"Who could have expected that the legendary final barrier of the tomb, the Black Stone Gate standing before everyone, would just be pushed open?!"
Heaven knows how many difficulties they had endured to get here. According to the usual pattern, each level was harder than the last; wasn't that the basic principle?
Yet many Awakeners had no time to ponder these questions. Upon seeing the golden light seeping through the door cracks, they simultaneously rushed forward.
It was as if, if they were a moment too slow, those treasures and opportunities would be snatched away by others.
The Black Stone Gate had been pushed open, or rather, it opened itself.
What appeared before the many Awakeners was a spacious hall.
The hall was very bright, lined regularly with golden-colored boxes—those gleaming beams of light springing forth from the boxes.
Behind those golden boxes, against the wall, stood three black coffins. The one in the middle looked more luxurious; that must be the coffin burying the tomb's owner, Zuofo.
Many Awakeners thought this.
But after a glance at the coffins, they turned their attention away and rushed towards the golden boxes.
Outside the door, the Iron Hammer Brothers, Peng Bo, and Yan Dazhuang too had red eyes, unable to resist the urge to rush forward.
"These glows are tricky!" Winnie held a pure white, small Holy Hammer and chanted softly, "Purification!"
A white halo spread out from the Holy Hammer.
Instantly, the reddening in the eyes of the Iron Hammer Brothers and others gradually faded; their steps, which had been about to advance, halted, and they all felt a bit shocked.
They had been unconsciously affected.
Eileen and the others also noticed that this area was enveloped in a strange power, affecting people's emotions. Yet, this power did not impact them significantly; they could easily restrain it.
Only Tang Yu himself, looking left and right, felt no such effects; perhaps following his binding with the territory, he was immune to these negative conditions.
Under such circumstances, they naturally didn't step forward.
Looking around, aside from themselves, there were a few other Awakeners who also sensed something amiss and were strenuously restraining themselves, not rushing into the Black Stone Gate like most others.
An Awakener reached for a golden treasure box but suddenly, a longsword pierced through his body from behind. His eyes widened as he slowly fell.
However, the person holding the longsword hadn't even managed to step forward when a series of rapid gunfire turned him into a beehive.
A storm of blood and violent wind swept through the Black Stone Hall.
A powerful Awakener tore a few people beside him in half and arrived at the golden treasure box, laughing loudly.
As he placed his hand on the box, there was a clicking sound, but he was taken aback—the box did not open, and instead, upon his touch, the whole box dimmed, the golden light completely disappearing.
A closer look revealed that it was not a treasure box at all, but just a rotting wooden box.
Where did the sound of the box opening come from?
"No, no… it opened on its own!"
Many Awakeners realized.
The fighting had stopped, with only a few blinded by their bloodlust still shouting and wielding weapons, soon taken down by collective fire.
The luxurious coffin in the center, its lid suddenly fell with a clang.
As many Awakeners immediately looked over, expecting to see a decaying corpse, no such sight occurred. Instead, a man with a black eyepatch, white hair, and slight wrinkles on his face was seen inside the coffin.
After the lid fell, the man without the eyepatch suddenly opened his eye.
"This is…" the one-eyed man looked around a bit dazedly, "I am… I am Zuofo, the Thief King Zuofo! So, it seems the prophesized era has come, and my contingency plan has worked, hahaha…"
He had been asleep for so long, and his body had aged, but Zuofo's heart was fiery.
He felt the Source Qi in the air, much richer than in his era; the whole world seemed to be pulsating with life.
He realized that the bet he had made using all his resources—he had won!
In this era, he definitely had a chance to break through the realm he had always dreamed of.
"So," licked his lips, Zuofo's entire figure vanished from the Awakeners' sight; the next moment, he appeared beside someone, his slender fingers as sharp as knives, directly piercing into the man's chest.
He licked his lips again, showing a pleased expression.
Awakeners who entered the Secret Realm were not lacking in courage and certainly weren't scared by Zuofo directly.
They were no fools, understanding that this suddenly emerging man was a foe, not a friend. Though many had been fighting fiercely before, now, many people in perfect coordination, launched attacks at Zuofo.
Bullets flew, ability users unleashed flames, and ice attacks towards Zuofo.
As frost spread and bullets sparked, everyone once again lost sight of Zuofo…
"There, quick, attack him!"
"Don't panic, he's only one person!"
From the scene, although Zuofo had a speed advantage, facing so many Awakeners, he was still struggling to cope. Some showed confident smiles, thinking that after killing Zuofo, they would find the real treasure and a way out of this place.
with a loud clang, two more coffin lids fell off, and as the dust settled, two warriors clad in full armor, wearing helmets, appeared before everyone.
After these two warriors appeared, they didn't speak and charged directly into the crowd, neither dodging nor avoiding the attacks of the Awakeners. Yet, no one could leave a scratch on their armor.
On the contrary, their attacks were swift as slicing vegetables, leaving the Awakeners powerless, almost as if they were merely cutting through children.
Not only that, several walls of the hall suddenly opened, revealing pitch-black holes, and accompanied by a series of loud clangs, a group of Black-armored Puppets wielding great swords walked out from these holes.
Regardless of the country of the Awakeners, seeing this scene made them all feel desperate.
Those Black-armored Puppets, could they not recognize them? Most people present had been chased by these Puppets before, and they had wondered why these Heavy Armor Puppets had suddenly vanished; it turned out they were waiting here.
"This is a trap! We've all been deceived!"
People shouted, but to no use; they now had no chance even to attack Zuofo as they had to keep dealing with the Puppets, and any slight mistake could lead to their decapitation.
All these changes seemed fast, but they happened in less than half a minute.
Awakeners still outside the Black Stone Gate were stunned.
Some were glad they hadn't foolishly rushed in; otherwise, they would be trapped like dumplings in a wrapper and unable to escape.
But then they realized, being in this space, there was nowhere to escape, and their faces immediately turned pale.
Neither going forward nor retreating was an option.
Tang Yu looked around.
It was clear that they had reached the end of the Secret Realm, yet he still had not received any system notification, unable to locate the Sky-Splitting Crystal.
At this moment, Eileen frowned and whispered in his ear, "Lord, something is wrong. That Zuofo's aura is slowly strengthening."
With that, others also turned their gaze towards Zuofo, and quickly noticed something was off.
"Boss, look at the ground!"
Following the direction pointed, many Awakeners cut down by the Puppets were bleeding profusely, but that scarlet blood, upon hitting the ground, quickly merged into the stone slabs and disappeared.
His gaze sharpened, and he could faintly see that the moment the blood merged into the stone, mysterious rune patterns flashed briefly across it.
Looking again at Zuofo, his graying hair was slowly turning lustrous black, and the wrinkles on his face were progressively smoothing out.
Could it be, through this Array that absorbed blood, Zuofo's vitality was being restored?
Tang Yu wasn't sure, but...
"We can't wait any longer! Moreover, since the Sky-Splitting Crystal is related to this Secret Realm, there's definitely no way around dealing with Zuofo."
This was likely their best chance to obtain the Sky-Splitting Crystal, risking missing out, Tang Yu wasn't sure how long his territory would be stuck without progressing.
He tore two scrolls, and two halos enveloped the few people around him.
These were the most common Amplification scrolls, one for Speed Boost and one for Power Amplification.
At his signal, his followers entered the combat state.
"It's a pity, though, for a five-person team, this setup is a bit unreasonable."
Kong was a speed-type warrior.
Grey Blade was an assassin.
Eileen and Winnie were undoubtedly soft-skinned mages, and even Shay, who seemed robust, was actually a backline damage dealer.
The followers charged towards Zuofo.
Others charged to confront the Puppets, sharing some of the pressure.
And himself, well, as the boss, he was supposed to command from the center at such times.
Outside the hall, other Awakeners who watched those rushing into the Black Stone Gate were somewhat surprised.
Despite understanding that stepping forward to help kill Zuofo was the only way for everyone to survive, waiting for the Awakeners inside to be massacred would mean they were next.
However, understanding something didn't necessarily translate into action when personal safety was involved, many still chose to retreat.
Maybe the others would deal with Zuofo, right?
Why rush to die themselves?
But while they hesitated, some had already dashed forward without a second thought. Seeing this contrast made them feel ashamed, and after a moment's hesitation, they gritted their teeth and followed suit.
A long-lost sense of valor surged up from the depths of their hearts!