Chapter 351: Desperate Escape

The infusion abruptly stopped.

The floating dark-gold metal piece's light completely dimmed, and with a 'clatter', it fell to the cold ground, becoming like an ordinary metal fragment, devoid of any divine strangeness.

Lin Yifan spat out a large mouthful of stagnant blood with a 'pfft', collapsing forward as if drained, gasping heavily, his whole body as if just pulled from a pool of blood. The intense pain remained, but the terrifying sensation of his body about to explode had finally vanished.

The dark-gold vines on his right arm also calmed down, their surface now bearing some extremely complex, even he could not understand, subtle patterns, their luster more restrained and profound, as if an invisible transformation had occurred.

The database interface in his mind flickered wildly with garbled text, finally popping up a fragmented message:

【Unknown… Connection… Interrupted…】【User Status: Dying… Forced Hibernation Protocol Initiated…】【Data Write… Partial Completion… Template Loading… 1%…】【Warning: Ruins Defense Protocol… Partially Activated… Operational Status: Unknown…】【… Entering… Hibernation…】

The interface went completely dark, and that cold sense of connection became extremely faint, as if sinking into utter silence.

Lin Yifan lay on the ground, unable to move even a finger, his consciousness struggling between clarity and haze.

He barely lifted his head and saw, in the center of the Stone Chamber, the five Moonlight Tail Shadows behind Ling Ling slowly retracting, merging into her body. Her aura had become unprecedentedly powerful and stable, clearly having gained immense benefit.

Xiao You was still asleep, seemingly not fully awakened by the recent chaos.

And that fallen dark-gold metal piece lay quietly right where he could reach it.

Survival after a calamity.

But he knew that a greater storm might have just been stirred up.

The Ruins Defense Protocol… was activated?

What was that?

Time passed in absolute silence and relative danger.

Lin Yifan lay prostrate on the cold ground, his consciousness struggling at the edge of a dark abyss. Each breath carried the taste of blood and tearing pain, his right arm feeling like a branding iron forcibly welded to his body, still radiating residual heat. The cold database's warning and the words 'Ruins Defense Protocol Activated' echoed in his mind like the lingering notes of a nightmare.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious—perhaps a short time, perhaps a long one. The instinct to survive ultimately overpowered his crumbling weakness. He forcibly gathered a thread of scattered awareness and began to arduously circulate the most basic healing technique.

The residual medicinal power of the pills was stimulated, mixing with the trace of pure energy left in his body after the 【Dawn】 sword embryo's forced sorting. Like a faint stream on a dry riverbed, it began to slowly nourish his nearly shattered meridians and internal organs.

The pain remained, but at least strength was returning drop by drop.

He raised his head with difficulty, his gaze first falling on the center of the Stone Chamber.

The moonlight cocoon around Ling Ling had completely dissipated. She lay quietly on the Black Crystal platform, breathing long and steady, a layer of warm, restrained moonlight aura flowing around her. Behind her, two real tails unconsciously swayed gently—one her original dark red, the other a newly born, pure and flawless moon-white, symbolizing bloodline advancement and qualitative power change. The runic mark on her forehead had become extremely clear and complex, radiating a faint majesty. Clearly, she had fully digested the power of the Moonlight Condensing Grass and gained immense benefits from her ancestor's inheritance. She was still in deep meditation, but her condition was unprecedentedly good.

Lin Yifan felt slightly relieved and turned his gaze to Xiao You not far away.

The little one still lay there sleeping, the star-river patterns on its body brightening and dimming at an extremely slow pace, cycling repeatedly, like the breath of stars. Through the soul link, Lin Yifan could sense its origin was steadily recovering, even more condensed than before, as if that extreme consumption and struggle had been a tempering for it. It showed no signs of waking for now.

Finally, his gaze fell on that dark-gold metal sheet lying not far away.

It was now dim and lusterless, lying there quietly, as if just an ordinary piece of metal. But Lin Yifan would never forget the terrifying energy infusion and information impact it had triggered, which had nearly torn him apart.

'Beacon Fragment'? 'Partial Feature Match'? The database's chaotic prompt echoed again.

He hesitated, then, extremely weak, extended his left hand, very slowly and cautiously touching the metal piece.

The touch at his fingertips was warm and cool, with no abnormality. He tried to pick it up.

Just as his fingers fully grasped the metal piece—

Hum!

An extremely subtle resonance, different from the previous violent infusion, came again from the dark-gold vines on his right arm. The new markings on the vines' surface warmed slightly, producing an extremely weak energy exchange cycle with the metal piece in his hand—very slow, very gentle.

At the same time, the dormant database interface in his mind, as if a tiny stone had been thrown into it, rippled with an almost imperceptible wave.

【…Beacon Fragment (7-a)… Status: Dormant… Energy Level: 0.3%…】【…Minimum Connection Detected… Basic Navigation Available (Local Network Only)…】【Warning: Ruins Defense Protocol Active… Status: Low-Power Scan Mode… Suggestion: Maintain Silence, Avoid High-Energy Reactions…】

Navigation? Local network?

Lin Yifan's heart stirred. Suppressing his discomfort, he focused his mind and tentatively sent a vague command to the cold database: "Map… or… exit…"

The interface flickered a few times, as if even processing this simple command was extremely taxing. After a moment, an extremely fragmented, distorted three-dimensional energy flow map was barely projected into his consciousness.

Most of the image was pitch black and garbled. Only faintly could he discern that the 'Seventh Beacon Chamber' they were in was a light point, from which a few extremely faint, almost broken energy flows extended into the distance. The areas these flows passed through were mostly marked with 【Structural Damage】, 【Energy Depleted】, 【Risk Unknown】.

One of the energy flows pointed toward the direction of the water area they had come from, but was marked 【Severe Collapse, High-Energy Biological Reaction】.

Another… pointed toward the deeper part of this Stone Chamber, in a direction he had originally thought was solid rock wall! That energy flow, though weak, had path markers reading 【Relatively Intact Structure】, 【Stable Energy Flow (Very Low)】, 【Leads to: Secondary Corridor-β】.

There was a path!

Lin Yifan's spirits lifted! Though he didn't know where that 'Secondary Corridor-β' led, it was better than being trapped here to die, or returning the way they came to face that terrifying underwater beast and the possibly still-lurking Molten Lava Giant Claw!

Just then, Ling Ling in the center of the Stone Chamber let out a soft moan.

Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes. In those fox eyes, the original naivety and panic had mostly faded, replaced by a clear, calm expression, along with a faint natural majesty from her power increase.

"Yifan-gege!" She immediately spotted Lin Yifan lying on the ground, covered in blood and in a sorry state. She leaped down from the crystal platform, landing lightly beside him, her eyes full of worry and anxiety. "What happened to you? What's going on? Your hand…"

She saw the terrifying state of Lin Yifan's right arm, her voice trembling.

"Still… not dead yet…" Lin Yifan forced a difficult smile, his voice hoarse. "How about you? How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, better than ever." Ling Ling nodded hurriedly, extended her paw, and carefully channeled a stream of pure, gentle moonlight energy into Lin Yifan's body. This power was different from any energy he had absorbed before, carrying strong life-nourishing and soothing properties. It quickly eased the intense pain within him, repairing minor injuries, and making him feel much more comfortable.

"I've already preliminarily merged the ancestor's inheritance and the power of the Moonlight Condensing Grass," Ling Ling said quickly while healing him. "When I was unconscious, I seemed to sense a very terrifying aura, and very chaotic energy fluctuations…"

Lin Yifan briefly recounted what had happened after she fell unconscious, including the appearance of the evil rift, Xiao You's seal, the forced database connection, the mental imprint impact, and finally the metal piece's mutation. He only omitted the details of the 【Dawn】 sword embryo, saying he had barely managed to withstand the infusion.

Ling Ling listened with a pounding heart, looking at Xiao You and the metal piece with fear and lingering dread. She hadn't expected that during her advancement, such a thrilling, near-death ordeal had occurred outside.

"The Ruins Defense Protocol… was activated?" Ling Ling caught this key information. The runic mark on her forehead flickered slightly, as if she were searching her inherited memories for related information, but she ultimately shook her head. "There's nothing about this in the ancestor's memories… but the aura here does feel more oppressive to me, as if something… has awakened."

Her words confirmed the database's warning.

"We need to leave here as soon as possible." Leaning on the energy Ling Ling had channeled to him, Lin Yifan sat up with difficulty and put away the dark-gold metal piece. "The database… that thing in my head I told you about—it shows there might be a path behind this stone wall leading outside."

He pointed at the rock wall covered in dark-gold patterns.

Ling Ling followed his direction, carefully sensed for a moment, and nodded: "This wall… it doesn't feel solid to me. There seems to be a very faint airflow behind it."

After receiving the ancestor's inheritance and advancing, her perception had clearly improved by more than one level.

"Can you open it?" Lin Yifan asked. Forcibly breaking it might trigger unpredictable consequences.

Ling Ling focused on observing the patterns on the wall, then looked at the central guardian formation. After a moment's thought, she said, "I can try. The ancestor's formation seems to have some faint connection to this ruin, and might be able to influence these patterns."

She walked to the rock wall, raised her front paw, and the runic mark on her forehead lit up with a warm, moon-white glow. Carefully, she pressed her paw against the dark-gold patterns on the wall, attempting to inject a thread of pure moonlight power into them.

Hum……

The dark‑gold patterns on the wall did not reject this foreign yet somehow "authorized" power, and they faintly lit up. With a subtle mechanical whir, the patterns that had seemed random at first began to shift and interlock orderly!

A moment later, a passage just wide enough for one person, its edges jagged like a torn wound, silently slid open in the rock wall! Behind the opening lay a downward‑sloping, deeper and darker corridor, from which a cold wind smelling of rot and rust blew.

Success!

Lin Yifan felt a surge of joy.

At that moment, the anomaly regenerated!

Wuu—— Wuu—— Wuu——

A low, oppressive alarm, as if emanating from the deepest part of the ruins and capable of acting directly on the soul, suddenly rang throughout the underground space! The sound did not travel through the air; it reverberated directly in the consciousness of every living thing!

【Warning! Warning! Defense protocol detected unauthorized spatial alteration!】【Region: Seventh Beacon Room. Alteration type: Structural opening.】【Initiate secondary response! Begin scanning life signatures in the altered area…】

Lin Yifan and Ling Ling's expressions changed instantly!

The database warning came true! They merely opened a door and triggered the defense mechanisms of this cursed place!

"Run!" Lin Yifan forced himself to stand, ignoring his injuries, snatched the still‑sleeping Xiao You from the ground and shoved it into his arms (the little creature surprisingly did not resist, remaining asleep), and shouted urgently to Ling Ling.

Ling Ling also sensed the omnipresent, heart‑pounding scanning wave rapidly approaching, and without hesitation, was the first to dart into the newly formed dark passage.

Lin Yifan followed closely, his eyes full of vigilance, daring not to relax a moment; this place was truly bizarre, so bizarre that merely stepping in sent chills down his spine.

And the instant he stepped into the passage, the cold scanning wave suddenly locked onto him!

Lin Yifan was instantly chilled to the bone, instinctively stepping back a pace, but at that moment, right before him appeared

【Scanning complete! Identification: Unauthorized lifeform (Human)! Identification: Unauthorized lifeform (Moonshadow Spirit Fox)! Identification: High‑threat target (Silent Extinction Star Beast – juvenile)! Identification: Anomalous energy reaction (Dark Erosion Unit Symbiote)!】【Assessment: Intruder! Execute purge protocol!】

Boom—boom—boom—!

The Stone Chamber they had just emerged from, as well as the entrance to the passage behind them, erupted with a sour‑tasting metallic grinding and the thunderous crash of huge stones falling! Clearly, the so‑called "purge protocol" had already begun!

"Run!" Lin Yifan's scalp tingled; together with Ling Ling, they fled down the sloping dark corridor, scrambling forward with all their might!

Behind them, the collapsing roar of sealing stone and an ever‑closer, mechanically‑driven icy hum pursued them.

Ahead lay the unknown, a deeper darkness suffused with the smell of rust and decay.

The ruins awakened, and they had become the "intruders" it sought to purge.

A desperate escape, officially underway!