Chapter 234: The Bloodstained Slab and the Guardian's Oath

The rusted metal claw pincers came whistling through the air like a guillotine blade, slamming down toward Xiang Lingna's back! Shadow engulfed her completely in an instant, the icy breath of death piercing through her skin!

She couldn't dodge! She simply couldn't dodge!

Xiang Lingna's pupils contracted sharply, every thought freezing at that moment, leaving only the most primal fear of death.

Yet the anticipated agony of shattering bones and flying flesh never came.

At the very instant the claw pincers were about to touch her body—

Hum!

A low yet unusually clear hum, not from the construct, but from the broken metal slab beneath her that had just exposed a corner! The intricate patterns carved on that half-slab, originally dim and lifeless, suddenly blazed to life with a soft yet resolute milky-white radiance!

That light, like an invisible shield, expanded in an instant, barely blocking that heavy, lethal strike!

Boom!!!

The claw pincers slammed into the milky-white light shield, producing an earsplitting roar! The light shield rippled violently, ripples scattering in all directions, even developing fine cracks, yet stubbornly refusing to shatter! The tremendous backlash force made the construct's massive body stagger backward a step, its rusted joints groaning under the strain!

Xiang Lingna was shaken by the shockwave, her qi and blood churning, ears ringing, but she seized this hairsbreadth opportunity! Her left hand gripped the edge of that glowing metal slab tightly and wrenched it completely from the dirt!

The metal slab was warm in her grip, its radiance flowing swiftly as if alive. She didn't fully recognize those ancient elven patterns, but a few of the core symbols stirred a strange sense of familiarity within her—similar to the order and sense of guardianship the World Tree sapling and the Thorn Mark had given her!

This metal slab is the key! Can it counter this construct?

She had no time to think it through, immediately raising the milky-glowing metal slab high, aiming it at the construct that had once again steadied itself and seemed even more enraged!

Indeed!

The construct's raised claw pincers, poised to strike again, froze in midair the instant they touched the milky-white light! Its entire body trembled violently, a cacophony of chaotic, grating noises erupting from within, as if countless gears were jamming and grinding against each other! Behind its pitch-black observation slit, something seemed forcibly activated, and an extremely faint, struggling, dim green light began to flicker!

That green light… very faint, yet carrying an ancient aura that shared the same origin as the milky-white radiance, but was severely twisted and corrupted!

The construct seemed to have fallen into tremendous chaos and internal conflict. One moment it lurched forward a step, claw pincers opening and closing, brimming with aggression; the next it was as if pulled back by an invisible hand, staggering backward, letting out a pained shriek. That green light behind the observation slit flickered wildly, wavering on and off.

Xiang Lingna gripped the warm metal slab tightly, heart pounding, not daring to relax for a single instant. She slowly tried to edge toward the white archway beside her.

The moment she moved, the construct's aggression seemed to gain the upper hand again, whirling toward her, claw pincers swinging!

Xiang Lingna immediately stopped, aiming the metal slab's radiance at it once more. The construct fell back into chaos and struggle.

After several such repetitions, Xiang Lingna finally understood—this metal slab (or the authority it represented) could not fully control or shut down this construct, but it could cause massive interference, plunging it into a state of conflicting commands! It seemed to be executing some underlying directive of "prevent anyone from approaching the archway," but at the same time, deep within its core, a faint ancient imprint of a "Guardian" still lingered, and this metal slab could activate that lingering imprint, causing its chaos!

She had to charge through while it was in disarray!

Watching for the moment the construct once again staggered backward from internal conflict and temporarily lost its attacking posture, Xiang Lingna gritted her teeth, summoning the last of her strength, left hand gripping the glowing metal slab, dragging her numb lower body, frantically shuffling toward the white archway right before her!

Faster! Faster! Faster!

The construct let out an enraged, unwilling roar, struggling to pursue, but that lingering green light and the metal slab's radiance bound it like the toughest chains, making every step feel like wading through a swamp, its movements twisted and slow!

A mere few meters now felt like an impassable chasm.

At last, her left hand touched that cold, smooth white stone archway!

What now? The door was shut tight! How to open it?

She anxiously fumbled over the door, which was carved with even more complex and profound elven patterns, with what seemed to be a groove at its center.

The shape of the groove…?

Inspiration struck Xiang Lingna, and she slammed the glowing metal slab in her hand into that groove!

A perfect fit!

The instant the metal slab slotted into the groove—

The entire white archway trembled violently! Every pattern on the door lit up in sequence with a soft milky-white radiance, as if infused with life! The light flowed swiftly, converging at the door's center, producing a crisp "clack" of a mechanical catch!

The heavy stone door, as if it had not been opened in a thousand years, let out a low rumble and slowly cracked open inward!

A breath of even more ancient, dust-sealed air, yet strangely carrying a trace of pure life essence, rushed out from the crack!

Success! The door opened!

Xiang Lingna's heart surged with wild joy!

She glanced back at the construct still struggling and roaring, held back beyond the radiance and unable to approach, and without hesitation, used her shoulder to pry open the gap, throwing herself through into the doorway!

The instant half her body rolled inside, another change occurred!

Perhaps because the opening of the archway triggered some deeper mechanism, or because the conflict within the construct had reached a critical point—

The construct suddenly let out an earth-shaking roar, a mixture of mechanical noise and some pained soul's shriek! That struggling green light behind its observation slit flared with a final burst, momentarily overpowering those berserk attack commands!

It did not attack, but instead suddenly raised its intact metal arm and made an extremely strange, throwing-like motion!

A dark-red "thing," writhing like a blood vessel, about the thickness of a finger, shot from a seam in its arm, tracing a bizarre arc, and shot precisely at Xiang Lingna, who was rolling through the doorway!

Xiang Lingna had no time to react at all, only feeling a sudden chill on her right calf, followed by a piercing, searing agony, as if burned by a red-hot branding iron!

"Ah!" she let out a short cry of pain, her whole body tumbling fully inside the door.

At the same moment, the heavy white stone door behind her, as if alive, slammed shut with a thunderous crash! Cutting off the construct's unwilling roars and all danger, sealing them completely outside!

Bang!!!

The heavy reverberation echoed through the sealed space inside the door, lingering long without fading.

Safe…?

Xiang Lingna collapsed onto the cold ground, gasping violently, every bone in her body feeling as if it had come apart. The searing pain in her right calf was especially vivid; she struggled to prop herself up and looked at the wound.

She saw that the trouser leg on her calf had been corroded through with a hole, and on her skin was a clear, dark-red brand, like an ugly centipede! The skin around the brand rapidly turned red, swollen, and black, and was spreading upward along her blood vessels, bringing waves of burning and numbness!

It was that thing the construct shot out at the last moment! What was it? Some kind of tracker? Or… something even more vicious?!

Panic instantly drowned out the brief sense of safety and wild joy she had just gained.

She tried to wipe the brand with her hand, but the skin her fingertips touched was abnormally scalding, and the numbness intensified rapidly!

She had to… had to find the "Sanctuary" as soon as possible!

She forced herself to calm down and looked up to survey her surroundings.

This place seemed to be a short, descending staircase, its end shrouded in a soft, warm white radiance. That light was pure and holy, carrying an aura that made the lingering World Tree energy within her feel comfortable and yearning.

The walls on either side of the staircase were smooth as mirrors, made of a material neither metal nor stone, warm and delicate to the touch, carved with incomparably intricate and exquisite murals depicting elves cultivating plants, coexisting with nature, and… worshipping a colossal, radiant great tree.

That great tree… felt so similar to the World Tree sapling he had been given! Could it be that the elven civilization actually worshipped the World Tree?

She had no time to study the murals closely. Dragging her right leg, which was growing increasingly numb and painful, along with her other leg, which she could not move at all, she struggled downward.

At the end of the staircase was a small circular platform. In the center of the platform, silently suspended, was a seed — fist-sized, emerald-green all over, crystalline and translucent, with what looked like flowing liquid radiance inside!

This seed emanated an incomparably vast and pure life energy, its gentle glow illuminating the entire small space. Just looking at it, Xiang Lingna felt as if the pain in her body had eased somewhat, and the spread of the dark-red brand on her right leg seemed to have slowed by a fraction!

And beneath the seed, on the floor of the platform, was carved a pattern identical in shape to the groove outside the door. Beside the pattern were two slightly smaller palm-shaped indentations.

This… was the "Sanctuary"? This seed was the "seed" that needed to be protected?

Xiang Lingna struggled over to the center of the platform, close to the suspended seed. The closer she got, the richer that comfortable life energy became.

She looked at the pattern and palm indentations on the floor, then at her own empty right shoulder.

The key requires "Twin Light"…

Twin Light… what on earth does it refer to?

She tried placing her only remaining left hand onto one of the palm indentations.

There was no response at all.

As expected, it didn't work?

Could it be… "Twin Light" refers to two different kinds of energy? Or… does it require two people?

But she was the only one here!

Just as despair was overtaking her, her gaze was suddenly drawn to the light radiating from the seed. Under that emerald glow, the ugly dark-red brand on her right leg seemed to become clearer. And the shape of that brand… faintly, had twisted into an extremely bizarre yet somehow familiar symbol…

At the same time, the long-dimmed silver mark belonging to the Thorn on her left arm, as if stimulated simultaneously by the seed's life energy and that dark-red brand, also began to grow faintly warm, a pale, struggling silver glow surfacing!

One on the left, one on the right, one silver, one red — two utterly different energy marks were activated on her body at the same time, producing a strange conflict and resonance!

Intense pain and a peculiar sensation of swelling came at once, as if her body were about to be torn apart!

Xiang Lingna let out a pained moan, and her consciousness began to blur once more.

In the final second before she lost consciousness entirely, she seemed to see that suspended emerald seed — as if because of the bizarre "twin" conflict on her body — its glow becoming unstable, the flowing radiance inside accelerating, even tilting slightly in her direction…

At the same time, a gentle yet slightly urgent voice — a mature female elf, different from the little girl from before — sounded directly in the depths of her mind:

"A vessel of contradiction… both hope and risk… be careful… 'Hunger'… has been awakened… it is… marking…"