Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

As the desert lord listened to their banter, a faint smile appeared in his silvery-white eyes.

Indeed, humans have always brought it such pleasure.

*

soon.

"arrive."

It stopped in front of a stone door.

The stone door blends almost seamlessly with the surrounding rock walls; if the desert lord hadn't pointed it out, no one else would have noticed that there was a door there.

The door frame is engraved with the same runes as the seal at the entrance. Although they have faded, they still retain a faint energy fluctuation.

"This is the safe room left behind by that team. The runes on the door were carved by their captain—a Dragon Kingdom cultivator who was proficient in rune magic. The code of the runes is eight characters."

"Cultivators from our country? Our country actually has cultivators?"

"It might be a dragon kingdom in another parallel universe."

"That's true, after all, there are also big brothers like him in other parallel universes' dragon kingdoms."

"..."

The desert lord stretched out his finger and pressed eight positions on the stone gate in sequence.

Each time a location is pressed, the runes on the door light up one more point.

After pressing the last button, the door emitted a long hum and then slowly opened inward.

The safety room is small, only about ten square meters.

Inside, there is a stone table, several stone benches, a stone bed, and a wall covered with inscriptions and maps.

On the stone table was an iron box, its surface rusted but well sealed.

Ou Yun looked around in surprise. "An item from three hundred years ago, preserved so well?"

"The safe room is sealed, with almost no moisture in the air. In addition, a special mineral in the stone walls has a preservative effect."

Marcus has already begun studying the material of the stone wall. "I've seen this mineral in the literature; it's a natural desiccant."

Ou Yun walked to the wall and looked at the wall covered with text.

The characters were carved in the ancient script of the Dragon Kingdom, with vigorous and powerful strokes that remain clearly legible even after three hundred years.

Leng Ruolan walked over and looked at it with him—

I didn't understand any of it.

"This is a letter."

The desert lord thoughtfully translated, "A Letter to Those Who Follow."

"Dear successors:"

If you've read this far, it means you've passed through the sandworm's lair entrance, defeated the guards, and found this safe room. Congratulations—you've come a step further than we have.

We are the 376th challenger team from the Forbidden Zone. Our captain is Lu Yuan, the 37th generation successor of the Dragon Kingdom's Demon Subduing Division.

The deputy captain is named Su Yan, and she is proficient in both medicine and poisons.

There are three other teammates – Big Bear, Iron Hammer, and Little Seven.

Their real names won't be engraved here, because we are about to set off for the Lord's Lair, and we have no intention of returning.

The purpose of this letter is to tell you a few things that we fought tooth and nail to figure out.

First, all seven lords are offspring of the Abyss Mother, and they share an energy reflux network.

When you kill a lord, its energy flows through the network into the remaining lords, strengthening them. This means that the further you progress, the stronger the remaining lords become. Be prepared.

Second, each lord has their own attributes.

The Forest Lord is an absorber; it can absorb the attacker's energy and convert it into its own power. Don't try to bombard it head-on with energy weapons—our captain learned this the hard way.

To deal with an absorption-type lord, you can only weaken its outer shell with physical attacks, and then find its core to kill it in one blow.

Third, and most importantly, kernel fragments are the key to success.

We found one of the two core fragments in the desert region, which was being kept by a guardian who called himself the Desert Lord.

It promised to help us, but backed down at the last minute out of fear. We don't blame it; thousands of years of loneliness and trauma are not so easily overcome.

If you find it, please tell it: We don't blame it. Hopefully, it will meet someone who can truly lead it out of the stone pillar.

Finally, inside the metal box are our belongings—a few pieces of equipment and intelligence we risked our lives for. Hopefully, they can help you.

May you go further than we have.

This was Lu Yuan's last writing.

The desert lord finished reading the last word written from the stone tablet to the floor.

Ou Yun muttered to himself, "With such writing ability, it seems the final moment isn't so urgent after all!"

Leng Ruolan immediately pressed the button back: "Don't set a flag!"

*

After the desert lord finished reading the last word, the safe room remained silent for several seconds.

Then Ou Yun raised his hand: "I have a question."

"What?"

"What was the mindset of this senior Lu Yuan when he wrote his farewell letter, that allowed him to write so neatly? Look at this left-falling stroke, this right-falling stroke, this brush tip—he must have practiced, right?"

"...?"

Leng Ruolan actually thought about it for a moment: "He is a descendant of the Demon Subduing Division, so the Demon Subduing Division might have requirements for calligraphy."

"The Demon Slayer Division even has calligraphy classes?"

"What can't ancient cultivators in the Dragon Kingdom do? Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, talismans, formations, alchemy, weapon crafting—beautiful handwriting is a basic skill."

"So what are the basic skills of our Chinese athletes now?"

"As for you, you'd probably just lie down."

"...Could you please give me some face?"

"There's no need to spare it in front of the desert lord; it doesn't understand the meaning of face."

The desert lord, however, thought differently: "I understand. Over the past few thousand years, I've observed many human groups, and face is a very important virtual resource in your social interactions."

"See, they know what they're doing."

"..."

Is there anyone who can control me?

Alexander whispered to Douglas, "The Cold team has never lost an argument."

Douglas whispered back, "Even Big Brother hasn't won."

"Because he really was in the wrong."

"really."

*

Ou Yun opened the metal box.

The box contained a surprising amount of items—a notebook with a yellowed cover, three rings, the hilt of a broken sword, and a small bag of well-preserved seeds.

"The notebook is Lu Yuan's diary."

Leng Ruolan came over and took a look.

"This person really likes to keep records."

When Ou Yun turned to the first page, the handwriting on it was exactly the same as the suicide note on the wall.

"This document records their entire journey from entering the forbidden area to the final battle, and it may contain detailed information about other regional lords."

Alexander joined in, "What's that ring?"

The desert lord glanced at it, a complex emotion flashing in his silvery-white eyes: "A spatial ring. An artifact from ancient cultivators of the Dragon Kingdom. It has a smaller capacity than the spatial artifacts you use now, but it can be transferred. They probably left it specifically for you... or rather, for future challengers."

This is quite common – for Europe.

He picked up the ring. The moment his consciousness entered it, he froze.

"There is a perfectly intact longsword inside."