Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

There was no time to lose.

They didn’t stop to rest.

After embedding two Light Storage Stones into the walls of the large air chamber, the two of them held the Water-Splitting Pearl and followed the current down the right fork.

The water plunged into a massive, deep pool. Su Chen used his mental Perception to scout the way, decisively swimming to the right.

After swimming nearly two hundred meters forward, the current slowed, and the water level dropped significantly due to two large drainage holes below.

Just then...

”Look over there.”

Yan Ruoruo sent a message through their Spiritual Link, her finger pointing toward the murky riverbed where a square, neatly cut stone block was stuck diagonally in the silt.

Not far away, several broken stone tablets lay scattered about. Their cross-sections were clean, and fragmented inscriptions remained, but the characters were indecipherable. It was impossible to tell if they were for rituals and prayers or legal statutes.

”It looks like cuneiform,” Ruoruo judged.

The characters resembled nail heads or arrowheads. Considering this was a devolved ancient human tribe, it was a very real possibility.

The two exchanged a look and climbed out of the pool.

The sight that greeted them next was breathtaking.

A vast, deathly silent, pitch-black Underground City spread out before their eyes.

The dome soared above them like a night sky. Dozens of massive pillars stretched into the darkness ahead. The sides were lined with petrified human statues, most of which were damaged—some with broken arms, others headless, and some shattered completely.

Judging by their forms, they were frozen in poses of devout kneeling or reverent gazing, as if on a pilgrimage toward the end of the long corridor.

”Elemental Power is being suppressed even more.”

Su Chen’s initial impression was that his personal Elemental Resonance range had been suppressed to within sixty meters.

If they continued deeper, his Elemental might would likely be suppressed even further.

That wasn’t all...

A startling discovery made him hesitate.

As his wider-reaching mental waves unintentionally swept over a perfectly preserved human statue, he felt a resistance that was difficult to penetrate.

This instantly piqued his curiosity. He focused his scattered thoughts, sharp as a steel needle, and forcefully penetrated the statue’s outer shell.

’A real person.’

As his mind broke through the cold, stone-like surface, the feedback he received sent ripples through his heart.

’A flesh-and-blood body that hasn’t devolved.’

Hearing this,

Yan Ruoruo also took a few steps forward. She used her Insight Skill to observe it and indeed found something strange.

Although all signs of life had fallen silent—no breath, no heartbeat—the body had not truly decayed.

Under this flesh-solidifying process, it was as if time had stopped for the body, trapping it in an endless slumber.

”To think they’d evade the epoch’s calamity this way,” Su Chen sighed. ’It’s a bit like the cryo-pods on a starship, waking up only after eons have passed.’

’By that logic,’ he mused, ’could the completely shattered statues, the ones whose slumber rituals were interrupted, have degenerated into... cave dwellers?’

’There’s also a wilder theory. Someone has to watch over this Underground City, so it’s natural that some unlucky souls would have to be revived every few ages.’

Besides the statues, the cave walls on both sides were inlaid with many ornately decorated grottoes.

Large portions of the exquisite, colorful murals had peeled away, but the one face that remained vaguely intact still exuded an inviolable sense of majesty in the gloom.

’These people must have had a higher status.’

Su Chen brazenly used his Strong Will to crudely penetrate the tombs, and he could still make out the outlines of human figures inside.

”The grottoes show no signs of damage.”

After a moment of observation, Yan Ruoruo could indeed perceive the different class treatments.

”What if we offer one of the petrified human statues as a sacrifice?” Su Chen had a flash of inspiration. This technique of solidifying flesh and sealing one’s own life force had considerable research value.

Just the fact that it held the potential key to resisting the epoch’s curse made it far superior to ordinary remains.

It completely met the standard of a ’Relic of a Dying Civilization’.

Of course,

there was another option.

Yan Ruoruo prompted Su Chen to look at a broken metal panel on the ground that had fallen from the ceiling.

”Nether Sand Metal.”

There was no mistaking it.

Not only did it emit a dark luster, but his mental energy also penetrated it with silky smoothness. This action caused the engraved patterns buried underneath to suddenly glow faintly.

A sense of familiarity with the characters washed over him.

He knew nothing about cuneiform, but those primitive characters were undoubtedly from the same lineage as the ancient markings fed back to him by his family’s Jade Pendant.

Although there were some differences—the pattern structure was far simpler and had a raw, ancient quality—this thing was a bit like the Rune Essence of the current Magic era.

’It’s worth a shot.’

Even if it had no sacrificial value, this piece of top-quality, completely pure Nether Sand Metal alone would make the trip worthwhile.

Su Chen directly used his Strong Will to pull the metal fragments toward him, piling a total of six broken ceiling panels in front of them.

Strangely, once the panels were placed nearby, an indescribable feeling of revulsion welled up inside him, as if his body was utterly rejecting the proximity of this Power.

”Do you feel it?” Su Chen asked.

”Yes,” Yan Ruoruo nodded.

”Hmm, it seems absorbing these primitive characters would probably be fatal,” Su Chen realized. A major question in his mind was partially answered. ’No wonder I’ve been able to survive unscathed in this era of Magic.’

’So the feedback effect of my family’s Jade Pendant really is something special.’

”Let’s keep moving forward and observe. We’ll check the state of the Elemental Suppression. If it gets too bad, we’ll just dismantle one of the living statues and head back,” he advised.

After all, several of the enemies Su Chen had encountered during his descent were much stronger than the previously defined elite cave dwellers.

They had already gained a lot from this trip.

He understood the principle of not biting off more than he could chew.

But they were already here.

There was no reason to be so scared as to retreat immediately.

「Five minutes later.」

Yan Ziqian and Pang Peng followed the trail markers and also arrived at the magnificent Underground City.