Chapter 9: The Cemetery Carvings
Gurgle, gurgle~ The seawater parted, automatically forming four waterways as the High Priest and the War God immediately plunged deeper into the seabed.
Over eighty human and magical beast experts followed without hesitation, one after another entering the water.
"This deep sea is quite interesting." Linley's body pulsed with battle-qi as he activated his 'Pulsating Defense,' easily repelling the water pressure. Linley himself was also enjoying the deep-sea scenery with great interest; this was his first time entering the deep sea.
In the profound depths of the ocean, it was quiet and pitch black, with only some creatures that naturally emitted light.
Fain and Linley flew side-by-side downward. Fain glanced at Linley, and a voice suddenly sounded in Linley's mind: "Linley, this South Sea region is the most vast. The boundless South Sea also contains many aquatic magical beasts, such as flood dragons, dragon turtles, nine-headed serpents, deep-sea giant octopuses... The ones I mentioned are all Saint-level magical beasts." This soul-transmission technique was something Desri also knew.
Linley nodded inwardly.
The South Sea's scope was far larger than the Yulan continent; it would be unrealistic for it not to nurture a large number of magical beasts.
"But even if a deep-sea magical beast approached, discovering our group would scare it into immediately fleeing." Fain transmitted with a faint smile.
Linley smiled as well.
The group continuously shuttled downward through the quiet deep sea, simultaneously appreciating this rare scenery. Occasionally, some colossal magical beasts would appear, but upon sensing the arrival of so many experts, those beasts were too terrified to even move.
The deeper they went, the greater the pressure.
At the very end, it felt like a small mountain was pressing down on them. Fortunately, these people were all top-tier Saint-level experts and could withstand it. Some cast magic, while others propped up battle-qi shields on their bodies, creating a dazzling display of colorful lights.
"We've reached the seabed." All the experts stepped onto the ocean floor.
Some coral and other seabed creatures emitted light as well. The seabed's reefs were jagged and uneven, with the ground sometimes rising and sometimes sinking. The raised areas could reach heights of several hundred meters, while the depressions sometimes had no visible bottom.
"We're almost there." Fain transmitted to Linley in explanation.
Linley nodded slightly.
Everyone advanced along a seabed canyon. After traveling for about a few miles, they arrived before a pitch-black giant rock. This pitch-black giant rock stood bare in the center of the canyon, and atop this rock was a transparent 'door' emitting strange ripples.
"We've arrived." A hoarse voice sounded in everyone's ears.
Everyone stopped before this pitch-black giant rock.
"Hmm? This 'door' is very similar to the 'door' of the miniature plane I cultivated in, just twice the size." Linley's heart stirred.
Lord Beirut's voice echoed in everyone's ears: "This spatial gate is the passage to the Necropolis of the Gods. Normally, this spatial gate is sealed, blocked by a layer of invisible energy." As he spoke, a black beam of light shot out from Beirut's body.
This black beam of light shot directly into the spatial gate.
"Boom~~" The calm seabed immediately churned. The originally transparent 'door' instantly emitted a dazzling light, as if a thin film had sealed the gate.
But after just a few seconds, like a bubble that had been pricked.
"Pop!" A very faint sound. The thin film vanished.
"Follow me, and come in together." Beirut flew to the spatial gate and, with a single step, crossed to the other side. Beirut's entire figure then very clearly and directly disappeared from the sight of all the experts present.
The High Priest, the War God, Dylin, and Hisee didn't hesitate. They followed, one after another stepping into the spatial gate, vanishing from everyone's sight.
"So the Necropolis of the Gods is actually in another plane." Linley understood at this moment. "But the plane containing the Necropolis of the Gods is connected to the Yulan continent plane."
Just like that miniature plane secret chamber. The plane housing the Necropolis of the Gods was also connected to the Yulan continent plane.
All the experts present then stepped through the spatial gate one by one. Linley, following behind Fain, also directly stepped into the spatial gate.
"Strange ripples." Linley clearly felt the sensation the moment he stepped through the spatial gate. That feeling was like someone swimming in water suddenly reaching the shore. It seemed the surrounding environment had completely changed.
All the experts had arrived in another plane.
They were still at the seabed, but it was the deep seabed of a different plane.
"What a special feeling." Stepping into a new plane, Linley had a completely different sensation.
Fain also approached Linley and transmitted via soul: "Linley, in this plane, even my soul force can only cover a dozen or so meters at most. Moreover, there are many powerful beings in this plane. We absolutely cannot fall behind, or if we get surrounded by the many magical beasts of this plane, we'll have no chance of survival."
Linley was secretly alarmed.
The group all followed Beirut forward, but Beirut was completely unflustered. He led the group flying for about a dozen miles.
"That building ahead, towering like a mountain, is the Necropolis of the Gods." Fain approached Linley and transmitted via soul. Linley looked at the distant, massive building and couldn't help but tremble inwardly: "This Necropolis of the Gods is unbelievably huge!"
Linley could confirm that the Necropolis of the Gods was still a full hundred miles away, yet they could already clearly see it.
"The Necropolis of the Gods is nearly twenty thousand meters high, and each side of its base is ten thousand meters long." Fain introduced via soul transmission. Fain was very familiar with this Necropolis of the Gods.
"How was such a massive tomb built?" Linley marveled inwardly.
At their flying speed, a hundred miles was covered in no time. As they approached this Necropolis of the Gods, Linley finally began to gasp in awe. What amazed Linley the most was... the Necropolis of the Gods was primarily rectangular in shape, with a diamond-shaped pointed top.
The walls of the Necropolis of the Gods were mainly on four sides. On the side facing Linley and the others, there was a giant carving.
"A dragon?"
Linley looked at the large-scale relief on the giant wall, which was twenty thousand meters high and ten thousand meters wide. It was a winding, coiling dragon. This dragon was unlike the dragons of the Yulan continent plane because it had no wings. Yet the winding, spiraling relief exuded an aura that made one want to prostrate in worship.
"This tomb has four sides, each with a giant relief." Beirut's voice sounded in everyone's ears. "The front side has a giant dragon, a true dragon relief. The back side has a giant white tiger relief. The two side walls have giant reliefs resembling a phoenix and a dragon turtle."
A dragon, a white tiger, a phoenix, and a dragon turtle?
"Why did the Necropolis of the Gods have these four types of reliefs?" Linley wondered inwardly.
Beirut patted Bebe, who was in his arms. Bebe then jumped directly onto Linley's shoulder. Beirut then said with a faint smile: "These four giant reliefs represent four sections of the Necropolis of the Gods. And below the dragon relief, there are also a large number of densely packed smaller reliefs."
Linley and the others saw it too.
The dragon relief occupied seventy to eighty percent of the entire surface, while the other reliefs combined accounted for only ten percent. The rest was blank space.
"These reliefs..." Linley carefully examined the small reliefs. Those beneath the dragon were all various strange magical beast shapes of the dragon and serpent type, arranged in a certain order.
"Based on these small reliefs..." Beirut looked at the large set of small reliefs. "This time, the guardian leader of the first eleven levels of the Necropolis of the Gods is the divine beast 'Basilisk'."
"Divine beast 'Basilisk'?"
The over eighty experts from the Yulan continent plane were all confused. But everyone understood one thing... since it was a divine beast, this Basilisk had at least reached the Deity level. How could the Saint-level experts present possibly get past it?
"Basilisk? Lord Beirut, is there still a chance for them to succeed?" Dylin spoke up.
Lord Beirut glanced at him and said with a faint smile: "This divine beast 'Basilisk' reached its mature form tens of thousands of years ago. As far as I know, it has now reached the level of a mid-stage Deity. Let alone them, even if the four of you go in and confront this Basilisk, you would have no chance of survival."
The over eighty experts' faces changed color.
"Last time, the guardian leader of the first eleven levels was only a two-headed evil dragon from the Abyss. I didn't expect it to be the divine beast 'Basilisk' this time, and at the mid-stage Deity level at that." Fain's face turned bitter.
Linley also understood.
Entering the Necropolis of the Gods was for the many Saint-level experts. As for Deity-level experts, even if they entered, they wouldn't do so now. With Saint-level strength, encountering a mid-stage Deity meant certain death. There was no doubt about it.
Lord Beirut said with a faint smile: "Don't worry, this isn't a path of certain death. Now, I'll give you a general idea of the Necropolis of the Gods. The Necropolis of the Gods has a total of eighteen levels! The first ten levels definitely have no divine sparks. Starting from the eleventh level, there will definitely be corpses of gods and divine sparks."
Many of the experts who hadn't been there before showed joy on their faces.
The eleventh level had divine sparks. Many people made up their minds to definitely break into the eleventh level. Once they obtained a divine spark, they could become a god. The prerequisite was... that they obtained a low-stage Deity divine spark.
"In the section you are about to enter, the first eleven levels are commanded by the divine beast 'Basilisk'. As for the twelfth level and beyond... even Deity-level experts who enter would have a nine-in-ten chance of death." Lord Beirut said with a faint smile. Many below immediately gave up on the twelfth level and beyond.
Beirut looked at the crowd: "As for the Basilisk, it might be on the first level, or it might be on the eleventh level. In short... it is definitely on one of the eleven levels."
Linley's heart tightened.
"If we encounter the Basilisk, isn't it certain death?" Linley worried inwardly.
Beirut seemed to know what Linley was thinking and said: "As for the Basilisk... the Basilisk loves to sleep. A sleeping Basilisk generally won't wake up, unless there's some major commotion. If you encounter a sleeping Basilisk on a certain level, it's best not to wake it up. Otherwise, you will definitely die."
Many experts cursed inwardly.
Who would be stupid enough to wake up the Basilisk? But everyone knew that the guardian leader of the first eleven levels of this tomb was the Basilisk, and there would certainly be many other obstacles.
"The Basilisk loves to sleep, but if you enter and it happens to be awake... you can only blame your bad luck." Lord Beirut said.
All the experts' faces changed.
Encountering an awake divine beast 'Basilisk' at the Deity level, probably no one would escape.
"Haha..." Lord Beirut laughed heartily. "I can only wish you good luck. Remember, the first eleven levels don't just have the divine beast 'Basilisk'. There are also other monsters, undead creatures, or monsters from other planes. And many of these monsters are far stronger than the strongest among you."
Fain, Desri, and the others all had serious expressions.
They knew this very well because they had suffered from it last time.
"Remember, be careful, be cautious, and never be greedy." Lord Beirut said. "If you die inside, I can't save you from out here."
As he spoke, Beirut shot two black beams of light from his hands, each striking the bottom of the wall. Immediately, two passages appeared on the wall: "These two passages. Human Saints enter through the left passage, and magical beast Saints enter through the right passage. If you all survive the first four levels, then... you might meet on the fifth level."
Linley understood immediately upon hearing this.
The interior of the Necropolis of the Gods was very complex. The two passages led to different areas for the first four levels, and only on the fifth level would the two areas converge.
"Go on in, one by one." Beirut said with a faint smile. "Remember, if you're afraid, stay on a low-danger level and wait out the full ten years. When the tenth year arrives, a passage leading outside will appear on every level, and you can all come out."
Ten years!
No one hesitated. The human Saint-level experts and the magical beast experts separated.
"Bebe, be careful." Linley communicated via soul.
"Boss, you be careful too." Bebe was also reluctant to part with Linley.
But in the end, Bebe entered the vast Necropolis of the Gods through the right passage, while Linley and the many human Saint-level experts entered through the left passage at the bottom, which glowed with black light.