Chapter 103: Thorns as the Key, the Sanctuary First Opens

Copperbeard endured the excruciating pain and dizziness, his massive right hand groping along the cold metal tube wall, fingertips tracing every fluid groove of the Elven emblem. Pale golden light rippled with his touch, like water disturbed by a thrown stone. At the roots of the great tree in the emblem's center, the light was most concentrated, like a sleeping heart.

"The door... there must be a door..." he rasped hoarsely, sweat mixed with blood sliding down his forehead. The dwarf's innate intuition for metal and mechanisms hammered frantically at his nerves. This emblem was no mere decoration! The order field it emitted had blocked decay and shielded them; this power required a vessel, a core!

His gaze fell upon the withered sapling in Xiang Lingna's arms. The faint emerald hue at the sapling's tip seemed to resonate in some indescribable way with the emblem's pale golden light. A mad notion took shape in his mind.

"Girl... lend me your treasure..." Copperbeard murmured, carefully moving Xiang Lingna's cold little hand away from the sapling, then, with extreme gentleness, pinching the withered branch between two fingers. It felt icy to the touch, yet not lifeless, as if an extremely faint pulse of life slept within.

He drew a deep breath, enduring the tearing agony in his chest, and aligned the tip of the withered sapling—the spot that had once flickered with its final embers—with the brightest point of light at the great tree's roots in the emblem's center.

At the very instant the sapling's tip was about to touch the metal wall—

Voom!

The withered sapling trembled violently! The faint emerald hue at its tip suddenly brightened, erupting into a small, soft green light like a final burst of life! At the same time, the pale golden light in the emblem's center flared up instantly, like a volcano awakening! Countless intricate golden runes lit up rapidly along the carvings of vines and thorns, flowing like liquid gold!

A powerful suction force emanated from the emblem's center! Copperbeard's fingers loosened, and the withered sapling was drawn by an invisible force, slowly hovering up until its tip precisely adhered to the great tree's roots!

Hiss—

A soft sound, like a key inserted into a lock.

Centered on the point where the sapling touched, the pale golden and emerald green lights wove and spun wildly! The hard metal tube wall silently melted and receded, as if erased by an invisible hand. An oval portal, radiating soft white light, suddenly swung open before everyone!

Warm, fresh air, carrying a faint fragrance of plants and grass, instantly surged from the portal, dispelling the nauseating stench of decay and mold in the tube. This breath was impossibly pure, as if it did not belong to this world cursed by radiation and withering.

Inside the portal was not the expected passage, but a... space!

Relying on the soft light emitted by the portal itself, Copperbeard's single eye widened instantly.

It was a semi-circular stone chamber, not large in scale, yet exceptionally tidy. The floor was paved with smooth, naturally textured milky-white stone, and crystals emitting soft white light were embedded in the walls, illuminating the entire space. In the center of the stone chamber stood a small altar, shaped like a flower bud, built from pure crystal and some jade-like white stone. Suspended above the altar was a fist-sized crystal ball radiating warm emerald green light; this pure life force was the core source of the entire space!

Around the altar grew some low-lying moss and ferns emitting a faint glow, lush with greenery and brimming with vitality. The air was moist and fresh.

"Li... Life Altar?" Copperbeard's voice trembled with disbelief. He recalled Priestess Liyana's occasional mentions of the core of the Elven sanctuary. This was absolutely an Elven creation! A shelter buried deep underground, miraculously preserved!

Wild joy instantly swept away fatigue and excruciating pain! He summoned his last strength, dragging and hauling, first carefully carrying the faintest-breathing Xiang Lingna into the stone chamber and placing her on the soft, faintly glowing moss beside the altar. Xiang Lingna's pale little face, illuminated by the altar's emerald light, seemed to regain a trace of imperceptible color.

Next was Lin Mo. When Copperbeard carried Lin Mo's charred body into the stone chamber, the stardust crystal on Lin Mo's chest seemed stimulated, its milky white light flaring up suddenly, reflecting brilliantly with the altar's emerald green orb. The Corrupted Claw Mark on his right arm, suppressed by the dual lights, pulsed significantly weaker, and its dark purple gloom dimmed.

Finally, Wrench. Copperbeard almost dragged him in.

When everyone had entered the stone chamber, the oval portal silently closed, the metal tube wall returning to its original state, leaving only the Elven emblem radiating pale golden light, as if it had never opened. It completely isolated the darkness, decay, and hissing insect chirps from the outside.

Silence reigned within the stone chamber, broken only by the soft hum emitted by the Life Altar's orb and the rough or faint breathing of the group.

Copperbeard could no longer hold himself up; leaning against the cold yet life-filled stone wall, he slowly slid to the ground. He looked at the unconscious Xiang Lingna and Lin Mo beside the altar, then at the charred Wrench in the corner, and finally his gaze fell upon his own flesh-and-blood wounds and the ruined mechanical prosthetic hand.

We survived... for now.

But was this Elven sanctuary their new starting point? Could the altar's light save Xiang Lingna and suppress the terrifying Corrupted Claw Mark within Lin Mo? And how would they, deep underground, use this last shelter to rekindle the spark of hope?

The altar's orb, like a sleeping eye, silently watched this group of scarred, uninvited guests.