Chapter 474: One of the Truths (Two in One)

"Hello, gentlemen."

The man opposite them wore a white windbreaker and white cargo pants. His messy white hair was styled with spray to give it a sharp, textured look.

He stood among several patches of fire with his hands in his pockets, his white clothes dazzlingly bright.

"If I'm not mistaken, you two are Inner World residents."

The man smiled. "My name is Chaofeng. I'm human."

Ning Wei glanced at Yan Jing, then stepped forward. Expressionless, he asked, "What do you want?"

Chaofeng kept smiling. "It's like this. Our team came here to explore the secrets of this area, and I handle the scouting. You two are the first Inner World residents I've encountered."

"If possible, I'd like us to exchange some information."

Ning Wei glanced at Yan Jing again.

Although the man claimed this was his first time meeting Inner World residents, this was not their first time encountering humans.

It was just that they had suppressed every human they had run into before.

Suppressed, not killed.

Because at the last moment, the vast majority of them had used a Crystal Stone to escape the God Storage Land.

They had acquired a few Crystal Stones themselves, but hadn't had anyone test them yet.

According to those humans, the exits linked to these Crystal Stones were mostly located in the heartlands of major Surface World factions. Going there would likely mean certain death.

Seeing no reaction from Yan Jing, Ning Wei was about to tell the man to leave when Yan Jing suddenly asked, "Which Domain of the Surface World are you from?"

Ning Wei was a little surprised.

He hadn't expected Yan Jing to know anything about the Surface World.

The man opposite them answered softly, "Tianzi. I wonder if you two have heard of it."

Yan Jing nodded. He pulled something from his jacket and tossed it over.

Chaofeng's pupils shrank when Yan Jing reached into his jacket, and he braced to dodge. However, upon sensing that the object carried no Weird Energy, he merely shifted aside and let it fall at his feet.

"Quite cautious."

Mockery flickered in Yan Jing's eyes. That condescending gaze made Chaofeng instinctively uncomfortable.

But when he got a clear look at the item by his feet, he froze.

It was a map.

It was completely different from the fake maps his team had received earlier.

Whether in the scale of the area depicted, the level of detail in the annotations, or the precision of its lines, it was far superior to their previous maps.

After comparing it with the layout of the magma zone around them, he confirmed that it was likely real.

He wrapped his hand in Weird Energy and picked it up. Almost instantly, a prompt appeared before his eyes.

[Item Name: Mysterious Map — Hand-Drawn Edition]

[Usable Tier: None]

[Item Effect: Depicts the routes and general layout of the various areas in the God Storage Land, detailing the specific conditions of each zone and the risks to avoid.]

[Item Description: Created by a mysterious entity who gathered numerous subordinates to survey the God Storage Land for personal use. Of course, you must verify its authenticity yourself.]

Joy flashed through Chaofeng's eyes as he read the system description.

Although it stated he needed to verify its authenticity himself, this was far more reliable than the descriptions on the fake maps they had acquired before.

Though he didn't say it aloud, he was already eighty or ninety percent convinced the map was authentic.

"What do you need from me?"

He looked up at Yan Jing.

"Consider the map a gesture of friendship," Yan Jing said.

"If you wish to make further trades, you can find me."

He conjured a Little Bird in his hand, which fluttered over and landed on Chaofeng's shoulder.

"When the time comes, just release the Little Bird."

With that, Yan Jing and Ning Wei walked away in the opposite direction.

Chaofeng watched the two men gradually disappear from sight. A fleeting urge to attack crossed his mind, but he quickly snuffed it out.

Anyone capable of producing a map like this couldn't possibly be ordinary.

There was no need to take the risk.

At that thought, he snapped his fingers, preparing to report the situation to his team first.

Wind surged from all directions, fanning the flames and sending them rushing toward him.

Just as the wind and fire were about to touch the hem of his clothes, the gale dissipated, and he vanished from the spot.

"I thought you were going to set him up," Ning Wei said. "Didn't you want to head to the mountaintop to find that figure you saw during the volcanic eruption the other day?"

Yan Jing nodded. "That's true. The secrets of this area might be hidden there."

"That's exactly why I threw out the bait."

Ning Wei thought about it and said no more. The man beside him truly did seem to understand humans better than he did.

The two of them watched the flames for a little while longer before returning to the underground level.

Three days later.

—

Yan Jing opened his eyes on a rocky outcrop along the cliffs of Bone-Eroding Valley. Opposite him, Zhou Xian—who was also tempering his body in the wind—caught sight of him, and their eyes met.

In an instant, Zhou Xian felt his scalp tighten. Like prey encountering its natural predator, his heart instinctively began to race.

At that moment, Yan Jing looked like some awakening ancient entity. An indescribable aura radiated from him; his pupils had taken on a faint golden hue, and a layer of fluorescent light shimmered across his skin.

It was much brighter than the light from before.

Over the past few days, whenever Yan Jing got hungry, he would head down to the bottom of Wanyao Cliff to gather herbs and attempt to refine them into great medicines. Regardless of whether he succeeded or failed, he would swallow the medicinal dregs, then use the fierce winds to scour the impurities from his body, tempering his muscles and bones.

To maximize the effect, he would even intentionally channel Weird Energy, only stopping when his flesh was torn and mangled.

"Let's go."

Yan Jing leaped down from the cliff and led the group to Wanyao Cliff.

Before them lay a vast wilderness, situated far below their current elevation.

Various white jade staircases crisscrossed the wilderness, leading straight up into the sky.

According to the map, the only way to reach the wilderness was to climb down Wanyao Cliff.

Flight was impossible here.

Because an immense gravitational force pressed down upon the wilderness.

Unless one could guarantee they could fly while carrying tens of tons of dead weight, they shouldn't even try.

Yan Jing didn't know if he could manage it, but he had no intention of trying.

He told the group to wait on the cliff. Then, turning his back to the precipice, he stepped into thin air and plummeted.

Upon falling to a certain point, his eyes flashed. He reached out and plunged his fingertips into the cliff face, bringing his descent to a sudden halt.

He looked toward a spot a few meters to his right, where a cave entrance hid behind some bushes.

"Found it—"

His figure blinked, and he appeared directly inside the cave.

As for the poisonous creatures stationed at the entrance, he hadn't touched them at all.

Inside the cave was a long, deep tunnel. It was evident that this place had once seen prosperous times.

Clusters of plants that had nearly turned to charcoal grew along both sides of the tunnel, and some sort of gray Crystal Stone hung overhead. When Yan Jing reached out and lightly touched one, it crumbled into ash.

He could feel the energy these Crystal Stones had once contained, but unfortunately, it had completely dissipated.

That was why these medicinal herbs had withered away.

In the current era of Weird Energy, these herbs, devoid of Weird Energy themselves, had lost their value and failed to withstand the erosion of time.

The deeper he went, the more shocking the sights became. Shattered bones lay scattered across the ground, followed by piles of dust—each representing a peerless treasure from a distant era.

Finally, Yan Jing stopped in front of a skeleton.

The skeleton seemed to have been dead for a very long time. It rested at the very end of the tunnel, bearing the mark of a green leaf on its brow bone.

Its bones gave off a faint, lustrous glow, completely different from the scattered fragments outside.

This was perhaps the only treasure left in this place.

[Item Name: Skeleton of a Mysterious Entity]

[Usable Tier: Cannot be used for a Ritual]

[Item Effect: Might be used to refine medicine, but requires additional recipes and techniques.]

[Item Description: He once reigned supreme in his era, but his luck ran out in the end, and he perished under the erosion of time.]

Yan Jing lifted the skeleton in his hands and returned to the Space Rift.

Next, he placed the skeleton in front of the solid ice.

"You killed him!"

Bing Yao's eyes went wide.

She found it impossible to believe. Before being buried back in the day, that entity in Bone-Eroding Valley had been much stronger than her. Furthermore, he hadn't been bound by solid ice—how could he have lost to the man before her?

Even assuming he truly was no match for him, he shouldn't have been reduced to bare bones.

It was precisely because she had absolute confidence in that person's strength that she had chosen to reveal this information to Yan Jing. She never expected to see his corpse brought back instead.

But as she stared closely, she noticed a discrepancy.

The person before her—

Had been dead for a very long time.

Looking at it, she fell into a heavy silence.

Using the obscure language of her era, Yan Jing coldly said, "His luck wasn't as good as yours."

"He chose the wrong spot."

"That place should have grown many herbs capable of sustaining his life, but they withered away. Along with the Crystal Stones that supplied energy—they all faded away."

Looking at the mark on his brow bone, Bing Yao suddenly felt a wave of profound loneliness wash over her.

The deceased couldn't be considered a friend; they had even been somewhat hostile toward each other back in the day.

But seeing someone from the same era vanish just like that in the river of time still sent a chill down her spine.

Time, the passage of years, Fate. Perhaps no matter how invincible an entity was, they would still fear these concepts.

After a few seconds of silence, she crouched down.

After swallowing that piece of bone earlier, she had already regained some mobility. Now, she spoke softly, "When our era was severed, we had heard of this region."

"This is a trial ground for ancient Deities, but there's actually a deeper meaning to it. This place is—the God Burial Ground."

"God Storage Land, God Burial Ground. A one-word difference, but their meanings are worlds apart."

"When the Mutation descended back then, we hypothesized that the era we lived in wasn't the first to experience such a cataclysm."

"You might think that our era lies between the ancient age and the Weird Energy era, and that you are now stepping into the next one, but we actually had a similar theory back then."

"We felt that—perhaps before us, there had been similar eras of cataclysm. So we weren't a 1.5 between 1 and 2, and you aren't a 2.5 between 2 and 3. We might have been a 2.5, or even a 3.5."

"But why did it seem like those ancient entities never truly vanished?"

"This question prompted deep investigation from many of our races."

"In the end, we discovered the most likely scenario."

"Those ancient entities had the means to endure the long passage of time."

"This matter caused a massive uproar at the time; almost everyone was discussing it."

"They felt that as long as they could find those methods, they might be able to evade the cataclysm."

"The Mutation descended too hastily this time. Perhaps, if we woke up early before the next cataclysm arrived, we could prepare much more adequately."

Yan Jing understood. It was just like the AI of his previous life, or medicine designed to extend one's lifespan.

"So you all entered a state of hibernation, waiting for the next one to arrive."

"Yes."

Bing Yao let out a sigh.

Listening to Bing Yao's words, Yan Jing suddenly figured something out.

That was why the figure in the Great Prison and the domain lords outside were so interested in this place.

Divine Items were naturally one of the reasons, but was there a possibility that—

[You have touched upon the first layer of truth regarding the God Burial Ground.]

The first layer—

Just how many layers were there?

Yan Jing frowned.

If even an entity like Bing Yao couldn't clearly explain it, the so-called truth was likely hidden much deeper than he had imagined.

"In your era, where were the entities that stood upon the white jade staircases?"

Meanwhile, six figures were steadily climbing the white jade staircases.

Although it had been more than a week since they entered the Dungeon, they were in no rush to leave this area.

First, because they had wasted a lot of time initially on those fake maps.

Second, because this zone provided immense benefits to many people on the team.

There were no Summit items here, nor were there any Divine Items, but the white jade staircases granted power. As long as they withstood the gravity, every step they took upward would enhance their physical strength by a fraction.

"Phew—"

The man in black armor opened his eyes. He looked at the man with earrings, who was already over a hundred steps ahead, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

The gap was simply too vast.

As the Fourth Monarch, he was only three ranks lower than the earring-wearing man. However, despite physical strength being his greatest specialty, he looked like a total rookie compared to him.

"Hey, are you all holding up?"

He lowered his head and looked at the others on the steps below.

"Mhm."

"No problem."

"I'm fine on my end, too."

The rest responded one after another.

The only exception was a woman wearing blue lipstick at the very bottom. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her eyes were tightly shut; she couldn't utter a word.

"Sigh—"

The Fourth Monarch sighed.

The woman's rank was actually one position higher than his, but she had the weakest physical body among them. Coming into the God Storage Land this time was pure torture for her.

Yet, she had a proud and stubborn personality, insisting on climbing the stairs no matter what anyone said.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he noticed a group of people climbing onto the lowest steps.

He raised his head, wanting to report to the captain, but seeing the man walking further and further away, he sighed and stayed put.

In his mind, it shouldn't be a big deal. The woman was already around the two-hundredth step, and the newcomers would probably turn back after climbing a few steps at most.

If they had bumped into them normally, he would have just kicked them to death and been done with it. But this was a critical period, after all—

So he didn't make any major moves. He simply called out to inform the woman of the situation, then mobilized all of his strength and took a step forward.

"Ugh—"

The moment his foot landed, he let out a muffled groan. He felt as if several giant mountains were crushing his back, and sweat poured down like rain.

He immediately closed his eyes and began adapting to the pressure of this step.

He didn't know how much time had passed when a sudden clamor erupted from below.

This forced him to open his eyes, despite having only adapted a little to the pressure.

When he saw what was happening below, his pupils shrank instantly.

He saw a familiar face already standing beside the woman on the two-hundred-something step.

And that person's identity was intensely familiar to him.

Yan Jing—

Upon recognizing the man, he immediately flipped backward, dropping from his current position past the four-hundredth step. He landed precisely in the two-hundreds, staring at Yan Jing on high alert.

Meanwhile, the Surface World had completely erupted into fervent discussion over the encounter between Yan Jing and the Beast Lord's first team.