169: Chapter 169 Entering the Eighth Floor

Lin Ye did not immediately reach out to touch the two crystal cores.

Zhao Mengmeng stood before the bronze door holding an empty bowl, her eyes fixed on the light screen above the pedestal.

[Floor Passage Supply: Each Challenger is limited to one.]

"These things all look quite valuable, but I only trust what you pick." She licked her lips, savoring the lingering taste of the broth.

Lin Ye opened his Left Eye.

The crystal cores on the pedestal became clearly layered on his retina.

The one on the far left had pure green light with very few gray spots.

The second one from the right was green with a hint of gold, its luster extremely stable, but it had complex zigzag lines inside.

The remaining ones all had more or less gray spots floating on their surfaces.

The one in the middle even had a scarlet dead spot hidden beneath the green light.

Lin Ye raised his hand and pointed to the left.

"You take this one."

Zhao Mengmeng grabbed it without hesitation and stuffed it directly into her chest pocket.

Lin Ye took the second one from the right.

The light screen in his right eye flashed with the item information.

[Body-Purifying Crystal Core]

[Traction Crystal Core]

Zhao Mengmeng stepped closer: "What can mine do?"

"It should be able to purify residual pollution." Lin Ye wrapped the crystal core in animal hide.

Zhao Mengmeng immediately fastened her chest pocket: "Then it belongs to Zhao now."

Lin Ye turned and walked to the corner of the treasure vault to dismantle the pile of old mechanisms.

The Dark Weaver vambrace had been pushed to the brink of ruin by water vapor, acid, and high loads.

The main anchor point was completely destroyed, and the swing rope function was entirely broken.

But the high-frequency contraction engine was still intact, and the auxiliary line slot could still accommodate new materials.

In the treasure vault, there were high-strength metal fibers, bronze lock springs, and ancient winch gears.

It was enough to modify it into a close-range traction grappling hook within twenty meters.

Lin Ye drew his bone blade, used the delicate tip to pry open the vambrace shell, and removed the deformed old gears one by one.

Zhao Mengmeng squatted nearby, holding the modified crossbow and keeping watch over the bronze door.

"Does the Archaeology Department also teach how to repair vambraces?"

Lin Ye didn't even look up: "Repairing artifacts, repairing door locks—it's somewhat related."

The Great Xia Live Stream chat flooded.

[Brother Eye: As long as the parts have half a breath left, they can keep working overtime.]

[The foreign livestream next door just mocked us for having all our tools broken; does their face hurt now?]

The foreign livestream room remained stubborn.

[It's a makeshift assembly; it'll definitely fall apart when they enter the next floor!]

[The Great Xia Challenger has used up all their luck!]

Lin Ye stuffed a piece of metal fiber into the auxiliary line slot and attached the Traction Crystal Core to the inside of the mechanism.

The crystal core vibrated slightly.

The jammed gears immediately began to rotate smoothly.

He fastened the vambrace back onto his right arm.

Lin Ye raised his hand, aimed at a wooden rack three meters away, and pressed gently.

*Hiss.*

A thin line shot out and wrapped firmly around the crossbeam.

He pressed the retrieval button; the wooden rack vibrated slightly, and the line retracted at high speed.

"It works." Lin Ye nodded.

Zhao Mengmeng hung the crossbow at her side: "Successful rescue?"

"Yeah."

The two packed up their supplies, dividing the pure grease, black rock salt crystals, and dried meat.

The dragon bone nails, grain seeds, and stone box fragments were stuffed into the deepest part of their backpacks.

Lin Ye stood before the bronze door.

The star map on the door was dense; star points were connected by thin lines to form routes, engraved with ancient characters and beast patterns.

Lin Ye activated his Left Eye.

The physical enhancement from the broth and the pure environment of the treasure vault had significantly restored the state of his Left Eye.

In True Vision, the star map peeled away.

Dark red star lines intertwined, but only nine star points glowed green, connecting to form a safe path.

Lin Ye raised his horizontal blade and pressed the hilt against the points in sequence.

Each time he pressed, a faint sound of gears meshing echoed from inside the door.

On the fifth press, half a black needle fell from the door crack, piercing the floorboard, and immediately emitted a pungent white smoke.

Zhao Mengmeng felt her scalp tighten: "What happens if you press the wrong one?"

Lin Ye finished pressing the ninth one.

"Nothing."

*Click.*

The mechanism inside the door groaned; the star patterns shifted and reorganized, forcibly piecing together an upward route.

Zhao Mengmeng looked pleasantly surprised: "It really opened! How did you know the sequence?"

"It looked right." Lin Ye sheathed his blade.

The bronze door slid open inward.

There were no stairs, nor was there any water vapor.

Dry, cold wind carrying gray sand surged into the door crack.

The two stepped over the threshold side by side.

The floorboards beneath their feet vanished.

A boundless gray desert spread out before them.

Beneath an ink-black dome, several shattered star rocks emitted cold light, slowly rotating.

[Eighth Floor: Star-Remnant Sand Sea]

"This place finally isn't soaking in water." Zhao Mengmeng looked up at the star rocks.

The bronze door behind them silently dissolved.

Only gray sand remained.

"The way back has been swallowed again."

Before she finished speaking, Lin Ye's feet sank sharply.

The sand surface liquefied in an instant!

A massive quicksand funnel formed, pulling the two of them down rapidly.

Zhao Mengmeng backhanded a shot with the Wind-Chasing Claw; the three-pronged hook aimed for a black rock but was forcibly pulled off course by the quicksand.

"I can't catch it!"

Lin Ye instantly activated his Left Eye.

A black rock on the edge of the quicksand glowed green.

Nineteen meters away.

Just within the traction limit!

He raised his right arm.

*Hiss!*

The auxiliary line pierced the air, wrapping tightly around a protrusion on the black rock.

Lin Ye gripped Zhao Mengmeng's tactical belt tightly with his left hand.

The Traction Crystal Core heated up, and the retrieval mechanism erupted with a piercing rotation speed.

The two were forcibly pulled out from the center of the quicksand!

Sand grains rubbed frantically against their armor.

Zhao Mengmeng collided with the black rock, her shoulder vibrating until it went numb.

Lin Ye rolled behind the rock and severed the auxiliary line at high speed.

In the blink of an eye, the position where they had been standing was swallowed by the quicksand into a terrifying deep pit.

Lin Ye looked up at the dome.

A giant star rock suddenly shifted its angle, its cold light sweeping across the sand sea.

The wind direction changed abruptly.

A violent gravitational wind blew from beneath the star rock, and an overwhelming wall of sand came crushing down.

Lin Ye's Left Eye scanned it.

The dust was covered in dense gray spots.

"Behind the rock!"

Zhao Mengmeng pulled down the animal hide to wrap around them and huddled into the leeward side of the giant rock.

The storm struck the rock face, and the outer weathered shell was scraped away layer by layer.

Bone fragments mixed into the sandstorm, piercing fiercely into the edges of the rock.

Zhao Mengmeng pressed the animal hide tight: "This sand can slice through flesh!"

The sandstorm continued.

Lin Ye reopened his Left Eye.

Beneath the sand surface, dense red dots were approaching rapidly with the wind.

Their speed was extremely fast.

They specifically targeted the leeward blind spots.

Lin Ye gripped the hilt of his horizontal blade.

The gray sand at his feet suddenly arched up, and two black, hairy arthropod limbs pierced through the sand toward Zhao Mengmeng's calf.

The horizontal blade was drawn.

Where the cold light passed, the limbs were severed at the root, and black liquid gushed out.

Zhao Mengmeng stepped back half a step and leveled the modified crossbow.

The sand surface burst open!

Three giant spiders with swollen abdomens and bone-embedded carapaces lunged out.

[Bone-Crushing Sand Spider]

The first one lunged straight for Lin Ye's face.

Lin Ye didn't retreat but advanced instead; his Left Eye locked onto the green seam on its chest and abdomen, and he followed through with an upward diagonal thrust of his horizontal blade.

*Squelch.*

The carapace shattered, the core was shredded by the blade, and the spider corpse tumbled to the ground.

The second one flanked from the side.

Zhao Mengmeng pulled the trigger.

*Bang!*

The new crossbow string exploded with a violent sonic boom.

The bronze arrowhead pierced the spider's head, and the residual force pinned it firmly to the rock wall, causing deep cracks to spiderweb across the stone surface.

The third one, seeing the situation was unfavorable, decisively burrowed into the ground, and the gray sand arched in a straight line, circling behind Lin Ye.

Lin Ye whipped his right arm backward.

The Dark Weaver auxiliary line accurately wrapped around the hind leg exposed above the sand.

The engine pulled hard.

The sand spider was dragged alive from underground, its eight legs kicking frantically.

Lin Ye stepped forward and turned, slashing horizontally with his blade.

Foul liquid splattered in a fan shape.

The sand spider was cut in two and slammed into the sand pit.

The residual power of the storm gradually dissipated.

The slime flowing from the three corpses emitted a sweet, foul odor.

The Great Xia Live Stream was filled with cheers.

[The horizontal blade is too fierce!]

[Sister Mengmeng's new crossbow has overflow damage! Using an empty crossbow to smash people before was such a grievance!]

[The foreign livestream said the eighth floor would wear down equipment? Turns out Great Xia is using monsters to sharpen their blades and test their crossbows!]

Lin Ye stared at the spreading foul liquid and did not sheath his blade.

Deep in the gray sand.

A dense rustling sound surged from all directions.

More and more.

Zhao Mengmeng quickly loaded an arrow, her lips pressed tight.

"With this commotion, those three from just now were probably just scouts."

A black tide washed over the edge of the sand dune.

Over a hundred Bone-Crushing Sand Spiders were completely awakened by the smell of blood.