Chapter 320: The Chaos of the Experimental Subjects

Before the words had even faded, the entire underground space suddenly began to shake violently. The Runes on the walls flickered even more intensely, and streams of eerie energy poured out continuously. Those energies condensed in the air as if they were tangible, forming twisted vortexes one after another.

"Not good!" Lin Xuan sensed that something was wrong and shouted hurriedly, "Back away! These Runes are about to lose control! They seem to be resonating with something!"

Wang Zhenqiu grabbed Xiao Qing, who was still observing: "Stop looking! Let's get out of here first!"

The three of them retreated rapidly, watching the frantically flickering Runes with vigilance. The energy fluctuations in the air grew more and more intense, as if something terrifying were about to break through its seal.

"Boom!" With another loud crash, several sections of the wall suddenly collapsed, revealing even more Runes behind them. These newly appeared Runes were clearly more ancient than the previous ones, and the aura they emitted was even more terrifying.

"This... this is impossible!" Xiao Qing exclaimed in shock, "These Runes... they are actually the legendary 'Heavenly Derivation Secret Script'! It is said that only the great powers of the ancient times could create them, and they have long since been lost!"

Lin Xuan felt a jolt in his heart; no wonder he had felt a resonance. These Runes were actually related to the Qi Luck of the Heavenly Dao, and the Nine-Pattern Inner Core within his own body was precisely a treasure of Qi Luck!

A tense atmosphere permeated the air, and the breathing of all three became rapid.

Inside the underground space, the light of the Runes grew increasingly bright, and the dense, ancient characters covered almost every inch of the walls. Lin Xuan only felt the Qi Luck Power within his body becoming increasingly restless, as if it were about to break through the constraints of his dantian.

"This feeling... is very wrong." Lin Xuan endured the discomfort, beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. The Nine-Pattern Inner Core vibrated frantically within his body, emitting bursts of humming sounds.

Xiao Qing focused her attention on observing the Runes on the wall, and suddenly her eyes lit up: "Wait, these Runes... they look familiar." She stepped forward quickly to examine the characters emitting a ghostly light, "Although they are somewhat similar to the Ancient Demon Script recorded in my clan's classics, the details are very different."

"Ancient Demon Script?" Wang Zhenqiu frowned, "I think this looks more like the ruins of some Ancient Civilization. Look at the arrangement of these Runes; they are clearly an Array structure used to suppress or channel powerful forces."

As a veteran who had been through life and death on the battlefield, Wang Zhenqiu was knowledgeable and experienced. He pointed to a specific combination of Runes on the wall and said, "This path of energy flow is very similar to that ancient altar I saw in the Western Wasteland before."

Lin Xuan was about to say something when he suddenly sensed a peculiar energy fluctuation coming from ahead: "There seems to be something over there, let's go take a look."

The three of them continued deeper along the direction indicated by the Runes and soon arrived at a shocking hall. This place was completely different from the underground space full of ancient atmosphere from before; instead, it was filled with the aura of modern technology.

Bright LED tubes hung from the ceiling, and various precision experimental instruments were neatly arranged on workbenches. Unidentified creatures floated inside transparent culture tanks, and large display screens on the walls flickered constantly, showing various complex experimental data.

"This is... a biological laboratory?" Xiao Qing gasped. She walked quickly to the nearest computer and her fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard. Soon, a large number of files appeared on the screen.

"Oh my god... you guys look at this." Xiao Qing pointed at the screen, her voice trembling slightly, "These are all research records regarding 'Luck Extraction'. They are actually researching how to forcibly extract Qi Luck Power from living organisms!"

Lin Xuan leaned in to look and saw the screen densely recorded with various experimental data:

"Subject A-147, Luck Extraction rate 23%, survival time 48 hours..."

"Subject B-892, Luck Extraction rate 51%, survival time 12 hours..."

"Subject C-003, Luck Extraction rate 89%, survival time 0.5 hours..."

"These lunatics!" Lin Xuan clenched his fists, his anger burning. As a cultivator of Qi Luck Power, he knew all too well how much damage forced extraction of Qi Luck could cause to a life.

Wang Zhenqiu was looking around the hall when he suddenly discovered a suspicious corner: "The wall structure here is problematic; it seems to be some kind of..."

Before the words had even faded, a piercing alarm sound suddenly echoed throughout the entire hall! Red warning lights flashed frantically, and a mechanical female voice came from the speakers:

"Warning! Warning! Breach in the subject containment area!"

"Boom!"

The wall that Wang Zhenqiu had discovered suddenly cracked open, revealing a pitch-black passage. Immediately following, a group of creatures of various forms rushed out from within!

These clearly modified subjects each had some kind of silver-white mechanical device installed on their bodies. The surfaces of the devices flickered with eerie blue light, continuously emitting buzzing vibrations.

"Careful! These devices are trouble!" Lin Xuan just wanted to unleash his Qi Luck Power, but discovered that the energy within his body suddenly became chaotic. Those mechanical devices were actually forcibly extracting the surrounding energy, including his Qi Luck Power!

"Damn it! This won't do!" Lin Xuan gritted his teeth and had to change his combat strategy. He quickly withdrew his Qi Luck Power and turned to draw the short blade at his waist.

Seeing this, Xiao Qing immediately understood the situation. She formed seals with her hands, manipulating the moisture in the air to form countless tiny ice needles. This pure elemental energy was not affected by those devices.

"Take this!" Wang Zhenqiu slammed a fist into the ground, and a shockwave spread instantly. Several subjects immediately lost their balance and fell to the ground. He took the opportunity to rush forward, using both fists and feet to smash several mechanical devices to pieces.

The subjects that lost their devices immediately withered; it seemed these modified products could not maintain their combat power without energy support.

"Destroy all these devices first!" Lin Xuan commanded while fighting. After his observation just now, he had already seen the weaknesses of these subjects.

The three of them cooperated with tacit understanding and soon brought the situation under control. However, when Lin Xuan inspected those damaged mechanical devices, his mood became even heavier.

"This kind of technology... is not simple." He picked up a fragment and observed it carefully, "Being able to target Qi Luck Power for extraction shows that the organization behind this has already researched this power very thoroughly."

Xiao Qing nodded: "And have you noticed? The combination of these Runes and machinery is almost like industrializing the power of an Ancient Civilization."

"If their research is allowed to continue..." Wang Zhenqiu's expression was grave, "I'm afraid the entire cultivation world will fall into a huge crisis."

Lin Xuan took a deep breath: "Now I finally understand why that Mysterious Person was acting abnormally. It's highly likely that something went wrong with their experiment, leading to the situation spiraling out of control."

Just at this moment, a roar of machinery came from deep within the hall. The three of them looked at each other, and all saw vigilance in the other's eyes.