darkness.

This scene left everyone speechless.

The bullet comments in the livestream, after ten seconds of dead silence, erupted in a fountain-like, unprecedentedly crazy manner!

[God!!!!!!!!]

[Is this fucking human?! Is this a move a human can make?!]

[I kneel! I really kneel! Brother Qilin, take my knees! From today on, you are my only faith!]

[This is no longer a technique! This is art! This is violent aesthetics! This is a miracle!!!]

"It seems… we have a way to go down."

Lin Tianyi looked at the clear blade marks left on the cliff and said with a wry smile.

Each of those blade marks was a foothold he could use to exert force!

Zhang Qilin, in his own way, had carved out a vertical ladder to the "South Heaven Gate" for everyone!

Next, with the help of these blade marks, everyone descended safely to this massive black platform.

The sensation under their feet was very peculiar; it was both hard and possessed a hint of biological elasticity.

And that massive blue-black stone gate stood silently in the center of the platform, like a silent ancient giant, watching them coldly.

The closer they got, the more a heavy, ancient, and desolate aura rushed toward them, pressing down so hard that it was almost impossible to breathe.

The stone gate was tightly closed.

On the two massive stone doors, there were no knockers or handles, only countless complex and mysterious reliefs. The reliefs seemed to depict a grand war scene, with giants clad in armor, bizarre giant beasts, and divine beings wielding lightning… The scene was magnificent and tragic, filled with a murderous aura.

"How… do we open this gate?" The Fatty circled the stone gate and found it seamless, without even a single crack.

Song Yiqing didn't speak; his gaze fell on an inconspicuous circular groove in the very center of the stone gate.

The size and shape of that groove…

He suddenly turned his head and looked at the black gold ancient blade on Zhang Qilin's back.

"Qilin, your blade."

Zhang Qilin seemed to have realized something too; he slowly drew the black gold ancient blade and stepped forward.

He didn't use the blade to strike; instead, he aligned the end of the handle of the ancient blade with the circular groove.

The size… a perfect fit!

"Is this blade… the key to opening this gate?" Lin Tianyi muttered.

Zhang Qilin gripped the handle and slowly, forcefully, pressed it into the groove!

Click—!

With a soft click, the handle sank completely into the groove.

Immediately after!

Rumble—!!!!

The entire massive black platform began to tremble violently!

The two massive stone doors, weighing ten thousand jun, slowly opened inward, bit by bit, amidst a teeth-gritting grinding sound!

An aura more ancient and more barbaric than any time before, as if coming from the end of time, surged out from the gap in the gate!

In that aura, there were no signs of life, only pure, extreme… dead silence.

And… a faint, almost imperceptible dragon's roar.

The gate, opened.

The world behind the gate, in the darkness, awaited them.