115: Chapter 115 I haven't even started yet

Puchi—!

That golden lightning named "Startled Swan" didn't make any earth-shattering roar, only a slight sound like a sharp blade cutting through rotten wood.

The Horse-chopping Saber raised high by the Skeleton General, along with the dark red energy gathered upon it—enough to tear through space—suddenly froze.

It slowly lowered its head.

On its rune-engraved breastplate, a fist-sized hole had appeared at some unknown point.

However, jade brilliance did not stop, instead weaving back and forth.

Between the flashes of sword light, the Skeleton General's health bar plummeted like a drop tower ride.

In the blink of an eye, it was completely emptied.

BOOM!!!

The massive skeletal body collapsed with a crash, shattering into a floor full of bone chunks and metal fragments.

And that yuhuang sword which had executed "Startled Swan" slowly manifested in the air several meters behind it, its golden light restrained.

Then, it silently flew back to Chen You's side, floating shoulder-to-shoulder with the other yuhuang sword that had transformed into the "Chaotic Stars" sword wheel, like the most loyal of guards.

From the Skeleton General's roaring attack to its transformation into a pile of broken bones, the entire process took no more than three seconds.

Chen You hadn't even moved a corner of his clothes.

[Ding! You have successfully killed the Elite Lord 'Skeleton General · Meng Hun'!]

[You have gained 5,000 Experience Points!]

[You have obtained 'Meng Hun's Soul-Severing Saber (Damaged)' X1!]

[You have obtained 'Bone Core' X3!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have successfully cleared the dungeon [Tomb of Thousand Lights]!]

[Experience Gained: 10,000]

[Thousand Light City Reputation Gained: 1,000]

[Ding! You have achieved the "Flawless Clear" achievement for [Tomb of Thousand Lights]!]

[Ding! You have achieved the "Speed Clear" achievement for [Tomb of Thousand Lights]!]

[Ding! [Tomb of Thousand Lights] destruction conditions met!]

...

A string of system prompts flashed before his eyes.

A trace of surprise, however, appeared on Chen You's face.

He frowned slightly.

"Cleared?"

He opened the quest panel.

[Main Quest: The Hero's Orphan (In Progress)]

[Quest Objective: Travel to the Meng Ancestral Tomb, find the stone tablet mentioned in Meng Tu's final letter, and investigate the source of the curse. (Incomplete)]

The dungeon was cleared, but the quest was not finished.

This indicated that killing this so-called final boss was not the quest objective at all.

"As expected..."

Chen You's heart remained untroubled.

From the very beginning, he hadn't taken this formidable-looking Skeleton General seriously.

His gaze shifted toward the deepest part of the great hall.

There, shrouded in dust and shadows, stood a massive stone tablet in silence.

The tablet was ten meters high and pitch black, crafted from some unknown stone, its surface covered in ancient gashes that looked like they were carved by blades and axes.

This was his true objective for this trip.

Chen You stepped forward, the two yuhuang swords following him like shadows, floating on either side of his body.

An aura of desolation and antiquity, mixed with endless resentment and regret, washed over him.

The patterns on the tablet weren't decorations, but an ancient script he had never seen before—twisted, sinister, as if possessed of life.

Merely looking at it made one feel as if their mental energy was being slowly drained away.

Chen You's gaze quickly swept over the tablet, finally fixing on the very center.

There was a clear groove deeply embedded into the interior of the stone tablet.

The moment he saw this groove, a ripple finally appeared in Chen You's eyes.

Everything matched up.

With a thought, he took out the simple wooden box named [Hero's Gaze].

Click.

The wooden box opened.

The special white feather emblem he hadn't used yet was lying quietly inside.

Previously, this emblem was just a quest item with no visible attributes.

But now, as it neared the black stone tablet, the emblem itself began to vibrate slightly.

The light on its surface flickered, as if resonating with the ancient groove on the tablet.

Without hesitation, Chen You reached out and took the white feather emblem from the wooden box.

He slowly aligned the emblem with the groove on the tablet.

The size was a perfect match.

"Clack."

A soft click echoed.

The white feather emblem embedded perfectly into the groove, as if it had always been part of the tablet.

The moment the emblem was returned to its place—

Buzz!!!!

The entire black stone tablet shuddered violently!

A visible golden ripple erupted from the emblem, instantly sweeping across the entire tablet!

The thick dust and sinister aura covering the surface were instantly purified and stripped away by the wash of the golden ripple!

The originally pitch-black tablet revealed its true form—

It was a deep, dark gold that seemed capable of absorbing all light.

Immediately after, the twisted, sinister ancient characters on the tablet lit up one by one with a blood-red light!

Rumble—

The entire Tomb of Thousand Lights—no, the entire underground space—began to shake violently!

From the ceiling of the hall, gravel fell in showers.

Chen You stood as steady as Mount Tai, his eyes fixed on the changes on the stone tablet.

The speed at which the blood-red characters lit up grew faster and faster, eventually merging into one, dyeing the entire stone tablet into a massive blood-red crystal.

A phantom image, a hundred times more solid and a hundred times grander than the one of Meng Tu's remnant soul, slowly projected from the stone tablet!

It wasn't a single figure.

It was a scene.

The background of the scene was an even more ancient and magnificent divine temple.

In the center of the temple, a figure wearing black-gold sacrificial robes, his face shrouded in shadow, held high a dagger polished from obsidian.

Before him, a massive magic circle composed of countless blood-red runes was spinning wildly.

In the center of the circle, despairing figures were bound one after another; they were the ancestors of the Meng Clan!

The figure in the black-gold sacrificial robes chanted ancient incantations in a bizarre language that didn't sound human.

"With blood as the guide, with soul as the contract..."

"My clan is willing to sacrifice our nearest and dearest in exchange for the power to wield the darkness..."

"This contract shall never be regretted for all eternity!"

As the words fell, the obsidian dagger in his hand suddenly plunged into the heart of the tribesman closest to him!

Blood surged out, completely absorbed by the magic circle on the ground.

The tribesman whose heart had been pierced did not die; instead, he let out a roar of agony.

His body began to twist and mutate, his power climbing steadily, but the logic and humanity in his eyes were rapidly fading!

This was the truth Meng Tu had spoken of!

This was the sickening curse behind the so-called family glory!

[System Prompt: Your actions have disturbed the Guardian of the Contract!]

At that moment, the phantom projected by the stone tablet shattered!

The small mountain of broken bones suddenly began to tremble violently!

Clatter—

The pile of bones that had just scattered began to vibrate intensely without warning.

Wisps of black gas, deeper than ink, poured frantically from the gaps between the bones.

This black gas seemed to have a life of its own, quickly converging and writhing in mid-air, eventually condensing into a blurry, twisted humanoid silhouette.

An evil aura, far more terrifying than Meng Hun's, instantly enveloped the entire central hall.

A string of question marks appeared before Chen You's eyes.