From the Second Layer ’Twilight Sanctuary’ to the Third Layer ’Crimson Court’, one originally needed to reach the ’Courtyard Stairs’ located at the center of the sanctuary.
It’s a large central elevator capable of carrying nearly a thousand people and a large amount of supplies up and down at the same time. This is also the transport tool that passes through the nearly kilometer-thick ’shielding layer’ between the Second and Third Layers. If one were to attempt digging with brute force, the solidified rock layer nearly a kilometer thick would require considerable effort and time even for the Third Energy Level individuals.
After all, the first two layers of the Exotic Species Research Institute are essentially civilian facilities, designed as a sanctuary to survive the apocalypse, whereas the Third Layer and below constitute the true ’Exotic Species Research Institute’.
However, after a thousand years, the courtyard stairs developed issues... It’s unknown whether it’s an energy accumulation or a program malfunction, but it now takes several hours of pause for each operation.
Theoretically, the exploration team reaching the courtyard stairs first can use this opportunity to distance themselves from other teams—a round trip of a few hours and half a day will pass, and the teams gathering afterward might even have conflicts and fights, further wasting time.
If proper negotiations are made, everyone can descend together conveniently... If it’s still one team descending at a time, then by the time the last team enters the Third Layer, the first one would have explored for two to three days.
In short, the team that reaches the courtyard stairs first will undoubtedly have the greatest advantage.
"Our Ashlight Sect discovered another way which doesn’t require waiting and can directly reach the Third Layer."
After the departure of the King of the Mountain’s prosthetic body, Anfa communicated with Ian and Sio using Dragon Soul—and Ian relayed it to Yisen through ’Spirit Light Communication’ eye contact. The four used a method hidden from communication relay to converse: "Not far from here, there’s an inconspicuous building. The basement of this building has an independent small elevator that also leads directly to the Third Layer Crimson Court."
"This should be a key facility of a previous era’s civilization, probably inaccessible for ordinary people, but now it has become our shortcut!"
Regarding cheating, Anfa felt no unease or guilt. Rather, she firmly believed that other exploration teams surely have their own cheating methods.
Following the rules? What a joke, who plays within the rules? Our exploration teams from major powers are here to play outside the rules! Otherwise, where is the advantage of these major powers?
"Indeed. Without cheating or tricks, our solo-acting team can’t compare with the more or less formed large teams of the Empire and Azure Sky Royal Court."
Ian also highly agreed with this.
At this moment, Ian had already retrieved the Origin Core Chip from the central base of the Twilight Sanctuary and handed it to Anfa for safekeeping.
This item is too sensitive. Even though Ian had confirmed that the Dark Gold Colossus Dragon didn’t have the authority to use this chip for locating himself, for safety’s sake, he would never give them any chance to touch the Silver Chip and discover his true identity!
As for whether the time in Twilight Sanctuary needs to be adjusted back...
Isn’t it cool for the sanctuary to remain perpetually bathed in the twilight glow of the sunset?
This is Ian’s aesthetic—an ancient ruin should be desolate and waning, with dim lighting, nearly subsumed into oblivion—why make such an ancient relic so distinctly seasonal and sunlit? It must exude an air of decadence and an ending, as if everything is fading into the murky dusk!
Regarding this, the others didn’t care much, which made Ian sigh inwardly, thinking about how they were all people lacking his aesthetic.
On the route to the sanctuary building with the small elevator, there were also many scattered exobeasts, such as the Heterogeneous Slime Monster composed of venom, radioactive material, and corrosive liquid, the Mutant Flesh Orb Beast constantly spewing black smoke, and the Mutant Serpent with a venomous tail blade... These creatures seemed to lack Dragon Blood, but in reality, they were all Dragon Blood modifications.
The slime monster could only accommodate so many toxins due to the Vitality of Dragon Blood, converting it for its own use; the black smoke-spewing mutant flesh orb essentially was a failed attempt to mimic the True Dragon’s breathing organs, yet despite this, it enabled the breathing organ to possess life on its own, as if the mutant tissue had come alive.
As for the final serpent... a snake is a dragon after all!
These scattered exobeasts didn’t require Ian’s intervention; Yisen Gard alone could manage them all, which served to enhance this young master’s practical combat skills.
And surprisingly—perhaps due to Ian and Yisen having practiced combat against each other numerous times back in the Imperial Capital—the young master who initially had no understanding of this aspect surprisingly exhibited notable combat ability, managing to defeat all enemies solely with the physical attributes of Second Energy Level and his swordsmanship!
Soon, everyone reached the ordinary building mentioned by Anfa.
Upon entering the basement of the building, Ian couldn’t help but sigh: "This is a test product processing channel of a previous era’s civilization—look at those iron cabinets by the side, they’re low-temperature freezing cabinets used to store organs and corpses... this place is a corpse processing plant, not very auspicious."
"So that’s how it is..." Secretly deducting a few points for the Prophet’s untimely revelation of the truth, Anfa remained outwardly composed: "Then let’s change our route and go to the courtyard stairs?"