Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The colossal bronze tower stood majestically, its eerie blue glow flickering with a low, humming sound, illuminating the entire underground space in a bizarre and surreal way. Nine bronze pillars, burning with blue flames, stood like silent giants, guarding the tower's entrance.

Everyone stood at the end of the spiral stone steps, gazing up at this unimaginable creation, and for a moment, no one uttered a sound. Only the faint hum of the floating live-streaming sphere's motor and the low, rumbling friction of gears turning emanating from the interior of the tower in the distance.

"My goodness..." Fatty Wang finally found his voice and muttered, "This is a tomb? It's more magnificent than a palace! Did that old bastard Wang Zanghai hollow out the whole mountain?"

"It utilizes a natural underwater crustal cavity," Zhang Qiling's gaze swept over the clearly naturally formed rock strata on the dome and walls, "combined with artificial construction. The scale of the project... is unimaginable."

"Look at the arrangement of those bronze pillars," Xie Yuchen pointed to the nine giant pillars in the square, "that's the ancient, lost 'Nine Luminaries Suppressing Ruins Formation.' It's said to have the power to suppress earth energy, draw in stellar power, and seal off space. It's used to protect this tower... and what's inside is probably extraordinary."

Wu Xie's gaze was fixed on the enormous "Eye of the Ruins" on the tower gate. The patterns of the vortex were more complex and three-dimensional than ever before; staring at it for too long felt like his entire consciousness was being sucked in. He recalled Chen Wenjin's letter, "It is neither in the past nor in the future," and his heart inexplicably pounded a few times.

"Go in?" Black Bear asked, his tone unusually serious, devoid of any teasing.

"Hmm." Zhang Qiling responded, taking the lead as he descended the last few steps and stepped onto the black stone-paved plaza. His footsteps echoed across the empty space.

Zhang Qiling walked alongside him toward the main entrance of the giant tower. The others followed closely behind, passing through the nine blue flame bronze pillars that exuded an invisible pressure.

The closer you get, the more you realize the tower's imposing grandeur. Its surface is covered in a mottled patina of copper, with thick, petrified marine carcasses clinging to many places, as if the tower has been submerged in the ocean for countless years. Besides the enormous eye motif on the tower's entrance, the surrounding area is engraved with dense, fine ancient seal script, some characters already blurred and illegible.

Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu immediately stepped forward and carefully examined the object with their flashlights. Wu Xie also took out his notebook to take notes.

"...The Eye of the Void, the Gate to the Realm. It holds the sea and rivers, and is suppressed by a tower. Those who dare to peek into the secrets of heaven will be sacrificed with their flesh and blood, their souls forever imprisoned..."

"...Immortality is illusory, reincarnation is inevitable. Those who guard the gate must pay with their blood generation after generation..."

"...copper for the bones, jade for the eyes, star charts for the guide, and tides for the key..."

"The gatekeeper?" Wu Xie caught the word and his heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously looked at Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling". The two were also looking at the inscription, their expressions calm, but something seemed to flicker slightly deep in their eyes.

“This tower is not just Wang Zanghai’s tomb,” Xie Yuchen straightened up, his voice filled with suppressed excitement. “The inscriptions suggest that it is a sealing and protective facility for a ‘passage.’ The ‘gatekeeper’… could be a family, or a specific group, who have been responsible for guarding this place for generations, preventing what is behind the ‘door’ from coming out, or… preventing outsiders from entering.”

"What is Wang Zanghai then?" Jiang Xun Gu asked. "Is he a gatekeeper? Or someone who wants to get in?"

"It could be both." Huo Xiuxiu pointed to another inscription. "Look here, 'Hidden Sea and Embracing Rivers'—Wang Zanghai's name may have originated from this. He may have been one of the 'Gatekeepers,' but with his feng shui skills, he found a way to utilize and even control some of the power here. In the end, he chose to bury himself here, both for immortality and perhaps... to get closer to that 'secret.'"

Immortality. That word again. Wu Xie thought of the Jingjue Ancient City and the Tomb of the King of Xian; it seemed that all these strange clues ultimately pointed to this elusive goal.

Just as everyone was focused on deciphering the inscriptions, a very faint "click" sound, different from the mechanical operation inside the tower, came from the shadows at the edge of the square.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" turned their heads almost simultaneously, their gazes shooting towards the source of the sound like lightning.

"There's something there," Zhang Qiling whispered, his hand already on his waist.

The next second, the shadows that were originally still and almost blended into the stone slabs at the edge of the square suddenly "stood up".

There were eight humanoid figures. But they were definitely not living people. Their bodies seemed to be made of some dark blue, rusty bronze-like material, with large bone spurs protruding from their joints, making a creaking sound as they moved. Their heads were twisted, without facial features, only two sunken eye sockets, within which burned two eerie green, cold flames. In their hands they held rusted but strangely shaped bronze weapons, resembling halberds or twisted forks.

These things were silent, yet they exuded a strong aura of death and a metallic, rusty smell.

"Copper Armor Corpse Puppets," Zhang Qiling said their names in a calm tone, as if he were saying, "The weather is nice."

As soon as the words were spoken, the eight bronze-armored corpse puppets suddenly moved! Their speed was astonishing, completely inconsistent with their stiff appearance. They transformed into eight bluish-gray shadows, rushing straight at the group with a piercing metallic scraping sound! Their attacks were chaotic, yet powerful and heavy. The rusted weapons cut through the air, emitting a strange, wailing sound.

"Scatter!" Xie Yuchen shouted sternly.

The group scattered instantly. A corpse puppet brandished a twisted bronze halberd, sweeping it towards Wu Xie and Fatty Wang at the waist. Wu Xie rolled backward in a sorry state to dodge, while Fatty Wang cursed and used his entrenching tool to block the blow, his arm going numb from the impact, and he staggered back several steps.

"Holy crap! That thing's powerful!"

Another corpse puppet lunged at Huo Xiuxiu and Xie Yuchen, who were protecting the equipment. A Ning dodged to the side, her water-splitting dagger aimed precisely at the puppet's eye socket, but it made a crisp "ding" sound as it was deflected by the eerie bluish-gray "skin," leaving only a white mark. The corpse puppet retaliated, and A Ning retreated hastily, her sleeve torn in the process.

Hei Xiazi and Jiang Xun Gu each entangled one of the bronze-armored corpse puppets, the sounds of weapons clashing filling the air, but neither could gain the upper hand in the short term. These bronze-armored corpse puppets possessed extremely high defense, and although their movements were somewhat stiff, they were incredibly strong and felt no pain.

"Zhang Qiling" moved. He didn't help anyone, but instead, in a flash, he faced the most imposing corpse puppet at the forefront. The corpse puppet was wielding a huge, rusted axe, which it brought down on him with the force of splitting a mountain.

Zhang Qiling neither dodged nor evaded. The instant the giant axe was about to strike, his footwork shifted, and he slid half a step to the side like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the axe blade from grazing his nose as it crashed heavily onto the stone slab, sending shards of stone flying. At the same time, his left hand shot out like lightning, its five fingers forming a claw. It didn't grab the axe handle, but precisely gripped the right wrist joint of the corpse puppet holding the axe—where bone spurs protruded, seemingly a weak point.

Apply pressure with your fingers and pinch down.

"Snap!"

A sickening cracking sound rang out as he crushed and shattered the hard, bluish-gray outer shell with his bare hands! The corpse puppet's arm froze. "Zhang Qiling" seized the opportunity to close in, slamming his right shoulder into the corpse puppet's chest.

"Bang!"

The dull thud was like the impact of a giant bell. A section of the corpse puppet's chest visibly caved in, and its entire body was thrown off the ground and flew backward. But in mid-air, it strangely twisted its waist, and the bone spikes of its other hand slashed towards "Zhang Qiling's" throat.

Zhang Qiling tilted his head, and a bone spur grazed his neck. He released the broken wrist of the corpse puppet with his left hand, reached down and grabbed another protruding joint on the side of the corpse puppet's waist. With a single arm, he swung the corpse puppet, which was still in mid-air, and slammed it hard into another corpse puppet that was fighting with Black Bear next to him!

"boom!"

The two bronze-armored corpse puppets collided, tumbled away, and their parts and rust fragments scattered everywhere.

Zhang Qiling's feet didn't stop; he moved again, cutting into another battle. He no longer engaged in direct combat, but instead used his agility, far exceeding that of the corpse puppets, to weave through the gaps between weapons. Each strike precisely hit the joints of the corpse puppets or the base of bone spurs. Fingers, elbows, knees—all became weapons. Wherever he went, the sound of bones shattering echoed. One corpse puppet had its neck snapped (if it could even be called a neck), another had its knees shattered by his kick, forced to its knees, and then its skull was crushed by another foot.

The battle was so fast it was dizzying. In less than two minutes, half of the eight bronze-armored corpse puppets lay motionless on the ground in various contorted positions, the green flames in their eyes extinguished. The remaining four seemed to sense the threat and began to shrink back, gathering together, their eerie green eye sockets all "staring" at "Zhang Qiling".

Zhang Qiling flicked the bluish-gray debris off his hands, stopped, and looked at the four remaining corpse puppets with indifferent eyes. What he had just displayed was only a portion of his strength, yet it had already been as swift and devastating as a whirlwind.

The levitating live-streaming sphere hovered in the air, clearly transmitting the scene. After a brief delay, the live chat exploded with comments:

Prophet: The Spirit Awakener is on a killing spree!

Defeating the so-called experts: This fighting power... is it even human?

The guy's fan club: My husband is so handsome!!! (The other one is handsome too!)

Zhang Qiling stood before the tower gate the entire time, without making a move. His gaze swept over the wrecked corpse puppet on the ground, then looked at "Zhang Qiling," and finally settled on the massive "Eye of Return to the Ruins" at the tower gate. Deep within someone's unnoticed mind, a cold, inhuman voice suddenly resounded:

[Ding. Detected that the host (character: Zhang Qiling) is in the 'Core of Guixu' and has come into contact with the 'Secret of Longevity' inscription, which aligns with the character's main exploration storyline.]

[Accomplishment assessment in progress...]

[Evaluation passed. Current character fit: High.]

[Related clues detected (Gatekeeper's legacy, illusion of immortality)... Classified as 'Traces of Immortality'.]

[Reward Issued: Host (Playing the Role of Zhang Qiling) base combat strength increased by 10%. Current overall combat strength base improved.]

[Synchronized associated individual (Zhang Qiling)...homogeneous fluctuation detected...individual (Zhang Qiling) status restored, current combat strength restored to 60%.]

[Please continue exploring, host, to unlock more memory fragments and the character's origin.]

The sound vanished as abruptly as it had appeared. Zhang Qiling's eyes deepened almost imperceptibly for a moment. He could clearly feel a dormant power within his body, closely connected to this physical form and his memories, subtly growing stronger and operating more smoothly. At the same time, he vaguely sensed that the aura of "Zhang Qiling" beside him had also become slightly more solid and substantial.

"Solved?" Black Bear caught his breath, looking at the four remaining cowering corpse puppets. "These things seem to know fear now?"

Zhang Qiling ignored him and looked at Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling's gaze shifted from the tower gate, glancing at the remaining corpse puppets, then at the group, finally settling on Wu Xie. Wu Xie was pale-faced as he examined Wang Pangzi's arm, which had been numb from the shock, and looked worriedly at A Ning's torn sleeve.

"It's alright now," Zhang Qiling said. His voice seemed calmer than usual, carrying an invisible, reassuring power.

As he finished speaking, the four surviving bronze-armored corpse puppets, their eyes flashing intensely with green fire, retreated a few steps, and slowly sank into the shadows of the stone slabs on the ground, disappearing without a trace. It was as if they had never existed, leaving only a few remains and signs of battle on the ground.

The square returned to silence, with only the tower's eerie blue light and its low chanting remaining.

"Are these the tower guards?" Xie Yuchen asked, still shaken.

"Hmm." Zhang Qiling walked to the tower gate and reached out to touch the "Eye of the Ruins" pattern on the cold bronze door. "Don't let strangers get close."

"So, are we considered idlers or not?" Fatty Wang muttered, rubbing his arm.

Zhang Qiling walked to Zhang Qiling's side and looked at the door as well: "How do I open it?"

Zhang Qiling did not answer. He closed his eyes and pressed his palms completely against the center of the vortex in his pupils. He felt the cool touch of the bronze door on his palms, and beneath them, a faint vibration that seemed to pulsate slowly, in sync with the low chanting.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and looked at Xie Yuchen: "Jade Eyes."

Xie Yuchen immediately took out the jade eye that had been combined and handed it over.

Zhang Qiling gently pressed his warm, jade-like eyes into the center of the pupil of the "Eye of Guixu" pattern—there was a very shallow indentation there that perfectly matched the size of the jade eyes.

Perfectly fitted.

The moment the jade eye was embedded, the entire bronze tower trembled violently! The eerie blue light on the tower's surface suddenly became dazzling, and all the verdigris and deposits seemed to vanish for a moment in the light, revealing the ancient and majestic bronze beneath. Blue flames shot into the sky from the tops of the nine bronze pillars, weaving into a complex and ever-changing star map of light and shadow in the air.

The low hum transformed into a thunderous roar, echoing throughout the underground space. On the tower gate, centered on the jade eye, the intricate inscriptions lit up one by one, like flowing golden streams that rapidly spread across the entire doorway.

"Click... Cack cack cack..."

The massive, incomparably heavy bronze gate slowly opened a crack to the inside amidst the deafening roar of its machinery. From the crack flowed a ghostly blue light, ten times more intense than the outside, seemingly solidified, along with an even more ancient, desolate, and boundless aura, as if emanating from the very end of time.

The door opened.