Chapter 439 - 209: Umbral Nightmare, A Grand Dream
Chapter 439: Chapter 209: Umbral Nightmare, A Grand Dream
"Why did you join Xinhuo? For a life of comfort and pleasure? On a smaller scale, you did it for your families. On a larger scale, you did it to protect humanity, to carry our flame to the farthest reaches!"
"Now, the path is right beneath our feet. Are you scared just because there are a few nails in the road?!"
"I’m telling you, I’m not afraid!"
Hu Dahai pointed to his own chest, declaring word by word, "Who the hell has the guts to try this with me! Next up, I’ll go myself!"
His words crashed like thunder in everyone’s hearts.
The legacy of Xinhuo had always been built on generations of sacrifice and dedication!
It had to be said that this philosophy had permeated the very hearts of even these lower-ranking Martial Hall members.
"Captain, count me in!"
"Dammit, Brother Lin Ye just saved my life a moment ago. So what if I give it back to him now! I’ll go too!"
"Exactly! We might not be as strong as the two newcomers, but we can’t let them look down on our courage!"
"I’ll go!"
"And me!"
In an instant, a chorus of "I’ll go!" echoed through the cavern, dispelling all the gloom and fear.
On those faces, both young and mature, the flame of determination was rekindled.
Zhang Daoxuan watched the scene unfold, watched his companions scrambling over each other, willing to risk their lives to carve out a path of blood for the team.
In a daze, it was as if he could truly see blazing torches being held high in each of their hands.
A flame that would never be extinguished.
...
「Yanjing, Kunlun Sub-Palace.」
As the scene played out on the broadcast equipment, echoing clearly into every corner of the conference room, the entire space fell silent.
Long Bohan, Wang Jingcheng, and the others felt a rush of hot blood to their heads.
They watched the members of Xinhuo on the screen, scrambling over one another and facing death with equanimity, and they felt their eyes begin to burn.
An irrepressible pride showed on Long Bohan’s face. ’This is Xinhuo!’
Perhaps there were many Martial Halls in the world whose overall strength was slightly greater than theirs.
But in this world, there was no Martial Hall more united than they were!
On the other side, the spectators from the Kunlun Martial Hall had varied expressions.
Some of them had originally sneered at Xinhuo’s spirit of sacrifice—this idea of turning oneself into the wick of a candle to be constantly burned—thinking it foolish and meaningless.
But when they saw those faces, flushed with excitement, and watched them advance one after another despite knowing the danger, that bit of contempt unknowingly vanished into thin air.
In its place was a complex emotion.
They couldn’t condone this behavior, which was akin to moths flying into a flame, yet they couldn’t help but feel a sliver of respect for such pure dedication.
A faint, calm smile remained on Lv Yongze’s face, but anyone who knew him could see that the knuckles of the hand holding his teacup had turned slightly white.
’He’s heartbroken.’
’These are all the young elites of the Martial Hall!’
Xiao Yuanshan’s expression, however, was somewhat grim.
He looked at the soaring morale of the Xinhuo members on the screen, then looked at his own side. Although Zhang Daoming was still far ahead on the individual point rankings, the team as a whole was fighting for themselves, like a tray of loose sand.
The two completely different philosophies formed a stark contrast at that moment.
...
「Three hours later.」
The atmosphere inside the massive cavern was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
Of the more than forty Xinhuo members who had originally gathered here, only thirty-two remained.
For the past three hours, they had been working in pairs, conducting a blanket search of every gravitational anomaly marked on the map.
They were no longer diving in recklessly.
Every exploration was the culmination of everyone’s painstaking effort.
Lin Ye was responsible for providing the most precise gravity coordinates and speculating on the internal environment, while Zhang Daoxuan used Lin Ye’s intel, combined with the passage structures, to deduce the safest route.
The members responsible for scouting the paths would carry all sorts of specialized tools.
One by one, difficulties were overcome and traps were seen through.
Some hidden passages led to other, even more concealed tunnels, making everyone think for a moment that they had found hope. But in the end, they were still met with a cold rock wall.
Most of the hidden passages were filled with all kinds of deadly traps.
Although they had minimized the risks as much as possible, the designer of the "Painful Labyrinth" was clearly a grandmaster at toying with people’s minds.
Several times, scouting teams encountered unavoidable combination traps, and in the end, could only helplessly crush their Space-Folding Devices and withdraw from the competition.
Every flash of white light made the hearts of those who remained sink a little deeper.
So far, the end of every path had been a dead end.
They tried again and again, and failed again and again.
Zhang Daoxuan stared at the map on the light screen, which was now densely marked by their countless failures and attempts. His palms were slick with sweat.
They had already investigated half of the gravitational anomalies on the map, but the correct path was still nowhere in sight.
The sacrifices were too great.
Just as Zhang Daoxuan’s own confidence was about to be completely eroded and the atmosphere in the cavern grew heavier and heavier—
a turning point appeared in the most unexpected of places.
While routinely scanning an area with an extremely low degree of gravitational distortion that they had previously overlooked, Lin Ye’s Spiritual Power suddenly paused.
He pointed to a completely unremarkable tunnel entrance.