Chapter 425: Warfare Resumes, The Struggle for the Core

After handing the disruptor to his team members, Lin Xuan quickly formulated a detailed plan: "Zhao Gang, you draw them away from the east passage. Remember, you only need to hold out for five minutes, then evacuate immediately. Chen Mo, you come with me; we will look for another path."

Zhao Gang nodded solemnly and quickly disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later, a commotion and gunfire erupted from the east passage, and the majority of the special forces members immediately turned in that direction to pursue.

"The opportunity is here," Lin Xuan whispered, "stay close to me."

Lin Xuan quickly observed the surrounding environment. The ancient Underground Palace had a complex structure, but he soon discovered a suspicious section of wall. The brick patterns on the wall were slightly different from the surroundings, clearly showing traces of later repairs.

"Here," Lin Xuan touched the wall lightly, closing his eyes to sense it, "the Underground Palace was built in the Ming Dynasty, but this part of the wall was renovated during the Qing Dynasty; there should be another space behind it."

Lin Xuan placed both hands on the wall, and Wood Element Energy quietly flowed into the wall structure. He employed the "Wood Element Infiltration Technique," using energy filaments like plant roots to probe into the gaps in the wall, searching for structural weak points. A few seconds later, a certain area of the wall began to glow faintly.

"Found it," Lin Xuan concentrated, "Wood Element: Growth Wall-Breaker!"

The emerald-green energy filaments expanded rapidly, like plant roots breaking through the soil, prying open the gaps in the wall. In a moment, an opening large enough for one person to pass through had quietly formed.

"Quick!" Lin Xuan signaled for Chen Mo to go first, bringing up the rear himself, and carefully squeezed into the opening.

They entered a narrow secret passage, the air filled with the scent of aged dust. Ahead, a faint purple glow was vaguely visible, guiding the way toward the depths of the Underground Palace.

However, just after the two had traveled over a hundred meters, a burst of rapid footsteps suddenly came from behind. Lin Xuan's heart sank. Looking back, a burly special forces captain was pursuing them with three elite members. Their movements were swift and precise, clearly possessing combat proficiency far exceeding that of ordinary soldiers.

"They noticed our movements," Lin Xuan gritted his teeth, "Chen Mo, go ahead and scout quickly; I will hold them off."

Without waiting for Chen Mo to respond, Lin Xuan had already turned to face the pursuers. A strange purple light flickered in the special forces captain's eyes, and his mouth twisted into an unnatural sneer: "Human Practitioner, you cannot escape."

Before the words had faded, the four of them had already raised their guns in unison, and a dense rain of bullets poured down. In this narrow passage, an ordinary person would have almost no chance of dodging.

"Wood Element: Thousand-Leaf Shield!"

Lin Xuan quickly formed seals with his hands, and countless emerald-green energy leaves condensed into a semi-circular shield in front of him. The bullets struck the shield, emitting a series of muffled thuds, but all were deflected or blocked.

Seeing this, the special forces captain quickly adjusted his tactics, taking two special grenades from his waist, pulling the safety pins, and throwing them with precision.

"Trap!" Lin Xuan's pupils constricted, realizing these were not ordinary grenades, but the military's latest developed Energy Interference Bombs, weapons specifically targeting a Practitioner's energy field.

At the critical moment, Lin Xuan waved his right hand, and Wood Element Energy condensed into dozens of vines, wrapping around the grenades and tossing them toward the top of the passage. An explosion roared, and rubble and dust collapsed from the ceiling, temporarily blocking the special forces' pursuit.

However, the injury on Lin Xuan's left arm worsened due to the energy expenditure, and purple-black corrosive traces were spreading. "Must finish this quickly," Lin Xuan gritted his teeth against the pain and took a small jade bottle from his bosom, "I didn't expect to use this so soon."

Inside the jade bottle was a Pill emitting a faint golden light—the "Origin Pill." This was a treasure he had obtained many years ago from an Ancient Relic; it could greatly boost a Practitioner's power in a short time, but the side effects were equally severe.

Lin Xuan swallowed the Pill without hesitation. In an instant, a massive surge of energy erupted within his body, and emerald-green light burst forth from every part of him. The purple-black energy corroding his left arm was temporarily suppressed, and the pain was briefly alleviated.

"Five minutes, that should be enough." Lin Xuan took a deep breath and accelerated toward the front.

At the end of the passage, Chen Mo was pacing in front of a massive stone door. The surface of the stone door was covered in ancient Runes, and on the ground in front of the door lay several human corpses wearing Star Technology uniforms; they were clearly the personnel sent earlier to guard the Core.

"Did you find the Earth Element Core?" Lin Xuan asked urgently.

Chen Mo shook his head: "The door cannot be opened, and I can feel an extremely powerful energy fluctuation inside."

Lin Xuan carefully examined the stone door and discovered it was a type of ancient Five Elements Array lock. Ordinary people could not open it at all, but for Lin Xuan, who was proficient in the Dao of Wood Element, there was a way to break it.

"Step back," Lin Xuan signaled to Chen Mo, "let me try."

Lin Xuan pressed his hands against the stone door, and Wood Element Energy spread along the Rune patterns on the door. He closed his eyes to sense, soon finding the key points of the Array—the five energy nodes representing the Five Elements. Since he primarily cultivated Wood Element, he only needed to activate the Wood Element node, then use the principle of Wood Element overcoming Earth to break the Earth Element node, and the remaining three nodes would trigger a chain reaction and unlock automatically.

The stone door slowly opened, revealing a spacious circular hall inside. In the center was an ancient altar, and on the altar sat a metal container, from which a strong purple-black light radiated—that was the Earth Element Core.

"Be careful," Lin Xuan stepped into the hall vigilantly, "it's too quiet; this isn't normal."

Just as Lin Xuan was about to approach the altar, the ground suddenly shook violently. A crack rapidly expanded from the base of the altar, and the entire floor began to collapse. Even more shocking was that an extremely powerful Void Energy surged out from the crack, rapidly condensing into a humanoid entity over three meters tall.

"Yage's avatar!" Lin Xuan immediately recognized this powerful existence. Unlike an ordinary Void Guard, this avatar possessed a clear consciousness and astonishing power; it was a direct extension of Yage's will.

"Human, your efforts are all in vain," the voice of the Yage avatar was like grinding metal, filled with ominous intent, "the Void will descend; this is the inevitability of the universe."

Before Lin Xuan could respond, the Yage avatar had already launched an attack. A thick beam of purple-black energy shot straight at him. Lin Xuan barely managed to dodge, but his left shoulder was still grazed, and his injury worsened again.

"Chen Mo, cover me so I can approach the Core!" Lin Xuan quickly adjusted his strategy, "The effect of the Origin Pill only has three minutes left."

Although Chen Mo was not a Practitioner, as a special operations soldier, his skills were equally extraordinary. He took several special Energy Interference Bombs from his backpack and threw them precisely at the Yage avatar, causing a brief interference.

Lin Xuan seized the opportunity and cast "Wood Element: Vine Entanglement." Dozens of thick energy vines grew from the ground, wrapping toward the Yage avatar. These vines carried powerful Life Energy, capable of temporarily suppressing the flow of Void Energy.