Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The white jade altar stood silently.

The warm luster shimmered softly under the surrounding blue and dark gold energy veins. The palm print at the center of the complex symbol on the altar was clearly visible, as if someone had just removed their hand.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" stood before the altar. Neither of them spoke, but they looked at the symbol, then at the giant tree rooted in the void and composed of pure energy behind the altar. The tree's "branches and leaves" swayed slowly, countless points of light appeared and disappeared, and the deep "hole" at its center rotated, emitting a silent, soul-chilling suction force.

"It's the 'interface'." Zhang Qiling spoke first, his voice clear in the silent energy field. "Use the token and bloodline to activate this altar. It might... temporarily stabilize the projection of the 'door', or open a relatively safe passage to get closer to the core."

"It could also be a trap," Zhang Qiling added, his gaze falling on several extremely fine, charred, and cracked marks along the edge of the palm print. Those weren't marks of time's erosion, but rather the imprint of energy overload or some kind of backlash. "Left by the last person who tried it."

Wu Xie and the others also came over and gathered around the altar. Looking at the simple altar and the suffocatingly large energy tree behind it, everyone felt their own insignificance and powerlessness.

"Want to give it a try?" Black Bear asked.

"Mm." Zhang Qiling nodded. There were no other options. Having reached this point, the retreat was impossible; they could only move forward.

He took out the jade eye of He Yi. "Zhang Qiling" took out the jade tablet with the character "Qi".

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously pressed the tokens in their hands onto the positions corresponding to the complex symbols on the altar—the jade eye corresponding to the vortex, and the jade plaque corresponding to the Qilin stepping on clouds.

Perfectly fitted.

A moment of silence.

The altar trembled slightly. Within the white jade material, a light seemed to be ignited, starting from where the token was embedded and rapidly flowing and spreading along the intricate engravings on the altar's surface! The light was pure white, completely different from the surrounding dark blue and gold energy field, carrying a strange, calming power.

The symbol was fully illuminated, and finally, the light converged on the central palm print indentation.

"Hands," Zhang Qiling said.

Both men simultaneously raised their right hands, hovering them above the dent. Without hesitation, they pressed down at the same time.

The moment the palm touched the white jade, a gentle yet powerful suction force came! It didn't suck away flesh and blood, but rather seemed to be "reading" them, reading their bloodline information, reading their connection with the token, reading their will at this moment.

The altar's light suddenly intensified! A white pillar of light shot into the sky, insignificant in this boundless energy space, yet exceptionally solid and stable. At the top of the pillar, it seemed to touch the lowest "root" of the giant energy tree.

"Buzz—"

A deep, resonant hum, like the simultaneous plucking of billions of strings, spread outwards from the altar in all directions! The surrounding energy channels fluctuated violently, flickering erratically. The suspended "cocoons" were also affected, trembling slightly, and cracks began to widen on the already fragile energy membranes.

"Hold on!" Xie Yuchen shouted, almost being knocked over by the sudden energy shock himself.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling's" hands were as if welded to the altar, completely still. Both had their eyes closed, their brows furrowed. Through the connection established by the altar, a massive, fragmented, and chaotic flow of information was surging down their arms and into their minds!

Those are fragments of memory from millions of years ago in this giant tree of energy, or rather, this "source" space. There are the initial convergence of energy and the appearance of the "gate," the surprise and fear of the Zhang family ancestors when they discovered and attempted to guide and utilize it.

There is the resolute and tragic determination of the "anchors" when they voluntarily go into slumber, the pain and despair when pollution infiltrates and alienates, and the violent conflict and ultimate backlash caused when "Zhang Qiling" tried to "sever the root" with the token...

The information was too much, too chaotic, and too intense. If it weren't for their unwavering will, pure bloodline, and the filtering and buffering effect of the tokens and the altar, their minds would have been overwhelmed in an instant.

The levitating livestream sphere swayed wildly amidst the violent energy fluctuations, the image completely transforming into a distorted patchwork of light and color, accompanied by a cacophony of harsh static. The livestream signal was intermittent, with only a few words struggling to appear in the chat:

…What's wrong…?

...The signal...is lost?...

…Hey bro!…

A few seconds later, the most intense information surged past. The light from the altar stabilized, and the white pillar of light established a firm connection with the "root" of the giant energy tree.

A "bridge of light," paved with soft white light and only wide enough for one person to pass through, extends from the edge of the altar, winding upwards along the "roots" to the rotating "hole" deep within the giant tree.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" opened their eyes simultaneously. Both were pale, with sweat beading on their foreheads, but their eyes were sharper and clearer than before. The shock of information they had just received, though painful, had also made them understand many things in an instant.

"Understood." Zhang Qiling withdrew his hand and glanced at "Zhang Qiling".

Zhang Qiling nodded and withdrew his hand: "The essence of the 'gate' gap is a 'loophole' in energy and rules. The Zhang family ancestors did not 'protect' it, but failed to 'repair' it, were drawn in, and were 'contaminated'. The 'core' is the 'ulcer' projected onto this world by the loophole, and the 'anchor point' is the 'medicine' that slows down the spread of the ulcer."

His words were brief, but packed with information. Wu Xie and the others quickly digested them.

"So, we were wrong about everything before?" Xie Yuchen asked in shock. "It's not about guarding a physical door, but about patching a conceptual 'flaw'?"

Because the patch failed, it was instead contaminated by what was leaked from the vulnerability, forming a 'core' and a curse of immortality? Were those 'anchor' ancestors using themselves as a buffer to slow the erosion of reality by the contamination?

"That's one way to understand it." Zhang Qiling nodded.

"So now..." Huo Xiuxiu looked at the bridge paved with white light, at the end of which was a heart-stopping rotating hole. "Walk across? Go to the core of that 'hole' projection? And then what? How do we 'repair' or 'close' it? Even our ancestors failed."

"We are different," Zhang Qiling said, looking at the bridge of light and then at the jade eye in his hand. "We have a more complete token, and there are two of us. The message mentions, 'Dual-star positioning can temporarily solidify rifts and trace back to their source.'"

This means that two pure bloodlines, using complete tokens, can temporarily stabilize this projection point and have a chance... to trace back the "initial injection point" of this "gap" in our world, against the flow of polluted energy.

"So what if we find the 'initial injection point'?" Fatty Wang asked.

"Perhaps, we can temporarily 'stitch together' or 'isolate' that small area," Zhang Qiling explained. "We can cut off most of the energy source for this projection point, allowing it to shrink naturally. At the very least, this can greatly alleviate the spread of pollution and buy time for future generations."

"Just relief? Not a cure?" Black Bear frowned.

"A complete cure," Zhang Qiling shook his head, "with our current capabilities and understanding, we can't do it. We may never be able to. But alleviating the symptoms and buying time is a victory in itself."

This is a harsh reality, and somewhat unfortunate one. But it is indeed the only viable path at present.

"Let's go." Zhang Qiling said no more and took the lead on the bridge of white light. The bridge surface felt solid to the touch, and walking on it was like walking on glass paved with moonlight. Underfoot were flowing veins of dark blue and dark gold energy, as well as countless floating and trembling "cocoons".

"Zhang Qiling" followed closely behind.

The others followed in turn. The bridge was narrow, allowing only one person to walk on it. Walking on it, one could clearly feel the terrifying gravitational pull from the giant energy tree below, as well as the vague consciousnesses, some conscious and some dormant, projected from countless "cocoons" in all directions.

It felt as if we were walking on the bones of our ancestors and their unfulfilled ideals.

The further they went, the more violent the surrounding energy field became. Outside the bridge of white light, turbulent currents of dark blue and dark gold energy raged like a storm, with occasional streaks of energy lightning striking the vicinity of the bridge surface, sending up blinding specks of light.

The whispers reappeared, this time no longer chaotic, but as if countless voices overlapped, expressing the same pain, resentment, and longing for "the end".

Some of the "cocoons" near the bridge of light seemed to have awakened the mutated humanoids inside. Through the membrane, they "looked" at the people walking on the bridge with distorted faces and let out silent roars.

A Ning, Jiang Xun Gu, and Hei Xia Zi gripped their weapons tightly, wary of a possible attack. But the "cocoons" seemed to be bound by some force, unable to truly break free of the node and attack the light bridge.

After walking for about ten minutes, the light bridge began to tilt upwards, extending towards the middle of the main trunk of the giant energy tree, to the side of the rotating hole.

There, on the energy "bark" of the giant tree, there is a relatively calm circular area several meters in diameter. In the center of the area, there is a complex symbol similar to that on the altar, but more intricate and precise, slowly rotating. At the center of the symbol, there is also a palm print indentation.

"That's it." Zhang Qiling stopped and pointed to the symbol.

That place is the end point of "dual-star positioning" and the starting point for attempting "tracing back to the source".

Just as everyone was preparing to continue, a sudden change occurred!

Beneath the bridge of light, the energy veins churned violently, and the giant, dark red cocoon that had been bound by the thick black energy veins that we had seen before suddenly began to struggle wildly!

The black "chains" binding it creaked under the strain, and blinding blood light shot out from the cracks on the surface of the dark red cocoon!

A contamination surge, more violent, chaotic, and filled with destructive intent than ever before, swept towards the light bridge above like a tsunami!

Inside the giant cocoon, the completely mutated being seemed to be thoroughly enraged, desperately trying to tear apart this "foreign" path that was close to the "source"!

"It's about to break free!" Jiang Xun Gu warned sternly.

The cracks on the surface of the dark red cocoon widened rapidly, and a huge, shapeless limb covered with wriggling tumors and bone spurs suddenly emerged from the cracks and fiercely grabbed at the bridge body of the light bridge!