Chapter 528: The Secret of the God of the Burning Sun

De Jike walked quickly, seeming a bit impatient.

He had been here many times without encountering danger, so he was not as cautious as Lei En, but Lei En did not relax his vigilance, observing the surroundings.

Along the stone path, about every twenty meters, an obelisk stood, like a streetlamp by a road.

These obelisks were all carved from single blocks of rock, each with four faces, about five meters wide and over fifty meters tall, tapering upward to a pointed tip resembling a pyramid's spire. Their surfaces were covered with intricate patterns and runes, exuding an ancient, rustic aura and a faint aura of faith.

Lei En used his soul eye to scan and found the obelisk's inscriptions similar to the Sun‑Chaser Tribe's stone‑pillar totems, with many elements corresponding.

Most of the content on each obelisk was the same, but a certain detail differed completely, seeming to be a number or coordinate pointing to a specific target and location.

When halfway along the stone path, Lei En's gaze suddenly halted.

He sensed an extremely strong aura of faith on one obelisk; at that moment, the patterns and runes on it were rotating, drawing streams of faith from the distant void to the tip, collected through the shaft and flowing underground, vanishing.

"Obelisks are used to collect the aura of faith?"

Lei En's mind cleared.

He involuntarily slowed his steps, carefully observing the still‑reactive obelisk; after the faith gathered and entered the ground, his eyes followed the flow's direction, which ultimately pointed toward the magnificent pyramid ahead.

De Jike noticed Lei En had not kept up, turned and asked, "Lord, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lei En shook his head.

The aura of faith is invisible to the naked eye, so De Jike could not discern the obelisk's true function; its form also differed from the stone‑pillar totems, so he might have taken these stones as mere decorations.

Scanning ahead, he soon spotted several more obelisks in operation.

Obviously, each obelisk collected faith from different sources.

"Chief, do you know if, besides the Sun‑Chaser Tribe, anyone else now worships the God of the Burning Sun?" Lei En asked calmly.

"On the Old Continent, it should be only us," De Jike swayed his ox‑head and replied uncertainly, "However, rumors say that in the primitive jungles south of the New Continent, some troll tribes may still worship my lord, but they are too far to verify."

"You mean the trolls of the southern continent?" Lei En asked, a bit puzzled.

The New Continent actually consists of two lands, a north and a south, linked by a narrow, ribbon‑like continental bridge.

What people usually refer to as the New Continent specifically denotes the northern land, "Bei Ru En Si," where elves and dwarves in the last era each built splendid civilizations on its coasts, later destroyed by the Abyss invasion.

The southern continent, however, has always been covered by vast, untamed forests, fraught with danger and complex terrain, never explored by humans, elves, or dwarves. Some explorers claim that the primitive forests hide many troll tribes and an ancient troll Empire that has persisted since the First Era, spanning tens of thousands of years, though never verified.

Lei En had also heard these rumors, unsure of their truth.

"When my lord An Se had not fallen, His primary followers were trolls, along with some ox‑head people, elves and humans," De Jike said while walking. "You should know that An Se was born in the Prehistoric Era, when Ai Lun E Si was still the trolls' world."

"When trolls founded the First Era, several troll kingdoms served my lord."

"At the time of His fall, it was the mid‑Second Era, the age of giants and giant dragons; troll civilization had already collapsed, the Empire fractured into four or five parts, and countless trolls were driven to remote corners of Ai Lun E Si, struggling to survive in harsh wilderness."

"It is not surprising that some unknown troll tribes still maintain faith in my lord."

"I once met a desert troll tribe in Atas that worshiped my lord, but unfortunately they had regressed into a semi‑intelligent race, retaining only a few primitive instincts, hardly constituting true faith."

De Jike said this, his face full of helplessness and regret.

Lei En nodded without speaking.

He looked at the obelisks on both sides, counting as he went, and found over eighty collecting faith, with a considerable amount constantly being channeled to the pyramid.

Thus it is evident that beyond the Sun‑Chaser Tribe, there must be other followers of the God of the Burning Sun.

Lei En could not accurately estimate how many of these remnant followers there were, guessing between two hundred thousand and three million; even at the lowest estimate it was not a small number, and so many followers on the Old Continent could not have remained unnoticed.

"No wonder the God of the Burning Sun has a chance of revival."

"Wrong!"

Lei En suddenly realized.

Reviving a deity is even harder than mortals achieving divinity; in the history of Ai Lun E Si's gods, successful revivals are few, each a miracle scarcely repeatable.

The vast majority of fallen deities vanished into the river of time, never to be heard from again.

For example, the dwarven "God of Smithing and Craft" Mo La Ding fell in the last era; to this day many dwarves maintain faith in him, praying daily. Even though dwarves have now declined, Mo La Ding's followers surely outnumber those of the God of the Burning Sun, perhaps by more than tenfold, yet Mo La Ding shows no sign of revival.

By contrast, his friend Zuo Ertan's flame of faith is nearly extinguished, dead and silent, a condition far worse than that of the God of the Burning Sun.

Similarly a fallen god, Mo La Ding, with more remnant followers, has no hope of revival;

yet the God of the Burning Sun, with fewer believers, can still answer prayers; even if the response is flawed, the situation is far better than Mo La Ding's, so what does He rely on?

The pyramid must conceal an astonishing secret!

After marching several li, the party finally reached the end of the stone path, arriving at the foot of the pyramid.

The entire tower rose on a massive platform, with a hundred stone steps linking the platform to the stone path; climbing the stairs led to the tower‑base platform, like stepping onto a flat mountaintop plaza.

The pyramid before them was built from countless massive stones, each over five meters long, laid neatly tier by tier to form a slope. The four slopes converged at the tower's apex, only a few dozen meters below the dome, seemingly within reach.

The party pressed on; the nearer they got to the pyramid, the more its grandeur and awe struck them.

Looking up at the pyramid, everyone felt a sense of insignificance.

Lei En was stunned.

It was taller, larger, and more spectacular than the greatest pyramid of his previous life. The dome here rose higher than the tunnel's exit, over three hundred meters, implying the pyramid's height approached three hundred meters—twice that of the largest pyramid of his past life, with a volume exceeding four times.

The pyramid's entrance faced the tunnel's direction; ascending the stairs, obelisks stood on both sides, taller than those below.

Lei En's gaze swept over them, and among the upper obelisks, a dozen or so were in operation.

He also located the stone‑pillar totem corresponding to the Sun‑Chaser Tribe, but De Jike, unaware, walked past those few obelisks.

Finally, the group arrived at the pyramid's entrance.

It was a twenty‑meter‑high stone door, its surface engraved with exquisite images depicting the divine deeds of the God of the Burning Sun An Se. Flanking the door were two towering stone statues, likely divine attendants, clad in armor, holding long spears, their eyes tightly shut as if praying.

"Lord, we have arrived."

De Jike turned to Lei En, lowered his voice as if fearing to awaken the deity behind the door, and said, "Open this door; inside lies my lord's tomb."

"Have you tried?" Lei En examined the heavy stone door and asked.

"Of course, countless times," De Jike understood Lei En's meaning, walked to the door, and pressed his massive palm onto it, infusing holy light.

Boom!

A faint sound rang, and a layer of light appeared on the stone door, repelling the minotaur's hand; at the same time a beam of sunlight materialized in midair and shone straight down.

Dejike clearly knew he would be attacked, yet made no attempt to dodge, letting the light column strike his own minotaur head; the Holy Light barrier he had just raised collapsed instantly, emitting a muffled hum.

Pain flashed across his face, indicating the light column was far from pleasant.

Lei En watched the whole process very closely.

The magical protection was triggered by the runes on the door, drawing energy from within the pyramid. The descending beam was the protective formation's built‑in counterattack, its power equivalent to a Seven‑ring Technique; that is, Dejike is a Legendary High‑rank Sun‑walker, possessing extremely high resistance to Holy Light power—if a slightly weaker Legendary had faced it, the beam would have turned them to ash.

Dejike recovered, giving a wry smile, "As long as anyone touches the door, the 'Solar Flare Light' counterattack triggers; you simply can't dodge it."

"So you didn't try to dodge," Lei En realized.

"Indeed, and the greater the pressure or energy applied to the door, the stronger the Solar Flare Light becomes," Dejike said helplessly. Seeing Lei En approach the massive door and reach out, he hurriedly warned, "Lord, please don't attempt this lightly."

Before his words finished, Lei En's hand was already pressed against the door.

He injected no spirit power or other energy, merely exerting raw force as if to push the great door open.

Hum…

The massive stone door shuddered, emitting a thunderous sound; the rune formation on it instantly activated, flashing a blinding light that caused the minotaur watching the scene to instinctively close its eyes or turn its head away.

A thick beam of light descended from the sky, striking Lei En's head like lightning.

Dejike turned pale with shock.

This was the most terrifying Solar Flare Light he had ever seen, at least beyond an Eight‑ring Technique, even approaching a Nine‑ring Technique.

Yet in the next instant, Lei En vanished.

The Solar Flare Light struck the ground, leaving a charred patch without causing any damage. With a crackle, Lei En's figure turned into lightning and returned to the doorway, scrutinizing the door's runes.

"Lord…" Dejike stared, speechless.

Lei En turned his head and smiled, "I only gave it a brief try. This protective formation is extremely clever and powerful, vastly different from today's magical systems. If it were over ten thousand years old, I would have had no way to handle it, but after more than ten millennia…"

Dejike's eyes lit up, full of hope.

"After such a long span, even the strongest magical protection inevitably develops flaws; once I locate its loophole, I can break it," Lei En said calmly, exuding confidence.

"Great!"

Dejike was overjoyed; he had not held high expectations for Lei En, placing his hope instead on Lei En's teacher, the Holy Soul Wizard.

Lei En shifted his tone, adding, "However, breaking it will take some time."

"How long?" Dejike hurriedly asked.

"Ten to fifteen days," Lei En replied after a moment's thought.

The joy on Dejike's face froze, and with a worried frown he said, "Our food and fresh water may not last that long."

"I also have reserves of food and fresh water here; if we use them sparingly, it should be enough," Lei En said, pulling a large stock of supplies from his Nebula Ring—originally meant for his own sustenance, enough to feed him alone for half a year.

"So many!"

Dejike stared at the piles that towered above him, his face full of astonishment; what size of dimensional ring could possibly hold that much?

He couldn't help but glance at the black ring on Lei En's hand, finally realizing its great value.

Lei En smiled lightly, offering no further explanation.

In fact, he could now open the pyramid's entrance directly; the earlier test showed that the Key of Doors works on it. He deceived Dejike about needing ten days to a half‑month not to break the magical protection, but to give Reslin time to construct a planar teleportation array, which might still fail.

Moreover, he needed to make some preparations before opening the door.

Lei En tested a spell and discovered that Anse's tomb is a one‑way locked space: a teleport gate can be opened from inside to the outside, but not the reverse.

Naturally, the interior of the pyramid allows no teleportation in or out.

So he opened a phantom gate leading to the desert ruins outside the tomb, letting the few stationed minotaurs and over fifty kodo beasts inside, to shield them from the lingering sun's scorch, though it carried exposure risk.

After everything was arranged, Lei En began to theatrically study the runes before the door.

Using various methods, he repeatedly triggered the door's runes, dodging the Solar Flare Light, then sat down to contemplate briefly before rising to continue his research. He paced around the pyramid's base several times, even climbed to its summit, discovering that standing there also attracted the Solar Flare Light's attack.

After a half‑day of toil, he finally sat down to rest.

He ate dry rations and drank water, his gaze unfocused, clearly still pondering.

Dejike and the minotaurs dared not disturb Lei En; the Extreme Warriors rested nearby, and Boorqi was already sound asleep, clutching his newly acquired Bolt Gun.

No one knew that Lei En's thoughts were not on breaking the magical protection at all; he had opened his mobile phone interface, watching the spirit power pool's over‑700 cells of energy, preparing to boost and enhance himself.

(End of Chapter)