By the time Zhong Lin arrived, Li Guanqi had already finished the battle.
Zhong Lin reeked of gunpowder. His opponent had hurled a sphere packed with the stuff at him. The blast only delayed him momentarily, but that slight pause was all it took for the fight to end.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen figures in black robes had gathered outside a mysterious altar on the third underground level. Their leader took out a jade disc, his expression shifting several times before he said in a low voice, “The squad leader of Team Four is dead.”
A black-robed man with a blue armband responded gravely, “Thousand-Mechanism Umbrella is dead?”
“The disciples from the Daxia Sword Sect who came this time are generally weak. Who could’ve taken down Thousand-Mechanism Umbrella?”
The leader, wearing a purple armband on his right arm, said coldly, “Forget about them for now.”
“How many disciples of the Daxia Sword Sect have your other two squads killed?”
The man with the blue armband replied quietly, “Five.”
The one with the yellow armband added solemnly, “Three on our end. A few of the disciples who came this time are late Foundation Building Realm cultivators. They’re tougher to deal with.”
The leader’s expression darkened. “Fifty of them came in. My team’s killed four. That leaves thirty-eight.
“No more waiting. We’ll head to the lowest level and find the Thousand-Mechanism Array Tray before they find this place.”
Up on the top level, Li Guanqi had noticed something unusual. He’d peeled back his opponent’s clothes and discovered a white silk ribbon tied around the man’s right arm—an armband of sorts, though it bore no patterns or symbols.
The man seemed to be in his mid-twenties but did not look like a sect disciple. His scarred face suggested he was a rogue cultivator unaffiliated with any sect.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly as he noticed a chip in his magical sword. He picked up the fallen white umbrella and examined it. The sword blades it had launched could actually be reloaded into the umbrella. Unfortunately, the fine sword hidden within the shaft had snapped.
Still, the umbrella was pure white and felt like porcelain. The material alone was extremely rare.
It was nearly a magical artifact in its own right. He tucked it away, thinking it might fetch a fair price in spirit stones at the Treasure Pagoda.
From beside him, Zhong Lin said, “Who exactly are these people?”
Li Guanqi paused for a moment, then replied quietly, “I don’t know. They look like rogue cultivators, but they’re all quite strong.”
The man he’d killed had just reached the late Foundation Building Realm, so his cultivation was still a bit unstable. Even so, that white umbrella had given Li Guanqi a hard time.
“We don’t know what they’re after yet, but one thing’s clear—they’re out to kill every disciple from our sect.”
He kicked the corpse down the stairwell. It tumbled down the many levels below, only to be engulfed in flames halfway down before crashing to the bottom with a dull thud.
The sight made Li Guanqi frown slightly. Could it be that descending each level triggers a trap?
As it turned out, he was right—each level activated a different kind of trap. Li Guanqi and Zhong Lin began exploring the thirteenth level for clues.
The place resembled a vast labyrinth. Many structures and mechanisms remained inert, waiting for their corresponding triggers.
Just as Li Guanqi passed by a pavilion, the bronze medallion in his storage ring marked with the character for “Earth” began to tremble. He called out to Zhong Lin, who was walking ahead, and stepped up to the pavilion door.
Li Guanqi had a sudden hunch. Could this place belong to the same person who owned the mansion outside the city?
He took out the medallion and gently inserted it into a groove by the door.
Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up.
They entered and found traces suggesting someone had once lived here, though the dwelling had clearly been abandoned for thousands of years.
Nothing of real value remained. Still, something nagged at Li Guanqi. “Search the room. See if there’s a hidden chamber or mechanism.”
Zhong Lin’s eyes lit up, and he began rummaging through bookshelves and ornaments.
Li Guanqi surveyed the area and headed straight to the master bedroom. He glanced at the simple furnishings, then opened the bedboard. Sure enough, there was a small groove there.
Mechanical sounds echoed out. The smooth wood under the bed opened a crack, revealing a faintly glowing formation.
Before Li Guanqi could even call out to Zhong Lin, a powerful suction drew him into a transport array.
The sound drew Zhong Lin’s attention, but by the time he rushed upstairs, only an empty bed remained. His expression changed slightly. He didn’t know what to do.
Zhong Lin looked at the tightly shut door, then sighed and muttered, “Well, maybe this is for the best. If I can’t get out, so be it.
“With my injuries, I’d only burden him anyway. I just hope the others are safe.”
At that moment, there wasn’t a single Daxia Sword Sect disciple in the underground city. They’d all split off into small groups and were now wandering the upper levels of Di Kun City.
The earlier collapse hadn’t affected the entire city. Whether that was good or bad luck for Li Guanqi and Zhong Lin remained to be seen.
The floating sensation under Li Guanqi’s feet vanished. He now stood steadily on solid ground. Some tension melted from his body, but a chill crept up from the soles of his feet, rising all the way to his scalp.
A massive altar stretched out before him, spanning a hundred zhangs. Two towering silver puppets stood to his left and right, their surfaces etched with intricate black-gold patterns that flickered with dim light.
A dark-green longsword stood embedded in the ground between the two puppets, directly in front of Li Guanqi.
There was a pitch-black door behind the sword. Beside it glowed a single word: Thirteen.
Sword Spirit, who had remained silent until now, spoke softly, “Be careful, those are puppet soldier orbs.”
Li Guanqi frowned and replied mentally, “Puppet soldier orbs?”
Sword Spirit replied, “Yes. They’re low-tier silver-armor soldier orbs, but they're still creations of the Mo Family.
“They’re equivalent to the late Foundation Building Realm. If you can subdue them, they’ll be quite the reward.”
Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up with excitement as he rubbed his hands together.
Sword Spirit chuckled and added, “However... the real reward of this puppet trial is actually that sword.”
“Because,” Sword Spirit said, “it’s a soul artifact.”