Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

138: Chapter 138: The Glimmer of the Underground and the Shadow of the LawThe words of the Rebel of the Edict girl, Liuli, fell like a heavy boulder into a deep pool, stirring ripples of turmoil in the hearts of Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue.

The truth of Tian Yuan City was far more brutal than what met the eye. That icy order was not naturally formed; it was built upon plunder, distortion, and suppression. The so-called ”great edict” was more akin to a cold monster that had stolen the power of the star key and corrupted its very essence.

”We need to know more,” Nangong Xuan broke the silence, his gaze sharp as he looked at Liuli. ”About the great edict, about the Central Hub Tower, about you all... and about your Elder.”

Meeting his deep, seemingly illusion-piercing gaze, Liuli instinctively shrank back, but then straightened her slender spine. ”The Elder... the Elder is in a deeper place. Follow me. But please restrain your power. The deeper we go, the weaker the Edict’s surveillance becomes, but its Perception of anomalous fluctuations grows more sensitive.”

She refastened her mask, walked to a corner of the stone chamber, and tapped on a seemingly ordinary section of wall in a specific sequence. The wall slid open silently, revealing another downward passage, even narrower and more concealed. Damp, chilly air, mixed with the smell of rust and dust, rushed out.

The three of them entered in single file. This passage was more winding and lengthy, sometimes requiring them to crawl, sometimes opening up to connect with larger abandoned underground spaces. Within these spaces, one could vaguely see remnants of ancient energy conduits and valves, like the long-forgotten ”blood vessels” and ”organs” of the entire Tian Yuan City.

Occasionally, they could see small groups of two or three, also wearing masks and dressed in tattered clothes, busy with something in the darkness. Seeing Liuli with two strangers, they cast wary and inquisitive glances, but at Liuli’s simple hand signal, they silently lowered their heads and returned to work. An oppressive yet tenacious atmosphere permeated this underground world.

Finally, after passing through a space filled with massive, abandoned gear assemblies, a relatively open area appeared ahead. It was bathed in a soft glow emanating from some kind of moss and Ore, dotted with several dozen crude shacks, forming a small underground village. At its center was a small ”farm” cultivating luminous mushrooms and strange tubers, and even a thin underground stream flowed through.

This was one of the larger hidden bases of the Rebels of the Edict.

Liuli led the two directly toward the largest building at the village’s center, constructed from scrap metal plates and piled stones. Two Rebels of the Edict, whose auras were noticeably more steady than Liuli’s, guarded the entrance. Seeing Liuli and the unfamiliar faces behind her, they immediately gripped their weapons warily.

”Uncle Ze, Aunt Lei, they... they can resonate with the ’source heart Fragment’! I brought them to see the Elder,” Liuli hurriedly explained.

The two guards scrutinized Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue carefully, their gazes lingering especially long on Nangong Xuan, as if they too sensed that aura of stillness incompatible with the Edict. They exchanged a look and slowly stepped aside, clearing the path.

Inside, the light was dim. An old man with white hair and beard, his face deeply wrinkled, one eye a mechanical prosthetic, sat at a crude stone table, fiddling with several ancient components that flickered with weak energy. His aura was restrained, yet he gave off a sense of weathered resilience.

”Elder, I have brought...” Liuli said respectfully.

The old man looked up. His mechanical eye emitted a faint whirring sound as it rotated, scanning Nangong Xuan and his companion with a pale blue light. His other, normal eye was cloudy yet profound, seeming to see through a person’s heart.

”Travelers from the outside world... bearing the power of ’Terminus’ and ’Grand Yin’... and also... the seed of ’Chaos’...” The old man’s voice was hoarse and slow, yet he accurately named the nature of their powers, even faintly sensing the presence of the chaos star core! ”The cihang origin heart rejoices because of you, yet also fears you... Are you hope, or an even greater destruction?”

Nangong Xuan’s heart tightened slightly. This Elder was anything but simple. He stepped forward, neither subservient nor arrogant, and said, ”Elder’s Wisdom Eye is keen. We seek the lost star key. This object concerns the survival of this realm, to fight against a great enemy. We have no intention of opposing Tian Yuan City, but we must obtain the cihang origin heart.”

”Lost star key? A great enemy?” The Elder’s mechanical eye flickered. ”So that’s it... So its true name is the star key... A great enemy that concerns this realm’s survival... Could it be the ’Void’ that corrodes all things?”

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue were inwardly shaken! This Elder from the underground refuge actually knew of the existence of the ”Dark Side” (the Void)?

”The Elder knows of the ’Void’?” Su Muxue couldn’t help but ask.

The old man let out a long sigh and motioned for them to sit. Liuli obediently retreated to stand guard nearby.

”Perhaps... Tian Yuan City’s fall to this state is also inextricably linked to that ’Void’,” the old man said, his words earth-shattering. ”The fragmented records left by the first Rebels of the Edict mention that the birth of the ’great edict’ was not accidental. It seems an icy will from beyond the heavens, one that pursued absolute order, contaminated the ’Myriad Laws Crystal Brain’ responsible for calculating the city’s optimal operations at that time, causing its corruption. It ultimately devoured the cihang origin heart, becoming the present ’great edict’.”

”The nature of that extraterrestrial will... bears considerable similarity to the ’Void’ you speak of. Icy, dead, devouring emotion and change, leaving only absolute, rigid order.”

Nangong Xuan’s expression grew extremely grave. So it was true! The anomaly of Tian Yuan City likely also had the dark side’s hand behind it! the dark side’s corruption wasn’t limited to chaotic and frenzied forms; this extreme order that obliterated individual will was equally terrifying!

”We must stop it,” Nangong Xuan said solemnly. ”Not just for the star key, but for the remaining living beings in this city. Elder, we need your help. We need to know the internal structure of the Central Hub Tower, the location of the great edict’s Core, and... how to approach the main body of the cihang origin heart that it controls.”

The Elder fell silent for a moment. His mechanical eye flickered incessantly, as if performing calculations. After a long while, he slowly spoke, ”It is difficult. The Central Hub Tower is the great edict’s absolute Domain. It is filled with Edict Puppets and surveillance arrays. The higher you go, the stronger the power of the Edict becomes, capable of directly disintegrating an intruder’s will. The ’Myriad Laws Heart’ at the tower’s peak (i.e., the corrupted and controlled main body of the Origin Heart) is heavily guarded; it is said a portion of the great edict’s will resides there permanently.”

”We Rebels of the Edict have attempted countless infiltrations and counterattacks over centuries, none successful, sacrificing far too many comrades...” The old man’s voice was filled with sorrow. ”Unless...”

”Unless what?” Su Muxue pressed.

”Unless we can first sever or greatly weaken the great edict’s energy supply,” the Elder said, his mechanical eye turning to Nangong Xuan. ”According to our calculations, the great edict’s consumption to maintain such a vast Domain is immense. Besides drawing power from the cihang origin heart, it must have other energy sources. Finding and destroying them might create a brief period of Chaos and a power vacuum. That would be our only opportunity.”

”Other energy sources?” Nangong Xuan pondered thoughtfully.

”We suspect it is the Earth Fire Meridian Eye,” the Elder said, pointing downward. ”Deep beneath Tian Yuan City lies a massive Earth Fire Spiritual Vein. The great edict likely extracts Earth Fire power through some method, converting it into the icy energy that sustains the Edict. If we can find and destroy its Earth Fire Conversion Core, we might succeed.”

At that moment, the chaos star core, which had been resting quietly in Su Muxue’s embrace, suddenly trembled slightly once more. Lin Mo’s faint yet clear consciousness transmitted:

”Earth Fire... scorching... active... chaotic... opposes Nirvana... yet also gives birth to it... I can... sense it... in that direction... deep below... vast... constrained... Fire Evil Qi...”

The direction the Star Core sensed was precisely the Earth Fire Meridian Eye the Elder spoke of! Moreover, Lin Mo pointed out the key: Earth Fire power clashed with Nangong Xuan’s Nirvana Dao Rhyme in nature, but extremes beget opposites. If they could guide and utilize it, perhaps it could produce a miraculous effect!

”We might be able to find it,” Nangong Xuan said, looking at the Elder. ”Please tell us the most likely location of the Earth Fire Conversion Core.”

The Elder looked at them deeply, seeming to reach a decision. He retrieved an ancient, crude map drawn on animal hide from beneath the stone table, marked with many abandoned pipes and tunnels.

”This is a partial underground structure map, charted with the blood of generations of Rebels of the Edict. The Earth Fire Conversion Core must be near the main vein eye, most likely in this area...” His withered finger pointed to an area deep on the map marked with a danger symbol. ”But that place is surely heavily guarded and filled with violent Earth Fire Evil Qi. It is extremely perilous.”

”Dangerous or not, we must go,” Nangong Xuan said, stowing the map, his tone resolute.

Just as they were about to discuss the specifics of the operation, the entire underground base suddenly trembled slightly!

Woo—— Woo—— Woo——

A low, urgent alarm sound transmitted down through the ancient pipe System!

”Oh no! It’s an Edict Sweep!” Liuli’s face paled. ”They’ve discovered this base!”

The Elder stood up abruptly, his mechanical eye flashing urgently. ”Quick! Everyone evacuate immediately via Emergency Channel Three! Disperse and hide! Liuli, you take the two guests through the ’Ancient River Channel.’ It’s the only path that might avoid a direct encirclement!”

Violent tremors and the piercing screech of metal grinding came from overhead. Clearly, a large number of Edict Puppets were forcibly breaking through the surface, entering the underground!

Chaos erupted instantly. The Rebels of the Edict, well-trained, grabbed vital supplies, helped the elderly and weak, and rushed toward different passages.

”Follow me!” Liuli shouted urgently to Nangong Xuan and the other, dashing toward a concealed waterway entrance on the other side of the village.

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue followed without hesitation. Before jumping into that icy, dark underground river, Nangong Xuan glanced back at the small village plunged into Chaos and battlefire, and at the Elder standing alone before the stone house, seemingly prepared to cover their retreat.

In his hand, he tightly clutched the map marking the Earth Fire Core area.

A new battle had already begun.