Chapter 12: The Basalisk Awakens?
Within the third level of the Divine Grave, all the Saint-level experts moved with extreme caution, terrified of making any sound that might awaken the terrifying sleeping monster, the 'Basalisk'. The entire third level was filled only with the low, rumbling breathing of the Basalisk in its deep slumber.
"Huff!" "Sigh!"
With each inhale, the Basalisk would draw in some ice shards and debris from its surroundings. When it exhaled, a stream of black mist flowed out.
"Fortunately, besides this Basalisk, there are no other living creatures on this level." Linley cast a distant glance at the massive serpent.
The Basalisk's body, over ten thousand meters long and covered in cyan scales, coiled around a towering iceberg. Its enormous head was the size of a six or seven-story building, and its closed eyelids gleamed with a metallic luster, as hard as steel. The sheer visual impact of the creature was enough to make any Saint-level expert's heart tremble.
After searching for a long time...
"Where is the passage to the fourth level?" Linley was starting to feel anxious inside.
It wasn't just Linley who was worried; all the other experts on the third level were growing anxious too. If they had to spend an extra ten or fifteen days on the first or second level, they wouldn't have been afraid. But here on the third level, even half a day felt as agonizing as a thousand years.
If anyone made a loud noise, the Basalisk would surely wake up.
Even if it wasn't disturbed, the Basalisk might wake up naturally. If that happened in just a little while, all the Saint-level experts present would be too late for tears.
"There are more and more people on this third level. I estimate there are over thirty now." Linley glanced back. The Saint-level experts who had been on the first and second levels were now entering the third level one after another. Yet, no one on the third level had found the entrance to the fourth level.
Naturally, the number of people on the third level kept increasing.
The more people there were, the greater the chance of a mistake.
"Huff!"
The Basalisk's breathing wasn't loud, but it pounded against one's heart like a heavy hammer.
"Desri, Tulily, Fain, and their group were the first to enter, but I haven't seen them." Linley carefully dodged a stream of black mist. The black mist instantly dissolved a nearby ice spike into fine powder.
The black mist exhaled by the Basalisk was not to be touched.
"Desri and the others have experience. They probably found the passage easily and have already gone to the fourth level." Linley understood. While he was searching for the passage on the first level, Desri, Fain, and the others had likely been continuously advancing upward.
There was no helping it; they had the experience.
Someone approached from the side—it was Idens. Linley looked at him questioningly.
Idens pointed in one direction, then another, indicating that their group would search for the passage that way, and that Linley and Barker should search in the other direction.
Linley nodded.
Idens smiled slightly, then flew off with two other Saint-level experts in the designated direction. Linley and Barker exchanged a glance. Both understood each other's thoughts and flew off in the other designated direction... The most important thing now was to find the passage!
Time ticked by, second by second...
The number of experts gathered on the third level was growing. Linley estimated it had now reached forty. After all, there were over sixty human Saint-level experts in total, plus nearly twenty magical beast experts. And Desri, Fain, and their group had already entered the fourth level.
If this dragged on, the number of people on this level would only increase.
"Idens." Linley spotted Idens ahead.
Idens and his two companions shook their heads at Linley, indicating they hadn't found the passage. Linley shook his head too. He and Barker hadn't found it either.
Many of the Saint-level experts who knew each other exchanged glances. It was clear that no one had discovered the passage. As time passed... Linley, Idens, and the large group grew increasingly tense inside. Yet, with so many people, they still couldn't find the passage.
"Impossible." Linley frowned. "Although the internal space of this fourth level is quite large, with so many experts flying around at top speed to search, there's no way we wouldn't find it."
"The only reason is..."
Linley looked towards the direction of the Basalisk. "The entrance to the passage is right beside the Basalisk!"
From the moment they entered the third level, every Saint-level expert had been terrified of the Basalisk and immediately avoided it. No one dared to get close. First, because the Basalisk was too terrifying. Second, because... a large amount of black mist swirled around the Basalisk.
The power of that black mist was too terrifying. Even this extremely hard ice was instantly turned to powder by it.
No one would go near that!
"Precisely because no one dares to get close, that's where the entrance is most likely to be." Linley nudged Barker beside him. Barker looked at Linley questioningly.
Linley pointed towards the Basalisk, gave Barker a meaningful look, and then flew directly towards the Basalisk's location. Barker didn't hesitate and immediately followed Linley. In just a moment, they had flown to a relatively close distance from the Basalisk.
Seeing Linley and Barker do this, many Saint-level experts frantically signaled with their eyes, urging them to stay away from that place.
It wasn't out of goodwill; they were worried that Linley and Barker might wake the Basalisk! That would doom all the Saint-level experts present.
"Let's keep our distance from the Basalisk for now, fly around its body, and try to find the entrance." Linley pulled Barker back, not letting him get too close to the Basalisk. Then, the two of them began flying along the perimeter of the Basalisk's body, diligently searching for the entrance.
They started searching from the safest area, near the tail.
The Saint-level experts were all clever. Seeing Linley and Barker do this, many of them had a sudden realization. They too guessed... that the entrance might be near the Basalisk's body. Immediately, many Saint-level experts approached and began their own careful search.
"Crrrr—"
The Basalisk moved. Its massive body actually shifted.
"The Basalisk is awake!" Linley's face turned extremely grim. Barker's face instantly went deathly pale, drained of all color.
The Saint-level experts who had been searching around the Basalisk's huge body scattered like a swarm of locusts. More than a dozen of them flew away from the Basalisk's vicinity in a flash, almost simultaneously.
Without hesitation—
Linley and Barker flew at top speed towards the entrance they had used to enter from the second level. After all, there were only two ways to escape now: one was to go back through the entrance from the second level, and the other was to immediately go to the fourth level.
But...
They didn't know where the passage to the fourth level was. They had no choice but to return to the second level as quickly as possible.
"Faster, faster!" Linley's heart was pounding. "It's too late."
At that moment, Linley's mind flashed with images of Delia, who was still waiting for him in the Yulan Continent, and his two children, Taylor and Sasha. Not only Linley was terrified; all the other Saint-level experts were panicking too.
But...
"No." Linley suddenly stopped.
He heard the breathing sound again—the Basalisk's breathing in its deep sleep. Linley stopped. After flying a short distance, Barker noticed Linley wasn't following and turned back.
"The Basalisk didn't wake up." Linley was surprised.
Linley wasn't the only one to notice this. Many Saint-level experts who had been trying to flee also realized it, and they quietly flew back one by one. If the Basalisk had truly woken up, with the distance from the Basalisk to the entrance, how could it have allowed them to escape?
Seeing the Basalisk still fast asleep, all the Saint-level experts felt a mix of relief and exasperation.
Linley and Barker exchanged a glance and both laughed.
"It just turned over in its sleep." Linley could see that the Basalisk's body position had shifted only slightly.
Many Saint-level experts hesitated for only a moment before resuming their careful search around the Basalisk's area. But just a short while later, some Saint-level experts discovered the passage. Linley and Barker clearly saw seven or eight Saint-level experts hovering in mid-air, staring at a spot directly in front of the Basalisk's head.
"Is it there?" Linley and Barker flew over.
Sure enough...
The Basalisk's head was facing the wall of the iceberg. The black mist exhaled by the Basalisk quickly turned the iceberg wall into powder, revealing a passage inside. The stairs were clearly visible.
"So it's here. This is bad." Linley and Barker exchanged a look, both feeling a sense of dread.
Before the Basalisk turned over, its head had been facing the other direction. If Linley and the others had discovered the passage then, although it was close to the Basalisk, at least it would have been behind the Basalisk's head. They could have slipped in quietly. But now...
The Basalisk's head was directly facing the passage. Every time it exhaled, the black mist rushed towards the stairway. And a large amount of black mist was swirling around this area.
Getting into the fourth level through this passage now was very difficult!
"There are only two ways to enter the fourth level now." Linley frowned. "One is to rely on speed, dodge the black mist, charge into the stairway, and rush to the fourth level as fast as possible. The second way is..." Linley looked up.
This iceberg was very tall.
The stairway clearly continued upward.
Linley estimated that the end of this passage was at a high point inside the iceberg. They could dig a tunnel directly from a high point on the iceberg into its interior, and then search for the entrance to the fourth level.
"But digging through this iceberg will definitely make noise." Linley was worried.
Just as Linley hesitated, he saw two black shadows shoot directly into the passage entrance shrouded in 'black mist'. The two black shadows were incredibly fast and agile. Even though the black mist was dense... one of the shadows was touched by the black mist. But the other shadow stepped onto the stairs.
"It's the Shadow Clone Technique!" Linley thought to himself.
That person had used the Shadow Clone Technique to desperately force their way through the obstruction of the dense black mist.
"We can't drag this out any longer. The more the Basalisk breathes, the more black mist will gather at the passage entrance. Once it completely covers the entrance, there will be no chance to enter." Linley gritted his teeth.
He glanced at Barker beside him, who nodded slightly in return.
All forty-plus Saint-level experts present understood that they couldn't delay. The longer they waited, the fewer opportunities they would have.
"Whoosh!" A streak of light shot into the entrance. In a flash, the light had entered the passage. Another Saint-level expert had entered the passage and gone up to the fifth level.
Although the black mist was dense and seemed dangerous, the Saint-level experts present all had their own special techniques. The chances of getting through were still quite high.
After two succeeded in a row, the forty-plus Saint-level experts hovering in the air gained confidence. Another Saint-level expert turned into a blur and charged towards the passage entrance. Linley recognized this expert—it was Idens, a disciple of the War God.
Idens was very fast, but then a "Sss—" sound was heard. Idens was caught between several clusters of black mist, with no way to escape.
Instantly—
The terrified Idens opened his mouth as if to let out a pained groan, but before he could even make a sound, his entire body, enveloped by the black mist, turned directly into powder. Even his soul was gone.
"Idens, he..." Linley's heart clenched painfully. This black mist was too terrifying.
The faces of the forty-plus Saint-level experts instantly turned deathly pale. This 'black mist' was truly too terrifying. Although they had guessed it was powerful, they never imagined that a single touch would be enough to destroy someone of Idens's strength in less than half a second, annihilating even his soul.
The atmosphere was unprecedentedly oppressive. On this third level, only the sound of the Basalisk's sleeping breath could be heard.