“Did you see clearly what it was?” Pang Bo asked, wanting to identify the source of the danger. He was carefree by nature in ordinary times, but in critical moments he was always steady and reliable.

“I didn’t see anything. I only felt a terrifying aura envelop my entire body, and then this bronze bell suddenly began to vibrate.” At this moment, Wang Ziwen was still enveloped in golden radiance, but lingering fear had clearly not left him.

Upon hearing these words, everyone who had found something in the Great Thunder Sound Temple clutched their damaged Buddhist artifacts tightly. These objects had now been proven truly extraordinary — they were surely items once held by gods!

The broken bronze bell ceased its vibrations, its melodious ringing gradually fading. The burning golden divine flames on Wang Ziwen’s body disappeared, and the radiance resembling golden armor receded back into the bell.

“Let’s go — we need to leave these ruins immediately!” Ye Fan held the ancient bronze lamp aloft, its divine light scattering in tiny specks, and took the lead in charging toward the five-colored altar.

Everyone followed close behind. Whatever terrifying thing lurked within this vast heavenly palace ruin, every extra second spent there added another measure of danger.

“Ah—!” Another scream rang out. Near the edge of the ruins, a male classmate fell backward onto the ground, a finger-width blood-red hole right in the center of his forehead, blood pouring freely — the exact same manner of death! He died with his eyes wide open; the expression of terror from his final moments was frozen there.

In this instant, many people were overcome with fear. Yet another classmate had suddenly died; they watched helplessly yet could do nothing to stop it, nor did they even know what had taken his life.

Parting in life and death is easy to speak of, but experiencing it firsthand filled everyone with overwhelming bitterness. A classmate who had been close to them had died without even being able to utter a final word — dying in such a baffling way was simply impossible to accept. Many of the female classmates were near collapse, sobbing softly. They had never witnessed anything like this before.

“Move!”

No one stopped; no one could afford to. They charged rapidly toward the five-colored altar. Finally, they escaped that area of ruins — but two lives were left there forever, never to return.

After running quite far, looking back, the crumbling walls and broken columns loomed like hideous demons in the night sky, indistinct and flickering shadows that made one’s heart quiver.

But before anyone had time to breathe a sigh of relief, three agonized screams rang out almost simultaneously. Two male classmates and one female classmate toppled heavily to the ground one after another — the wounds still on their foreheads, three identical blood-red holes so horrifying that no one could look away!

Blood stained the ground red. Three former classmates and friends had died in agony like this, their eyes wide and bulging, their expressions frozen in terror.

In a brief moment, five people had lost their lives. While the crowd was overwhelmed with grief, they also felt an icy chill throughout their bodies, their scalps prickling. Perhaps the next one would be themselves — no one could be certain when their life would end.

“Wuu…” One female classmate was nearly broken, weeping openly, and cried: “All the ones who died found nothing in the temple — that unknown demon is somewhere nearby! Without a sacred artifact left by the gods on you, sooner or later you’ll die…”

This was a fact. All five of those who had died had come away empty-handed from the temple, while Wang Ziwen, who had also been attacked, survived unscathed precisely because of that broken bronze bell.

“Help us…” Those who had found nothing in the temple were all overcome with terror. They drew close to those who had found something, begging them in a tone that was nearly pleading. But at this life-or-death juncture, who would give away their sole life-saving Buddhist artifact?

Some people did not stop; some did not even look back, striding rapidly toward the five-colored altar. Classmate bonds were precious, yet in the face of a choice between life and death, many chose cold indifference in order to preserve themselves.

Human relationships, the contradictions of human nature — for the first time, they were facing their hardest test.

“Please, save me…” That nearly-broken female classmate ran and wept at the same time, tears streaming down her cheeks, terrified and helpless — utterly pitiable. Both of her shoes had been lost in the running, yet she remained oblivious, for fear had already consumed her entirely.

Ye Fan called out loudly: “The artifacts found in the temple — we can share them with others!”

Pang Bo, who had always stood side by side with Ye Fan, heard this and stood at his side, also calling out loudly: “That’s right — we can have two or three people share a single artifact found in the ancient temple.”

Many people looked over, but with expressions of hesitation. Someone spoke up: “What if these damaged artifacts don’t have enough power to cover everyone? If they can only protect one person, wouldn’t that put the original holder’s own life in danger as well…”

The moment those words were spoken, they immediately made many people waver, and two people even began to speed up and charge forward without looking back.

“Thank you, Ye Fan…” That female classmate — shoeless, her face streaked with tears, looking utterly pitiful — stumbled her way to Ye Fan’s side, her face filled with incomparable gratitude. Mixed with the tears rolling down her cheeks, it stirred a feeling of deep pity.

She reached out her trembling right hand — but when it was still a foot away from the ancient lamp, her expression suddenly froze. Then her eyes went vacant and she fell heavily to the ground.

The change had come so suddenly. Ye Fan watched helplessly as the light faded from her eyes. That lovely, pitiable face still bore the traces of tears, and the faint smile of gratitude that had just blossomed there was frozen there forever — it made his heart ache.

Ye Fan desperately wanted to help her up, but in the end he only reached out before drawing his hand back. The back of this poor female classmate’s head had been pierced through — this time it was not the forehead. Beneath her raven-black hair, blood was flowing. Only one step short. But in the end she had still died right before Ye Fan’s eyes.

That frozen smile stabbed at Ye Fan’s eyes. He slowly stepped back, moving away from the body that was growing cold.

“What on earth is that thing?” That was the question on everyone’s mind.

Death was so very near. The crowd was even more terrified. Several people quickly crowded around Ye Fan and Pang Bo, reaching out frantically toward the ancient lamp and the bronze plaque — in an almost scrambling frenzy, as if wanting to seize them for themselves.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Pang Bo’s eyes went wide with anger on the spot, and he roared: “We are trying to save you — to share these things with you — not to hand over the bronze plaque and the ancient lamp to you and give up our own lives!”

He was large and powerfully built; glaring and shouting in anger like this naturally carried an intimidating force. Those few people stopped immediately and sheepishly stepped forward, placing their hands on the bronze plaque and the ancient lamp.

There was no time to waste or linger. Everyone sprinted on, but now an unsettled mood was spreading. Some people’s eyes burned with desire, wanting to snatch the Buddhist artifacts — while those who held the damaged Buddhist artifacts were filled with wariness, regretting that they had agreed to share.

“We come from the same place. We have been classmates for four years. Do not let the rest of your life be spent in shame and regret over the choice you make today!” Ye Fan shouted loudly — even more commanding than Pang Bo — and instantly brought many people back into line.

“Boom!”

At that very moment, hundreds and thousands of bolts of lightning suddenly erupted from Liu Yinzhi’s body up ahead, arcing and dancing through the air. He was like the god of thunder come to earth!

Lightning covered him completely, wrapping his entire body in crackling electric light that illuminated everything around it — and in his hand, the vajra blazed with brilliant radiance; all of it originated from that half of a broken sacred staff.

Liu Yinzhi was as though garbed in a suit of armor woven from lightning, his entire being radiating an incomparably sharp and fierce aura. Bolt after bolt of electricity swirled around him — he truly resembled a god of thunder and lightning.

“Something just attacked me just now with that inexplicable thing.” That was all he said, and he spoke no further. His sharp gaze swept, seemingly without intention, toward Ye Fan’s side — but when it landed on the ancient bronze lamp, those two piercing flashes of light quickly disappeared.

Only after some time did the electric light around Liu Yinzhi gradually fade. The sacred vajra staff in his hand grew dim once more.

A divine staff once held by gods!

The power that staff possessed was witnessed by all, filling them with awe.

The entire journey was made in silence. Finally they arrived before the five-colored altar — and fortunately, no more deaths had occurred, which made the crowd breathe a slight sigh of relief.

On the five-colored altar, the nine enormous Dragon Corpses and the Ancient Bronze Coffin still lay quietly as before — still as breathtaking as ever.

“That’s…”

Reaching the altar, everyone was startled. The five-colored altar was surrounded by a hazy halo, and from all directions, tiny faint points of light were converging inward, disappearing into its stone base.

The dome that had been covering the sky was gradually dissolving, slowly vanishing — and it appeared to be because of the five-colored altar, as though it was accumulating some kind of mysterious energy.

First startled, then filled with elation, for the five-colored altar was shining — just as it had on Mount Tai. It was very likely a sign that the ancient cosmic road was about to open. This time, however, the energy was not being provided by the “Stone Scripture Jade Book,” but by the enormous and hazy dome.

“Rumble, rumble!”

The hazy dome overhead was dissolving, and the storm outside thundered like rolling thunder, causing the entire expanse of ground to seem to shake.

The dome was dimming. Everyone climbed onto the five-colored altar and watched this all with tense eyes.

That unknown terrifying presence lurking in the darkness wound around everyone’s hearts like a shadow. Though it had temporarily not appeared, as long as they had not left this place, it remained a tremendous threat — and everyone desperately wanted to flee from Mars.

For a full half hour, the dimming dome continuously compressed — until at last it covered only just enough to enclose the five-colored altar. Its diameter had shrunk from over a thousand meters to less than two hundred, nearly pressing down to the ground, every trace of mysterious energy having been absorbed by the five-colored altar.

Pang Bo lowered his voice and whispered into Ye Fan’s ear: “Liu Yinzhi’s gaze has swept over to our side several times, seemingly without intention. That fellow runs deep — we need to be careful.” He was sharp beneath his rough exterior, and had picked up on this.

“Don’t worry — I know!” Ye Fan turned and looked toward Liu Yinzhi, showing a warm smile.

Liu Yinzhi was composed, giving a friendly nod in return — nothing unusual showing whatsoever. Beside him stood two others, one of whom was the male classmate who had just moments ago sought shelter under the protection of Ye Fan’s ancient bronze lamp and safely made it here.

This made Pang Bo very displeased. He said quietly: “That ungrateful wretch — even back in school he was always hovering around Liu Yinzhi. Just a moment ago it was us who protected his life, yet now he’s already gravitating back to Liu Yinzhi.”

A short while later, the hazy dome outside continued to shrink, on the verge of pressing down onto the five-colored altar. The terrifying nature of the storm outside could be clearly felt.

The sound of the wind was like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of gods. Sand and stones beat against the dome, producing sounds like claps of thunder. Some dust was even blowing in — it was evident the dome was already extremely fragile and could fully collapse at any moment.

Everyone was alarmed, stepping back. If someone were to fall off the altar, they would likely be instantly swept high into the sky by the storm.

At that moment, the male classmate Pang Bo had called an ungrateful wretch slowly shifted away from Liu Yinzhi’s side. Suddenly, he lunged for the ancient bronze lamp in Ye Fan’s hand. With his other hand he shoved hard at Ye Fan, intending to seize the ancient bronze lamp while simultaneously pushing Ye Fan off the five-colored altar.