Zhou Jin stood before the Stone Gate and studied it for several breaths.
"There are two kinds of Restrictions below the two-hundredth floor. One kind was set by humans, the other by dragons. Human-set Restrictions are easy to break; dragon-set Restrictions aren't."
"Feng Tie's blacksmith shop is on the two-hundred-fortieth floor. The Restrictions there were already broken by those who came before us, but there are still some unbroken ones on the road from the two-hundredth floor to the two-hundred-fortieth."
Zhou Jin pressed his hand against the Stone Gate. Spiritual power surged from his palm, and the dark-gold runes on the Stone Gate began to shift. After about half an incense stick, the Stone Gate gave a dull rumble and slowly opened to both sides.
Behind the Stone Gate was a wide corridor. On the walls to either side, there was a lamp every ten steps. The lamps were out, but traces of lamp oil still remained on their brackets.
Zhou Jin walked into the corridor. The lantern light shone across the walls, where even more dragon-shaped carvings had been etched. They were much finer than the rough carvings above. The dragons' eyes were inlaid with red gemstones, and under the lamplight they flashed red, as if alive.
As Zhao Feng walked down the corridor, he felt a little uneasy.
"The eyes of these dragons seem to be watching us."
Zhou Jin did not answer. He quickened his pace.
At the end of the corridor was a circular room. The walls of the room were covered in runes, arranged far more intricately than those on the Stone Gate, packed so densely that looking at them made one dizzy.
The two-hundred-first floor, the two-hundred-second floor, the two-hundred-third floor.
The structure of every floor was much the same: a wide corridor, a