Canossa's Supreme Combat Power (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader "Nilan Xuanzhen")

"They're all dead."

Canossa glanced at them indifferently, and finding no signs of life among these "people," she drew her conclusion.

There were several hundred people at the foot of the altar steps.

Perhaps because the temple was sealed, the remains were relatively well preserved. Moreover, judging from their attire, these hundreds of people did not even live in the same era.

But their postures were all the same; they all faced the huge statue not far away and prostrated themselves in worship.

"These must be followers of the Divine General Morogos," Rein guessed.

"Um."

Upon hearing this, Canossa nodded in agreement.

This temple is inaccessible to anyone who doesn't speak the Monkel Ancient Language. Besides, judging from the appearance of these people, they must be believers.

And at this moment

It was probably because the movement of Rein and his companion created some airflow that suddenly caused the skeletons closest to them to collapse, instantly turning into tiny fragments that dissipated into the air.

Although both of them were startled by the strange phenomenon, they breathed a sigh of relief after watching for a while and finding no danger.

Canossa's gaze did not linger on the remains of the believers, but instead turned to the huge stone statue atop the steps.

This distance was enough to take in everything on the altar, and in that one glance, she saw something and exclaimed, "That's..."

In that instant, Rein saw her fists clenched tightly, her delicate body trembling slightly, clearly extremely excited. This lady, whose temperament had always been as gentle as a spring, suddenly became so agitated, as if her emotions were boiling. What had she seen?

"Divine Power Crystal!"

Canossa finally exclaimed in surprise.

We took such a huge risk to come to the "Ashen Forest," wasn't it all for this?!

Now that the legendary Divine Power Crystal was right before her eyes, how could she not be excited?

"Huh? There really is one?"

Rein's eyesight was far inferior to Canossa's, and it was only after hearing her exclamation that he fixed his gaze on her.

The most eye-catching feature is undoubtedly the enormous stone statue of a god, over a hundred meters tall, wearing a helmet and simple armor, with bulging muscles all over his body, giving off a feeling of overwhelming power.

The stone sculpture stands on cloud-patterned stone, holding a long spear in one hand and a three-headed giant python with its blood-red mouth wide open, ready to bite.

Rein had heard this myth from the Kolman people; it was the story of how the Morogos God subdued the three-headed serpent "Bandras" and saved his believers from danger.

In front of this giant statue was an altar, on which a fist-sized crimson crystal core was shining brightly.

Legend has it that ancient demon gods would bestow their "Divine Power Crystal" upon their most devout followers, helping them comprehend Law Power that transcend mortals.

Canossa was naturally so excited because she saw the blood-red crystal.

Rein couldn't yet comprehend just how mysterious this thing was, but in Bazel's words, it was a treasure that even the "Ten Great Legends" would risk their lives for!

Around this statue are eight exquisitely carved stone pillars, each about two meters in diameter, with eight gargoyles perched on them.

Those were mythical monsters from hell, bald like vampires, with powerful, well-developed muscles. They also had huge, bat-like wings on their backs and a pair of curved, devilish horns on their foreheads.

They are not living beings; legend has it that they are alchemical creations made by high-ranking demons to guard tombs or temples.

Moreover, it wasn't just that crystal; there was also an ivory-colored bone spear floating in mid-air on the altar!

Rein glanced at the crystal, then his gaze fell on the bone spear. Comparing it to the statue's posture, he couldn't help but wonder, "Could that bone spear be the divine weapon used by the Divine General Morogos?"

Canossa's gaze, naturally, was fixed on the crimson crystal core, and she couldn't look away.

However, out of caution, she did not immediately step onto the steps.

Both of them noticed that none of the skeletons lying on the ground had stepped onto the steps, whether out of reverence for the gods or some other special rule.

But after the two circled around again, they found nothing unusual.

The crimson crystal sat quietly on the altar, seemingly within easy reach.

If you want to get it, you have to climb the steps; even if it's dangerous, you have to try.

But Rein felt something was off about the temple, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He cautiously warned, "Lady Canossa, be careful. I think something's strange about this place."

"Um."

Canossa, naturally, dared not be careless and nodded with a frown.

But having already come this far, there's no way she can turn back.

"My family has been searching for the Divine Power Crystal of the 'Divine General Morogos' for hundreds of years, and now we've finally found one. Even if it costs me my life, I won't give it up."

She changed her previous flippant expression and said those words with a serious look.

Turning to Rein, she said, "Doctor Rein, you should go to the temple entrance. If anything happens, just get away as far away as possible. I don't want to implicate you."

"."

When Rein heard this, he knew that her mind was made up, so he didn't say anything more.

But he hadn't expected that this lady, a wealthy businesswoman, would be so determined to pursue the path to Transcendent. Knowing she had been in the pit for two months, Rein had guessed she would never give up, even if it meant her life was in danger.

That persistence clearly has another story behind it.

Although Rein didn't know exactly how strong Canossa was, he could infer from her statement that she had mastered the [Great Strength Demon God] secret technique to the "Divine Steel Realm" that she was definitely not weak.

Before leaving, he said one last thing, "Mrs. Canossa, if there are any problems, step back and we can discuss them further."

Canossa nodded slightly. "Okay."

Rein said nothing more and left.

But they didn't go far; they stood just outside the Bronze Door, where they could neither go in nor back, and where they would have options if anything unexpected happened.

Because several magical light sources had been placed in the temple before, it was no longer completely dark.

Rein watched as that delicate figure decisively stepped onto the stairs.

Fearing to trigger a mechanism, she didn't dare to walk too fast, cautiously proceeding step by step.

But just then, several pairs of crimson eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness!

As expected, the crisis unfolded.

"Not good!"

Rein saw it clearly; the eight gargoyles he had seen guarding the statue earlier had come to life!

"The legend is actually true?"

Rein's eyes widened in shock. He had really thought those things were just inanimate stone sculptures, but he never expected them to actually be alive.

At that moment, Canossa clearly had already realized this. In a split second, she decided to quickly seize the "Divine Power Crystal" and escape the altar.

Just then, he accelerated, and his figure flashed past in a blur.

But!

Another dark figure was even faster than her!

The gargoyle flapped its wings and flew so fast that no one could catch a shadow. With one swipe of its claw, it pinned Canossa was as fast as a flash of light, to the ground!

With a loud "boom," the man and the monster crashed heavily to the ground.

Seeing Canossa fall to the ground in a single move, Rein felt worried for her. "Such speed! Gargoyles are said to be incredibly fast, with alchemical bodies that are impervious to swords and blades, and they can even fly. This is going to be tough to deal with."

Moreover, this is only one gargoyle; there are seven more on top of it!

But clearly, the fact that Canossa dared to explore this underground ruins alone for months without dying means she must have the ability to survive.

Just as she was stopped by the gargoyles, Rein suddenly saw her aura erupt, a dazzling golden light illuminating most of the temple, as bright and blinding as the sun.

Rein's eyes widened, his mind reeling. "She actually has such strong fighting spirit!"

This was the first time he had ever seen Canossa's overflowing battle aura, and the first time he had ever seen such a powerful battle aura. It was stronger than the battle aura of any Fifth-tier Expert he had ever seen before!

Upon closer inspection, Canossa's body, after unleashing her fighting spirit, appeared as if it had been coated in gold paint, with every inch of skin exposed outside her cheongsam shimmering with a golden metallic luster.

"Just as I thought! So this golden body is the 'Divine Steel Realm' of the [Great Strength Demon God] secret technique!"

Looking at Canossa's golden body, and comparing it to the Bronze Golden Body of Mafat that he had seen before, Rein immediately recognized it.

He never imagined that such a delicate woman would actually follow the Transcendent path of violent hand-to-hand combat, and at such a high level.

But seeing her golden body appear, Rein breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although Canossa's skin color was not as dark as Mafat's Bronze Golden Body, it was definitely not something an ordinary fifth-tier cultivator could harm.

Just then, the gargoyle attacked again, and the two instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

"Clang," "Clang," "Clang."

It wasn't the dull thud of flesh striking flesh, but rather the resounding clang of two solid metal statues colliding. Rein felt his eardrums vibrate violently.

In a head-on confrontation, Canossa showed no fear and did not lose ground.

But gargoyles can't be killed!

Unless you have the ability to smash it to pieces, there's no way you can kill it!

Moreover, it wasn't just one gargoyle, but eight!

In that short time, after watching one gargoyle helplessly deal with the "intruder," three more gargoyles flew down from the stone pillar.

The situation instantly turned into one against four.

Although Canossa was still holding her own, she was clearly starting to struggle.

With four monsters eyeing her from above, she had no chance of getting the "Divine Power Crystal" if she tried to force her way through!

Upon touching it, Canossa clearly understood that as long as these alchemical monsters, which were neither iron nor metal, could not be destroyed, they would continue their relentless siege.

Ultimately, once his fighting spirit is exhausted, he will inevitably fall into a dangerous situation.

On second thought, she decided to withdraw first.

But at that moment, two more gargoyles flew down.

This altar is easy to climb, but hard to climb down!

The six monsters completely blocked Canossa's escape route, giving her no chance to descend the altar!

Seeing the scene before him, Rein finally realized just how exaggerated Canossa's combat power was.

But it didn't work!

No one expected the situation to take such a dramatic turn, becoming so dangerous in the blink of an eye, giving people no chance to react at all.

Each of these gargoyles is no weaker than a top-tier fifth-order Transcendent, and more importantly, they are immortal and tireless.

Even if the "Ten Great Legends" came, they would probably be worn down to death by this kind of enemy!

The situation suddenly became a matter of life and death. Fighting six opponents alone, even if Canossa reacted quickly, she simply could not completely evade the attacks.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The resounding punches echoed throughout the temple like the tolling of bells.

Although the gargoyles couldn't break her golden body, each heavy punch still caused her golden battle aura armor to vibrate violently.

She knew that if she continued to endure it, she would surely die!

At that moment, Canossa acted decisively. She let out a shout, and suddenly her golden battle aura doubled in size. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the golden battle aura was mixed with wisps of blood-red steam.

After unleashing her power, Canossa's strength surged even further. The gargoyle, which had been locked in a fierce battle, was sent flying dozens of meters away by a single punch and kick from her!

"Is this a desperate, secret technique?"

Rein could easily see that Canossa's sudden surge in strength was related to that red steam!

He could smell the strong stench of blood clearly even from this distance!

But

The gargoyle that had been knocked away quickly stood up again, its speed, strength, and defense intact, just like before!

At this point, Canossa clearly realized that things were hopeless. She hadn't even managed to smash the gargoyle after her outburst of anger, and if she continued to drag it out, she would surely die.

Then she knocked away several gargoyles that blocked her way and prepared to rush out of the Bronze Door.

Rein saw this clearly and immediately prepared to leave.

But then, a truly despairing scene unfolded.

With a click, the bronze gate slowly closed!

Rein knew something was wrong. He knew that if the door closed, Canossa inside would surely die!

At that moment, without hesitation, he once again uttered the prayer for opening the door in the Monkel Ancient Language.

But this did nothing to stop the Bronze Door from closing.

"Snap!"

The door closed several times faster than it opened, and the bronze giant door slammed shut again in the blink of an eye, completely isolating everything inside the temple and making it impossible to hear a sound!

"Damn it! How did that door suddenly close!"

Rein tried many times, but the Bronze Door seemed to be locked with a combination lock, and the original "password" suddenly became invalid.

What to do?

Rein's eyes darted around, and his brows furrowed tightly.

Although he was temporarily unharmed, now that the Bronze Door was closed, Canossa inside would have no chance of escape and would surely die.