Warning! A hidden dragon has emerged!

Qin Quan, Su Qingyan, and Ling Yuyan immediately rushed forward, and the four of them were stunned the moment they saw the contents of the box.

Inside the wooden box were simple yet exquisite jade artifacts, porcelain pieces, and calligraphy and paintings, each carrying a rich ancient Chinese charm and genuine cultural relics of the Chinese nation.

"These are the national treasures that were looted by Western powers in the last century."

Gao Yuan spoke in a deep voice, his face full of anger.

"Pack them all up and take them back to China, so our national treasures can return home!"

Qin Quan immediately made the decision, equally furious.

Compared to these national treasures lost overseas, all other treasures can be discarded, but these cultural relics belonging to our homeland must be recovered.

As Qin Quan's voice faded, boxes of national treasures were collected into their treasure bags by the master and his apprentice.

The Pope stood aside, his heart breaking, but dared not utter a word of anger.

Although these artifacts were looted, they represent the Vatican's rich heritage, which it has treasured for many years. How could it not feel heartbroken to see them being taken away by others?

Just as the last box of national treasures was finished being stored, a faint hollow sound came from the ground beneath Qin Quan's feet.

He lowered his head and tapped the thick stone bricks; the sound was dull and hollow.

A strange glint flashed in his eyes. He turned to look at the Pope and asked:

"Is there something else down there?"

The Pope's heart tightened, and he quickly shook his head.

"Impossible! The treasure vault is at the deepest point underground, and it's completely empty; there's absolutely nothing there!"

Are you sure?

Qin Quan was too lazy to waste words with him, so he suddenly exerted force with his foot and stomped down hard!

boom!

The hard stone bricks shattered and collapsed instantly, revealing a dark, hidden cave entrance to everyone's eyes.

A chilling wind howled at the cave entrance, and a thick, pungent stench of blood assaulted the senses, making one's eardrums ache and one's mind tense.

Qin Quan and his four disciples exchanged glances. Without saying a word, they each took a luminous pearl to light their way, and in a flash, they entered the cave without hesitation.

The pope behind him was filled with suspicion and curiosity, which outweighed his fear.

He grew up in the Papacy and served as its head for decades, and had never heard of a second underground palace hidden beneath the treasury.

After hesitating for a moment, he grabbed a luminous pearl and quickly followed him inside.

The underground tunnels were deep and long, and the deeper one went, the stronger and heavier the stench of blood became, almost solidifying into a tangible substance.

The passageway was lined with piles of white bones, and even the crevices in the hard stone walls were filled with layers upon layers of human bones.

Grotesque skulls are embedded in the wall, their empty eye sockets dark and deep, exuding endless gloom.

Without a closer look, it's clear that the bones scattered all over the ground are human remains.

Ling Yuyan's pupils contracted slightly, her eyes filled with shock, and she asked in a low voice:

"How many people would have died to create such a horrific pile?"

"At least tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands."

Qin Quan's gaze swept over the skeletons on both sides, his face turning extremely gloomy.

"more than!"

Su Qingyan shook her head slightly. "The devastation here is even more terrifying than the mass graves and ancient battlefields. The further in you go, the denser the piles of bones become, and the number is simply incalculable."

The group continued deeper into the tunnel of bones.

I don't know how long we traveled, but I roughly estimate it was over a hundred kilometers, well outside the Vatican's sphere of influence.

Even the Pope was stunned and felt a chill run down his spine when he looked at the horrifying corridor of bones.

This is no holy religion, it's a living hell, a place where people are devoured without spitting out their bones, like the Lion Camel Ridge.

Finally, the group reached the end of the passageway.

Before me lay a vast, circular open space, with piles of withered bones scattered everywhere, and countless skulls neatly stacked, encircling the entire area.

The ground, stone walls, and dome were covered with countless pale white skulls, layer upon layer, seemingly endless, creating an extremely horrifying visual impact.

The source of the bloodshed underground was a blood-red pool about ten feet in size in the center of the site.

The pool water was dark red and viscous, churning quietly, and exuding a lingering, foul smell of blood.

At the very center of the dome hangs a gilded cup inlaid with various rare gems; this is the Holy Grail, a treasure passed down through generations of the Vatican.

Countless tiny blood vessels seeped from the gaps in the skull on the dome, dripping down into the Holy Grail, then slowly dripping down the rim into the pool of blood below, a cycle that never ceased.

"Is this the legendary Holy Grail?"

Ling Yuyan's eyes were full of surprise.

"Yes, that should be it."

Qin Quan nodded, his heart filled with astonishment.

No one could have imagined that the Holy Grail, revered as a supreme relic by the Vatican and worshipped by millions of believers, was hidden in this sinister and terrifying hell of bones.

He turned to the pale-faced pope beside him and questioned him sharply:

"Where is this place? And what's up there?"

The Pope frowned, his face extremely grim, more bitter than if he were crying, and he shook his head repeatedly.

"I...I really don't know."

He had been in charge of the Papacy for many years, had read through all the ancient books and secret texts, and had inspected every inch of the Papacy's land, yet he had never known that such a secluded place was hidden beneath the treasure vault.

The Vatican, which appears sacred and solemn to the world as a place of salvation, is actually a living hell where countless lives are slaughtered.

The ground is littered with withered bones, and countless souls have perished.

Countless innocent lives have been lost.

What's even more chilling is that fresh blood is still seeping from the dome-shaped skull, continuously nourishing the Holy Grail and filling the blood pool, meaning that this massacre has never stopped.

"It's okay if you don't know."

Su Qingyan looked up at the skull dome and released her divine sense to investigate.

Suddenly, her brows furrowed, and she said in a deep voice:

"There is a soul-locking array here. All the skulls are arranged according to the array positions, which has the ability to block divine sense. Thousands of dead souls underground are imprisoned here and will never be able to be reborn."

Ling Yuyan's face turned cold, and her heart trembled violently.

"Does Master mean that the souls of these skeletons are still locked in this dark underground?"

"Exactly."

Su Qingyan nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the churning blood pool ahead.

"Although I do not know the true purpose of the person who set up the formation, this blood pool must have the strange effects of repairing serious injuries, nourishing and strengthening the soul."

"Master, can this formation be broken?"

Qin Quan asked in a deep voice.

"It can be broken."

Su Qingyan said with a hint of regret, "Once the great formation is broken, all the imprisoned souls here will vanish without a trace."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Gao Yuan asked subconsciously:

"So what should we do now?"

"Separate to search."

Su Qingyan quickly devised a plan.

"Every formation has its key points, mechanisms, and other flaws. Once we find the crucial nodes, we can trace the corresponding surface location of this underground area."

This soul-locking formation is extremely powerful; even her divine sense cannot penetrate it, as it is a thick wall of skulls. She can only manually search for weaknesses.

The four immediately split up and quickly searched the circular skeletal site.

His gaze swept carefully over each skull.

The skulls scattered all over the ground were neatly arranged and indistinguishable at first glance.

It's like a maze, so confusing and hard to spot anything unusual.

After a while.

Gao Yuan suddenly raised her hand and pointed to a skull high on the wall.

"Look at this one!"

Brush brush!

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and immediately saw what was going on.

The surrounding skulls were all pale, withered bones, dry and rough, but this one was completely smooth, with a warm patina formed by years of rubbing, showing a hint of jade-like quality, making it stand out from the crowd.