Chapter 312: Treasure Hunting in Ruins, The Former Hegemon (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Emperor Tomb Village Library.

The Explorer sat in the reading area, a stack of three books before him, flipping through data regarding the Pale Star Sea Region.

Although he could directly ask the Guide to investigate which specific island in the Pale Star Sea Region appeared in the projection showing the ruins.

But compared to using cheats, he preferred the process of solving puzzles himself.

This was also one of the ways he derived joy from the game.

Just like in ancient times, some players liked to use cheats to directly modify attributes, while others focused more on their own exploration and growth.

The Explorer's fingertip traced a line of text on the parchment page of the "Record of the Pale Star Sea Region."

According to the book's description, there were three islands in the Pale Star Sea Region where "Blood Poison Flowers" grew.

The first island, located west of the Pale Star Sea Region, was Black Tide Song Island.

This was a layered island formed by the stacking of coral reefs and sedimentary rock, rising and falling with the tides as the golden wheel alternated.

Every three years, the island would sink beneath the sea for a period of time.

On the eastern side of the island lay a crescent moon Firefly Lake, which was actually a Firefly Lake composed of seawater, its bottom covered in star sand.

The western side featured a cluster of tidal caves, which produced "Sea Moon Stones."

Regarding vegetation distribution, the primary plant on the island was "Star-Spotted Seaweed."

The Blood Poison Flower was an extremely rare plant on the island; records stated the entire island was once the tribal lands of the "Black Tide Song Clan," though this race had long perished.

The second island, located southwest of the Pale Star Sea Region, was Ember Bone Island.

This island was crafted by descending forces to adapt to the Monster World environment; its ground consisted of volcanic rock, with surface temperatures perennially maintained above 60 degrees Celsius.

The book depicted the island's environment using an overhead image, showing seven active lava rivers in the eastern part, flanked by cooled volcanic rock plains, with heat waves rising from the entire island.

The dominant flora was a non-spiritual plant called "Fire-Vein Fern," whose root systems could absorb residual heat from magma to grow, while most other areas were essentially barren.

Near the coastline, a scarce number of Blood Poison Flowers existed.

The third island was Mist Veil Island, located east of the Colorful Mist Coast and near the Ascension Sea Region.

This island was shrouded year-round in gray mist, resulting in extremely low visibility.

The island's surface was dotted with honeycomb-shaped karst cave entrances; inside, sunlight never penetrated, and numerous monsters preferring cold, dark environments thrived.

A Lan of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce had once consulted him on related matters when seeking hunting grounds for the novice demographic.

At that time, he had recommended Mist Veil Island.

This region hosted an immense number of monsters; different underground caves harbored large quantities of various monster types, making it suitable for teams and large guilds to hunt and grow.

He even suspected there was an unexplored underground space beneath this island; otherwise, relying solely on Mist Veil Island's surface resources could never sustain such a massive monster population.

The strangest part was that according to library records, the species count on this island increased every year.

Attracting a vast number of monsters to inhabit an area with scarce resources defied logic.

Although monsters on the island did not respawn after being killed, their density even surpassed the scale of the Bliss Legion.

Therefore, he suspected that rich resources must definitely be stored beneath this island.

Regarding the island's vegetation distribution, it mainly consisted of low-growing shade-tolerant plants.

Such as Bone-Eroding Moss, Mist-Tangling Vines, and so on.

Among them, a certain quantity of Blood Poison Flowers was also scattered across the island.

He summoned the forum interface, repeatedly reviewing the projection clips edited by players to pinpoint the location where the alien race stood.

He felt that among the three islands, the location most likely to contain ruins was Mist Veil Island.

The advertisement footage showed a dense forest area; the environment of the first island, Black Tide Song Island, which sank beneath the sea every few years, made it difficult for tall trees to grow, and the land presented in the footage showed no trace of marine plants.

As for the second island, Ember Bone Island, vegetation was extremely scarce, making it impossible to form a lush forest.

Although Mist Veil Island also had discrepancies, compared to the other two islands, its environment best matched the content presented in the footage.

Glancing at the live stream room, he saw a player mention in the comments section:

"Is it possible that other islands have Blood Poison Flowers transplanted from these three islands?"

"Or perhaps seabirds carried the seeds to nearby islands, allowing them to grow elsewhere."

"Unlikely. The Blood Poison Flower is not a spiritual plant but an ordinary plant of the Monster World with limited value; it's impossible for the alien race to have actively transplanted it. As for seabirds carrying seeds, that is possible, but the environments of other islands may not be suitable for the Blood Poison Flower to grow. Mist Veil Island remains the most probable location."

Through discussions with netizens in the live stream room, the Explorer ultimately decided to set out personally to search.

Leaving the library, he went to the Armed Vehicle Factory and upgraded the endurance capability of his flying vehicle.

Subsequently, he used a teleportation array to arrive at the edge of the Colorful Mist Coast.

He had come here countless times, yet each time he arrived at the Colorful Mist Coast, his mood became joyful.

In his field of vision, morning light slanted down, shrouding the entire coastline in flowing colorful mist.

The colored mist curled lightly with the sea breeze, like gauze brushing over the beach, while numerous player figures vacationed and entertained themselves along the shore.

The Black Tide sounds were lazy, and the white sand was like silver.

This was also the reason the Colorful Mist Coast region always ranked first on the list of players' favorite areas, making it the top choice for vacations during leisure time for the vast majority of players outside of hunting.

Summoning his vehicle skateboard, he headed toward the depths of the sea.

Near the coast, one could see the figures of numerous fishing-faction players, mostly sitting on homemade rafts drifting near the shore.

The farther one went toward the deep sea, the sparser the number of players became.

The hoverboard carried him flying two meters above the sea surface; the wind and waves cut through the azure water, looking from high above like a silver blade slicing through blue silk, leaving a silver trail on the sea.

A fierce wind flowed past his ears, and occasionally, flying fish from underwater would leap out of the water.

During the flight, the Explorer felt immensely comfortable.

When time reached noon, the sea and sky changed color.

Thick clouds pressed in from the end of the horizon, leaden gray like iron.

The sea surface became turbulent, arching and collapsing like the back of a giant beast.

He could only raise the flight altitude of the hoverboard, weaving between the storm and the raging waves.

Choosing to fly closer to the sea surface earlier was naturally not to view the ocean, but to save energy.

When flying close to the water, the airflow beneath the skateboard was blocked by the sea surface, slowing its speed and increasing air pressure, creating additional lift, known as the ground effect.

During long-distance flights, this could significantly reduce energy consumption losses.

Before long, heavy rain began to fall on the unpredictably changing sea surface.

Sea and sky merged into chaos; the field of vision contained nothing but a gray-blue roar.

The skateboard engine screamed amidst the thunder, darting between flashes of lightning and claps of thunder.

The sea surface below resembled an enraged giant beast, with undercurrents churning, occasionally raising wave walls dozens of meters high only to collapse in an instant; the skateboard skimmed over the cresting waves, mist splashing onto his ankles, carrying a slight chill.

Suddenly, a green shadow broke through the water surface.

It was a three-meter-long large fish; its back cut through the waves like a blade. As it leaped halfway into the air, its eye briefly met the Explorer's gaze before crashing back into the sea.

"Blue Steel Fish!"

Seeing the fish's appearance, the Explorer identified the species the next second.

He then switched to commentary Cultivation Mode amidst the heavy rain, stating this was a highly valuable spiritual fish, with a selling price in the Exchange Hall of no less than 1000 Sacrificial Power.

As the leader of the Exploration Faction, the early popularity of the Explorer's live stream room came from the "Strange Butterfly Assault Incident."

But in the later stages, he attracted a large audience and fans through his own abilities.

His live stream room was also recognized by the forum as one of the most in-depth streams.

Players could always learn various kinds of knowledge in his live stream room, regardless of whether it was useful or not.

In the dead of night, the Explorer finally passed through the localized rainstorm area; the sea ahead was calm as a mirror.

The skateboard continued flying close to the water surface, its wake startling a flock of flying fish.

Basically no player figures could be seen nearby, and there were no landmarks on the vast ocean to judge direction.

But as a player, he had a map to use, making it impossible to get lost in any region.

At dusk, the silhouette of Mist Veil Island gradually emerged in the distance.

Gray-white mist writhed like a living creature, wrapping the island into a hazy enigma.

The silhouette exposed outside the mist resembled the spine of a giant whale; black reef rocks interlocked like jagged teeth, and waves exploded into snow-like foam within the rock crevices.

After the skateboard plunged into the mist wall, it slowly descended; the engine noise startled a flock of seabirds, which flapped their wings and flew into the mist, vanishing in an instant.

Leaping off the skateboard, the vehicle automatically decomposed into pixel blocks that adhered to his body.

Stepping onto the slippery rocks, the mist coiled around him, carrying a chill that made him feel uncomfortable.

He even had a strange thought: this mist seemed to harbor hostility toward him.

The sound of waves behind him also became blurred at this moment, as if he had arrived in another world.

The lush vegetation zone on the island was not at the landing spot; after summoning the map to check, he headed southeast.

Although he could use the hoverboard to travel, the number of monsters on the island was extremely high.

Flying units were too conspicuous and easily subjected to monster attacks.

Walking along the way, one could see countless karst caves along the coastline gaping with dark fissures.

Glowing moss covered the stone walls, with dark green spots connecting into veins, resembling a large net secretly watching from the shadows.

During this time, the Explorer also analyzed his conjectures in the live stream room:

"Brothers, our landing point is on the southwest side of the island, while the map indicates the dense vegetation area should be in the southeast direction, where the terrain is higher and the mist thinner. There was no mist visible in the advertisement footage back then, so the southeast direction will be my next area of exploration."

This was not his first time here; many plants had already been compiled into the illustration guide content, so there was no scientific introduction along the way.

Just then, a roar came from the distance, and the Explorer immediately shrank behind a giant rock the next second.

He carefully observed the situation nearby.

Glancing at the teasing comments in the live stream room, the Explorer appeared somewhat helpless:

"I'm not being cowardly; I'm just temporarily avoiding the sharp edge due to safety concerns. It wasn't easy getting here, and I certainly don't want to die and respawn in the Little Black Room."

Hearing these words, a flood of comments surged in the livestream room, and the sounds of mockery grew even louder.

This made the Explorer blush slightly, after which he argued:

"Actually, cowardice comes in two types."

"Some people tread on thin ice while playing games; essentially, this is survival anxiety from the real world reflected in the game world. They aren't afraid of the monsters in the game, but subconsciously interpret the death penalty as a workplace KPI. They instinctively feel that reckless behavior will be followed by a performance review, allowing the timid discipline of reality to seep into the game world. Even playing a game requires them to be trembling with fear; essentially, this is the DNA of a real-world corporate slave replicated into the game. This is true cowardice."

"The other type of cowardice stems from rational risk assessment and is also a manifestation of respecting the journey of exploration. Essentially, this isn't cowardice; it is... it is prudence."

Hearing the Explorer's emphatic analysis, the players and tourists in the livestream room burst into laughter.

He poked his head out again and found no sign of monsters outside.

Once the Explorer's "Courage Bar" accumulated to the action line, he stepped out from the cover of the rocks and set off toward the target location.

Along the way, he occasionally encountered monsters, but unlike ordinary players who would simply fight upon encounter, his approach was different.

Even when encountering monsters weaker than himself, the Explorer would temporarily avoid their sharp edge; if he could avoid fighting, he absolutely would not engage.

After a long while, the Explorer arrived before a dense jungle, where he saw a crystal cliff Iron Face as smooth as a mirror.

Just as he was preparing to continue exploring forward, a comment that was rapidly liked caught his attention:

"Cowardly dog, the ruin might be near here. Looking at the screenshot from the advertisement projection, you can see sunlight piercing through the dense forest onto the ground. Based on the direction of the tree shadows, we can reverse-engineer the sun's position. If the shadows point northeast, then the sun is in the southwest. If the shadows are short and nearly vertical, it might be around noon. The Monster World has no time zone corrections. Then, looking at the structure of Wuyindao on the map... we can roughly infer that the time in the advertisement is approximately 3 to 4 PM."

"Natural light passing through leaves should create fragmented shadows, but in the screenshot, one beam of light has a contour that is too clean. Therefore, this isn't natural light but reflected light, proving there is a high point nearby refracting light to the position in the screenshot photo. This crystal mountain is highly likely that point, so the location is within the dense forest at the foot of the mountain."

There are experts in the livestream room.

This tourist's analysis made perfect sense to him.

He immediately decided to explore the dense forest at the foot of the mountain.

Entering the area thick with greenery, the Explorer pasted the screenshot from the projected advertisement in the top-left corner for comparison.

He found that the plants here basically matched those in the screenshot photo, but he had not yet found the Blood Poison Flower.

Based on the coverage range of the dense forest displayed on the map, he headed toward the center point.

As he went deeper, the light around him grew increasingly dim; vines coiled around ancient trees like giant pythons, and rotting leaves piled up underfoot, every step raising a "rustling" sound.

After activating the Eagle-Headed Demon's perception, the surrounding scenery became clear in his mind at a glance.

With the assistance of the Fate Soul, exploration efficiency improved significantly.

The types of plants presented in the perception image basically proved that the entrance to the ruin was within this area.

Half an hour later, the Explorer smelled a faint, lingering odor of decay.

This made his heart tighten.

This scent reminded him of a passage from the library archives:

[The "Blood Rot Toxin" secreted by the roots of the Blood Poison Flower smells like a mixture of rust and rotting fruit; as the concentration increases, it carries a bloody scent.]

The scent described as emanating from the Blood Poison Flower was extremely similar to what he smelled now.

Following the direction of the scent, passing through layers of interwoven spiderwebs and vines, a relatively open area appeared before his eyes.

Gazing beneath a towering arbor, a stone slab nearly covered by grass and trees came into view.

"Brothers, I found it!"

Instantly, comments in the livestream's comment section surged, all cheering for the successful first step of this treasure hunt.

Although they were merely spectators, their sense of participation was maxed out throughout the entire process.

The livestream audience's gaze followed the Explorer to the stone slab.

The surface of the slab was carved with blood-colored patterns, and at its upper diagonal corner, a gaudy red flower bloomed wildly; dark red sap congealed on its petals, resembling fresh blood.

It was precisely the Blood Poison Flower that had appeared in the screenshot image.

The Explorer took a deep breath, approached the stone slab, and squatted down to observe carefully.

The characters on it were already blurred, making it impossible to analyze any useful information, so he chose to directly activate the Analysis Function.

[Mingwu Clan Imperial Tomb]:

Target Introduction: The tomb of the 726th Emperor of the "Mingwu Clan," a hegemonic power that once ruled the Three Great Seas (Cangxing Sea, Feisheng Sea (formerly the Wangu Sea), and the Sea of Death). After losing the war against the Wangu Clan, they were ultimately buried on Wuyindao.

Seeing the analysis information, the Explorer immediately became interested.

He slowly pushed the stone tablet aside, revealing a pit clearly dug out beneath it, from which a fresh scent of earth wafted.

"This should be the pit dug by the alien race shown in the projected advertisement. The tomb was sealed shut immediately after its completion, with no passable channels whatsoever."

Saying this, he ventured into the pit.

One could see numerous traces of destroyed spiritual pattern structures on all sides of the cave.

A sweep of analysis confirmed his suspicion: there had originally been an array formation inside the tomb designed to draw external spiritual energy to maintain the operation of its internal nurturing system.

However, the alien race persisted relentlessly; during seventeen years of excavation, it was completely destroyed.

Upon seeing "seventeen years," the Explorer was also shocked.

To excavate this tomb, this alien race had adopted the Ant Relocation Tactics, destroying the defensive barriers bit by bit until they were completely penetrated.

Thinking of this, the Explorer said to the players in the livestream room:

"Their perseverance is commendable, but this behavior doesn't necessarily yield results. There might not actually be any treasures inside the tomb; not all races bury grave goods. In the Monster World, many races are buried naked; there might only be a corpse that has not decayed."

Seeing the livestream comments arguing back, asking on what basis he judged that the corpse inside was in a state of non-decay.

He immediately explained:

"The array formation originally laid out in this tomb served not only to protect the deceased within from disturbance but also to continuously draw spiritual energy to maintain the body in a state of non-decay."

As he introduced this, he bent his body and continued deeper along the narrow tunnel.

Damp soil kept falling from the ceiling.

As he went deeper, the tunnel gradually became wider, finally opening up into a spacious area.

At this moment, he stopped, casting his gaze straight ahead where a massive crystal gate was embedded in the stone wall, its surface covered with complex spiritual patterns.

This was clearly the main gate leading directly into the tomb.

In the center of the gate was a circular groove, surrounded by three layers of metal rings.

He approached to observe and found numerous friction marks in the door gap and on the surrounding rock walls. Scattered on the ground were several broken metal weapons and a pile of crystal stones that had exhausted their energy.

Obviously, the alien race had attempted to force it open through violent means but had failed completely.

With the assistance of the Eagle-Headed Demon's perception, he could clearly sense the fluctuation of energy dissipating from the gate.

Before the Explorer could even think about how to break open the gate, the strategists in the livestream room began proposing various ideas.

Some players suggested buying explosives to set off an island-shaking explosion, using the most violent means to blast their way in.

There were also unqualified tourists suggesting they should dig in from the rock walls beside it; if they couldn't break the gate, surely they could dig through the rock, couldn't they?

But what the Explorer chose to do was close his eyes.

When he opened them again, a layer of deep blue halo rippled in the depths of his pupils.

Spirit Eye Trait, activated.

In an instant, the world reorganized before his eyes.

On the originally static crystal gate, countless flowing light veins suddenly appeared, intertwining and spreading internally like human blood vessels.

These energy flows presented a magnificent indigo-blue color, clearly visible in the vision of the Spirit Eye.

The strength of the energy was represented by brightness.

He observed that within the energy hub, all light veins ultimately converged into the circular groove in the center of the gate, forming a vortex-shaped energy node that circulated with a pulse rhythm of three short bursts followed by one long burst.

Each circulation formed specific light spot patterns on the outer, middle, and inner rings.

This corresponded to the three metal rings on the gate.

Approaching the gate, he carefully examined the tiny patterns surrounding the three metal rings.

Each metal ring had eight patterns, totaling twenty-four patterns combined.

This made him frown involuntarily.

This gate lock was too easy to crack; there were only 512 combinations.

The Spirit Eye continued to observe the pattern structure inside the crystal gate; he had already found the answer to breaking open the gate.

He rotated the metal rings on the gate in sequence to align them with the three patterns that appeared when the internal energy flowed; suddenly, the gate vibrated.

The Explorer decisively ran far away.

Gates that could be opened like this carried a high danger coefficient.

Logically, a tomb should be sealed shut; there shouldn't be any passage left for entry. The very act of leaving a door defied logic.

Perhaps opening the door would immediately trigger a death trap, killing the "grave robbers" outside.

But the imagined scenario did not occur.

Once the gate fully opened, the Explorer returned to the front of the gate and peered inside.

As a player, he naturally feared not death, but the trouble of traveling.

He had to avoid death as much as possible.

The Eagle-Headed Demon's perception activated again, presenting the environment shrouded in darkness within his mind.

In the very center of the tomb, a crystal coffin hung quietly in mid-air.

There were no chains suspending it; his perception detected it being held aloft three meters above the ground by a mental energy field.

Dark blue light patterns flowed across the surface of the coffin; in his perception, the crystal coffin lacked a sense of physical substance, as if this casket existed between reality and illusion.

At this moment, the crystal coffin was continuously releasing surging energy, injecting it into the earth.

This energy was even more intense than activating a large-scale teleportation array.

So many years had passed, yet it could still continuously release such vast amounts of energy; clearly, something was unusual.

In front of the hanging coffin lay a corpse clad in armor, its body enveloped by a suit of armor covered in cracks.

Perception pierced through the armor, revealing a Iron Face filled with sorrow.

It placed its left hand over its right chest, kneeling on one knee while raising its head to gaze at the hanging coffin.

On the ground beside its feet was imprinted a small array, which analysis identified as spatial positioning coordinates.

However, regarding exactly what happened here, the analysis could provide no answer.

Filled with doubt, the Explorer turned to look at the Guiding Water Orb floating beside him:

"Brother Guide, I want to know what exactly happened here."

Facing the inquiry, Guide opened his eyes:

[If you wish to know the details, you must view them via Rewind; payment of thirty thousand Sacrificial Power is required.]

Hearing this price, the players in the live stream room shook their heads one after another.

Guide's analysis was divided into Basic Analysis and Deep Analysis; Rewind was a method of Deep Analysis, and the price was indeed exorbitant.

The more distant the time, the higher the cost; ordinary players simply could not afford it.

But as the author of "Poems of Scenery," the Explorer, who wished to create detailed background data for the Monster World, hesitated briefly before gritting his teeth:

"Brother Guide, deduct the fee; I want to take a look."

[You truly are a unique player.]

Guide glanced at the Explorer, then activated Rewind Cultivation Mode.

After the Sacrificial Power burned, scenes of light and shadow emerged.

Darkness faded, rotten dust rose back into the air, flaked stones ascended to restore themselves to newness, and the kneeling figure stood up, his cape fluttering wildly as his armor gleamed coldly.

In the scene, his helmet hung low; before him, a half-open crystal coffin held a man with a withered Iron Face.

This was precisely the last Emperor of the Mingwu Clan; a coral longsword was plunged into his chest, dark blue blood dripping down the blade, yet turning into mist and rising the instant it touched the coffin's base.

The Emperor's eyelids trembled slightly, his cracked lips moving:

"General, have the Death Whisper Clan... retreated?"

The General remained silent; the scene shifted outside the mausoleum, where the people of the Mingwu Clan fell one by one, turning into mist that circled the island.

The Emperor slowly raised his hand, his withered fingertips touching the General's shoulder armor.

"Go back, inherit my position, and never return again."

Hearing these words, the one called General suddenly dropped to one knee, his knee smashing heavily onto the ground, his helmet hanging so low it nearly touched the floor.

His voice sounded as if ground by gravel, hoarse and trembling:

"Your Majesty, your subject... is incompetent, unable to save you."

Speaking thus, he suddenly clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles emitting creaking sounds beneath the iron armor as he recounted the tragic outcome of this battle.

His voice grew lower and lower as he spoke, finally becoming almost like the whimper of some wild beast.

"I have failed your trust... I am unworthy to inherit anything."

The Emperor's hand trembled slightly; he wished to say more but broke into violent coughs, dark blue bloody foam spilling from the corner of his mouth.

The General hastily looked up, only to see the Emperor shake his head, a sense of acceptance appearing on his withered Iron Face:

"There is no need for this; the path was chosen by us ourselves. If we lost, then we lost." Speaking thus, the Emperor let out a long sigh:

"The outcome was anticipated before we even arrived; we have seen this world... it is not very beautiful, and I have merely reached the expected conclusion."

"I am unwilling to accept it; I wanted to save the Mingwu Clan."

The Emperor's voice was as light as a sigh:

"The Mingwu Clan... never needed anyone to save it. Our clan has existed for three thousand years, gathering and scattering unpredictably, drifting with the currents; why bind ourselves in the cage of salvation and revival?"

The General's armor emitted a ringing sound:

"The people of our homeland world are still waiting for your return."

"Waiting for a ruler?" The Emperor's withered fingers brushed over the crystal coffin as he spoke in a hoarse voice:

"We mistakenly took continuation as our mission, yet forgot that the endpoint of racial continuation is ultimately withering; how many races can truly be eternal and immortal?"

"We did not lose to any enemy; we were simply weary of endless war."

With these words, the Emperor's qi grew increasingly faint.

He took one last look at the General standing before him:

"Born at dawn and dead by dusk, only then can one see the Star River."

At this moment, the Emperor closed his eyes.

The General stood before the crystal coffin, his Iron Face filled with pain.

He knew that in the final moments, the Emperor had grown weary of everything and had abandoned the future of the Mingwu Clan.

This was also why the Emperor had said that after returning, he should never come back again.

The Emperor hoped he would abandon the expedition, abandon the ambition to ascend to the peak of the Monster World, and return to the ordinariness of their homeland world.

The General reached out and slowly closed the coffin lid, sealing the Emperor's remains forever.

Then, stumbling backward a few steps, he knelt on the ground once more, bowing deeply toward the hanging coffin.

"Your Majesty, you have grown weary, but your subject has not."

"You say the Mingwu Clan needs no saving, but if we abandon even our last hope, how are we different from dissipating dust? You are denying our previous struggles."

"This is the Monster World, where anything is possible; I will definitely find a way to crush the Death Whisper Clan, seize their Rules, and then welcome you back."

At this moment, the light and shadow scenes accelerated rapidly, time flowing swiftly.

A figure returned through the spatial coordinates; it was the General who had departed.

In the scene, his armor was tattered and broken, half his body constantly eroded by some power, presenting a dark purple hue.

Clutching a solid imprint shimmering with faint light in his hand, he tremblingly pushed open the crystal coffin, then closed it again, before dropping to one knee before the coffin and looking up at the suspended crystal coffin:

"Your Majesty... your subject has returned."

His voice was hoarse and fragmented; with every word spoken, dark turbid purple blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes grew bewildered:

"Perhaps you were right; we are ultimately mist, why hold so deeply to obsession?"

In the final moment, just as when he first swore loyalty to the Emperor years ago, he placed his left hand over his right chest:

"Born at dawn and dead by dusk, only then can one see the Star River; this subordinate will guard your tomb for you."

With these words, his qi ceased.

The Rewind light and shadow shattered, and everything returned to reality.

The crystal coffin still floated, and the General's corpse remained in its kneeling posture.

"Sigh, although anything is possible in the Monster World, obtaining what one desires is nowhere near as easy as you imagine."

After watching the scene of the Mingwu Clan's final moments, the Explorer could not help but shake his head.

It was certain that the General had ultimately failed.

But what he was curious about was what object the General had stuffed into the crystal coffin at the end.

Furthermore, why was this crystal coffin, under the perception of the Eagle-Headed Demon, continuously releasing energy to inject into the earth; what was the reason for this?

Filled with curiosity, urged on by the players in the live stream room, he summoned his flying skateboard and ascended into the air.

The coffin lid that the General could easily push open required him to exert all his strength to barely move.

Exerting sudden force, the coffin lid slowly slid open amidst a piercing sound of friction.

In an instant, light burst forth.

The Explorer stretched his neck to look, only to see hovering above the Emperor's withered forehead a prism-shaped imprint, its entire body circulating with dark blue light patterns, like a compressed Star River.

The instant it contacted the outside air, the imprint suddenly trembled violently, erupting with brilliant light.

The entire island suddenly roared.

The ground cracked, and the thick mist surrounding Wuyindao, like thousands of troops and horses summoned, surged wildly toward the mausoleum.

Countless blurry figures emerged within the mist; these were the departed souls of the Mingwu Clan, clad in tattered battle armor, holding rusted weapons, with ethereal blue soul fires burning in their empty eye sockets.

"Click."

Beside the crystal coffin, the General's skeleton suddenly moved.

Amidst the Explorer's bewildered expression, he slowly raised his head; dark blue mist light seeped from the gaps in his armor, and his rotten cape moved without wind.

He reached out and grasped the sword planted in the ground; on the blade where rust had flaked away, a Rule Imprint identical to the one on the Emperor's forehead clearly emerged.

"Your Majesty, the mist... has gathered again."

The General's voice seemed to come from the depths of an abyss.

Outside the mausoleum, the mist had condensed into a vortex that blocked out the sun and sky, beginning to devour the monsters on the island, flesh and blood gradually forming within the mist.

One by one, the figures of the departed gradually became clear amidst the frenzied slaughter.

At this moment, the Explorer inside the mausoleum suddenly felt something was wrong; he hastily activated Analysis, scanning the floating imprint:

[Death Whisperer]:

Rule Introduction: Possesses the power of resurrection for the dead, transforming the deceased into Death Whisper form; the longer the time since death, the stronger the power. Every individual resurrected via the Death Whisperer will retain memories from their life; activation of the resurrection process requires power from a source other than the holder.

"Holy crap, a Rule!"

After reading the analysis information, the Explorer suddenly turned his head to look at the Guiding Water Orb:

"Brother Guide, have I been played into a setup?"

The Guiding Water Orb opened its eyes, nodding indifferently:

[It is obvious. Why do you think there is a conspicuous stone tablet placed outside the mausoleum? Furthermore, does a weak alien race truly have the capability to know there is treasure underground the moment they see the tablet?]

[In fact, there are too many subtle hints on this island indicating treasures buried underground; the discovery of the mausoleum was merely a matter of time. Some alien race would inevitably dig here driven by greed, and a door leading directly to the mausoleum is a flaw within flaws. Just as you analyzed before, the mausoleum fundamentally does not need a door that can be opened and closed, unless there is a necessity for entry and exit.]

[Finally, do you think there is a reason why such a huge number of monsters gathered on this island, and why vast resources are stored underground to sustain these aliens and monsters? These are all blood food prepared for the moment of resurrection, all part of the layout established by the General after obtaining the Rule.]

"But didn't the General give up when he returned in the rewound footage?"

Facing the inquiry, the Guide looked at him as if he were a child and said helplessly:

[You just said yourself that anything is possible in the Monster World, so isn't there a possibility that the General guessed certain races possessed the ability to rewind past footage? To ensure absolute safety, putting on a final act was very necessary... However, he truly did exhaust his life force and die; this time, he is reviving along with the rules of the Death Whisperer.]

"Damn, Brother Guide, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

[I only analyzed the specific situation when you asked me. If you had asked earlier, I certainly would have said so sooner. So, the essence of the problem is: you didn't ask.]

Explorer: ...

Realizing the situation was dire, the Explorer suddenly leaped from his floating skateboard, diving straight toward the suspended rules of the Death Whisperer.

Just then, the General waved his hand violently.

Boom!

The Explorer was instantly blasted into mist, and the live stream immediately flooded with comments: Shameful; we gave you the chance to take the rules, but you were useless.

Subsequently, in the blacked-out live stream room, discussions began about the "Mingwu Clan" that was currently reviving.

On the other side, the branded rules of the Death Whisperer merged into the forehead of the Mingwu Emperor; his figure slowly hovered in mid-air, his withered Iron Face shrouded by the glow of the rule brand, while his rotting imperial robe fluttered loudly.

Having slept for endless years, he slowly opened his eyes, his pupils reflecting the General kneeling on one knee.

"We respectfully welcome Your Majesty's return," the General said, bowing his head with a deep voice.

As rule power continuously poured into his body, his wounds healed rapidly; the hovering Emperor looked down at the kneeling General, a trace of helplessness appearing in his eyes:

"Can the ending be changed?"

The General slowly straightened his body, raising his eyes to look directly at the Emperor, his voice hoarse yet firm:

"It can."

A single, simple word, taking root as soon as it hit the ground.

"Even if the path ahead remains a deadly situation, we must try to cleave out a path to life, going all out and leaving no regrets."

Hearing this, the Emperor could not help but sigh, after which the helplessness in his eyes turned into determination.

With a raise of his hand, Wuyindao trembled, and more dead souls manifested within the mist surrounding the island.

Ascension Sea Region, Ancient God Arena.

A figure that had been silent underground suddenly opened its eyes; a golden body composed of runes floated into the air, looking up toward the direction of the Cangxing Sea Region.

Feeling the surging energy fluctuations coming from the Cangxing Sea Region, a trace of solemnity appeared in his eyes.

In the Ascension Sea Region, the battling Ascension Clan and Shuyan Warriors all stopped fighting and retreated.

Shuyan and Chi Yan simultaneously turned their heads to look toward the Cangxing Sea Region; they had both sensed a terrifying fluctuation of life.

At this moment, the overlord who once ruled the three great sea regions returned, bringing the Death Whisperer Legion with him.

And among the emerging powers, the Ancient God Clan, the Ascension Clan, and the Shuyan Domain—these three forces were established precisely upon the sea territories once ruled by the Mingwu Clan.

9,500 words delivered~ Requesting monthly tickets~

(End of Chapter)