222: Chapter 222 Why is the door closed?

Rumble—!

The giant door slammed shut behind them, the heavy impact sounding as if it hit everyone's heart directly.

Absolute darkness and deathly silence instantly swallowed them.

Cutting off all sound, all light, and... all paths of retreat.

"What's going on? Why is the door closed?"

Fatty's voice sounded exceptionally abrupt and tense in the silence where a pin drop could be heard. He instinctively reached for his tactical flashlight, but Lin Tianyi pressed down on his hand.

"Don't turn on the light!" Lin Tianyi's voice was extremely low. "We don't know the situation inside yet; a light source would make us targets."

"We've... been played."

Song Yiqing's voice carried a hint of bitterness and lingering fear. "Those 'Scavengers' outside... their goal was never to charge in with us, but... to send us in!"

This conclusion made everyone's hearts sink.

They had become pawns to scout the way, or rather, as the Scavenger leader had said—sacrifices.

The tragic slaughter outside, the desperate sacrifices of those Scavengers, were likely all just a carefully planned... ruse of self-injury! A performance for them, and for the Mechanical Legion!

Its ultimate goal was to use the "key" (black gold ancient blade) and "energy" (Xirang and Kylin Bloodline) in Zhang Qilin's hands to open this door they could never open themselves, and then sacrifice them to the so-called "The Creator."

"Dammit... these ground rats have more schemes than a honeycomb coal!" Fatty cursed under his breath, but his voice betrayed a sense of powerlessness.

There was no point in dwelling on this now.

They were already trapped inside this giant The Spire, in a completely unknown... cage filled with lethal danger.

Zhang Qilin did not speak.

He slowly stood up straight in the darkness.

That forceful strike just now had almost exhausted all his physical strength; at this moment, he was weaker than ever. But his eyes shone with startling brightness in the absolute darkness.

He could feel a... faint, extremely ancient call filled with chaos and madness coming from the depths of this The Spire.

That call seemed to produce a weak resonance with something deep within his bloodline.

It was also this call that made him instinctively feel there was some terrifying existence inside that exceeded everyone's understanding.

[Detected... unauthorized... biological intrusion...]

[Internal defense system... activated.]

[Purification... beginning.]

A cold, emotionless synthetic voice rang out above their heads without warning.

The moment the words fell.

Buzz—

The entire space was illuminated by a dark red emergency light.

They finally saw their surroundings clearly.

It was an incredibly vast, circular corridor.

The corridor's walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of that mirror-smooth black material, covered with complex energy patterns like circuit boards. Under the reflection of the red light, these patterns flickered, like a giant beast breathing.

What made their skin crawl even more was that on the walls on both sides of the corridor, every ten meters, there was an embedded hibernation pod.

At this moment, all the hibernation pods were slowly opening.

Emerging from them were new... mechanical monsters they had never seen before!

Their appearance was like a combination of a mantis and a human. They were slender, about three meters tall, with limbs that were sharp bone blades glinting with cold light, and a pair of miniature energy wings on their backs to assist in high-speed movement. Their heads had no facial features, only a single, massive, constantly rotating compound eye emitting a cold red light.

They were the... "Purifiers" inside the tower! Elite guards specifically responsible for clearing internal intruders!

"Prepare for battle!"

Lin Tianyi's roar broke the deathly silence!

He knew there was no room for luck! This was a fight to the death!

Chiii—!

Before he finished speaking, the Mantis Guard closest to them had already turned into an afterimage. The energy wings on its back emitted a piercing buzz as its two bone blades crossed and slashed toward Fatty on the outermost perimeter like lightning!

The speed of this strike even exceeded the limit of what dynamic vision could capture!

"Fatty, watch out!" Wang Xianzhi cried out, her longsword already unsheathed, but she was too far away to rescue him in time!

At this critical moment, a black shadow stood in front of Fatty.

It was Zhang Qilin!

He didn't even turn around, simply relying on instinct to grip the black gold ancient blade in a reverse hold and parry behind him!

Clang—!!!

A piercing sound of clashing metal exploded, making their eardrums ache!

Sparks flew everywhere!

Zhang Qilin's body was jolted forward a step by that massive force. The web between his thumb and forefinger holding the blade instantly split, and blood flowed freely.

But he had, after all... blocked this fatal blow!

And that Mantis Guard was also sent flying backward by the counter-shock from the black gold ancient blade, crashing into the wall and creating a human-shaped indentation!

"Xiao-ge!" Fatty, still shaken, saw Zhang Qilin was injured and his eyes immediately turned red.

"Don't worry about me! There's more than one of them!" Zhang Qilin shouted in a low voice.

His words were like an alarm bell!

The first guard's attack was only the beginning!

On both sides of the corridor, the red light in the compound eyes of hundreds and thousands of Mantis Guards locked onto the five of them simultaneously!

In the next second, it was like poking a hornet's nest!

Countless afterimages, carrying the shrill whistle of tearing air, swept toward their small team from all directions!

A desperate... battle of trapped beasts, completely surrounded, broke out!

"Back to back! Form a defensive formation!" Lin Tianyi roared as he pulled out his military knife, guarding the flank most vulnerable to attack.

Fatty also pulled out his last self-defense weapon—an entrenching shovel. Although crude, he swung it with a powerful wind, barely managing to protect himself and Song Yiqing behind him.

Wang Xianzhi's sword turned into a silver curtain of light. Her swordsmanship was agile and lethal, always managing to deflect those bone blades from the most tricky and bizarre angles, greatly reducing the pressure on the entire team.

But the protagonist was still Zhang Qilin.

Standing at the very front of the formation, he bore at least seventy percent of the attacks!

In his hands, the black gold ancient blade no longer seemed like a blade, but a part of his body.

Every slash and every parry was precise to the extreme.

His combat had no redundant movements, filled with the most primitive and pure aesthetic of slaughter.

He was like a black reef, standing firm no matter how crazily the stormy waves of bone blades crashed against him!

But even heroes bleed.

He had very little physical strength left to begin with. Every parry made his sword-arm tremble a bit more. Every dodge made his pale face turn a bit whiter.

New wounds began to appear continuously on his body.

Blood flowed down his arm, staining the hilt of the black gold ancient blade red.

Yet he still did not retreat a single step!

Because he knew his companions were behind him. Once he fell, the entire formation would collapse instantly!

[In the livestream room, everyone was going crazy!]

[This is Kylin! This is the fucking real Kylin! One man holding back an army!]

[It's too tragic! I can't watch anymore! Kylin Xiao-ge is about to reach his limit!]

[Those Scavengers outside! I'll screw your ancestors! Just wait until I get in there, I'll twist your heads off one by one!]

[Kyushu Ancient History Research Institute - Professor Li]: Something's not right... have you noticed? After Zhang Qilin's blood... flowed onto the black gold ancient blade, the ancient blade seems to have... undergone some subtle changes!

All the viewers immediately zoomed in on the screen to the maximum, staring intently at the blade in Zhang Qilin's hand.

Sure enough!

On the originally dull black gold ancient blade, after being soaked with a large amount of Zhang Qilin's Qilin Blood, those ancient Kylin patterns on the blade actually began to... slowly light up with a faint, magma-like... dark golden light!

A pressure even more ancient and domineering than before began to emanate from the blade!

"Kylin... Qilin Blood... is a catalyst!"

Inside the The Spire, Song Yiqing, who was protected in the center of the formation, also seemed to have discovered this. He shouted in shock:

"Kylin Xiao-ge! Your blood can activate the true power... hidden within this blade! It's not just a 'key'; it... it's a supreme... 'divine artifact' itself!"

Zhang Qilin also seemed to feel the change in the blade.

He could feel a scorching power, seemingly from the same source as his bloodline, feeding back into his body from the hilt!

Although this power was weak, it was like a shot of adrenaline, bringing a spark of life back to his nearly exhausted body!

His gaze instantly became incomparably sharp!

"Fatty!" he suddenly roared.

"Here!"

"Throw the 'Xirang'... to me!"

Without any hesitation, Fatty immediately pulled out that now-dimly glowing "Xirang" from his chest and threw it toward Zhang Qilin with all his might!

Without even looking back, Zhang Qilin reached back with his left hand and caught the "Xirang" steadily.

Then, he made a move that no one expected!

He actually... pressed his bleeding right wrist, which was holding the blade, hard against that piece of "Xirang"!

Qilin Blood instantly soaked this divine object of creation!

Buzz—!!!!!!

An indescribable, terrifying energy storm erupted with Zhang Qilin as the center!

The moment it touched the Qilin Blood, the "Xirang" seemed like a deity that had been slumbering for eons, completely awakened!

It no longer emitted a soft white light, but burst forth with a... golden light so dazzling it was impossible to look at directly!

A majestic, pure-to-the-extreme creative life force, like a bursting dam, flooded into Zhang Qilin's body!

And the Kylin Bloodline within him, under the catalysis of this power, also completely boiled!

His eyes instantly turned into pure... golden pupils without a hint of impurity!

The Kylin phantom on the black gold ancient blade in his hand completely solidified, letting out a soul-shaking... roar!

[Divine Artifact... unsealed!]

[Bloodline... awakened!]

At this moment, he was no longer a weak, heavily injured human.

But... a true Kylin, who rules over life and death and suppresses eternity!

"Roar—!"

A non-human hiss, filled with supreme majesty, came from Zhang Qilin's throat!

He suddenly took a step forward!

With just one step, the entire circular corridor trembled violently!

He raised the black gold ancient blade high in his hand. Golden flames burned on the blade, as if they could incinerate all the evil in the world!

Then, facing the endless "Mantis Guards" ahead, with the force of splitting Mount Hua...

He slashed down!

Boom—!!!!!!!!

A hundred-meter-long, crescent-shaped blade energy composed of pure golden flames shot out from the blade!

That blade energy was unstoppable, crushing everything in its path!

All the Mantis Guards in its way, along with their indestructible bone blades and bodies, melted away like snow the moment they touched the golden flames, leaving not even a trace of wreckage!

One slash!

Just one slash!

It cleared all the enemies... in the entire fan-shaped area... in front of them!

The entire battlefield fell into a strange... one-second silence.

All the Mantis Guards stopped their attacks.

In their rotating compound eyes, for the first time, there appeared a... confusion and... fear, like a "data error"!

"Go!"

Zhang Qilin's golden pupils swept across the field, his voice becoming incomparably majestic and low.

Without any lingering for battle, he pulled everyone along and sprinted toward the depths of the corridor along the path he had cleared with one slash!

He knew that this state of his could not last long!

He had to reach the... core before his power was exhausted!