Unaffected by the Curse

"It seems that this door is not something a normal Soul Master can open."

Tang San touched the Bronze Door and knocked on it, making a "thump thump thump" sound, and frowned.

Different metals produce different sounds when struck. The sound emitted by this Bronze Door was dull, with a long, lingering tremor. It was not a common metal, nor was it one of the special metals he had encountered in his previous life.

"Do you recognize what material this is?" Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing thought that Tang San already knew what the Bronze Door was made of.

"Anyway, it's not bronze."

"······"

Zhou Qing was speechless at Tang San's joke, but he understood that the Bronze Door must be some kind of special metal that even Tang San had never encountered in his previous life, or some other strange material.

Moreover, judging from the long, resonant vibrations it emits, perhaps pushing open this door doesn't necessarily require that much force; all that's needed is to find the right method.

After all, the door and the lock are always one and the same; all you need to do is find the key to open it.

However, nowadays only this Bronze Door remains in this area. Ignoring the legends surrounding this Bronze Door, it is quite easy to continue forward.

Just go around it.

After all, the walls and town behind the gate had collapsed, with only a few areas still retaining some broken walls and ruins.

Led by Riko, the two continued onward, wanting to get a closer look at the towering Black Pillar.

The three of them mounted the Bird Horse again, and in less than ten minutes, they arrived at the thick pillar.

The Black Pillar, about 480 meters in diameter, was made of an unknown material and ran through the entire layer. Between the first layer and the pillar was a 20-meter-long Ring Black Hole, as deep as the view from the outskirts of Abyss Town.

At the edge of the pillar parallel to the ground of this level, there is a circle of black circular platforms, with ropes resembling steel cables connecting them to the top. Below the platforms are hanging baskets, allowing serious Explorer to go up and down.

In addition, four Rope Bridge were also built above this circular platform and the ring -Ring Black Hole on this level.

"Is the only way to get to the Second Layer this way?" Zhou Qing asked.

"No."

Riko shook her head. "On the edge of this level, there are scattered caves and grottoes, some of which lead to the lower levels."

"Generally speaking, most Explorer who are not Abyss Explorer's Guild will start from the cave, because they need to pay the guild a fee to take the Elevator."

"Although this black pillar runs through the entire Abyss, the ropes, Elevator, Elevator Platform, safety measures and other devices on the pillar were all built and installed by generations of Explorer of the Abyss Explorer's Guild at Life risk, and they are inspected every seven days."

Zhou Qing and Tang San could both understand this.

After all, to ascend from this place, one must bear the "curse" of the Abyss Ruins. Others who want to use the achievements of these predecessors who risked their Life should naturally pay the corresponding reward.

"Shall we go to the Second Layer?"

Riko suddenly felt a little excited, after all, she had never been to the Second Layer before.

"No, let's go back."

Zhou Qing shook his head.

Although he wanted to explore the lower areas further, this trip down was only to determine the initial situation inside the Abyss Ruins.

Now, having gleaned this information, he has a general idea of the situation at the Abyss Ruins—

Even if the environment of the next level is completely different from that of the first level, the basic rules must be the same, so there is no need to rush down when there is not enough time.

He wanted to first determine the time difference between this first layer and the outside world.

It was night outside.

But it's daytime here.

The time may be consistent, just with day and night reversed, but the exact details need to be tested.

In addition, Zhou Qing also wanted to experience the so-called Ascension Curse.

The first level of the Ascension Curse causes mild dizziness and vomiting to anyone who ascends, regardless of whether they are an ordinary person or Soul Master, and regardless of their Soul Power Level.

Tang San also felt that this was a safer approach.

"Oh well."

Riko looked regretful. She had thought that she could take advantage of guiding these two outsiders to go and take a look at the Second Layer together.

However, employers come first.

As for why she didn't go down herself in the past?

The main reason is that she is not a member of the Abyss Explorer's Guild. If she wants to go down, she has to pay. As an orphan, she usually earns money by excavating resources that Black Whistle and higher-level Explorer don't care about on the first level. In addition, she saves money by living frugally. Apart from the necessary living supplies, she uses all the money to buy exploration equipment.

Even now, having obtained a single Gold Soul Coin, I'm thinking of buying better exploration equipment, hoping to reach the Second Layer from the edge of the cave in the best possible condition in the future...

Riding the Bird Horse back to the village near the edge of the first level, Riko returned the Bird Horse to the couple and paid them ten Copper Soul Coin.

Then, he followed Zhou Qing and Tang San to the edge of the first level.

As the ascent began, when they reached 200 meters, Riko's face turned slightly pale, but she was still able to persevere, and her movements did not slow down at all.

Undoubtedly, Riko had gone up and down the first floor many times, but she still couldn't avoid feeling slightly dizzy; however, it was a conditioned reflex that her body had developed.

Strangely, Zhou Qing and Tang San did not experience any discomfort during their ascent.

Dizziness?

Vomit?

It doesn't exist at all.

"Could it be that this place is immune to outside Soul Master?" Tang San immediately dismissed the possibility as soon as he thought of it. "Impossible. If that were the case, a large number of outside Soul Master would definitely come here."

Zhou Qing didn't answer, but continued climbing, carefully sensing everything around him. Suddenly, he was startled, opened his eyes wide, and said to Tang San, "I think I've guessed some of the reasons."

"What?" Tang San asked hurriedly.

"We are Soul Master, and using Soul Power is instinctive for us. But didn't you notice that during the ascent, the Soul Power within our bodies started to circulate on its own?"

As Soul Master, both Tang San and Zhou Qing instinctively activated their Soul Power the moment they grabbed the climbing rope, in order to save effort.

But they overlooked this detail.

"Could it be that simply circulating Soul Power will solve the problem?"

Tang San was puzzled, but this didn't make sense. Otherwise, wouldn't all the visiting Soul Master be unaffected by the Ascension Curse here? At the very least, they could withstand the curse by using their enhanced physical abilities after circulating their Soul Power!

But that's not the case.

"We're all just circulating Soul Power, so what do we have that's different from ordinary Soul Master?" Zhou Qing asked.

"Our method of circulating Soul Power is more refined, enabling us to unify our Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and spirit, allowing our Aura Field to be in its most natural and harmonious state..."